Islam made easy

Islam is one of the divine religions, and it is the last of them—it has come to complement the rest of the religions not to replace them. A Muslim is not considered Muslim unless he believes in the other divine religions and all prophets without exception from Adam to Mohammed. There are five essential pillars of Islam, and whoever does not adhere to them, or at least believe in them, is not considered a Muslim: The five pillars of Islam The profession of faith: There is no God but one God and Mohammed is his prophet. Daily prayers: Muslims are expected to pray five times a day. Alms-giving (Zakat): Muslims have to share their wealth with those less fortunate. Fasting during Ramadan: Muslims are expected to fast from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan—to share the hunger and thirst of the needy as a reminder of the religious duty to help those less fortunate. Being sick, very old, or traveling can give one permission not to fast. Pilgrimage to Mecca: All Muslims who are healthy and financially able are required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims consider Kaaba in Mecca as the first place to be built on Earth to worship God, and the prophet Abraham rebuilt it. Read: Dr. Sherif Emil: CMAJ letter regarding the hijab: apologies and lessons Nothing else other than these five pillars are compulsory in Islam to be considered a Muslim. Any person who doesn’t practice the whole five—or believe in them or intend to practice them—isn’t consider a believer in Islam unless he can’t afford 3, 4 and 5. The first two are a must. However following these five pillars is not sufficient and doesn’t grant Muslims the God acceptance unless they have a real faith which means they have to believe in the six pillars of faith. The 6 pillars of faith are: Faith in God Faith in all Angels Faith in all prophets and Messengers Faith in all revealed scriptures Faith in the day of judgment Faith in Divine Decree (faith in Fate and Destiny) So basically you can be faithful and not a Muslim but if you are a Muslim you have to be faithful. Overview In my view, the main problem with Islam today is that the culture of tribal traditions have been applied to it. Islam is one of the most exploited religions because outdated ideas from tribal and political parties have been mixed in that have nothing to do with the religion. Moreover, Arabic is a very broad language, and one word can give many meanings, different and even contradictory. The language was also exploited by interpreting the Quran according to personal whims and desires and perhaps abnormal ones, which gave wrong ideas to the world about Islam and distorted its ideas. Muslims believe in eternal life after death and in the existence of Heaven and Hell. Some of the jurists and scholars (leaders) exploit people’s fear of Hell to to push what they want personally and ideologically. But what they are pushing is not actually part of Islam. They gave a religious cover for many distorted ideas in order to make them acceptable to people, and to compel people to follow them. Thus, they created fearful, unemployed, poor, oppressed, brainwashed, easy-to-lead people in order to facilitate their leadership, and if someone tries to question or revolt, they remind him of Hell and its torment, and that it is waiting for someone who objects or disobeys the leaders. Islam and hijab Hijab is mandatory in Islam but if a woman doesn’t wear hijab, it doesn’t mean that she is not faithful or a Muslim. Some of the tribesmen and jurists took advantage of this matter to serve their personal purposes and made it a bogeyman to intimidate women. All the divine religions use a head cover but differently. A quick glance at the five pillars of Islam and the six of faith will show you that the hijab is not one of them. Islam and jihad Due to the broadness of the Arabic language the word jihad has been used in a totally different meaning. Some scholars and leaders translated it to “fight” to serve their ideological and personal goals and to maintain their power, position and wealth. The word jihad is derived from the verb jahada ( جاهد) which literally means strive. I urge all my colleagues to copy and paste this Arabic word ( جاهد) in any dictionary and read the exact meaning. In Arabic this word can be used in all aspects of life: strive to study, to love, to work, to protect yourself. The prophet mentioned that the toughest jihad (strive) is your strive (jihad) against your evil desires; and how to control them. But some have used it only in a very narrow meaning which is to fight. However though Islam believes in self-defence it also urge forgiveness, even if somebody attacks you. Without exception, all Islamic battles during the prophet era were self-defensive and Muslims had no option but to defend themselves to prevent their eradication. Islam is a religion of love, peace and tolerance but those who have twisted the words don’t believe in that and don’t want to believe because love, peace and tolerance don’t grant them their positions, power and wealth. Islam is never a problem; those people who misuse Islam are the main problem. Again a quick glance at the five pillars of Islam and the six of faith, jihad is not one of them. Islam and terrorism Muslims misused and abused Islam and eventually damaged it more than anyone else—especially in the present time out of personal, ideological and fundamentalist agendas. Some Western countries make a lot of money selling weapons, warplanes, cannons, tanks and other instruments of war. Scholars and jurists want to stay powerful and wealthy at all costs. Hence both interests converged The West sells weapons. Scholars recruit the brainwashed and unemployed poor Muslims and in order to make this acceptable they have to use the word jihad to give it an Islamic cover. But also in order to be believed they also have to pretend that they are the enemy of the west but the reality is they are not. Hence Al-Qaeda, ISIS and other terrorist organizations were born. So the equation is this: The financial support from the West and some Eastern countries, the weapons from the West, the fighters are those poor, unemployed, brainwashed Muslims and the victims are everyone on Earth but mostly Muslims. Non-Islamic traditions There are many traditions which have been attributed to Islam that Islam has absolutely nothing to do with but their presence on some Muslim lands (or close to them) made some who do not read history and do not understand geography accuse Islam unfairly. These traditions still unfortunately exist for no reason but to serve some sheikhs, jurists and scholars and to preserve their power and wealth. Here are some of these traditions that are not Islamic: Female circumcision: This predominantly prevails in Egypt, Sudan and other African non-Islamic countries and it existed thousands of years before Islam. Most Muslim countries do not practice this. Underage marriage: This painful phenomenon existed thousands of years before Islam and still prevails in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and now Iraq. Revenge: This is a disastrous phenomenon and it existed before Islam. Tribalism and affiliation: This phenomenon existed before Islam and Islam has completely rejected it but it still prevails because it serves some of the sheikhs and jurists and preserves their existence. Wash the shame by killing the adulterous women: This horrific phenomenon has nothing to do with Islam. No verse in the Quran or quote from the prophet proves, supports or encourages that. Banning women from driving cars: This has nothing to do with Islam. It was a law in Saudi Arabia but it doesn’t exist anymore. Lack of justice between genders: Islam enshrined justice between men and women and does not prevent women from working, studying or choosing a life partner, but rather speaks out against any injustice to women. In fact, all of a wife’s money is exclusively hers while the husband’s money is for him and her to use. The wife of the prophet was a business woman and he married her after he loved her and continued to love her even after her death and he honored everyone who knew her in honour of her memory. My friends: We all know that the core principles of all religions are the same before they were politicized and misused to serve certain people and countries who do not care about people’s lives and livelihoods. There are many countries which claim that they represent Muslims but in reality there is no country on Earth the represents the real Islam and the only representative for Islam is the Quran and prophet’s true authenticated quotes. Finally From a religious perspective, no one has the right to force any woman or girl to wear the hijab, or force a young man to fight anybody anywhere or to bomb himself (that is, commit suicide, which is forbidden in Islam). And when the above happen, this is due to individual and personal actions and agendas that may have due to everything or anything—except Islam. “Let there be no compulsion in religion.” Quran 2:256 I hope that this article has shed some light on the simplicity and beauty of Islam before it was distorted by some who claim Islam and the governments of some of the Western countries. Personal disclosure I am Muslim but I didn’t fulfilled the five pillars—specifically the fifth one although I can afford it—but I fulfil the six pillars of faith, moreover I am not a fan of hijab. Dr. Jabir Jassam is a family physician in Ottawa.

Islam made easy

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