Our Islam

Islam is a monotheistic religion and universal

 Islam, divine revelation is a monotheistic religion of spiritual truth, inner light, love, brotherhood, social justice, open to all races and all peoples without distinction to men and womenevery country and every age, whatever the degree of knowledge and the importance of their fortune.It implies faith in one God and absolute and the mission of His Messenger, Muhammad (Peace and Blessing of Allah be upon him) he chose to transmit his message (Quran,).

This message is universal and permanent freedom, equality, fraternity, charity, peace, monotheism in the purest form, requires a priori human submission to God and his unconditional surrender to His will.This is also the etymological meaning of the word Islam.It can be summarized in few words:

There is a God!Muhammad (Peace and Blessing of Allah be upon him) is the messenger of God.

Islam is a monotheistic religion and universal.

Islam has a doctrine and method
The word religion is derived from "religio" which means link.Religion is what binds man to the Truth.So every religion has two essential elements that constitute its base and foundation: a doctrine that distinguishes the relative and absolute a method of connecting with the Absolute.Thus, Islam also includes a doctrine and method.
 
 



Doctrine

The relationship between man and God

We propose to examine these fundamental elements in the Islamic revelation and how it envisages the relation of man to God.God is, obviously, is the Absolute, and man is the relative.Man must realize this truth, understand that God alone is God, that He alone is the Absolute, and man against God is a being on whom God gave free choice to accept or rejectHis will.The relationship between man and God or the relative with the Absolute, is central to all religions.But each focuses on a particular aspect of this relationship.Islam does not focus on a descent or incarnation or manifestation of the Absolute, or the fallen nature, imperfect and sinful man.It instead addresses the man as he is in his essential nature and God, as He is in his absolute reality.In proclaiming the oneness and divine transcendence, Islam condemns any association with God another god, consort of any, and any attachment to be an object or a cause that can make people forget God or away fromhim.
  

Diverse beliefs of people

The man seems to have tried has always been known to its creator, to obey Him.Top religious leaders of every age, every civilization, has established certain rules of conduct in this regard: the primitive worship the manifestations of power and blessing of Allah, hoping to please him.Some people believed in two separate Gods, one of the Good, the other evil, ignoring the logical consequences of this distinction, which involves a civil war between gods.Others surrounded the mysteries of divinity, which sometimes obscured the person of Allah, while others, finally, feeling the need symbols, formulas or gestures, perverted their religion to the point that it became barely distinguishable fromidolatry or polytheism.
  

The absolute oneness of Allah in Islam

Again, Islam has its own brand: it believes in the absolute oneness of Allah and it prescribes a way of prayer and worship that admits or image or symbol (he considers to traceidolatry).Allah is not only transcendent and immaterial, beyond any physical perception, but it is also omnipresent.
  

No middleman and original sins in Islam

The relationship between man and Allah are direct and personal, without the need for intermediate, even the most saintly characters, like the prophets, are only guides, messengers.It is the individual to make a choice: it is directly responsible to God, he freely admits that man is weak and forgetful, it is usually the slave of his surroundings and a prisoner of his greed andhis animal passions.But no original sins.If Adam (peace be knew him) has committed a foul that was forgiven, it implies no liability on the part of other men, because everyone is called to personal accounts.

So the first doctrine that Islam preaches: the unity and transcendence of Allah.
 
  

The second doctrine is: Muhammad (Peace and Blessing of Allah be upon him) is a Messenger of Allah.









The man needs revelation

The man, being endowed with intelligence, can not discover for himself the way of salvation, the right way, he needs the help of Allah.

The man needs a revelation because it is by nature forgetful and careless, and therefore, needs to be reminded.

The first man, Adam (PBUH) was also the first Prophet.Prophecy is thus necessary to humanity and it began with the first man.As Adam (PBUH), all men, who are his descendants, need Prophecy.The man can not rise alone spiritually.He must be awakened from the dream that keeps him in oblivion by someone who is already awake.There must be a message to him from Heaven and it follows a revelation that can be realized the full potential of his being and falling barriers that prevent the operation of his intelligence.The intelligence leads to Allah if it is strong and healthy, and that is revelation, objective manifestation of the intellect, which guarantees these qualities and provides the intelligence to break free of the passions, and to operatein a correct manner.Every man needs to do is follow a Prophet and a revelation.

The reason for the more deeply the need of Prophecy and Revelation to man, is the number of obstacles that prevent the correct operation of his intellect or, more precisely, the fact that he is forgetting and showsconsistently neglect.

That is why one of the cardinal sins in Islam is forgetfulness, neglect of what we really are.It is our tendency to sleep and create around us a world of dreams that makes us forget who we really are and what we should do in this world.Revelation is here to awaken from this dream man and remind him what it really means to be a man.The man has an absolute need for religion, if he is man only by accident.He received the earthly life as capital.
  

The Islamic view of life on earth

Islam does not consider the existence of man on earth like a dark valley of pain, or as a punishment for some original sin or acquired by inheritance.

Similarly, Islam does not share the conduct of those who love life the same way that love gourmet food: he eats, but devoid of respect.Islam proclaims that life is a gift from God so that man can feel closer to Allah and to attain perfection by using the full potential of the body and mind.

In summary, the Islamic view of life is that he is not with those who say: "My kingdom is of this world only," or with those who say: "My kingdom is not of this world".

Islam is in the middle of those two.Material prosperity is to be hoped, although it is not an end in itself.
  

Prophecy and Revelation

Now back on the Prophecy and Revelation.According to the Islamic perspective, every time Allah sent another prophet, He did not send the world the truths each time, but different forms and different expressions of the same fundamental truth which is that of unity.Thus, Islam is the reaffirmation of that primordial truth which was once affirmed by all the other prophets.

This truth based on the unit began with Adam (PBUH).Humanity does not gradually evolved from polytheism to monotheism.Instead, there was a religious decadence which diverts man from original monotheism.History is a series of cycles of decay and regeneration.The decline comes from the corrupting influences of the earth, and regeneration from heaven through the Prophets, through successive revelations, renewing the spiritual life and religious rights.
  

Seal of prophecy

Thus, with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the prophetic cycle came to an end.The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who is the Seal of Prophecy, announced that there would be no Prophet after him, and that Islam is the last religion, which no otherReligion has never claimed before him.

This is an almost complete summary of everything that a Muslim must believe:

No god but Allah!Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the messenger of Allah.

This form of faith is the most important principle of Islam.Without it, all other bonds would lose their meaning.It should be emphasized that this profession of faith has two parts that are complementary and inseparable.

After reviewing the literature, go to the method or in other words:
 
  

Practices of religious life

It is good to remember that Islam is not only a belief but also a spiritual practice as well as temporal.Islam is indeed a comprehensive code to regulate human life.

One day, Muhammad (peace be upon him), Prophet of Islam, summed himself religious practices, in response to a question from someone:

prayer, fasting during Ramadan, almsgiving mandatory, and the pilgrimage.
 
  
Mr. Ishmael Mamode.
Director of the Madrasa of St. Louis Reunion (A suivre…)