What is Islam ?

 Why Islam?

 Let's talk frankly. Almost  never do  non Muslims study  Islam  until  they have  first  exhausted  the  religions  of their  exposure . Only  after they have  grown dissatisfied  with the religions familiar to them , meaning  Judaism , Christianity ,and all the fashionable , Isms , Buddhism , Taoism , Hinduism ,  do they consider  Islam .

 Perhaps  other  religions  do not answer  the big questions of life , such as  who  made us ? and  why are we here ? Perhaps  other religions do not reconcile  the  injustices  of life  with a  fair  and just creator . Perhaps  we find hypocrisy  in the clergy , untenable tenets  of faith  in the canon , or corruption in the scripture . Whatever  the reason , we perceive  shortcoming  in the religions of our exposure , and look elsewhere .And the  ultimate " elsewhere "is Islam 

 Now , Muslims  would not like  to hear me say that  Islam is the " Ultimate elsewhere " but it is  Despite  the fact  that  Muslims comprise  one -fourth  to one -fifth  of the world's  population , non Muslim Media smears  Islam with  such  horrible slanders  that few  non- Muslims view  the religion in  a positive  light . Hence , It is  normally   the last  religion  seekers investigate .

 Another problem is that by the time  non- Muslims  examine  Islam, other  religions have  typically  heightened  their  skepticism : if every "Good given " scripture  we have ever seen  is corrupt, how can the Islamic  scripture  be different?  If charlatans  have manipulated  religions to suit their desires , how can we  imagine  the same  not to have  happened  with Islam ?

  The answer  can be given  in a few lines , but takes  books to explain . The short answer  is  this : There is a God . He is fair  and just , and  He wants  us to achieve  the reward  of paradise . However , God has placed us in this worldly life  as a test , to weed  out the  worthy from the unworthy . And we will be lost  if left to our  own devices . why? Because  we  do not know  what we  want from us . We   cannot navigate  the twists  and turns  of this  life  without  His guidance , and hence , He has given  us guidance  in the form  of revelation.

 Sure , previous  religions have been  corrupted , and  that is one of the   reasons  why we have  a  chain  of revelation . Ask  yourself : would not  God send  another revelation if the  preceding  scripture  were impure ? If preceding  scripture  were corrupted , Humans would  need  another revelations , to keep  upon  the  straight  path of His  design .

 So   We should expect  preceding  scripture  to be  corrupted , and  we should  expect  the final revelation  to be pure  and  unadulterated , for we  cannot  imagine  a loving  God  leaving  us  astray . What we can  imagine  ids God giving   us a scripture , and men corrupting  it again  and again , and again . Until God  sends  a final revelation  He  promises  to preserve  until the end  of time .

 Muslim consider  this final revelation  to be  the  Holy  Quran .  You  consider  it ...  worth looking  into . So let us return  to the title  of this article . Why  Islam ? Why  should  we believe  that Islam is the  religion  of truth , the religion  that  possesses  the pure  and final revelation  .

   

 The  Core  of Islam .

 Among  the blessing  and  favors  that God  has  bestowed  upon  humanity  is that He  endowed  them with an  innate ability  to recognize  and acknowledge  His existence . He placed  this awareness  deep in their hearts  as a nature disposition  that has not  changed  since human being were first created  .Furthermore , He reinforced this nature  disposition  with the signs  that he  placed  in creation  that  testify  to His  existence. However ,since  it is not possible  for human beings  to have the detailed  knowledge  of good expect  through revelation   from   Himself , God sent His  Messengers  to teach  the people  about their  creator  who they must worship .These Messengers  also brought  with them the details  of how to worship  God , because  such details  cannot  be known expect  by way  of revelation . These two fundamental were the  most important  things  that the Messengers  of all the divine  revelation  brought  with them  from God . On this basis , all the divine  revelations  have had  the same  lofty  objectives , which  are :

1. To affirm The oneness  Of God - the praised  and  glorified  Creator  - in His  essence  and His  attributes .

2.  To affirm that  God alone  should  be  worshipped   and that  no other  being  should  be worshipped  along  with Him  or  instead  of Him .

 3. To safeguard  human  welfare  and  oppose corruption  and  evil . Thus , everything  that  safeguards  faith , life , reason ,  wealth  and  lineage  are part of  this human  welfare  that religion  protects . On the  other hand , anything that  endangers  these five  universal  needs  is a form of corruption that religion  opposes and  prohibits .

4. To invite  the  people  to the  highest level of virtue , moral values, and  noble customs.

 The ultimate  goal of  every Divine Message  has  always  been the same: to guide the people  to God , to make  them aware of  Him, and to have  them worship Him  alone . Each Divine Message  came to  strengthen  this meaning , and  the following  words  were repeated  on the tongues  of  all the Messengers : worship  God, you  have no other  God than Him  . This message  was  conveyed  to humanity  by prophets and  Messengers  which God  sent to every nation . All  of these  Messengers  came with this  same  message , the message of  Islam .

 All the Divine message  came to bring  the life  of the people  into willing  submission to God , For this reason , they all share  the name  of Islam or  submission , derived  from the  same word  as   Salam , or  peace , in Arabic . Islam, in this  sense ,was the religion  of all the prophets , but why does one see different  variations  of the religion of God  if they all  emanated  from the same  source? The  answer is  twofold.

 The first reason is that as a result  of the passage of time , and due to the fact  that previous  religions  were not under  the  Divine  protection  of God , they underwent  much change  and variation . As a result , we see that the  fundamental  truths  which were  brought  by all  messengers now differ from the  one  religion to another. the most  apparent  being  the  strict tenet  of the  belief and  worship of God  and God alone .

 The second  reason  for this  variation  is that  God , in  His  infinite  wisdom  and eternal  will,  decreed  that all the divine   mission  prior  to the final  message  of Islam brought  by Muhammad, may the mercy  and  blessing of God  be upon Him , be  limited  to a  specific  time  frame . As a result , their laws and  methodologies  dealt  with the  specific  conditions  of the  people  whom  they had  been  sent  to address.

 Humanity has passed  through numerous  periods  of  guidance , misguidance , integrity , and  deviation , from the most  primitive age  to the  heights  of  civilization . Divine  guidance  accompanied  humanity through all of this  always  providing  the appropriate  solutions  and  remedies . 

 This was  the  essence  of the  disparity that existed  between  the different  religions . This  disagreement  never went  beyond  the particulars  of the Divine law . Each manifestation  of the law  addressed  the particular  problems  of  the people  it was meant for. However , the  areas  of agreement  were  significant  and many , such as  fundamentals  of faith  ,  the basic  principles  and objectives  of the Divine Law , such as protecting  faith , life , reason, wealth , and lineage  and establishing  justice  in the land , certain  fundamental  prohibitions , some  of the most  important  of these being idolatry , fornication  murder , theft , and  giving  false witness .  Moreover , they also agreed  upon moral  virtues  like  honesty , justice , charity kindness , chastity, righteousness,   and mercy .  these  principles  as well as  others  are permanent  and lasting , they are  the  essence  of  all the  Divine  Messages and  bind them all together . 

 The Origins of Islam .

  But where  does the  message of Muhammad , may  the mercy  and  blessing of God be upon him , fit in  with the previous  message  revealed  by God ? A brief history  of the  prophets  might clear this  point .

 The first human  , Adam, followed  Islam , in that he  directed  worship to God  alone  and none else  and  abided  by his  commandments . But  through the passage of time  and the  dispersal  of  humanity  throughout  the earth, people  strayed  from  this  message  and began  directing  worship  to other  instead  of  or alone  with God . Some  took to worshipping  the  pious  who passed away  amongst  them , while  others  took to worshipping  spirits  and  forces of nature . It was then that God  started  to send  messengers  to humanity  steering  them back  to  the  worship  of God alone  which accorded to their  true nature  and  warning  them of the  grave  consequences of  directing  any  type of worship  to others  besides  Him.

 The   first  of these  messengers  was  Noah, who was  sent  to  preach this  message  of Islam to his  people , after they had  started  to direct  worship to their pious  forefather  alone  with   God . Noah  called his people  to leave  the worship of their  idols , and ordered  them to return to the worship  of God alone . Some of them  followed  the teachings  of Noah., while the  majority  disbelieved  in Him . Those who followed  Noah were followers of Islam , or Muslims , while  those  that did not , remained 

in their disbelief   and were seized with a punishment for doing so .

 After Noah , God sent  messengers  to every  nation  who had  strayed  from the truth , to steer  them back to it .  This truth  was the same  throughout  time : to reject  all objects  of  worship  and to direct  all worship  without  exception  to God  and  none else , the creator  and Lord of  all  and to abide  by  His commandments  . But as we  mentioned  before , because  each nation  differed  in regards  to their way  of life , language , and  culture , specific  messengers  were  sent to  specific  nations  for a  specific  time period.

 God  sent messengers to  all nations , and   to the  kingdom  of  Babylon   He sent  Abraham - one of the  earliest  and greatest  Prophets - who called  his people  to reject  the worship of the  idols  to which  they were devoted . he called them  to Islam ,  but they rejected  and even tried  to  kill him . God put Abraham  through many tests , and   he proved  true  to all of them . For his many sacrifices , God proclaimed  that  he would  raise  from amongst  his progeny  a great nation  and choose prophets  from amongst  them.

 Whenever   people  from his progeny  started  to stray  away from the truth , which was  to worship  none but God  alone  and to obey his  commandments , God sent them  another  messenger steering  them  back to it .

 Consequently , we  see that many  prophets were  sent  amongst  the progeny  of Abraham , Such as  his two sons  Isaac and Ishmael , along with  Jacob { Israel} Joseph , David , Solomon , Moses  , and  of  course , Jesus , to mention  a few  , many  the  peace and blessing  of God  be upon  them all.  Each prophet was  sent  to the children  of  Israel {the Jews } When they went  astray  from the truth  religion  of God , and  it became  obligatory upon  them to follow the messenger which was  sent  to them  and obey their  commandments . All of the messengers  came  with same  massage , to reject worship of all other beings expect God  Alone  and to obey His commandments. Some disbelieved  in the Prophets , while others believed . Those  that believed  were followers  of Islam  , or Muslims .

  From  amongst  the  messengers  was  Muhammad , peace be upon Him , from the  progeny  of Ishmael, the son of Abraham  , may  the mercy  and  blessing of God  be upon him, who was sent as  a  messenger in succession to  Jesus. Muhammad peace be upon Him preached m the same message of Islam as the previous  prophets and  messengers to direct  all worship to God Alone  and none else  and to obey  His  commandments - in which the  followers  of the previous  prophets went astray .

 So as we see , the  prophet  Muhammad  peace be upon Him  was not  the founder  of a new  religion, as many people  mistakenly  think ,  he was  sent  as  the final prophet  of Islam.  By revealing   His  final message  to Muhammad peace be upon Him , which is an eternal  and  universal  message  for all of mankind , god  finally  fulfilled  the  convent  that  He made  with Abraham .

 Just as  it was  incumbent  upon the  those  who were alive  to follow  the message of the last of the  succession  of prophets  which was  sent  to them , it becomes  incumbent  upon all of  humanity  to follow the  message  of Muhammad peace be upon Him  God promised  that this  message  would  remain  unchanged  and fit  for all times  and  places. Suffice id it  to say that  the way  of Islam  is the same  as the  way  of the prophet Abraham, because  both the  Bible  and the Quran  portray Abraham as a towering  example  of someone  who submitted  himself  completely  to God and  directed  worship  to Him alone  and none else , and  without  any intermediaries . Once this  is  realized , it should be  clear  that Islam has  the most continuous  and universal  message  of any religion, because  all prophets  and messengers  were Muslims, those  who submitted  to God's  will , and  they preached ' Islam Submission  to the will  of Almighty  God by worshipping  Him Alone  and obeying  His  commandments.

 So we see that  who call themselves  Muslims  today do not follow  a new  religion, rather  they follow  the religion and message  of all prophets  and  messengers  which were sent  to humanity by God's command , also known as Islam. The world " Islam" is an  Arabic  word which literally means " submission to God" and  actively obey God , living in  accordance  with His  message .

  

  May Allah protect us from all kinds  of bad deeds .