THE TRUE RELIGION

By ABU AMEENAH BILAL PHILIPS

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  Islam  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 not tell 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:

   "You alone do we worship and from you alone do we seek
   help".

Elsewhere, in the final book of revelation, the Qur'aan, Allah
also said:

   "And your Lord says: "Call on Me and I will answer
   your(prayer)."(Soorah Mu'min 40:60)

it is worth noting that the basic message  of  Islam  is  that
Allah  and  His  creation  are  distinctly different entities.
Neither is Allah His creation or a part  of  it,  nor  is  His
creation Him or a part of Him.

This  might  seem  obvious,  but,  man's  worship  of creation
instead of the Creator is to a large degree based on ignorance
of this concept. It is the belief that the essence of Allah is
everywhere in His creation or that His divine being is or  was
present  in  some  aspects of His creation, which has provided
justification for the worship of creation though such  worship
maybe  called  the  worship of Allah through his creation. How
ever, the message of Islam as brought by the prophets of Allah
is  to  worship  only  Allah  and  to avoid the worship of his
creation either directly or indirectly. In the  Our'aan  Allah
clearly states:

   "For We assuredly sent amongst every people a prophet,
   (with the command) worship meand avoid false gods "
   (Soorah Al-Nahl 16:36)

When the idol worshipper is questioned as to  why  he  or  she
bows  down  to  idols  created by men, the invariable reply is
that they are not actually worshipping the  stone  image,  but
Allah who is present within it. They claim that the stone idol
is only a focal point for Allah's essence and is not in itself
Allah!  One  who  has  accepted the concept of the presence of
God's being within His creation in any way will be obliged  to
accept this argument of idolatry. Whereas, one who understands
the basic message of Islam and its  implications  would  never
concede  to  idolatry  no matter how it is rationalized. Those
who have claimed divinity for themselves down through the ages
have  often  based  their  claims  on the mistaken belief that
Allah is present in  man.  They  merely  had  to  assert  that
although  Allah according to their false beliefs, is in all of
us, He is more present in them than in the rest of us.  Hence,
they claim, we should submit our will to them and worship them
as they are either God in person or  God  concentrated  within
the person.

Similarly, those who have asserted the godhood of others after
their passing have found 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 illallaah"
   (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:

                       LA

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 jinns 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
   whomsoever 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  Islam'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 shall 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 following day a young man entered the hut to pay
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 seethe 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 Lord of 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.
___________________________
Ayman@pcmail-bld40.uow.edu.au