Session #1: What is Islam

What is Islam?

Islam is not simply "peace" as some people say; it has five words in it: 1. surrender, 2. submit, 3. obey, 4. sincerity, 5. peace. If you surrender to God, submit yourself to God's will only, obey His rules and live your life accordingly in sincerity and peace, that is Islam.

Muslim is one who submits to God and Islam is not much different from other great world religions as there is only one God, and that is the Almighty God to whom Christians and Jews believe.
Islam also accepts that revelation came through all prophets, beginning from Adam, to Abraham, Moses, Jesus and finally to Muhammad (pbuh). Muhammad (pbuh) is the final prophet but not the God. He is only one humble person, servant of the God that brought the words of God to all people.
One other essential belief in Islam, -it is another common denominator with other divine religions- is accountability of the actions, is that we are responsible for all our actions and on the day of judgment everybody will go before God, and see what he/she has done in his/her previous life, which is given to us only for test purposes. Then God is the only one who decides either we will receive eternal reward or the punishment.

So, what is truth about Islam? The basic principles, so-called pillars, of Islam give us a brief idea about it. They are good principles for life and show us the way of living a good and righteous life.

1. declaration of faith: openly declare one’s faith. Faith that there is only one God. This is the belief that exists in all divine religions. There really is one God, one Supreme Being that governs all.
People, in different parts of the world, in different times, no matter they were developed or under-developed societies, always had a need to believe in God and believed in God. The unbelievers were always a minority. This is nature of human beings that they need a Supreme Being who is free from all weaknesses and errors of human beings and has power over everything.
And the messenger who brought the message is the one to follow.

2. Prayers - five times a day: Prayers are way of communicating with God and remembrance of God. People might think that it is too much for one person to pray five times a day and especially at certain times of the day, as we are overwhelmingly busy in our daily lives nowadays.
Though, nobody can say remembrance of God is not good. More we remember God, the better people we will be.

3. Fasting: In the month of Ramadan it is not allowed to eat, drink or have sexual relationship during the daylight hours (from the sunrise to the sunset). We see the act of fasting existed in other religions too in the past, people were fasting in the past, so it is instituted in every great religion.
Beside its physical requirements, there exist some spiritual obligations too. And to fulfill a perfect act of fasting, they are essential. Although the bad actions of backbiting, lying (A liar cannot be a believer.) or cursing –not to mention big ones such as adultery, theft, etc- are totally prohibited in Islam, in month of Ramadan, they are obviously violations of requirements of fasting. One who looks like doing fasting physically but omitting these spiritual obligations isn’t fasting in fact.
Fasting teaches us self-restraint, control of one’s desires, both physical and spiritual.

4. Charity: Wealthy Muslims are required to give 2.5% of the surplus of their wealth to the poor once a year. It is important to note that money doesn’t go to any institution, mosque or church but directly to the needy members of the society.

5. Pilgrimage. Wealthy Muslims, once in their lifetime, are required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
It is celebration of diversity of human beings and celebration of God’s greatness. When you go there, you see thousands, even millions of people, from all around the world. You understand that there is one Great Power who can create all those people. And there is one Great Power who can gather them all in one place. All, with different colors, positions, backgrounds, in one place and all equal in front of One Great God. It is a clear indication to the universality of message of Islam.

Who is Muslim?

Anyone who does indeed submit to the will of Allah, God Almighty, as required by Islam is termed a "Muslim," which means one who has submitted to the will of Allah.

Muslims believe that Islam existed long before Muhammad (pbuh) and that the religion has evolved with time. The Qur'an describes many Biblical prophets and messengers as Muslim: Adam, Noah (Arabic: Nuh), Moses (Arabic: Musa) and Jesus (Arabic: Isa) and his apostles. The Qur'an states that these men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached his message and upheld his values. Thus, in Surah 3:52 of the Qur'an, Jesus’ disciples tell Jesus: " We believe in God, and (we call you to) bear witness that we are Muslims ".

[3.52: (Having preached his message in this way for a long time,) Jesus perceived their willful persistence on unbelief (and open hostility), and called out: "Who will be my helpers (on this way) to God?" The disciples answered: "We are the helpers of God('s cause). We believe in God, and (we call you to) bear witness that we are Muslims (submitted to Him exclusively). ]

Most Muslims accept anyone as a Muslim who has publicly pronounced the Shahadah, which states, "There is none worthy of worship except God, and Muhammad is His Messenger." Currently, there are an estimated 1.4 billion Muslims, making it the second largest religion in the world.

Unlike some other religions which claim that God entered in a covenant with a certain group of people and that this group is genetically better than all other human beings, or closer to God, Islam on the other hand teaches that no color, race, tribe, or lineage is better than any other. Islam teaches that all humans are equal in the sight of Allah and that the only thing that can distinguish them in His sight is their piety and worship.

"O humankind! Verily! We have created you from a male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that you may know one another. Surely the noblest, most honorable of you in God's sight is the the most God-fearing , one best in piety and righteousness for God. Surely God is All-Knowing, All-Aware. “ The Qur'an, 49:13.