The
Beginners Guide to Islam
Being
a Muslim
It
only requires a very simple act, but the meaning behind it is very
deep.
You
have to believe that there is only one God, Allah, who created the
entire universe, and that Muhammad (peace be upon him) is his final
messenger on earth.
If
you recite this, with total sincerity, in front of two witnesses,
you have become a Muslim. It really is as simple as that.
Muslims
call this recitation the Shahada, and refer to it as the first Pillar
of Islam.
And
if you become a Muslim by converting (some Muslims would say "reverting")
to Islam your fellow Muslims will accept you as if you had been
born a Muslim.
Submitting
to God
Becoming
a Muslim takes you into a new world.
It's
a world in which you are intensely aware of your relationship with
Allah, and aware that everything in the world exists because Allah
chose that it should.
This
gives life a whole new meaning, it lifts many responsibilities,
and replaces them with the single aim of living life in the way
that Allah wants you to live it.
So
when you become a Muslim you have to live Allah's way. Every moment
of your life has to follow Allah's will. Every choice you make must
be the choice that would please Allah.
To
someone brought up in the modern, Western, "Me" culture,
this sounds pretty constricting. A Muslim would disagree, big time.
Top
Part
of the Family
Muslims
think of themselves as members of one family, called the Ummah.
It's a family of all Muslims, and not just of all Muslims around
the world, but of all Muslims who ever existed.
Constantly
in touch with Allah
Once
a Muslim has accepted Allah as the one and only God, they have to
establish a constant link with God in their everyday lives - prayer
is perhaps the best way to do that, and prayer is the second Pillar
of Islam.
If
it's possible, a Muslim should pray five times a day, at set times,
and facing Mecca. You can pray almost anywhere.
In
mosques men and women pray separately; in some mosques this is done
with the men at the front and the women behind, in other mosques
there are separate rooms for men and women. Top
Care
for Others
Prayer
and belief are not enough to make someone a good Muslim. Islam is
very concerned about looking after the welfare of poor people, and
the Qur'an specifies that all Muslims above the subsistence level
must pay up 2.5% of their annual savings to help people in need.
So
once a year a Muslim works out 2.5% of everything they own, and
hands it to an approved organisation to use for charitable purposes.
Muslims
call this Zakat, and it's the third pillar of Islam.
It's
not a religious tax, as some people (not Muslims) say, it's an act
of worship, and it's something that pleases God; in fact in the
Qur'an you'll find that prayer and zakat are frequently spoken of
together.
Zakat
is an act of worship that goes directly to making the world a better
place for people who are up against it.
Paying
Zakat also purifies the 97.5% of your wealth that remains, and you
can use this as you wish with clear heart. You can use some of it
for gifts to charity, but such spontaneous charity is called sadaqah,
not Zakat.
Uh,
oh
Don't
ever think of fiddling this calculation in order to pay less.
This
isn't like cheating on your income tax, it's cheating on your
relationship with God, and you and God will both know about
it.
It
would be like saying your prayers without meaning them. Or saying
your prayers and then doing bad deeds.
Cheating
God never, ever works. Not just because all good deeds and bad
deeds are assessed at the Day of Judgement, but also because if
you cheat on your faith you cheat yourself of everything that
being a good Muslim means. Top
Being
Poor and Hungry
If
you're a Muslim it's not enough just to give money for the poor;
you're expected to understand what it feels like to be poor and
hungry, and to go without food and drink.
So
once a year, for a month called Ramadan, all Muslims fast from first
light until sunset; abstaining from food, drink, sex, and smoking.
This
fasting not only helps a Muslim understand the needy, it's a sort
of ritual purification of themselves.
Giving
Things Up
It's
not just at Ramadan that Muslims abstain. When you become a Muslim
you have to give up certain things like alcohol - khamr - and, of
course, drugs for ever.
And
Muslims don't go to places where alcohol is served - so if you want
to discuss Islam with a Muslim friend, the pub is not the place
to suggest.
You'll
find that Muslims manage to have just as good a time without them
as most people do with them - In fact they have a much better time.
Tobacco
isn't banned in the Qur'an, but the Qur'anic principles suggest
that smoking is not a good thing. Top
Going
to Mecca
The
highlight of every Muslim's life is the obligatory pilgrimage to
Mecca, and you'll find more about this in the Hajj
section of the site.
Holy
War
You've
probably heard the word "Jihad"; and in the Western press
it's often misused in the context of "terrorist", "fundamentalist",
and "Holy War".
But
usually when Muslims are talking about Jihad they are talking about
something very personal.
Jihad
means "striving" and in particular it means trying as
hard as you can to live your life in the service of Allah. You do
this by following the five pillars of Islam, not just to the letter
of the law, but to the spirit of the law, with a heart that rejoices
in serving God.
But
Jihad also means a very personal sort of holy war, the war against
our own desires and selfishness when they get in the way of serving
Allah. So for example, if we feel selfish and don't want to pay
2.5% of our wealth to the poor and destitute, then we need to wage
war on those feelings and do the right thing. If we want to stay
talking with our friends when it's prayer time, we need to fight
that idle feeling, and go to prayer.
And
yes, Jihad can also refer to an armed conflict, but Islam lays down
extremely strict rules as to what sort of conflict is permissible.
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