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Islam is derived from the
Arabic word "salaama" and has a two-fold meaning: peace, and
submission to God. This submission requires a fully conscious and
keen effort to submit to the one Almighty God. One must
intentionally and conscientiously give oneself to the service of
Allah. It is a universal religion and its objective is to create and
cultivate in man the quality and approach of Islam. The faith of
this religion is the oneness and sovereignty of God, which has
shaped and looked upon all human races as one family. Islam is
against the idea that there are privileged people. Islam stands for
the equality of all humanity without any discrimination on the basis
of race, caste, sex, place of birth etc. Unlike other living things
human beings have thinking potential and so they are invited to
summit to the goodwill of God and obey His law i.e. become a Muslim.
Anyone who follows Islam is known as Muslim. The word "Muslim" is
originated from the Arabic word signifying a person totally devoted
to the will of the God. And the word "Allah" meaning "the one True
God" is also of Arabic origin. The history of Islam centers around
Muhammad (messenger of god). He was born around 570 A.D. and was
brought up by his extended family after the death of his parents. As
he grew, he became discontented with polytheism and came to believe
in one God, Allah. He began to have religious visions around age 40.
During these visions, Muhammad would receive "messages" or
"revelations" from God. He would memorize them and teach them to his
followers. These visions are now recorded in the holy Qur'an (or
Koran). Muhammad continued to receive these visions until his death
in 632 A.D. The Quran has 114 suras. The Quran is believed to be the
last revealed word of Allah and the basic source of Islamic
teachings and laws. The Quran covers a variety of issues such as
creeds, morality, history of humanity, worship, knowledge, wisdom,
good-man relationship, and human relationship in all aspects.
Comprehensive teaching on which can be built sound systems of social
justice, economics, politics, legislation, jurisprudence, law and
international relations, are important contents of the Quran. The
complete acceptance of the teachings and guidance of 'Allah' as
recorded in the Quran is the religion of Islam. Islam preaches faith
in the oneness and sovereignty of Allah, which makes man aware of
the meaningfulness of the Universe and of his place in it. This
belief frees him from all fears and superstitions by making him
conscious of the presence of the Almighty Allah and of man's
obligations towards Him. This faith must be expressed and tested in
action. Faith alone is not enough. Islam religion has five pillars,
essentially to be followed by every good Muslim, and they are: (1)
confession of faith in God and in Muhammad as God's messenger (2)
daily prayer at the five appointed times (3) fasting during the
month of Ramadan (4) paying an alms-tax and giving charity to the
poor and (5) pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca and its sacred
shrine, the Kaaba. Islam protects all the human rights: rights to
life, liberty, freedom, equality, and justice and above this one of
the basic concern is the security of the person. Islam teaches that
the closest to Allah and the most beloved of Allah are those who are
the best in piety. Thus all people, male and female, and regardless
of race, color, nationality or ethnicity, are considered and treated
as equal before Allah and before the law. Today Islamic religion has
become the second largest religion in the world. Muslim occupies 20%
of all the people of the world. In today's world racism, prejudice
and discrimination have become a widespread problem of the entire
mankind. Islam, for the last 1400 years has tried to end this
discrimination and a unique example of oneness and brotherhood of
all mankind can be seen clearly during the Hajj. Islam has
established a universal brotherhood. It has stressed that a true
brotherhood can be established only by virtue of mankind's strong
relationship with one another through Allah. |
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