The best thing about living in New York is that there are so many different people with different believes and cultural back grounds that live in peace and harmony. I have friends who are Christians, Jews, Hindu and Muslims. Last week we started talking about religion and I realized most of my friends don't have a clear understanding of what is Islam and what Muslims believe in. Muslims being in the news so much I am sure you have wonder at one point or another you probably had the same question. With that in mind I am writing this article to try to answer the question above.
The word Islam" means "submission to God"and "Muslim" means "anyone or who submits to God". Along with Judaism and Christianity, it is considered to be one of the three traditions. Islam is the second largest religion and is a way of life for over 1.5 billion people in the world. To Muslims Islam is a complete way of life that governs all facets of life: moral, spiritual, social, political, economical and intellectual. When you hear of a Muslims the first thing that comes in to most people's minds is Arab. Even though majority of Arabs are Muslim they only constitute about 20% of the Muslims worldwide. Islam is a universal religion and way of life for people of all races and cultures. Muslims live in almost all parts of the world. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population with over 120 million people practicing Islam.
There is no God but Allah, Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is the last prophet and The Holy Quran is the final word of God is what the Islamic faith is based upon. "Allah" is an Arabic word that simply means "God". Just because people refer to God using different terms doesn't mean that God of Islam is different from the God of Christianity or Judaism. As I mentioned earlier that not all Arabs are Muslims, lot of Arab Jews and Christians refer to God as Allah.
Muslims believe in all that prophets from Adam to Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) including Moses(PBUH) and Jesus(PBUH). Prophet Muhammad( PBUH) was born in Mecca around A.D. 570. The teachings, sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) reported and collected by his devoted companions are called Hadith. Muslims follow The Koran and Hadith for guidance. Muslims don't worship or pray to Muhammad(PBUH). Muslims only worship the all power-full, all knowing the creator of the universe, Allah.
Muslims believe that the Quran is the book of divine guidance and deals with all aspects of human life including but not limited to morality, worship, human history, social justice, economics, politics, legislation and human relationships. The Quran was not authored by Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) but was revealed to him by Gabriel during the holy month of Ramadan. It was then written in to the physical form by his companions. The Holy Quran has no flaws or contradictions and it's original Arabic scriptures have never been changed or tampered with. Matter of fact you can find the seventh century Qurans on display in museums in Turkey. Muslims also accept the unaltered versions of Holy Torah and Holy Bible.
Most Muslims pray five times a day. Our house of worship is call a Mosque or a Masjid. Muslims fast during the whole month of Ramadan which mean they don't eat or drink anything from true dawn till sunset. The basic purpose of keeping the fast is to teach people patience, sacrifice and humility. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calender.
The message of Islam is peace and it strongly condemns the killing of the innocent. There is a verse in the Holy Quran that means,To Kill one innocent human being is as If you have killed the whole humanity and To save one human being is as you saved the whole humanity. Islam is the religion that believes in equality of all. As Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) said in his last sermon to people, All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.
In short, Islam is a religion of peace, is simple and easy to understand. It is being practiced by over 1.5 billion people. From the way we heal the sick, to the numerals we use to count were originated by Muslim scholars. Islam has played a major role in the modern civilization and Muslims are playing a major role in our society in every field of life. I hope you have a better understanding of what is Islam and what Muslims believe in.
The word Islam" means "submission to God"and "Muslim" means "anyone or who submits to God". Along with Judaism and Christianity, it is considered to be one of the three traditions. Islam is the second largest religion and is a way of life for over 1.5 billion people in the world. To Muslims Islam is a complete way of life that governs all facets of life: moral, spiritual, social, political, economical and intellectual. When you hear of a Muslims the first thing that comes in to most people's minds is Arab. Even though majority of Arabs are Muslim they only constitute about 20% of the Muslims worldwide. Islam is a universal religion and way of life for people of all races and cultures. Muslims live in almost all parts of the world. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population with over 120 million people practicing Islam.
There is no God but Allah, Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is the last prophet and The Holy Quran is the final word of God is what the Islamic faith is based upon. "Allah" is an Arabic word that simply means "God". Just because people refer to God using different terms doesn't mean that God of Islam is different from the God of Christianity or Judaism. As I mentioned earlier that not all Arabs are Muslims, lot of Arab Jews and Christians refer to God as Allah.
Muslims believe in all that prophets from Adam to Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) including Moses(PBUH) and Jesus(PBUH). Prophet Muhammad( PBUH) was born in Mecca around A.D. 570. The teachings, sayings and actions of Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) reported and collected by his devoted companions are called Hadith. Muslims follow The Koran and Hadith for guidance. Muslims don't worship or pray to Muhammad(PBUH). Muslims only worship the all power-full, all knowing the creator of the universe, Allah.
Muslims believe that the Quran is the book of divine guidance and deals with all aspects of human life including but not limited to morality, worship, human history, social justice, economics, politics, legislation and human relationships. The Quran was not authored by Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) but was revealed to him by Gabriel during the holy month of Ramadan. It was then written in to the physical form by his companions. The Holy Quran has no flaws or contradictions and it's original Arabic scriptures have never been changed or tampered with. Matter of fact you can find the seventh century Qurans on display in museums in Turkey. Muslims also accept the unaltered versions of Holy Torah and Holy Bible.
Most Muslims pray five times a day. Our house of worship is call a Mosque or a Masjid. Muslims fast during the whole month of Ramadan which mean they don't eat or drink anything from true dawn till sunset. The basic purpose of keeping the fast is to teach people patience, sacrifice and humility. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calender.
The message of Islam is peace and it strongly condemns the killing of the innocent. There is a verse in the Holy Quran that means,To Kill one innocent human being is as If you have killed the whole humanity and To save one human being is as you saved the whole humanity. Islam is the religion that believes in equality of all. As Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) said in his last sermon to people, All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.
In short, Islam is a religion of peace, is simple and easy to understand. It is being practiced by over 1.5 billion people. From the way we heal the sick, to the numerals we use to count were originated by Muslim scholars. Islam has played a major role in the modern civilization and Muslims are playing a major role in our society in every field of life. I hope you have a better understanding of what is Islam and what Muslims believe in.
