A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO ISLAM

 “Islam” – an Arabic word which means “ submission to the will of God”

 “Muslim” – means one who submits to the will of God, regardless of their
background.

 Prophet Muhammad was the final Prophet of Islam.

 The foundation of the Islamic faith is belief in the Oneness of Almighty God - the
God of Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus. Islam teaches that a pure belief in
One God is intuitive in human beings and thus fulfils the natural inclination of the
soul.

 “Al-Quran” – “the recitation”

 Quran – means God’s final message to mankind. Unlike other sacred scriptures,
the Quran has been perfectly preserved in both of its words and meaning in a
living language. It is also a universal scripture addressed to all mankind.

 Prophet Muhammad was the greatest of all of God’s prophets, not because he
had new doctrines or greater miracles, but because it was him who was chosen
to bear the last revelation which would come to humanity from God, one suitable
for all places, times, and people, everlasting and unchanging until the Last Day.

 Today, press response involving Muslims are negative. Muslims are often
labelled as perpetrators of violence in the Lebanon, Syria, Libya etc. This public
opposition to Islam is called as “Islamphobia”

 Muslim does not recognize the solar year of 365 day, it shortfalls for about 11
days which means every year Muslim festivals are 11 days earlier. In the course
of 33 years, it will have revolved around the calendar to fall at the same time of
year.
 The Arabia of Muhammad’ day was a curious mixture, of townsfolk with
commercial skill and materialistic ambitions, and desert dwellers. Mecca was a
merchant city which had additional income as a pilgrimage centre. Meccan
businessmen and women became the entrepreneurs and the tolls were levied for trans-
shipment.

Mecca, in Arabia, was an important pilgrimage centre in the years before

Muhammad was born. Its holy place, the Kaaba, was controlled by the Quraish tribe
who organised pilgrimages and collected a tax from them. Muhammad was fostered by
a nomadic woman, Haleema, and brought up in the desert learning a herdsman’s skills.
A rich widow, Khadija of the Quraish hired Muhammad to take charge of the caravan to
Syria. Pleased with his work, she wrote to him proposing marriage, which he accepted.
He was 26 years old, Khadija 40. She bore him two sons and four daughters, but most
died young.

FIVE PILLARS OF FAITH c) Almsgiving (zakat)

a) The Shahada d) Fasting (saum)

b) Prayer – Salat e) Pilgrimage

1. What are the basic concepts of Islam? In your own words, briefly explain
each concepts.

a) Faith (Iman) - they devote to the worship of God and service to fellow
creature. Faith involves belief, trust, dedication, prayer, obedience and
love.

b) Righteousness (Birr) - Faith should be genuine. Faith alone does not

mean you’re righteous, one should act upon it. A good example is the act
of kindness towards your fellow beings.

c) Piety (Taqwa) – one’s faith should be deep and should be able to control
their emotions.
d) Sin – original sin is not a concept in Islam instead it’s a persons’ response
to their environment which may lead them to decisions that may defies
God’s will.

e) Freedom – it is the life itself. One is free to make his or her own decisions.

f) Equality – even though human have different backgrounds and abilities of

their own, no one is superior to the other.

g) Brotherhood – we should treat each other as brothers and sisters.

h) Peace – Islam should bring peace with God and to one’s fellow.

i) Community – your background, race or nationality does not matter in

Islam. Community is the collection of all who submit to Allah’s will.

j) The Discipline of Life – prayer dominates life and it must be clean,

punctuating the working day and giving focus to the evening.

k) Diet – one should respect their body, have discipline to what they are
eating and should not be greedy but instead learn to share.

l) Dress – men should be covered from navel to knee and women should be
completely covered except for the face and the hands. The opposite sex
should not find one's body attractive.

m) Amusements – it is allowed but is subject to limitations such as dancing

which can lead to lewd thoughts, gambling and drug- taking.

n) Position of Women – the Quran stresses that humanity was created to

become pairs thus should be equal. Though religious ideals do this, some
Muslims and other cultures lowers the status of women.

o) Marriage – one should marry the other based on love, compassion and
harmony.
 p) Divorce - Wives have equal rights to terminate their marriage. Laws
sought to ensure that divorce did not become common, and that every
effort was made to heal rifts which occurred in marriage.

q) Economic rights – women have equals rights with men. There are no
restrictions for women in applying jobs but Muslims still see motherhood
as a full time job.

r) Politics – women were able to achieve political offices. Some cultures in

the past didn’t let women to vote or erode some oft their rights but in
Islamic history, women won respect and power, and did not have their
Quranic rights eroded. Their role and status as mothers were particularly
treasured

2. Compare and contrast Islam to Christianity.

Christianity is the largest religious group in the world and next to it is Islam. Most
people view the two as polar opposites because of their prejudices but Islam and
Christianity actually has their similarities. One of its similarities is that both of them is a
monotheistic religion. Islam and Christianity believe in the concept of oneness of God.
Another similarity is that they share a common belief in the existence of prophets and
divine revelation, angels and Satan. In Islam angels are called malā'ikah and Satan is
called Shayṭān. Islam and Christianity also stress moral responsibility and
accountability, Judgement Day, and eternal reward and punishment. Judgement day in
Islam is called Yawm al-Qiyāmah, which is the day when life will be wipe out and will
then followed by resurrection and judgement by God. Lastly, peace is the central to
these two. Islam and Christianity used similar greeting of “ Peace be with you”

In terms of their differences, Islam has a different view of Holy Books, view of God,
view of Jesus and view of sins. Islam views the Quran as the Holy word of God while
Christians view Old and New Testament as the Holy Word of God. As for their view of
God, Christians believe in God in three persons, God the father, God the Son and God
the Holy Spirit. Islam, on the other hand, believes in God in one person not a Trinity.
Their view of Jesus is also different, Islam believes that Jesus was merely a prophet
while Christians believe that Jesus is God. Lastly, Christians believe that every human
is born with original sin while Islam believes that a human is born as a clean slate.
Original sin is not a concept in Islam instead it’s a persons’ response to their
environment which may lead them to decisions that may defies God’s will.

3. Is Islam a religion of peace? explain.

A lot of people regard Islam as a religion that promotes terrorism. The religion’s
reputation was tarnished because of this but if we try to understand the religion itself, it
is very different from what other thinks.

Islam means a strong commitment to God and it is also a Arabic word which means
peace, security and surrender. They also have this Five Pillars of Faith which includes
the concept of almsgiving. Muslims are expected to give two and a half per cent of their
free income to the community to help the poor and needy and those close to home or in
the third world. Particular collections are taken during Ramadan, since the period of
fasting focuses the mind on giving. Most Muslims are law abiding people who lives in
peace. With this concept alone, it is safe to say that Islam is not a religion of violence.

Another perspective that we can see is the idea of Jihad. Jihad is an Arabic word
which means striving or struggling. This word appears in the Quran with or without the
military aspect. During the time of Mohammed in Mecca, he preached to others about
charity and to abandon their God and accept his. Mohammed succeeded with his
preaching and after a decade, they fled to Medina and over the time they formed a
military and began to wage wars. In this perspective we can conclude that Islam is not a
religion of peace.

In my opinion, Islam is a religion of peace. Every religion seeks peace and unity and
so is Islam. Though violence is inevitable since the old time, we can’t really abandon
those who live their life following the right paths. Most of them are still living their life as
a respectable human being. We even interact with them as friends and they are just like
us.