What do Muslims believe in anyways?
We are in the final days of Ramadan in the Islamic year 1441 AH which corresponds to 2020. It is a month of reflection and the first for which I have a blog to write in. It made sense to share some teachings that may be of benefit to anyone who is reading it. In this blog, my intention is to share with you some insight into one of Islam’s most fundamental concepts.
Often, Muslims get asked this;
Wait… so you don’t eat pork or drink alcohol? Is it that you can’t get drunk, or is it that you can’t even take a little sip? How do you fast for 30 days?? Why is it that you have to pray 5 times every single day? These are almost always the questions that come up by non-Muslim friends whenever the topic of religion comes up.
While those questions are really important since some of them are pillars of Islam (i.e. praying and fasting), there is so much more to this religion than only the acts of worship, but the majority of us tend to avoid being preachy, so we just answer the questions we are asked and leave it at that. That being said, it really boils down to the “message” we believe in. We believe that a message was sent to us by God through Prophet Muhammed peace be upon him, as revelation, not Man-made, and was preserved. It was sent as guidance and mercy by The Creator to the creation. That message is The Quran.
The Quran
What you may know about The Quran is that it is the holy book of Muslims, but what you may not have known is that its themes can be grouped into three primary areas which are;
- Who is Allah/God? (i.e. his names and Attributes)
- Guidance (i.e. acts of worship, what is allowed (halal), what is not allowed (haram))
- Heaven and Hell and the stories of messengers and prophets (including Moses and Jesus).
Before Muslims begin to even contemplate what is allowed or avoid what is not allowed, they accept and “make peace with” the most basic and fundamental aspect of Islam which is that there is only one God. The next logical step is to learn who God is.
Oneness of God
Chapter 112 of Quran title is translated to “The sincerity” and gives us a summary of who Allah/God is. I have attached it below to hear it in its original form and read along the translation.
Calming.. right?
As I said earlier, a primary area of The Quran is Allah’s attributes, so what else can I tell you about Muslims’ view of God?
Who is God/Allah?
One the earlier Sunni Theologians was Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah. He said the following which I believe is a good summary of Allah’s attributes:
“Reflect upon the words of The Quran and you will see a King to Whom belongs all dominion and to Whom all praise is due. The reins of all matters and affairs are in His hands, they originate from Him and find their conclusion through Him. He is established upon the seat of His kingdom, nothing is hidden from Him in any region of His domain. He is All-Knowing about what is in the hearts of His servants, knowing their secrets and what they show publicly. He alone has the power to manage the affairs of the kingdom; He hears and He sees, He gives and He withholds, He rewards and He punishes, He honors and He humiliates, He creates, gives sustenance, causes death, causes life, grants and arranges. All matters come from Him, the smallest and the greatest, and all matters find their conclusion with Him; they do not move by the amount of an atom except by His permission, and no leaf falls except that He has knowledge of it.”
If this topic interests you, you can read more about the names and attributes of Allah/God here.
Therefore, when Muslims truly believe in that what was mentioned above, and understand its magnitude and possible rewards and consequences, then we become concerned with what is much bigger than us and our personal desires. We start to view this religion as a way of life, rather than just list of dos and don’ts. That way of life is directly provided by our Creator who fashioned us and knows what is best for us and it was manifested in how our Prophet, peace be upon him, lived his life.
Concluding Comments
Now, you may be wondering; not all Muslims I know do this thing or that thing. That is a function of each person’s private relationship with God and a function of what you only “see” them do/not do which is not necessarily the full picture.
If you wish to learn more about Islam, I suggest you do your own research, figure out its teachings from credible sources who know the religion vs claim to know it, compare it with other religions, see if it answers more of your questions.. after all.. it is roughly estimated that 1 in 4 people living on this planet are Muslims.. :)
