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Joe Joe is offline
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Default The true religion

On Mar 31, 12:41*am, wrote:
The religion of Islam
The first thing that one should know and clearly understand about
Islam is what the word 'Islam' itself means. The religion of Islam is
not named after a person as in the case of Christianity, which was
named after Jesus Christ, Buddhism after Gotama Buddha, Confucianism
after Confucius, and Marxism after Karl Marx. Nor was it named after a
tribe like Judaism after the tribe of Judah and Hinduism after the
Hindus. Islam is the true religion of 'Allaah' and as such, its name
represents the central principle of Allaah's (God's) religion -- the
total submission to the will of Allaah (God).
The Arabic word 'Islam' means the submission or surrender of one's
will to the only true God worthy of worship Allaah; and anyone who
does so is termed a 'Muslim'. The word also implies 'peace' which is
the natural consequence of total submission to the will of Allaah.
Hence, it was not a new religion brought by Prophet Muhammad *, in
Arabia in the 7th century CE, but it is the true religion of Allaah re-
expressed in its final form.
Islam is the religion which was given to Aadam (Adam) *the first man
and the first Prophet of Allaah, and it was the religion of all the
Prophets sent by Allaah to mankind. The name of God's religion lslam
was not decided upon by later generations of man. It was chosen by
Allaah Himself and clearly mentioned in His final revelation to man.
In the final book of Divine Revelation, the Quran, Allaah states the
following (which means):
"This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor
upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." [Quran 5:3]
And (what means):
"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allaah
(God) never will It be accepted of Him." [Quran 3:85]
And (what means): "Ibraaheem (Abraham) was not a Jew nor Christian;
but an upright Muslim." [Quran 3:67]
Nowhere in the Bible will you find Allaah saying to the people of
Prophet Moosaa (Moses) *or their descendants that their religion is
'Judaism', nor to the followers of Christ that their religion is
'Christianity'. In fact, Christ was not even his name, nor was it
Jesus! The name 'Christ' comes from the Greek word Christos, which
means 'the anointed'. That is, Christ is a Greek translation of the
Hebrew title 'Messiah'. The name 'Jesus' on the other hand, is a
Latinized version of the Hebrew name Esau.
For simplicity's sake, I will however continue to refer to Prophet
'Eesaa *as Jesus. As for his religion, it was what he called his
followers to. Like the Prophets before him, he called the people to
surrender their will to the will of Allaah; (which is Islam) and he
instructed them to stay away from the false gods of human imagination.
According to the New Testament, he taught his followers to pray as
follows: "Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven".
The message of Islam
Since the complete submission of one's will to Allaah represents the
essence of worship, the basic message of Islam -- Allaah's divine
religion -- is the worship of Allaah Alone and the avoidance of
worship directed to any person, place or thing other than Allaah.
Since everything other than Allaah, the Creator of all things, is
Allaah's creation; it may be said that Islam, in essence calls man
away from the worship of creation and invites him to worship only its
Creator. He is the only One deserving man's worship as it is only by
His Will that prayers are answered. If man prays to a tree and his
prayers are answered, it was not the tree, which answered his prayers,
but Allaah who allowed the circumstances prayed for to take place.
One might say: "That is obvious," however, to tree-worshippers it
might not be. Similarly, prayers to Jesus *Buddha, or Krishna, to
Saint Christopher, or Saint Jude or even to Muhammad *, are not
answered by them but are answered by Allaah. Jesus *did not tell his
followers to worship him but to worship Allaah. As the Quran states
(what means):
"And behold Allaah will say: 'O Jesus the son of Mary, did you say to
men, worship me and my mother as gods besides Allaah?' He will say:
'Glory to You I could never say what I had no right (to say)' " [Quran
5:116]
Nor did Jesus *worship himself when he worshipped, rather he
worshipped Allaah. This basic principle is enshrined in the opening
chapter of the Quran, known as Chapter Al-Faatihah, verse 4 (which
means):
"You Alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help". [Quran
1: 4]
* * *Elsewhere, in the final book of revelation, the Quran, Allaah
also said (what means):
"And your Lord says: "Call on Me and I will answer your
(prayer)." [Quran 40:60]
* * *It is worth noting that the basic message of Islam is that Allaah
and His creation are distinctly different entities. Neither is Allaah
His creation or a part of it, nor is His creation Him or a part of
Him.
This might seem obvious, but man's worship of creation instead of the
Creator is to a large degree based on ignorance of this concept. It is
the belief that the essence of Allaah is everywhere in His creation or
that His Divine Being is or was present in some aspects of His
creation, which has provided justification for the worship of
creation, although such worship may be called the worship of Allaah
through his creation. However, the message of Islam as brought by the
Prophets of Allaah, may Allaah exalt their mention, is to worship only
Allaah and to avoid the worship of his creation either directly or
indirectly. In the Quran, Allaah clearly states (what means):
"For We assuredly sent amongst every people a Prophet, (with the
command) worship Me and avoid false gods." [Quran 16:36]
When the idol worshipper is questioned as to why he or she bows down
to idols created by men, the invariable reply is that they are not
actually worshipping the stone image, but Allaah who is present within
it. They claim that the stone idol is only a focal point for Allaah's
essence and is not in itself Allaah! A person who has accepted the
concept of the presence of God's being within His creation in any way
will be obliged to accept this argument of idolatry. Whereas, one who
understands the basic message of Islam and its implications, would
never concede to idolatry no matter how it is rationalized.
Those who have claimed divinity for themselves down through the ages
have often based their claims on the mistaken belief that Allaah is
present in man. They merely had to assert that although Allaah,
according to their false beliefs, is within all of us, He is 'more
present' in them than in the rest of us. Hence, they claim, we should
submit our will to them and worship them, as they are either God in
person or God concentrated within the person.
Similarly, those who have asserted the godhood of others after their
passing, have found fertile ground among those who accept the false
belief of God's presence in man. One who has grasped the basic message
of Islam and its implications could never agree to worship another
human being under any circumstances. God's religion in essence is a
clear call to the worship of the Creator and the rejection of creation-
worship in any form.
This is the meaning of the motto of Islam: "Laa Ilaaha
Illallaah" (There is none worthy of worship but Allaah). Its
repetition automatically brings one within the fold of Islam and
sincere belief in it guarantees one Paradise.
Thus, the final Prophet of Islam *, is reported to have said: "Any one
who says: There is no god but Allaah and dies holding that (belief)
will enter Paradise". [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
* * *It consists in the submission to Allaah as one God, yielding to
Him by obeying His commandments, and the denial of polytheism and
polytheists.
The message of false religion
There are so many sects, cults, religions, philosophies and movements
in the world, all of which claim to be the right way or the only true
path to Allaah. How can one determine which one is correct or if, in
fact, all are correct? The method by which the answer can be found is
to clear away the superficial differences in the teachings of the
various claimants to the ultimate truth, and identify the central
object of worship to which they call, directly or indirectly. False
religions all have one basic concept about Allaah in common. They
either claim that all men are gods or that specific men were Allaah,
or that Nature is Allaah, or that Allaah is a figment of man's
imagination.
Thus, it may be stated that the basic message of false religion is
that Allaah may be worshipped in the form of His creation. False
religion invites man to the worship of creation by calling the
creation or some aspect of it God. For example, Prophet Jesus
invited his followers to worship Allaah but those who claim to be his
followers today call people to worship Jesus *claiming that he was
Allaah!
Buddha was a reformer who introduced a number of humanistic principles
to the religion of India. He did not claim to be God nor did he
suggest to his followers that he was an object of worship. Yet, today
most Buddhists who are to be found outside of India have taken him to
be God and prostrate to idols made in their perception of his
likeness.
* * *By using the principle of identifying the object of worship,
false religions become obvious and the contrived nature of their
origin clear. As Allaah said in the Quran (what means):
"That which you worship besides Him are only names you and your
forefathers have invented for which Allaah has sent down no authority.
The command belongs only to Allaah. He has commanded that you only
worship Him; that is the right religion, but most men do not
understand." [Quran 12:40]
It may be argued that all religions teach good things, so why should
it matter which one we follow. The reply is that all false religions
teach the greatest evil, the worship of creation. Creation-worship is
the greatest sin that man can commit because it contradicts the very
purpose of his creation. Man was created to worship Allaah alone as
Allaah has ...

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Jesus loves you.

Joe