What Is Islam?

In The Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. [Quran 5:3]

Almighty God tells us in His Quran that the true and perfect religion that everyone must follow is Islam, but what is it?

Islam means to submit willingly to the Will of God with complete submission and to abstain from polytheism. It is by submitting to God and God alone that we can achieve peace within our souls and attain the great reward of the hereafter. Those who submit to God and do not ascribe partners to Him are called Muslims.

Islam is a way of life that is based, on faith and ration, on science and miracles, on belief and action. Mankind are God's slaves and yet we have an intimate and personal relationship with Him. We have no need for intermediates and God hears our prayers always. All praise and thanks belong to Him.

Islam is built upon five pillars of action.

The first pillar is to witness to the oneness of God. We must believe in our hearts, testify with our tongues, prove with our actions and fulfil all of the conditions, there is no deity worthy of worship except God and that Muhammad is His messenger.

The second pillar is prayer. We must humble ourselves in the remembrance of God by standing, bowing, prostrating and praising God, five times a day as a minimal effort.

The third pillar is fasting. We must fast the entire month of Ramadan from sunrise to sunset, in reverence to God thanking Him for His Glorious Quran and so that we learn self-restraint.

The forth pillar is charity. We must distribute our wealth that God has given us as a trust to those who are in need. Knowing that it is God who gives and God who takes away.

The fifth pillar is pilgrimage to God's house and the first place of worship on earth. Once a lifetime we must make the journey to Mecca to visit God's house and recreate the acts of devotion of Abraham, the monotheist, the friend of God, seeking His mercy and forgiveness.

Islam is also built upon six pillars of faith.

The first pillar is belief in God, to believe in His Oneness with absolute conviction and certainty.

The second pillar is belief in His prophets. Everyone must believe in all the prophets from Adam to Muhammad, without making any distinction between them. They were sent by God, honour above other men and delivered their message perfectly, believe in God and worship Him alone.

The third pillar is belief in His books. We must believe in all the books, the Psalms of David, the Gospel of Jesus, the Torah of Moses, the Quran of Muhammad and all other divinely revealed books as they were/are in their original forms. We are not required to believe in corrupted books.

The forth pillar is belief in the angels of God. Created from light and completely devote servants of God. They do nothing but carry out His command. Therefore, disbelieving in one is like disbelief in God Himself.

The fifth pillar is belief in the Day of Judgement. We must believe in that Day when God will call us all to account and plainly show us all of our deeds and misdeeds. That Day some will be happy with their reward for righteousness, while others will be distraught seeing their punishment for their wickedness.

The sixth pillar is belief in the divine decree. God is All Powerful and nothing happens without His permission. The leaf does not fall to the ground without God allowing it.