[iwar] [fc:Message.to.infidels.(From.USC)]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-28 14:03:46
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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 14:03:46 -0800 (PST)
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Message to infidels (From USC)

The True Religion

                    By Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
      http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/introduction/truereligion.html

 THE RELIGION OF ISLAM

The first thing that one should know and clearly understand about Islam
is what the word "Islam" itself means.  The religion of Islam is not
named after a person as in the case of Christianity which was named
after Jesus Christ, Buddhism after Gotama Buddha, Confucianism after
Confucius, and Marxism after Karl Marx.  Nor was it named after a tribe
like Judaism after the tribe of Judah and Hinduism after the Hindus. 
Islam is the true religion of "Allah" and as such, its name represents
the central principle of Allah's "God's" religion; the total submission
to the will of Allah "God".  The Arabic word "Islam" means the
submission or surrender of one's will to the only true god worthy of
worship "Allah" and anyone who does so is termed a "Muslim", The word
also implies "peace" which is the natural consequence of total
submission to the will of Allah.  Hence, it was not a new religion
brought by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in Arabia in the seventh century, but
only the true religion of Allah re-expressed in its final form. 

Islam is the religion which was given to Adam, the first man and the
first prophet of Allah, and it was the religion of all the prophets sent
by Allah to mankind.  The name of God's religion lslam was not decided
upon by later generations of man.  It was chosen by Allah Himself and
clearly mentioned in His final revelation to man.  In the final book of
divine revelation, the Qur'aan, Allah states the following:

"This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour
upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion".  (Soorah
Al-Maa'idah 5:3)

"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah
(God) never will It be accepted of Him" (Soorah Aal'imraan 3:85)
"Abraham was not a Jew nor Christian; but an upright Muslim." (Soorah
Aal'imraan 3:67)

Nowhere in the Bible will you find Allah saying to Prophet Moses' people
or their descendants that their religion is Judaism, nor to the
followers of Christ that their religion is Christianity.  In fact,
Christ was not even his name, nor was it Jesus! The name "Christ" comes
from the Greek word Christos which means the annointed.  That is, Christ
is a Greek translation of the Hebrew title "Messiah".  The name "Jesus"
on the other hand, is a latinized version of the Hebrew name Esau. 

For simplicity's sake, I will however continue to refer to Prophet Esau
(PBUH) as Jesus.  As for his religion, it was what he called his
followers to.  Like the prophets before him, he called the people to
surrender their will to the will of Allah; (which is Islam) and he
warned them to stay away from the false gods of human imagination. 
According to the New Testament, he taught his followers to pray as
follows: "Yours will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". 

THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM

Since the total submission of one's will to Allah represents the essence
of worship, the basic message of Allah's divine religion, Islam is the
worship of Allah alone and the avoidance of worship directed to any
person, place or thing other than Allah.Since everything other than
Allah, the Creator of all things, is Allah's creation; it may be said
that Islam, in essence calls man away from the worship of creation and
invites him to worship only its Creator.  He is the only one deserving
man's worship as it is only by His will that prayers are answered.  If
man prays to a tree and his prayers are answered, it was not the tree
which answered his prayers but Allah who allowed the circumstances
prayed for to take place.  One might say, "That is obvious," however, to
tree-worshippers it might not be.  Similarly, prayers to Jesus, Buddha,
or Krishna, to Saint Christopher, or Saint Jude or even to Muhammad, are
not answered by them but are answered by Allah.  Jesus did nottell his
followers to worship him but to worship Allah.  As the Qur'aan states:

"And behold Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary Did you say to men,
Worship me and my mother as gods besides Allah He will say-"Glory to you
I could never say what I had no right (to say')" (Soorah Al-Maa'idah-
5:116)

Nor did he worship himself when he worshipped but rather he worshipped
Allah.  This basic principle is enshrined in the opening chapter of the
Qur'aan, known as Soorah Al-Faatihah, verse 4: fertile ground among
those who accept the false belief of God's presence in man.  One who has
grasped the basic message of Islam and its implications could never
agree to worship another human being under any circumstances.  God's
religion in essence is a clear call to the worship of the Creator and
the rejection of creation-worship in any form.  This is the meaning of
the motto of Islam:

"Laa Elaaha lllallaah" (There is no god but Allah)

Its repetition automatically brings one within the fold of Islam and
sincere belief in it guarantees one Paradise.  Thus, the final Prophet
of Islam is reported to have said, "Any one who says: There is no god
but Allah and dies holding that (belief) will enter paradise".(Reported
by Abu Dharr and collected by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim). 

It consists in the submission to Allah as one God, yielding to Him by
obeying His commandments, and the denial of polytheism and polytheists. 

THE MESSAGE OF FALSE RELIGION

There are so many sects, cults, religions, philosophies, and movements
in the world, all of which claim to be the right way or the only true
path to Allah.  How can one determine which one is correct or if, in
fact, all are correct? The method by which the answer can be found is to
clear away the superficial differences in the teachings of the various
claimants to the ultimate truth, and identify the central object of
worship to which they call, directly or indirectly.  False religions all
have in common one basic concept with regards to Allah.  They either
claim that all men are gods or that specific men were Allah or that
nature is Allah or that Allah is a figment of man's imagination. 

Thus, it may be stated that the basic message of false religion is that
Allah may be worshipped in the form of His creation.  False religion
invites man to the worship of creation by calling the creation or some
aspect of it God.  For example, prophet Jesus invited his followers to
worship Allah but those who claim to be his followers today call people
to worship Jesus, claiming that he was Allah! Buddha was a reformer who
introduced a number of humanistic principles to the religion of India. 
He did not claim to be God nor did he suggest to his followers that he
be an object of worship.  Yet, today most Buddhists who are to be found
outside of India have taken him to be God and prostrate to idols made in
their perception of his likeness. 

By using the principle of identifying the object of worship, false
religion becomes very obvious and the contrived nature of their origin
clear.  As God said in the Our'aan:

That which you worship besides Him are only names you and your
forefathers have invented for which Allah has sent down no authority:
The command belongs only to Allah:

He has commanded that you only worship Him; that is the right religion,
but most men do not understand ".  (Soorah Yoosuf 12:40) It may be
argued that all religions teach good things so why should it matter
which one we follow.  The reply is that all false religions teach the
greatest evil, the worship of creation.  Creation-worship is the
greatest sin that man can commit because it contradicts the very purpose
of his creation.  Man was created to worship Allah alone as Allah has
explicitly stated in the Our'aan:

"I have only created Jlnns and men, that they may worship me"(Soorah
Zaareeyaat 51:56)

Consequently, the worship of creation, which is the essence of idolatry,
is the only unforgivable sin.  One who dies in this state of idolatry
has sealed his fate in the next life.  This is not an opinion, but a
revealed fact stated by Allah in his final revelation to man: "Verily
Allah will not forgive the joining of partners with Him, but He may
forgive (sins) less than that for whom so ever He wishes"(Soorah An-
Nisaa 4:48 and 116)

THE UNIVERSALITY OF ISLAM

Since the consequences of false religion are so grave, the true religion
of Allah must be universally understandable and attainable, not confined
to any people, place or time.  There can not be conditions like baptism,
belief in a man, as a saviour etc., for a believer to enter paradise. 
Within the central principle of Islam and in its definition, (the
surrender of one's will to God) lies the roots of lslam's universality. 
Whenever man comes to the realization that Allah is one and distinct
from His creation, and submits himself to Allah, he becomes a Muslim in
body and spirit and is eligible for paradise.  Thus, anyone at anytime
in the most remote region of the world can become a Muslim, a follower
of God's religion, Islam, by merely rejecting the worship of creation
and by turning to Allah (God) alone-It should be noted however, that the
recognition of and submission to Allah requires that one chooses between
right and wrong and such a choice implies accountability.  Man will be
held responsible for his choices, and, as such, he should try his utmost
to do good and avoid evil.  The ultimate good being the worship of Allah
alone and the ultimate evil being the worship of His creation along with
or instead of Allah.  This fact is expressed in the final revelation as
follows: "Verily those who believe, those who follow the Jewish
(Scriptures), the Christians and the Sabians any who believe In Allah
and the last day, and work righteousness *hall have their reward with
their Lord;They will not be overcome by fear nor grief(Soorah Al-Baqarah
2:62). 

If only they had stood by the law, the Gospel, and all the revelation
that was sent to them from their Lord, they would have enjoyed happiness
from every side.  There Is from among them a party on the right course;
but many of them follow a course that Is evil.".  (Soorah Al-.Maa'idah
5:66)

RECOGNITION OF ALLAH

The question which arises here is, "How can all people be expected to
believe in Allah given their varying- backgrounds, societies and
cultures? For people to be responsible for worshipping Allah they all
have to have access to knowledge of Allah.  The final revelation teaches
that all mankind have the recognition of Allah imprinted on their souls,
a part of their very nature with which they are created.  In Soorah
Al-A'raaf, Verses 172-173; Allah explained that when He created Adam, He
caused all of Adam's descendants to come into existence and took a
pledge from them saying, Am I not your Lord? To which they all replied,
" Yes, we testify to It:'

Allah then explained why He had all of mankind bear witness that He is
their creator and only true God worthy of worship.  He said, "That was
In case you (mankind) should say on the day of Resurrection, "Verily we
were unaware of all this." That is to say, we had no idea that You
Allah, were our God.  No one told us that we were only supposed to
worship You alone.  Allah went on to explain That it was also In case
you should say, "Certainly It was our ancestors who made partners (With
Allah) and we are only their descendants; will You then destroy us for
what those liars did?" Thus, every child is born with a natural belief
in Allah and an inborn inclination to worship Him alone called in Arabic
the "Fitrah". 

If the child were left alone, he would worship Allah in his own way, but
all children are affected by those things around them, seen or unseen. 
The Prophet (PBUH) reported that Allah said, "I created my servants in
the right religion but devils made them go astray".  The Prophet (PBUH)
also said, "Each child is born in a state of "Fitrah", then his parents
make him a Jew, Christian or a Zoroastrian, the way an animal gives
birth to a normal offspring.  Have you noticed any that were born
mutilated?" (Collected by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim). 

So, just as the child submits to the physical laws which Allah has put
in nature, his soul also submits naturally to the fact that Allah is his
Lord and Creator.  But, his parents try to make him follow their own way
and the child is not strong enough in the early stages of his life to
resist or oppose the will of his parents.  The religion which the child
follows at this stage is one of custom and upbringing and Allah does not
hold him to account or punish him for this religion.  Throughout
people's lives from childhood until the time they die, signs are shown
to them in all regions of the earth and in their own souls, until it
becomes clear that there is only one true God (Allah).  If the people
are honest with themselves, reject their false gods and seek Allah, the
way will be made easy for them but if they continually reject Allah's
signs and continue to worship creation, the more difficult it will be
for them to escape.  For example, in the South Eastern region of the
Amazon jungle in Brazil, South America, a primitive tribe erected a new
hut to house their main idol Skwatch, representing the supreme God of
all creation.  The homage to the God, and while he was in prostration to
what he had been taught was his Creator and Sustainer, a mangy old
flea-ridden dog walked into the hut, The young man looked up in time to
see the dog lift its hind leg and pass urine on the idol.  Outraged, the
youth chased the dog out of the temple, but when his rage died down he
realized that the idol could not be the Lordof the universe.  Allah must
be elsewhere.  he now had a choice to act on his knowledge and seek
Allah, or to dishonestly go along with the false beliefs of his tribe. 
As strange as it may seem, that was a sign from Allah for that young
man.  It contained within it divine guidance that what he was
worshipping was false.  Prophets were sent, as was earlier mentioned, to
every nation and tribe to support man's natural belief in Allah and
man's inborn inclination to worship Him as well as to reinforce the
divine truth in the daily signs revealed by Allah.  Although, in most
cases, much of the prophets' teachings became distorted, portions
remained which point out right and wrong.  For example, the ten
commandments of the Torah, their confirmation in the Gospels and the
existence of laws against murder, stealing and adultery in most
societies.  Consequently, every soul will be held to account for its
belief in Allah and its acceptance of the religion of Islam; the total
submission to the will of Allah. 

We pray to Allah, the exalted, to keep us on the right path to which He
has guided us, and to bestow on us a blessing from Him, He is indeed the
Most Merciful.  Praise and gratitude be to Allah,the Lord of the worlds,
and peace and blessings be on prophet Muhammed, his Family, his
companions, and those who rightly follow them. 


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