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Islam, the basics

By Nasirah Cavaney

www.islam-australia.net

I am always grateful for the opportunity to share my faith.  Islam is one of the most misunderstood religions in the world today and I am thankful for the chance to correct some of those misunderstandings.

I will start with the definitions of the words Islam, Muslim and Allah.

Islam literally means to submit, surrender.  In practice it means to submit to the commands of Almighty God.  We find these commands in the Qur’an which Muslims believe is the word of Allah.

A Muslim means the one who submits surrenders. In Arabic there is a prefix ‘mu’ like the suffix ‘er’ in English. So a Mu-islam or Muslim is one who submits his/her will to the will of his Lord.

Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the final revelation to humanity but we also believe that Islam didn’t start with Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) but the real beginning of Islam is with the creation of the first human, Adam (pbuh).  The Qur’an mentions 25 Prophets. The Prophets mentioned include Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them all).  They were sent to humanity to serve as living practical examples of how to surrender to God, and to guide people to the path of salvation. At the heart of Islam is the belief in the oneness of Almighty God and also that our purpose as humans is to worship God alone.  All The Prophets were Muslims in the true sense of the word because they devoted their lives to Almighty God’s mission.

Allah literally means The God.  The term has no plural or gender. This shows its uniqueness when compared with the word god who can be made plural, gods, or feminine, goddess.

Many believe that Allah is only as a god of wrath and anger who has no love for humanity whereas in fact the Qur’an states:

003.076. Nay, but (the chosen of Allah is) he who fulfilleth his pledge and wardeth off (evil); for lo! Allah loveth those who ward off (evil).

003.134. Those who spend (of that which Allah hath given them) in ease and in adversity, those who control their wrath and are forgiving toward mankind; Allah loveth the good

003.148. So Allah gave them the reward of the world and the good reward of the Hereafter. Allah loveth those whose deeds are good

Muslims show our love for our creator by our obedience to his commands.

Many people think that Allah has an impersonal relationship with humanity.  This is in fact a misconception.

The Islamic prayer is called Salat which means connection in Arabic.  Our 5 daily prayers are our connection with Allah.  Although we can’t hear Allah, Muslims know that Allah is listening to our prayer.  In fact Muslims believe that Allah responds to every line of prayer we do.

According to hadeeth (saying of Prophet Muhammad - pbuh)

Allah, the Exalted, said, `I have divided the prayer (Al-Fatihah) into two halves between Myself and My servant, and My servant shall have what he asks for.’

All prayers are done in Arabic, the language of the Qur’an. Since not all Muslims speak Arabic (Only approx 20% of Muslims speak Arabic as their mother tongue) we need to understand the prayer in our mother tongue. Each line of prayer has something to reflect on.

I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.

Mankind are constantly tested with our own desires.  Muslims believe Satan is constantly trying to tempt us to deviate from the path that Allah wants us to take.

 

In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.

Muslims start each action (such as eating/driving) with Bismillah to keep us Allah conscious

Praise be to Allah, Lord of all the worlds.

Allah is the creator and sovereign of the entire universe, He is only one worthy of praise

 

Most Gracious, most Merciful.

Human beings are not perfect and we can’t expect to be.  Allah doesn’t expect perfection from us, just our best effort.  We can’t earn our way to heaven, he need to accept Allah’s offer for forgiveness for those who have sincerely repented and know that heaven is entered only through the mercy of Allah.

 

The Master of the Day of Judgement.

On the day of judgement we will be made accountable for the actions that we did in our lifetime. It is only Allah that can judge who has entry to Paradise.

 

You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help. 

One day Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, noticed a Bedouin leaving his camel without tying it. He asked the Bedouin, “Why don’t you tie down your camel?” The Bedouin answered, “I put my trust in Allah.” The Prophet then said, “Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah” (Tirmidhi).

Muslims must never become fatalistic. Although we know only Allah is in control and that He has decreed all things, we are each responsible for making the right choices and doing the right thing in all situations of our lives.

 

Guide us on the straight path,

The straight path is following the commands of Allah (found in The Qur’an and the Sunnah - example of The Prophet).  We are of need Allah’s guidance.  Allah’s commands are truly beneficial for us.  He forbids only those things that are not in our own best interest.

The path of those who have received your grace;

Allah does accept sincere repentance, we only need to ask for forgiveness and correct our actions.

Not the path of those who have brought down wrath, nor of those who wander astray.

 

We don’t want Allah’s wrath. The ultimate success to a Muslim is for Allah to be happy with us. We don’t want to be lead astray either. 

Amen.

 

Another article of faith is the belief in Angels.  Muslims believe that Angels are messengers of Almighty God.  Angels always do precisely as they are commanded by Almighty God.  They do not have free will.  Angel Gabriel is the angel of revelation, and it is his duty to take God’s revelation to the Prophets and Messengers.  It was through Angel Gabriel that the Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)

Muslims must also believe in all of the original scriptures revealed by God to his Messengers (peace be upon them all). These include, the scrolls of Abraham (pbuh), The Torah revealed to Moses (pbuh), The Psalms of David (pbuh) and the gospel of Jesus (pbuh) and finally the Qur’an revealed to Muhammad (pbuh). Muslims do not believe that the scriptures prior to the Qur’an are in their original revealed form, we believe they have been distorted to become part revelation, part man-made.

The Prophets and Messengers (peace be upon them all) were individuals who received revelation from God and conveyed it to the people. None of the Prophets and Messengers shares in any part of God’s divinity. Clearly Muslims believe and honour all of the Prophets.  However it is also true that Muslims have a special relationship with Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).  It is his example that we follow on a daily basis.  The way of life the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) showed us includes the way we pray/ the law we follow /how to fast etc.  It says in Qur’an that to obey the messenger is to obey Allah.

004.080. Whoso obeyeth the messenger hath obeyed Allah…

Some people think Muslims worship Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).  We believe The Prophet’s were merely human beings. It is forbidden for a Muslim to worship them or to use them as a conduit to God.

002.136. Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah 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 surrendered.

Islam teaches that Muslims should treat the Prophets as equal. The verse states as Muslims that it is not up to us (his creation) to decide which Prophet is better.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once stated:

Do not give superiority to some Prophets above others.

Muslims believe that all people will be resurrected on the Day of Judgement.  They will then be judged by Allah (swt). 

Allah (may he be glorified and exalted.) has knowledge of all things, he is outside of time.  He has knowledge of the past, present and future.  Allah has granted us free will.  Unlike Angels who can only be obedient, humans are able to choose to obey or disobey the commands of Allah.

Humans are therefore accountable for the actions they make in this world.    Allah doesn’t force us to do things, we alone make those decisions but he knows what we will decide to do.

Some people will choose to follow another path than what God has ordained.  There is no compulsion in religion.  No-one can be forced to be Muslim.

002.256. Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand- hold, that never breaks. And God heareth and knoweth all things.

Some people choose to follow their culture, putting their culture before their faith

002.170. When it is said to them: “Follow what God hath revealed:” They say: “Nay! we shall follow the ways of our fathers.” What! even though their fathers Were void of wisdom and guidance?

Culture is one of the most common reasons why Islam has so many misconceptions; many Muslims have confused what is culture and what is religion.

The most common culture/faith confusions in Islam are to do with women, her education, her dress-code and her role in society.

Many people wrongly feel that Muslim women are oppressed due to their faith.  They believe the scarf is a sign of tyranny from their husbands, they also think women are housebound with no education and that they are basically a second class citizen.

Unfortunately some people amongst the Islamic community have indeed treated their wives and daughters in this very way.  Many truly believe Islam teaches this. The truth is Islam is in fact a liberation for women; it gave them a number of rights including the right to own property, the right to inherit, the right to gain knowledge and the right to divorce.

Prophet Muhammad taught that education and the pursuit of knowledge is an act of worship and something that is compulsory for all men, women and children.

It is the right and the Islamic government’s duty to have a system of education which will make knowledge freely accessible to everyone in the state.

The Prophet said “Search for knowledge is a sacred duty imposed on every Muslim man and women.”

Clearly women have not just a right to education but it is necessary for her to be educated.

Many female Muslims dismiss the Qur’anic injunction to cover they hair because they believe it is an Arab way of dressing.  The dress-code is actually mentioned in Qur’an.

The verses in Surah 24 contain, among other things, two main injunctions:

1/ Muslim woman according to a majority of scholars are allowed by Islam to uncover her face and hands during pilgrimage and even during the prayers, while the rest of her body is regarded as ‘awrah (that which should be covered).

This interpretation is based on the authority of Prophet Muhammad (God’s blessing be upon him), especially the hadeeth in which he says: “. . . If the woman reaches the age of puberty. No part of her body) should be seen but this - and he pointed to his face and hands.”

2/ The Arabic word “khimar” means a headcover This verse means that the headcover should be drawn so as to cover not only the hair, but it could also be drawn over the neck and to be extended so as to cover the bosom. Khimar denotes the head-covering customarily used by Arabian women before and after the advent of Islam. It was worn in pre-Islamic times more or less as an ornament and was let down loosely over the wearer’s back; and since, in accordance with the fashion prevalent at the time, the upper part of a woman’s tunic had a wide opening in the front, her breasts were left bare. Hence, the injunction to cover the bosom by means of a khimar (a term so familiar to the contemporaries of the Prophet)

(33:59) O Prophet, enjoin your wives and your daughters and the believing women, to draw a part of their outer coverings around them. It is likelier that they will be recognised and not molested.  Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. 

Muslim women dress in response to Allah’s command, to her it is an act of worship (obedience to Almighty God), an outward sign of dignity and respect due to her. 

In regards to a Muslim women’s role in society, it is important to clarify her status. Men and women are created differently; we have differences physically and emotionally.  From a religious perspective men and women are completely equal in Islam. However Islam teaches men and women are suited to different roles, both roles are equally as important. 

Women are considered precious in Islam; they are to be treated with high respect. 

While Muslim women are commonly labelled as oppressed, our Muslim men are often labelled as aggressive warmongers.   The term Jihad is totally misunderstood by most.

Jihad is often translated to Holy War.  Holy War in Arabic is harb-u-muqadasah.

The word Jihad means to struggle. At the individual level, jihad primarily refers to the inner struggle of being a person of virtue and submission to God in all aspects of life.

Physical Jihad, involves armed self-defence, as well as retribution against tyranny, exploitation, and oppression.

002.190. Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not aggressors.

It is very clear from the Qur’an that Islam is not an aggressive faith but also not a pacifist one either.  Islam is all about justice.

 

 

 

The above is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.