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      In   the   name  of   ALLAH,   the    Beneficent,   the    Merciful



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             I N F O R M A T I O N    &   N E W S    N E T W O R K

                        MUSLIMS @ ASUACAD.BITnet
______________________________________________________________________________
                             IINN ARCHIVE

 File Name: 01.introducing.islam 	  	
 Lasted Updated: Sept 10, 1994
 Archive Location: ftp.cco.caltech.edu, login:anonymous, dir: /pub/calmsa
______________________________________________________________________________


Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 15:53:07 -0600
From: mahmed@xnet.com (M. Ahmed)
Subject: 1. Introducing Islam

III&E Brochure Series; No. 1
(published by The Institute of Islamic Information and Education (III&E)
and reproduced with permission)

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INTRODUCING ISLAM
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I.  ISLAM AND MUSLIMS
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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.

II. MUSLIMS AND ARABS
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.

=46.  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
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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):
=46asting 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
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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
=46ast-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.

=46.  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
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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.

--- Ahmad H. Sakr, Ph.D.


=46or more information please contact:

The Institute of Islamic Information and Education
P.O. Box 41129
Chicago, IL 60641-0129 U.S.A.


INTRODUCTION OF III&E

The Institute of Islamic Information and Education (III&E) is dedicated to
the cause of Islam in North America through striving to elevate the image
of Islam in North America through striving to elevate the image of Islam
and Muslims by providing the correct information about Islamic beliefs,
history and civilization from the authentic sources.  Enquiries are
welcome.