بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
NEW ISLAMIC ARTICLE IN ARTICLE SECTION
ISLAM IN A NUTSHELL
Manzoor Hossian Khan
If it so happens that it is required to provide a brief and quick introduction to Islam. Then resort may be made to the following method , which is fact is a concise statement of the most fundamental doctrines of Islam .
The first and foremost doctrine to be propounded is The “KALIMA TAYYIBA” meaning The good sentence .
ARABIC “LA ILAHA ILLALLAH , MUHAMMADAR RASOOL ALLAH”
Meaning : THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH , MUHAMMAD (PBUH) IS ALLAH’S MESSENGER.
From the first part of this “KALIMA” we get the doctrine of TOWHEED ,
Meaning : THE UNIQUE-NESS of Allah and by the statement that “There is no GOD” is meant there is no other demy worthy of worship except Allah and by the second part we get one other cardinal doctrine of Islam namely RISALAH meaning MESSENGER HOOD .
And then the two IMANS meaning BELIEFS need to be expounded . There are two formal IMANS :
IMAN- MUJMAL : THE ABSTRACT BELIEF
ARABIC : AMANTU BILLAHI KAMA HUA BI ASMAA IHI WA SWIFATIHI WA QABILTU JAMEE A AHKAMIHI WA ARKANIHI .
Meaning : I BELIEVE IN ALLAH AS HE EXISTS ALONG WITH HIS NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES AND DO HEREBY ACCEPT ALL HIS ORDERS AND FUNDAMENTAL RITUALS.
IMAN- MUFASSAL : THE DETAILED BELIEF
ARABIC : AMANTU BILLAHI WA MALAIKITHI WA KUTUBIHI WA RUSULIHI WAL YOUMIL AKHIRI WAL QUADRI KHAIRIHI WA SHARRIHI MINALLAHI TA-AALAA WAL BA” SI BA”D AL MAUT.
Meaning : I BELIEVE IN ALLAH AND HIS ANGELS AND HIS REVEALED BOOKS AND HIS MESSENGERS AND THE DAY OF RESVRRECTION AND THAT WHATSOEVER GOOD OR BAD THAT BEFALLS ANYBODY HAS BEEN ORDAINED BY ALLAH AND IN LIFE AFTER DEATH .
Based on “THE HOLY QORAN” it is said that Allah All Mighty has Ninety-nine or some say one hundred & one names , of which Allah is his natural and inherent name . And the attribute here is that Allah is the one and only deity to be worshipped. Ascribing partners to Allah in any manner is “SHIRK ” and is not only strictly prohibited but is the prime sin of all sins in Islam. Allah can and will pardon all other sins but “SHIRK” never.
Two other prominent names like RAHMAN & RAHEEM which occur in the “AYAH” – meaning an “INDICATOR” “BISMILLAHIR RAHMANIR RAHEEM” which is to be used obligatory to read any portion of The Holy Quran and to commence any “AMAL SWALIH” meaning GOOD ACT. “RAHMAN” meaning the MOST BENEFICIENT and “RAHEEM” meaning THE MOST MERCIFUL . which are indeed his two important attributes.
“AHKAM” is the plural of “HUKUM” meaning ORDERS. Now, where do we get Allahs all orders ? Well of course The Holy Qoran! Similarly “ARKAN” is the plural of “RUKN” meaning “PILLERS” . In the separate reference to the subject in the Rasool’s “HADITH” they are named as FOUNDATION . “HADITH” will be dealt with in a subsequent article. The foundation or pillars of Islam are five and are respectively : IMAN , SALAT , SAUM , ZAKAT and HAJJ .
IMAN – We are right now engaged in dealing with.
SALAT - means ritual PRAYERS .
SAUM – means ritual FASTING
ZAKAT means The obligatory annual payment of a fixed amount by the rich to poor through the state . It is somewhat like The Christian TITHE which however is voluntary .
HAJJ – Is the annual visit to the Qaaba in Mkkah by those who are capable physically , financially and mentally to perform certain rituals commemorating Prophet ABRAHAM . His son Ismael and his wife Hajera’s sacrifice whilst carrying out the dictates of Allah Almighty .
“MALAIKAH” Is the plural of “MALAK” meaning Angels.
“KUTUBIHI” Is the plural of “KITAAB” meaning Book – Revelations.
“RUSULIHI” Is the plural of “RASOOL” meaning Messengers – Prophets.
“YOUMIL AKHIR” – Meaning THE LAST DAY. The day of Resurrection .
“QADR” – Means Capability , Power.
“KHAIR” – Means Good
“SHARR” – Means Bad
“BA’SI BA’AD AL MAUT” : Life After Death .
“BA’SI” – To be Sent .
“BA’AD” – After .
“MAUT” – Death.
Thus we see that these three statements contain all the fundamental principals of Islam .
And each principle in turn can be further elucidated . Which we do in our subsequent articles.
THE THREE CARDINAL PRINCIPLES
OF
ISLAM
From our earlier introductory article on Islam we have been able to Identify three cardinal principles of Islam , Namely :- 1) TOUHEED 2) RISALAH 3) AKHIRAN
TOUHEED - The Unique- Ness of GOD HOOD.
The best conceivable definition of TOUHEED has been provided by Allah Allmighty in the Holy QOR’AN in sura IKHLAS ( PURITY OF FAITH ) Sura No: 112 , Which states :-
Say “ALLAH IS UNIQUE , THE ONE AND ONLY. HE IS SELF-SUFFICIENT, ETENAL AND ABSULATE . HE WAS NOT BORN , NOR DIES HE GIVE BIRTH TO THERE IS NOTHING OR NONE ELSE LIKE HIM.”
Simultaneously this sura provides these four criteria for GODHOOD , so any clamant to GODHOOD may be put to test by these four criteria.
RISALAH : Messenger hood.
Allah Almighty has ordained that no creation of this universe shall be able to envisage his nature of “BEING”! hence the need for MESSENGER S to Guidance of his message “THE HOLY QOR’AN” for the guidance of all mankind specially all creatures and nature generally.
From the ANGELS he chose ANGEL JIRAIL ( GABRIAL) to transmit these messages from ALLAH ALMIGHTY’S “ARSH”.
Seat of power through the unseen seven worlds to PROPHET MOHAMMAD(PBUH) in this created world and to propagate these message to all mankind title ALMIGHTY chose PROPHET MOHAMMAD ( PBUH) hence the title RASOOL ALLAH . The Messenger of ALLAH .
AKHIRAH :- Live after Death.
Belief in life after death is paramount in Islam. So it was too in Judaism as well as in Christianity and in most earlier revealed religions of import.
Life after death is eternal. In fact the word death is a misnomer . The word used in ISLAM IS “ INTIQAAL” Meaning “TRANSFORMATION” or in the other words change in the form of one kind of life to another . There are various sub-stage in “AKHIRAH” like “ALAM – I - BARRAKH” , ILLYEEN , SIJJEEN , QIYAMAH , NASHR , HASHR , MEEZAAN , SEERAT , JANNAT and JAHANNAM . These we propose to deal with in our series of later articles depending on the priorities of the urgency of topic required to be discussed for a clear understanding of ISLAM with minimum effort and Time.
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