Introduction to Islam

[wayfarer]

This thread aims to provide information on the basics of Islam, and to dispel some of the myths and misunderstandings about Islam. Page 2 and 3 largely consist of unrelated chitter chatter, but the thread becomes more serious and informative from about the 4^th page onwards. I kindly request that embedded pics and vids be kept out of this thread, to keep it clean and facilitate flow. Thanks.

TOPICS	| LATEST QUESTIONS
1. Introduction	| Is "Islamic theocracy" compatible with secular democracy?
2. The Essence of Islam	| What is the Islamic concept of salvation?
3. Canonical Texts	| What was Aisha's age at marriage consummation?
4. Diversity	| How is Adam and Eve's descent viewed?
5. Belief: Introduction	| What did Prophet Muhammad say in his farewell sermon?
- 5.1 Belief in God	| Which faith can claim Jerusalem / Temple Mount site?
- 5.2 Belief in the Prophets	| How do Muslims deal with extremism?
- - 5.2.1 Jesus Christ	| What does "caliph" mean?
- - 5.2.2 Prophet Muhammad	| Why has the canonical works increased in size?
- 5.3 Belief in Divine Books
- 5.4 Belief in Angels
- 5.5 Belief in Judgement Day	| FEATURED QUESTIONS
- 5.6 Facilitation of Good & Evil
6. Islamic Practice
7. Islam in History
8. Spirituality
9. Gender Issues
10. Meaning and Purpose
11. Science, Evolution, etc.

The main sources for this thread are Seekers and Qibla course materials, Masud's online aggregation, research conducted by RISSC, and lectures/material from the Zawiyah Institute in Walmer Estate, Cape Town.

[wayfarer]

Main > Introduction

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The religion of Islam is based on belief in the One God (who in Arabic is called Allah). It was founded by the Prophet Muhammad (570-632 CE), to whom God revealed the Quran. The religion this created, however, was not a new message but simply a final restatement of God's messages to previous prophets and nations (such as the Hebrew prophets and Jesus Christ).

The Quran says:

"Say ye: we believe in God and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the Tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the Prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have submitted." (Quran 2:136)

The Quran did not exclude the possibility of revelations other than those that were given to the prophets mentioned in the Bible, and thus did not exclude the possibility of genuine ancient religions other than Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

God says in the Quran:

"Verily we have sent Messengers before thee [Oh Muhammad]. About some of them have we told thee, and about some have we not told thee …" (Quran 40:78)

and

"And verily we have raised in every nation a Messenger [proclaiming]: serve God and shun false gods …" (Quran 16:36).

[wayfarer]

Main > The Essence of Islam

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The second Caliph (successor to Prophet Muhammad, as leader of the Muslims), Umar, related in a hadith:

"One day when we were sitting with the Messenger of God, there came to us a man whose clothes were of exceeding whiteness and whose hair was of exceeding blackness, nor were there any signs of travel upon him, although none of us knew him. He sat down knee to knee opposite the Prophet, upon whose thighs he placed the palms of his hands, saying: ‘O Muhammad; tell me what is the surrender (Islam)’. The Messenger of God answered him saying: ‘The surrender is to testify that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God’s Messenger, to perform the prayer, bestow the alms, fast Ramadan and make if thou canst, the pilgrimage to the Holy House.’
He said, ‘Thou hast spoken truly,’ and we were amazed that having questioned him he should corroborate him. Then he said: ‘Tell me what is faith (Iman)’. He answered: ‘To believe in God and His Angels and his Books and His Messengers and the Last Day, and to believe that no good or evil cometh but by His Providence.’
‘Thou hast spoken truly,’ he said, and then: ‘Tell me what is excellence (Ihsan).’ He answered: ‘To worship God as if thou sawest Him, for if Thou seest Him not, yet seeth He thee.’
‘Thou hast spoken truly,’ he said...
Then the stranger went away, and I stayed a while after he had gone; and the Prophet said to me: ‘O ‘Umar, knowest thou the questioner, who he was?’ I said, ‘God and His Messenger know best.’ He said, ‘It was Gabriel [the Archangel]. He came unto you to teach you your religion...’" (Hadith: Bukhari, Muslim)

Thus, the three principles making up the essence are:

Islam, which consists of 5 pillars:
1. The two testimonies of faith (inward meaning: acknowledgement of God).
2. The 5 daily prayers (inward meaning: attachment to God).
3. Giving alms or Zakat— 2.5% of one’s disposable income and savings annually to the poor and destitute (inward meaning: detachment from the world).
4. Fasting the Holy month of Ramadan annually (inward meaning: detachment from body and ego).
5. Making the Hajj (inner meaning: to return to one’s true inner heart, the mysterious square, black-shrouded Ka’ba in Mecca being the outward symbol of this heart).

Iman, which consists of belief in all the essential doctrines of religion (and the inner meaning of this is that one should not go through the motions of religion and of the 5 pillars of Islam blindly or robotically, but rather have real faith and certainty in one’s heart). see more...

Ihsan, which is believing that God always sees us, and therefore that one must be virtuous and sincere in all one’s actions. In this connection the Prophet said:
‘By Him in whose Hand is my Life, none of you believes till he loves for his neighbour what he loves for himself ’. (Hadith: Bukhari, Muslim)

In summary, we could say that the essence of Islam is exactly the Two Commandments upon which Jesus said hangs all the Law and the Prophets:

"And Jesus answered him, The first of all commandments is…the Lord our God is one Lord; And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy understanding, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second commandment is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." (Mathew 22, 34:40)

Adapted from RISSC publications.

[Sodan]

Interesting thread. We should have one for Christianity too. Perhaps Arthur will indulge us.

You should book the first 15 or 20 posts in this thread, so you can easily refer back to a question already answered, or a particular section already posted. And readers can read your posts sequentially without having to search through a multitude of other posts.

[Geriatrix]

Ah! Was wondering if this would happen. Cool.

[Nick333]

Can we make a rule that discussion and debate is moved to other threads so as not to derail and confuse this one?

[wayfarer]

Interesting thread. We should have one for Christianity too. Perhaps Arthur will indulge us.

I think you were one of those who requested Intro threads for the various religions/beliefs way back.

You should book the first 15 or 20 posts in this thread, so you can easily refer back to a question already answered, or a particular section already posted. And readers can read your posts sequentially without having to search through a multitude of other posts.

I have decided to use a contents link system, based within the original post, to guide readers along the flow of topics. This will, in turn, allow discussions to flow naturally.

[porchrat]

Welcome back wayfarer. You are definitely the one to do this thread. If anyone can answer questions you can

[Nerfherder]

Thanks, this is a good idea.

I will follow this.

[Unhappy438]

Can we make a rule that discussion and debate is moved to other threads so as not to derail and confuse this one?

This

[Niren_M]

Should have on Atheism too, but I think it will be blank.

[DrYes]

I was supposed to meet a muslim guy tomorrow night but he cancelled saying its a holy night.Perhaps the OP can shed some light on this.

[Nerfherder]

Should have on Atheism too, but I think it will be blank.

That's what you think.

[FNfal]

Very interesting thanks

[Mineer]

I was supposed to meet a muslim guy tomorrow night but he cancelled saying its a holy night.Perhaps the OP can shed some light on this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Sha'ban

Some info regarding tomorrow nights events hope this helps a little