Religion Of Islam Biography
Source:- Google.com.pkIslam is the proper name to use when referring to the religion practiced by muslims. It is an Arabic word that means two things: To surrender your will to God and to acquire peace in your soul. The legitimacy of using this word comes from the muslim holy book, the Quran; and it is the only name muslims use to refer to their religion. A muslim is a follower of Islam. And Islam is not a cult, its followers number about 1.5 billion worldwide. - See more.
The Middle East is obviously the center of the Muslim world, but it is frustrating too how the media stereotypes Muslims as always being Middle Eastern, as Muslims come from all over the world. I think racism is involved too, as the West seems to overlook the fact that Judaism and Christianity’s origins lay in the Middle East just like Islam.
All Muslims are not Arab. Islam is a universal religion and way of life which includes followers from all races of people. There are Muslims in and from virtually every country in the world. Arabs only constitute about 20% of Muslims worldwide. Indonesia has the largest concentration of Muslims with over 120 million.
Unfair
When someone commits a crime, the religion of the individual is rarely mentioned. But when a person who happens to have a Muslim name does some act of violence whether for religious or secular reasons, their religious affiliation is nearly always mentioned. This seems unfair to most Muslims.
Accuracy in the Quran
“Accuracy does not necessarily mean that a book is a divine revelation. In fact, accuracy is only one of the criteria for divine revelations. For instance, the telephone book is accurate, but that does not mean that it is divinely revealed. The real problem lies in that one must establish some proof of the source the Quran’s information. The emphasis is in the other direction, in that the burden of proof is on the reader. One cannot simply deny the Quran’s authenticity without sufficient proof. If, indeed, one finds a mistake, then he has the right to disqualify it. This is exactly what the Quran encourages.” (Gary Miller)
Islam: The religion of truth
Ex Catholic: In this video Abdul-Raheem Green explains some of the primary evidences for the truthfulness of Islam
Algebra
The foundations for modern science and the scientific method were laid by Muslim researchers from the ninth to the thirteenth century. The Muslim scholars invented algebra, made astounding astronomical discoveries, systematized chemistry, developed the practice of medicine to the highest standards in the world at that time, and made great strides in many other fields.
Stereotypes
The study of Islam in Europe and North America has been colored by false stereotypes that have hindered good relations and been the cause of much misunderstanding and hostility. Muslims are found in every corner of the world and have a history and culture that is as rich as any other.
About The Quran - Koran
"A work, then, which calls forth so powerful and seemingly incompatible emotions even in the distant reader distant as to time, and still more so as to mental development - a work which not only conquers the repugnance with which he may begin its perusal, but changes this adverse feeling into astonishment and admiration, such a work must be a wonderful production of the human mind indeed and a problem of the highest interest to every thoughtful observer of the destinies of mankind." (About The Quran - T. P. Hughes' Dictionary of Islam)
Muslims in North America
The population of Muslims is rising in North America and Europe due to immigration and also to conversion. Muslims in general feel they have been stereotyped and are being treated unfairly by the media and entertainment industries.
West allies
Nearly all Muslim countries in the world are either allies of the West or friendly to the West. It is unfair to point to a few villains in the Muslim world and then blame all Muslims for the actions of a very few.
Muslim's prayers
Muslims have to pray five times every day at predetermined times. The Islamic prayer consists of ritual bowing and the reciting of prayers and glorifications to God. Muslims gather on Friday afternoons for their congregational religious service.
52 Great famous people who converted to Islam
You may know most of these people
Dare to find a mistake
If someone doubt the Quran’s authenticity, the Quran itself offers you the challenge to find a mistake in it. And inevitably, after accepting it’s challenge and discovering that it is true, these people will come to believe it because they could not disqualify it. In essence, the Quran earns their respect because they themselves have had to verify its authenticity.
Supplications
Muslim students and employees need a few minutes every afternoon to perform their obligation of prayer. A clear distinction is made between personal supplication and ritual prayer. The rosary, or dhikr, consists of various phrases repeated over and over that help focus a person’s mind on God.
Greed treatment
Greed and gluttony are considered conditions of the soul and can be cured only with a combination of spiritual advice and a program of action such as Zakat. Zakat is the third pillar of Islam, is a yearly charity tax on every Muslim that amounts to 2.5 percent of all the person’s annually valued assets.
Ramadan
Ramadan is the name of the month in which Muslims fast from food and drink from first light until sunset. Fasting, the fourth pillar of Islam, teaches Muslims to control their desires and urges for worldly satisfaction and to feel empathy for the poor. The reward for successful completion is forgiveness of the individual’s sins.
Stereotypes
Stereotypes of Islam being a violent religion began in the Middle Ages and have persisted into modern times. Jihad does not mean holy war. It means any exertion in the cause of God. Jihad is the term usually used to describe a war fought for God’s sake; however, even going to school can be a kind of jihad.
Jihad
Any war for conquest or glory is forbidden in Islam. Terrorism is forbidden in Islam, and the actions of people who engage in it and use Islamic slogans are not sanctioned by Islamic teachings. Islam has a strong tradition of social activism, and the Quran calls on Muslims to oppose vice by working for the welfare of their fellow human beings. Such a struggle is also considered a jihad.
Muslims & Jews
Islam does not teach its followers to be anti-Semitic. The intractable Arab- Israeli conflict which has festered since 1948 is a political condition that is often unfairly cloaked in religious rhetoric.
Jewish prophets
Islam accepts all the major Jewish prophets, including Moses, David, Solomon, and Job. Many Jewish teachings are compatible with Islam, such as monotheism, kosher standards, angels, and prophets.
Peaceful living
The Quran contains over a hundred verses that discuss Judaism, Jews, and issues related to the ancient Israelites. The Jews lived peacefully in the Muslim world for over a thousand years and were never persecuted as they often were in Europe.
Muslim’s contribution
Muslim civilization preserved the knowledge of the ancient Greeks and others and passed it on to Europe. While Europe was in the Dark Ages, the Islamic world was the center for learning, inquiry, and science.
Islamic legacy
Islamic civilization left a legacy upon which modern civilization is built. The western Europeans who studied in Muslim universities took what they had learned and built upon it.
Virgin birth
Islam accepts the virgin birth of Jesus and his role as Messiah to the Jews. The Quran, however, denies that he is God or the Son of God, rather considering him to be a prophet.
No crucifixion
Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified nor that the Romans killed him in Jerusalem. Muslims hold that God answered Jesus’ prayer and removed him from the physical world to await the end-times and a triumphant return to Earth.
Christianity & Islam
Have had many centuries of interfaith dialogue interspersed with wars and periods of mutual fear and mistrust. European Christians completely occupied the Muslim world during the era of Colonialism and targeted Islam for suppression. The Islamic resurgence today is merely an attempt by Muslims all over the world to regain their religion.
Secular governments
The secular governments of most Muslim countries oppose the meaningful practice of Islam by their populace. Muslims are looking for redress for a century of humiliation and oppression that has been directed against them.
Opposing Israel
The two main issues that cause Muslims worldwide to oppose Israel are the in- justice against the Arabs inherent in Israel’s founding and the status of Jerusalem.
The Iranian Revolution
Was more of a political movement against a despot than an Islamic struggle. The Muslim world is in such turmoil as a consequence of the legacy of Colonialism.
Bright future
Islamic revivalism is not a danger to the West. Muslims are seeking mainly to get responsible government in their countries. The future of relations between Islam and the non-Muslim world is bright with many positive possibilities.
Pilgrimage to Mecca
Every Muslim who can afford it and who is physically able must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his or her life. The Hajj ritual consists of a series of activities each designed to teach the pilgrim a different lesson or to commemorate an event from Abraham’s life. The main idea behind the Hajj is to learn how to let go of what we love in place of God.
World largest gathering
The Hajj is the largest religious gathering in the world and is covered by major news networks every year. The Muslims believe that it was Ishmael and not Isaac whom Abraham was commanded to sacrifice. Abraham and Ishmael then built a shrine in Mecca to commemorate this test. This was the forerunner to the modern Ka’bah. The main religious site in Mecca is the Ka’bah. It is a cube-shaped building whose foundation, Muslims believe, was originally constructed by Abraham.
Unauthentic Bible
Islam accepts all the major biblical prophets but explains their life and mission in a different way. Prophets are sinless but can make honest mistakes. All true religions originated from God, and Muslims are taught to be tolerant of other’s beliefs because of it. However, Muslims do not accept the Bible as the word of God but do believe that it is based on what was once authentic revelation from God.
Quran - Koran
The Quran, which is often spelled Koran in English, is the literal speech of God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by The Spirit Gabrael. The word Quran means The Reading.
Western leaning
Did you know that during the Cold War, 37 Muslim countries were allied to the West, or were at least Western leaning, while only 6 were leaning toward the Soviets!
Growing Islam
“The growth of Islam during the early centuries of its existence was a difficult phenomenon for Western Christianity to comprehend, and misunderstanding, prejudice, fear, and, in some cases, hatred have characterized much of the history of encounter between the two faiths.” (Jane I. Smith)
Brilliant Muslims
“I hope that in the next century we will come to terms with our abysmal ignorance of the Muslim world. Muslims aren’t a bunch of wackos and nuts. They are decent, brilliant, talented people with a great civilization and traditions of their own, including legal traditions. Americans know nothing about them. There are people in that part of the world with whom we are simply out of touch. That’s a great challenge for the next century.” (U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, December 1999)
Arabic language
Muslims must learn a minimal amount of the Arabic language in order to perform their prayers, read the Quran and participate in certain rituals.
Taliban
The word Taliban means students. This is the name of a movement that began in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s with a handful of religious students who were sickened by the excesses of local warlords.
Mecca
Mecca is the place where, according to Muslim beliefs, the Prophet Abraham settled his second wife, Hagar, and her son, Ishmael, when God ordered Abraham to take them to the wilderness and leave them. At that time it was just a barren valley.
Supplications
Islam distinguishes between making personal requests to God (supplications) and ritual prayer for worship (salat). The former is optional; the latter is a religious duty that must be performed daily.
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