Introduction:
Islam is the eternal faith for all the
humanity, irrespective of race, colour or gender. Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) did not introduce any new faith, God chose him for reviving and
culminating the original faith for all the humanity till eternity. Purpose is attainment
of peace through total surrender to the ‘Will of God’ (Islam), the message preached
by all the previous messengers, to their respective communities.
The Arabic "Salaam" (سلام)
and Hebrew word "Shalom" (שָׁלוֹם), literally mean "peace"
and are cognates of each other, derived from the Semitic Triconsonantal of Ś-L-M
(realized in Hebrew as Š-L-M and in Arabic as S-L-M). Hence the word ‘Islam’,
derived from Arabic root ‘S-L-M,’ meaning 'peace' or ‘submission’. In a
religious context it means; ‘attainment of peace through complete submission to
the will of God or his laws’. Combination of Arabic.(سلام), Hebrew (שָׁלוֹם),
and English ‘Peace’ is also used as “Symbol of Peace”.
Islam is as old as the humanity.
Prophet Adam (peace be upon him), the first human was also the first prophet of
Islam; Later he sent prophets like Noah, Enoch, Abraham (peace be upon them)
and others to guide the humanity, they preached the ‘total surrender and
obedience to the will of God’ (Islam). All the messengers preached and
practiced the same religion .i.e ‘Submission to the will of God’ (Islam), which
is not new to the mankind. Hence all the messengers and prophets along with
their followers may be linguistically called as Muslims because their faith was
based upon ‘total surrender to the will God’ (Islam). Allah says: “The same
religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah-the which
We have sent by inspiration to thee (Muhammad) and that which We enjoined on
Abraham Moses and Jesus:...”(Qur’an;42:13); “Behold! Abraham said to his father
and his people: "I do indeed clear myself of what ye worship: "(I
worship) only Him Who made me and He will certainly guide me." And he left
it as a Word to endure among those who came after him that they may turn back
(to Allah).”(Qur’an;43:26-28).
The original message of God for guidance
of humanity conveyed by messengers of God got distorted with the passage of
time only to be revived by an other messenger. Once humanity developed to a
certain level, Allah sent the final messenger Muhammad (pbuh) with the final
scripture Quran, which is protected by Allah. Even after 1400 years Quran is
available in its original revealed form but with the passage of time people
lack in understanding the spirit and indulge in practice of undesirable
activities; Hence periodically the scholars of Islam make effort to rediscover
the original message of Islam for practical application.
We are living in the age of the media.
Before the advent of the modern media there were large numbers of people in the
world who knew nothing of Islam. With the invention of the printing press and
now the electronic media it is difficult to find today a single person who is
unaware of it. But there is a clear-cut difference. In previous ages it
happened that wherever Islam spread people were so impressed with it that most
of them accepted it as their religion. That is why today we find more than one
billion Muslims throughout the world. Strangely enough the present day
publicity given to Islam has produced only a negative effect. People are now
generally allergic to Islam rather than being interested in it writes, Maulana
Wahiduddin Khan in his book “Islam Rediscovered”.
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan (born in India
1925) is a noted Islamic scholar and peace activist. He has translated the
Quran in simple and contemporary English and wrote a commentary on the Quran
and gives lectures on media. He has received many awards.
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan has made it
his mission to present Islamic teachings in the style and language of the
post-scientific era. Rediscovering Islam himself from its original sources, he
has authored over 200 books on Islam, prophetic wisdom and peaceful
co-existence in a multi-ethnic society. Some of which are; ‘In Search of God’, ‘Man
Know Thyself’, ‘Islam’, ‘The Voice of Human Nature’, ‘Quran: An Abiding Wonder’,
‘Islam and Peace’, ‘The True Jihad’ and ‘Islam Rediscovered’.
The theme of his book ‘Islam
Rediscovered’ is being reproduced here with minor editing is evident from its
title, Discovering Islam from its Original Sources. The purpose of Maulana Wahiduddin is to present
Islam as it is, drawing on its original sources rather than judging it by the
later day interpretations and commentaries or the practices of present day
Muslims in different parts of the world. He has made a distinction between Islam
as presented by the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, and his companions
(information about which is available to us in the Qur’an and the Sunnah) and
Islam as represented by later Muslim generations — both in theory and practice.
This is what he calls the scientific approach.
In previous centuries when Islam was
introduced, people used to say: Yes, “Mr. Islam welcome to you!” Now when Islam
is presented to them they say: “No thank you.” Why is there this difference?
The answer is very simple. In previous centuries Islam was introduced to the
people of the world through its scriptures, as it is — without the slightest
change in its original message. Whereas in modern times, Islam is being
introduced through the negative practices of certain Muslims as reported by the
media.
There is a further and more severe
problem that of selective reporting. According to their own criteria the media
is interested only in ‘hot’ news, although so much ‘soft’ news is available
about the Muslim people. Because of their ingrained professionalism, they do
not allow this ‘soft’ news to find its way into their columns of their
broadcasts.
Islam is the religion of nature. If it
were to be presented in its original form, people would turn to it quite
naturally. For example, when a recently converted American by the name of Gary
Miller was asked why he had converted to Islam, he replied: “I didn’t convert
to Islam I have rather reverted to my original religion.” [Islam is the
'primordial religion' (din-al-hanif), it seeks to return man to his original,
true nature in which he is in harmony with creation, inspired to do good, and
confirming the Oneness of God. Allah says: “Therefore, stand firm in your
devotion to the upright faith - the nature made by Allah, the one on which
mankind is created - and the laws of Nature ordained by Allah cannot be
changed. That is the standard of true faith (ad-den al-qayyim), but most among
mankind do not know”.(Qur’an;30:30 similarly 6:161 & 4:125)]
Unfortunately, a section of Muslims is
engaged in violent and aggressive activities, wrongfully indeed, in the name of
Islam. It is such news as, through the media, has a great impact upon the
general public and creates serious misunderstandings. People have come to take
Islam as a militant religion. Since modern man is in search of peace, he finds
no appeal in a religion which, as presented by the media, is one of hatred and
violence.
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan in this book
attempts to introduce Islam as it is. It
calls for a distinction to be made between Islam and the practices of Muslims.
Taking a scientific attitude, you have to see Islam in the light of the Islamic
scriptures and not judge it by Muslim conduct.
For surely, if you want to know what
democracy is, you will examine the ideology of democracy as established by its
champions. You will not form an opinion about the democratic system merely on
the basis of observing some self-styled democratic nation. Everyone who wants
to know what Islam is, should follow this scientific method while trying to
form his opinion on Islam.
We are living in an age of
information. This is the age of the knowledge explosion. Today, everyone wants
to know more and more about everything, including religion. The result is that,
on the subject of religion, people are far better informed than ever before.
But there is a difference. About other religions, people generally know what is
enshrined in their religious books. Whereas the case of Islam is the opposite.
Their information about Islam is derived from unauthentic sources. The reason
for this lies with the Muslims and not with anyone else.
The Muslims of modern times are
engaged in violence everywhere in the name of Islam. Violence, however, is not
limited only to Muslims. It is found in every community and in every group. But
there is a basic difference between the two. When the adherents of other
religions engage in violence, they do not do so in the name of their religion.
But the violence engaged in by the Muslims is being done in the name of Islam.
These violent activities of the
Muslims reach the people through the media. As modern media is a “hot
news”-based industry, these violent events are flashed in the media. For this
reason, people come to regard Islam as a religion of violence. It is only among
Muslims that all violent activities are carried out in the name of religion. In
practice, only a tiny minority of Muslims is engaged in such violent
activities. However, since other Muslims neither condemn these activities, nor
disown them outright, it is but natural for people to attribute their violent
propensities to their religion. But the scientific way of study is to
distinguish Islam from the deeds of Muslims, just as the ideology of democracy
is studied by distinguishing it from the acts of democratic countries.
The aim is
to present Islam as it is enshrined in its sacred scriptures, so that it may be
brought before the people in its true form. The authentic source of information
about Islam is the Qur’an. The Qur’an, according to Muslim belief, was revealed
by God to the Arabian Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him. The second
source of knowledge about Islam is the Sunnah, i.e., the words, deeds and
sanctions of the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him. The lives of the
companions of the Prophet provide another later source. Then, there is a full
stop in this matter. No other person or historical record enjoys the status of
source of Islam.
However, this write up does not claim
to be a comprehensive introduction to Islam. That is something which can be had
only by studying Islam directly through its basic scriptures, that is, the
Qur’an and Sunnah. This effort thus presents a fundamental introduction for
those who want to understand Islam as it is. Its aim is to provide a proper
background in the light of which the original sources of Islam may be studied.
It is hoped that this information will
be useful for those who want to know about the original Islam, as opposed to
the “religion” represented by certain self-styled Muslim leaders introduced to
us by the media.
Read / download full book or in part: http://goo.gl/41ky3n
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12798195/DJ/IslamRediscovered3.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12798195/DJ/IslamRediscovered4.docx
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12798195/DJ/IslamRediscovered4.docx
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Humanity, Religion, Culture, Ethics, Science, Spirituality & Peace
http://PeaceForumNet.blogspot.com
http://AftabKhan-net.blogspot.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *...
http://AftabKhan-net.blogspot.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
