What is Islam?
Islam is meant to show humanity the path to God; to clarify the meaning of creation and how to fulfill the tasks assigned to man. There are two prerequisites:
- • Firstly, I must believe that there is One God! I must believe that God has no partner in His dominion and nothing has the same nature as God or shares in His sovereignty and glory. This is the first part of the declaration of faith: There is no god but Allah!
- • Secondly, I must believe that God sent prophets to show the way and provide a living example. The last of the prophets, the seal of the prophets, is Muhammad (peace be upon him)! This is the second part of the declaration of faith: And Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
Meaning of "Islam":
- • "Submission" (to the One God)
- • "Surrender" (to His will)
- • "Peace" (through reconciliation with oneself and God)
A Muslim is consequently someone who strives to surrender to God, submits to His will, and thus finds (inner) peace (especially in the Hereafter, as this world is always a place of conflict, both interpersonal and internal).
A Muslim is someone who believes and testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
Allah is beyond all our conceptions and must not be associated with anything. Every human-made image of God, as well as the concept of the Trinity, is strictly rejected. However, God has attributes that He Himself mentions in the Qur'an, such as the Merciful, the Loving, the All-Encompassing, the Forgiving, the Kind, and the Just. 99 Names of Allah, which reflect His attributes, are mentioned in the Qur'an.
From the first article of faith, further beliefs follow:
- • Belief in the angels
- • Belief in the prophets (from Adam to Jesus and Muhammad)
- • Belief in the revealed scriptures (the Qur'an, the Gospel, the Torah, the Psalms; with the qualification that only the Qur'an has remained unaltered to this day.)
- • Belief in the Last Day
- • Belief in divine predestination, destiny
Islam stands on five pillars:
- • The declaration of faith: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Although only God can truly know whether one truly believes or not, it is generally considered a condition for converting to Islam to recite this declaration of faith twice in Arabic before two Muslim witnesses: "Ashhadu ala ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna muhammadar rasul allah."
- • The daily five obligatory prayers
- • Giving charity (Zakat)
- • Fasting during Ramadan
- • The pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime
Islam differs significantly from, for example, modern Christianity, among other things, in that it has more laws and regulations. These often conflict with normal European "liberal" ideals. To properly understand the meaning of these regulations, one must understand the position of humanity within creation.
According to the Qur'an, humans and the Jinn (subtle beings that elude our senses because they have no physical body) were created for nothing other than to worship and serve God. Therefore, the obligatory prayer is the very first duty of a Muslim after the declaration of faith, without which they do not fulfill the purpose of their creation!
But worship is not understood only as prayer. Every action in daily life should be an act of worship, even such things as going to the toilet, pursuing one's profession, shopping, or sleeping with one's wife! This is one reason why there are specific prayers and rules for almost every action, which make these activities acts of worship. These regulations generally follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The ideal of the Muslim is therefore to take the life of the Prophet s.a.w. as a guideline for their own, as far as is possible in this age and under the given circumstances. If one does not know the respective Sunnah (example, way, manner, regulation, or statement of the Prophet s.a.w.), one should at least say "Bismillah" before an action: In the name of Allah!
Humans were distinguished above all other creatures of Allah. They differ from the angels and the Jinn in that they possess not only a subtle body but also a physical one. They differ from angels and animals in that they have free will and can consciously choose good or evil. Therefore: If a person follows Allah's commandments and avoids what is forbidden, he is better than the angels, who are only occupied with praising God and never commit sin, because the human does it out of free will, while the angels cannot do anything bad at all. But if he does not follow God's commandments, he is worse than an animal that only follows its desires but is not punished because it cannot act otherwise!
Humans were appointed by God as His vicegerents on earth. However, this does not mean that they may do with the earth as they please, but they must be aware of their great responsibility towards themselves, their fellow human beings, and all of nature, for they will later be called to account for everything entrusted to them. As we can see, only few people and Muslims are aware of this great task! The Qur'an describes this in the following verse:
And when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority," they said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" He said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know."
(The Cow, Verse 30)
An essential characteristic of Muslims should be to trust in God, do their best, and leave everything else to God; to endure trials patiently and not to rebel against their destiny, which does not mean that they should not learn lessons from failures. It is the duty of Muslims to acquire knowledge in order to become increasingly better servants of God, which is their true purpose, and to know and avoid what is forbidden. If a person fulfills the task intended for him, he experiences inner peace and happiness in the service of God!
Despite all the regulations in Islam, it can be said that Islam is as diverse as the people who practice it. So what Islam really is can only be experienced by living it!
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