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.
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.
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