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22 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Islam
1. What is Islam?
The word "Islam" means peace and submission. Peace means
to be at peace with yourself and your surroundings and submission means
submission to God and obey his commandments. A broader meaning of the word
Islam is to achieve peace by submitting to the will of God.
This unique religion with a name whcih signifies a moral
attitude and a way of like. Judaism takes it name form the tribe of Judah,
Christianity from Jesus Christ, Buddhism from Goutam Budha and Hinduism
from Indus River. However, Muslims should no be called "Muhammadans".
2. Who is Allah?
Allah is the Arabic word for "one God", the same as Eloh
in Aramaic. Allah is not God of Muslims only. He is God of all cretions,
because He is their Creator and the Sustainer.
3. Who is a Muslim?
The word "Muslim" means one who submits to the will of God.
This is done by declaring that "there is no God except one God and Muhammad
is the messenger of God". In a broader sense, anyone who willing submits
to the will of God is a Muslim, thus all the prophets preceding the prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) were Muslim. The Qur'an specifically mentions Abraham who
lived long before Moses and Christ that, "he was not a Jew or a Chrisitian
bu a Muslim," because he had submitted to the will of God. Thus there are
Muslims who are not submitting to the will of God and there are Muslims
who are doing their best to live an Islamic life. One cannot judge Islam
by looking at those Muslims who have a Muslim name but in their actions,
they are not living or behaving as Muslims. The state of being a Muslim
can be according to the degree to which one is submitting to the will of
God, in his beliefs and in his actions.
4. Who was Muhammad? (pbuh)
In brief, Muhammad (pbuh) was born in a noble tribe of Mecca
in Arabia in the year 570 A.D. His ancestry goes back to Prophet Ishmael
(pbuh), son of Prophet Abraham (pbuh). His father died before this birth
and his mother died when he was six. He did not attend any formal school.
He was raised first by a nurse as it was the custom those dasys, and then
by his grandfather and unlce. As a young man, he was known as a righteous
person who used to mediatate in a cave. At age 40, he was giventhe prophethood
when the angel, Gabriel, appeared in the cave. Subsequently, the revealations
came over 23 years and are in the book called the Qur'an which Muslims
consider as the finall and last word of God. The Qur'an has been preserved,
unchanged, in its orginal form and confirms the truth in the Torah, the
psalms and the Gospel. Qur'an is the only scripture in existence todat
with its original Arabic text.
5. Do Muslims Worship Muhammad? (pbuh)
No. Muslims do not worship Muhammad (pbuh) or any other prophets.
Muslims believe in all prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon,
Moses and Jesus (pbuh them all). Muslims believe that Muhammad (pbuh) was
the last of the Prophets. They believe that God alone is to be worshipped,
not any human being.
6. What do Muslims Think of Jesus? (pbuh)
Muslims think highly of Jesus (pbuh) and his worthy mother,
MAry. The Qur'an tells us that Jesus was born of a mirculous birth without
a father. "Lo. The likeness of Jesus with Allah is the likeness of Adam.
He created him of dust, and then He said unto him: Be and he is!" (Qur'an
3:59) He was given many miracles as a prophet. These include speaking soon
after birth in defense of his mother's piety. God's other gifts to him
included healing the blind and the sick, reviving the dead, making a bird
out of clay and most importantly, the message he was carrying. These miracles
were given to him by God to establish him as a prophet. According to the
Qur'an, he was not crucified but was raised into Heaven. (Qur'an, Chapter
Maryam)
7. Do Muslims Have Many Sects?
Muslims have few sects than Christians. In Islam, there are
two major sects, the Shia and Sunni. Both sects have many things in common.
They follow the same prophet, Muhammad (pbuh). Both offer thier prayers
five times a day. Both fast in the month of Ramadan. They both go for Hajj,
pilgrimage to Mecca. The difference bewteen these two sects are more like
those found between any two different schools of thought. Those who follow
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), in accordance with his sayings and actions, are
called Sunni and those who in addition follow the sayings and views of
Ali (Muhammad's son-in-law), as the rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad,
are called Shia. Shia means a partisan (party of Ali) and it started more
as a plotical party to help Ali in his conflict with his plocitcal adversaries.
Most Shias live in Iran and Iraq while the rest of the Muslim world is
mostly Sunni. Shia comprise about 16 percent the Muslim population. Contrary
to common accustaion, neither Shia nor Sunni are militant. Their actions
sometimes are in a reaction to the oppression that they have suffered.
8. What are the Pillars of Islam?
There are five articles of faith commonly known as the five
Pillars of Islam.
The Five Pillars of Islam
The belief in one God and that Muhammad is His messenger
(Iman)
Prayer which is prescribed five times a day (Salah)
Fasting which is required in the month of Ramadan (Sawm)
Charity which is the poor-due on the wealth of the rich (Zakat)
Pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime if one can afford
it physically and financially (Hajj)
Pillars are part of a building. The building in this case
is the perfect human who cares and protects rights of all creations and
fellow humans thus establsihing a society in which justice and peace is
supreme.
9. What is the Purpose of Worship in Islam?
The purpose of worship in Islam is to make the person God-conscious.
Thus the worship, whether it is prayer, fasting or charity, it is a means
to an end and the end is to seeke the pleasure of God by becoming God-conscious
in thought and in action. Thus he is better placed to receive His bounties
both in this world and the Hereafter.
10. Do Muslims Believe in the Hereafter?
God is Just and therefore, in order to exercise His justice,
there has to be a system of accountablity. Those who do good have to be
rewarded and those who do wrong have to be punished accordingly. Therefore,
He created Heaven and Hell and there are admission criteria for each of
them. Muslims believe that the present life is a temporary one. It is a
test and if we pass the test, we will be given a life of permanent pleasure
in the company of good people in Heaven.
11. Will the Good Actions of Non-Believers Be Wasted?
No. The Qur'an clearly says that, "anyone who has an atom's
worth of goodness will see it and anyone who has done an atom's worth of
evil will also see it". By that it is meant that those who do not believe
but have done good, they will be rewarded in this world for thier good
deed. On the other hand, those who do good if they are Muslims, they will
be rewarded not only in this world but also in the world hereafter. However,
the final Judgement is up to God Himself. (Qur'an 2:62)
12. What is the Dress Code for Muslims?
Islam emphasizes modesty. No person should be perceived as
a sex object. Guidelines both for men and women are that their dress should
neither be too thin nor too tight to reveal body forms. For men, they must
at least cover the area from the knee to the navel and women, their dress
should cover all areas except the hands and the face. The veil is essential.
13. What are the Dietary Prohibitions in Islam?
Muslims are told in Qur'an not eat pork or pork products,
dead animals or the meat of the carnivorous animals (as they eat dead animals),
or drink intoxicants such as wine or use any drug product.
14. What is "Islamic Fundamentalism"?
As opposed to Christianity, there is no concept of "Fundamentalism"
in Islam. The Western media has coined this term to brand those Muslims
who wish to return to the basic fundamental principles of Islam and mould
thier lives accordingly. Islam is a religion of medoeration and a practicing
Muslim can neither be a fanatic nor an extremist.
15. What is the Islamic Year?
The Islmic Year started from the migration (Hijra) of Prophet
Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D. It is a lunar year of 354 days.
The first month is called Muharram. 1993 AD is in Islamic year 1413 A.H.
16. What are the Major Islamic Festivals?
Eid ul-Fitr marks the end of the fasting in the month of
Ramadan and is celebrated with public prayers, feasts and exchange of gifts.
Eid ul-Adha marks the end of the Hajj or the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
After the public prayers, those who can afford, sacrifice a lamb, goat,
cow or camel to signify Prophet Abraham's (pbuh) obedience to God, shown
by his readiness to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
17. What is Sharia?
Sharia is the comprehensive Muslim law derived from two sources:
(a) the Qur'an (b) the Sunnah or traditions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
It covers every aspect of daily individual living. The purpose of Islamic
laws are protection of individuals' basic human rights to include right
to life, property, politcal and religious freedom and safeguarding the
rights of women and minorities. The low crime rate in Muslim societies
is due to the application of the Islamic penal laws. These however can
only be applied in a society which has established all other Islamic laws
to ensure justice and protection of others' rights.
18. Was Islam Spread by the Sword?
According to the Qur'an, "There is no complusion in religion"
(Qur'an 2:256), thus noone can be forced to become a Muslim. While it is
true that in many places where Muslim armies wnet to liberate people or
the land, they did carry the sword as that was the weapon used at that
time. However, Islam did not spread by the sword. In many places where
there are Muslims now, in the Far East like Indonesia, in China, and many
parts of Africa, there are no records of any Muslim armies having gone
there. To say that Islam spread by the sword would be to say that Chrisitianity
was spread by guns, F-16's and atomic bombs, etc., which is not true. Christianity
was spread by the missionary works of Christians. Ten-percent of all Arabs
are Christians. The "Sword of Islam" could not convert all the non-Muslim
minorities in Muslim countries. In India, where Muslims ruled for 700 years,
they are still a minority. In the U.S.A., Islam is the fastest growing
religion and has 6 million followers and no sword is around.
19. Does Islam Promote Violence and Terrorism?
No. Islam is a religion of peace and submission and stresses
the sanctity of human life. A verse in the Qur'an says that "anyone who
saves one life, it is as is he has saved the whole of mankind and anyone
who has killed another person except (in lieu of murder or mischief on
earth) it is as if he has killed the whole of mankind" (Qur'an 5:32). Islam
condemns all the violence that is sometimes blamed on Muslims and at times
are committed by those who have Muslim names. Christianity can not be judged
by the violence which happened in the Crusades, in Spain, in World War
II, or by acts of people like the Rev. Jim Jones, David Koresh, or the
atrocities commited in Bosnia by the Christian Serbs. Anyone who is doing
violence is not practicing his religion at that time. However, sometimes
violence is a human response of oppressed people as it happens in Palestine.
These people have been displaced from their homeland, been put in refugee
camps, and watched their relatives being killed and no one listens to their
plight unless they do something to get the attention of the media. Although
this is wrong, this is the only way for them to attrat attention. There
is a lot terrorism and violence in areas where there is no Muslim presence.
For example, in Ireland, South Africa, LAtin America, and Sri Lanka. Sometimes
the violence in due to a struggle between those who have and those who
do not have, or between those who are oppressed with those who are the
oppressors. We need to find out why people do become terrorists. Unfortunately,
the Palestinians who are doing violence are called terrorist but when Tamils
in Sri Lanka do the same, they are called rebels.
20. What is Jihad?
The word "Jihad" means struggle, or to be specific, string
in the cause of God. Any struggle done in day-to-day life to please God
is considered Jihad. One of the hishest levels of Jihad is to stand up
to a tyrant and speak a word of truth. Control of the self from wrong doings
is the greatest Jihad. One of the forms of Jihad is to take up arms in
defense of Islam or a Muslim country when Islam is attacked. This kind
of Jihad has to be declared by the religious leadership or by a Muslim
head of state who is following Qur'an and Sunnah.
21. Does Islam Promote Polygamy?
For Muslim men to have more than one wife is a permission
which is given to them in the Qur'an provided it's not to satisfy lust
but to meet social solutions and needs and then too, provided he is capable
of treating them equally. It is not an injunction. In the pre-Islamic period,
men used to have many wives. One person had 11 wives and when he became
Muslim, he asked the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) "What should I do with so
many wives?" and he said "Divorce all except the four." The Qur'an says
"you can marry 2 or 3 and tp to 4 women if you can be equally just with
each of them." Since it is very difficult to be equally just with all wives,
in practice, most of the Muslim men do not have more than one wife. Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) himself from age 24 to 50 was married to only one women,
Khadija. In the Western society, some men who have one wife have many extramarital
affairs. Thus, a survey was published in "U.S.A. Today" (April 4, 1988;
Section D) which asked 4700 mistresses what they would like thier status
to be. They said that "they prefered being a second wife rather that the
"other woman" because they did not have the legal rights, nor did they
have the financial equality of the legally married wives, and it appeared
that they were being used by these men." Historically, all the prophets,
except Jesus (pbuh), who was not married, had more than one wife. So this
is nothing that Islam started; in fact, Islam regulated it.
22. Does Islam Oppress Women?
No. On the contrary, Islam elevated the status of women 1400
years ago by giving them the right to divorce, the right to have financial
independence and support and the right to be identified as dignified women
(Hijab) when the rest of the world, including Europe, women had no such
rights. Women are equal to men in all acts of piety (Qur'an 33:32). Islam
allows women to keep their maiden name after marriage, their earned money
and spend it as they wish, and ask men to be their protector as women on
the street can be molested. Prophet Muhammad (pbub) told Muslim men "the
best among you is the one who is best to his family." Not Islam, but some
Muslim men, do oppress women today. This is because of thier cultural habits
or their ignorance about their religion.
