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From: [email protected] (Asim Mughal)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.islam,bit.listserv.muslims,alt.answers,news.answers
Subject: Islam FAQ (Part 3/15): Introduction to Islam
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Summary: This posting contains Frequently Asked Questions for
Islam. Part 3 of 15.
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Archive-name: islam-faq/part3
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 1995/3/27
Version: 3.3
Organization: Alumni Association, Caltech, Pasadena, California

Copyright 1993,1994,1995 Asim Mughal ([email protected])

Redistribution for profit, or in altered content/format
prohibited without explicit written permission of the author.
Any other redistribution must include this copyright notice and
attribution.

Frequently Asked Questions: Part 3
__________________________________

This message is automatically posted to 'soc.religion.islam'
every month and when updated. This lists answers to most
commonly asked questions on the forum. Contributions & changes
are requested and should be directed to: [email protected]

OVERVIEW: The Frequently Asked Questions document for
Islam has been divided in parts. Below is the index.

Part 1 - Welcome & Index
Part 2 - Info on Islamic News Groups
Part 3 - Introduction to Islam
Part 4 - God & Worship
Part 5 - Islam, Quran & Muhammad (PBUH)
Part 6 - Marriage Laws in Islam
Part 7 - Women In Islam
Part 8 - Life after Death, Moral System & Human rights in Islam
Part 9 - Islam: Prophethood, Jesus & Trinity
Part 10 - Islam: Farrakhism & Malcom X
Part 11 - Islamic Internet Guide: Islamic Resources on Internet
Part 12 - Other Islamic Resource Guides on Internet
Part 13 - Islamic Literature: Books & Video
Part 14 - Islamic Calendar & Prayer Time Table for 1994
Part 15 - Misc: List of Halal Foods

________________________________________________________

PART 3: Introduction to Islam

III&E Brochure Series; No. 1 (published by The Institute of
Islamic Information and Education (III&E) and reproduced with
permission)

Contents

--Articles--
1. Islam & Muslims ................................................ from III&E
2. Muslims & Arabs ................................................ from III&E
3. Allah The One & The Only God ................................... from III&E
4. Muhammad (PBUH) ................................................ from III&E
5. Source of Islam ................................................ from III&E
6. Some Islamic Principles ........................................ from III&E
7. Practices of Islam ............................................. from III&E
8. Other Related Aspects .......................................... from III&E
9. Non-Muslims .................................................... from III&E
--Announcements--
10. Archive Info ..............................................................
11. Credits ...................................................................

Articles .....................................................................

1. Islam & Muslims ................................................ from III&E

The name of this religion is Islam, the root of which is Silm and Salam
which means peace. Salam may also mean greeting one another with peace.
One of the beautiful names of God is that He is the Peace. It means more
than that: submission to the One God, and to live in peace with the
Creator, within one's self, with other people and with the environment.
Thus, Islam is a total system of living. A Muslim is supposed to live in
peace and harmony with all these segments; hence, a Muslim is any person
anywhere in the world whose obedience, allegiance, and loyalty are to
God, the Lord of the Universe.

2. Muslims & Arabs ................................................ from III&E

The followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims are not to be
confused with Arabs. Muslims may be Arabs, Turks, Persians, Indians,
Pakistanis, Malaysians, Indonesians, Europeans, Africans, Americans,
Chinese, or other nationalities.

An Arab could be a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew or an atheist. Any person
who adopts the Arabic language is called an Arab. However, the language
of the Qur'an (the Holy Book of Islam) is Arabic. Muslims all over the
world try to learn Arabic so that they may be able to read the Qur'an
and understand its meaning. They pray in the language of the Qur'an,
namely Arabic. Supplications to God could be in any language.

While there are one billion Muslims in the world there are about 200
million Arabs. Among them, approximately ten percent are not Muslims.
Thus Arab Muslims constitute only about twenty percent of the Muslim
population of the world.

3. Allah The One & The Only God ................................... from III&E

Allah is the name of the One and Only God. Allah has ninety-nine
beautiful names, such as: The Gracious, The Merciful, The Beneficent,
The Creator, The All-Knowing, The All-Wise, The Lord of the Universe,
The First, The Last, and others.

He is the Creator of all human beings. He is the God for the Christians,
the Jews, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Hindus, the atheists, and
others. Muslims worship God whose name is Allah. They put their trust in
Him and they seek His help and His guidance.

4. Muhammad (PBUH) ................................................ from III&E

Muhammad was chosen by God to deliver His Message of Peace, namely
Islam. He was born in 570 C.E. (Common Era) in Makkah, Arabia. He was
entrusted with the Message of Islam when he was at the age of forty
years. The revelation that he received is called the Qur'an, while the
message is called Islam.

Muhammad is the very last Prophet of God to mankind. He is the final
Messenger of God. His message was and is still to the Christians, the
Jews and the rest of mankind. He was sent to those religious people to
inform them about the true mission of Jesus, Moses, Jacob, Isaac, and
Abraham.

Muhammad is considered to be the summation and the culmination of all
the prophets and messengers that came before him. He purified the
previous messages from adulteration and completed the Message of God for
all humanity. He was entrusted with the power of explaining,
interpreting and living the teaching of the Qur'an.

5. Source of Islam ................................................ from III&E

The legal sources of Islam are the Qur'an and the Hadith. The Qur'an is
the exact word of God; its authenticity, originality and totality are
intact. The Hadith is the report of the sayings, deeds and approvals of
the Prophet Muhammad. The Prophet's sayings and deeds are called Sunnah.
The Seerah is the writings of followers of Muhammad about the life of
the Prophet. Hence, it is the life history of the Prophet Muhammad which
provides examples of daily living for Muslims.

6. Some Islamic Principles ........................................ from III&E

A. Oneness of God:

He is One and the Only One. He is not two in one or three in one. This
means that Islam rejects the idea of trinity or such a unity of God
which implies more than one God in one.

B. Oneness of mankind:

People are created equal in front of the Law of God. There is no
superiority for one race over another. God made us of different colors,
nationalities, languages and beliefs so as to test who is going to be
better than others. No one can claim that he is better than others. It
is only God Who knows who is better. It depends on piety and
righteousness.

C. Oneness of Messengers and the Message:

Muslims believe that God sent different messengers throughout the
history of mankind. All came with the same message and the same
teachings. It was the people who misunderstood and misinterpreted them.

Muslims believe in Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ismail, Jacob, Moses, David,
Jesus, and Muhammad. The Prophets of Christianity and Judaism are indeed
the Prophets of Islam.

D. Angels and the Day of Judgment:

Muslims believe that there are unseen creatures such as angels created
by God in the universe for special missions.

Muslims believe that there is a Day of Judgment when all people of the
world throughout the history of mankind till the last day of life on
earth, are to be brought for accounting, reward and punishment.

E. Innocence of Man at Birth:

Muslim believe that people are born free of sin. It is only after they
reach the age of puberty and it is only after they commit sins that they
are to be charged for their mistakes. No one is responsible for or can
take the responsibility for the sins of others. However, the door of
forgiveness through true repentance is always open.

F. State and Religion:

Muslims believe that Islam is a total and a complete way of life. It
encompasses all aspects of life. As such, the teachings of Islam do not
separate religion from politics. As a matter of fact, state and religion
are under the obedience of Allah through the teachings of Islam. Hence,
economic and social transactions, as well as educational and political
systems are also part of the teachings of Islam.

7. Practices of Islam ............................................. from III&E

God instructed the Muslims to practice what they believe in. In Islam
there are five pillars, namely:

A. Creed (Shahada):

The verbal commitment and pledge that there is only One God and that
Muhammad is the Messenger of God, is considered to be the Creed of
Islam.

B. Prayers (Salat):

The performance of the five daily prayers is required of Muslims.

C. Fasting (Saum):

Fasting is total abstinence from food, liquids and intimate intercourse
(between married couples) from dawn to sunset during the entire month of
Ramadan.

D. Purifying Tax (Zakat):

This is an annual payment of a certain percentage of a Muslim's property
which is distributed among the poor or other rightful beneficiaries.

E. Pilgrimage (Hajj):

The performance of pilgrimage to Makkah is required once in a life time
if means are available. Hajj is in part in memory of the trials and
tribulations of Prophet Abraham, his wife Hagar and his eldest son
Prophet Ishmael.

8. Other Related Aspects .......................................... from III&E

A. Calendar:

Islamic practices are based on the lunar calendar. However, Muslims also
use the Gregorian calendar in their daily religious lives. Hence, the
Islamic calendar includes both the common era and the migration (Higra)
year of the Prophet of Islam from Makkah to Madinah in the year of 623
C.E.

B. Celebrations (Eid):

Muslims have two celebrations (Eid); namely, Eid of Sacrifice and Eid of
=46ast-Breaking. The Eid of Sacrifice is in remembrance of the sacrifice
to be by Prophet Abraham of his son. The Eid of Fast-Breaking comes at
the end of the month of fasting, Ramadan.

C. Diets:

Islam allows Muslims to eat everything which is good for the health. It
restricts certain items such as pork and its by-products, alcohol and
any narcotic or addictive drugs.

D. Place of Worship:

The place of worship is called Mosque or Masjid. There are three holy
places of worship for the Muslims in the world. These are: Mosque of
Kaaba in Makkah, Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad in Madinah, and Masjid
Aqsa, adjacent to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

A Muslim may pray any where in the world whether in a Mosque, a house,
an office, or outside. The whole world is a place of worship. It is
preferable that Muslims pray in a congregation, however, he/she may pray
individually anywhere.

E. Holidays:

The holy day of the Muslims is Friday. It is considered to be sacred and
the Day of Judgment will take place on Friday. Muslims join together
shortly after noon on Friday for the Friday congregational prayer in a
Mosque. A leader (Imam) gives a sermon (Khutba) and leads the
congregational prayer.

F. Distribution of Muslims in North America:

There are approximately five million Muslims in North America and are
distributed in its major cities such as New York, Detroit, Boston,
Toledo, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Cedar Rapids
(Iowa), Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Windsor,
Winnipeg, Calgary, and others.

G. Contributions in North America:

Muslims are not established in North America. Sears Tower and the John
Hancock buildings in Chicago were designed by a Muslim chief architect,
originally from Bangladesh. Muslims have established academic
institutions, community centers and organizations, schools and places of
worship. They live in peace and harmony among themselves and among other
groups of people in the society. The rate of crime among Muslims is very
minimal. Muslims in North America are highly educated and they have
added to the success of American scientific and technological fields.

The Muslims of the early period of the Islamic era were pioneers in
medicine, chemistry, physics, geography, navigation, arts, poetry,
mathematics, algebra, logarithms, calculus, etc. They contributed to the
Renaissance of Europe and world civilization.

9. Non-Muslims .................................................... from III&E

Muslims are required to respect all those who are faithful and God
conscious people, namely those who received messages. Christians and
Jews are called People of the Book. Muslims are asked to call upon the
People of the Book for common terms, namely, to worship One God, and to
work together for the solutions of the many problems in the society.

Christians and Jews lived peacefully with Muslims throughout centuries
in the Middle East and other Asian and African countries. The second
Caliph Umar, did not pray in the church in Jerusalem so as not to give
the Muslims an excuse to take it over. Christians entrusted the Muslims,
and as such the key of the Church in Jerusalem is still in the hands of
the Muslims.

Jews fled from Spain during the Inquisition, and they were welcomed by
the Muslims. They settled in the heart of the Islamic Caliphate. They
enjoyed positions of power and authority.

Throughout the Muslim world, churches, synagogues and missionary schools
were built within the Muslim neighborhoods. These places were protected
by Muslims even during the contemporary crises in the Middle East.

Announcements ................................................................

10. Archive Info ..............................................................

This FAQ is archived at several sites and is available for public
retrieval thru anonymous FTP, E-MAIL, Gopher & World Wide Web.

-- Anonymous FTP --

Login: anonymous
Password: Your e-mail address

Site: rtfm.mit.edu
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.uu.net
Dir: /pub/usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/

Site: ftp.cco.caltech.edu
Dir: /pub/calmsa/islam-faq/

-- E-MAIL --

Send E-mail to: [email protected]

Text of E-mail Message:

send usenet/news.answers/islam-faq/part3
quit

-- GOPHER --

Site: gopher.caltech.edu 70
Path: Computing Information/
CCO anonymous ftp archive/
pub/
calmsa/
islam-faq/

Site: latif.com 70
Path: Resources relating to Islam/
Soc.Religion.Islam

-- World-Wide-Web (WWW) --

One recommended interface is 'mosaic,' below are mosaic 'home pages.'

URL at USENET Archive site:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/islam-faq/faq.html

URL at Caltech MSA site:
http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/links.html

11. Credits ...................................................................

The author wishes to thank all those who contributed in any capacity for
the original one part FAQ or this multi-part FAQ.

-- SOURCES --

The basic introduction and literature presented in the FAQ is from
brochures on Islam distributed by Institute of Islamic Information &
Education (III&E). These brochures were typed in electronic form by
Ms.M.Ahmed.

The information on soc.religion.islam forum (in Part 2) has been
compiled from USENET archives and administrative logs of
Soc.Religion.Islam moderator panel.

What is III&E?

III&E is an acronym for the Institute of Islamic Information & Education
which was established in Chicago, Illinois in 1985. The III&E is
registered in the State of Illinois and recognized by the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) as a not-for-profit religious organization.

More information can be obtained by contacting Dr. M. Amir, III&E, P.O.
Box 41129, Chicago, IL 60641-0129, U.S.A.; Fax: (312) 777-7199; or
Tel: (312) 777-7443.

-- FORMAT --

The format of the FAQ series has been done by utilizing resources of
Islamic Information & News Network (IINN). A custom program, Nebula,
written by editors of IINN for generating newsletters has been used.

What is IINN?

Islamic Information & News Network is a forum dedicated to educate the
network community on issues relating to Islam and Muslims in an academic
& non-political environment. Weekly digest is available on internet by
subscribing to [email protected] (A Bitnet listserv list) and on
USENET: bit.listserv.muslims.

-- Permissions --

Permission to post this multi-part FAQ has been obtained by the
following:

o Institute of Islamic Information & Education (III&E)
o Islamic Information & News Network ([email protected])
o Moderator(s) of Soc.Religion.Islam (Br.Nauman Mysorewala)
o Moderator(s) of News.Answers (Thomas Khoenig & P.Huang)
o Moderator(s) of Soc.Answers (Thomas Khoenig & P.Huang)

# End of Islam FAQ Part 3 #