Welcome to our non-Muslim
visitors. We realize that some of the names for MyIslamWeb.com
sections are in Arabic, and while familiar to Muslims, they
may not be so to our non-Muslim guests.
Also, non-Muslim visitors may want to gain a more basic understanding
of the Islamic religion. There may also be others who have
shown interest in Islaam and are looking for additional information
or have a particular question.
What we’d like to explain here is why Muslims follow
Islaam, and some of the rationale behind their adherence to
their religion. Unfortunately, Islaam is an oft-misunderstood
religion and |
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| Islamic
beliefs are so frequently distorted. We hope this will help
correct some misconceptions and increase understanding of
this fast-growing religion which is followed by over 1.2 billion
people. |
Muslims believe that there is an absolute
truth and that we do not necessarily act on "imperfect knowledge",
as some believe. Our logic necessitates that one of the following
options must be correct:
1. There is only one god, or
2. There are many gods, or
3. There is no god.
We likely believe that one of these three views must be correct,
and the other two necessarily false. This could be a logical explanation
why Muslims are of the view that not all systems of belief are
correct. While Islaam teaches that "there is no compulsion
in religion" (the meaning of a verse in the Qur'an, 2:256),
it also teaches that the Truth is distinct from errors. The Qur'an,
a Scripture revealed to the final Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon
him, in many verses invites people to reason and critically analyze
its teachings, so that they may believe that such a Book is a
Revelation, and that it could not have been produced by someone
who had never read or written (since Muhammad, peace be upon him,
was illiterate).
The Qur'an says that "Whosoever wills let him believe, and
whosoever wills let him disbelieve" [18:29], as one's believing
or not believing does not benefit or harm the Creator of the universe
in any way. One's belief is for one's own benefit. That belief
should be based on knowledge and clear proofs, rather than on
blind faith and it should also not contradict our reasoning, for
why would God create reason and religion that fundamentally contradict
each other?
One could ask, are there really any rational criteria at our disposal,
based on which we can judge various claims of knowing the Truth?
There are certainly rational criteria at our disposal, and one's
emotional commitment to religion should be preceded by an intellectual
commitment to it. Reason, in fact, is our primary means for finding
the Truth.
We can put any religion or system of beliefs to test by examining
whether it is rational, universal, applicable at all times, in
all places, and by people of all colors and languages, and whether
the religion's Scripture is free of alteration, internal and external
inconsistencies. A scripture is internally inconsistent if it
contains discrepancies and contradictions within its text, and
externally inconsistent if it contradicts facts (not theories)
from science and nature as we know them. For it is impossible
that God does not know His creation or that which He creates.
We say "He", but it should
be noted that Muslims believe that God is distinct from His
creation and there is nothing like unto Him. We humans cannot
describe and attain to the utmost of His greatness, which
is as He described Himself in the Qur'an. Muslims believe
in pure monotheism and they reject views of those who give
human characteristics of weakness and imperfection to the
Divine (for example, the belief of some that God wrestled
with a human, or that He was in a woman's womb for nine months,
that he ate food, fulfilled his needs, was dead for a period
of time, or has partners - we say, far above is God from such
imperfections), or those who attribute Divine characteristics
of perfection to humans or to any of God's creation.
Muslims also believe that this world neither created itself,
nor that it came from nothing - and we believe that it is
a product of Intelligence, rather than chance. We also believe
in all prophets sent from God, including Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them all. We believe
that all of them called to the same religion, submission to
the Creator, alone with no partner.
Our experience tells us that a few minutes of reasoning can
usually leave us persuaded in the truth of God's absolute
Oneness and Uniqueness, so what remains to be studied is which
religion is truly monotheistic in its nature. |
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One of the major criteria for distinguishing
the Truth from errors, that we would like to stress, is the authenticity
of the religious scripture. In reality, Muslims are the only ones
who even claim to have an authentic scripture from God, in its
original form, of which not a single letter has been changed.
We say Muslims are the only ones because, for example, many Jewish
and Christian scholars dispute the authenticity of their books.
Most other religions admit that their scriptures are in fact human
writings. And if we say that there is a Truth and God, we are
likely to believe that God wants us to do certain things and abstain
from others. Muslims believe that God communicates with His creation
through His chosen Prophets. If we are of the view that God would
not leave us without a reliable Revelation, then the mere fact
that Muslims are the only ones who even claim to have an authentic
revelation could attest to the truthfulness of their claim. However,
as mentioned earlier, the Qur'an invites us to reason and to accept
faith based on knowledge, rather than the blind following of our
traditions.
"Do they not then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had
it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein
much contradiction." [4:82]
This is only an introduction in which we wanted to raise a few issues
regarding the criteria for knowing the Truth. We have by no means
given an exhaustive list (of these criteria), and we encourage you
to visit the following links to gain more knowledge and a better
understanding of Islaam. |
