Chapter 1 : The Religion of Islam
Islam is the religion that God sent to Muhammad(P) and made it the final and most complete religion for His slaves. Islam is an Arabic word which means peace, purity, acceptance and commitment. As a religion, Islam calls for complete acceptance of and submission to the teachings and guidance of God.
A Muslim is one who freely and willingly accepts the supreme power of God and strives to organize his life in total accord with the teachings of God. He also works for building social institutions which reflect the guidance of God. “Mohamedanism” is a misnomer for Islam and offends its very spirit since the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was a messenger of God, and not a divine being worshipped by Muslims.
Muslims use the Arabic word “Allah for the English word “God.” The understanding of Deity in Islam differs from some of the connotations in the English word “God.” For the convenience of English-speaking readers, the word “God” is used in this article except when the word “All?” is in the quotations from the Qur’? The misguided claims of Dr. Robert Morey, who says in his book The Islamic Invasion that “All?quot ; is the name of the moongod can be easily disproved when one opens the Arabic Bible and notice that the equivalent word for “God” in the corresponding English translation is the word “All?quot ;.
Islam is not a new religion or ever claim itself to be as such. It is, in essence, the same message and guidance which God revealed to all His previous messengers.
“Say : ‘We believe in Allah and that which was revealed to us, and that which was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes and that which was given to Moses and Jesus and to the Prophets from their Lord ; we make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we submit.’ ” (Qur’? 3:83)
The message which was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad is Islam in its comprehensive, complete and final form. God perfected, in this religion, the bounties that He bestowed on His slaves, and accepts only Islam from them. God said,
“Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of All ? and the Seal of the Prophets.” [33:40]
“This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen Islam for you as your religion.” [5:3]
“Truly, the religion in the Sight of God is Islam.” [3:19]
and :
“And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.” [3:85].
God obligated all mankind to follow Islam, as
“Say (O Muhammad): ‘O mankind ! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of All ? to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is none who has the right to be worshipped but He ; It is He Who gives life and causes death. So believe in All?and His Messenger (Muhammad), the Prophet who can neither read nor write, who believes in All?and His Words (this Quran, the Torah and the Gospel), and follow him so that you may be guided.’ ” (Qur’an:158).
Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of God said, what translated means, “By Whom the soul of Muhammed is in His Hand ! No member of this nation, no Jew or Christian, hears of me and does not believe in what I was sent with, but he will be of the people of the Fire.” [Sahih Muslim].
Believing in the Messenger means believing in what was revealed to him, coupled with acceptance and submission ; without them the belief is not sufficient. This is why Abu Talib, the Prophet’s(P) uncle, was not a believer in the Messenger, although he believed in what he was sent with and confirmed that Islam was the best religion (but without acceptance or adherence to Islam).
Islam contains all of what brings benefit which was also contained in previous religions. Islam, however, is suitable for implementation anytime, anywhere and by any nation. God said :
“And We have sent down to you (O Muhammad) the Book (this Quran) in truth, confirming the Scripture that came before it and dominant over it.” (Qur’an 5:48)
The meaning of “suitable for implementation at anytime, anywhere and by any nation,” is that Islam only brings benefit to mankind, whenever and wherever it is implemented. Islam is not under the control, and thus is not to be altered by, any nation living at any given time at any given place, as some people would want it to be.
Islam is the religion of truth. It is the religion that God guaranteed aid and dominance for whoever firmly adheres by it. He said :
“It is He who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad) with guidance and the Religion of Truth (Islam), to make it superior over all religions even though the disbelievers hate it.” [9:33]
and :
“Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righteous, good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practice their religion, which He has chosen for them (Islam). And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they (the believers) worship Me and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me. But whoever disbelieved after this, they are the rebellious (disobedient to All?.” [24:55].
Islam contains belief and Law. It is a complete religion, both in its belief and in its Law. It demands from its followers the following :
- Believing in Tauhiyd (Oneness) of God and disbelieving in Shirk (polytheism).
- Being truthful and not lying.
- Being just, that is to deal comparable things with equality, and abandoning injustice.
- Being honest and abandoning treachery.
- Preserving one’s promises and contracts and not breaking them.
- Being dutifully good to one’s parents and not cutting ties of kinship.
- Keeping relations with relatives and not cutting them.
- Being good with neighbors and not harming them.
In general, Islam orders Muslims to have the best possible conduct and forbids all bad behavior. It requires Muslims to enjoin every righteous deed and avoid every evil deed. God said :
“Verily, God enjoins justice, Al-Ih’san (excellence in religion), giving (help) to kith and kin, and forbids all evil (deeds), Al-Munkar (all that is prohibited) and injustice. He admonishes you, that you may take heed.” (Qur’an 16:90].
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Regarding the “Oneness” (monotheism) of God in the Bible (even today’s English translations):
There are so many Biblical passages teaching God is only One and without any partners. This is a basic premise throughout the entire teaching of the Bible. The many explicit passages clearly declare this as a cardinal truth.
Each of the following 27 passages explicitly teach that there is one — and only one — true and living God.
Please note that the King James Version (used here) designates the Hebrew name Jehovah (or Yahweh) with “LORD” spelled with all letters capitalized ; Adonai, meaning “Lord” or “Master,” is designated by “Lord;” and “Elohim,” is translated as “God.” Thus, in Duet. 4:35, for example, the phrase “the LORD he is God,” would be literally translated, “Jehovah, he is Elohim.” (In those instances were Adonai is used as a compound with Jehovah, the latter term is spelled GOD, so that the compound name “Lord GOD” designates the Hebrew, “Adonai Jehovah”).
1. DEUTERONOMY 4:35,39 — Unto thee it was shown, that thou mightiest know that the LORD he is God ; there is none else beside him. (39) Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath : there is none else.
2. DEUTERONOMY 6:4 — Hear, O Israel : The LORD thy God is one LORD. [Note in Mark 12:28 – 34 how Jesus and a Jewish scribe he encountered understood this text.]
3. DEUTERONOMY 32:39 — See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me : I kill, and I make alive ; I wound, and I heal : neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
4. 2 SAMUEL 7:22 — Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God ; for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
5. 1 KINGS 8:60 — That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.
6. 2 KINGS 5:15 — And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him : and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel ; now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
7. 2 KINGS 19:15 — And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwells between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth ; thou hast made heaven and earth.
8. NEHEMIAH 9:6 — Thou, even thou, art LORD alone ; thou has made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preserves them all ; and the host of heaven worship thee.
9. PSALM 18:31 — For who is God save the LORD ? or who is a rock save our God ?
10. PSALM 86:10 — For thou art great, and doest wondrous things : thou art God alone.
11. ISAIAH 37:16,20 — O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwells between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth : thou has made heaven and earth. (20) Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.
12. ISAIAH 43:10,11 — Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen : that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he : before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD ; and beside me there is no savior.
13. ISAIAH 44:6,8 — Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts ; I am the first, and I am the last ; and beside me there is no God. Fear ye not, neither be afraid ; have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it ? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me ? yea, there is no God ; I know not any.
14. ISAIAH 45:21 — Tell ye, and bring them near ; yea, let them take counsel together : who hath declared this from ancient time : who hath told it from that time ? have not I the LORD ? and there is no God else beside me ; a just God and a Savior ; there is none beside me.
15. ISAIAH 46:9 — For I am God, and there is none else ; I am God, and there is none like me.
16. HOSEA 13:4 — Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me ; for there is no savior beside me.
17. JOEL 2:27 — And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else : and my people shall never be ashamed.
18. ZECHARIAH 14:9 — And the LORD shall be king over all the earth : in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
19. MARK 12:29 – 34 —And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel ; 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 mind, and with all thy strength : this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth : for there is one God ; and there is none other but he : And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
20. JOHN 17:3 — And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
21. ROMANS 3:30 — Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcised through faith.
22. 1 CORINTHIANS 8:4 – 6 — As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom all things, and we in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
23. GALATIANS 3:20 — Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
24. EPHESIANS 4:6 — One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
25. 1 TIMOTHY 1:17 — Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be Honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
26. 1 TIMOTHY 2:5 — For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
27. JAMES 2:19 — Thou believes that there is one God ; thou doest well : the devils also believe, and tremble.
Note# 2. Dawah (inviting or calling to Islam) is prescribed in Quran as a duty to Muslims. It implies living an exemplary life and sharing the message of monotheism and obedience to Allah’s Shar’ah with others. Muslims are ordered not to dispute with others about the matters, only to conduct dialogs in a way that is better.
http://islamtomorrow.com/dawah> ;