mmirza@grumpy.eng.ohio-state.edu (11/19/90)
salam a'leykum,
for the next couple of days i will post excerpts from a
brochure published by dawa committee of muslim community
center. may allah make it usefull for all of us.
(for more info. on islam, please write to:
mcc, 4380 n. elston ave., chicago, il 60641)
(paper read on behalf of maulana abul ala maududi at the
international islamic conference).
the message of islam
I. let me begin by clarifying that for us islam is not the
name of some unique faith presented for the first time by
muhammed(pbu) who should, on that account be called the
founder of islam. the quran makes it abundantly clear that
islam--the complete submission of man before God(whom muslims
call allah. the word God is capitalized here just because it
is the way other people use to distinguish from other gods.)--
is the one and only faith consistently revealed by allah
to mankind from the very beginning. noah, abraham, moses and
christ(pbu them all)--prophets who appeared at different times
and places--all propagated the same faith. they were not founders
of faiths to be named after them. they were each reiteraiting the
faith of their predecessors.
II. what distinguishes muhammed(pbuh) from the other prophets?
i- he was the last prophet of allah.
ii- allah revived through him the same genuine faith which had
been conveyed by all the prophets.
iii-this original message was corrupted, and split into various
religions by people of different ages, who indulged in interpolations
and admixture. these alien elements were eliminated by allah and
islam, in its pure and original form, was transmitted to mankind
through muhammed(pbuh).
iv- since there was to be no messenger after muhammed(pbuh), the
book revealed to him was preserved word for word so that
it should be a source of guidance for all times.
v- the life of muhammed(pbuh), and the manner in which he
conducted himself, was also recorded in a unique manner by his
companions and by later compilers of the tradition. a more
complete and authentic account of the life, sayings, and actions,
of any prophet or historical personage, has never been compiled.
vi- in this way, the quran and the autentic sunnah of the prophet
together became a reliable source of knowing what islam is,
what it standa for, what guidance it porovides, and what
obligations it places upon us.
III. as muslims, we believe in all prophets who preceded muhammed(pbuh)
--not only those who are mentioned in the quran, but also those who
are not so mentioned--and this is such an integral part of our faith
that if we were to abandon it we should cease to be muslims. but for
instruction we turn to prophet muhammed(pbuh) alone. not on account
of any prejudice, but because:
(a) as the last of allah's prophets he brought us the latest divine
dipensation,
(b) the word of allah which reached us through muhammed(pbuh) is
pure divine language, free of human admixtures, and preserved in
its original form. its language is a living lnguage, spoken,
written and understood by millions of people, and whose grammar,
vocabulary, idiom, pronunciation, and script have remained
unchanged from the of revelation till today.
(c) as i have said earlier, we have a complete historical record of
the life, character, conduct, sayings, and actions of the
prophet muhammed(pbuh), preserved with meticulous care, accuracy
and detail. since this cannot be said of other prophets we can
believe in them, but we cannot emulate them.
to be continued inshaallah...
muhammed javeed mirza,
mmirza@grumpy.eng.ohio-state.edu