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The first thing that one should know and clearly
understand about Islam is what the word "Islam" itself means.
The religion of Islam is not named after a person as in the case of
Christianity which was named after Jesus Christ, Buddhism after Gotama
Buddha, Confucianism after Confucius, and Marxism after Karl Marx. Nor
was it named after a tribe like Judaism after the tribe of Judah and
Hinduism after the Hindus. Islam is the true religion of
"Allah" and as such, its name represents the central principle
of Allah's "God's" religion; the total submission to the will
of Allah "God". The Arabic word "Islam" means the
submission or surrender of one's will to the only true god worthy of
worship "Allah" and anyone who does so is termed a
"Muslim", The word also implies "peace" which is the
natural consequence of total submission to the will of Allah. Hence, it
was not a new religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) I in Arabia in
the seventh century, but only the true religion of Allah re-expressed in
its final form.
Islam is the religion which was given to Adam, the
first man and the first prophet of Allah, and it was the religion of all
the prophets sent by Allah to mankind. The name of God's religion lslam
was not decided upon by later generations of man. It was chosen by Allah
Himself and clearly mentioned in His final revelation to man. In the
final book of divine revelation, the Qur'aan, Allah states the
following:
"This day have I perfected your religion for
you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your
religion". (Soorah Al-Maa'idah 5:3)
"If anyone desires a religion other than
Islam (submission to Allah (God) never will It be
accepted of Him" (Soorah Aal'imraan 3:85)
"Abraham was not a Jew nor Christian; but an
upright Muslim."(Soorah Aal'imraan 3:67)
Nowhere in the Bible will you find Allah saying to
Prophet Moses' people or their descendants that their religion is
Judaism, nor to the followers of Christ that their religion is
Christianity. In fact, Christ was not even his name, nor was it Jesus!
The name "Christ" comes from the Greek word Christos which
means the annointed. That is, Christ is a Greek translation of the
Hebrew title "Messiah". The name "Jesus" on the
other hand, is a latinized version of the Hebrew name Esau.
For simplicity's sake, I will however continue to
refer to Prophet Esau (PBUH) as Jesus. As for his religion, it was what
he called his followers to. Like the prophets before him, he called the
people to surrender their will to the will of Allah; (which is Islam)
and he warned them to stay away from the false gods of human
imagination.
According to the New Testament, he taught his followers to pray as
follows: "Yours will be done on earth as it is in Heaven".
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