A
follower of the religion Islam is called a Muslim.
The word Muslim means one who is obedient to Allah (God)
and follows His commands in all walks of his life as shown by the last Messenger
of Allah, Muhammad S.
Muslim is a person who
believes in the following fundamentals of Islam:
-
The
Oneness of Allah (God), and all of His attributes.
-
All
the revealed books (The Qur-an, The Torah, The Bible etc).
-
All
Rusul (Messengers) of Allah (God) like Idris
A (Enoch),
Nuh A (Noah),
Ibrahim A (Abraham),
Lut A (Lot),
Isma'il A (Ishmael),
Ishaq A (Isaac),
Musa A (Moses),
Harun A (Aaron),
Da'ud A (David),
Dhul-Kifl A (Ezekiel),
Sulayman A (Solomon),
Ilyas A (Elijah),
Al-Yasa” A (Elisha),
Yunus A (Jonah), Ya'qub A (Jacob),
Yusuf A (Joseph), Ayyub A (Job), Zakariyya
A (Zechariah), Yahya A (John) and 'Isa A
(Jesus)
etc, and in Muhammad S as the last and final Rasul
(Messenger) of Allah (God).
-
Mala”ikah
(Angels) of Allah (God).
-
The
Day of Judgment and life after death.
-
Al-Qadr
(Destiny).
Any
one who wants to live in peace with himself, his family, his friends and rest
of the world, is a Muslim.
Muslims seek to live in accordance
with Allah (God)'s laws. By doing so, they strive to obtain nearness
to Allah (God) and victory over the temptations in this world. All
of their religious practices are intended to help meet this goal. Islam
is not merely a religion of Prayers and some ritualistic practices, but it
is a complete way of life. It applies on each and every walk of life of an individual
and it expands to a society, a country or the entire world at large. Islam
requires its followers to be active participants in their communities.
To
be a Muslim, one has to believe that Allah (God) is one;
and that He sent Rusul (Messengers) for the guidance of mankind, and Muhammad
S was His last Rasul (Messenger). This concept is also formally
declared by Muslims and is known as Shahadatayn (The
Twin Declarations of Faith):
| | La
ilaha illallah, Muhammadur Rasul Allah
There is no one worthy to be worshipped but God (Allah) Muhammad is His
(last) Messenger | |
Muslims
also believe in the Holy Qur-an, revealed to Muhammad
S for the guidance of mankind. It contains many stories that are familiar to Christians
and Jews. The Holy Qur-an contains no scientific fallacies
or internal contradictions. The Holy Qur-an contains many scientific
facts discovered by scientists only in this century. The Qur-an
is also an unparalleled Arabic literary masterpiece. Furthermore, unlike the Torah
and the Gospel, it survives in its original revealed.
People
living in the West or elsewhere in the world should not allow themselves to be
ignorant about Islam and Muslims. Currently, there are more
than 1.2 billion Muslims in the world. Every fourth person on the face
of the earth is a Muslim.
Contrary to the popular myth, only a
small percentage of Muslims (About 18%) live in the Arab world. The largest
Islamic populations are concentrated in Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan
and Malaysia. More than Fifty (50) countries in the world have Muslim majority.
In the year 2000, Islam became the second largest religion in the
United States of America, surpassing Judaism, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, and
all other religions. The population of Muslims living in the USA is estimated
to be seven to nine million. A significant percentage of Muslims living
in the United States is indigenous. According to demographic surveys, Islam
is the fastest growing religion not only in the U.S.A. but also in the world.
Unlike Christianity, there are no organized and dedicated Muslims
missionaries working anywhere in the world converting people to Islam.
Presidents
Clinton and Bush of the U.S.A., recognized festivals of Islam and
other religious occasions. Both had hosted Iftar (Breaking
of Fast) parties for Muslims in the White House to respect the month
of Ramadan (Fasting). In the year 2000, U.S. Postal
Service had issued a commemorative stamp at the occasion of ‘Id al-Fitr
(Festival of Charity), the main festival of Muslims.
Anyone
can easily become a Muslim by believing in its basics. All are welcome
to the Religion of Islam, irrespective of color, caste, economic
and social status, level of education and geographical boundaries, if they want
to sincerely submit themselves to the will of God, and want to live in peace with
themselves and the entire mankind.
Muslims
are allowed to eat all kinds of pure and clean foods. Islam allows
them to eat Halal (Lawful) meats. However,
they do not eat pork and anything that is impure and unhealthy. Alcohol is also
made unlawful in Islam. Alcoholic beverages, irrespective of their
alcoholic contents, are forbidden in Islam.
| | 
Forbidden
to you (for food) are Al-Maithah (the dead animals - cattle - beast not
slaughtered), blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which Allah's name
has not been mentioned while slaughtering, (that which has been slaughtered as
a sacrifice for others than Allah, or has been slaughtered for idols) and
that which has been killed by strangling, or a violent blow, or by a headlong
fall, or by the goring of horns - and that which has been (partly) eaten by wild
animal -unless you are able to slaughter it (before its death) - and that which
is sacrificed (slaughtered) on An-Nusub (stone-altars)...
Surah
(Chapter) Al-Ma"idah (Table Spread with Food) Qur-an 5:3 |
Muslims are often branded as fundamentalist. A true Muslim
is technically a fundamentalist. Fundamentalist means the one who faithfully and
sincerely follows the fundamentals of one’s religion. In the same manner a true
Christian, a true Jew, a true Hindu, all are fundamentalists.
Taking
a lead from Christian , the followers and worshipers of Christ; the West had also
coined the Term Mohammaden for Muslims, mistakenly assuming them to be followers
or worshippers of Muhammad S, the last Messenger of Allah (God).
The
West has deliberately or otherwise, given a wrong definition to the word fundamentalist.
It often equates fundamentalism with terrorism, and uses the word fundamentalist
in a derogatory way, mostly as an equivalent to terrorist. This is a wrong
connotation, which needs to be corrected.
