Introduction
Islam is the youngest of the world religions. It is the only religion that related itself specifically to two other world religions, namely, Judaism and Christianity, and generally to all other religions of man. It is the only religion that contended and fought with most of the world religions on their own home ground, whether in the field of ideas or on the battlefields of history. Islam has been engaged in these wars- whether spiritual or political- even before it was born, before it became autonomous at home, even before it had completed its own system of ideas. And it is still vigorously fighting on all fronts. Moreover, Islam is the only religion that in its inter-religious and international conflict with Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism, succeeded significantly and in major scale in all the fights it undertook. Equally, it was the only religion that marshaled all its spiritual efforts to fight Western colonialism and imperialism throughout the world when its territory- indeed, its very heartland- was fragmented and practically all its adherents subjected to the colonialist yoke. Finally and yet more significantly, Islam is still winning today and growing by means of mission and conversion at a greater rate than any other religion. No wonder, then, that it is the religion with the greatest number of enemies and, hence, the religion most misunderstood. (Wing-tsit Chan, Isma’il Ragi al Faruqi, etc.1969. The Great Asian Religions, An Anthology. Page 307)
Essence of Islam
First, Islam is rationalistic. Its very word for faith, namely, iman, is contrasted severely with that state wherein man “submits”, or “surrenders to”, “accepts without question”, or “believes without rational conviction”, items of pseudo-knowledge on the basis of authority. In Islam, the highest state of religious certainty-iman- is not merely the act of believing, and “act of faith”. But a state in which religious knowledge produces an intuition of its certainty as a result of the consideration and weighing of all possible alternatives. “No coercion in religion”, the Qur’an (Koran) asserts, ruling out all forms of coercion, physical as well as mental, and explains “Truth is now manifest and is clearly distinguishable from falsehood”. This rationalization has been institutionalized by Islam negatively, by its demanded absence of priesthood and of a church magistery.
“No Muslim is ever required to accept anything as true because some other Muslim or groups of Muslims have found it so. Islam does not require him to believe except that which he himself, if capable of undertaking a fresh examination of it, will find convincing and worthy of acceptance, as rational, coherent, and corresponding to reality.”
Second, Islam is transcendentalist. It repudiates all forms of immanentism. It holds that reality is of two generic kinds- transcendent and spatiotemporal, creator and creature, value and fact- which are metaphysically, ontologically unlike and different from each other. These two realms of being constitute different objects of two modes of human knowledge, namely, the priori and the empirical. Consciousness of this duality of being is as old as man; but has never been absolutely free of confusion, absolutely clear of itself, as in Islam.
Third, Islam is world-affirmative. The world, or space-time, is good. It was not created in vain, or in sport, but for a good purpose, namely, the fulfillment is its concretization or actualization in space-time, the final objective of Islam is not extrinsic to this world but in and of it. Islam does not regard the final realization as taking place in this world. Islam is this-worldly inasmuch as, firstly, it teaches no escape and no deliverance from this world, not even on the Day of Judgment. Secondly, it is affirmative of this-world inasmuch as it seeks religious felicity in actions in this world, in actions that transform the human and other creatures of the world without altering their humanity, without loss to their this-worldliness, and with the continuation of the world as a general conditioning ethical desideratum.
Fourth, Islam is “Societistic”. Here, every man is a citizen and everyone counts. None is excluded by virtue of his progeny, religion, or culture. Man’s humanness constitutes his full candidacy for membership. Even if he is not a Muslim, his entry into a contract of peaceful coexistence with the Muslims makes him a constituent member of the society of Islam. His entry into the faith, on the other hand, creates for him new privileges and obligations, but in an over-all world order of which he has already been a member. (Wing-tsit Chan, Isma’il Ragi al Faruqi, etc.1969. The Great Asian Religions, An Anthology. Pages 308-315)
Muhammad, son of ‘Abdullah, was of the Quraysh tribe of Makkah. He was illiterate and a man like other men. His character, however, was exemplary, and he was deeply religious. Chosen for the prophet-hood by God, He received the revelations called al Qur’an (Koran, literally, the Reading), through the agency of Gabriel, the angel who appeared and recited the revelations to him. The advent of the revelations did not give Muhammad any supernatural power or knowledge, the miracle being the ideational content revealed rather than any transformation of its human recipient to carrier.
The Qur’an is the work of God in His own words. It, as well as its predecessors- Torah, Evangel, and so on, which it had superseded inclusively but not exclusively- is the only holy communication revealed to man. It is all that man may know of God, of his will and pattern for man and creation. It is the fountainhead of religion, ethics, and law, as well as their final authority. This authority is not mystical or irrational, but rational and critical. It convinces the mindful reader. (Wing-tsit Chan, Isma’il Ragi al Faruqi, etc.1969. The Great Asian Religions, An Anthology. Page 332)
The Two Fundamentals
The eternal Message is based on two fundamentals; faith (iman) and right-doing (ihsan). On these its structures rises; from them it branches out, and on them must its belief depend. According to the words of the Almighty,
Lo! Those who believe [in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad], and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans- whoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right- sure their reward is with their Lord, and there [in the other world] shall no fear come upon them, neither shall they grieve.
Nay, but whosoever surrendereth his purpose to Allah while doing good, his reward is with his Lord; and there shall no fear come upon them, neither shall they grieve.
Who is better in religion than he who surrendereth his purpose to Allah while doing good [to men] …?
These and similar verses set forth the directives of Islam and the total of Muhammad’s Message; belief, acts of worship, and laws. In them lie the secret of the Message’s simplicity, its power, universality, and rapid diffusion among the learned and the common people of mankind. And in them lies the history of the Message, of which Muhammad is the final disseminator among the many since the beginning of man’s time:
Say [O Muslims[: We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was reveal 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.
The Message itself is eternal because God, its Author, is eternal. Muhammad came to expound, confirm, and renew the Message, and to develop the meaning of its two fundamentals, faith and right-doing. (‘Abd-al-Rahman ‘Azzam.1964. The Eternal Message of Muhammad. Pages 33-34)
Belief in One God
Belief in one God as the sole and unassisted author of creation is the fundamental principle of the monotheistic religions. It is the font of the Message of Muhammad. It is the spring from which the Almighty flooded the heart of Muhammad with guidance and with the truths pertaining to goodness and to peace. Belief is the deep, resounding echo of that voice which called out to Muhammad from Heaven and from earth:
Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth… man from a clot. Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous, Who teacheth [writing] by the pen, teacheth man that which he knew not.
O thou enveloped in thy cloak, arise ad warn! Thy Lord magnify thy raiment purify, pollution shun! And show not favor, seeking worldly gain! For the sake of thy Lord, be patient!
And thus have We revealed to thee [Muhammad] Our command. Thou knewest not what the Scripture was, nor what the Faith. But We have made it a light whereby We guide whom We will of Our bondsmen. And lo! thou verily dost guide unto a right path, the path of Allah, unto Whom belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Do not all things reach Allah at last?
The Prophet differed with the People of the Scripture only on the question of the perfection (tanzih) of the Creator; he debated with and opposed others in matters concerning both God’s oneness and His perfection. He would conclude neither truce nor peace at the expense of compromising his Message because belief in the oneness of God was the basis of his mission, its object, and the object of existence.
I created the jinn and humankind
only that they might worship
All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifieth Allah; and He is the Mighty, the Wise. His the Sovereignty of the heavens and earth; He quickneth and He giveth death; and He is Able to do all things. He is the First and the Last, and the Outward and the Inward; and He is Knower of all things.
Aside from its consequential broadening of human intelligence, the monotheism which Muhammad preached is the source of bounty (khayr) and the foundation of happiness (sa’adah) and of proper upbringing (adab). (‘Abd-al-Rahman ‘Azzam.1964. The Eternal Message of Muhammad. Pages 35-43)
The five basic principles of Islam are
1-Oneness of God
2-Fasting
3-Zakat
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4-Prayers
5-Hajj
Oneness of God:
The first and fundamental principle of Islam is Oneness of God, also called “Tauheed”. It means that the creator and sovereign of this world and whole universe is God (Allah). Allah has no rival. He is the creator of all objects including human beings. He is not dependent on any one but all creatures are dependent on Him. It is the first and foremost obligation of every Muslim that he must acknowledge the Oneness of God and must fallow his orders. When a Muslim accepts Oneness of God and believes him to be the creator and lord of not only this world but the lord of whole universe, he is bound to lead his life within the limits and principles prescribed by Islam and worship Allah only. Oneness of God also means that only Allah is fit to be worshipped, so all Muslims must observe the prayers and instructions prescribed for them. Oneness of God also means that in the eyes of a Muslim all human beings are equal and there is no distinction based on color or race.
Fasting:
Fasting is also an important principle of Islam. Muslim Fast during the holy month of Ramzan. During Fasting Muslims are not allowed to eat, drink or smoke from sunrise to sunset. But they are allowed to eat, drink or smoke from sunset to sunrise as they do in normal days. Allah says in Holy Quran “ O believers, you are enjoyed to keep Fast, as the people before you were enjoined similarly, so that you may become pious”.
Zakat:
Zakat is also one of the basic principles of Islamic way of life. According to this Muslims spend 2.5% of their total wealth on poor ones after a fiscal year if they have wealth over a specific limit. A person who has wealth over a certain limit is called “SAHIB-E-NISAB”. In the Quran and Hadith, the payment of Zakat has been made compulsory for every “SAHIB-E-NISAB”. The income from Zakat is spent on the poor, the helpless and the needy.
Prayers:
Prayers are also called as “SALAAH” or “NAMAZ”. There are fives prayers in a day namely “FAJAR”, “ ZUHAR”, “ ASAR”, “MEGHRAB” and “ ESHAH”. Muslim man and woman are bound to offer “ NAMAZ” as it is a pillar of Islam and a source of ascension for a true believer. “NAMAZ” prevent a Muslim from indulging in immoral and indecent acts.
Hajj:
Hajj is also one of the basic principles of Islam
and a great prayer. It is compulsory for every adult Mullin who can afford it.
On the occasion of Hajj, Muslims from all over the world perform this duty at
Baaitullah, Arafat and other holy places (all this places are in or near the
holy city of
