The true religion
The religion of Islam
By Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
The first thing that one should know and clearly understand about
Islam is what the word =91Islam=92 itself means. The religion of Islam is
not named after a person as in the case of Christianity, which was
named after Jesus Christ, Buddhism after Gotama Buddha, Con****ianism
after Con****ius, and Marxism after Karl Marx. Nor was it named after a
tribe like Judaism after the tribe of Judah and Hinduism after the
Hindus. Islam is the true religion of =91Allaah=92 and as such, its name
represents the central principle of Allaah's (God's) religion -- the
total submission to the will of Allaah (God).
The Arabic word =91Islam=92 means the submission or surrender of one's
will to the only true God worthy of wor****p Allaah; and anyone who
does so is termed a =91Muslim=92. The word also implies =91peace=92 which
is=
the natural consequence of total submission to the will of Allaah.
Hence, it was not a new religion brought by Prophet Muhammad , in
Arabia in the 7th century CE, but it is the true religion of Allaah re-
expressed in its final form.
Islam is the religion which was given to Aadam (Adam) the first man
and the first Prophet of Allaah, and it was the religion of all the
Prophets sent by Allaah to mankind. The name of God's religion lslam
was not decided upon by later generations of man. It was chosen by
Allaah Himself and clearly mentioned in His final revelation to man.
In the final book of Divine Revelation, the Quran, Allaah states the
following (which means):
"This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor
upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." [Quran 5:3]
And (what means):
"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allaah
(God) never will It be accepted of Him." [Quran 3:85]
And (what means): "Ibraaheem (Abraham) was not a Jew nor Christian;
but an upright Muslim." [Quran 3:67]
Nowhere in the Bible will you find Allaah saying to the people of
Prophet Moosaa (Moses) or their descendants that their religion is
=91Judaism=92, nor to the followers of Christ that their religion is
=91Christianity=92. In fact, Christ was not even his name, nor was it
Jesus! The name =91Christ=92 comes from the Greek word Christos, which
means =91the anointed=92. That is, Christ is a Greek translation of the
Hebrew title =91Messiah=92. The name =91Jesus=92 on the other hand, is a
Latinized version of the Hebrew name Esau.
For simplicity's sake, I will however continue to refer to Prophet
=91Eesaa as Jesus. As for his religion, it was what he called his
followers to. Like the Prophets before him, he called the people to
surrender their will to the will of Allaah; (which is Islam) and he
instructed them to stay away from the false gods of human imagination.
According to the New Testament, he taught his followers to pray as
follows: "Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven".
The message of Islam
Since the complete submission of one's will to Allaah represents the
essence of wor****p, the basic message of Islam -- Allaah's divine
religion -- is the wor****p of Allaah Alone and the avoidance of
wor****p directed to any person, place or thing other than Allaah.
Since everything other than Allaah, the Creator of all things, is
Allaah's creation; it may be said that Islam, in essence calls man
away from the wor****p of creation and invites him to wor****p only its
Creator. He is the only One deserving man's wor****p as it is only by
His Will that prayers are answered. If man prays to a tree and his
prayers are answered, it was not the tree, which answered his prayers,
but Allaah who allowed the cir***stances prayed for to take place.
One might say: "That is obvious," however, to tree-wor****ppers it
might not be. Similarly, prayers to Jesus Buddha, or Krishna, to
Saint Christopher, or Saint Jude or even to Muhammad , are not
answered by them but are answered by Allaah. Jesus did not tell his
followers to wor****p him but to wor****p Allaah. As the Quran states
(what means):
"And behold Allaah will say: =91O Jesus the son of Mary, did you say to
men, wor****p me and my mother as gods besides Allaah?=92 He will say:
=91Glory to You I could never say what I had no right (to say)=92 =94
[Quran=
5:116]
Nor did Jesus wor****p himself when he wor****pped, rather he
wor****pped Allaah. This basic principle is enshrined in the opening
chapter of the Quran, known as Chapter Al-Faatihah, verse 4 (which
means):
"You Alone do we wor****p and from You alone do we seek help". [Quran
1: 4]
Elsewhere, in the final book of revelation, the Quran, Allaah
also said (what means):
"And your Lord says: "Call on Me and I will answer your
(prayer)." [Quran 40:60]
It is worth noting that the basic message of Islam is that Allaah
and His creation are distinctly different entities. Neither is Allaah
His creation or a part of it, nor is His creation Him or a part of
Him.
This might seem obvious, but man's wor****p of creation instead of the
Creator is to a large degree based on ignorance of this concept. It is
the belief that the essence of Allaah is everywhere in His creation or
that His Divine Being is or was present in some aspects of His
creation, which has provided justification for the wor****p of
creation, although such wor****p may be called the wor****p of Allaah
through his creation. However, the message of Islam as brought by the
Prophets of Allaah, may Allaah exalt their mention, is to wor****p only
Allaah and to avoid the wor****p of his creation either directly or
indirectly. In the Quran, Allaah clearly states (what means):
"For We assuredly sent amongst every people a Prophet, (with the
command) wor****p Me and avoid false gods." [Quran 16:36]
When the idol wor****pper is questioned as to why he or she bows down
to idols created by men, the invariable reply is that they are not
actually wor****pping the stone image, but Allaah who is present within
it. They claim that the stone idol is only a focal point for Allaah's
essence and is not in itself Allaah! A person who has accepted the
concept of the presence of God's being within His creation in any way
will be obliged to accept this argument of idolatry. Whereas, one who
understands the basic message of Islam and its implications, would
never concede to idolatry no matter how it is rationalized.
Those who have claimed divinity for themselves down through the ages
have often based their claims on the mistaken belief that Allaah is
present in man. They merely had to assert that although Allaah,
according to their false beliefs, is within all of us, He is =91more
present=92 in them than in the rest of us. Hence, they claim, we should
submit our will to them and wor****p them, as they are either God in
person or God concentrated within the person.
Similarly, those who have asserted the godhood of others after their
passing, have found fertile ground among those who accept the false
belief of God's presence in man. One who has grasped the basic message
of Islam and its implications could never agree to wor****p another
human being under any cir***stances. God's religion in essence is a
clear call to the wor****p of the Creator and the rejection of creation-
wor****p in any form.
This is the meaning of the motto of Islam: "Laa Ilaaha
Illallaah" (There is none worthy of wor****p but Allaah). Its
repetition automatically brings one within the fold of Islam and
sincere belief in it guarantees one Paradise.
Thus, the final Prophet of Islam , is re****ted to have said: "Any one
who says: There is no god but Allaah and dies holding that (belief)
will enter Paradise". [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
It consists in the submission to Allaah as one God, yielding to
Him by obeying His commandments, and the denial of polytheism and
polytheists.
The message of false religion
There are so many sects, cults, religions, philosophies and movements
in the world, all of which claim to be the right way or the only true
path to Allaah. How can one determine which one is correct or if, in
fact, all are correct? The method by which the answer can be found is
to clear away the superficial differences in the teachings of the
various claimants to the ultimate truth, and identify the central
object of wor****p to which they call, directly or indirectly. False
religions all have one basic concept about Allaah in common. They
either claim that all men are gods or that specific men were Allaah,
or that Nature is Allaah, or that Allaah is a figment of man's
imagination.
Thus, it may be stated that the basic message of false religion is
that Allaah may be wor****pped in the form of His creation. False
religion invites man to the wor****p of creation by calling the
creation or some aspect of it God. For example, Prophet Jesus
invited his followers to wor****p Allaah but those who claim to be his
followers today call people to wor****p Jesus claiming that he was
Allaah!
Buddha was a reformer who introduced a number of humanistic principles
to the religion of India. He did not claim to be God nor did he
suggest to his followers that he was an object of wor****p. Yet, today
most Buddhists who are to be found outside of India have taken him to
be God and prostrate to idols made in their perception of his
likeness.
By using the principle of identifying the object of wor****p,
false religions become obvious and the contrived nature of their
origin clear. As Allaah said in the Quran (what means):
=93That which you wor****p besides Him are only names you and your
forefathers have invented for which Allaah has sent down no authority.
The command belongs only to Allaah. He has commanded that you only
wor****p Him; that is the right religion, but most men do not
understand." [Quran 12:40]
It may be argued that all religions teach good things, so why should
it matter which one we follow. The reply is that all false religions
teach the greatest evil, the wor****p of creation. Creation-wor****p is
the greatest sin that man can commit because it contradicts the very
purpose of his creation. Man was created to wor****p Allaah alone as
Allaah has explicitly stated in the Quran (what means):
"I have only created Jinns and men, that they may wor****p me." [Quran
51:56]
Consequently, the wor****p of creation, which is the essence of
idolatry, is the only unforgivable sin. One who dies in this state of
idolatry has sealed his fate in the next life. This is not an opinion,
but a revealed fact stated by Allaah in his final revelation to man
(which means):
"Verily Allaah will not forgive the joining of partners with Him, but
He may forgive (sins) less than that for whom so ever He
wishes." [Quran 4:48, 116]
THE UNIVERSALITY OF ISLAM
Since the consequences of false religion are so grave, the true
religion of Allaah must be universally understandable and attainable,
not confined to any people, place or time. There cannot be conditions
like baptism, belief in a man as a Savior etc., for a believer to
enter Paradise. Within the central principle of Islam and in its
definition, (the surrender of one's will to God) lay the roots of
lslam's universality. Whenever man comes to the realization that
Allaah is One and distinct from His creation, and submits himself to
Allaah, he becomes a Muslim in body and spirit and is eligible for
Paradise.
Thus, anyone at anytime in the most remote region of the world can
become a Muslim, a follower of God's religion, Islam, by merely
rejecting the wor****p of creation and by turning to Allaah (God)
alone. It should be noted however, that the recognition of and
submission to Allaah requires that one chooses between right and wrong
and such a choice implies accountability. Man will be held responsible
for his choices, and as such, he should try his utmost to do good and
avoid evil. The ultimate good being the wor****p of Allaah alone, and
the ultimate evil being the wor****p of His creation along with or
instead of Allaah. This fact is expressed in the final revelation as
follows (which means):
"Verily those who believe, those who follow the Jewish (Scriptures),
the Christians and the Sabians any who believe in Allaah and the Last
Day, and work righteousness all have their reward with their Lord;
they will not be overcome by fear nor grief.=94 [Quran 2:62]
And (what means):
=93If only they had stood by the Law, the Injeel, and all the revelation
that was sent to them from their Lord, they would have enjoyed
happiness from every side. There is from among them a party on the
right course; but many of them follow a course that is evil." [Quran
5:66]
Recognition of Allaah
The question, which arises here is: How can all people be expected to
believe in Allaah given their varying backgrounds, societies and
cultures? For people to be responsible for wor****pping Allaah they all
must have access to knowledge of Allaah. The final revelation teaches
that all humankind has the recognition of Allaah imprinted on their
souls, a part of their very nature with which they are created. In
Chapter Al-A'raaf, verses 172-173, Allaah explained that when He
created Aadam He caused all of Aadam's descendants to come into
existence and took a pledge from them saying (what means): =93Am I not
your Lord?=94 To which they all replied: =93Yes, we testify to it.=94
Allaah then explained why He made humankind bear witness that He is
their creator and the only true God worthy of wor****p. He Said (what
means): "That was in case you (mankind) should say on the Day of
Resurrection: =91Verily we were unaware of all this.=92 That is to say, we
had no idea that You, Allaah, were our God. No one told us that we
were only supposed to wor****p You alone.=94 Allaah explains that it was
also in case you should say: =91Certainly it was our ancestors who made
partners (with Allaah) and we are only their descendants; will You
then destroy us for what those liars did?=92" Thus, every child is born
with a natural belief in Allaah and an inborn inclination to wor****p
Him alone that is called =91Fitrah=92 in Arabic.
If the child were left alone, he would wor****p Allaah in his own way,
but all children are affected by those things around them, seen or
unseen.
The Prophet , re****ted that Allaah Said (what means:) "I created my
servants in the right religion but devils made them go astray". The
Prophet , also said: "Each child is born in a state of Fitrah, then
his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a Zoroastrian, the way an
animal gives birth to a normal offspring. Have you noticed any that
were born mutilated?" [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
So, just as the child submits to the physical laws which Allaah has
put in nature, his soul also submits naturally to the fact that Allaah
is his Lord and Creator. However, his parents try to make him follow
their own way and the child is not strong enough in the early stages
of his life to resist or oppose the will of his parents. The religion
which the child follows at this stage is one of custom and upbringing
and Allaah does not hold him to account or punish him for this
religion.
Throughout people's lives -- from childhood until the time they die --
signs are shown to them in all regions of the earth and in their own
souls, until it becomes clear that there is only one true God
(Allaah). If the people are honest with themselves, reject their false
gods and seek Allaah, the way will be made easy for them but if they
continually reject Allaah's signs and continue to wor****p creation,
the more difficult it will be for them to escape. For example, in the
South Eastern region of the Amazon jungle in Brazil, South America, a
primitive tribe erected a new hut to house their main idol Skwatch,
representing the supreme god of all creation.
A young man prostrated himself to pay homage to their god, and while
he was in prostration to what he had been taught was his Creator and
Sustainer, a mangy old flea-ridden dog walked into the hut. The young
man looked up in time to see the dog lift its hind leg and pass urine
on the idol. Outraged, the youth chased the dog out of the temple, but
when his rage died down, he realized that the idol could not be the
Lord of the Universe. Allaah must be elsewhere. He now had a choice to
act on his knowledge and seek Allaah, or to dishonestly go along with
the false beliefs of his tribe. As strange as it may seem, that was a
sign from Allaah for that young man. It contained within it divine
guidance that what he was wor****pping was false.
As mentioned earlier, Prophets were sent to every nation and tribe to
sup****t man's natural belief in Allaah and the inborn inclination to
wor****p Him; as well as to reinforce the divine truth in the daily
signs revealed by Allaah. Although, in most cases, most of the
teachings of the Prophets became distorted, ****tions remained which
point out right and wrong. For example, the ten commandments of the
Torah, their confirmation in the Injeel and the existence of laws
against murder, stealing and adultery in most societies point to this.
Consequently, every soul will be held to account for its belief in
Allaah and its acceptance of the religion of Islam; the total
submission to the will of Allaah.
We pray to Allaah, The Exalted, to keep us on the right path to which
He has guided us, and to bestow on us a blessing from Him, He is
indeed The Most Merciful. All praise and gratitude is due to Allaah,
The Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be on Prophet
Muhammad , his family, his companions, and those who rightly follow
them.
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