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What is Islam? (Brochure) brochure

abstract

This booklet presents brief information about Islam, and discusses what and how Muslims believe. Six pillars of faith, namely belief in Allah, prophets, books, angels, the Hereafter and qada/qadar, and five pillars of Islam, namely kalimat al-shahadah, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage are explained as well as the concepts of salvation in Islam, mosque, prayer and adhan.

What is Islam?

“Islam” is an Arabic word meaning peace and submission. A practicing Muslim strives to submit whole-heartedly to God, thereby achieving peace in this life as well as in the afterlife. “Mohammedanism” is a misnomer for Islam and offends its very spirit and message.

Islam is the last of the three Abrahamic religions preceded by Judaism and Christianity. As such, it is a religion based on revelation that mentions belief in One God and the guidance revealed by God to the prophets. The prophets of Islam include Abraham, Moses, Solomon, and Jesus: hence Islam is not a new religion but the final culmination and fulfillment of the same basic truth revealed by God through all His prophets to every nation (Al-i ‘Imran, 3/84).

Around the year 610 AD, a man named Muhammad was spending time alone in the cave of Hira where he regularly retreated from the hustle and bustle of the busy trading town of Mecca in order to contemplate on the mysteries of life. Muhammad was known as “the trustworthy” amongst his friends and family as he was always sincere and honest in his dealings with others. It was towards the end of the lunar month of Ramadan, during the night that is now known and celebrated as the Night of Qadr, when the revelations of the Qur’an began to be transmitted through Archangel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He continued to receive these revelations for twenty-three years. The verses were memorized and written down by the companions and followers of the Prophet Muhammad, and is the same Book (the Qur’an) that Muslims read today.

In addition to the Qur’an, Muslims have the recordings of the Prophet’s lifetime and practices (Sunnah). This includes such things as the manner of praying and ablution, the details on how to perform the pilgrimage, and many other practices that illustrate the belief in one God. There are also the sayings and acts of the Prophet as witnessed by the people of the time that have been transmitted and recorded. These are known as hadith and serve as a guide on how to live the religion of Islam.

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