Institute of Islamic Information & Education
INTRODUCING ISLAM
I. ISLAM AND MUSLIMSThe name of this religion is Islam, the root
of which is Silm and Salam which means peace. Salam may also mean greeting
one another with peace. One of the beautiful names of God is that He is
the Peace. It means more than that: submission to the One God, and to live
in peace with the Creator, within one's self, with other people and with
the environment. Thus, Islam is a total system of living. A Muslim is supposed
to live in peace and harmony with all these segments; hence, a Muslim is
any person anywhere in the world whose obedience, allegiance, and loyalty
are to God, the Lord of the Universe.
II. MUSLIMS AND ARABSThe followers of Islam are called Muslims.
Muslims are not to be confused with Arabs. Muslims may be Arabs, Turks,
Persians, Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indonesians, Europeans, Africans,
Americans, Chinese, or other nationalities.
An Arab could be a Muslim, a Christian,
a Jew or an atheist. Any person who adopts the Arabic language is called
an Arab. However, the language of the Qur'an (the Holy Book of Islam) is
Arabic. Muslims all over the world try to learn Arabic so that they may
be able to read the Qur'an and understand its meaning. They pray in the
language of the Qur'an, namely Arabic. Supplications to God could be in
any language.
While there are one billion Muslims in the
world there are about 200 million Arabs. Among them, approximately ten
percent are not Muslims. Thus Arab Muslims constitute only about twenty
percent of the Muslim population of the world.
III. ALLAH THE ONE AND THE ONLY GODAllah is the name of the One and Only God.
Allah has ninety-nine beautiful names, such as: The Gracious, The Merciful,
The Beneficent, The Creator, The All-Knowing, The All-Wise, The Lord of
the Universe, The First, The Last, and others.
He is the Creator of all human beings. He
is the God for the Christians, the Jews, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the
Hindus, the atheists, and others. Muslims worship God whose name is Allah.
They put their trust in Him and they seek His help and His guidance.
IV. MUHAMMADMuhammad was chosen by God to deliver His
Message of Peace, namely Islam. He was born in 570 C.E. (Common Era) in
Makkah, Arabia. He was entrusted with the Message of Islam when he was
at the age of forty years. The revelation that he received is called the
Qur'an, while the message is called Islam.
Muhammad is the very last Prophet of God
to mankind. He is the final Messenger of God. His message was and is still
to the Christians, the Jews and the rest of mankind. He was sent to those
religious people to inform them about the true mission of Jesus, Moses,
Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham.
Muhammad is considered to be the summation
and the culmination of all the prophets and messengers that came before
him. He purified the previous messages from adulteration and completed
the Message of God for all humanity. He was entrusted with the power of
explaining, interpreting and living the teaching of the Qur'an.
V. SOURCE OF ISLAMThe legal sources of Islam are the Qur'an
and the Hadith. The Qur'an is the exact word of God; its authenticity,
originality and totality are intact. The Hadith is the report of the sayings,
deeds and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad. The Prophet's sayings and
deeds are called Sunnah. The Seerah is the writings of followers of Muhammad
about the life of the Prophet. Hence, it is the life history of the Prophet
Muhammad which provides examples of daily living for Muslims.
VI. SOME ISLAMIC PRINCIPLES
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Oneness of God: He is One and the Only One. He is
not two in one or three in one. This means that Islam rejects the idea
of trinity or such a unity of God which implies more than one God in one.
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Oneness of mankind: People are created equal in front
of the Law of God. There is no superiority for one race over another. God
made us of different colors, nationalities, languages and beliefs so as
to test who is going to be better than others. No one can claim that he
is better than others. It is only God Who knows who is better. It depends
on piety and righteousness.
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Oneness of Messengers and the Message: Muslims believe
that God sent different messengers throughout the history of mankind. All
came with the same message and the same teachings. It was the people who
misunderstood and misinterpreted them.
Muslims believe in Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ismail,
Jacob, Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad. The Prophets of Christianity
and Judaism are indeed the Prophets of Islam.
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Angels and the Day of Judgment: Muslims believe that
there are unseen creatures such as angels created by God in the universe
for special missions.
Muslims believe that there is a Day of Judgment
when all people of the world throughout the history of mankind till the
last day of life on earth, are to be brought for accounting, reward and
punishment.
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Innocence of Man at Birth: Muslim believe that people
are born free of sin. It is only after they reach the age of puberty and
it is only after they commit sins that they are to be charged for their
mistakes. No one is responsible for or can take the responsibility for
the sins of others. However, the door of forgiveness through true repentance
is always open.
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State and Religion: Muslims believe that Islam is
a total and a complete way of life. It encompasses all aspects of life.
As such, the teachings of Islam do not separate religion from politics.
As a matter of fact, state and religion are under the obedience of Allah
through the teachings of Islam. Hence, economic and social transactions,
as well as educational and political systems are also part of the teachings
of Islam.
VII. PRACTICES OF ISLAMGod instructed the Muslims to practice what
they believe in. In Islam there are five pillars, namely:
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Creed (Shahada): The verbal commitment and pledge
that there is only One God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, is
considered to be the Creed of Islam.
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Prayers (Salat): The performance of the five daily
prayers is required of Muslims.
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Fasting (Saum): Fasting is total abstinence from
food, liquids and intimate intercourse (between married couples) from dawn
to sunset during the entire month of Ramadan.
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Purifying Tax (Zakat): This is an annual payment
of a certain percentage of a Muslim's property which is distributed among
the poor or other rightful beneficiaries.
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Pilgrimage (Hajj): The performance of pilgrimage
to Makkah is required once in a life time if means are available. Hajj
is in part in memory of the trials and tribulations of Prophet Abraham,
his wife Hagar and his eldest son Prophet Ishmael.
VIII. OTHER RELATED ASPECTS
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Calendar: Islamic practices are based on the lunar
calendar. However, Muslims also use the Gregorian calendar in their daily
religious lives. Hence, the Islamic calendar includes both the common era
and the migration (Higra) year of the Prophet of Islam from Makkah to Madinah
in the year of 623 C.E.
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Celebrations (Eid): Muslims have two celebrations
(Eid); namely, Eid of Sacrifice and Eid of Fast-Breaking. The Eid of Sacrifice
is in remembrance of the sacrifice to be by Prophet Abraham of his son.
The Eid of Fast-Breaking comes at the end of the month of fasting, Ramadan.
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Diets: Islam allows Muslims to eat everything which
is good for the health. It restricts certain items such as pork and its
by-products, alcohol and any narcotic or addictive drugs.
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Place of Worship: The place of worship is called
Mosque or Masjid. There are three holy places of worship for the Muslims
in the world. These are: Mosque of Kaaba in Makkah, Mosque of the Prophet
Muhammad in Madinah, and Masjid Aqsa, adjacent to the Dome of the Rock
in Jerusalem.
A Muslim may pray any where in the world whether
in a Mosque, a house, an office, or outside. The whole world is a place
of worship. It is preferable that Muslims pray in a congregation, however,
he/she may pray individually anywhere.
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Holidays: The holy day of the Muslims is Friday.
It is considered to be sacred and the Day of Judgment will take place on
Friday. Muslims join together shortly after noon on Friday for the Friday
congregational prayer in a Mosque. A leader (Imam) gives a sermon (Khutba)
and leads the congregational prayer.
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Distribution of Muslims in North America: There are
approximately five million Muslims in North America and are distributed
in its major cities such as New York, Detroit, Boston, Toledo, Chicago,
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Toronto, Montreal,
Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Windsor, Winnipeg, Calgary, and others.
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Contributions in North America: Muslims are not established
in North America. Sears Tower and the John Hancock buildings in Chicago
were designed by a Muslim chief architect, originally from Bangladesh.
Muslims have established academic institutions, community centers and organizations,
schools and places of worship. They live in peace and harmony among themselves
and among other groups of people in the society. The rate of crime among
Muslims is very minimal. Muslims in North America are highly educated and
they have added to the success of American scientific and technological
fields.
The Muslims of the early period of the Islamic
era were pioneers in medicine, chemistry, physics, geography, navigation,
arts, poetry, mathematics, algebra, logarithms, calculus, etc. They contributed
to the Renaissance of Europe and world civilization.
IX. NON-MUSLIMSMuslims are required to respect all those
who are faithful and God conscious people, namely those who received messages.
Christians and Jews are called People of the Book. Muslims are asked to
call upon the People of the Book for common terms, namely, to worship One
God, and to work together for the solutions of the many problems in the
society.
Christians and Jews lived peacefully with
Muslims throughout centuries in the Middle East and other Asian and African
countries. The second Caliph Umar, did not pray in the church in Jerusalem
so as not to give the Muslims an excuse to take it over. Christians entrusted
the Muslims, and as such the key of the Church in Jerusalem is still in
the hands of the Muslims.
Jews fled from Spain during the Inquisition,
and they were welcomed by the Muslims. They settled in the heart of the
Islamic Caliphate. They enjoyed positions of power and authority.
Throughout the Muslim world, churches, synagogues
and missionary schools were built within the Muslim neighborhoods. These
places were protected by Muslims even during the contemporary crises in
the Middle East.
--- Ahmad H. Sakr, Ph.D.
For more information please contact:
The Institute of Islamic Information and
Education
P.O. Box 41129
Chicago, IL 60641-0129 U.S.A.
INTRODUCTION OF III&EThe Institute of Islamic Information and
Education (III&E) is dedicated to the cause of Islam in North America
through striving to elevate the image of Islam in North America through
striving to elevate the image of Islam and Muslims by providing the correct
information about Islamic beliefs, history and civilization from the authentic
sources. Enquiries are welcome.
 For more
information or suggestions e-mail the Muslim
Student Association of Villanova University.
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