What is Islam?

Islam is a monotheistic religion of the Abrahamic traditions and is an affirmation of the earlier scriptures including Judaism and Christianity. The word Islam means “submission to the will of Allah (God)” or “to be at peace by accepting the instructions of Allah”.

Though the history of Islam as a religion starts from the time when Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) yet its teachings and ideology states that Islam is a not a new religion rather it is a continuation of the old religious traditions which were corrupted from time to time by additions and innovations.

Fundamental beliefs of Islam and their effect on the individual and society

The fundamental beliefs that a Muslim must hold are different in the Sunni and Shiite sects of Islam.

The fundamental beliefs of Sunni Muslims are as follows: belief in Allah, belief in his angels, belief in his books, Belief in Prophet Hood, the day of resurrection and belief in fate.

The fundamental beliefs of Shiite Islam are as follows: Unity of Allah, Prophet Hood, Justice, Imamat, and Resurrection.

Belief in Allah

The first and the most basic belief of Islam is the belief in the Almighty Allah. A Muslim must not only acknowledge from his heart the existence of a true God but must also believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and most merciful along with other attributes that make him unique in a sense that human naked eyes cannot see him and the human mind cannot perceive him. A Muslim must also believe that even though Allah cannot be seen with the naked human eyes but can be perceived from his creatures scattered on the face of the earth.

Along with this, Muslims must also believe that Allah has no accomplices in his universal kingship and that Allah has no relatives or offsprings. This has been clearly stated by Allah (SWT) in the Quran, Allah says, “He neither begot nor was he begotten and none is comparable to him” (Surah Ikhlas).

This belief strongly impacts the lives of an individual and the life of a society as a whole. When a person truly commits himself to the one true God he does not backtrack from facing difficult situations. His belief in the God encourages him to do the good acts that Islam has prescribed for its followers and rejects the role of deities or intercessors to reach Allah. This ultimately results in the formation of an honest and just society.

Belief in the angels

According to the Muslim belief, angels are supernatural beings that normal human beings cannot see with their eyes. They are being created from the Light and carry out orders of Allah without digression or delay. The exact number of angels is unknown but some prominent angels have been mentioned in the Quran and hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). The four most prominent angels with their duties are as follows.

Hazrat Jibrael (a.s) to deliver the message of Allah to his Prophets, Hazrat Izrael (a.s) to fulfill the orders of snatching the soul from living things, Hazrat Israfel (a.s) to play the trumpet before the day of judgment and Hazrat Mikael (a.s) to pour rain.

The obedience of angels to the will of Allah gives us the message that we should at least try to carry out all the commandments of Allah in letter and spirit. This humble submission to the will of Allah is what that makes this society a heaven on the earth. The rebellion of angel-turned-Satan also gives us the message that we should not brag or boast of our wealth and all advantages that Allah has bestowed upon us.

Belief in Books

Muslims believe that God has bestowed treatises and books from time to time and from place to place on different prophets starting from the very first prophet Adam (a.s) to the last of all, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). 

The treatises were relieved not to bring new Sharia along but to follow the old covenants with new additions. The four of the following revelations are considered as full Sharia-bearing books: Torah, Psalms, Gospel and the holy Quran.

The revelations of God provided a standard charter for the people to follow but as time passed on after every such revelation, people altered the very message of God by adding their own views to the holy books. In order to purify his message from worldly alterations and to provide the detailed version of the sharia law, God revealed his final and all-encompassing books, the holy Quran.

Belief in Prophets

The word messenger or prophet means the person who brings some message or predicts some event. Muslims believe that prophets were the selected human beings who brought the message of Allah to the people to guide them towards the path of Allah. 

The books revealed upon these prophets provided the basis for the law of time to be subordinated to the will of Allah than to the humans. Apart from the books, Prophets also provided exemplary models in their lives for all human beings to follow.

 According to ahadith, God has sent 124,000 Prophets from time to time and place to place with a divine mission. Among them, four Prophets have bestowed with complete law-bearing books. These four prophets are Hazrat Musa (a.s), Hazrat Dawood (a.s), Hazrat Essa (a.s) and Hazrat Muhammad (S.a.w).

Belief in the Day of Judgment

This is also one of the core beliefs that a person must hold to be called a Muslim. The Day of Judgment means that every human being will have to be questioned by God regarding his actions during this worldly life on the day after the complete upheaval of the system.

The Day of Judgment is a highly important belief because it inserts a sense of duty and a sense of fear of retribution in case a person commits any wrong to the fellow human beings.

Belief in Fate

Belief in fate hinders a person from going into disarray and mental stress in case of difficulties. In the case of hardships, a person bears with patience all these difficulties by keeping his hopes and ultimately overcoming it but believe in fate never means that human being blame everything on the fate caused his by his own sloth.

These lines of Iqbal(r.a) truly reflects the level up to which a person should rest upon the fate.

He says,” Herbs and shrubs alike stick to what fate pre-ordains but Muslim only obeys laws Of God, All else abhors and much disdains”.

Shi’ite’s Beliefs

Shi’ite's three beliefs are similar to the mainstream Sunnis and thus do not require any elaboration. The rest of two have been discussed here.

Justice

The Shi'ite community believes that every person has his own freedom to carry out any act that he considers appropriate which they refer to as the justice of God. Shi’ite Muslims also believe, unlike Sunnis, those wrong deeds have been drawn-out by Satan and Nafs instead of being pre-ordained by God. The mainstream Twelver Shias follow this ideology with variations in other sects.

Imamat

The Shias believe that the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was to be succeeded by his cousin Ali (r.a) instead of Hazrat Abu Bakar (r.a). They then trace back a line of 12 Imams or spiritual successors of Hazrat Ali (r.a). All of the twelve Imams are the descendants of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) and that the last Imam is in occultation who will return to bring peace to the world in last days.

Pillars of Islam

The following pillars that serve as the foundation stone of Islam: Recitation of Kalima Tayyaba, Prayers, Fasting, Charity and Pilgrimage.

Recitation of Kalima Tayyaba

The picture above shows the Kalima Tayyaba that forms the very base of the Islamic faith. Anyone who wants to enter the fold of Islam has to recite this kalima and has to accept it from the heart but once one enters the fold of Islam this recitation translates into many actions necessary for the welfare of fellow human beings and for deen of Allah.

Salat

Salat which is called “Namaz” in the sub-continent looks like a mere superficial physical exercise but has much more to do with inner spiritual wellbeing. The bowings, prostrations and humility five times a day in front of Allah gives the man a liberty and strength that take him to the upper planes of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment.  The ritual washing of certain body parts keeps the outer body clean as well.

Fasting

This pillar of Islam has been nominated by Allah to be a form of worship solely for him. In a Hadith-e-Qudsi, Allah says,” All the actions of a Muslim are for him, except fasting it is especially for me and I will reward it”.

In this type of worship, a Muslim avoids eating food and avoids being involved in sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk. He is also prescribed to hinder his nafs from falling into evil actions like lying, backbiting etc. Fasting inculcates a sense of sacrifice in the minds of a common human being, it also informs him of the hardships carried out by poor due to non-availability of food.

Charity

Zakat or charity is obligatory for every Muslims to pay in case if that person is financially stable. A person has to give 2.5 percent of his total available wealth in the path of Allah to be distributed among poor and to carry out other community welfare projects.

There are other non-obligatory forms of charity too that are called “Sadqat”. The government of the time can also levy the tax upon the people called “Nawayeb”. Zakat is also paid on many other things and the proportion varies according to the situation. Zakat provides the very base of Islam economic system and provides an alternative to the exploitative systems of Capitalism and communism.

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage or Hajj is compulsory once in life for those who have the means to afford. The poor and those who cannot go due to some reasons have been exempted from the worship of Allah. Hajj apart from being a form of worship brings people together to bind them into a common bond of Islamic brotherhood.