WHAT IS ISLAM?
Then, let us see what Islam is. Muhammad (pbuh) the seal Messenger of Allah to mankind, defined Islam as follows: “Islam is to testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad (pbuh) is His messenger, to perform prayers, pay the poor tax (Zakat), fast the month of Ramadan and do pilgrimage to the Holy House in Mecca if you have the means for that”.
Islam is the universal true religion for mankind.
Allah stated in the Holy Quran that “The
religion before Allah is Islam”. (Ali Imran 3: 20)
All Messengers of Allah, even those who had been sent
before Muhammad (pbuh), adopted Islam, manifested it, and behaved according to
it. The Quran states also “If anyone desires a religion other than Islam
(Submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter
he will be in the ranks of those who have lost”. (Ali Imran 3: 86)
According to these two Quranic verses, Islam is the
only true religion from Allah and no other religion will be accepted in the
Hereafter. Therefore, Muslims [Submitters to Allah] alone will gain happiness
in the next world. Those who die adopting a religion other than Islam will be
of the losers in the next world and will be tormented in Hell-fire.
This explains why all the prophets who had been sent
before Muhammad (pbuh) declared themselves to be Muslims and surrendered to
Allah. They declared that they are free of everyone who rejects Islam. Thus, a
Jew or a Christian, who strives for salvation and wants to gain happiness in
the Hereafter, should embrace Islam and follow Muhammad (pbuh) the prophet of
Islam. The Jew or the Christian who does so becomes, at the same time, a true
follower of Jesus and Moses (pbut), because, as it has been mentioned before,
Moses, Jesus, Muhammad (pbuh) and all Messengers of Allah who had been sent
before Muhammad (pbuh), were Muslims and called people to Islam, the true
religion of Allah. Whoever is born after the mission of Muhammad, (pbuh),
should not declare himself Muslim, unless he believes in Muhammad (pbuh) the Messenger
of Allah, follows him and does what Allah commands, and avoids what He
prohibits. Allah says in the Quran: “Say: ‘If
you do love Allah, follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your sins;
Allah is Oft-Giving, Most Merciful”. (Ali Imran 3: 32).
In this verse, Allah orders His messenger Muhammad to
tell those who pretend that they love Allah: “If you love Allah truly, follow
me and Allah will love you.” Allah will never love you nor will He forgive
your sins, unless you believe in His Messenger Muhammad (pbuh) and follow him.
Allah had sent Muhammad (pbuh) to propagate Islam, the comprehensive and
tolerant religion to all mankind. Allah stated in the Quran that He gave
perfection to Islam and approved it to be the religion of mankind.
“This day have I perfected your religion for you,
completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” (Al-Mai'da 5:4).
This Quranic verse was revealed to the Seal of Prophets
Muhammad (pbuh) during his last pilgrimage while he was standing on the mount
of Arafat, giving his prayers to Allah and thanking him for His help and He had
accomplished His favours on His Messenger by the completion of the Quran, and
that Islam had begun to take its course by gaining an ever increasing number of
followers. [Alhamdulillah]
This verse also indicates that Islam was revealed to
Muhammad (pbuh) in order to call all mankind to it, because it is the perfect,
comprehensive and suitable religion for mankind in all ages, all places, and
for all nations.
This is due to the fact that Islam is characterized by
knowledge, tolerance, justice and good. It contains a clear, perfect and
straight method that can guide man in all spheres of life. Islam is not only a
faith, but it also has its own distinguished basis of governing, justice,
political system, social affairs, economy and whatever useful knowledge which
mankind may need to achieve prosperity in his worldly life and happiness in the
coming life (after death).
THE PILLARS OF ISLAM
Whenever Islam is discussed, we usually talk about the
pillars on which it stands. Islam is based on the following (five principles).
No one can claim to be a Muslim unless he believes in these five essential rules
and practices them sincerely.
1. To
testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and Muhammad (pbuh)
is Allah’s Messenger.
2.
To
offer the (compulsory) prayers dutifully and perfectly.
3.
To pay
Zakat (i.e. the obligatory poor-tax).
4.
To
observe fasting during the month of Ramadan.
5. To
perform Hajj whenever one is capable and has the means to accomplish it.
To testify that there is no god save Allah and that
Muhammad (pbuh) is His Messenger has a specific meaning which the Muslim should
not only know, but also practice sincerely. Whoever utters this testimony (i.e.
the Shahada) without knowing its meaning or without binding himself by
it in his behaviour will gain no use from it.
This testimony means that there is none on the earth
or in the heavens deserving to be worshipped save Allah alone. Allah is the One
True God. All other deities, whatever they may be, are false. Therefore,
whoever worships any deity besides Allah or along with Allah is an unbeliever
and an idolater even if what he worships a prophet, a saint or a holy man,
under the pretext that this deity will be his intercessor to Allah. The
unbelievers, against whom Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) carried a continuous fight,
had used this false pretext to justify worshipping their prophets and pious
men. Seeking to gain the consent of Allah, or asking for His help cannot be
achieved by worshipping others than Allah, but it can only be attained by
serving Allah alone, glorifying Him by His Names and Attributes, and by performing
the good deeds that He had commanded us to do, such as prayer, fasting,
fighting for His cause, pilgrimage and kind treatment to the parents, etc.
The
Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: The superstructure of Islam is raised on five
pillars; to testify that there is no God save Allah alone and that Muhammad (pbuh)
is His Messenger, to perform the prayer, to pay the Zakat, to fast the month of
Ramadan and to do pilgrimage to the Holy House.
Worshipping takes different forms, and one of them is
supplication which means to ask for something that no one can ever grant except
Allah. The fall of the rain, recovery of a patient, relief from misfortunes,
asking for salvation from Hell-fire and dwelling in paradise, etc., in all
these cases and other similar cases, one should ask Allah alone to grant such
blessings.
Whoever asks a mortal being to grant him such things
is indeed worshipping this being. Allah ordered His servants to supplicate Him
alone for whatever they may need: “And your
Lord says: ‘Call on Me; I will answer your (prayer), but those who are too
arrogant to worship Me will surely enter Hell abased!’” (Mumin 40:
61).
Allah instructed us that mortal beings, whom idolaters
supplicate, are deprived of power, they can never cause harm or bring any
benefit to any one: “Say: “Call on those besides Him whom you fancy, they
have neither the power to neither remove your troubles from you nor change
them.” (Al-Isra 17: 57)
The Quran states also: “And
the places of worship are for Allah (alone): so invoke not any one along with
Allah”. (Al-Jinn 72: 19).
Offering sacrifices and votive offerings are services
which should be consecrated for Allah alone. Whoever offers a sacrifice or
makes a vow for a dead pious man, for the Jinn or for anyone other than Allah,
is an idolater cursed by Allah. The Quran states: “Say: ‘Truly, my prayer
and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah. The
Cherisher of the worlds; He has no partner: This am I commanded and I am the
first of those who bow to His will’”. (Al-Anam, 6: 163-164).
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “May Allah
curse whoever offers a sacrifice to anyone other than Him”. If a person
says: “I vow to offer a sacrifice to this deity if I pass in the
examination, or if I am relieved from a disease, etc.” This kind of vow is
certainly a form of idolatry, because vows should be consecrated to Allah alone
and absolutely not to anyone else, other than Allah. The right vow in such
cases is to say: “I vow to offer a sacrifice to Allah, or I vow to Allah
that I will pay to the poor this sum of money, or will give the needy so and
so, if I succeed in the examination, or be relieved from disease”.
So, at
no time should we take false gods in the worship of Allah or take oaths by
these false gods. It is such things or people who have no power and Allah hates
that we turn to them when He alone created us. Allah only wants one thing from
us, something very simple, but which man finds very difficult to accomplish. Allah
has said to worship Him alone, but man still does not follow this essential
divine instruction, and associates others with Allah. How do you expect Allah
not to be angry? He is Witr, Odd – One – Unique, and He likes His
servants to turn to Him alone, but that is not the case. Satan has attracted
them so much to him with the attractions of this world that they have become
blind and thus do not see the Tawheed of Allah.
Insha-Allah, I
will continue this sermon next week. It’s a very vast subject that we won’t be
able to finish talking about. Allah is kind to us and forgives us for many of
our excesses, but the greatest sin that He will never forgive is Shirk, unless
a person receives Hidayat [guidance] and recognizes the Tawheed of
Allah, and he comes in submission to Allah and integrates Islam, and thus his
past sins is forgiven. It is as if he takes a new birth as a new entity or
being in Islam, who submits to Allah alone.
ADVICE
O you
my disciples, and all Muslims and Humanity, enter Islam with submission and
peace and do not make your actions lose their value. Whatever you do, do it with
the fear of Allah in your hearts and when you do it with the fear of Allah [Taqwa],
then all your actions will be corrected, where you will obtain the ability to
do good deeds, but with the exception that you should not mix it with bad deeds.
Islam
is the perfect religion, the complete way of life. It regulates the life of a
person as well as the whole community in harmony with what Allah wants from us,
whereby we submit to His commandments and strive with our own lives to make
Islam shine in the whole world. Do not put another god with Allah, because no
other god even exist except Allah, the [One] True God.
Walk
the path of Islam with wisdom, kindness and piety. Make the fear of Allah and
His love open for you the door of His protection against Satanic attractions. That
is why it is very important that you reform yourself first. This Islam must be
well anchored in you; become a role model for others. You need to fight with
your Nafs [ego, passion] and become one of the servants who fight for
the cause of Allah, and that fight that you wage is to seek the pleasure of
Allah, by inviting yourselves first of all to Allah, where you do not become
Muslims only in name, but you become true Muslims, that others have great
esteem and admiration, because when you become true Muslims, you can access the
pleasure of Allah and when Allah is happy with you, He opens for you the door
of heaven, the door of His mercy, a mercy which is infinite, which is sublime.
So,
make yourselves true Muslims, listen and practice His commandments and stay
away from Taghut [all filthiness of Satan, anything that is not Allah].
Do not make yourselves slaves to Shirk, but free your souls from lies
against Allah and become truly for Allah.
Come
to the party of Allah and reject your association with the party of Satan. You
will earn, Insha-Allah, true salvation. May Allah bless you in your
quest to gain His pleasure in understanding His Tawheed, and living
Islam fully in your daily lives, Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 20 May 2022~18 Shawwal 1443 AH delivered by Imam-Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius.