Monday 13-11-2017 - 11:17

What is Islam?

Islam linguistically translates as “submission”, to the one and true God. A “Muslim” is one who submits to God. As of 2015, it has 1.8 billion followers, approximately 1/4 of the world population, and is the fastest-growing religion. Islam is among the monotheistic Abrahamic faiths, alongside Judaism and Christianity. Muslims believe in the previous biblical prophets, who were inspired by God with divine revelation, as well as the final Prophet (peace be upon him) sent to all mankind.

Say, "We have believed in God and in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descendants, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [submitting] to Him." [3:84]

When and where did Islam start?

Muslims believe God has inspired humanity with divine revelation previously, and as such believe in the biblical prophets. Islam in its modern form was revealed as the Qur’an (“the Recitation”) to the final messenger, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who lived in 7^th century present-day Saudi Arabia. The revelation came at a time where ignorance and intolerance was the norm. The message of the Qur’an is straightforward: we were created to worship the creator alone. The principles of the religion went against the culture of the time, and was met with extreme oppression. The situation and transformation is best summarised by an early Muslim’s (Ja’far ibn Abu Talib) speech to the King of Abyssinia after fleeing persecution:

“O King, we were a people in a state of ignorance and immorality, worshipping idols and eating the flesh of dead animals, committing all sorts of abomination and shameful deeds, breaking the ties of kinship, treating guests badly, and the strong among us exploited the weak. We remained in this state until God sent us a Prophet, one of our own people, whose lineage, truthfulness, trustworthiness, and integrity were well-known to us.

He called us to worship God alone, and to renounce the stones and the idols which we and our ancestors used to worship besides God.

He commanded us to speak the truth, to honour our promises, to be kind to our relations, to be helpful to our neighbours, to cease all forbidden acts, to abstain from bloodshed, to avoid obscenities and false witness, and not to appropriate an orphan’s property nor slander chaste women.”

How is Islam unique?

Muslims believe the Qur’an is unique as compared to other world religious scriptures – it’s seen as a divine revelation (the literal word of God) for many reasons, including the following:

Inimitability - God Almighty tells us that it is impossible for any human being to produce just one chapter like the Qur’an, even if we were to all aid one another in the effort:

Say, “If mankind and the jinn [another form of creation] gathered in order to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were to each other assistants.” [17:88]

Preservation - Demonstrated by the discovery of recent manuscripts, in addition the mass memorisation by billions across the world, the Qur’an’s integrity was ensured. Muslims today, regardless of different sects, can agree upon one standardised version of the Qur’an.

“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder [the Qur'an] and indeed, We will be its guardian.” [15:9]

Memorization - There is not a single book, scripture or religious text in the world that is memorized to the same extent; even non-Arabic speakers and children commit it to memory. The entire Qur’an, approximately 600 pages, is memorized by almost every Islamic scholar and millions of ordinary Muslims, from generation to generation, making it the most memorised, recited, and read book on the face of the Earth.

“The Most Merciful (God). Taught (you, mankind) the Qur'an. Created man. Taught him eloquent speech”. [55:1-4]

Who was the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)?

Prophet Muhammad (“praiseworthy”) was born into 7^th century Arabia at a time of political corruption, social inequality, economic disparity, superstition, and tribal conflict. Born as an orphan, he worked as a shepherd and a merchant. He was illiterate, as were many at the time, but was known as trustworthy and just and would go on to be recognised as the most influential person in history.

Having lived a relatively unassuming life for 40 years, during one of his meditative retreats on the nearby mountain, he was visited by the archangel Gabriel, whose revelation understandably terrified him as he ran back to his home to be calmed by his wife.

The revelations continued, and after conveying the message in secret for a couple of years, he was commanded to publicly call people to worship the one God, and advocated freedom, equality, justice and brotherhood, as well as a better approach to politics, society, economics and spirituality. This message, while supported by the poor and disenfranchised, was challenged and mocked by the ruling elite.

As the message gained traction, the ridicule turned to anger and violence; there were repeated assassination attempts on the Prophet. Where violence failed, the chieftains struggling to hold onto their power tried to bribe the Prophet outright, even offering to let him be king over all the Arab tribes who had until then been warring. Yet he remained steadfast in his message and dedicated to his mission. Battles ensued and the Muslims, always outnumbered and out-armed, were able to consolidate their existence, after which the tribes had no choice but to sign a treaty with the Muslims; this opened the door to them seeing a transformed society in action. After that it was only a matter of time before the other villages accepted the way of life. Within 2 decades, Arabia had gone from a primitive land to the centre of learning and commerce. It would go on to become the civilisation that would topple the Byzantine and Persian empires, and expand to stretch from Spain to China.

Despite the enormity of his influence, countless accounts mark him as an exceptional man: he was gentle, kind, truthful, generous, righteous, respectful, and humble. Stories and accounts of his exemplary nature are too numerous to relate here, though volumes have been written about him. His actions and characteristics remain the pinnacle goal of all Muslims who follow his example, over a millennia later.

“He single-handedly dragged the Arab people from being a footnote of human history to be the founders of one of history’s greatest civilisations. More importantly, he accomplished such an unprecedented feat without any wherewithal. Caesar had the pomp and power of Rome; Alexander had a mighty army; Heraclius had immense wealth and resources, while Napoleon was trained at a military academy; but he had none of these things. He started with nothing, but ended up with the whole world.” Khan, The Muslim 100

A short article is nowhere near enough to convey all there is to a religion and lifestyle so rich in history, intellectual thought, and spirituality. I have not done an ounce of justice to the light this faith provides to billions across the world, and so I apologise. If you would like to learn more, ask questions, give your opinion, or find out about what the Islamic Society does, please do not hesitate to contact us at mmuisoc@gmail.com

Thank you for reading!