The Indiscriminate Islam

And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the (wonderful) differences of your languages and colors. Verily, in that are indeed signs for people of sound knowledge. (Qur'An 30:22)

Racism, indeed such a powerful word. Overrated, overused.... but what's in a word? We may not admit it but deep inside the inner depths or our soul, we all have this "racist" lurking.... waiting for the right moment to be unleashed. I myself had been guilty of such act; thinking that people of stature, color, creed, and wealth are better than the other. That funny accent we used to mock, the weird feeling of stereotyped reality that all Asians lookalike - or all knows kung fu, whites are superior to black, and so on.

But what's racism really is? What pushes a man to become a racist? Allah said: "What prevented you (O Iblis, the Satan) that you did not prostrate when I commanded?" Iblis replied: "I am better than he (Adam). You made me from fire and him you created from clay." (Qur'An 7:12)

So begins the history of Racism. Satan thought himself superior to Adam on account of his origins. Since that day, Satan has misled many of Adam's descendants into also believing themselves superior to others, causing them to persecute and exploit their fellow man. Quite often, religion has been used to justify racism. Judaism, for example, despite its Middle-Eastern origins, is readily passed off as a Western religion. But the entry of Jews into all levels of Western society actually betrays Judaism's elitist reality.

A pious reading of the Bible verse: "There is no God in all the world but in Israel." (2 Kings 5:15) would be to suggest that in those days God, or Allah, was not worshiped except by Israelites. However, Judaism today remains centered around its boast of 'chosen' racial superiority.

Say: "O you Jews! If you pretend that you are friends of Allah to the exclusion of the rest of mankind, then long for death if you are really truthful." (Qur'An 62:6)

Conversely while most Christians are overwhelmingly non-Jew, Jesus (peace be upon him), as the last of the Israelite Prophets, was sent to none but Jews. The Bible agrees. Jesus (pbuh) is reported to have said: "I have not been sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel",[Matthew 15:24]. Hence, every one of his famous twelve disciples was an Israelite Jew.

The one biblical passage where Jesus (pbuh) tells them to: "Go and preach unto all nations; baptising them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost"[Matthew 28:19], commonly quoted to prove the Gentile mission as well as the Trinity, is not found in any pre-16th century manuscript and thus considered a 'pious fraud'. And likewise every Prophet was sent exclusively to his own people*, every Prophet, that is, except Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wa salam).

*And We sent to every nation a Messenger (saying): Worship Allah (alone) and shun false deities". (Qur'An 16:36) Say (O Muhammad): "O People! I am the Messenger of Allah sent to you all". (Qur'An :158)

As Muhammad was God's final Prophet and Messenger, his mission was a universal one, intended for not only his own nation, the Arabs, but all the people of the world. The Prophet said: "Every other Prophet was sent to his nation exclusively, while I have been sent to all of humanity". [Bukhari]

A series of silly questions runs thru my mind for a very long time but always get me stumped looking for answers... "Is there a black Pope? a German Rabbi? what about an Asian Bishop from the Orthodox or Coptic churches? and so on... These are just some of the simple "silly" questions i have in mind that most of the time gets stupid and funny answers, but never had a clear and serious answer. This is where the beauty of Islam comes in. For in Islam, your color, race, and even your nobility doesn't matter. Muslims (even non-Muslims) stand before God all as one nation; a collective wherein a single unit is equal to the other, no more no less.

As for my Questions, if you ask me about black Muslim; I'd proudly say, 'Yes! There is!' and he is nonetheless Bilal the Abyssinian, One of the first to accept Islam - a slave from Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Traditionally, black Africans were a lowly people in the sight of Arabs who thought them to be of little use beyond entertainment and slavery.

When Bilal embraced Islam, his pagan master had him brutally tortured in the scorching desert heat until Abu Bakr (radiallahu anhu), the Prophet's closest friend, rescued him by buyin ghis freedom. The Prophet appointed Bilal to call the believers to prayer. The adhan (call to prayer) heard from minarets in every corner of the world since, echoes the exact same words recited by Bilal. Thus a onetime lowly slave won a unique honor as Islam's first muaddhin (the one who calls for prayer).

Western romantics hail ancient Greece as being the birthplace of democracy*. Reality was that, as slaves and women, the vast majority of Athenians were denied the right to elect their rulers. Yet, the Prophet said that a slave could himself be ruler: "Obey your ruler even if he be an Abyssinian slave". [Ahmad]

Democracy is a Middle-Eastern invention, first seen in the civilization of Ebla (Syria) in 3rd millennium BC, and then in Phoenicia (Lebanon) and Mesopotamia (Iraq) during 11th century BC. It did not appear in Athens until 5th century BC.

And there was Salman the Persian (Iran). Like most of his countrymen, Salman was raised a devout Zoroastrian. However, after an encounter with some Christians at worship, he accepted Christianity as "something better". Salman then travelled extensively in search of knowledge, from the service of one learned monk to another, the last of whom said: "O son! I do not know of anyone who is on the same (creed) as we are. However, the time of the emergence of a Prophet will shade you. This Prophet is upon the religion of Abraham".

The monk then proceed to describe this Prophet, his character and where he would appear. Salman migrated to Arabia, the land of the prophecy, and when he heard about and met Muhammad (pbuh), he immediately recognized him from his teacher's descriptions and embraced Islam. Salman became renowned for his knowledge and was the first person to translate the Qur'An into another language, Persian.

Once, whilst the Prophet was amongst his Companions, the following was revealed to him: It is He (Allah) Who had sent among the unlettered ones (i.e. Arabs) a Messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves.... and (also to) others (i.e. non-Arabs) among them who have not yet joined them (as Muslims). (Qur'An 62:2-3)

Allah's Messenger then placed his hand on Salman and said: "Even if faith was near (the stars of) Pleiades, a man from amongst these (Persians) would surely attain it". [Muslim]

Also a Suhayb the Roman, born into privilege in a luxurious house of his father, who was a client governor for the Persian emperor. Whilst still a child, Suhayb was captured by Byzantine raiders and sold into slavery in Constantinople (Turkey). Suhayb eventually escaped from bondage and fled to Mecca (Makkah), a popular place of asylum, where he soon became a prosperous merchant nicknamed 'ar - Rumi', the Roman, due to his Byzantine tongue and upbringing.

When Suhayb heard Muhammad preach, he was at once convinced of the truth of his message and embraced Islam. Like all the early Muslims, Suhayb was persecuted by the pagan Meccans. So, he traded all his wealth in exchange for safe passage to join the Prophet at Medina (Madinah), whereupon the Prophet, delighted to see Suhayb greeted hin thrice: "Your trade has been fruitful, O (Suhayb)! Your trade has been fruitful!"

Allah had informed the Prophet of Suhayb's exploits before their reunion with this revelation: And there is a type of man who ransoms himself to earn the pleasure of Allah. And Allah is full of kindness to His servants. (Qur'An 2:207)

The Prophet loved Suhaib a great deal and described him as having preceded the Romans to Islam. Suhaib's piety and standing among the early Muslims was so high that when Caliph Umar was on his deathbed, he selected Suhaib - a foreigner - to lead them until a successor could be agreed upon.

And finally but not surprisingly, there was Abdullah the Hebrew. The Jews were another nation that the pre-Islamic Arabs held in contempt. Many Jews and Christians had been expecting a new Prophet to appear in Arabia during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Jews from the Levite tribe in particular had settled in large numbers in and around the city of Medina. However, when the much anticipated Prophet came not as a Hebrew son of Israel, but as the Arab descendant of Ishmael, the Jews rejected him. Except, that is, for a few like Husayn bin Salam.

Husayn was the most learned rabbi and leader of the Medinan Jews but was denounced and vilified by them when he embraced Islam. The Prophet renamed Husayn, "Abdullah", meaning "Slave of Allah", and gave him the glad tidings that he was destined for Paradise.

Abdullah addressed his tribesmen saying: "O assembly of Jews! Be conscious of Allah and accept what Muhammad has brought. By Allah! You certainly know that he is Allah's Messenger and you can find prophecies about him and mention his name and characteristics in your Torah. I for my part declare that he is the Messenger of Allah. I have faith in him and believe that he is true. I (for one) recognize him".

Allah revealed the following about Abdullah; And witness from the Children of Israel testified to this (Qur'An being from Allah) like (the Torah). So he believed while (most of) you (Jews) are too proud (to believe). (Qur'An 46:10)

Thus in the ranks of the Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) Companions could be found Africans, Persians, Romans, and Israelites; representatives of every known continent. As the Prophet said: "Indeed, my friends and allies are not the tribe of so and so. Rather, my friends and allies are the pious, wherever they may be". [Bukhari & Muslim]

The universal brotherhood of Islam was championed by the Prophet's Companions after him. When the Companion, Ubada bin as-Samit, led a delegation to Muqawqis, the Christian patriarch of Alexandria (in Egypt), the latter exclaimed: "Get this black man away from me and bring in his stead another to talk to me!".... "How can you not be content that a black man should be the foremost among you? Is it not more fitting that he below you? Indeed no!", Ubada's comrades replied, "Though he is black as you see, he is still the foremost among us in position, intelligence, and wisdom; for black is not despised among us".

Truly, the believers are but brothers. (Qur'An 49:10)

It is the Hajj (and/or Umrah), or pilgrimage to Mecca, which remains the ultimate symbol of the oneness and brotherhood of man. Here, rich and poor from all nations stand and bow in unison before God in what is the largest gathering of humanity; testifying to the Prophet's words when he said: "There is truly no excellence for an Arab over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab; nor a white man over a black man, nor a black man over a white man; except through piety". [Ahmad]

If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your tribe, the wealth you have gained, the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and striving hard in His Cause, then wait until Allah brings about His Decision. And Allah guides not a rebellious people. (Qur'An 9:24)

The Prophet said: ".... whoever fights under the banner of the blind, becoming angry for nationalism, calling to nationalism, or assisting nationalism, and dies: then he dies a death of 'jahiliyya' (i.e. pre-Islamic ignorance and disbelief)". [Muslim]

While those who disbelieved placed in their hearts pride and haughtiness - the pride and haughtiness of jahiliyya, Allah sent down His tranquility upon His Messenger and upon the believers. (Qur'An 48:26)

In fact, the Muslims in and of themselves constitute a single body and supra-nation, as the Prophet explained: "The parable of the believers in their mutual love and mercy is like that of a living body: if one part feels pain, the whole body suffers in sleeplessness and fever". [Muslim] Thus we made you (believers into) a (single) justly balanced community. (Qur'An 2:143)

Perhaps one of the greatest barriers to the acceptance of Islam by many (not only Westerners) is the fallacy that it is primarily a religion for Orientals or dark-skinned people. No doubt, the racial injustices against many blacks, be they Abyssinian slaves of pre-Islamic Arabia, or 20th century Afro-Americans, has prompted many to embrace Islam. But this is beside the point. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was himself pale complexion, described by his Companions as being 'white and ruddy' - a description many tens of millions of believing Arabs, Berbers and Persians share.

Even blue-eyed blondes are not so rare amongst Near Easterners. Furthermore, Europe has more indigenous white Muslims that it has 'coloured' immigrants. The Bosnians, for example, whose numbers were decimated at the end of the 20th century but who, due to their heroism and tradition of tolerance, have contributed most to Balkan peace and stability. Albanians too, descended from Europe's ancient Illyrians, are also largely Muslims. Truth is, one of the 20th century's leading Muslim scholars, Imam Muhammad Nasir udDeen al Albani, was, as his title suggests, Albanian.

Truly, We created humans in best stature. (Qur'An 5:4)

O humanity! we have created you from a single male and female and made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another (not that you have pride over one another). Verily, the most honorable of you in the Sight of Allah is the one most pious". (Qur'An 49:13)

Whites have been called 'caucasian' ever since anthropologists declared the Caucasus Mountains, hone to Europe's highest peaks, to be the 'Cradle of the White Race'. Today, the natives of these mountains are Muslims. Amongst many lesser-known tribe of fierce mountaineers and fair maidens are the Circassians: famed for their bravery and beauty who, as Mamluke rulers of Syria and Egypt, helped defend the civilized world and safeguard its holy lands from the ravages of the Mongol hordes.

Then there is the brutalized Chechen, arguably the most unwieldy of all God's creatures. While over 1 million American and North European Caucasian whites - Anglo-Saxons, Franks, Germans, Scandinavians, and Celts included - now profess Islam. Truth of the matter is, Islam peacefully entered parts of Europe before Christianity, when: 'In times long ago, when the Russian Slav had not yet started to build Christian churches on the Oka nor conquered these places in the name of European civilization, the Bulgar was already listening to the Qur'An on the banks of the Volga and the Kama'. (Solov'ev, 1965) [On 16th of May 922, Islam became the official state religion of the Volga Bulgars, with whom today's Bulgarians share a common ancestry].

Every faith besides Islam calls for the worship of creation in some way, shape, or form. Moreover, race and color play a central and divisive role in almost all non-Islamic belief systems. A Christian's deification of Jesus and the saints or a Buddhist's deification of Buddha and the Dalai Lamas has people of particular race and color being worshiped in derogation of Allah. In Judaism, salvation is withheld from a non-Jew Gentile.

Hinduism's caste system likewise checks the spiritual, socio-political and economic aspirations of the 'unclean' lower castes. Islam, however, seeks to unite and make one all the creatures of the world upon the Unity and Oneness of their creator. Thus, Islam alone liberates all people's races and colors in the worship of Allah alone.

Inshaallah the next time we see our brother, neighbor, colleague, or even a homeless stranger down the street, let us not look upon unto his color, creed, or nobility, but instead his faith and belief to the One True God. For only the Almighty knows what is hidden beneath our chests and to Him will we be returned.

Ameen

I am a Muslim and this is Islam

I am a Muslim and this is Islam.

La ilaha il Allah muhammad ar rasool Allah - There is no god but God and Muhammad is his Messenger

I have been away for the past few weeks attending my religious duties and fortifying my faith thru the Holy month of Ramadan, and Alhamdulillah I’m feeling great. Please don’t think of me lecturing or preaching Islam as a religion and afterwards “baptize” you thru whatever fancy, alien or weird way afterwards without you knowing or by against your will. I’m just a simple torch bearer, merely presenting my faith to those who doesn’t (want to) know, those who doesn’t (want to) understand, and to those who have a lot of misconceptions about Islam (and Muslims in general).

Anyone who asks me regarding what is my religion will always get the same answer – My religion is the religion of Peace and the religion of all the Prophets (answers mostly to Christians; and Jews or any other sects under Monotheism or the belief in one True God) and this religion governs the Law of Science and Nature, it is the religion of all origins (answers animists, atheists, and agnostics). See, as I mentioned on one of my previous blog Persuasion, Islam shares with (the People of the Book) Christianity and Judaism a common trait which is Monotheism (belief in one True God). I won’t elaborate much on those two faiths thus I’ll stick on what I am presenting.

There are over a thousand “religions” in the world at present but the question lies on “Which one of them is the True religion?” I’ll leave that question to you, after all we’re all students in this life and seeking (true) knowledge and wisdom is but in our nature. As I always say to my friend or relative… even a stranger who asks about which one is the True religion, I can’t tell and force you to believe that my faith in Islam as the True religion is absolutely the truth… for it is up to the Almighty to open up your heart and minds; but I can show you the beauty in it and it is upon your acceptance if I indeed is telling the truth or what I speak are mere lies and fabricated hoax.

If you feel that you are comfortable and safe in whatever you believe in, then it must be the True religion for you… but if there’d be doubts and questions unanswered even by the most learned men of your faith, then there must be something wrong in what you believe in. Truth is, will you still follow something that has been proven wrong or with flaws or walk thru the path where all queries and doubts can be logically and clearly answered?

Every religion of the world has been named either after a name of its founder or after the community and nation in which the religion took its birth. For instance, Christianity takes its appellation from the name of the Prophet Jesus Christ (peace be upon him); Buddhism from its founder Gautama Buddha; Zoroastrianism from its founder Zoroaster; and Judaism (the religion of Jews) from the name of the tribe Judah (of the country of Judea) wherein it took its birth. Similar is the case with other religions (and sects). But not so with Islam, this religion enjoys the unique distinction of having no such association with any particular person/people, place or thing.

The word “Islam” does not convey any such relationship – for it does not belong to any particular person, people, or country. It is neither the product of any human mind nor is it confined to any particular community. It is a universal religion and its objective is to create and cultivate in man the quality and attitude of Islam.

“Islam” as a matter of fact, is an attributive title. Whosoever possesses this attribute, may he belong to any race, community, country, or clan, is a Muslim. According to the Qur’An (the last and seal of all the Holy Books), among every people and in all ages there have been good and righteous people who possessed this attribute – and all of them were and are Muslims.

This automatically brings us to the question:

What does Islam mean? And who is a Muslim?

ISLAM – what does it mean?

Islam is an Arabic word which connotes submission, surrender, and obedience. As a religion, Islam stands for complete submission, surrender, and obedience to Allah (subhannahu wa ta'ala). Another literal meaning of "Islam" comes from its root word "salam" which means "peace". This signifies that one can achieve real peace of body and mind only through submission and obedience to the Creator. Such a life of obedience brings in peace of the heart and establishes real peace in the society at large. And that is why its called Islam.

Now who are the Muslims?

Everyone can see that the universe we live in is an orderly universe. There is law and order among all the units that composes the entirety of the infinite universe. Everything is assigned a place in a grand scheme which is working in a magnificent and a superb way. The sun, the moon, the stars, and in fact all the heavenly bodies are knit together in a splendid system. They all follow an unalterable law and do not make even the slightest deviation from their ordained course. The earth rotates on its own axis and in its revolution round the sun scrupulously follows the path laid down for it. Similarly, everything in the world, from the little whirling electron to the mighty nebulae, invariably follows its own laws.

Matter, energy, and life - all obey their laws and grow and change and live and die in accordance with those laws. Even in the human world, the laws of nature are quite manifest. Man's birth, growth, and life are all regulated by a set of biological laws. A man when sleepy will eventually sleep, when tired will eventually rest, when hungry will eventually eat, when thirsty will eventually drink; A man needs to breath in order to live - even if he tries to hold his breath, he will eventually inhale(or exhale) air, he may stay awake for over a week without sleeping but eventually his eyes will succumb to sleep - for that is ordained to him.

The heart, the brain, and even the small tissues and organs of his body are governed by laws prescribed to them. In other words, ours is a law-governed universe and everything in it is following the course that has been ordained.

This powerful, all-pervasive law, which governs all is none the less the Law of God, the Creator and Ruler of the universe. As entire creation obeys the Law of God, the whole universe therefore, literally follows the religion of Islam - for Islam signifies nothing but obedience and submission to Allah, the Lord of the universe. The sun, the moon, the heavenly bodies are thus "Muslims". So is the case with air, water, heat, trees, animals, and even stones. Everything in the universe is A Muslim for it obeys God by submission to His Laws. Even a man who refuses to believe in God, or offers his worship to someone or something other than God, has perforce to be a Muslim as far as his body is concerned.

This in short, is the real position of man and the universe. Examining it further, Man is so constituted that there are two aspects of his life: two distinct spheres of his activity. One is the sphere in which he finds himself totally regulated by the Divine Law. Wherein he cannot budge an inch or move a step away from it. Nor he can evade it in any way or form. In fact, like other creatures, he is completely caught in the grip of the law of nature and is bound to follow it.

But there's another sphere of his activity as well. he has been endowed with reason and intellect, he has the power to think and form judgement, to choose and reject, to adapt and spurn, to do good and evil. He is free to adopt whatever course of life he chooses. He can embrace any faith, adopt any way of life and formulate his living according to whatever ideologies he likes. He may prepare his own code of conduct or accept one formulated by others. He has been bestowed with free will and can chalk out his own course of behavior. In this latter aspect, he, unlike any other creature, has been given the freedom of thought, choice, and action.

Both these aspects distinctly co-exist in man's life. In the first he, like all other creature, is a born Muslim, invariably obeys the injunctions of God, and is bound to remain so. As far as the second aspect is concerned, he is free to become or not to become a Muslim. Here he has been given the freedom of choice - and it is the way a person exercises this freedom which divides mankind into two groups : the believers and the non-believers. An individual who chooses to acknowledge his Creator, accepts Him as his Real Master, honestly and scrupulously submits to His laws and injunctions and follows the code he has revealed unto man for his individual and social life, thereby becomes a perfect Muslim.

He has, so to say, achieved completeness in his Islam by consciously deciding to obey God in the domain in which he was endowed with freedom and choice. Now his entire life has become one of submission to God and there is no conflict in his personality. He is a perfect Muslim and his Islam is complete - for this submission of his entire self to the will of Allah is Islam and nothing but Islam.

He has now consciously submitted to Him Whom he had already been unconsciously obeying. He has now willingly offered obedience to the Mater Whom he already owed obedience unintentionally. His knowledge is now real for he has acknowledged the Being Who endowed him the power to learn and know. Now this reason and judgement are set on an even keel - for he has rightly decided to obey the Being Who bestowed upon him the faculty of thinking and judging. His tongue is also truthful for it expresses with conviction its confession for the Lord Who gave it the faculty of speech.

Now the whole of his existence is an embodiment of truth for, in all spheres of life, he voluntarily as well as involuntarily obeys the laws of the same One True God - the Lord of the universe. Now he is at peace with the whole universe for he worships Him Whom the whole universe worships. Such a man is God's vice regent on earth. The whole world is for him and he is for God.

Simply put, I am a Muslim.... whether you like it or not you are also a Muslim.... we are all Muslims. The only thing we differ is how we exercise our second sphere of activity and this weighs us being a TRUE Muslim or not. Inshaallah may Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) open our hearts and minds to the truth and guide us all again (back) to straight path. Ameen.