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Know What
Islam Truly Stands For
Even though Islam has 1.5
billion adherents world-wide and is fastest growing faith, little is
understood about this seemingly exotic religion in the West. So, as
the world seems to grow smaller each day due to global events,
curiosity is starting to burn in the minds of non-Muslims about the
religion that more and more often, finds it’s self thrust into the
spot light.
We hope our humble effort will
help bridge this gap, serve as a starting point and be as
enjoyable for you as it is for us. Please feel free to skim through
the links and articles that we have provided
and annotated to make it easier for you to decide on what to read
and allow us to thank you for your curiosity as well as your time
which are both equally invaluable to us.
The Pillars
of Islam and the Articles of Faith: the core beliefs of the Islamic
doctrine
Books:
Islam, how different, how similar, how true,...
Useful Links
About Islam
Curious
For
More? Come For a Tour.
The Five Pillars of Islam1
1. The declaration of faith.
"I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship except God
(Allah), and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.'' The
Prophethood of Muham- mad obliges Muslims to follow his exemplary
life in every respect.
2. Prayers
Prayers are prescribed five times a day as a duty towards God.
Prayer strengthens and enlivens belief in God and inspires man to
higher morality. It purifies the heart and controls temptation,
wrong-doing, and evil.
3. Fasting
Fasting during the month of Rammadan. This means abstention from
food, beverages, and sex from dawn to sunset, and curbing evil
intentions and desires. It teaches love, sincerity, and devotion. It
develops patience, unselfishness, social conscience, and willpower
to bear hardship.
4. Zakah
Zakah is a proportionately fixed contribution collected from the
wealth and earnings of the well to do and rich. It is spent on the
poor and needy in particular, and the welfare of the society in
general. The payment of Zakah purifies ones income and wealth and
helps to establish economic balance and social justice in the
society.
5. Hajj
Hajj, or pilgrimage to the Ka'bah in Mecca, once in a lifetime,
provided one has the means to undertake the journey.
The Six Articles of
Faith
A. Belief in Allah
Muslims believe in a single and unique God, " Allah". No one can see
or comprehend Allah. We can only know Him by His attributes, such as
Mercy, Forgiveness, Sovereignty. Allah's attributes were mentioned
in the Qur'an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (may peace be
upon him). Allah is the Creator of all things. He has no partners-He
has no spouse, He was not born, nor did He give birth to offspring.
He has power over all things. He is the Creator of
mankind, the heavens and the earth and everything that exists.
B. Belief in the Angles
Angels are created from light. They exist on a different physical
plane. Their sole function is to worship and obey Allah. Angles
carry out Allah's commands. A well-known angel is Jibreel (Gabriel),
who delivered Allah's revelations to the various Prophets.
C. Belief in the Books
Muslims are required to believe in the revelations sent to all
prophets. The Qur'an specifically mentions four revelations, or
Books, that Muslims must accept:
Suhuf (Scrolls): Abraham
Zaboor
(Psalms): David
Tourat
(Torah): Moses
Injeel
(Gospel): Jesus
Qura’n: Mohammad
(May Allah's peace be upon them all).
Allah specifically said that Islam is the final message and the
Qur'an is the final revelation sent to humanity. It has been
perfectly preserved, and thus, Muslims follow the teachings of the
Qur'an and use it as the perfect criterion, "furqan", in assessing
the accuracy of earlier books which are commonly known to have been
changed and tampered with over centuries.
D. Belief in the prophets
The Qur'an and traditions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) teach that
Prophets are extraordinarily good humans chosen by Allah to receive,
transmit and teach His Message.
Muslims do not attribute divinity to any
prophets. Miracles performed by Prophets are done by the command of
Allah. There is no distinction made between the various prophets.
Muslims believe in all of them, including Adam, Abraham, Noah,
David, Moses, Jesus and Mohammad (may Allah's peace be upon them
all). The Qur'an mentions 25 prophets by name, although Muslims
believe that there were other prophets because the Qur'an states
that a prophet was sent to every nation. Muslims believe that
Muhammad (pbuh) is the last prophet of Allah.
E. Belief in the day of judgment
Muslims believe in eternal life after death. On the Day of
Resurrection each human will undergo accountability in front of
Allah. Each person will be shown his/her book of deeds revealing
everything done, said and thought in this earthly life. Allah will
judge the person with absolute justice. A person will then be sent
to either Paradise or Hellfire. Each individual will be held solely
responsible for his/her own deeds. constant remembrance of the Day
of Judgment has a profound effect on the Muslim: his life is not a
mere amusement, but a solemn undertaking with eternal consequences.
The concept of the Day of Judgment is totally logical and just. True
mercy and justice dictates that tyrants who escaped punishment in
this life, and good people who endured hardship in this life, be
duly and equitably recompensed in the After life.
F. Divine Destiny: Qadar
Qadar is the belief that Allah is in control of everything. On the
one hand, humans have a free will. They have the ability and
responsibility to choose between right and wrong. However, there
are certain things that humans have no choice about, such as their
gender, where and when they are born, who their parents are, when
they will die, their financial status, and their ethnicity.
Accordingly, we will not be held responsible for these things on the
Day of Judgment. The concept of Qadar gives the believer "peace of
mind", knowing that nothing escapes the wisdom and knowledge of
Allah. Some things are destined to be and we must accept them
graciously.
1Note. Every action done with the awareness that it
fulfills the Will of God (Allah ) is considered an act of worship in
Islam.
Books
What did Jesus Really Say:
a book that explores verses of
the bible showing that Jesus (peace be upon him) never claimed
to be God. A calm, objective and nicely presented argument.
A Guide to Islam for
Non-Muslims: Answers in a reasonable level of detail how the Quran is miraculous. From scientific facts to linguistic challenge
to come with a single verse similar to the Quranic wordsmithery and
many others.
Islam In Focus:
compiled by our Mosque. this booklet gives a brief introduction to
Islam: Islamic concepts, the manifestations of faith in different
life facets, misconceptions about Islam and much more.
Useful
Links About Islam
1.
http://www.islamonline.net/english/index.shtml
2.
http://www.eecg.toronto.edu/~saghir/html/islam.html
3.
http://sultan.org/
4.
http://www.islamicity.com/
5.
http://www.ing.org/
6.
http://www.whyislam.org/
Curious for
More? Come for a Tour
The mosque hosts tours for the public to come
and spend an hour learning about Islam, see how Muslims perform
their prayer, ask questions and much more.
It is kindly requested that our guests abide
by the following regulations in order to to make this visit an
informative and pleasant one:
1. Tours by appointment only. To RSVP to the next tour, please go
to contact us.
2. No smoking while on the premises.
3. Picture-taking is not permissible except
with a prior permission.
4. Sandals and shoes must be taken off before
going upstairs to the prayer-hall.
5. Modest dress is required. Please no shorts,
tank tops, or sleeveless, midriff or see-through shirts. |
