Sam, you can find Jesus, however....
The True Religion
By Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
THE RELIGION OF ISLAM
The first thing that one should know and clearly understand about Islam is
what the word "Islam" itself means. The religion of Islam is not named after
a person as in the case of Christianity which was named after Jesus Christ,
Buddhism after Gotama Buddha, Confucianism after Confucius, and
Marxism after Karl Marx. Nor was it named after a tribe like Judaism after
the tribe of Judah and Hinduism after the Hindus. Islam is the true religion of
"Allah" and as such, its name represents the central principle of Allah's
"God's" religion; the total submission to the will of Allah "God". The Arabic
word "Islam" means the submission or surrender of one's will to the only true
god worthy of worship "Allah" and anyone who does so is termed a
"Muslim", The word also implies "peace" which is the natural consequence
of total submission to the will of Allah. Hence, it was not a new religion
brought by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) I in Arabia in the seventh century,
but only the true religion of Allah re-expressed in its final form.
Islam is the religion which was given to Adam, the first man and the first
prophet of Allah, and it was the religion of all the prophets sent by Allah to
mankind. The name of God's religion lslam was not decided upon by later
generations of man. It was chosen by Allah Himself and clearly mentioned in
His final revelation to man. In the final book of divine revelation, the
Qur'aan, Allah states the following:
"This day have I perfected your religion for you,
completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you
Islam as your religion". (Soorah Al-Maa'idah 5:3)
"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission
to Allah (God) never will It be accepted of Him" (Soorah
Aal'imraan 3:85)
"Abraham was not a Jew nor Christian; but an upright
Muslim." (Soorah Aal'imraan 3:67)
Nowhere in the Bible will you find Allah saying to Prophet Moses' people or
their descendants that their religion is Judaism, nor to the followers of Christ
that their religion is Christianity. In fact, Christ was not even his name, nor
was it Jesus! The name "Christ" comes from the Greek word Christos which
means the annointed. That is, Christ is a Greek translation of the Hebrew
title "Messiah". The name "Jesus" on the other hand, is a latinized version of
the Hebrew name Esau.
For simplicity's sake, I will however continue to refer to Prophet Esau
(PBUH) as Jesus. As for his religion, it was what he called his followers to.
Like the prophets before him, he called the people to surrender their will to
the will of Allah; (which is Islam) and he warned them to stay away from the
false gods of human imagination.
According to the New Testament, he taught his followers to pray as follows:
"Yours will be done on earth as it is in Heaven".
THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM
Since the total submission of one's will to Allah represents the essence of
worship, the basic message of Allah's divine religion, Islam is the worship of
Allah alone and the avoidance of worship directed to any person, place or
thing other than Allah.Since everything other than Allah, the Creator of all
things, is Allah's creation; it may be said that Islam, in essence calls man
away from the worship of creation and invites him to worship only its
Creator. He is the only one deserving man's worship as it is only by His will
that prayers are answered. If man prays to a tree and his prayers are
answered, it was not the tree which answered his prayers but Allah who
allowed the circumstances prayed for to take place. One might say, "That is
obvious," however, to tree-worshippers it might not be. Similarly, prayers to
Jesus, Buddha, or Krishna, to Saint Christopher, or Saint Jude or even to
Muhammad, are not answered by them but are answered by Allah. Jesus did
nottell his followers to worship him but to worship Allah. As the Qur'aan
states:
"And behold Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary Did
you say to men, Worship me and my mother as gods
besides Allah He will say-"Glory to you I could never say
what I had no right (to say')" (Soorah Al-Maa'idah- 5:116)
Nor did he worship himself when he worshipped but rather he worshipped
Allah. This basic principle is enshrined in the opening chapter of the
Qur'aan, known as Soorah Al-Faatihah, verse 4:
"You alone do we worship and from you alone do we seek
help".
Elsewhere, in the final book of revelation, the Qur'aan, Allah also said:
"And your Lord says:"Call on Me and I will answer
your(prayer)."(Soorsh Mu'min 40:60)
it is worth noting that the basic message of Islam is that Allah and His
creation are distinctly different entities. Neither is Allah His creation or a
part of it, nor is His creation Him or a part of Him.
This might seem obvious, but, man's worship of creation instead of the
Creator is to a large degree based on ignorance of this concept. It is the
belief that the essence of Allah is everywhere in His creation or that His
divine being is or was present in some aspects of His creation, which has
provided justification for the worship of creation though such worship
maybecalled the worship of Allah through his creation. How ever, the
message of Islam as brought by the prophets of Allah is to worship only
Allah and to avoid the worship of his creation either directly or indirectly. In
the Our'aan Allah clearlystates:
"For We assuredly sent amongst every people a
prophet,(with the command) worship meand avoid false
gods " (Soorsh Al-Nahl 16:36)
When the idol worshipper is questioned as to why he or she bows down to
idols created by men, the invariable reply is that they are not actually
worshipping the stone image, but Allah who is present within it. They claim
that the stone idol is only a focal point for Allah's essence and is not in itself
Allah! One who has accepted the concept of the presence of God's being
within His creation in any way will be obliged to accept this argument of
idolatry. Whereas, one who understands the basic message of Islam and its
implications would never concede to idolatry no matter how it is
rationalized. Those who have claimed divinity for themselves down through
the ages have often based their claims on the mistaken belief that Allah is
present in man. They merely had to assert that although Allah according to
their false beliefs, is in all of us, He is more present in them than in the rest
of us. Hence, they claim, we should submit our will to them and worship
them as they are either God in person or God concentrated within the person.
Similarly, those who have asserted the godhood of others after their passing
have found fertile ground among those who accept the false belief of God's
presence in man. One who has grasped the basic message of Islam and its
implications could never agree to worship another human being under any
circumstances. God's religion in essence is a clear call to the worship of the
Creator and the rejection of creation-worship in any form. This is the
meaning of the motto of Islam:
"Laa Elaaha lllallaah" (There is no god but Allah)
Its repetition automatically brings one within the fold of Islam and sincere
belief in it guarantees one Paradise.
Thus, the final Prophet of Islam is reported to have said, "Any
one who says: There is no god but Allah and dies holding that
(belief) will enter paradise".(Reported by Abu Dharr and
collected by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim).
It consists in the submission to Allah as one God, yielding to Him by
obeying His commandments, and the denial of polytheism and polytheists.
THE MESSAGE OF FALSE RELIGION
There are so many sects, cults, religions, philosophies, and movements in
the world, all of which claim to be the right way or the only true path to
Allah. How can one determine which one is correct or if, in fact, all are
correct? The method by which the answer can be found is to clear away the
superficial differences in the teachings of the various claimants to the
ultimate truth, and identify the central object of worship to which they call,
directly or indirectly. False religions all have in common one basic concept
with regards to Allah. They either claim that all men are gods or that specific
men were Allah or that nature is Allah or that Allah is a figment of man's
imagination.
Thus, it may be stated that the basic message of false religion is that Allah
may be worshipped in the form of His creation. False religion invites man to
the worship of creation by calling the creation or some aspect of it God. For
example, prophet Jesus invited his followers to worship Allah but those who
claim to be his followers today call people to worship Jesus, claiming that he
was Allah!
Buddha was a reformer who introduced a number of humanistic principles to
the religion of India. He did not claim to be God nor did he suggest to his
followers that he be an object of worship. Yet, today most Buddhists who
are to be found outside of India have taken him to be God and prostrate to
idols made in their perception of his likeness.
By using the principle of identifying the object of worship, false religion
becomes very obvious and the contrived nature of their origin clear. As God
said in the Our'aan:
That which you worship besides Him are only names you and your
forefathers have invented for which Allah has sent down no authority: The
command belongs only to Allah:
He has commanded that you only worship Him; that is the
right religion, but most men do not understand ". (Soorah
Yoosuf 12:40)
It may be argued that all religions teach good things so why should it matter
which one we follow. The reply is that all false religions teach the greatest
evil, the worship of creation. Creation-worship is the greatest sin that man
can commit because it contradicts the very purpose of his creation. Man was
created to worship Allah alone as Allah has explicitly stated in the Our'aan:
"I have only created Jlnns and men, that they may worship
me"(Soorah Zaareeyaat 51:56)
Consequently, the worship of creation, which is the essence of idolatry, is
the only unforgivable sin. One who dies in this state of idolatry has sealed
his fate in the next life. This is not an opinion, but a revealed fact stated by
Allah in his final revelation to man:
"Verily Allah will not forgive the joining of partners with
Him, but He may forgive (sins) less than that for whom so
ever He wishes"(Soorah An- Nisaa 4:48 and 116)
THE UNIVERSALITY OF ISLAM
Since the consequences of false religion are so grave, the true religion of
Allah must be universally understandable and attainable, not confined to any
people, place or time. There can not be conditions like baptism, belief in a
man, as a saviour etc., for a believer to enter paradise. Within the central
principle of Islam and in its definition, (the surrender of one's will to God)
lies the roots of lslam's universality. Whenever man comes to the realization
that Allah is one and distinct from His creation, and submits himself to
Allah, he becomes a Muslim in body and spirit and is eligible for paradise.
Thus, anyone at anytime in the most remote region of the world can become
a Muslim, a follower of God's religion, Islam, by merely rejecting the
worship of creation and by turning to Allah (God) alone-It should be noted
however, that the recognition of and submission to Allah requires that one
chooses between right and wrong and such a choice implies accountability.
Man will be held responsible for his choices, and, as such, he should try his
utmost to do good and avoid evil. The ultimate good being the worship of
Allah alone and the ultimate evil being the worship of His creation along
with or instead of Allah. This fact is expressed in the final revelation as
follows:
"Verily those who believe, those who follow the Jewish
(Scriptures), the Christians and the Sabians any who
believe In Allah and the last day, and work righteousness
*hall have their reward with their Lord;They will not be
overcome by fear nor grief (Soorah Al-Baqarah 2:62).
If only they had stood by the law, the Gospel, and all the
revelation that was sent to them from their Lord, they
would have enjoyed happiness from every side. There Is
from among them a party on the right course; but many of
them follow a course that Is evil.". (Soorah Al-.Maa'idah
5:66)
RECOGNITION OF ALLAH
The question which arises here is, "How can all people be expected to
believe in Allah given their varying- backgrounds, societies and cultures?
For people to be responsible for worshipping Allah they all have to have
access to knowledge of Allah. The final revelation teaches that all mankind
have the recognition of Allah imprinted on their souls, a part of their very
nature with which they are created.
In Soorah Al-A'raaf, Verses 172-173; Allah explained that when He created
Adam, He caused all of Adam's descendants to come into existence and took
a pledge from them saying, Am I not your Lord? To which they all replied, "
Yes, we testify to It:'
Allah then explained why He had all of mankind bear witness that He is their
creator and only true God worthy of worship. He said, "That was In case you
(mankind) should say on the day of Resurrection, "Verily we were unaware
of all this." That is to say, we had no idea that You Allah, were our God. No
one told us that we were only supposed to worship You alone. Allah went on
to explain That it was also In case you should say, "Certainly It was our
ancestors who made partners (With Allah) and we are only their descendants;
will You then destroy us for what those liars did?" Thus, every child is born
with a natural belief in Allah and an inborn inclination to worship Him alone
called in Arabic the "Fitrah".
If the child were left alone, he would worship Allah in his own way, but all
children are affected by those things around them, seen or unseen.
The Prophet (PBUH) reported that Allah said, "I created my
servants in the right religion but devils made them go astray".
The Prophet (PBUH) also said, "Each child is born in a state of
"Fitrah", then his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a
Zoroastrian, the way an animal gives birth to a normal offspring.
Have you noticed any that were born mutilated?" (Collected by
Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim).
So, just as the child submits to the physical laws which Allah has put in
nature, his soul also submits naturally to the fact that Allah is his Lord and
Creator. But, his parents try to make him follow their own way and the child
is not strong enough in the early stages of his life to resist or oppose the will
of his parents. The religion which the child follows at this stage is one of
custom and upbringing and Allah does not hold him to account or punish him
for this religion.
Throughout people's lives from childhood until the time they die, signs are
shown to them in all regions of the earth and in their own souls, until it
becomes clear that there is only one true God (Allah). If the people are
honest with themselves, reject their false gods and seek Allah, the way will
be made easy for them but if they continually reject Allah's signs and
continue to worship creation, the more difficult it will be for them to escape.
For example, in the South Eastern region of the Amazon jungle in Brazil,
South America, a primitive tribe erected a new hut to house their main idol
Skwatch, representing the supreme God of all creation. The homage to the
God, and while he was in prostration to what he had been taught was his
Creator and Sustainer, a mangy old flea-ridden dog walked into the hut, The
young man looked up in time to see the dog lift its hind leg and pass urine on
the idol. Outraged, the youth chased the dog out of the temple, but when his
rage died down he realized that the idol could not be the Lordof the universe.
Allah must be elsewhere. he now had a choice to act on his knowledge and
seek Allah, or to dishonestly go along with the false beliefs of his tribe. As
strange as it may seem, that was a sign from Allah for that young man. It
contained within it divine guidance that what he was worshipping was false.
Prophets were sent, as was earlier mentioned, to every nation and tribe to
support man's natural belief in Allah and man's inborn inclination to worship
Him as well as to reinforce the divine truth in the daily signs revealed by
Allah. Although, in most cases, much of the prophets' teachings became
distorted, portions remained which point out right and wrong. For example,
the ten commandments of the Torah, their confirmation in the Gospels and
the existence of laws against murder, stealing and adultery in most societies.
Consequently, every soul will be held to account for its belief in Allah and
its acceptance of the religion of Islam; the total submission to the will of
Allah.
We pray to Allah, the exalted, to keep us on the right path to which He has
guided us, and to bestow on us a blessing from Him, He is indeed the Most
Merciful. Praise and gratitude be to Allah,the Lord of the worlds, and peace
and blessings be on prophet Muhammed, his Family, his companions, and
those who rightly follow them. |
