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Islam The Arabic word Islam means "to turn oneself over to, to resign oneself, to submit. " In religious terminology, it means submission or surrender to God, or to God's will. The Koran uses the term and its derivatives in about seventy verses. In only a few of these verses can we claim that the word refers exclusively to "Islam, " meaning thereby the religion established by the Koran and the Prophet Muhammad. Salam (salary), in its primary sense, means, to be tranquil, at rest, to have done one's duty, to have paid up, to be at perfect peace; in its secondary sense, to surrender oneself to Him with whom peace is made. The noun derived from it means peace, greeting, safety, salvation. The word does not imply, as is commonly supposed, absolute submission to God's will, but means, on the contrary, striving after righteousness.
In the broadest sense, islam means "submission to God" as an undeniable fact of existence. If God is understood as the only reality truly worthy of the name then nothing else is truly real. In other words, everything else is dependent upon God for its reality. Or, to use less philosophical and more theological language, all things in the universe, and the universe itself, are creations of God.
Since God made them the way they are, they depend totally upon God. Hence they are "submitted" to God. In the first verse quoted below, a verse that we have already cited, this broadest sense of the term islam is used to prove that true religion is established by God alone. The other verses illustrate the Koranic view that everything in the natural world praises and glorifies God. Simply by existing, all creatures demonstrate their Creator's glory and perform acts that acknowledge God's mastery over them: What, do they desire another religion than God's, while to Him has submitted whoso is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly? (3: 83) Have you not seen how whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies God, and the birds spreading their wings? (24: 41) Have you not seen how to God bow all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth, the sun and the moon, the stars and the mountains, the trees and the beasts, and many of mankind? (22: 18) Notice that "many of mankind" bow to God. This means, conversely, that many do not.
Although from one point of view human beings are included in "the heavens" and "the earth" and hence are creatures of God and submitted to him, from another point of view they are free not to submit to him. This is the great mystery. It is here that human problems begin. People are not like mountains and trees, which simply submit to God's will and give no thought to it. People are always faced with the fact of their freedom, the fact that they can choose to obey or disobey when someone tells them to do something, whether that someone be God, their parents, the government, or whoever. If there were no choices to be made, everything would be fine, because no one would be able to conceive of any other situation.
All prophets submitted themselves to God's will and hence were muslims. In the same way, all those who follow the religions brought by the prophets are muslims. But clearly this does not mean that they follow the religion established by the Koran, which appeared in Arabia in the seventh century. Religion in God's view is the submission. (3: 19) If someone desires other than the submission as a religion, it will not be accepted of him. (3: 85) The essence of the ethical principles involved and embodied in Islam is thus summarized in the second chapter of the Koran: "There is no doubt in this book-a guidance to the pious, who believe in the Unseen, who observe the prayers, and distribute (charity) out of what We have bestowed on them; and who believe in that which We have commissioned thee with, and in that We commissioned others with before thee, and who have assurance in the life to come; -these have received the direction of their Lord. " Islamic stories about creation are found in their holy book, the Quran. The Quran states that Allah created the world in six days, out of nothing. Your Guardian Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then He settled Himself on the Thrown. (Surah 7: 54) Islamic law forbids harm to noncombatants (Roy Mottahedeh, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2001).
Koran says: Fight in the path of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits. God does not love transgressors. (2: 190, Koran). This makes clear that the primary reasons for Jihad is liberation, but not aggression. Koran supports the war for the defense, but disapproves killing civilians. The grand and noble conceptions expressed in the Koran of the power and love of the Deity surpass everything of their kind in any other language.
The unity of God, His immateriality, His majesty, His mercy, form the constant and neverending theme of the most eloquent and soul-stirring passages. The flow of life, light, and spirituality never ceases. But throughout there is no trace of dogmatism. Appeal is made to the inner consciousness of man, to his intuitive reason alone. In the hadith of Gabriel, the Prophet said that people should have faith in God's angels.
Just as faith in God is meaningless without a concept of God, so also faith in angels has no sense unless we know what angels are. Ideas about angels current in our society, like common ideas of God, will not help us much in understanding the Islamic concept. Better to discard from the outset all those winged little boys shooting arrows or Grecian maidens playing harps. The Arabic word for angel, malak -- like its Hebrew cousin mal " ak -means the same as the Greek angelos; that is, "messenger. " The Koran employs the term, usually in the plural, about ninety times. In addition, the Koran mentions several angels by name -- including Gabriel, Michael, Hard, and Market -- and refers to quite a variety of angels by words that seem to designate their functions. Thus there are reciters, glorifier's, shares, dividers, casters, plucker's, severer's, ascender's, writers, watchers, envoys, out strippers, and so on.
The Koran usually mentions these angels only in passing. For explanation, one has to refer to the Koran commentaries. In any case, it is important to know at the outset that the Koran has a great deal to say about angels. The first pillar of Islam includes the verbal witnessing that "Muhammad is the messenger of God.
Hence the hadith of Gabriel demands faith in all prophets, while the second Shahadah requires faith in the prophet Muhammad. The seeming contradiction is resolved by Muhammad's message. Having accepted that Muhammad is the messenger of God, Muslims accept the truth of the Koran, and the Koran repeatedly affirms that all God's books and messages are true. Mohammed was born on the 12 th of Rabi I. , in the year of the Elephant, a little more than fifty days after the destruction of the Abyssinian army, or the 29 th of August 570.
His birth was attended with signs and portents from which the nations of the earth could know that the Deliverer had appeared. In the midst of a nation steeped in barbarism a Prophet had arisen "to rehearse unto them the signs of God to sanctify them, to teach them the scriptures and knowledge, -- them who before had been in utter darkness. " He found them sunk in a degrading and sanguinary superstition; he inspired them with the belief in one sole God of truth and love. Islam teaches that after death there will be a Day of Judgement. When people die they remain in the grave until the Day of Judgement, and when this day comes, Allah will decide what happens to people and his decision is final. Heaven and Hell are also similar beliefs to both Islam and Christianity. Both believe that, according to how one lives their life, they will go to heaven which is a wonderful garden paradise where they will live for ever with God; or hell which is a place where people will suffer eternal torment and punishment.
The Quran states that: Those who have believed and acted righteously will be made happy in a splendid Garden. Those who disbelieved and rejected Our Signs and the meeting of the Hereafter will be brought face to face with punishment. (Surah 30: 15 - 16) The issue of free will and predestination is a problem that has vexed theologians of various religious persuasions for centuries. Actually, the Koranic level of things suggests that as in the case of all important problems, there is no clear and simple answer. Just as often as the Koran affirms that God has measured things out and that he knows all things even before they occur, it also affirms that human effort is meaningful: Whoso desires the next world and strives after it as he should while having faith -- those, their striving shall be thanked (17: 19) The human being will haw only what he has strived for, and his striving will be seen. (53: 39 - 40) The Five Pillars of Islam are the foundation of the way Muslims live. The first pillar of Islam is the Shahadah, the Declaration of Faith. This says; There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.
The second pillar is salah, which says that Muslims should prey five times a day. This applies to all Muslims, except Ships are permitted to combine the 5 prayers into 3 sessions. The third pillar is zakat, which means giving money to people who are poor or in need. The fourth pillar is said, which means fasting.
Every year, during the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast during hours of daylight. The fifth pillar is Hajj. This is the pilgrimage to Mekkah, which every Muslim tries to make at least once in their lifetime. The term Shariah is often translated as "Islamic law" or "revealed law. " The study of this domain of Islamic learning is called fiqh ("jurisprudence"). The specialists in this kind of learning are the futaba' ("jurists") to whom we have already referred. Practically all ultra -- all Muslims learned in Islam -- have a wide knowledge of jurisprudence, but some of them have specialized in other areas, such as theology, philosophy, or Sufism.
As already indicated, the vast majority of those who are recognized as ultra in Islamic countries -- the mullahs as they are called in many places -- are in fact jurists, since they have little or no learning in other domains. This is to say that knowledge of Islam's first dimension is required of all Muslims, but knowledge of the second and third dimensions, though in many ways as important, is much less widely disseminated. Islamic jurisprudence deals with these same three categories, but it adds two more domains that it considers important. Not only does the Shariah tell people what they must do and what they must not do, it also tells them what they should do and what they should not do, and it tells them explicitly that many things are indifferent. Hence we are faced with five categories of actions: the required, the recommended, the indifferent, the reprehensible, and the forbidden.
Muslims are forbidden to consume intoxicating beverages and narcotics. They are also forbidden to eat pig, dog, domestic donkey, and carrion, which is defined as the meat of any animal that has not been ritually slaughtered. Animals are slaughtered ritually by cutting their throats while mentioning the name of God. This ritually slaughtered meat is then called halal (permitted). Many jurists maintain that meat prepared by Jews or Christians is halal for Muslims, while others disagree.
On this point the Koran gives a general ruling: "The food of the People of the Book [those who have been given scriptures, such as Jews and Christians] is permitted to you" (5: 5), although it is understood that this food, if meat, must be slaughtered in the name of God. Kosher meats in particular seem to fit this category. In general, the Shariah declares that it is forbidden to eat any wild animal that has claws, nails, or tusks with which it overcomes its prey or its enemies, such as lion, tiger, wolf, bear, elephant, monkey, and cat. However, one school of law maintains that it is reprehensible to eat these animals, not forbidden. Minor differences of opinion among the jurists are quite common.
Thus, most of them maintain that all animals that live in the sea are permitted, whereas one school makes an exception for sea animals that do not take the form of fish -- such as shellfish, crabs, alligators, or walruses. Some authorities have held that there is a sixth pillar of Islam: jihad. This word has become well-known in English because of the contemporary political situation and the focus of the media on violence. Hence, a bit more attention has to be paid to it than would be warranted if we were simply looking at the role that jihad plays in Islam. The first thing one needs to understand about the term jihad is that "holy war" is a highly misleading and usually inaccurate translation.
In Islamic history, the label has been applied to any war by "our side. " Until very recently in the West, the situation was similar; every war was considered holy, because God was on our side. By employing the term, Muslims condemned the other side as anti-God. In short, the word has played the role of patriotic slogans everywhere. To undertake a jihad is, in contemporary terms, "to fight for the preservation of democracy and freedom. " It is to do what the good people do. The Koranic usage of the term jihad is far broader than the political use of the term might imply. The basic meaning of the term is "struggle. " Bibliography: Annemarie Schimmel, Islam: An Introduction (Albany, N.
Y. : SUNY Press, 1992). F. M. Denny, An Introduction to Islam (New York: Macmillan, 1985); G. Eaton, Islam and the Destiny of Man (Albany, N. Y. : SUNY Press, 1985); J.
Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path (New York: Oxford, 1988); Victor Danner, The Islamic Tradition: An Introduction (Warwick, N. Y. : Amity House, 1988); web web
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Research essay sample on Faith In God Messenger Of God
