Islam

To many in the West, Islam is a foreign religion that deals with values, concepts, and
ideas that are a far-cry from what we understand in the United States and other parts of the
western world. It is usually surprising, therefor, for these people to learn that Islam is very much
apart of the Western world and actually has more in common with Judeo-Christianity than things
in difference. Islam is an Abrahamic religion, that is it descends from Abraham, and so Muslims
see their religion as being a continuation of Judeo-Christian history. All of the prophets or
messengers of God in Judaism and Christianity are present in Islam, though with a few
alterations. The differences are substantial of course, this is why Islam is its own religion rather
than just an offshoot of Judaism or Christianity. To get a better sense of Islam let us look at the
man from whom it derives.
Muhammad, the man and his context
Muhammad (May Peace Be Upon Him) 1 was born in the City of Mecca about 570 AD 2 and
lived, according to records, a basically normal life for the first 40 years. He lived, traded, and
married, otherwise normal, otherwise nondescript. Then one day while wandering about the
Caves surrounding Mecca Muhammad (PBUH) started to experience a series of audio and visual
phenomena that he had trouble understanding. Fearing for his sanity he confided in his wife, who
instructed him, wisely, that these signs were a gift from God and that he should quite himself so
that he might understand them. Inspired, Muhammad does this, goes back to the caves and
experiences a vision of the Angel Gabriel who says to him a single word: Qua’ran! Which
means: Recite! The words Muhammad then recited became the holy Islamic Scriptures.
The Qua’ran and its significance.
Often the evidence for the Qua’rans reliability is the beauty of is structure and form 3. We are
told:
"Say, 'If the whole of mankind and the jinn 4 were to come together to produce the like of
this Quran, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they were to assist one
another.'": (Quran 17:88
In essence? The Qua’ran is so beautiful, so structured, and so layered that it is considered nearly
impossible that a human alone could have made it. There is significance in its being recited
(Qua’ran) by Muhamamd (PBUH) directly from the Angel Gabriel who speaks it directly from
the word of God: there are no accidents! Whereas Christianity accepts the Jewish scriptures as
authoritative but limited 5 Islam considers the Christian and Jewish scriptures as authoritative
but corrupted. Jews and Christians received a proper revelation from God, but over time it was
corrupted by personal and political forces and so while they maintain a kernel of truth, the books

1
This expression is a common appellation to the names of Prophets and other holy people. It expresses the desire
of Muslims that the prophets may have earned the favor of God and be resting in Paradise eternally. It is also used
as a common greeting and response in Arabic: Asalam Alaykum (May Peace Be Upon You) and the response
Alaykum Asalam (And peace upon you)
2
Not 100 percent accurate but a good approximation
3
Which is common in a lot of religions
4
Spirits, not always but mostly evil, its where we get the word Genie
5
That is, they only contain a partial revelation which was completed by Christianity
themselves contain corruptions and must be viewed with some suspicion. This attitude, that truth
can be found in pre-Islamic sources is in the Qua’ran itself. We are told:
And verily We have raised in every nation a messenger, (proclaiming): Serve Allah and
shun false gods. Then some of them (there were) whom Allah guided, and some of them
(there were) upon whom error had just hold. Do but travel in the land and see the nature
of the consequence for the deniers! (Qua’ran 16:36)
At first the idea that the Islamic message has been preached before the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) may seem anachronistic until you understand the context. Islam according to tradition
has always existed but it was not until the revelation to Muhamamd (PBUH) that the full story
has been told. The Qua’ran says:
And for every Ummah (a community or a nation), there is a Messenger; when their
Messenger comes, the matter will be judged between them with justice, and they will not
be wronged. (Qua'rân 10:47)
So everyone received a message so they cannot say that they were unlearned in the Islamic
basics, but Muhammad (PBUH) gave the final and complete revelation. The last line is very
important: they will be judged and not be wronged. What this means is that a person will be held
accountable to the level of revelation they received, thus, this verse is an acknowledgement that
some revelations like Judaism and Christianity 6 got the basics right but went to far and created
false religions. So, if every religion got the basics, with Islam as the final, corrected religion,
what are the Islamic basics?
The Five Pillars of Islam
The five essentials of Islam are referred to as the five pillars and while pre-Islamic religions may
not have had the full formalization of the five, they did have the basic ideas, courtesy of their
God-delivered messenger. The first, and most important pillar, is faith or witnessing. Faith
specifically, that there is one God, Allah7 and Muhammad (PBUH) is his messenger. We are
told:
Say: He, Allah, is One. Allah is He on Whom all (beings and things) depend. He does not
beget, nor is He begotten 8. And none is like Him. (Qua’ran 112:1-4)
There is one God upon whom we all depend and to whom all honor is due. Some might not have
called him Allah or recognized fully his oneness but all living things, inherently, understand and
know that there is one God. Humans, in that they have free will can create culture which can take
them away from this truth but in their heart of hearts, Islam declares, they know secretly the
truth.
Having established a God as the one we now move to the second pillar: prayer. Specifically,
prayers five times a day to the holy city of Mecca. With God in our lives we recognize that he is

6
Technically this could also include any religious figure that lived before Muhammad(PBUH) so the Buddha,
Confucius, Krishna, Lao Tzu and so on could be considered pre-Islamic prophets but Guru Nanak (Sikhism)
Bahauulah( Bahai) and Halle Sallase (Rastafarianism) could not be.
7
Allah is not the “name” of the Islamic God. It is an Arabic term meaning “The God”
8
This is an obvious dig at Christianity, which elevates Christ (a Prophet in Islam) to Godhood. So their declaration
that Allah is neither begotten nor a begetter is a stark contrast with Christianity.
due all worship and praise. But our relationship with God is expressed also in our relationships
with each other, which brings us to the third pillar: Charity. This includes both general charity to
the poor and needy as well as an occasional “tax” that was applied by certain Islamic states at
certain points 9. Charity was also services like feeding the hungry or providing for widows. The
Qua’ran says:
“And establish prayer and give Zakat, and whatever good you put forward for yourselves
you will find it with Allah.” (2:110, Qur’an)

With this established we prove our devotion further by undergoing a strict fast once a year during
the holy Month of Ramadan. We are told:

The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for the
people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So, whoever sights [the new moon of]
the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey – then an equal number of
other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants]
for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you,
and perhaps you will be grateful. (Qua’ran 2:185)

The holy Month of Ramadan comes once a year, but since the Islamic calendar is lunar (months
being decided by phase of the moon) the date is not stable but lacks about 30-40 days. The fast is
definitely about food but it also specifies spiritual purity, avoiding anger and gossip, giving more
to charity, being more focused on spiritual things and so on.

The final step is doing a once-in-a-lifetime (if you are able) pilgrimage to the Holy City of
Mecca. While there the traveling Muslim will undergo a variety of ritualistic acts showcasing
their devotion to God and their avoidance of that which is evil. In doing these 5 the practitioner
is following the Islamic basics, which naturally get tougher the more advanced we get, but it is
this general revelation that remains consistent.

Concluding remarks

Islam, like all of our religions studied thus far, is far more complicated than any one quick right
up can possibly suggest. The above is what is unique to Islam with a few variants on some
common ground. Jesus (PBUH) is considered a prophet in Islam for example, with his ministry
being authoritative. He is not however considered to be God in the flesh or to have died on the
Cross. Islam agrees that Abraham went to sacrifice his Son until God commanded him to stop,
but in Judaism this child is traditionally held to be Isaac while in Islam it was Ishmael.

Of most crucial importance however, is the pillars. The belief in One God who is one without a
second, who must be prayed to and to whom charity, pilgrimage and fasting must be done in
honor of.

9
The Zakah (Charity) tax is not universal in Islam nor is it specifically commanded. It was however, an occasional
Like with all the religions please reach out to me if you have questions!