THE RELIGION OF ISLAM
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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) I 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 lslam 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".