Sincere Islam
Islam is today believed the
fastest growing religion in the world, an
all-encompassing ‘Way of Life’.
Muslims are raised from early childhood to revere
the prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
They are commanded to hold his honour more dear
than their own lves or those of family members.
There are some 11,000 Madrasahs (Islamic schools)
in Pakistan, but under one per cent of school
children are said to be enrolled in traditional
madrasahs
Other (Western) sources say enrolment is a
million (orphans, migrants and part-time students
explain the discrepancy), a insignificant
percentage.
Muhammad (pbuh) was 40, in AD 610 when he began
receiving messages from God, later compiled in the
Koran.
Muhammad (pbuh) was 60 when he gained control of
Mecca, the economic and religious centre of the
Arabian peninsula.
Ali was son-in-law and cousin of Mohammad and one
of the early successors or Caliphs as leader of the
Muslim people.
 During its golden era, Islam produced many of the
world’s finest mathematicians and philosophers and
mystics.
Historical Muslim culture, law and science was
advanced and did not (need to) borrow from the West.
Muslims do not see a separation as do most
Westerners between religious, civic and other areas
of life and living.
Islam is the only one of the three monotheistic
religions to preach explicit tolerance of the other
monotheistic faiths.
There are six basic articles of faith common to
nearly all Muslims.
The Five Pillars of Islam include the Creed,
Prayers, Almsgiving, fasting, pilgrimage, and jihad
(struggle – physical and spiritual)
Islam believes there are 100 of God’s Holy books,
chief of which is the Law given to Moses, Psalms to
David, Gospel to Jesus and the Koran to Mohammad.
Mercy, love and justice are the basic tenets of
Islam.
Jesus, too, suffered and never retaliated, and
instead of telling his followers to seek revenge by
killing abusers, told them to love them and pray for
them.
Those who make mischief in the earth, theirs is
the curse. Koran, 13/25.
There is a rigid code Muslims must abide by on
when they can fight and how fighting should be
conducted. A Muslim is never allowed to initiate
hostilities.
The political leader of Islamic jihad was
challenged: where does the Koran glorify martyrdom?
He insisted it did, but he and colleagues could not
find it. I was told depart, remain alive. Why grant
an interview? He saw you as another dumb Westerner.
Any UK vicar calling from jihad would be
summoned, certainly by Lambeth Palace, maybe by
police; imams are autonomous, followers cower to the
imam.
Beginning around 1500, many areas of the Muslim
world were colonised by Europe until after WW II,
when oil reserves revitalised Islam.
Islam has a clear distinction between
‘combatants’ and ‘non-combatants’, and forbids
‘soldiers’ harming defenceless civilians, women,
children, aged and ill.
Muslim beliefs as diverse as those among
Christians; the first are: there is no God but
Allah, and Muhammad (pbuh) is God’s final, supreme
Prophet.
 Today around the globe, there are numerous
different movements and groups in Islam, straddling
countries and continents.
All Muslims draw their inspiration from Muhammad
(pbuh) and the Koran but among the identifiable
groups Sunni (90 per cent) and Shia are the clearest
division.
A third group of Muslims are the Sufi, those
Muslims seeking mystical rather than merely
intellectual knowledge, understanding of, with God.
Islam in many areas and instances has moved to
accommodate and adjust to the West’s modern ways.
Invite them to the Way of your Lord with wisdom
and fair preaching and argue with them in a better
way. Koran 16.125
Some Muslim scholars say Reason, when consistent
with the fundamental tenets of Islam, gives moral
knowledge leading honest enquirers to faith in
Allah.
Muslims, Christians and Jews are the brotherhood
of the three religions.
Fundamentalist groups have objected to and
rejected much of the modernity and questionable
standards which have enveloped the West.
Are my fellow-Muslims so weak in their faith,
asked one follower, that they think Gods needs their
violence to defend his eternal truth. They fear
honest debate.
Christians traduce us, say Islamists, because the
West has become ungodly worshipping materialism.
Darwinism and materialist philosophies justify
violence by defining men as ‘warring animals’.
Confrontation has arisen because the West in turn
rejects accusations of being ungodly, seeing Islamic
as being medieval, dogmatic, arrogant.
Jihad is the means by which those who are outside
the household of Islam are brought into its fold;
violent jihad is denied as legitimate.
God commands believers in Islam to bring peace
and security to the world. Islamic morality is the
cure for terrorism, not the source of it.
In Islam, terrorism is a form of savagery to be
condemned - it is a great sin to kill an innocent
person.
Violence and brutality are against the Will of
God, according to the Koran.
Islam sees the Devil as the most dangerous enemy,
with whom everyone must be at war; he constantly
invites mankind to commit evil. |
