Sunday, December 31, 2006

A Summary of Definitions

These are very basic definitions about common terms used, I hope they can help understanding a bit more about Islam.

God: God is One. God is Eternal. God never gave birth and was never born. Nothing has ever existed that was equivalent to Him. He is the God of everything, The Lord of everything, Creator of everything, The Possessor of All Mercy, The All-Knowledgeable, The All-Provider, The Most-Powerful, The Most-Compassionate, namely in Arabic, Allah.

Angel Gabriel: He is the greatest creature. He was created by God, and God named him The Honest and The Holy Spirit; God made him responsible for carrying divine inspiration to all messengers and prophets. He carried the divine inspiration to the messenger Mohammed.

Islam: The last divine religion sent from God to human until the End of Days. Islam is the one and only religion (divine or non-divine) that was sent to all humanity. It addresses all humankind, and is not limited to a specific ethnicity, nationality, race, sex, color or age. The purpose of the message of Islam is not something new; it is the same purpose for which all previous messengers, prophets and scriptures were sent; to worship God only.

Mohammed: A mortal human being. He is the last messenger of God. He received the divine inspiration through Angel Gabriel. The divine inspiration he received was in two parts, the Quran in one side, and Sunnah on the other. He is the mentor of all Muslims, and seen by many non-Muslims as the greatest man ever lived on earth. He was not only a messenger of Allah, but he was a social reformer, a political leader, spiritual mentor, a devoted husband and father. Mohammed is the final prophet and the last messenger of Allah until the return of Jesus Christ to earth.

Quran: It is the literal words of God. Quran is the Scripture that God recited to Gabriel, Gabriel recited it to Mohammed, and Mohammed recited it to the nation and it was widely memorized until this day. The Quran is the final scripture that God sent to humans. It is the miracle of all time. It is miraculous with its language, style, logic, historical information and scientific evidence. The Quran is the only divine scripture that was not modified, edited or changed at all. It is preserved with its meanings, chapters, sorting, words, letters, accents and even way of pronunciation.

Sunnah: Everything that the messenger Mohammed said, did, confirmed or approved since he first received the divine inspiration until his death.

I will publish inshaAllah soon the answer to the questions that were raised in my last post, about the importance of the title of this religion "Islam" and the two main meanings of the word, Peace and Submission.

until then, I wish you open minds and open hearts.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

To Begin,

Assalamu Alaikum,

This is how Muslims greet others and themselves, it means "May peace be upon you"

I guess there must be a reason why God ordered us, Muslims, to greet with peace, and not for example with happiness or well-being...

Even to non Muslims, and even to those who hate Islam, we are taught to greet them with "May peace be upon those who follow the right path."

Q/ So, what if someone came to me (me, that is, a Muslim) and did not greet me with peace, can I kill him?!
A/ No, instead, I greet him with peace, whether or not he greets back.

This is how every Muslim begins their every single conversation in their daily life. Think for one moment how this would effect a society that is, ideally, Islamic.

Is peace this important in Islam?
Oh wait, what does the word Islam mean anyway?

In old Arabic (when the religion of Islam was first introduced by Prophet Abraham), Islam means, simply and surprisngly, "Peace".

However, with the changes that happened to the language along the thousands of years, the word Islam now carries another meaning, still very relevant and important. It means "Submission".

So, Peace and Submission are the title of this religion.
This needs to be reflected upon deeply......

What is peace?
and, Submission to what? or why should I submit to something I don't know anything about? what about Freedom?
Are Peace and Submission the most important things in life?

we shall explore this step-by-step... Insha'Allah.

Insha'Allah means "if God wills", and this is obviously deeply connected to the meanings of submission.

meanwhile, Praise be to Lord who inspired me, and enabled me to write this, and enabled you to read it.

Please hesitate not to leave any questions/comments on the comment section.