Who is ALLAH & What is Islam

Who is ALLAH and what is Islam? Islam is several things and the topic is very huge and very vast. I am only going to define the word, and in more to come I will explain different topics in Islam such as prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), praying, women in Islam, etc. Before I define Islam I must explain who is Allah. Allah is arabic for God. However, it is unique and cannot be used to refer to anyone but the ONE and ONLY God. Unlike the word god which can be pluralized (gods) or can have gender assigned (god= male/ goddess=female) the word Allah cannot be changed like this. Is Allah different from God mentioned in the Bible? NO. Muslims belive in the same God in the Bible. The same God as Adam, Abraham, Lot, Noah, Moses, David, Jesus, and all the other prophets. In any Bible written in Arabic, you will find the name Allah, not God. All Christians who speak Arabic say Allah, not God. Please visit this site to get a better explaination of who Allah is.

Islam is both a verb and a noun. As a verb Islam is five things:
1. surrender
2. submission
3. obey
4. sincerity
5. peace
As Muslims, we surrender our lives to Allah and submit to His Will. We obey His commands. We must be very careful to always be sincere and pure in our intentions. It's very dangerous to do anything for other than the sake of Allah. Peace (Salam in arabic) in your heart and your life is an action saught after. It is accomplished only after you have surrendered, submitted, and are obeying Allah with a pure, sincere heart.

As a noun, Islam is the six beliefs, the five practices (actions), a complete way of life, and moderation. I will very briefly describe these, then go into more details at future times. The six beliefs of Muslims are:
1. Allah- Allah is ONE, Unique, Perfect
2. Angels- Made from light, follow Allah's Will perfectly (shayton/ Iblis is NOT a fallen angel in Islam) 3. Books- Torah (first 5 chapters of Old Testament), Suhoof (scriptures revealed to Abraham and Moses), Zabur (Psalms revealed to David) Enjil (Evangel or first 4 chapters of New Testament), Quran (recitation to Muhammad, peace be upon him)
4. Prophets- Adam, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Moses, Jonah, David, Jesus, Muhammad, and others mentioned in the Books, peace be upon them all
5. Resurrection- everyone, belivers and nonbelievers, will be brought back to life on Judgement Day to answer to Allah
6. Predestination/ Divine Destiny- Allah has total control of all things, good and bad, and only He has full knowledge of it

Five actions that Muslims must practice:
1. shahada- to declare that Allah is ONE and Muhammad, peace be upon him, is His last messenger
2. 5 daily salat- specific form of worship often called prayer where we stand, bow and prostrate to Allah (the shahada is said twice during each prayer)
3. fast Ramadan- the month of Ramadan is special because this is when it was revealed to the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, through angel Gabreal, the first verses of the Quran. We do not eat or drink during daylight hours for the entire month
4. zakat (alms tax/charity)- 2 1/2% of your annual excess wealth which is to be donated to the poor and needy
5. hajj- pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your life if it's physicaly and financially possible

Islam is a complete way of life. Muslims surrender their entire life to Allah. He created us, and when we die, we return to Him. The life here on earth is a brief stay, a visit, a test. Eternity in Jennah (Heaven) is what we seek, so we strive to obey and please Allah to gain Jennah. In doing so, every aspect of our life is centered around Allah and His Will. "Islam is careful to remind us that it's not a religion to be paid mere lip service; rather it is an all-encompassing way of life that must be practiced continuously for it to be Islam."- Sheikh Yusuf Estes

Islam stresses balance. 'All things in moderation' is a famous saying. Allah calls us in the Quran the 'balanced nation.' We are careful not to be extreme to the right or the left, but to be in the middle path. Please visit here to see more details of what I've mentioned above.

I will close with the shahada which is the statement that we say when we first accept Islam as our religion. It is also said during our daily prayers. written in transliteration (arabic pronunciation) and verses from the Quran. Allah Willing, this has helped answer questions, and increased your understanding of Islam. Shahada: 'Ashadu ana la illahi illa Allah wa ashadu ana Muhammad abduhu wa rasulluh'= I testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah and I testify that Muhammad is His slave and messenger.

"...This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and chosen Islam as your religion..." Sura 5 Al-Maida Ayat 3

"When it is said to them 'Come to what Allah hath revealed; come to the Apostle' they say:'enough for us are the ways we found our fathers following.' What! even though their fathers were void of knowledge and guidance?(104 O ye who believe! Guard your own soul: if ye follow (right) guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who stray. The goal of you all is to Allah: it is He that will show you the truth of all that ye do(105 Sura 5 Al-Maida Ayat 104 & 105

Why Islam?

A very popular question I get from everyone when they hear I've converted to Islam is always 'why?' most often followed at some point in the conversation by 'but you weren't raised in Islam.' Let me explain something and make it very clear. I am grateful to my parents for raising me in the church, instilling in me the love of God. I am appreciative and thankful they taught me of God and His teachings. I do not ever want anyone to think for one second I regret being raised a Christian. That being said, so what I wasn't raised in Islam? You're telling me that no matter what, everyone should practice the religion they were raised in? In other words, if a person came to you and said 'I was raised a Buhdist but I would like to convert to Christianity' you would tell them 'Nope, sorry, can't do it, gotta stay with what you were raised on.' And what about those who were raised with no religious teachings? They are meant to live a Godless existence? Why, when the religion being accepted is Christianity it's ok, but when the religion being accepted is Islam it's bad, wrong, and even disappointing? Let me remind you of someone. Abraham. He turned his back on the religion his forfathers had been practicing for years (idol worshiping) because he saw and knew in his heart it was wrong. And what did they tell him? The exact same thing. You may not agree, you may not understand, but please don't try to convince me that because I was raised a certain way I should stick with it. God Willing, I will never disobey God in order to please people, no matter who it is. The bottom line is that God is most important over all people, and all things. If we don't please Him, then what are we left with? The traditions, practices and habits of my family can't get me into Heaven. Only God can get me there, so you better believe I am going to obey Him above all else!






'Why Islam?' Islam is the truth, has proof and explanations in the Quran for scientific events, and has an answer and explanation behind all it's teachings and practices. Muslims aren't called to follow, practice or believe on blind faith. In the Quran, Allah is always specific in why He calls us to do and behave certain ways. I will go into more detail in future blogs about Islam. For now I'll just explain how I came to know Islam.

For quite a long time I was curious about the teachings of Jesus. The biggest being why, if he was god, sinless, did he beg and pleade to be relieved of the duty of being sacrificed on the cross? If he were god, he would understand, see the bigger picture, not feel the natural human feelings associated such a major and tramatic event... being killed. Even more puzzling to me was why God would even need to beget a son, or send part of Himself to live on earth as a humanized god. He is All Powerful among a million other attributes. There is no need for this at all. Logicaly, it doesn't make sense. Anyway, there was a personal event that happened in my life that really made me question this even more than usual.

Then, I made a friend whom I later learned was Muslim. I knew nothing of the religion, but was given a link to read the Quran. I had been reading into other religions. I didn't agree with any of them because of one major issue... there was always someone else besides God being worshipped. So as I always did before reading and learning of a new religion, I prayed, asking God to keep me from being misled. I read the first surah (chapter). This is what is says '1)In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful 2)Praise be to Allah the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds 3)Most Gracious Most Merciful 4)Master of the day of Judgement 5)Thee do we worship and Thine Aid do we seek 6)Show us the straight way 7)the way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy grace, those whose portion is not wrath, and who go not astray.' Quran Surah Al-Fatiha Interesting. I pretty much just prayed the same thing just before reading. I had an idea that Allah was God, and liked that there was no mention of anyone except God. So far so good, so I kept reading, and reading, and reading. The more I read over the next few weeks I liked what I was reading. Prophets that I knew of were being mentioned, such as Moses, Abraham, and even Jesus. That was surprising to me, so I began looking into it more and more, asking questions. BUT I was very careful where I went and what I was reading. I know as in all religions there are those who are misled, misguided, and I didn't want that at all. I beleive because I was in search of the truth, and because I was always asking God to keep me guided, I found all the right people, and all the right information to show me the true Islam. Praise God! As I said, I will be more specific in next blogs about Islam, but for now I will say the more I read the Quran the more I knew Islam to be the truth. The word Islam means striving or seeking peace through the total and complete submission to the ONE and ONLY God. How can a religion who's meaning is 'total and complete submission to the one and only God' be anything but right?

Let me close with these two scripture passages, one from the Bible, the other from the Quran. To be fair, I will type both out although I know most if not all of you have Bibles and can read the passeges from it. Mark 12: 28-35 "One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the discussion. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, 'Of all the commandments, which is the most important?' Jesus answered, 'the most important commandment is this: 'Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength' The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself' No other commandment is greater than these.' The teacher of religious law replied, 'Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that theres is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love Him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strngth, and to love my neighbors as myself. This is more imporatnt than to offer all of the burnt offereings and sacrifices required in the law.' Realizing this man's understanding, Jesus said to him, 'You are not far from the Kingdon of God.' And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.' Please note! Jesus didn't say I am God, bow to me, worship me. He said in his very own words the most important commandment is 'THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD...' "I have come to you to attest the Law which was before me. To make lawful to you part of what was (before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear Allah and obey me. It is Allah who is my Lord and your Lord; then worship Him. This is the Way that is straight." Quran Surah 3 Al-Imran Ayah 50&51