What is Islam?

Islam means submission and also means peace (in Arabic salam). Submission to the Creator and Lord of the Universe, Allah, may He be glorified: the One God, whom men have named by different names and whom they have known by the signs of His Bounty, His Mercy and His Power, through His prophets, messengers and messengers. The consequence of submission to His commands is peace, both in its internal sense and in the social sense.

Islam is the teaching and guidance of all the prophets and messengers of God from Adam, the first of humans and the first prophet, to Muhammad, peace be upon him, the seal and culmination of them all.

It is the transforming science that was handed down in his time and to his people by Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaaq, Jacob, Moses, Joseph, John and Jesus, the son of Mary, the Messiah awaited and rejected by those who knew the signs and scriptures, peace and blessings of Allah upon them.

All have called for awakening to the truth and coming out of illusion, ignorance and brutality. All have led men to a path of nobility of action and character in this life and have remembered the consequences in the next life, beyond time and space. All of them have shown with their own lives and example the way to follow. The ultimate divine message and the model of human perfection in all spheres of the individual and the social is the prophetic message of Islam. The ultimate divine revelation is the Qur’an.

The revelation that descended upon Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, the Qur’an, is intact, it has not been altered in one letter. It is translated into other languages for understanding, but the original Arabic remains intact and is memorized with photographic precision by millions of human beings on five continents.

The detailed compilation of the life, deeds and sayings of the Messenger of Allah is so thorough and so reliable that there are dozens of volumes scrupulously verified and which give us an accurate knowledge of his noble example and the pattern of justice, courage, compassion and generosity of the men and women of his community. Ten thousand men and women who lived next to him in Medina and who represent the peak of the human phenomenon. Most importantly, that example lives on in the daily practice and behaviour of the millions of Muslims who imitate and follow in the footsteps of the Messenger of Allah in their conduct and character. That pattern of behavior is what is called the ‘sunnah.’

What are the practices of the Muslim?

Islam is based on five pillars that mark the life of the believer in the course of time: declaring the Oneness of Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, praying five times a day at set times, fasting one month a year, paying each year a small proportion of the accumulated wealth (2.5%) to the needy, and performing, at least once in a lifetime, the pilgrimage to the Ancient House of Allah in Mekka, repeating the rites of the prophets.

Concern for the poor, care and respect for nature, loyalty, good neighborliness, brotherhood among believers, open and extended families, houses where God is remembered and worshipped… These are the features of a way of life fundamentally different from the individualistic neurosis of consumer society.

Islam forbids usury, lending at interest, and speculation, which are at the root of all injustices and abuses in modern society. The Muslim is advised to give hospitality, food and money by sharing what Allah has given him, to assist the needy and to defend the oppressed, without distinction of race, community or creed. Promote what is right and reject what is unjust, corruption and oppression. The highest form of sincerity is to fight with one’s possessions and one’s life to establish truth, justice and to preserve the worship of Allah.

The Muslim abstains from taking and lending with interest, eating pork, consuming intoxicants, illicit sexual intercourse and cheating or defrauding in price, quality and measure.

When the believer enters into an agreement, a covenant or a commitment, he honors it, when he promises, he fulfills it, and when he speaks, he tells the truth. Parents are respected and obeyed and neighbors have the right to good treatment, help and generosity.

These natural parameters are criteria assumed without the need for external imposition and constitute the foundation of a type of society where men are safe from one another and where it is possible to exercise compassion and justice.

What are the pillars of Muslim belief?

Only Allah is worthy of worship and submission. Worship is the expression of gratitude. He is One and Only in His divinity, He has neither associate nor sharer in His Lordship over all that exists, the visible and the unattainable. Nothing and no one is like Him.

Existence is a gift and it is also a responsibility. Man’s conduct and actions make him accountable to his Creator: good acts are rewarded and evil is punished. The ultimate and permanent reward and punishment are in the next life, where each one will reap what he sowed.

The source of all good is the recognition of Allah, the One, Compassionate and Merciful God, thanks and submission to Him. Allah is known by His names, His attributes, and His signs, manifest in the universe and in ourselves. The acceptance of the Divine power is accompanied by the recognition and acceptance of His prophets and messengers, the last and culminating of them all, who brought a clear and definitive criterion, valid for all times and for all places is the Prophet Muhammad, to whom the Qur’an was revealed in the pure Arabic language.

Belief in Allah includes the acceptance that there are worlds in subtle dimensions of existence that are not ordinarily perceived by our senses and that are an invisible but essential part of our life, such as angels, jinn, the Garden and Fire, and that our existence after death is lasting and as real as this or even more so.

The consequences of the rejection of the Lord of the worlds are evident in the disastrous situation of human beings, animal species, and nature in today’s world.