What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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What are Islam and Muslims all about?
A CHANCE TO CORRECT ALL YOUR MISCONCEPTIONS
Barely a day goes by without
hearing the words ‘Muslim’, ‘Islam’
or ‘Jihaad’ from the media. In fact
one would guess that the vast
majority of people
have heard such
terms from the media or from
friends or family. However, have
you ever asked yourself what these
terms really mean? Have you gone
out and spent some time to research
about these Muslims and what they
believe in?
Perhaps you may think that these
people are all foreigners and
therefore have no bearing on your
life. Well, you may be surprised
then if I were to tell you that there
are up to 3 million Muslims living
on your doorstep in the United
Kingdom; from the furthest south
of Lands End to remote areas in
northern Scotland. You may not feel
this a strong enough reason to go
out and read about Islam; however,
do you not feel at least a little
ignorant when you hear it
mentioned on the television or on
the radio?
It is for this purpose that we have
provided you with this short
pamphlet about Islam, Muslims and
all that you may wish to know about
them. We hope that you find the
information beneficial and useful
and encourage you to make contact
with the authors if you wish to
further your understanding of Islam
or correct any mi
sconceptions you
may have about it.
Islam
Islam is the world’s fastest growing
divine way of life with around 1.3
billion adherents worldwide. From
countries ranging far a field as
America to Zimbabwe, Muslims can
be found on all continents of the
globe. A Muslim is someone who
believes in and adheres to a way of
life known as Islam.
What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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Islam is an Arabic word which
literally means ‘submission’. The
Islamic faith was revealed to the last
and final Messenger Muhammad
(saw) from Allaah (lit. God) in the
deserts of Arabia some 1400 years
ago; and was a continuation of the
Judaeo-Christian religions that
preceded it. In fact Islam came as a
rectification for both the Jewish and
Christians scriptures since over
time they had undergone numerous
changes and additions from their
original revealed form. The editors
of the Revised Standard Version of
the Bible 1971 comment in their
introduction to the RSV Bible,
“The King James Version has with
good reason been termed, ‘the
noblest monument of English
prose’. Its revisers in 1881
expressed admiration for its
simplicity, its dignity, its power, its
happy turns of expression.’ It
entered, as no other book has, into
the making of the personal
character and the public
institutions of the English-speaking
peoples. We owe to it an
incalculable debt.
Yet the King
James Version has grave
defects.
By the middle of the 19th
Century, the development of
Biblical studies and the discovery
of many manuscripts more ancient
than those upon which the King
James Version was based,
made it
manifest that these defects are
so many and so serious as to
call for revision of the English
translation.
”
The Islamic way of life is centred
around the belief in a single Creator
known as Allaah; this is often
translated as God in English. Some
may think that in this day and age
of science, technology and
development, it is old-fashioned to
believe in a God or a Creator.
Others seem to think that the theory
of evolution and genetic
engineering have made the need for
God redundant. In fact the evidence
of a Creator is all around us and we
need only take one look at ourselves
to come to this conclusion.
The Myth of ‘Science Has
Answers to All Things’
It seems that if one speaks about
God or a Creator in today’s society,
one would get strange looks from
friends of work colleagues or would
What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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be accused of becoming
‘brainwashed.’ In fact the majority
of people in British society are
atheist (i.e. do not believe in any
God or Creator); most of whom
would claim that the theories that
science have forwarded have
refuted such an historical concept.
Before we explore whether there
exists a creator or not, one must
first mention that science is merely
a tool by which one looks upon
reality. Those great oft-repeated
laws such as Newton’s three laws of
motion, or the law of gravity etc.
were merely observations and
documentations of certain laws that
existed before, du
ring and after
such scientists. Is it not true that
gravity existed before Newton
noticed it? Or the laws of motion
were allowing things to move and
for friction to work before those
scientists decided to compile works
about them?
So the first point regarding science
is that it is simply a comment by
certain scientists upon a reality they
envisage. Now the way they
envisage the reality, and the tools
they use allow them to understand
more about what is going on around
them. When one looks back to the
comments of scientists living in the
12th century, without microscopes,
without their telescopes, they
believed that the earth was flat,
motionless and the centre of the
universe.
Now if you were alive during that
time, would you too say that the
world was flat and the centre of
universe? Let us say that you did
and that you backed your claim by
saying, ‘because the great scientists
say so.’ Well, in the 20th century
you would be considered backward
and ignorant since those such
observations have been nullified as
we have more advanced tools
proving otherwise. So by following
the scientists in the 12th century
you would have arrived at a
completely incorrect understanding
about the world.
Who is to say that following the
comments and statements of the
scientists of the 20th and 21st
century so too would not be proved
wrong at a later date? Who then
would be held to account for
believing in such misconceptions –
What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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obviously one can only blame
yourself if you did not truly go out
to seek the truth. There are
manifest examples of such
contradictions in more recent times
as well, topics ranging from
whether the universe is expanding,
or whether the cause of asthma is as
a result of pollution or not. In fact
such contradictions will remain and
continue so long as technology
develops. However, development
does not necessarily mean one will
arrive at the correct answer as we
have explained.
Mankind’s Greatest Question
Despite the great advancement in
technology in recent times, there
still remain fundamental questions
which science has been unable to
answer. Where did I come from,
where am I going? What is the
relationship between man, life and
the universe? What is the link
between life and what was before
life, and what is after life? Such
questions have been asked of
oneself by each and every human
being at some stage of their life.
Without having any answer to such
questions we are simply continuing
in a life which has no meaning and
no purpose. And as a result it is no
wonder why suicide rates and the
prevalence of self-harm are
rocketing.
If you were to be drugged
unconscious, transported to an
unknown location and then left to
find yourself awake in a darkened
room, you will naturally ask;
Who
put me here? Why am I here? And
what will happen next?
These
questions would be foremost in
your mind such that you probably
would not be able to do anything
without answering these questions
first. Are you and I not in exactly
the same situation upon this earth?
Who put us here? Why did they put
us here? What will happen once we
die?
Questions of what happens after
death evoke in many an uneasy
feeling, a feeling that many shy
away from if they do not have a
convincing answer. The truth of the
matter is that the only certainty in
this life is that we are all going to
die. We all know people who were
What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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once alive and have since died.
Where have they gone? What will
happen to them? These are all
questions that have passed through
our minds but are we really content
with the excuses and answers we
have provided ourselves with?
The Proof of the Existence
of a Creator
If we were to ask Joe public how we
came about on this earth, you would
probably hear a plethora of
different answers from Evolution,
Big-Bang to a Supreme Creator.
However, as intelligent individuals,
you and I do not go on or believe
what other people simply say,
rather we want to be convinced by
the greatest faculty we have been
blessed with, the faculty of thinking
and intellect. As a human being, we
have been given the gift of thought
and of comprehension such that
one is able to judge and weigh up
different arguments according to
one’s level of understanding. It is an
insult for anyone to forego this
faculty and to follow any concept,
whether that may be the theory of
evolution, the existence of a God,
the Big-Bang theory blindly without
asking for any evidence. To do so,
renders one on a level lower than a
farm animal and affords the chance
to be exploited by others.
Returning to the issue as to whether
there exists a Creator or not, to
answer such questions we firstly
need to draw upon the
understanding we have about
ourselves and all those things that
surround us. Looking to oneself as a
human what do we notice? We find
that we are all born i.e. we have a
starting point and that we grow to a
certain height, achieve a maximal
weight, and expire once we attain a
certain age – some more
prematurely than others. Hence we
are limited. We have a limited
lifespan, limited
dimensions, and
limited intelligence. Therefore from
observing oneself, we can make a
blanket statement about human
beings in general,
all humans are
limited. What we mean by this
statement is that we are not
unlimited or infinite i.e. we don’t
live for ever or continue to grow
without end.
The second concept
we can notice is
that human beings are dependent
What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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and needy i.e. they
require nutrition
to live and grow, oxygen to breathe
and dwellings for protection from
the environment. Humans are not
self-subsistent and consequently
without food, water, warmth and
oxygen they would not be able
survive. Therefore human beings
are limited, needy and dependent.
If one were to gather 100 persons in
a single hall they still would have
the same attributes of being needy,
limited and dependent. This is
because the totality of limited
beings is limited. If one were to
gather 1,000, 1 million nay even 1
billion people into a single space,
they all still would have the
attribute of being weak, limited and
needy, since they still require food,
shelter, and will each live for a fixed
period of time.
Now if we turn our attention to
other things around us such as
animals and plants, we observe
exactly the same findings. Animals
and plants are dependent upon
water, oxygen and carbon dioxide,
warmth and sun light; without such
things they will wither away and
die. Animals and plants are also
limited in that they grow only so tall
and live so long.
Similarly if we look to the stars and
the planets, even though they seem
so huge and great, they are still
limited in size and are dependent
on many factors including
gravitational pulls, energy etc. to
maintain their course and existence.
If we total the existence of all these
things, the stars, planets, people
and things, we find that they too are
limited, needy and dependent on
other things; since they are
dependent on other factors to bring
them into being, to maintain their
complex interactions and to sustain
their existence.
Now we turn to the following
possibilities,
i)
either all these limited objects
brought themselves into being and
consequently maintain themselves
and are self subsistent or
ii)
these limited things are
dependent upon other limited
things for their existence which are
in turn dependent upon other
What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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limited things which are in turn
dependent ad infinitum or lastly;
iii)
all these things are dependent
upon a being that is independent,
eternal, unlimited and not needy.
If we take the first possibility
(which is what the scientists would
like you believe) that things came
about on their own existence and
are self maintaining. We ask you to
simply look around you and bring a
single example of a thing that is
unlimited, self sustaining and not
dependent on other things or
factors. The fact of the matter is
that there is not a single thing that
one can perceive that fits into this
and consequently such a claim is
rejected as being false and
misleading.
If we take the second possibility
that all the things you see around
you are dependent upon other
dependent things for their
existence; we ask the following
tongue twister; what are these other
dependent things dependent on
themselves? If they are dependent
upon other things which they
themselves are dependent, then
those others things consequently
must be dependent upon other
dependent things which they
themselves are dependent upon
until eternity. Since all these things
are dependent, which one was first?
Naturally, there cannot be a first
dependent thing without an
initiator as that is the nature of
being limited and dependent. So
again, this argument is totally
baseless and flawed and is to be
rejected by any sane person.
The last possibility is the only
explanation that makes any sense.
All dependent things have complex
interactions and relationships with
other dependent objects, however
each of these dependent objects,
irrespective of how numerous they
are, are still dependent and hence
require a being that has the
attributes of being independent,
unlimited and eternal to bring them
into creation. And that being which
brought them into being is known
by some as God, and by the
Muslims as Allaah (swt).
What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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What about the Big Bang?
The Big Bang is a much quoted
scientific theory that is mentioned
by scientist which is meant to give a
rational reason for the creation or
beginning of the universe. Many
people believe that such a theory
disproves the third possibility as
mentioned above i.e. the concept of
a creator. However, if we analyse
the big bang theory we see that it
simply states that the universe and
all that is around us had a
beginning from the mixing of a
cocktail of gases and chemicals.
After numerous interactions and
reactions, it is alleged that simple
proteins were constructed that
began as the building blocks of the
universe.
Although we will not explore this
theory in much further detail, it is
important to ask from where did
these alleged chemicals and gases
come from? Who put them there? It
is like saying that the sponge cake
was made by a mixture of water,
flour, eggs, cream, jam, baking
powder in a heated environment.
But you and I know that if a person
did not get the initial ingredients
from the shop, opened them, mixed
them into a batter and then
physically placed them in an oven,
the cake would not be made.
Similarly for the Big Bang theory,
where did the ingredients of the
universe originat
e from? Who put
them together? The Big Bang theory
does not provide a satisfactory
answer to how you or I were
created. And our simple lines of
questioning provide further proof
that much of what we hear from
scientists shouldn’t be taken for
granted.
What about Evolution?
The theory of evolution was a
notion championed by Charles
Darwin as an explanation for the
varieties of species that exist on the
earth. However, over 100 years
since the theory was propositioned,
it still remains a theory in that the
concept has not yet been proven to
be fact. Despite evolution being
taught in schools and colleges up
and down the country, one is not
taught the complete lack of
scientific evidence or fossils which
show the missing-link between a
single specie evolving into another.
What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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you know was beyond the capacity
of a normal human being, you
would think twice before calling the
psychiatrist. Rather you yourself
would want to know what this
person is really about before
making any rash decisions. Perhaps
his feats of walking on water,
bringing the dead back to life or
healing the leper may convince you
about his call.
However, if a person told you that
they saw a person perform these
extraordinary feats, you would be
less likely to believe them or take
them for granted; even if such a
person was your close friend or
family member. This is because
such feats need one to actually
visualise and experience them to
truly believe in their occurrence.
Therefore, all the claims made that
previous prophets and messengers
performed such fantastic feats and
miracles may well be true but bear
no direct relevance to us as we were
unable to experience such. No
matter how many
people speak
about them or how many times they
are repeated, this reality is not
changed. Such miraculous feats are
only suitable as proof for the time
and the people they were performed
to. It is reported that the prophet
Muhammad (saw) performed many
such miracles to his people.
However, we did not witness such
events and consequently these are
not proof of prophethood for you or
I in this day and age. Rather what is
alleged by us Muslims is that the
Qur’an is the only living miracle of
the prophethood of Muhammad
(saw) and is the final revelation
from the Creator to mankind.
The Qur’an and Science
The Qur’an is the last revelation,
and a proof not only to the pagan
Arabs one thousand four hundred
years ago, but also to the scientists
of today. Perhaps one of the most
remarkable qualities of the Qur’an
for those living in the twenty first
century, is the complete consistency
between the Qur’an and most of the
discoveries of mode
rn science, in
some cases even pre-empting facts
discovered within the last twenty
years.
One of the first Western scientists
to make a serious study of this
subject was Dr Maurrice Bucaille,
What are Islam and Muslims all about?
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temptress”, and thus does not
blame woman for the “original sin”.
Women in Islam participate in all
forms of worship that men
participate in. Actually, the rights
that Islam gave to women over 1400
years ago were almost unheard of in
the West until the 1900s.
Less than fifty years ago in England
and America, a woman could not
buy a house or car without the co-
signature of her father or husband!
Additionally, Islam gives great
respect to women and their role in
society; it gives them the right to
own property, marry who they want
and many other rights. Also, it
should be mentioned that the
Prophet Muhammad’s mission
stopped many of the horrible
practices in regards to women that
were present in the society of his
time. For example, the Qur’an put
an end to the pagan Arab practice of
killing their baby daughters when
they were born. Additionally, Islam
put restrictions on the unrestricted
polygamy of the Arabs of the time,
and put many laws in place to
protect the well-being of women.
Today, most of the so-called
reforms in the status of women
came about after the West
abandoned religion for secularism.
Even those in the West who claim to
follow the so-called “Judeo-
Christian tradition” really follow the
values of Western liberalism; but
just to a lesser degree than their
more liberal countrymen.
If women in the Muslim World
today don’t have their rights, it is
not because Islam did not give them
to them. The problem is that in
many places alien traditions have
come to overshadow the teachings
of Islam, either through ignorance
or the impact of Colonialisation.
Summary and Call
Having read this short work, we
hope that your eyes have been
opened to the Islamic way of life,
and we have contri
buted at least a
little to improving your
understanding about the Muslim
faith. However, knowledge is of
little benefit if one does not act
upon it; rather if one believes that
some truths have been mentioned
in this leaflet then one should strive
hard to investigate them further
and accept the call if it is the Truth.
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