Islam — A primer
The translation of a few Arabic words can propel an understanding of Islam.
The Arabic word ‘Allah’ is ‘God’ in the English language.
‘Muslim’ is ‘Submitter’.
‘Islam’ is ‘Submission’.
You may be a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu, a Zoroastrian, a Muslim — will you have objection to the statement, “I submit to God and practice the religion of submission to God”?
The Arabic word ‘Hadith’ is ‘Narration’ in the English language.
‘Quran’ is ‘Recitation’. The Quran is a recitation of God’s words revealed to prophet Muhammad.
‘Millat Ibrahim’ is ‘The Religion of Abraham’ in English.
Submission (Islam) is called the Religion of Abraham (6:161) in the Quran. Prophet Abraham was given all the religious duties of prayers, fasting, obligatory charity and pilgrimage (2:128) and is called a monotheist (4:125) in the Quran. Prophet Muhammad is called a follower of Abraham (16:123) in the Quran. Prophet Muhammad’s sole function was to deliver (5:99) the Quran.
The Great Commandment or the First Commandment (3:18) is central to the Quran — “you shall not worship except God”. All the prophets and messengers from Noah, Abraham, Lot, Moses, Solomon, David, John, Jesus, Muhammad, etc. had the same message (16:36), “you shall not worship except God”.
Here is the obvious question:
If the message is so simple and clear, why are there conflicts among religions and specifically among the people of the scripture (Jews, Christians and Muslims)? Why are the Muslims split and even killing each other?
The answer is just as simple — the Jews, Christians and Muslims follow sources other than God’s scripture (34:53). The scriptures given to the three are the Torah, Gospel and the Quran.
The Quran is a Statute Book (25:1), a book of law, fully detailed (6:114), the only source (6:19)and complete (6:115). The Muslims are split because they follow sources other than the Quran known as Hadith. Hadith as understood by Muslims was written a few hundred years after the revelation of the Quran. Each sect of Islam has its ‘authentic’ Hadith. The Quran on the other hand is explicit that the only Hadith (77:50) which can be followed is the Quran itself (39:23). No other Hadith or narration (45:6) other than the Quran can be followed as religious law.
