Introduction to Islam

[wayfarer]

Other threads by me: * Journey through Evolution * Muslim call to Christians * Redirected arguments

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This thread deals with the basics of Islam, and aims to dispel myths and misunderstandings. Please refrain from embedding pics and vids in this thread, to keep it clean and facilitate flow.

TOPICS	║ - - - - - - - LATEST QUESTIONS
	║
1. Introduction	║ How does Islam view art and nudity?
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	║ Does Islam need to be reformed?
5. Belief: Introduction	║ What did Prophet Muhammad say in his farewell sermon?
- 5.1 Belief in God	║ Which religion can claim Jerusalem / Temple Mount site?
- 5.2 Belief in the Prophets	║ How do Muslims deal with extremism?
- - 5.2.1 Jesus Christ	║ What is Islam's view on Pornography?
- - 5.2.2 Prophet Muhammad	║ What does "caliph" mean?
- 5.3 Belief in Divine Books	║ Why has the canonical works increased in size?
- 5.4 Belief in Angels	║ What is the ruling on apostasy in Islam?
- 5.5 Belief in Judgement Day	║ How is Adam and Eve's descent viewed?
- 5.6 Facilitation of Good & Evil	║ Is "Islamic theocracy" compatible with secular democracy?
6. Islamic Practice	║ Are ISIS & terrorists closer to Prophet Muhammad's way?
7. Islam in History
8. Meaning and Purpose
9. Spirituality
10. Gender Issues
11. Science, Evolution, etc.

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

Abdurahman Dollie

[wayfarer]

Main > Introduction

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

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 also mentions the existence of other prophets, and does not exclude the possibility of ancient religions other than Judaism, Christianity and Islam with authentic roots.

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, and there were no 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 (In Arabic: Islam)’. The Messenger of God answered him saying: ‘The surrender (Islam) is to testify that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God’s Messenger, to perform the prayer, bestow the alms-giving, fast Ramadan and make if possible, the pilgrimage to the Holy House.’

- He said, ‘You have 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 comes but by His Providence.’

-‘You have spoken truly,’ he said, and then: ‘Tell me what is excellence (Ihsan).’ He answered: ‘To worship God as if you saw Him, for if you don't see him, He sees you.’
‘You have 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, do you know who the questioner 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 3 principles making up the essence of the Islamic religion are:

Islam (Islamic practice/worship), which consists of 5 pillars:
-1. The 2 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 annual disposable wealth/savings to the poor (inward meaning: detachment from the world).
-4. Fasting each month of Ramadan (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 (Islamic belief/faith), 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 (Islamic Spirituality / excellence in worship and in social interactions), which is believing that God always sees us, and therefore that one must be virtuous and sincere in all one’s actions. In this regard the Prophet said:
"By Him in whose Hand my life is, none of you believes till he loves for his brother 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 it, 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.

[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

[Niren_M]

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

[FNfal]

Very interesting thanks

[ServB]

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

I`ll pray for you

[zaidmo]

Great stuff!

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Cool thread. I know very little about Islam and by very little I mean nada.

[abzo]

What would qualify as major sins? Reason I'm asking is that I met a Muslim chic a few weeks back, and she sent me a few nudes on Friday (don't ask). Is that a forgiveable sin, and if not, under what circumstances would it be forgiveable?

The next time she sends you nudes, reply with "astughfirullah"

[Kosmik]

Arb question but can you explain the below:

The second Caliph, Umar, related in a hadith

I'm assuming Caliph is some form of ruler/title? Hadith a memoir or letter?

[RazedInBlack]

Nice thread.

Just one thing wrt fasting. My observation: It seems to me that during this period muslims eat MORE than any other time. Doesn't this period call for abstinence instead?