Towards Understanding Islam
You’ve heard the word Islam but you don’t understand what it’s all about. You wanted to know
what is Islam as you see Muslims all over the place yet most people don’t even know what Islam
is. You find it ridiculously ironic that something is so prevalent yet so unknown to most people.
You wanted to know exactly what Islam is and why Muslims claim that it is the only True
Religion. But your question of why demands a rational answer. You just don’t accept something
that doesn’t make any sense. The answer of why had to be logically sound, there had to be a
rational behind it, something that is based on analyzing the patterns of reasoning by which a
conclusion is properly drawn from a set of self-evident proofs thereby proving without a shadow
of a doubt its undeniable truth.
Islam not only claims to be the only true way but it also presents a series of logical and clear
evidences to back that claim. My goal is to present Islam that would captivate our intellectual
reasoning by analyzing its clear and rational proofs, and by the time you’re done reading this, you
will understand what Islam really is and why it is indeed the only True Religion. In order to
understand it intellectually, we need to establish a basis for our discussion which takes into
account certain characteristics a True Religion must have which must be accepted at the outset.
Otherwise, there can be no common ground between the one who poses the question and the one
tries to answer it.
These characteristics are:
1. It must exist since the beginning of time. This is necessary because if it doesn’t, then we
cannot claim a religion to be true if there are people who had lived and died before its existence
simply because salvation would be impossible for them.
2. The object of worship must be the Creator, and not His creation. This is obvious. But false
religions don’t do this, they worship God’s creation instead of God, the Creator.
3. It must be universally available everywhere and at any given point in time. The True Religion
must not depend on to a particular person, restricted at a certain place, or limited at any given
point in time.
Within the framework which these characteristics are established, we will find that the answer to
the question as to why Islam is the only True Religion is an enlightening one. One that is truly an
eye-opener if we would only open up our minds and set aside our prejudices.
The starting point of understanding Islam is to know the meaning of the word Islam itself. The
word Islam is derived from the Arabic root word SLM, which literally means to surrender, to
submit, to yield, or to give one’s self up. It also includes the meaning of peace – to achieve peace
– because in Arabic, a word can have a variety of meaning depending on the context that is being
intended. In Arabic morphology, or the study of linguistic patterns of word formation, there are a
lot of words that can be formed out from the root word SLM. One such word is “SaLaM”, literally
means peace. Another word is “aSLaMa”, which means a person who had submitted, or he
resigned himself into something. Similarly, it uses the prefix mu to denote someone performing
an action, when combine with this root word, it will turn out the word “muSLiM”, a person who is
doing the act of submission, or an individual who gives himself up. And from this same root word,
a noun from verb can be derived from it, and the word “iSLaM” is formed out. Notice how the
three root letters SLM can come out in different words depending on what and how you want to
use it in Arabic.
So from the root word SLM, which carries the meanings of submission, to submit, peace and to
achieve peace, the words ISLAM, SALAM, ASLAMA, and MUSLIM are deduced. iSLaM is the name
of an action word indicating submission to the will of God, or an act of resignation to God. In the
greetings among Muslims, the word SaLaM is there in “as salam mu alaykum”, which means
peace be unto you. aSLaMa, the past tense of the verb, is the term used for a person who had
accepted Islam, or somebody who had surrendered himself to the will of God. And a muSLiM is
the active participle of the verb, somebody who is the doer of that action. He is someone who
submits to the will of God and has achieved peace to himself.
The word Islam has a two-fold meaning: submission and peace. This submission requires a fully
conscious and willing effort to submit to the One God. Once we humble ourselves and submit
totally to God – in faith and in action – we will surely find an inner peace in our lives. These two
meanings are interrelated to one another in such a way that the natural consequence of this act
of submission to God is that man achieves peace to his own self as the end result of his action. In
short, Islam means peace acquired by submitting your will to God’s will.
Islam teaches that one must submit to the will of God and live according to the teachings of the
prophets. A Muslim therefore believes in all the prophets starting with Adam and together with
Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, etc. He also believes that God had sent His prophets to all
corners of the earth to preach only one religion and to guide man to the right path. But mankind
not only strayed away from the right path again and again, they also lost or distorted the code of
guidance that the prophets had brought. That is why prophets were sent to re-state the original
message and guide man back to the right path. The message of God was brought to this world by
a succession of prophets in different times of history until God sent down the last revelation to
the last prophet.
This last revelation is known as the Qur’an. It is a complete record of the exact words revealed by
God to the last prophet. This revelation was memorized, recorded and passed on as is. The last
prophet received the exact wording and passed it on to his followers. The Qur’an has been
perfectly preserved since its revelation both orally and in writing. Even today, there are hundreds
of thousands of Muslims from around the world who can recite the entire text of the Qur’an from
memory, just as it was memorized in the time of the last prophet. Original copies of the
manuscript still exist today and not one word of it has been changed over the centuries. It
remains preserved and unchanged since the time of revelation in its original Arabic text over
fourteen centuries ago. It is God and only God speaking in the Qur’an. There are no comments,
passages or quotes from humans whatsoever in the Qur’an.
This Last Prophet is Muhammad, a name which may not sound like a prophet for those who are
not Muslims, but when we try to look at the world’s most influential people that had lived in
history, here is a man who has touched the lives of billions of people for the last 1400 years.
Whose teachings are so simple and logical that over the centuries had passed, people from all
walks of life, from every nation on earth, and from every human race accepted Islam. His
message is very clear and easy to understand – He called people to worship One God, as well as
living by example of God’s message.
Thus, the Muslim’s beliefs are based on two sources, the Qur’an: the last divine message of God
that He revealed to Muhammad, the last prophet, and the Sunnah: a collection of recorded words
and actions of Prophet Muhammad, it helps explain and clarify the Qur’an and to present practical
applications to its message. It is these two sources of guidance, which is now known as Islam: as
revealed in the Qur’an and as exemplified by the last prophet. Because of the absolutely unique
position he occupied as the recipient of revelations from God, every act and detail of his life was
of the greatest interest to those around him. His life-example became a guide for Muslims in the
understanding of the Qur’an and the practice of their religion.
For Muslims throughout the centuries, the message of the Qur’an and the life-example of Prophet
Muhammad have constituted the formative and enduring foundation of faith and good deeds.
They have served as the basic sources of principles and norms on which daily life is to be
patterned. So Islam is not just a religion in of itself, but a complete way of life, providing
guidelines in every aspect of a Muslim’s life. Muslims have a book of guidance, and a prophet who
lived a life of guidance that was sent forth in the book. Prophet Muhammad’s life was the best
example of the noble lessons and principles set forth in the Qur’an. Because of this, the last
prophet’s teachings and practices have become a material source of Muslim creed alongside the
Qur’an.
The Qur’an – the last divine revelation – exists in its original text, without a word or even a letter
having been changed. And the Sunnah – the last prophet’s words and actions – is preserved with
authenticity and accuracy. The accounts preserved in the books of Sunnah are a collection of
authentic narrative stories about the prophet’s life. Muslims have carefully and in detail
scrutinized the reliability of the transmitters of these narrations, and only those whose narrators
are found to be completely reliable and sound are accepted. So not only do Muslims have the
complete text of God’s message that was revealed to Muhammad, the Qur’an, but they have also
preserved the entire record of his teachings and practices in what is called as the Sunnah. The
Sunnah demonstrates how the Qur’an is to be implemented. The Qur’an is the manual, and the
Sunnah is the practical demonstration of that manual. Prophet Muhammad conveyed not only the
message of the Qur’an, but he also lived by example of its practical application. Thus, the Qur’an
and the Life-example of the last prophet together became the beautiful way of life that we know
today as Islam.
Prophet Muhammad is not the founder of Islam, as many people mistakenly think. He was only a
human being commissioned by God to teach His commandments and lead an exemplary life. He
stands as the best model for the Muslims in righteousness that is why his life served as an
example in which a Muslim’s life is to be patterned. Islam did not begin with the prophethood of
Muhammad nor was it founded by him. The real founder of Islam was no less than God Himself,
and the date of the founding of Islam goes back at the time of Adam, the father of mankind. It
was not Muhammad but Adam who first brought Islam to humanity. Then, each prophet and
messenger came to teach their own people to a clear understanding of God’s commandments.
They put forward teachings relevant on their time but the essence and core concept of their
message was the same, and that is the worship of One God purely and submission to His will.
Prophet Muhammad himself makes it abundantly clear that Islam, the complete submission of
man before God, is the one and only faith consistently revealed by God to mankind from the very
beginning. Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus – prophets of the past who appeared at different
times and places all brought the same message. They were each repeating the message of their
predecessor. Thus, Islam has had existed in one form or another through a series of divine
guidance that God had revealed to different prophets, on separate times and in various places.
Prophets were sent to all nations of the earth to guide people to the straight path of worshiping
One God. But, with the passage of time, people went astray and the teachings of the prophets
were either changed or lost. That’s why prophets were sent again and again to all corners of the
earth until the last prophet came.
For this reason, Islam is not a new religion with a new scripture brought by Prophet Muhammad,
but rather to be a re-expression in its complete and final form of the true religion of God, as it
was originally revealed to Adam and subsequent prophets. The Qur’an only represents the original
message that was brought by prophets of the past. The Qur’an teaches that the message of God
was brought to this world by a succession of prophets since the time of Adam. The essence of
Islam, which is the worship of One God and sincere submission to His will, was revealed to Adam
who passed it on to his descendants. All following revelations to Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus
and finally Muhammad were in conformity with that message differing only according to the
needs of the people to which they were sent. These prophets taught their people the same
concept of religion of what is known today as Islam.
The most important teaching of Prophet Muhammad is faith in Tawheed, or the Oneness of God.
In Arabic, the term Tawheed comes from the word waahid, literally means One, and it implies to
make wahada, which means to make something one, or to assert the oneness of something. The
word waahid is the opposite of plurality. So waahid is something that will continue to be singular
and never become a partner of something else. However, in a religious context, the word
Tawheed means to single out God with all forms of worship, so that you make all your worship for
God alone. That is, to make wahada to worship, to assert the Oneness of God in all forms of
worship, or to direct all forms of worship to someone who is waahid – the One (God).
Tawheed, or the “Oneness of God” lies at the very heart of Islam. It strongly emphasize that
there is only One True God and that He alone deserves to be worshiped. It asserts God’s oneness
in its simplest, uncomplicated, most literal sense. That there is “One God” in the most basic,
simple, and elementary meaning of the word. He has no son, no parents nor any similarity or
equal. His nature as a Supreme Being does not resemble in anything, and such qualities as The
Creator and Provider, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, All-Knowing, All-Hearing and Seeing, All-
Powerful, etc. only belongs to Him and there’s absolutely no one like Him. Islam teaches that God
has a unique nature and that He is free from gender, human weaknesses, and beyond anything
which human beings can imagine. There is nothing like Him in this world because the Creator
must be distinct and different from the things that He creates. He is above all defects and above
any similarity to anything in creation.
And this Unique and Great God, who has the exclusive right to be worshiped by man, revealed His
glorious name in the Qur’an as “Allah”, and describe Himself as the One and Only True God whom
worship is due:
{“ Verily, I am Allah! There is no God but I, so worship Me alone”} (Qur’an 20:14).
In Arabic, the word ilah means “one who is worshiped”. That is, a being which on account of its
greatness and power is considered worthy to be worshiped. Anything or any being who possess
powers that are so great that it controls the whole of creation is also called ilah. The concept of
ilah also includes the sense that the whole creation is dependent on Him and He is not dependent
on anyone else. He does not need anything. He does not need His creation. But the whole creation
turns to Him for all that they need. Other languages also contain words with a similar meaning,
and the word God in English have a similar connotation of the Arabic word ilah.
In the Arabic Grammar, if you want to make a common noun to proper, you add the definite
article “al” to it. The prefix “al” is equivalent to the word “the” in English. So the definite article al
is added to the word ilah to make it proper. Thus, the proper noun of ilah is the word Allah. The
word “Allah” literally means “The God” – made up of the word al (the Arabic word for the) and
the word ilah (the Arabic word for God). But a more accurate translation of the word Allah into
English would be “The One and Only God”, or “The One True God”.
The name “Allah” is something that God Himself who informed us through divine revelation that
this is His name. Muslims refer to God as “Allah” only because this name is what the Creator calls
Himself in the Qur’an. It came from divine revelation and it is the name that God use to refer to
Himself.
When Prophet Muhammad started to talk about Islam to his people, they asked him who Allah is.
The answer didn’t come from the prophet. Allah revealed one chapter in the Qur’an in response to
their question:
{“Say (tell them Oh Prophet Muhammad): He is Allah, the One and Unique (God). Allah, the
Everlasting Self-Sufficient (whom all creatures need). He has not given birth and was not born.
And no one is comparable to Him.”} (Qur’an 112: 1-4).
This is Allah Himself answering to the question of who He is. And there is no better answer. To
Muslims, this four-verse definition of God serves as the touchstone of the study of divinity. Any
man-made concept of God must be subjected to this acid test. False and erroneous concepts
about God can easily be dismissed using these verses. These verses tell us that God is only One,
not three-in-one. God has no needs and is self-sufficient, but the whole creation is dependent on
Him for all that they need. God was not born, nor does He give birth. Thus, He does not have a
son and share His divinity to others. And there is no creation that is like Him. He is the Creator
and His being is distinct and separate from His creation. Therefore, He did not become a part of
creation by becoming a man.
But Islam makes it very clear though, that the belief in Allah doesn’t only mean to simply believe
that He is the One True God, but it does mean also, and this is the most important point that
needs to be stressed: that the belief in Tawheed means much more than simply believing that
there is “One God”, but it strongly emphasize that all kinds of worship should exclusively be
devoted to Allah alone and that every care is taken to ensure that this is observed at all times.
Tawheed is the belief that Allah is:
1. One without partner in His Dominion and Actions
2. One without similarity in His Essence and Attributes
3. One without rival in His Divinity and Worship
This is the core of the matter in Islam: that Allah is One without partner in His Dominion and
Actions – He alone is the One who has the absolute control over creation, He alone has the power
over all things; He is One without similarity in His Essence and Attributes – no other entity can in
any way have the attributes of the Creator, He is far beyond our imagination and bears no
resemblance to any of His creation; And He is One without rival in His Divinity and Worship – to
single out the Creator alone for all worship, and not to worship anything along with Him.
The absence of any of the above aspects of Tawheed is referred to as Shirk, literally means
sharing. It refers to the worship of others instead of Allah or along with Him. It is an act of
assigning partners to Allah in whatever form it may take. In Islam, the main objective is to
ensure the Oneness of God. It is not enough that people believe that “God is One”, but they must
follow up this belief by worshiping that One God alone. This simple concept of Tawheed has to be
explained in detail because for some people, even though they believe in “One God”, do not direct
all of their worship and prayers to Him alone. They call on numerous saints for every specific
need, in statues made of stone, etc. Their argument is that they are not actually worshiping the
stone image or the statue, but God who is present within it. They claim that the stone idols and
carved images are only the focal point for God’s essence and is not in itself God. They try devising
a “rational excuse” for their actions. But obviously, this is faulty reasoning. This is not from God –
this is idolatry. This is the worst sin that a man can commit.
The belief in Tawheed means to deny all forms of association of partners with Allah. It rejects the
use of all intermediaries between God and man, and stresses that people approach God directly
and reserve all worship for Him alone. If someone faces an idol or to a stone image and prays, he
has associated a partner with Allah, because worship is being shared between Allah and His
creation. Likewise if someone prays to a prophet, to so-called saints asking for help from Allah
thru them, has also committed shirk. Shirk can take many forms: facing to idols or statues while
praying, calling upon saints for help, believing that God became man, etc. All forms of shirk must
be avoided, no matter what shape, form, or name. Shirk simply means an act of worship for other
than Allah, or along with Allah. In other words, it is an act of calling, supplicating, and praying to
created beings instead of the Creator. The greatest sin in Islam is to engage in practices which
contradict or compromise Tawheed. This direct or indirect association of partners with Allah is
referred to as Shirk.
Allah created humans to worship Him, that’s why Shirk represents the greatest act of rebellion
against God because it contradicts the purpose of our creation, and is thus the ultimate sin. It is a
sin so great that it virtually cancels out all good a person may do and guarantees its perpetrator
eternal in Hell if he does not give it up before his death:
{“If you were to join other gods with Allah, (then) surely (all) your deeds will be in vain, and you
will surely be among the losers (in the hereafter)”} (Qur’an 39:65).
Of course, if a person does give up this sin of idolatry before his death, then he is safe from such
eternal punishment in Hell fire. Islam’s greatest commandment is to worship Allah alone, and its
strictest prohibition is worshiping others besides Him or along with Him.
Man-made religions in one way or the other invite their followers to the worship of creation.
Some people are called upon to pray to a man, a prophet named Jesus, whom they have claimed
to have been the “son of God”. They also pray to Mary as the “mother of God”, as well as human
saints, etc. They made a god out of Jesus and directed their prayer to him and his mother. They
have saints for every occasion to whom they direct their prayers in the belief that these saints can
directly influence the affairs of this world. They also use their priests as intercessors between
themselves and God, in the mistaken belief that the priests are closer to God due to their celibacy
and piety, and thus more likely to be listened to by God.
Since the greatest sin in God’s sight is the worship of others besides Him or along with Him, and
everything besides Him is creation, the principles of Islam are all either directly or indirectly
opposed to the worship of creation. The fundamental tenets of Islam make a very clear
distinction between the Creator and what He has created. The Creator and the created are
separate and distinct. The Creator is invisible in this life. No one can see Him in this earthly life.
Thus, He is not manifested or incarnated in any other life forms. Therefore, the commandments in
Islam concerning worship clearly indicate that Allah is not to be found in created beings, He is
totally separate from them, and thus any worship in His creation or thru His creation is the
greatest of sins:
{“Joining others in worship with Allah is indeed the greatest sin”} (Qur’an 31:13).
The concept of Oneness of God is the single most important concept in Islam. This is the most
fundamental principle, it is this concept of Tawheed which is at the core of Islam. It calls
humanity away from the worship of any part of creation to the worship of The One and Only True
God, The Creator.
Some religions claim that God cannot forgive man directly therefore He sends His so-called “only
begotten son” to save mankind from their sins. Others interpret this concept that God came down
to earth and became a human being to save mankind’s sins. By claiming that God cannot forgive
humans directly, people turn to false gods for help. These false gods come in different forms, and
anyone who is in his right mind can tell that these so-called gods are indeed false because these
are created beings like him.
False religions either claim that God became man, or that God may be worshiped in the form of
His creation thru carved-images of different idols. But as has been revealed in the Qur’an, God
was not born nor does He give birth, and His being is distinct and separate from His creation.
Therefore, He did not become a part of creation by becoming a human being.
Islam strongly stresses that God did not became man nor did He sent a so-called “only begotten
son” to save the sins of the world because He can forgive man directly anyway. There is no need
to shed blood to an innocent person just to save mankind from its sins because God is perfectly
capable of bestowing His infinite Mercy and Forgiveness to whomever He chooses.
Islam teaches that God should be approached directly without any intermediaries. That is
because the Most Merciful, All-Knowing God is completely in control of everything that exists,
and that He can bestow His forgiveness and mercy on His creatures as He pleases. Islam
commands Man to pray to God directly seeking mercy and forgiveness only to Him. It also forbids
man to worship something created because the One True God has to be the Creator and not a part
of creation that He creates.
Even though other religions have claimed to believe in One God, over time, some man-made ideas
entered into their beliefs and practices leading them away from the pure teachings of the
prophets. They carved different images and statues and worshiped them, despite the fact that
they know that they are the ones who made these things. They worship something that they
made by their own hands that cannot hear or answer them. Some even believed that their
prophet were the manifestations of God, or “Son of God”. All of these misconceptions lead to the
worship of created beings instead of the Creator. But divine revelation makes it very clear that:
{“Allah has not taken to Himself any son, nor is there any god with Him.”} (Qur’an 23:91).
This means that Allah does not have a son nor share his divinity with others. By neglecting the
true teachings of the prophets and mixing them with man-made ideas, other religions have
distorted and nullified the pure belief of “One God” even though they claim that they believe in
such. Tawheed is not just simply believing that God is One, but it further emphasize to worship
that One God alone.
Some people say that they pray to and worship others besides God only to get closer to Him.
They often approach God through an intermediary, such as a saint, an angel, a human being like
Virgin Mary or to a prophet like Jesus – obviously, these are all God’s creation. In Islam, there is a
clear distinction between the Creator and the created. The Creator of everything must be
different from and greater than the things that He creates. There is no confusion in divinity.
Anything that is created is not deserving of worship, and only the Creator is worthy of being
worshiped. It is made clear that there is nothing divine or worthy of being worshiped except the
One True God, the Creator. Or to put it in one simple statement, “Worship the Creator and not His
Creations”.
In Islam, there is no such thing as an intercessor or intermediary in all forms of worship. You
don’t need to seek help on anyone such as patron saints, or to call upon to so-called “son of God”,
or to seek mercy to the supposed “mother of God”, or to go to a priest to confess your sins and
ask for forgiveness, or to face an idol made of wood and stones when you pray, etc. It is only in
Islam that a person is required to pray only to God, direct and without any intermediary. There is
no need to call on anyone whether it is a saint, an idol made of wood and stones, or someone who
is believed to be the “son of God”, because clearly all these are created beings like us.
We can easily determine if a religion is false by looking at the object of their worship. If they
worship anything or anyone besides the Creator, then it must be false. It just makes sense to us
that the only one who deserves to be worshiped is the One who created us, and not His creations.
By using the principle of identifying the object of worship, we can easily detect false religions and
the man-made nature of their origin. False religions teach the greatest evil – the worship of
creation. For example, Prophet Jesus invited his followers to worship God, but those who claim to
be his followers today call people to worship Jesus, claiming that he was God, which is the exact
opposite of what Jesus said. Jesus did not claim to be God, nor did he told his followers that he be
an object of worship. Yet today most people who claim to be his followers have taken him to be
God and pray to images and idols made in their perception of his likeness.
The message of Islam, as brought by the prophets of God, is to worship only the Creator and to
avoid the worship of His creation either directly or indirectly. It is a clear call to the worship of
the Creator and the rejection of creation-worship in any form. The objective of Islam is to call
people away from the worship of creation and to direct them towards the worship of the Creator
alone.
The belief in only One Creator is not all there is to a proper belief in God. Throughout history, it
has been the case that some people stopped at this clear premise and deemed that such was all
there was to the belief in God. This belief is definitely necessary but not sufficient. This belief
must be followed up with the rejection of worshiping others instead of God, or along with Him.
Then, and only then that a person will be fulfilling what it truly means to believe in One God. The
most important message that God revealed to mankind is that there is nothing divine or worthy
of being worshiped except Him. This is the very essence of the divine message brought by all the
prophets, and it is what Islam really is all about – to worship One God alone.
Islam’s concept of Oneness of God that is Tawheed is very simple and clear, and leaves no room
for any type of misconceptions which often lead to the worship of creation that is Shirk. Thus, a
person who truly believes in the Oneness of God has to worship Him alone and refrain from
associating any partner with Him of any kind. Islam strongly emphasizes the worship of Allah
alone without ascribing to Him any partner.
The basic and most fundamental teaching of Islam invites man to worship only its Creator and to
avoid the worship of creation in any way shape or form.
In Islam, there is no such thing as “Trinity” because Allah has no partners with Him being God,
and He does not share His perfect attributes to anyone. Understanding that Allah is the only
Supreme Being means denying the existence of any other god. The concept of Tawheed is
straightforward, clear and easy to understand. It is free from irrational, mysterious or confusing
ideas. That there is only One God – not in a Trinity or a multitude of gods – is something that
even a small child can understand without difficulty.
Thus, simply believing in “One God” is not enough to become a Muslim because other religions
also have this belief. This belief in “One God” needs to be supported with practice by worshiping
that “One God” alone and no one else. For a Muslim, the belief of “One God” is in its purest,
absolute meaning of the word. He refrains from worshiping anything or anyone besides the “One
God”.
In Islam, the worst possible sin is to worship anything or anyone other than God, even if the
worshiper intends to draw nearer to God by offering devotions to another being. So even though
other religions also claim to believe in One God, they fall short and violate this belief by
worshiping others alongside Him, which is, as all of the prophets taught, the greatest sin.
Prophet Muhammad was instructed by Allah to tell people what is really forbidden to them:
{“Say (tell them Oh Prophet Muhammad): Come, I will recite to you what Allah has really
forbidden to you: Do not setup anything (in worship) with Him”} (Qur’an 6:151).
Because of this, Islam considers associating any god or personality along with Allah as a deadly
sin that He will never forgive, despite the fact that He may forgive all other sins. The act of
associating others in worship with Allah is the most sinful act that Prophet Muhammad has
informed us.
In the Qur’an, Prophet Jesus also told his people regarding this very important matter:
{“But the Messiah (Jesus) said: Oh children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.
Verily, whosoever sets up partners (in worship) with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise to
him, and the Fire will be his abode”} (Qur’an 5:72).
Prophet Jesus called his people to worship Allah without partners. He never claimed divinity for
himself, nor did he ever ask to be worshiped. Jesus never claimed to be God, or asked his people
to worship him. In fact, Jesus told his followers to pray to God as he himself did. And our logic
would tell us that someone who prays to God cannot possibly be God himself. The two has to be
separate entities – one is the worshiper and the other is the object of worship.
Tawheed is a very simple belief, free from complicated concepts. It’s what God has sent down to
mankind in all ages through His prophets. It was this message with which, in the beginning of
time, Adam was sent down to earth. It was the same message that was revealed to Noah,
Abraham, Moses and Jesus. It was the message which Muhammad brought to mankind. It is the
message without the least shade of irrational beliefs. Man became guilty of Shirk only because he
turned away from the teachings of the prophets and depended on his own faulty reasoning,
wrong perceptions and erroneous interpretations. Prophets are there to explain God’s message to
man. If man turns away from a prophet, he is bound to fall into error. God has chosen Messengers
of impeccable character to bring His universal message to all of us. The tasks of these Messengers
were both to bring the message and to guide by personal example. They would always practice
what they preached. That is why in God’s last divine revelation, the Qur’an, we have a perfect
example on how to live by its message by following the Sunnah of the last prophet. We don’t
need to delve into a long discussion as to how to practice God’s message because we have a
prophet who explained the message and showed us how to apply it in our lives.
Since the time of Adam, the universal content of the message remained unchanged: that there is
only One God, no one deserves to be worshiped but Him alone, and that He would judge
everybody’s deeds on the Day of Resurrection. This principle has not change through the passage
of time. It is the same as the number one commandment in the Ten Commandments of Prophet
Moses, the same faith that Prophet Abraham taught to his descendants, the same teaching that
Prophet Jesus conveyed to his people, the same warning that Prophet Noah called his people so
that they may be save from the big flood of water, and was also the same message that Prophet
Muhammad brought. All prophets gave the same universal message, they all taught that God is
One, free from sharing His divinity with anyone, and that we are all accountable of our actions in
this life on the Day of Judgment. That same message that all the prophets have brought is what
we call today as Islam. Prophet Muhammad did not bring something new. Islam is not a new
religion. It is, in essence, the same eternal message revealed through the ages to all of God’s
prophets and messengers.
Prophet Muhammad only brought the same message of pure monotheism that was taught by the
messengers that came before him:
{“And We never sent any messenger before you (Prophet Muhammad), except that We revealed
to him that there is no god but Me. Therefore worship Me (alone)”} (Qur’an 21:25).
Prophets were sent to every nation who had strayed away from the right path of Tawheed, to
guide them back to it. This principle of Tawheed was the same throughout time: to reject all
objects of worship, and to direct all worship without exception to God alone. This is the essence
of the true religion and it has been so since the time of Adam. Prophets were sent to particular
nations for a certain period of time. But this is not the case of Prophet Muhammad. Since he is the
last prophet, his message is for all humanity and will last until the end of time. The teachings of
the Qur’an comprise a universal scripture addressed to all of mankind and not to any particular
people, or for a specific time period. The message that it brings is nothing new but the same
message of all prophets: to worship the One God purely, and submit to God’s will as taught by the
prophets.
Thus, it is man’s duty to follow the way of the prophets. And it really does not matter in what
place and period of time a person is born because this pure, simple practice of faith has been in
existence since Adam’s time. All the different nations and people of the earth from the time of
Adam up to the time of Muhammad’s prophethood were given one same message:
{“And verily, We have sent among every nation a messenger (proclaiming): Worship Allah (alone)
and avoid false gods”} (Qur’an 16:36).
The message of Islam is the continuation of the clear and profound message of pure monotheism
revealed by God throughout history to all of His prophets in every place on earth. Anyone, born in
any place, and at any period of time, can become a Muslim because Islam is what the prophets
had been teaching ever since the time of Adam. All people who followed one of the many
prophets, who believe in One True God without partners, and submit themselves to Him are called
Muslims – a person who submits his will to the will of God according to the teachings of the
prophets.
The true religion of God cannot be confined to any one person, place, or period of time. If we
were to claim that a certain religion is true, then it has to be accessible at any period of time,
anywhere. Because if it doesn’t, then how can a person attain salvation and follow a religion
claimed to be true if he was born and died before the religion even exists? The test of its
universality then is the hallmark of a true religion, because for it to be true, a religion has to be
accessible to mankind at all times under all circumstances. And within the central principle of
Islam and its definition – the surrender of one’s will to God – rests the roots of Islam’s
universality – the religion that man can practice from the time of Adam until the end of time.
With its universality, Islam is attainable by all mankind at all times by rejecting the worship of
creation and worshiping One God purely. In every age of human history, and in every place on
earth, all people who have believed and followed their prophets had lived this simple practice of
faith. They were all Muslims, irrespective of whether they call Islam with a different name in their
language. It is not necessary that the name of the religion is Islam. People who followed their
prophet from different parts of the world in separate periods of time have a variety of ways to
express the term man’s submission to the will of God. People from different places have their
own distinct languages, and prophets that were sent to them brought Islam in the language that
they understand, and so it is only natural that they call Islam with a different name in their own
language.
Whatever its name was, it signified submission to God’s will and therefore it is Islam and nothing
but Islam. Islam’s accessibility to all mankind at all times convincingly support Islam’s claim that
from the beginning of time, in whichever place it was taught, and whatever language it was
expressed, Islam alone is, and always has been, the universal message preached by all the
prophets of God. Its appeal is for the whole of humanity, and anyone, born in any place, and at
any point in time can become a Muslim because Islam was already been in existence since the
time of Adam.
All prophets who have appeared from time to time brought the message of Islam. They were born
on separate periods of time and came with different forms of commandments sent by God to
guide and govern people, but the essence of their teachings were the same – the surrender of
one’s will to God. Allah had sent us prophets who all taught the same religion:
{“He (Allah) has ordained for you the same religion (Islam) which He ordained for Noah, and that
which We revealed to you (Muhammad), and that which We ordained for Abraham, Moses, and
Jesus”} (Qur’an 42:13).
After the creation of the first man – Adam – only one message has been repeatedly delivered to
mankind throughout the history of humanity. Thus, to remind people about it and bring them
back on track, prophets and messengers including Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and finally
Muhammad were sent to convey only one message, the message of submitting oneself to the will
of God, which is translated in Arabic as Islam. The pure essence of the beliefs and teachings that
were revealed by God to Prophet Muhammad are the same as God taught to all the other
prophets of the past.
Islam – the pure submission to and worship of God alone – was the message of all prophets since
the time of Adam. However, after the coming of Prophet Muhammad, there is a further distinction
that needs to be made. Before the time of Prophet Muhammad, one could say that they were
many “Islam”. That is, each nation had their prophet, followed their teachings and was on the
right path of Islam. But at the same time, if a new prophet would come to them, they will have to
follow that new prophet. God sends a new prophet to either reveal new commandments
applicable to the people, or to bring them back to the right path after they had deviated from the
teachings of the previous prophet over the passage of time. Thus, after the time of Prophet
Muhammad, since he is the last of the prophets, there is only one acceptable manner of
worshiping and submitting to God.
All the Prophets, from the first to the last brought the same message: to worship Allah alone
without partners. In our time, this message still remains, in the form of the Qur’an and the life-
example of the last prophet. This is the only path that today can truly be called submitting
oneself to the will of God as taught by prophets of the past. Today, the only option left to be on
the path of Islam and follow the way of all the earlier prophets is by following Prophet
Muhammad.
God’s messengers had been raised among every people, and they all conveyed essentially that
same religion which Prophet Muhammad brought. Muhammad was the last in the series of
prophets since the time of Adam. All the prophets of God – from Adam to Muhammad – have
brought one and the same religion. Although the Divine Message that Allah revealed to each
prophet differed in form to suit the needs of the community to which he was sent, but the
identifying nature of the message is the same – the principle of Tawheed. The only thing that
distinguishes Prophet Muhammad from all other prophets is that the prophets of the past came
with the Divine message of Islam in its different forms that suits to a particular people in a
certain place and for a specific periods of time, whereas the Last Prophet brought the Divine
Message of Islam in its Last Form for the whole of humanity and for all time to come.
Prophet Muhammad did not bring something new. He only brought the same message that was
also brought by the prophets that came before him. And a person can become a Muslim and
follow Islam even before Prophet Muhammad’s time because Islam was already been in existence
since the time of Adam. Islam has had existed since Adam’s time. All people who followed one of
the many prophets, all people who believed and worshiped the One True God without partners,
and submitted themselves to Him are called Muslims. A Muslim doesn’t necessarily mean a
follower of Prophet Muhammad, the reality is that there are people who were true believers in
God and His message even before the time of Muhammad, and each and every one of them is
labeled a Muslim – a person who submits his will to the will of God according to the teachings of
the prophets.
Prophet Muhammad’s message was the same as that was conveyed by prophets of the past in
different periods of time. All of them came with one message – the message of Islam. The word
Islam is the name of the central principle of the religion, and that is submission of man’s will to
the will of God. And anyone who does so is a Muslim, regardless of whether he had or she had
lived in the time of Noah, David, Solomon, Jacob, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, or Adam. Whoever
submits their will to God according to the teachings of the prophets – as they originally taught
them – then that person is a Muslim.
