Page 5 The Islamic Bulletin Volume XXV No. 29 Allah says in the Quran: “I have not created the jinn, the spirits, nor the human beings, for any other purpose except to worship Me.” (Quran 51: 56) This is what God Almighty said. So our purpose in this life is to worship the Creator. To surrender ourselves to the Creator, and to obey the laws that He has determined for us. In a nutshell, it means worship. This is our purpose in life. We have been created for worship. Now, on to the second half of our topic. What do you know about Islam? Not what have you heard about Islam Not what you have seen in the actions of Muslims. And remember there’s a difference between Islam and Muslims. Islam is a rule and an order. If a Muslim does not fulfill these rules and orders, he is not a good Muslim. So you cannot equate Islam and Muslims. Just like there’s a difference between a man and a father. A man has children but a father is responsible. If a man does not fulfill his responsibilities as a father, he is not a good father. We hear the terms Islam and Muslims quite often. We hear and see a lot of inaccurate, misleading, and purposeful misinformation in the media. And I have to admit that some of this misinformation and misrepresentation had been perpetuated by Muslims themselves. Yet one of every five persons in this world of some five billion people is a Muslim! One out of five people in this world is a Muslim! How is it that we don’t know something about Islam? What is it that joins so many different nations and this universal configuration into a common fraternity? What makes a brother or sister in Yemen my brother or sister when I’m from America. And what makes this brother from Eritrea my brother or sister? And what makes another brother from Indonesia my brother? And from Africa? And another one from Thailand? And from Italy, Greece, Poland, Austria, Colombia, Bolivia, China, Spain, Russia, and so forth? What makes them my brothers or sisters? We have different cultural and psychological backgrounds! What is it about Islam that automatically embraces us and joins us as a brotherhood? What are the accurate characteristics of this misunderstood way of life? Although I will now provide you with some facts, it is necessary to be open-minded and open-hearted. Facts alone do not lead to understanding, but rather a combination of tolerance, ambition, and the willingness to accept the truth when you hear it. The word ‘Islam’ means surrender, submission, and obedience to the law of Almighty God. Muslims use the Arabic term, Allah, because in Arabic there is no other expression. The word Allah cannot be applied to any created thing. The word “Allah” can only be applied to the One who is the Creator. So I’m going to use the word “Allah,” and you know whom I’m speaking about. The word ‘Islam’ is derived from the root ‘Salama.’ It means to be at peace or to have security. Therefore, a Muslim is a person who surrenders, submits, and obeys the law of Almighty God and through this submission, obtains peace and serenity. By such a definition, ‘Islam’ describes the manner and behavior of all the well-known and respected prophets and messengers of Almighty God, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Isaac, Ishmael, John the Baptist, Suleiman, Jesus the son of Mary, and Muhammad (May Allah’s peace be upon them all.) All of these prophets and messengers came from the same Almighty God with the same message. That is, to worship Almighty God and do good actions and you will fulfill the purpose of life. You will then be rewarded with an eternal life in the hereafter. If you read the scriptures carefully you will find this same, simple message from all the prophets. Not one of those prophets ever said, “I am God - worship me.” You will not find it in any of the holy books that you have - not the Bible, not the Torah, not the New Testament, not the Psalms of David. You will not find it in the speech of any prophet. We can see that by such a definition, the Arabic word describes what all the prophets did. They all came and submitted themselves to God; they all insisted that people do deeds of righteousness. Nothing more than surrender and obedience! The Ten Commandments of Moses--what was that? The speech of Abraham--what was that? The Psalms of David--what was that? The Proverbs of Solomon--what did he say? The Gospel of Jesus Christ--what did he say? What did John the Baptist say? What did Isaac and Ishmael say? What did Muhammad say? Nothing more than that! “And they have been commanded no more than this: To worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true (in faith); to establish regular prayer; and to practice regular charity; and that is the Religion Right and Straight.” [Quran 98:5] This is what Allah said. And they were ordered only to worship Allah. By the same token, it would also be appropriate here to consider both prophets and messengers as Muslims, because a ‘Muslim’ is what? The word ‘Muslim’ means, “He who surrenders himself to Almighty God, and obeys the laws of the Almighty God.” Everything that surrenders to the law of Almighty God is a Muslim! So, when a child comes out of the womb of its mother at the time that God has ordered - what is it? It’s a Muslim. Therefore, when we willfully obey Almighty God we are Muslims! Jesus Christ was a Muslim. Abraham was a Muslim. Moses was a Muslim. All the prophets were Muslims! But they came to their people and they spoke different languages. Every prophet and messenger of Almighty God brought the very same and fundamental message -- “Worship Almighty God and be sincere towards Him.” Where there is a conflict, it is a result of false assertions, fabrications, exaggerations, and personalized interpretations of alleged writers, historians, scholars, and individuals. As a Christian--before I became a Muslim--I didn’t understand how come throughout the Old Testament God is always referred to as One--the Master and Lord and King of the Universe. And in the first commandment given to Moses, He did not allow anybody to worship graven images. Throughout the Old Testament this is repeated. And then, suddenly we get four testimonies from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Matthew who? Mark Who? Luke who? John who? Four different Gospels that were written forty-eight years apart. And none of these men, who did not collaborate with each other, none of them wrote their last name. Where in the history of men is one name accepted as documentation? Nowhere! Except in the New Testament. Then, after those four Gospels, there are fifteen more
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