introduction to Islam
In the name of God the most kind the most merciful:
Short introduction to Islam: By : Samih Alkhattary
First of all before I start - I want you to know that the way to know the truth is so simple...
Through two points a fair person can know the truth
1-praying to the creator for guidance -
But who you will pray to? God according to the Muslim idea or Christian idea or Jewish idea, etc.? well a fair person will suppose that he is still don't know God - so he should pray to the creator who ever he may be -- for ex -- saying ( oh my creator whoever you may b guide me )
for sure he will guide you-- if the creator was the God according to Muslim idea or Christian idea or Hindu idea he will still guide you- because you called him ..And asked him ...
2-think logically ------- search do some reading from authentic places - use your brain -God gave us mind for a purpose
The job of the mind is to think and search and know what make sense and what is false -- God don't want us to have blind faith! Otherwise no one will change and each person born in the religion of his parents will live and die in this religion!!!
Truth always makes sense -- and God for sure is not author of confusion
So to summarize- if you want to know truth ( pray and think)
Now to the topic - Islam
Islam is an Arabic word which means "submission to the will of GOD".: To "voluntarily submit you're self to God" means to believe in the one God, his Prophets and keep the commandments/laws they brought down for that time., so Islam is not a new religion like how its mistakenly propagated by non-Muslims !! And it did not start by prophet Muhammad 1400 years ago! But it was always there where ever and when ever there was submission to God alone
Muhammed s.a.w is not the founder of Islam
According to Islam, all the Prophets from Adam to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to Jesus, to Mohammed and all in between as well as their followers were "Muslim" (submissive servants of God) and they practiced "Islam"( submission) doing the will of God by keeping his commandments.
Do you mean will find the word Islam preached in bible ?
Of course you won't find the exact word Islam in bible because it is an Arabic word and Jesus did not speak Arabic, but you will find the meaning of it in bible, we said Islam means (submitting yourself to the will of God by obeying him and keeping his commandments) if you look for this meaning you will find it.
in Islam we have faith that Moses and his followers were of those who submitted themselves to the Lord who created Adam so they were in the spiritual condition of "Islam" as "Muslims".
For the followers of Moses to stay "Muslim" they would have had to follow the last Israelite Prophet (Messiah) - Jesus -- and keep the latest commands sent down by GOD
For the followers of Jesus to stay "Muslim" they would have had to accept the final Abrahamic Prophet - Mohammed -- and obey the latest commands sent down by GOD
So some one might ask: but what about the other names of religions - such as Christianity - Judaism - Budasim Hinduism Bahaism, etc etc ?
We believe that Islam is the first and only true religion sent by God ---and that other labels and names of religions was manmade names >
its people who created it at certain times and certain places -I mean God himself never say in the divine book of Jews that (true religion name is Judaism) or in Gospel he never said (the true religion is Christianity) we don't find Jesus for example saying you have to be Christians etc --- in fact if you look for the name ( Judaism - Christianity) in bible you won't find it all .
Its people who came later on who invented these names -- for ex:
Judaism -- named after a person called Judas from Jacob family!!! So what about those lived b4 him!!
Christianity is named after a prophet called Christ Jesus - so what about those who lived before him what was their religion name? And did Jesus ever said be Christians? The answer is NO - more over the name Christianity first
appeared after many years of Jesus life on earth. it was the Romans who first called the followers of Christ ( Christians ) but before this they used to be called Nazarenes .
Budasim -- its named after a person called Buda!!! So what about those who lived before him!! What was the name of their faith?
Hinduism- is derived from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the India,we can say that it refers to the place called Hindustan and the people lived there -- so what about those who lived out of this place ! How can this label be the name of the religion of God!!
Bahaism - is named after a person called BAHA . ..
The common thing between all theses names are all named after a person or a place and the name it self is not instructed by God in their own divine books … this proof one fact that all are manmade names .
God almighty wont confuse people by sending many religions and many names and labels - its only one God and one religion taught by all messengers … this label chosen by God for his religion is connected to a relationship which if any person do it he is been described by this label no matter where he lived and when he lived .. That relationship is called in English (submission to the will of God) … translated into Arabic (Islam) and we can look for its translation in the common divine books we shall surely find it .
So that's why MUSLIMS means ( submissive servants of God ) and this whole life is a short test of submission - God gave us free will as a gift to choose or refuse - and he wants us to submit this free will to him.. he wants us to believe and submit to his commands freely not by force …
if he wish he can force all of us to be believers - this is so easy to God … but he don't want this - he want us to use our freewill and submit it to him,, and what ever we choose by our free will we will be hold accountable for .
So make sure you choose correct J
This is the real meaning of Islam and this belief of Muslims all over the world - that Islam is the first and only true religion sent from God. And that all messengers and prophets including Jesus and Moses and muhammed etc taught Islam ( submission ) and they them selves were Muslims :
Now lets move on …
God in Islam is the same God of Jews and Christians -- however in Islam the concept of GOD Is seen as unique because its not trinity -its a perfect concept -GOD have no sons , no family - he is not a man and he is not son of man :)
The Standard translation of the English word (God) to Arabic is (ALLAH) . The word Allah is used by all Arab speakers from all religions including Arab christens and Arab Jews - and its not true at all that the word Allah is a different God which Muslims believe in!!! But he is the same God who is called in Christianity the father - and who sent the messengers Abraham , Moses , Jesus etc … but we in Islam have a unique idea about God - we don't accept any thing degrading to God concept .. he is perfect in Islam - thus
we don't believe that God limit him self in human like how Christians think or he live in his creation like how a Hindyouthink -
We don't believe that God fought with Jacoband hardly win like how bible claim
We don't believe any thing bad said about God -- God is perfectand one God
We see that limiting God and comparing him to human is degrading and against his perfection - and also we consider this description to be baseless and have no proof - but it came from human minds who modified the concept of God and compared him to man and altered the verses in bible and other books to suite their thinking.
The idea of Islam is v simpleand sensible that's why its the fastest growing faith on earth ( just have faith in the one perfect God alone and submit to his commands which were taught by the known messenger of your time )
in Islam we have 6 major important beliefs - which if a Muslim neglect any of it - he is not a Muslim any more---
1. the belief in One God, a absolutely perfect, Supreme and Eternal, Infinite and Mighty, Merciful and Compassionate, Creator and Provider. This belief, in order to be effective, requires complete trust and hope in God, submission to His Will and reliance on His aid. He has no parents, no children, no associates, no partners. Nothing is like Him.-
It is not just blind belief but a belief built on pondering and mind acceptance and questioning and proofs.
It is not also an empty belief or just a word a person say ( I believe ) it's a believe proven by your actions - faith without actions confirming it is a dead faith . And also good actions without faith is useless- so it has to be both together (faith and good actions)>
2. Angels. The true Muslim believes that God created the angels, they are purely spiritual and splendid beings whose nature requires no food or drink or sleep. They have no physical desires of any kind nor material needs. They spend their days and nights, in the service of God.
So in Islam we don't allow any one to worship an angel !! Holy sprit in Islam is the holy ghost and angels used to be called Ghosts - thus the holy ghost in Islam is an angel and no one must worship him or any one beside the one God .
3. The belief in all the messengers of God without any discrimination among them. Every known nation had a warner or messenger from God. Those the Quran has named include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elijah, Job, Jonah, Zachariah, John (the Baptist), and Jesus, plus of course Muhammad (peace be upon them all). These messengers were great teachers of the good and true champions of the right. They were chosen by God to teach mankind and deliver His Divine message.
Note : those messengers above are not the only messengers in Islam - because God in Quran told us that he sent a messenger to each nation and that messengers were not only sent to Israel OR Arabia but to all over the world. from all nations -- thus there are other messengers but their names are not mentioned because the Quran is not a history book And it cant fit for all names and stories of messengers to be mentioned … so in Islam for ex we know for sure that God sent messengers in past to Africa, India , china etc etc however don't know their names ,, and may be because people modified their religion or created images and idols for them and later on worshipped the idols and thus they were forgotten .
But in any case we love all messengers and accept all as pure noble messengers came from same God with same message
also -- in Islam we don't accept any thing bad said about a messenger - so in Islam we don't accept that any human insult A Messenger or mock him or even draw his picture - we don't accept that any human degrade Jesus !! or Moses or David or Jacob or Mary etc etc etc -- all are respected messengers of God and highly respected in Islam ---
we also don't believe that any messenger of God did a major sin -- we believe all of them were protected from major sin -- thus we don't accept the claim of the bible which says that lot did adultery or Mosses killed a man intentionally or Jesus insulted the non Jews and called them dogs----etc -- we don't accept all this --- we believe that God knew well how to choose his ambassadors to humanity.. He chose pious and great men
In Islam also we don't make distinctions between the messengers -- its not our job to judge who is better -- we love all of them and accept all of them as messengers came from same God with same message
Jesus stands a high position in Islam as one of the greatest messengers together with other messengers such as Abraham, Moses, Noah, And Muhammed ... they were all human messengers -- none of them must b worshipped -- we only worship God who sent them.
4. Scriptures. The true Muslim believes, in all the scriptures and revelations of God. They were the guiding light which the messengers received to show their respective peoples the Right Path of God. Muslims of course believe in the Quran, but we also believe that God revealed the Torah to Moses, the Psalms to David, and the Gospel to Jesus.
Books and messengers were always sent in succession -- why ? this happened only when a nation forget the message of the messenger or the teachings of the divine book was forgotten - then there is a need for another book and another messenger -- so the final messenger was muhammed and the final book was Quran ...
God taught us that when the previous books were modified he sent Quran to correct and show the true teachings -- so the old books like Taurah Gospel -- however it contains some right -- it also contains many alterations and words of men -- so we cant trust it and we have to trust Quran only as a divine book ..
5. The divine decree and the predestination. The true Muslim believes in the timeless knowledge of God and in His power to plan and execute His plans. God is not indifferent to this world nor is He neutral to it. His knowledge and power are in action at all times to keep order in His vast domain and maintain full command over His creation. He is Wise and Loving, and whatever He does must have a good motive and meaningful purpose.
What ever you do by your own will you will be hold accountable for - but whatever happens to you unwillingly. .you not responsible for and more over if you were patient you will see its good for you. So just bear patience and accept the decree of God.
6. The true Muslim believes in the Last Day of Judgment. This world will come to an end some day, and the dead will rise to stand for their final and fair trial. The ones that accepted the truth worshipped God and did good deeds will be rewarded. The ones that rejected the truth, did not worship God and did bad
Deeds will be punished.
These are the main pillars of Muslim faith :) may b you already have faith in most of it
Now let me give you an idea about the main major practices of a Muslim -- which if someone deny any of it -- he is no more Muslim
1.The Testimony of Faith: is saying with conviction, "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolyouAllah." This saying means "There is no true God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." The first part, "There is no true God but Allah," means that none has the right to be worshipped but God alone, and that God has neither partner nor son. This testimony of faith is called the Shahada, a simple formula which should be said with conviction in order to convert to Islam
when one just say this statement by his tongue and with conviction -- he automatically enter in Islam ( submission to God will ) - which start by submitting and confessing the first of all commands ( God our lord is one ) .
it is recommended that a person take a bath after saying -- just to start ur life as a clean person .
2. Prayer: Muslims perform five prayers a day. The prayer is to be offered in a fixed form, at fixed times during the day. Each prayer does not take more than a few minutes to perform. Prayer in Islam is a direct link between the worshipper and God. There are no intermediaries between God and the worshipper.
each prayer may take yoyouless than 5 minutes :) this keep us conscious about God the whole day ...
we kneel and prostrate down to God in the prayer -- same as Jesus did-- he also used to pray to God by prostration .
Matthew 26:39 "Jesus fell on his face and prayed to his GOD
the five times prayer if youcollect all of them -- it don't take you30 minutes -- God gave us 24 hours a day - can't we give him 30 minutes ? :)
3. Giving Zakat (Support of the Needy): All things belong to God, and wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust. The original meaning of the word zakat is both ‘purification' and ‘growth.' Giving zakat means ‘giving a specified percentage on certain properties to certain classes of needy people.
Giving 2.5% of our savings if we are rich to the poor and needy people :) if you are not rich - then you don't have to - you just receive :) imagine if the whole world is giving to poor like this --
we won't have hunger nor starvations.
4. Fasting the Month of Ramadan: Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. The Islamic calendar is purely lunar and each month begins at the sighting of the new crescent moon. Every year in the month of Ramadan, all Muslims fast from dawn until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations. The fast is a marvelously spiritual experience.
If you are sick and cant fast - then your excused -and can fast what you missed from days later on
5: The Pilgrimage to Makkah: The annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makkah is an obligation once in a lifetime for those who are physically and financially able to perform it. Over two million people go to Makkah each year from every corner of the globe.
kaaba in makka is first place of worship built on earth by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham peace be upon both -if you can't do the Pilgrimage or have no money or health is weak - then you don't have to :) its forgiven .
now these r the pillars of Islam and faith if a Muslim don't believe it or do it -- he is no more Muslim -- do you have any questions before I speak about Jesus position in Islam ?
In the name of God the most kind the most merciful:
Short introduction to Islam: By : Samih Alkhattary
First of all before I start - I want you to know that the way to know the truth is so simple...
Through two points a fair person can know the truth
1-praying to the creator for guidance -
But who you will pray to? God according to the Muslim idea or Christian idea or Jewish idea, etc.? well a fair person will suppose that he is still don't know God - so he should pray to the creator who ever he may be -- for ex -- saying ( oh my creator whoever you may b guide me )
for sure he will guide you-- if the creator was the God according to Muslim idea or Christian idea or Hindu idea he will still guide you- because you called him ..And asked him ...
2-think logically ------- search do some reading from authentic places - use your brain -God gave us mind for a purpose
The job of the mind is to think and search and know what make sense and what is false -- God don't want us to have blind faith! Otherwise no one will change and each person born in the religion of his parents will live and die in this religion!!!
Truth always makes sense -- and God for sure is not author of confusion
So to summarize- if you want to know truth ( pray and think)
Now to the topic - Islam
Islam is an Arabic word which means "submission to the will of GOD".: To "voluntarily submit you're self to God" means to believe in the one God, his Prophets and keep the commandments/laws they brought down for that time., so Islam is not a new religion like how its mistakenly propagated by non-Muslims !! And it did not start by prophet Muhammad 1400 years ago! But it was always there where ever and when ever there was submission to God alone
Muhammed s.a.w is not the founder of Islam
According to Islam, all the Prophets from Adam to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to Jesus, to Mohammed and all in between as well as their followers were "Muslim" (submissive servants of God) and they practiced "Islam"( submission) doing the will of God by keeping his commandments.
Do you mean will find the word Islam preached in bible ?
Of course you won't find the exact word Islam in bible because it is an Arabic word and Jesus did not speak Arabic, but you will find the meaning of it in bible, we said Islam means (submitting yourself to the will of God by obeying him and keeping his commandments) if you look for this meaning you will find it.
in Islam we have faith that Moses and his followers were of those who submitted themselves to the Lord who created Adam so they were in the spiritual condition of "Islam" as "Muslims".
For the followers of Moses to stay "Muslim" they would have had to follow the last Israelite Prophet (Messiah) - Jesus -- and keep the latest commands sent down by GOD
For the followers of Jesus to stay "Muslim" they would have had to accept the final Abrahamic Prophet - Mohammed -- and obey the latest commands sent down by GOD
So some one might ask: but what about the other names of religions - such as Christianity - Judaism - Budasim Hinduism Bahaism, etc etc ?
We believe that Islam is the first and only true religion sent by God ---and that other labels and names of religions was manmade names >
its people who created it at certain times and certain places -I mean God himself never say in the divine book of Jews that (true religion name is Judaism) or in Gospel he never said (the true religion is Christianity) we don't find Jesus for example saying you have to be Christians etc --- in fact if you look for the name ( Judaism - Christianity) in bible you won't find it all .
Its people who came later on who invented these names -- for ex:
Judaism -- named after a person called Judas from Jacob family!!! So what about those lived b4 him!!
Christianity is named after a prophet called Christ Jesus - so what about those who lived before him what was their religion name? And did Jesus ever said be Christians? The answer is NO - more over the name Christianity first
appeared after many years of Jesus life on earth. it was the Romans who first called the followers of Christ ( Christians ) but before this they used to be called Nazarenes .
Budasim -- its named after a person called Buda!!! So what about those who lived before him!! What was the name of their faith?
Hinduism- is derived from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the India,we can say that it refers to the place called Hindustan and the people lived there -- so what about those who lived out of this place ! How can this label be the name of the religion of God!!
Bahaism - is named after a person called BAHA . ..
The common thing between all theses names are all named after a person or a place and the name it self is not instructed by God in their own divine books … this proof one fact that all are manmade names .
God almighty wont confuse people by sending many religions and many names and labels - its only one God and one religion taught by all messengers … this label chosen by God for his religion is connected to a relationship which if any person do it he is been described by this label no matter where he lived and when he lived .. That relationship is called in English (submission to the will of God) … translated into Arabic (Islam) and we can look for its translation in the common divine books we shall surely find it .
So that's why MUSLIMS means ( submissive servants of God ) and this whole life is a short test of submission - God gave us free will as a gift to choose or refuse - and he wants us to submit this free will to him.. he wants us to believe and submit to his commands freely not by force …
if he wish he can force all of us to be believers - this is so easy to God … but he don't want this - he want us to use our freewill and submit it to him,, and what ever we choose by our free will we will be hold accountable for .
So make sure you choose correct J
This is the real meaning of Islam and this belief of Muslims all over the world - that Islam is the first and only true religion sent from God. And that all messengers and prophets including Jesus and Moses and muhammed etc taught Islam ( submission ) and they them selves were Muslims :
Now lets move on …
God in Islam is the same God of Jews and Christians -- however in Islam the concept of GOD Is seen as unique because its not trinity -its a perfect concept -GOD have no sons , no family - he is not a man and he is not son of man :)
The Standard translation of the English word (God) to Arabic is (ALLAH) . The word Allah is used by all Arab speakers from all religions including Arab christens and Arab Jews - and its not true at all that the word Allah is a different God which Muslims believe in!!! But he is the same God who is called in Christianity the father - and who sent the messengers Abraham , Moses , Jesus etc … but we in Islam have a unique idea about God - we don't accept any thing degrading to God concept .. he is perfect in Islam - thus
we don't believe that God limit him self in human like how Christians think or he live in his creation like how a Hindyouthink -
We don't believe that God fought with Jacoband hardly win like how bible claim
We don't believe any thing bad said about God -- God is perfectand one God
We see that limiting God and comparing him to human is degrading and against his perfection - and also we consider this description to be baseless and have no proof - but it came from human minds who modified the concept of God and compared him to man and altered the verses in bible and other books to suite their thinking.
The idea of Islam is v simpleand sensible that's why its the fastest growing faith on earth ( just have faith in the one perfect God alone and submit to his commands which were taught by the known messenger of your time )
in Islam we have 6 major important beliefs - which if a Muslim neglect any of it - he is not a Muslim any more---
1. the belief in One God, a absolutely perfect, Supreme and Eternal, Infinite and Mighty, Merciful and Compassionate, Creator and Provider. This belief, in order to be effective, requires complete trust and hope in God, submission to His Will and reliance on His aid. He has no parents, no children, no associates, no partners. Nothing is like Him.-
It is not just blind belief but a belief built on pondering and mind acceptance and questioning and proofs.
It is not also an empty belief or just a word a person say ( I believe ) it's a believe proven by your actions - faith without actions confirming it is a dead faith . And also good actions without faith is useless- so it has to be both together (faith and good actions)>
2. Angels. The true Muslim believes that God created the angels, they are purely spiritual and splendid beings whose nature requires no food or drink or sleep. They have no physical desires of any kind nor material needs. They spend their days and nights, in the service of God.
So in Islam we don't allow any one to worship an angel !! Holy sprit in Islam is the holy ghost and angels used to be called Ghosts - thus the holy ghost in Islam is an angel and no one must worship him or any one beside the one God .
3. The belief in all the messengers of God without any discrimination among them. Every known nation had a warner or messenger from God. Those the Quran has named include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elijah, Job, Jonah, Zachariah, John (the Baptist), and Jesus, plus of course Muhammad (peace be upon them all). These messengers were great teachers of the good and true champions of the right. They were chosen by God to teach mankind and deliver His Divine message.
Note : those messengers above are not the only messengers in Islam - because God in Quran told us that he sent a messenger to each nation and that messengers were not only sent to Israel OR Arabia but to all over the world. from all nations -- thus there are other messengers but their names are not mentioned because the Quran is not a history book And it cant fit for all names and stories of messengers to be mentioned … so in Islam for ex we know for sure that God sent messengers in past to Africa, India , china etc etc however don't know their names ,, and may be because people modified their religion or created images and idols for them and later on worshipped the idols and thus they were forgotten .
But in any case we love all messengers and accept all as pure noble messengers came from same God with same message
also -- in Islam we don't accept any thing bad said about a messenger - so in Islam we don't accept that any human insult A Messenger or mock him or even draw his picture - we don't accept that any human degrade Jesus !! or Moses or David or Jacob or Mary etc etc etc -- all are respected messengers of God and highly respected in Islam ---
we also don't believe that any messenger of God did a major sin -- we believe all of them were protected from major sin -- thus we don't accept the claim of the bible which says that lot did adultery or Mosses killed a man intentionally or Jesus insulted the non Jews and called them dogs----etc -- we don't accept all this --- we believe that God knew well how to choose his ambassadors to humanity.. He chose pious and great men
In Islam also we don't make distinctions between the messengers -- its not our job to judge who is better -- we love all of them and accept all of them as messengers came from same God with same message
Jesus stands a high position in Islam as one of the greatest messengers together with other messengers such as Abraham, Moses, Noah, And Muhammed ... they were all human messengers -- none of them must b worshipped -- we only worship God who sent them.
4. Scriptures. The true Muslim believes, in all the scriptures and revelations of God. They were the guiding light which the messengers received to show their respective peoples the Right Path of God. Muslims of course believe in the Quran, but we also believe that God revealed the Torah to Moses, the Psalms to David, and the Gospel to Jesus.
Books and messengers were always sent in succession -- why ? this happened only when a nation forget the message of the messenger or the teachings of the divine book was forgotten - then there is a need for another book and another messenger -- so the final messenger was muhammed and the final book was Quran ...
God taught us that when the previous books were modified he sent Quran to correct and show the true teachings -- so the old books like Taurah Gospel -- however it contains some right -- it also contains many alterations and words of men -- so we cant trust it and we have to trust Quran only as a divine book ..
5. The divine decree and the predestination. The true Muslim believes in the timeless knowledge of God and in His power to plan and execute His plans. God is not indifferent to this world nor is He neutral to it. His knowledge and power are in action at all times to keep order in His vast domain and maintain full command over His creation. He is Wise and Loving, and whatever He does must have a good motive and meaningful purpose.
What ever you do by your own will you will be hold accountable for - but whatever happens to you unwillingly. .you not responsible for and more over if you were patient you will see its good for you. So just bear patience and accept the decree of God.
6. The true Muslim believes in the Last Day of Judgment. This world will come to an end some day, and the dead will rise to stand for their final and fair trial. The ones that accepted the truth worshipped God and did good deeds will be rewarded. The ones that rejected the truth, did not worship God and did bad
Deeds will be punished.
These are the main pillars of Muslim faith :) may b you already have faith in most of it
Now let me give you an idea about the main major practices of a Muslim -- which if someone deny any of it -- he is no more Muslim
1.The Testimony of Faith: is saying with conviction, "La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolyouAllah." This saying means "There is no true God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." The first part, "There is no true God but Allah," means that none has the right to be worshipped but God alone, and that God has neither partner nor son. This testimony of faith is called the Shahada, a simple formula which should be said with conviction in order to convert to Islam
when one just say this statement by his tongue and with conviction -- he automatically enter in Islam ( submission to God will ) - which start by submitting and confessing the first of all commands ( God our lord is one ) .
it is recommended that a person take a bath after saying -- just to start ur life as a clean person .
2. Prayer: Muslims perform five prayers a day. The prayer is to be offered in a fixed form, at fixed times during the day. Each prayer does not take more than a few minutes to perform. Prayer in Islam is a direct link between the worshipper and God. There are no intermediaries between God and the worshipper.
each prayer may take yoyouless than 5 minutes :) this keep us conscious about God the whole day ...
we kneel and prostrate down to God in the prayer -- same as Jesus did-- he also used to pray to God by prostration .
Matthew 26:39 "Jesus fell on his face and prayed to his GOD
the five times prayer if youcollect all of them -- it don't take you30 minutes -- God gave us 24 hours a day - can't we give him 30 minutes ? :)
3. Giving Zakat (Support of the Needy): All things belong to God, and wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust. The original meaning of the word zakat is both ‘purification' and ‘growth.' Giving zakat means ‘giving a specified percentage on certain properties to certain classes of needy people.
Giving 2.5% of our savings if we are rich to the poor and needy people :) if you are not rich - then you don't have to - you just receive :) imagine if the whole world is giving to poor like this --
we won't have hunger nor starvations.
4. Fasting the Month of Ramadan: Ramadan is the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. The Islamic calendar is purely lunar and each month begins at the sighting of the new crescent moon. Every year in the month of Ramadan, all Muslims fast from dawn until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations. The fast is a marvelously spiritual experience.
If you are sick and cant fast - then your excused -and can fast what you missed from days later on
5: The Pilgrimage to Makkah: The annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to Makkah is an obligation once in a lifetime for those who are physically and financially able to perform it. Over two million people go to Makkah each year from every corner of the globe.
kaaba in makka is first place of worship built on earth by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham peace be upon both -if you can't do the Pilgrimage or have no money or health is weak - then you don't have to :) its forgiven .
now these r the pillars of Islam and faith if a Muslim don't believe it or do it -- he is no more Muslim -- do you have any questions before I speak about Jesus position in Islam ?
