“Rivalry in worldly increase distracts you…”

"Rivalry in worldly increase distracts you, until you come to the graves. Nay, but you will come to know!" (Quran 102:1-3)

Twenty years ago, I wrote an article which I gave the title "The Age of Reduction". It was published in the book Islamic Views on Contemporary Issues. Now I find the need to talk about "The Age of Increase".

There is no contradiction between these two descriptions of our age. They are two sides of the same coin – a coin we could give the name "wretchedness".
We live in the Age of Reduction with respect to the human being, but it is the Age of Increase with respect to material things.

The reduction we see is in the human spirit. It is in our feelings, our sensitivities, our very humanness. This is while we revel in the excess of material things, go to dizzying heights in building our cities, and rush forward in technological progress. Nevertheless, people are not happy. Human happiness continues to diminish.

We are losing ourselves. We are becoming more and more superficial. Our spirits are shallow. We have lost the richness of our inner sensibilities. We rush towards the material world and our experience becomes inseparable from it, moving, expanding, growing. However, our faith, our inner meaning, and our moral sensibilities are lost on the wayside.

There is an increasing abundance of services, consumer goods, essentials, and amusements. We have more choices of entertainment than ever before. There is more wealth, and more things to buy. Science and technology are advancing at an increasing rate. So why is it that people feel more and more wretched? What have we lost of life’s beauty?

We are becoming closed in by material things more and more every day. We are becoming less social as a consequence, more distant from family and friends, from our spouses and our children. We are even becoming strangers to our own selves. We are slowly blocking ourselves off from each other with invisible walls.
Even the voices that are raised here and there seem to get caught in their throats so that no one really hears them.

This blockade of material things has deluged us. It is difficult for anyone to stand in its way. It moves forward relentlessly and irresistibly. We have put ourselves into a difficult situation from which we cannot extract ourselves.

I am reminded of a play of the French playwright Eugène Ionesco where the protagonist finds himself blocked in by things, which encroach upon him more and more every day, until the protagonist is cut off from everything around him. He is expelled from the world. Even his screams can barely be heard by anyone. Things do not merely posses the ability to exclude the person, but even his ability to speak out, like in a dream or a nightmare where one cannot make an utterance.

I am also reminded of what Leopold Weiss writes in The Road to Mecca about his experiences as a Western man living the incessant and feverish quest for material increase. He reproaches his people for their depression and wretchedness. He writes:

One day -- it was in September 1926 -- Elsa and I found ourselves travelling in the Berlin subway. It was an upper class compartment. My eye fell casually on a well-dressed man opposite me, apparently a well-to-do businessman, with a beautiful briefcase on his knees and a large diamond ring on his hand. I thought idly how well the portly figure of this man fitted into the picture of prosperity which one encountered everywhere in Central Europe in those days: a prosperity the more prominent as it has come after years of inflation, when all economic life had been topsy-turvy and shabbiness of appearance the rule. Most of the people were now well dressed and well fed, and the man opposite me was therefore no exception. But when I looked at his face, I did not seem to be looking at a happy face. He appeared to be worried: and not merely worried but acutely unhappy, with eyes staring vacantly ahead and the corners of his mouth drawn in as if in pain -- but not in bodily pain. Not wanting to be rude, I turned my eyes away and saw next to him a lady of some elegance. She also had a strangely unhappy expression on her face, as if contemplating or experiencing something that caused her pain; nevertheless, her mouth was fixed in the stiff semblance of a smile which, I was certain, must have been habitual. And then I began to look around at all the other faces in the compartment -- faces belonging without exception to well-dressed, well-fed people; and in almost every one of them I could discern an expression of hidden suffering, so hidden that the owner of the face seemed to be quite unaware of it.

This was indeed strange. I had never before seen so many unhappy faces around me; or was it perhaps that I had never before looked for what was now so loudly speaking in them? The impression was so strong that I mentioned it to Elsa; and she too began to look around her with the careful eyes of a painter accustomed to study human features. Then she turned to me, astonished, and said: "You are right. They all look as though they were suffering torments of hell... I wonder, do they know themselves what is going on in them?"

I knew that they did not -- for otherwise they could not go on wasting their lives as they did, without any faith in binding truths, without any goal beyond the desire to raise their own "standard of living," without any hopes other than having more material amenities, more gadgets, and perhaps more power...

When we returned home, I happened to glance at my desk on which lay open a copy of the Koran I had been reading earlier. Mechanically, I picked the book up to put it away, but just as I was about to close it, my eye fell on the open page before me, and I read:

You are obsessed by greed for more and more
Until you go down to your graves.
Nay, but you will come to know!
Nay, but you will come to know!
Nay, if you but knew it with the knowledge of certainty,
You would indeed see the hell you are in.
In time, indeed, you shall see it with the eye of certainty:
And on that day you will be asked what you have done with the boon of life.

For a moment I was speechless. I think the book shook in my hands. Then I handed it to Elsa. "Read this. Is it not an answer to what we saw in the subway?"

It was an answer: an answer so decisive that all doubt was suddenly at an end. I knew now, beyond any doubt, that it was a God-inspired book I was holding in my hand: for although it had been placed before man over thirteen centuries ago, it clearly anticipated something that could have become true only in this complicated, mechanized, phantom-ridden age of ours.

At all times people had known greed: but at no time before this had greed outgrown a mere eagerness to acquire things and become an obsession that blurred the sight of everything else: an irresistible craving to get, to do, to contrive more and more -- more today than yesterday, and more tomorrow than today: a demon riding on the necks of men and whipping their hearts forward toward goals that tauntingly glitter in the distance but dissolve into contemptible nothingness as soon as they are reached, always holding out the promise of new goals ahead -- goals still more brilliant, more tempting as long as they lie on the horizon, and bound to wither into further nothingness as soon as they come within grasp: and that hunger, that insatiable hunger for ever new goals gnawing at man's soul: Nay, if you but knew it you would see the hell you are in...

This, I saw, was not the mere human wisdom of a man of a distant past in distant Arabia. However wise he may have been, such a man could not by himself have foreseen the torment so peculiar to this twentieth century. Out of the Koran spoke a voice greater than the voice of Muhammad...

Leopold Weiss had read Surah al-Takathur and embraced Islam. We can read above his translation of this chapter of the Quran the way he understood it at that time. His "You are obsessed by greed for more and more" captures much of the essence of the meaning of the verse "Rivalry in worldly increase distracts you."

He articulates the problem when people put a premium on outward appearances and give little value to inner worth, when they prefer worldly success over success in the Hereafter, when they place greater stake in personal interests than they do on ethical conduct, and when they focus their lives on material acquisition over the development of their inner selves.

What happiness have we achieved in this deluge of material excess? How can we recapture our own souls? We know more about the physical aspects of our lives than ever before in history. However, the inner dimensions of our lives have fallen to a disgraceful state.. - islamreligion.com

Prophet Muhammad’s Biography : From Birth to Adulthood

 

The Prophet’s Birth

It was in the year 570 of the Christian Era that Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, was born in Mecca, a city in present day Saudi Arabia.  His father, Abdullah, was a great-great-grandson of Qusayy, the founder of Mecca, and belonged to the Hashimite family of Quraish.  His mother, Ameena, was descended from Qusay’s brother.  Returning with a caravan from Syria and Palestine, Abdullah stopped to visit relatives in an oasis to the north of Mecca, fell ill there and died several months before his son’s birth.

It was customary to send the sons of Quraysh into the desert to be suckled by a wet-nurse and spend their early childhood with a Bedouin tribe.  Apart from considerations of health, this represented a return to their roots, an opportunity to experience the freedom that accompanies the vastness of the desert.  Prophet Muhammad was taken by Halima, and spent four or five years with this Bedouin family, tending the sheep as soon as he was old enough to walk, learning the ways of the desert.

When he was six, not long after he had rejoined his mother, she took him on a visit to Yathrib, where his father had died, and she herself fell ill with one of the fevers prevalent in the oasis, dying on the journey home.  Muhammad now came under the guardianship of his grandfather, Abdul-Muttalib, chief of the Hashimite clan.  When the boy was eight years old, Abdul-Muttalib died, and thus he entered the care of the new Hashimite chieftain, his uncle Abu Talib.  Prophet Muhammad tended sheep, and when he reached the age of nine, he was taken by his uncle on the caravan journey to Syria so that he could learn the art of trade.

He continued working as a merchant, and soon he made a reputation for himself.  Among the substantial fortunes of Mecca was that of the twice widowed Khadeeja.  Impressed by what she heard of Muhammad, who was now commonly known as al-Ameen, ‘the trustworthy’, she employed him to take her merchandise to Syria.  Even more impressed by his competence, when this task was completed, than by his personal charm, she sent a proposal for marriage.  By this time Prophet Muhammad was twenty-five, and Khadeeja was the age of forty.  Khadeeja presented her husband with a young slave, Zayd, who was then freed by Muhammad.  When Zaid’s relatives came to ransom him, his affection ran so deep for his benefactor that he chose to remain with Prophet Muhammad.  Khadeeja bore Muhammad six children, including one boy, Qasim, who died before his second birthday.

Prophet Muhammad was by now a man of substance, respected in the community, admired both for his generosity and his good sense.  His future seemed assured.  In due course, having re-established the prosperity of his clan, he would become one of the more influential elders of the city and end his life, perhaps, as his grandfather had done, reclining in the shade of the Kaaba and recollecting long years well spent in worldly terms.  Yet his spirit was uneasy and became increasingly so as he approached middle age.

The Hunafa

The Meccans claimed descent from Abraham through Ishmael, and their temple, the Kaaba, had been built by Abraham for the worship of the One God.  It was still called the House of God, but the chief objects of worship came to be a number of idols placed inside, sculptural depictions of deities they believed to be the daughters of God which acted as intercessors.  The few who felt disgust at this idolatry which had prevailed for centuries longed for the religion of Abraham.  Such seekers of the truth were known as Hunafaa, a word originally meaning “those who turn away” from idol-worship.  These Hunafaa did not form a community, but rather each sought the truth by the light of their own inner consciousness.  Muhammad son of Abdullah was one of these. - islamreligion.com

Why do Muslims Call others to Islam?

 

If you discovered something so amazing you felt like jumping up and down in excitement, what is the first thing that you would want to do?  If you worked out the answer to a puzzle and knew others were trying to do the same thing, how would you feel, how would you react?  If you discovered the meaning of life or the secrets of the universe, what would you do with that knowledge? If you worked out a way of banishing fear and sadness and replacing it with eternal happiness what would you do? 

Most people would not be able to contain their excitement and would want to tell as many people as possible.  They would want to tell everyone what they had discovered in the hope that they would be just as thrilled and just as excited.  And that is the short and concise answer to why Muslims call others to Islam.  Because they are convinced without a shadow of a doubt that Islam is the meaning of life, the secret of the universe and the key to eternal happiness are all rolled into an attainable and understandable package and they want every single person on the face of this earth to know that.

But there is a longer answer and it involves obeying the commands of God, following in the footsteps of the prophets, and gathering rewards in the hope of attaining eternal peace and happiness in the Afterlife.

Islam is what is sometimes called a proselytizing religion.  That means it is a religion that attempts to convince people that its belief system is the correct belief system.  Islam is a religion that not only holds all of the answers to life’s big questions but it is also inclusive in that there are no restrictions on who can be a Muslim.  Islam is a religion for all places, all time and all people.  No one can be barred from learning the truth no matter what their religious background is, or what ethnicity or nationality they belong to.   

Once a person is a Muslim, he or she is fully equal to every other Muslim and it does not matter where they are from, what they look like or what the state of their lives and hearts was before they embraced Islam.   The truth about God and His purpose for us, His creation, is something everybody should have access to.  Thus those of us who know are commanded by God, to tell others. 

"Let there be a group among you who call others to good, and enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong: those who do this shall be successful." (Quran 3:104)

"Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in the best manner possible…" (Quran 16:125)

Most people want to spread the exciting news about Islam and at the same time fulfill the commands of God.  The scholars of Islam agree that calling others to the way of God is a communal obligation, that is that every believer should undertake this great work, however if in a particular place there are a sufficient number of people doing this,  the others are released from this obligation.

This work is called da’wah and the person who engages in it is called a da’ee.   However it would be wrong to assume that only specialized people can do da’wah.  Of course, preaching to a large crowd would require training, but the reality is that all practicing Muslims do some form of da’wah every day.  Their manner of living and dealing with others is often the best forms of da’wah.  Islam is a way of life and when people see the contentment, modesty and justice imbedded in a Muslims’ everyday life - it must, and does, look very appealing.  Being a good example is an easy way to call the people to Islam.  A religion of mercy and forgiveness where the people behave that way every day is attractive, to those whose lives are not so grounded.

From the reasons that people like to call others to the way of Islam is that they wish to follow in the footsteps of the prophets of God.  Their mission was to call the people out of darkness and into light.  They tried to take the people from disbelief to belief in the Oneness of God.  Prophet Muhammad, the last in a long line of prophets was sent to humankind by God to tell them, among other things, about the immense rewards in the Hereafter for those who believe in One God and worship Him correctly.   

"We have not sent you (O Muhammad) but to all mankind as a giver of good news and as a warner, but most people do not know." (Quran 34:28)

"O Prophet, indeed We have sent you as a witness, and a bearer of glad tidings and a warner.  And as one who invites to God by His leave and as a lamp spreading light.  And announce to the believers the glad tidings, that they will have from God a great bounty." (Quran 33:45-47)

Another reason to do da’wah is that it is a source of unlimited goodness and reward.  When a person embraces Islam because of another’s influence the caller to Islam takes rewards every time that person worships God.   Prophet Muhammad said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to that of those who follow it, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all."[1] He also said, "If God guides one person through you, this will be better for you than possessing red camels."[2]  In the time of Prophet Muhammad, camels were very valuable and the red variety were the most valuable of all.

Muslims believe that the only way to be successful in this life and in the next is by living the religion that is Islam.  They believe that all of life’s big questions, the one’s that keep you up at night and the ones that make you day dream about an eternity of enlightenment, can be answered by Islam.  Sincerity is an important concept in Islam; those who are insincere know their rewards will dwindle rapidly.  Those believers who sincerely want to spread the good news of Islam can see their rewards multiply even if their efforts are unsuccessful.  Muslims sincerely want everybody on this planet to know and to love God the way they know and love God.  And that is why Muslims call others to Islam. 

- islamreligion.com

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Footnotes:

[1]Saheeh Muslim

[2]Saheeh Bukhari & Saheeh Muslim

A Month of Blessings

 

One of the qualities of human nature that Islam encourages people to uphold is generosity.  The need to be generous towards family, friends, neighbors, strangers and even enemies, is mentioned repeatedly throughout the Quran and the authentic traditions of Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.  There is no better time to talk about generosity then in the Islamic month of Ramadan.

These are the last days of Ramadan 2009 for Muslims across the globe.  Consequently, Muslims are examining their lives and asking themselves if their day-to-day actions are pleasing to their Creator.  The intense, devotion of Ramadan has caused the believers to examine their hearts and minds.

Well known as a month of fasting, those new to Islam have discovered that Ramadan is also a month of charity and kindness.  The fasting days and prayer-filled nights have softened hearts and created ripples of compassion and generosity.  This month of devotion arrived quickly, settled softly, and God’s blessings, mercy, and forgiveness descended.  Ramadan’s blessings have welled into a river of generosity. 

“The Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, was the most generous amongst the people, and he used to be more so in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel (angel) visited him, and Gabriel used to meet him on every night of Ramadan till the end of the month.  The Prophet used to recite the Quran to Gabriel, and when Gabriel met him, he used to be more generous than a fast wind (which spreads rain and other blessings).”(Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

Throughout the 29/30 days of fasting, Muslims give generously.  They reach deep into their pockets and give to charities, and those in need, both openly, and secretly.  However, charity in Islam is not only by giving money.  It is any act of kindness or generosity given with an open heart and a desire to please God.  Charity is something as simple as a smile or as grand a gesture as building a school or a hospital;   charity is also every kind or generous act in between.

Muslims are encouraged to be generous at all times, however Ramadan serves as a reminder.  When the worries of the world and the trials of life are overwhelming frail human beings tend to forget that God has provided blessings too numerous to count.  Ramadan reminds us that these blessings are not meant to be clutched to the chest or hoarded away.  God expects us to be generous and spend out of what He has provided.

God is Al Kareem, the most generous.  Everything originates from Him and everything will eventually return to Him, it therefore makes sense to consider our possessions and wealth as trusts.  We are obligated to preserve, protect, and ultimately share whatever we have been provided with.

“Say: “Truly, my Lord blesses the provision for whom He wills of His slaves, and also restricts it for him, and whatsoever you spend of anything (in God’s Cause), He will replace it. And He is the Best of providers.” (Quran 34:39)

Throughout Ramadan Muslims look to the examples of Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, and his companions and contemplate the true meaning of generosity.  It does not mean to give away something that you no longer require.  It means to give of those things that you love and desire or in many cases even need.

Aisha (the wife of the Prophet) said, “A lady, along with her two daughters came to me asking for some alms, but she found nothing with me except one date which I gave to her and she divided it between her two daughters.”(Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

The men and women around Prophet Muhammad understood the true value of generosity.  They recognized that kind and generous acts are an investment in the future.  Our good deeds, thoughtful words, and acts of random kindness will be rewarded abundantly in the hereafter.  Whatever money we spend for the sake of pleasing God will be returned to us many times over.  Whatever possessions we give freely, will be replaced, if not in this life, in the Hereafter.

While generosity is a virtuous act at any time of the year, during Ramadan our good deeds and acts of kindness and generosity will be rewarded many times over.  It is a month of mercy, when God allows us to reap rewards that far outweigh any sins we may have accumulated throughout the year.  Ramadan is a month filled with reminders of God’s generosity, kindness, and forgiveness.  God forgives the faults and sins of humankind even though they may be as numerous as the froth of the sea,[1]  and His forgiveness and mercy are not restricted to Ramadan.

However, this month, the month that contains a day better than 1000 months spent in worship (Quran 97:1-5) is sign of God’s love for humankind.  Ramadan is a time when believers set aside 30 days for special devotion and generosity.  The fasting of Ramadan reminds the believers that the world is filled with people who are unable to find enough food or drink for their needs.  Ramadan is a chance for the believers to be generous with their time, their wealth, and their possessions.

Generosity and random acts of kindness truly make the heart happy.  Any one, who has given from their wealth or possessions with a pure heart, wanting only to please God, knows just how joyful these acts can be.  However, what of those who have not even one dollar to spare?  God’s generosity knows no bounds therefore   even in the direst circumstances human beings are able to be generous.

The people came to the Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, and asked, “If someone has nothing to give, what will he do?” He said, “He should work with his hands and benefit himself and also give in charity (from what he earns).” The people further asked, “If he cannot find even that?” He replied, “He should help the needy who appeal for help.” Then the people asked, “If he cannot do that?” He replied, “Then he should perform good deeds and keep away from evil deeds and this will be regarded as charitable deeds.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

Ramadan is known as the month of fasting, Ramadan is a gift from God, a manifestation of His mercy and reminder of human kind’s inherent goodness.  Ramadan is the month of charity and generosity.

- islamreligion.com

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Footnotes:

[1]Saheeh Bukhari

The Purpose of Life : The Islamic Viewpoint

 

Can Christianity Answer the Question?

In Christianity, the meaning of life is rooted in faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, in finding Jesus as Savior.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."  However, the proposition is not without serious problems.  First, if this is the purpose of creation and the precondition for eternal life, why was it not taught by the prophets to all the nations of the world?  Second, had God turned into man close to the time of Adam all mankind would have had an equal chance to eternal life, unless those before the time of Jesus had another purpose for their existence!  Third, how can people today who have not heard of Jesus fulfill the Christian purpose of creation?  Naturally, such a purpose is too narrow and goes against divine justice.

The Answer

Islam is the response to humanity’s search for meaning.  The purpose of creation for all men and women for all times has been one: to know and worship God.

The Quran teaches us that every human being is born conscious of God,

"(Remember) when your Lord extracted from the loins of Adam’s children their descendants and made them testify [saying]: ‘Am I not your Lord?’  They said: ‘Yes, we testify to it.’  (This was) in case you say on the Day of Judgment: ‘We were unaware of this.’  Or you say: ‘It was our ancestors who worshipped others besides God and we are only their descendants.  Will you then destroy us for what those liars did?’"(Quran 7:172-173)

The Prophet of Islam teaches us that God created this primordial need in human nature at the time Adam was made.  God took a covenant from Adam when He created him.  God extracted all of Adam’s descendants who were yet to be born, generation after generation, spread them out, and took a covenant from them.  He addressed their souls directly, making them bear witness that He was their Lord.  Since God made all human beings swear to His Lordship when He created Adam, this oath is imprinted on the human soul even before it enters the fetus, and so a child is born with a natural belief in the Oneness of God.  This natural belief is called fitra in Arabic.  Consequently, every person carries the seed of belief in the Oneness of God that lies deeply buried under layers of negligence and dampened by social conditioning.  If the child were left alone, it would grow up conscious of God - a single Creator - but all children are affected by their environment.  The Prophet of God said,

"Each child is born in a state of ‘fitra’, but his parents make him a Jew or a Christian.  It is like the way an animal gives birth to a normal offspring.  Have you noticed any young born mutilated before you mutilate them?"[1]

Figure 1 The marvel of life.  An unborn fetus sucking its thumb.

So, just as the child’s body submits to physical laws, set by God in nature, its soul submits naturally to the fact that God is its Lord and Creator.  However, its parents condition it to follow their own way, and the child is not mentally capable of resisting it.  The religion which the child follows at this stage is one of custom and upbringing, and God does not hold it to account for this religion.  When a child matures into an adult, he or she must now follow the religion of knowledge and reason.  As adults, people must now struggle between their natural disposition towards God and their desires in order to find the correct path.  The call of Islam is directed to this primordial nature, the natural disposition, the imprint of God on the soul, the fitra, which caused the souls of every living being to agree that He Who made them was their Lord, even before the heavens and earth were created,

"I did not create the jinn and mankind except for My worship." (Quran 51:56)

According to Islam, there has been a basic message which God has revealed through all prophets, from the time of Adam to the last of the prophets, Muhammad, peace be upon them.  All the prophets sent by God came with the same essential message:

"Indeed, We have sent a messenger to every nation (saying), ‘Worship God and avoid false gods...’" (Quran 16:36)

The prophets brought the same answer to mankind’s most troubling question, an answer that addresses the yearning of the soul for God.

What is Worship?

‘Islam’ means ‘submission’, and worship, in Islam, means ‘obedient submission to the will of God.’

Every created being ‘submits’ to the Creator by following the physical laws created by God,

"To Him belongs whosoever is in the heavens and the earth; all obey His will." (Quran 30:26)

They, however, are neither rewarded nor punished for their ‘submission’, for it involves no will.  Reward and punishment are for those who worship God, who submit to the moral and religious Law of God of their own free will.  This worship is the essence of the message of all the prophets sent by God to mankind.  For example, this understanding of worship was emphatically expressed by Jesus Christ,

"None of those who call me ‘Lord’ will enter the kingdom of God, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."

‘Will’ means ‘what God wants human beings to do.’  This ‘Will of God’ is contained in the divinely revealed laws which the prophets taught their followers.  Consequently, obedience to divine law is the foundation of worship.  Only when human beings worship their God by submitting to His religious law can they have peace and harmony in their lives and the hope for heaven, just like the universe runs in harmony by submitting to the physical laws set by its Lord.  When you remove the hope of heaven, you remove the ultimate value and purpose of life.  Otherwise, what difference would it really make whether we live a life of virtue or vice?  Everyone’s fate would be the same anyway.

- islamreligion.com

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Footnotes:

[1]Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim. The Arabs would cut the ears of camels and the likes as a service to their gods in pre-Islamic times.

What Does the Quran Teach

 

There is a profound question that each and every one of us reflects on at some point during our lives:

"Why am I here, what is my purpose?"

The Quran puts forward a simple but powerful argument with regards to our origins:

"Were they created without any agent? Were they the creators?" (Quran 52:35)

The Quran engages its audience by inviting us to ponder some rational, logical questions which we can use to arrive at a conclusion about our origins.  The first question that the Quran poses to us is: were we created by nothing? Can something really come from nothing?   This is impossible, as we know from our own personal experiences of life as well as the laws of the universe that we couldn’t have come out of nothing, because out of nothing, nothing comes!

This leads us to the next possibility that the Quran proposes: did we create ourselves? Can something create itself?  This is a self-contradiction, because for you to create yourself you would have to already exist, and you can't exist and not exist at same time.  This would be like saying that your mother gave birth to herself!

Since something cannot come from nothing, and self-creation is absurd, this leaves one final possibility: we have a creator.  This is the best explanation not only for our origins but also the universe and everything in it, because it is intuitive and also agrees with reality: whatever begins to exist has a cause or a creator.

This cause or creator must itself be uncaused due to the absurdity of a never-ending chain of causes.  To illustrate this better, if the cause of the universe had a cause and that cause had a cause and so on and so forth forever, then there wouldn’t be a universe to talk about.  For example, imagine if you were told that you couldn’t read this book until you handed it to someone else, and then this other person would also have to give it to someone else, and this went on forever, then would anyone ever read this book? The answer is no.  If we apply this principle to the universe then we would have to conclude that the cause behind it is uncaused out of rational necessity.  The Quran confirms the uncreatedness of the creator:

"He begot no one nor was He begotten." (Quran 112:3)

Now, having a creator is one thing, but how do we know we have a purpose? Everything in this universe has a purpose.  Even simple things like a chair, a bowl and even the book you are holding in your hands serves a purpose.  Wouldn't it be sad if we didn't too have a purpose? If we reflect and look at the world around us, we can easily come to the conclusion that we must have a purpose.  Think about the vastness of our universe with all its billions of galaxies and trillions of planets.  The Qur'an tells us that God did not create all this for no reason:

"We did not create the heavens and the earth and everything between them playfully." (Quran 21:16)

The sun gives us warmth, the clouds give us rain and the trees and animals give us food.  Since a lot of the systems that God has put in place in our universe are to ensure our survival and wellbeing then God must have a purpose in mind for us, too.  This is what the Quran tells us:

"It is God who created the heavens and earth, who has sent down water from the sky and with it brought forth produce to nourish you; He has made ships useful to you, sailing the sea by His command, and the rivers too; He has made the sun and the moon useful to you, steady on their paths; He has made the night and day useful to you and given you some of everything you asked Him for.  If you tried to count God’s favours you could never calculate them" (Quran 14:32–34)

So that nagging question comes up again, what is our purpose?  Again the Qur'an has the answer:

"I created jinn (Quran spirits) and mankind only to worship Me" (Quran 51:56)

Now, what do you understand about 'worship'? Most will say prayer.  This is correct, however in the Qur'an, worship is much more comprehensive than just praying.  It includes all acts of obedience that are pleasing to our Creator.  Even exercise and eating can be an act of worship if our intention is to stay healthy as we can’t stand up and pray if we are ill!

Why perform worship? It's important to understand that our Creator does not need our worship.  In fact the Qur'an tells us this; it is us who are in need of worship.  We as human beings are more than just flesh and bone, we have a spiritual side that also needs nourishing.  Many people are wealthy materially speaking but unhappy with their lives because they neglect their spiritual wellbeing.  In order for us to experience true peace both our bodies and souls need to be in tune with our Creator:

"Truly it is in the remembrance of God that hearts find peace." (Quran 13:28)

So by converting every aspect of our lives into pleasing our Creator, then we will be in a state of constant remembrance of God and our hearts will be at peace.  This is a revolutionary way of thinking but practically, if someone were to do this, a lot of their actions wouldn’t change; however their thought process behind their actions would and they would find the inner peace so needed in today’s society!

So, the question arises - what is the best way to worship God? Let's think about mobile phones.  Mobile phones are obviously not as sophisticated as human beings, but we share many things in common.  We both have a life span, we both require energy to function correctly, and we can both be damaged if we are not taken care of properly.  When mobile phones develop a problem, the first thing most people do is to refer to the instruction manual for the mobile phone.  Why? Because it has been made to show us the best way of using it and we rightly listen to the experts! The creator of the phone knows the best way to use that phone and they have imparted their knowledge to us in the form of instruction manuals.  Similarly then, the Quran is like an instruction manual for humanity as it is from the one who made us.  God, our Creator, knows us better than we know ourselves and this is why His knowledge, His guidance for how we should live will always surpass any human invented philosophies and ways of life. - islamreligion.com

Who is Allah?

 

Some of the biggest misconceptions that many non-Muslims have about Islam have to do with the word “Allah.”  For various reasons, many people have come to believe that Muslims worship a different God than Christians and Jews.  This is totally false, since “Allah” is simply the Arabic word for “God” - and there is only One God.  Let there be no doubt - Muslims worship the God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus - peace be upon them all.  However, it is certainly true that Jews, Christians and Muslims all have different concepts of Almighty God.  For example, Muslims - like Jews - reject the Christian beliefs of the Trinity and the Divine Incarnation.  This, however, does not mean that each of these three religions worships a different God - because, as we have already said, there is only One True God.  Judaism, Christianity and Islam all claim to be “Abrahamic Faiths”, and all of them are also classified as “monotheistic.”  However, Islam teaches that other religions have, in one way or another, distorted and nullified a pure and proper belief in Almighty God by neglecting His true teachings and mixing them with man-made ideas.

First of all, it is important to note that “Allah” is the same word that Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use for God.  If you pick up an Arabic Bible, you will see the word “Allah” being used where “God” is used in English.  This is because “Allah” is a word in the Arabic language equivalent to the English word “God” with a capital “G”.  Additionally, the word “Allah” cannot be made plural, a fact which goes hand-in-hand with the Islamic concept of God.

It is interesting to note that the Aramaic word “El”, which is the word for God in the language that Jesus spoke, is certainly more similar in sound to the word “Allah” than the English word “God.”  This also holds true for the various Hebrew words for God, which are “El” and “Elah”, and the plural or glorified form “Elohim.”  The reason for these similarities is that Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic are all Semitic languages with common origins.  It should also be noted that in translating the Bible into English, the Hebrew word “El” is translated variously as “God”, “god” and “angel”!  This imprecise language allows different translators, based on their preconceived notions, to translate the word to fit their own views.  The Arabic word “Allah” presents no such difficulty or ambiguity, since it is only used for Almighty God alone.  Additionally, in English, the only difference between “god”, meaning a false god, and “God”, meaning the One True God, is the capital “G”.  Due to the above mentioned facts, a more accurate translation of the word “Allah” into English might be “The One -and-Only God” or “The One True God.”

More importantly, it should also be noted that the Arabic word “Allah” contains a deep religious message due to its root meaning and origin.  This is because it stems from the Arabic verb ta’allaha (or alaha), which means “to be worshipped.”  Thus in Arabic, the word “Allah” means “The One who deserves all worship.”  This, in a nutshell, is the Pure Monotheistic message of Islam.

Suffice it to say that just because someone claims to be a “monotheistic” Jew, Christian or Muslim, that does not keep them from falling into corrupt beliefs and idolatrous practices.  Many people, including some Muslims, claim belief in “One God” even though they’ve fallen into acts of idolatry.  Certainly, many Protestants accuse Roman Catholics of idolatrous practices in regards to the saints and the Virgin Mary.  Likewise, the Greek Orthodox Church is considered “idolatrous” by many other Christians because in much of their worship they use icons.  However, if you ask a Roman Catholic or a Greek Orthodox person if God is “One”, they will invariably answer: “Yes!.”  This claim, however, does not stop them from being “creature worshipping” idolaters.  The same goes for Hindus, who just consider their gods to be “manifestations” or “incarnations” of the One Supreme God.

Before concluding… there are some people out there, who are obviously not on the side of truth, that want to get people to believe that “Allah” is just some Arabian “god”[1], and that Islam is completely “other” - meaning that it has no common roots with the other Abrahamic religions (i.e. Christianity and Judaism).  To say that Muslims worship a different “God” because they say “Allah” is just as illogical as saying that French people worship another God because they use the word “Dieu”, that Spanish-speaking people worship a different God because they say “Dios” or that the Jews worshipp a different God because they sometimes call Him “Yahweh.”  Certainly, reasoning like this is quite ridiculous!  It should also be mentioned, that claiming that any one language uses the only the correct word for God is tantamount to denying the universality of God’s message to mankind, which was to all nations, tribes and people through various prophets who spoke different languages.

We would like to ask our readers about the motives of these people?  The reason is that the Ultimate Truth of Islam stands on solid ground and its unshakeable belief in the Unity of God is above reproach.  Due to this, Christians can’t criticize its doctrines directly, but instead fabricate things about Islam that aren’t true so that people lose the desire to learn more.  If Islam were presented in the proper way to the world, it surely might make many people reconsider and re-evaluate their own beliefs.  It is quite likely that when they find out that there is a universal religion in the world that teaches people to worship and love God, while also practicing Pure Monotheism, would at least feel that they should re-examine the basis for their own beliefs and doctrines.

- islamreligion.com

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Footnotes:

[1]Such as the claim propagated by Robert Morey in his work, The Moon-god Allaah in the Archeology of the Middle East. For a discussion of this work, please see the following links:

(http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Sources/Allah/moongod.html)