From: d89-gsk@nada.kth.se (Gani Skepi)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: Basics of Islam
Date: 7 Jan 93 20:52:49 GMT
Organization: Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden

In article <1993Jan5.163020.6973@news.cs.brandeis.edu>, aaron@binah.cc.brandeis.edu (Scott Aaron) writes:
|> I have some basic questions for our Islamic readers since I haven't seen
|> anything from them in a while.
|> 
|> 1)  What is the basic message of Islam? 

The basic message of Islam is to understand that there is only *one* God 
and that we should work righteousness and do our best to submitt ourselves 
to Him, and Him *alone*.

|> I know Islam asserts that both Judaism and Christianity have distorted the message 
|> of God as revealed in the Old Testament and that prophets such as Jesus and Muhammed 
|> came to set the people straight.  Is this the message or is there more?

That is exactly the Muslim view.....
From the Islamic point of view there has only been one true religion sent 
by God and that is Islam (i.e submittence to the will of God).To submitt 
yourself totally to God is the *TRUE* religion.

Belief in God is ingrained in the nature of man. As long as man have existed 
on earth, the knowledge of God Almighty also co-existed.

An old professor by the name Max Fuller once said :
" Religion is not a new invention. It is, if not as old as the world, at 
least as old as the world we know. There never was a false God nor was 
there ever a false religion, unless you call a child a false man. All 
religion, so far as I know them, had the same purpose. All were links 
in a chain which connected heaven and earth, and which held, and always 
was held, by one and the same hand."

Every people have had their warners sent by God and their message has always 
been the same: Submitt yourself to the one and only God (i.e Islam).

Or as God says in the Quran:

In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
(13:7)" And there never was a people without a warner having lived 
among them (in the past) and to every nation there was (sent) a guide."

So to every nation there was sent a guide with the message of submittance to
God. Some Muslims Scholars even clame that Budda might have been a Prophet 
sent by God, but that his followers changed the religion to something else.
It is the same thing with Hinduism...

So what does the word Muslim mean?
Well, it means someone who is submitting himself to God....
So the word *MUSLIM* has *NOTHING* to do with Muhammed (pbuh).

So a person worshipping the Only God, believing in the Herafter and working 
righteousness is also a member of this religion whether s/he likes it or not.
It is just a question of label.We call ourselves Muslims and they call them-
selves something else. We who today call us Muslims are members of Muhammeds
Ummah (i.e community), nothing else..... Still the Bible puts is as an article
of faith to follow this last prophet... God will *REQUIRE* it of those who 
hears about this Prophet to follow him (see Deu:(18:19)).... This doesn't mean
that God thinks that those who belong to the Ummah of Muhammed (pbuh) are great
guys. As this is His LAST Messenger bringing the LAST TESTAMENT it is logic to
conclude that something must be wrong with these other religions. Therefore it
shouldn't be that shocking if God demanded that he and this Last Testament 
should be followed.

This clame may be a little offensive but there is no such thing as Judaism or 
Christianity.
There is only one religion and that is Islam.

Neither the name Judaism nor Christianity is found in the Bible.

Unlike these names the name Islam has been given by God himself in
his Last Testament.

In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
(5:3)"This day I have perfected your religion for you and compleated
My favour on you, and have chosen for you as the way of life Al-Islam
as your religion."

Were did the word Judaism come from?
It's *NOT* in the Talmud, the Torah or the Mithna (sp?).

Moses (pbuh) never heard the word Judaism in all his lifetime.

If you asked Moses (pbuh) what is your religion?
He would say :' My religion is a religion of *TOTAL* submission to God.'.

Look up the word "Judaism" in a dictionary and it will tell you were
it comes from.

True Judaism is *TOTAL SUBMISSION* under God.

So what about Christianity?

Jesus (pbuh) never heard the word Christianity.
Jesus (pbuh) never claimed to establish Christianity and never called
himself Christian.

Did Jesus(pbuh) or the Holy Spirit say it? No, other people called them 
Christians. The word Christian is mentioned only three times in the NT and 
first by Pagans in Antioch about 43 A.D, long after Jesus (pbuh) had left 
this world (see Acts 11:26, and then Acts 26:28 and finaly 1 Peter 4:16).

Jesus (pbuh) himself wasn't called Christ in all his life.
He called himself the Messiah. The word Christ comes from the greek Christos 
but the "os" has been chopped off to make it unique. Alot of Christians seem
to walk around with the idea that the word Christ has something to do with 
crucifixion or something the similiar.

If Jesus (pbuh) was here today and you ask him : what is your religion. He 
would say: My religion is a religion of *total* submission to God.

Therefore there is only one *true* religion and that is the religion of 
total submision to God, i.e. Islam.


|> 2)  Related to the above, is there a specific verse or short passage in the 
|> Qur'an that summarizes this message?  For example, the message of Christianity
|> is summed up in John 3:16.  A more extensive summary would be Ephesians 2:1-10.
|> Are there equivalents in the Qur'an for Islam?  Or is the message drawn out
|> over the course of the whole book?

I'm not sure on this. 
But I believe a good ayat (verse) is (2:177).

In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
(2:177)" It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces to 
the East or the West, but righteous is he who believe in God 
and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book and the Prophets; 
and gives his wealth for the love of Him to kinsfolk and to 
orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, 
and to set slaves free; and observes proper worship and pays 
the Zakaat. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, 
and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress. 
Such are those who are sincere. Such are the Godfearing."

Another one may be (SURA 112:Purity of Faith) which in a beautiful way
sums up the main points concerning the Creator and Maintaionor of the 
Worlds.

In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
1 Say: He is Allah, The One and Only;
2 Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
3 He begetteth not, Nor is He begotten;
4 And there is none like unto him."


Secondly there is a Hadith which gives the highlights so to say concerning 
Islam.

The famous Hadith of Jibril [Angel Gabriel] (PBUH) from Omar Bin
   Al-Khattab (Radiyallahou Anhou) [May Allah Be Pleased with him]  who
   related : One day, when we were sitting with the messenger of Allah
   (PBUH), then appeared before us a man with very white clothing and 
   very black hair. No mark of travel was visible on him, and none of us
   recognized him. Sitting down beside the messenger (PBUH), touching 
   his knees against his, and placing his hands on his thighs, he said:
    "Tell me, Mohammad (PBUH), about Islam." He replied: 
       Islam means that you should bear witness that there is no god 
       but Allah and that Mohammad is Allah's messenger, 
       that you should do Salat, pay the Zakat, fast during
       Ramadan, and perform the Haj to the House (of Allah) 
       if you have the means to go.
    The man said :"You have spoken the truth." We were astonished at his  
    questioning and then declaring that he spoke the truth. He said: "Now
    tell me about Iman." The Messenger (PBUH) replied:
       It means that you should believe in Allah, His Angels, His
       Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, and that you should
       believe in the decreeing  [Qadar]  both of good and evil.
    The man said :"You have spoken the truth," and he said: "Tell me 
    about Ihsan." The Messenger (PBUH) replies
       It means that you should worship Allah as though you see Him,
       for even though you do do not see Him, still, He sees you.
    The man said :"Now tell me about the Hour [the Day of Judgement]."
    And the Messenger (PBUH) replied:
       The one who is asked about it does not know more than the one 
       who is asking. [That implies that only Allah (SWT) knows about 
       when the Hour will come and no one else.]
    He said:"Then tell me about its signs." The Messenger (PBUH) replied:
       Slavegirls will give birth to their own mistresses, and you will
       see barefooted, naked, poor men and sheperds competing in putting 
       up high buildings [skyscrapers?] .
   Omar (R.A.A.) said: He then went away, and after I had waited for
   sometime, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said to me:
       Do you know who the questioner was, Omar?
   I replied: "Allah and His Messenger know best."
       "He was the Angel Jibril [Gabriel]," the Messenger (PBUH) said,
       "who came to teach you your religion." (narrated by Muslim)


|> 
|> 3)  What distortions of Islam do we Americans see, for example through the
|> media portrayal of Islamic fundamentalism in Middle Eastern nations?
|> 

:-).. A lot!!!!!

"The accounts of Mohammad and Islam which were published in Europe 
before the beginning of the 19th century are now to be regarded as 
literary curiosities." 
Prof. Bevan in the Cambridge Mediaeval History.

"The lies, which a well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man, are 
disgraceful to ourselves only."
Thomas Carlyle in "Heroes and Hero-worship."

|> I would just like to know the basics of your beliefs which would help in my 
|> understanding of the Qur'an as I read.

I'll post an article called Islam at a glance to give you a small hint 
to it...... InshaAllah (Godwilling) it may help you....

Peace
Gani Skepi
d89-gsk@nada.kth.se


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(SAHIH MUSLIMIN)" ... I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying: 
He who amongst you should see something abominable should modify it
with the help of his hand; and if he has not strength enough to do 
it, then he should do it with his tongue, and if he has not strength 
enough to do it, (even) then he should (abhort it) from his heart, 
and that is the least of faith."
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