"Say We believe in God and what is revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and I`saac and Jacob and the Tribes, and what was entrusted to Moses and Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them and to Him we have surrendered."
(Quran 3: 84)
Islam calls all humanity to surrender to the will
of God, the only true God of all humanity, because our lives, all our
possessions and all that exists in the universe are nothing but favors
and blessings from this one God.
The only purpose of our existence is to gain the
approval of our Creator, that is, to do that which pleases God and
refrain from that which is abhorred by God. This life is thus a test of
our surrender.
All
human-beings will be held accountable for the deeds they commit in this
world and will be rewarded justly for their deed.
This is the same message which was conveyed by all the
prophets of God, and the message of Islam is a reminder of the same
message.
The Arabic word for God is Allah
and means 'The God'. Islam emphasizes this simple pure notion of one
God and refutes the concepts of trinity or plurality for Godhead as
false lacking any scriptural or scientific evidence. Islamic monotheism
(Tawhid) is the most important concept to be understood as everything
else relating to social, economic, political or moral/spiritual
principles of Islam are derived from it.
Islam is the same religion which was revealed by
God Almighty to all the Messengers and Prophets of God (peace be upon
them all) and does not claim to be a new separate religion. Islam
is the completion of God's guidance to humanity.
In contrast to the other prophets of God who were chosen
by God for a particular nation or tribe, Muhammad (peace be upon him)
was the last messenger chosen by the God for all humanity.
God sent His guidance to men by inspiring men from
amongst mankind known as Prophets and to whom God revealed scriptures.
The Qurán is the final scripture revealed by God to Muhammad and it confirms the
Torah (Taurat-scripture revealed to Moses), the Bible (Injeel-scripture revealed to
Jesus) and the Psalms (scripture revealed to David). Peace be upon all
the prophets of God.
God invites all humanity to embrace His last and final
call to His chosen path Islam. When the Qurán was revealed, Christians
and Jews were the people following the scriptures revealed to previous
prophets and so they were called to embrace God's final
revelation to his prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Prophet Muhammad had
started his prophetic mission by inviting the polytheists of Makkah to
the worship of One God before he had to migrate to Medina.
Islam however categorically states that there is no
compulsion in religion (Holy Quran 2:256) and everyone is given
freedom by God whether to accept His final call or not. The messenger's
duty is only to convey the truth (Holy Quran 5:99).
Islam and the Question of Violence
This section explains how Islam is devoted to establishing and maintaining
"Peace through
Justice" and that Islam is the only solution to Terrorism.
Slavery in Islam This
section presents the humane solution provided by Islam to tackle the problem
of Slavery.
Stereotyping and Misconceptions
This section clarifies some very common myths, misconceptions and false
stereotypes about Islam and Muslims.
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This is a logical explanation of Islam to the western mind.