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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.
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.
- ALLAH THE ONE AND THE ONLY
GOD
Muslims believe that Allah is the name of the One and Only God. 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.
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.
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
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What is Islam
What is Quran
Who is Muhammad
Introduction to
Hajj
Human Rights and
Justice in Islam
What About Those
Muslim Women?
Freedom of
Economic Activity
The Chlorophyll
Life After Death
Neighbors
How can Islam be
the religion of peace?
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