INTRODUCING ISLAM

I.  ISLAM AND MUSLIMS
                     
        The name of this religion is Islam, the root of which is
Silm and Salam which means peace.  Salam may also mean greeting
one another with peace. One of the beautiful names of God is that
He is the Peace.  It means more than that: submission to the One
God, and to live in peace with the Creator, within one's self,
with other people and with the environment. Thus, Islam is a
total system of living.  A Muslim is supposed to live in peace
and harmony with all these segments; hence, a Muslim is any
person anywhere in the world whose obedience, allegiance, and
loyalty are to God, the Lord of the Universe.

II. MUSLIMS AND ARABS
                     
        The followers of Islam are called Muslims.  Muslims are
not to be confused with Arabs.  Muslims may be Arabs, Turks,
Persians, Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indonesians,
Europeans, Africans, Americans, Chinese, or other nationalities.

        An Arab could be a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew or an
atheist.  Any person who adopts the Arabic language is called an
Arab.  However, the language of the Qur'an (the Holy Book of
Islam) is Arabic.  Muslims all over the world try to learn Arabic
so that they may be able to read the Qur'an and understand its
meaning.  They pray in the language of the Qur'an, namely Arabic.
Supplications to God could be in any language.

        While there are one billion Muslims in the world there
are about 200 million Arabs.  Among them, approximately ten
percent are not Muslims. Thus Arab Muslims constitute only about
twenty percent of the Muslim population of the world.

III.  ALLAH THE ONE AND THE ONLY GOD
           
        Allah is the name of the One and Only God.  Allah has
ninety-nine beautiful names, such as: The Gracious, The Merciful,
The Beneficent, The Creator, The All-Knowing, The All-Wise, The
Lord of the Universe, The First, The Last, and others.

        He is the Creator of all human beings.  He is the God for
the Christians, the Jews, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus,
the atheists, and others. Muslims worship God whose name is
Allah.  They put their trust in Him and they seek His help and
His guidance.

IV.  MUHAMMAD
             
        Muhammad was chosen by God to deliver His Message of
Peace, namely Islam. He was born in 570 C.E. (Common Era) in
Makkah, Arabia.  He was entrusted with the Message of Islam when
he was at the age of forty years.  The revelation that he
received is called the Qur'an, while the message is called Islam.

        Muhammad is the very last Prophet of God to mankind.  He
is the final Messenger of God.  His message was and is still to
the Christians, the Jews and the rest of mankind.  He was sent to
those religious people to inform them about the true mission of
Jesus, Moses, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham.

        Muhammad is considered to be the summation and the
culmination of all the prophets and messengers that came before
him.  He purified the previous messages from adulteration and
completed the Message of God for all humanity.  He was entrusted
with the power of explaining, interpreting and living the
teaching of the Qur'an.

V.  SOURCE OF ISLAM
                   
        The legal sources of Islam are the Qur'an and the Hadith.
The Qur'an is the exact word of God; its authenticity,
originality and totality are intact.  The Hadith is the report of
the sayings, deeds and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad.  The
Prophet's sayings and deeds are called Sunnah. The Seerah is the
writings of followers of Muhammad about the life of the Prophet.
Hence, it is the life history of the Prophet Muhammad which
provides examples of daily living for Muslims.

VI.  SOME ISLAMIC PRINCIPLES
   
     A.  Oneness of God:

        He is One and the Only One.  He is not two in one or
three in one.  This means that Islam rejects the idea of trinity
or such a unity of God which implies more than one God in one.

     B.  Oneness of mankind:

        People are created equal in front of the Law of God.
There is no superiority for one race over another.  God made us
of different colors, nationalities, languages and beliefs so as
to test who is going to be better than others.  No one can claim
that he is better than others.  It is only God Who knows who is
better.  It depends on piety and righteousness.

     C.  Oneness of Messengers and the Message:

        Muslims believe that God sent different messengers
throughout the history of mankind.  All came with the same
message and the same teachings.  It was the people who
misunderstood and misinterpreted them.

        Muslims believe in Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ismail, Jacob,
Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad.  The Prophets of Christianity
and Judaism are indeed the Prophets of Islam.

     D.  Angels and the Day of Judgment:

        Muslims believe that there are unseen creatures such as
angels created by God in the universe for special missions.

        Muslims believe that there is a Day of Judgment when all
people of the world throughout the history of mankind till the
last day of life on earth, are to be brought for accounting,
reward and punishment.

    E.  Innocence of Man at Birth:

        Muslim believe that people are born free of sin.  It is
only after they reach the age of puberty and it is only after
they commit sins that they are to be charged for their mistakes.
No one is responsible for or can take the responsibility for the
sins of others.  However, the door of forgiveness through true
repentance is always open.

    F.  State and Religion:

        Muslims believe that Islam is a total and a complete way
of life.  It encompasses all aspects of life.  As such, the
teachings of Islam do not separate religion from politics.  As a
matter of fact, state and religion are under the obedience of
Allah through the teachings of Islam.  Hence, economic and social
transactions, as well as educational and political systems are
also part of the teachings of Islam.

VII.  PRACTICES OF ISLAM
                        
        God instructed the Muslims to practice what they believe
in.  In Islam there are five pillars, namely:

    A.  Creed (Shahada):

        The verbal commitment and pledge that there is only One
God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, is considered to
be the Creed of Islam.

    B.  Prayers (Salat):

        The performance of the five daily prayers is required of
Muslims.

    C.  Fasting (Saum):

        Fasting is total abstinence from food, liquids and
intimate intercourse (between married couples) from dawn to
sunset during the entire month of Ramadan.

    D.  Purifying Tax (Zakat):

        This is an annual payment of a certain percentage of a
Muslim's property which is distributed among the poor or other
rightful beneficiaries.

    E.  Pilgrimage (Hajj):

        The performance of pilgrimage to Makkah is required once
in a life time if means are available.  Hajj is in part in memory
of the trials and tribulations of Prophet Abraham, his wife Hagar
and his eldest son Prophet Ishmael.

VIII.  OTHER RELATED ASPECTS
   
    A.  Calendar:

        Islamic practices are based on the lunar calendar.
However, Muslims also use the Gregorian calendar in their daily
religious lives.  Hence, the Islamic calendar includes both the
common era and the migration (Higra) year of the Prophet of Islam
from Makkah to Madinah in the year of 623 C.E.

    B.  Celebrations (Eid):

        Muslims have two celebrations (Eid); namely, Eid of
Sacrifice and Eid of Fast-Breaking.  The Eid of Sacrifice is in
remembrance of the sacrifice to be by Prophet Abraham of his son.
The Eid of Fast-Breaking comes at the end of the month of
fasting, Ramadan.

    C.  Diets:

        Islam allows Muslims to eat everything which is good for
the health.  It restricts certain items such as pork and its
by-products, alcohol and any narcotic or addictive drugs.

    D.  Place of Worship:

        The place of worship is called Mosque or Masjid.  There
are three holy places of worship for the Muslims in the world.
These are: Mosque of Kaaba in Makkah, Mosque of the Prophet
Muhammad in Madinah, and Masjid Aqsa, adjacent to the Dome of the
Rock in Jerusalem.

        A Muslim may pray any where in the world whether in a
Mosque, a house, an office, or outside.  The whole world is a
place of worship.  It is preferable that Muslims pray in a
congregation, however, he/she may pray individually anywhere.

    E.  Holidays:

        The holy day of the Muslims is Friday.  It is considered
to be sacred and the Day of Judgment will take place on Friday.
Muslims join together shortly after noon on Friday for the Friday
congregational prayer in a Mosque.  A leader (Imam) gives a
sermon (Khutba) and leads the congregational prayer.

    F.  Distribution of Muslims in North America:

        There are approximately five million Muslims in North
America and are distributed in its major cities such as New York,
Detroit, Boston, Toledo, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Houston, Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa,
Edmonton, Vancouver, Windsor, Winnipeg, Calgary, and others.

    G.  Contributions in North America:

        Muslims are not established in North America.  Sears
Tower and the John Hancock buildings in Chicago were designed by
a Muslim chief architect, originally from Bangladesh.  Muslims
have established academic institutions, community centers and
organizations, schools and places of worship.  They live in peace
and harmony among themselves and among other groups of people in
the society.  The rate of crime among Muslims is very minimal.
Muslims in North America are highly educated and they have added
to the success of American scientific and technological fields.

        The Muslims of the early period of the Islamic era were
pioneers in medicine, chemistry, physics, geography, navigation,
arts, poetry, mathematics, algebra, logarithms, calculus, etc.
They contributed to the Renaissance of Europe and world
civilization.

IX.  NON-MUSLIMS
                
        Muslims are required to respect all those who are
faithful and God conscious people, namely those who received
messages.  Christians and Jews are called People of the Book.
Muslims are asked to call upon the People of the Book for common
terms, namely, to worship One God, and to work together for the
solutions of the many problems in the society.

        Christians and Jews lived peacefully with Muslims
throughout centuries in the Middle East and other Asian and
African countries.  The second Caliph Umar, did not pray in the
church in Jerusalem so as not to give the Muslims an excuse to
take it over.  Christians entrusted the Muslims, and as such the
key of the Church in Jerusalem is still in the hands of the
Muslims.

        Jews fled from Spain during the Inquisition, and they
were welcomed by the Muslims.  They settled in the heart of the
Islamic Caliphate.  They enjoyed positions of power and
authority.

        Throughout the Muslim world, churches, synagogues and
missionary schools were built within the Muslim neighborhoods.
These places were protected by Muslims even during the
contemporary crises in the Middle East.