What Do You Know About Islam?

What Do You Know About Islam?
What do you know about Islam? - By Khaled Yassin
This is the text version of the talk delivered by Mr. Khalid Yasin (an American citizen and a convert to Islam) to a group of non-Muslims in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
What Do You Know About Islam? Not what you have heard about Islam, not what you have seen in the actions of some Muslims, but what do you really know about Islam? Because there is a difference between Islam and Muslims. There is a difference between a Man and a Father. A man who has children, he is a father, but father is a responsibility. If a man does not fulfil those responsibilities, he is not necessarily a good father. Islam is a rule and an order. If a Muslim does not fulfil these Rules/Orders, he is not a good Muslim, so you cannot compare Islam by Muslims.

We hear the terms Islam and Muslims quite often. And we read about Islam/Muslims in periodicals, text books of Colleges and Universities. We hear and we see a lot of inaccurate, misleading and purposeful misinformation through the media and I have to admit that some of these misinformation and misrepresentation has been perpetuated by Muslims themselves. Yet one out of every five people in this world of 5 billion people is a Muslim. One out of five people in this world is a Muslim. This is a statistics, that you can verify in the Encyclopaedia, Almanac or any other source that you like to look at. How is it that, 1 out of 5 people in this world is a Muslim, that we don’t know something about Islam, the facts about Islam? If I told you that 1 out of 5 people in the world is a Chinese, but we know the Geographical, Social, Economical, Historical, Political and Philosophical factors about China and Chinese. How come we don’t know about Islam.

What is that joins 29 nations and some say 37 nations? What is it that joins these nations and this Universal configuration into a common fraternity? What makes a brother from Australia my brother, a brother from America my brother, a brother from Pakistan my brother, a brother from Africa, China, Russia and so forth, my brother? What makes them my brothers? We have that different cultural and psychological backgrounds. What is it about Islam, that automatically embraces us and joins us together as a brotherhood?

What are the accurate characteristics of this mis-understood way of life, which is followed by great part of humanity? I will try to provide you with some facts about Islam. And it is necessary for you to be open minded and open hearted, because if I turn a glass up side down and pour water, I will never get a glass of water, it has to be right side up. Facts alone do not lead to understanding, but rather a combination of ambition and ability to appreciate and accept the truth when you hear it.

The word Islam means Surrender, Submission and Obedience. Surrender, Submission and Obedience to Allah – the Almighty God. You can say Allah or the Creator or the Supreme God, the Supreme Force, the All Wise. All of those are His names. We say Allah because in Arabic there is no other expression, this expression Allah cannot be applied to any created thing. Other words we use for Almighty God, people apply them for created things. For eg: the almighty dollar, he is the greatest and so on, but the word Allah can only be applied to the Creator, whom we have described earlier. So from this point, I am going to use the word Allah and you will know whom I am speaking about.

The word Islam is derived from the root Salamah, it means to be at peace or to have security. Therefore a Muslim is a person, who Surrenders, Submits and Obeys the laws of Almighty God and through this Submission obtains peace and security for themselves. We can immediately see that by such a definition, the Arabic word Islam describes the same manner and behaviour of the well known and respected Prophets and Messengers of Almighty God. All of them – Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Issac, Ishmael, Jacob, John the Baptist, Jesus and Muhammad. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon them all. All of these men, these Prophets/Messengers came from the same Almighty God, with the same message, with the same chain of transmission and they said ONE THING: Obey God. Worship Almighty God and fulfil the purpose of life and do good actions and you will be rewarded with another life. That’s all they said. Don’t make it more than that. That is all they said regardless of what language, what time and to whom they came to. That is all they said.

If you read the scriptures carefully, without your own interpretation or someone else’s addition or fabrication, you will find that this was the simple message off all the Prophets who confirmed one another. Not one of those Prophets ever said, I am God, Worship me. You don’t have to think because you won’t find it in any book you have; not the Bible, not the Torah, not the Old and the New Testament, not the psalms of David. You will not find it in any book. You will not find it from the speech of any Prophet. Please go home and palm through all the pages of your Bible and I guarantee you that you won’t find it once, any where. So where did this come from? That is something else you have to investigate. And in another setting we can set the straight word easily for you. History has a way of turning over every stone. We can immediately see that by such a definition, the Arabic word describes what all the Prophets did. They all came and Submitted themselves to God, Surrendered themselves to God and called the people to God and insisted upon the people to do deeds of righteousness. The 10 commandments of Moses – what was that? The speech of Abraham – what was that? The psalms of David – what was that? Proverbs of Solomon – what did he say? The Gospel of Jesus Christ – what did he say? What did John the Baptist say? What did Issac/Ishmael say? What did Muhammad (pbuh) say? Nothing more than that.

Wa maaa umiruuu illaa li ya-budullaha mukhlisiina lahud-Diin; hunafaaa-a wa yuqiimus-Salaata wa yu-tuz-Zakaata wa zaalika diinul-Qayyimah. Chapter 98 Verse 5

In this verse Allah says:
They are ordered naught else than to serve Allah, keeping religion pure for Him, as men by nature are upright, and to establish worship and to pay the poor-due. That is true religion.

Simple message. By the same token, it would be appropriate to consider those Prophets and Messengers as Muslims because Muslim is what? Don’t think about the Arabic terminology, don’t think about Saudi Arabia, Makkah, Medina or Egypt. Think about what Muslim means -

He who surrenders to Almighty God and obeys the laws of Almighty God and whether it is naturally or in a dialectical manner, everything that submits to the law of Almighty God is a Muslim.

So when the child comes out of mother’s womb at the time when God has ordered – what is it? It is Muslim.

When the Sun goes around in its orbit – what is it? It is Muslim.

When the Moon goes around the Earth – what is it? It is Muslim.

The Law of Gravity – what is it? Muslim Law.

Therefore, everything that submits to Almighty God is a Muslim. Therefore, when we willingly obey Almighty God, we are Muslims.

Jesus Christ was a Muslim, his blessed mother was a Muslim, Abraham was a Muslim, Moses was a Muslim, all the Prophets were Muslims, but they came to their people and spoke different languages. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) spoke the language of Arabic and in Arabic language to Submit/Surrender means Muslim. One who Submits/Surrenders is a Muslim.

Every Prophet and Messenger of Almighty God brought the very same and fundamental message. Worship Almighty God and be sincere towards Him. If we examine the message of each of well known Prophets, we can easily conclude this fact. Where there is a conflict, it is a result of false assertions, fabrications, exaggerations, personalized interpretation of alleged Writers, Historians, Scholars and individuals. For instance, let me point something out to you which may be you haven’t looked at before. How come throughout the Old Testament, God is always referred to as One, The Master, The Lord and King of the Universe and that in the 1st commandment given to Moses, He did not allow any body to Worship any graven images or to bow down to anything in the heavens or the earth or the sea below. He never allowed that. All the Prophets said, He was One and that He was Almighty God. Throughout the Old Testament, this is repeated again and again at all places. Then all of a sudden we get four testimonies Mathew, Mark, Luke and John.

Mathew who? Mark who? Luke who? And John who? Four different Gospels that were written 48 years apart and none of these men who did not collaborate with each other, none of then wrote their last name. If I gave you a cheque for your pay this month and I write my first name and told you to take it to bank, would you accept that cheque? No you wouldn’t. If the Police stops you for breaking the traffic laws and if you give him only your first name, will that be acceptable to him? Could you have a passport with only one name? Did your Mother/Father give you only one name? Where in the history of man is one name accepted as a documentation? Where? No where, except in the Bible. And how could you base your faith upon four Gospels that are written by four men who didn’t seem to know their last name. Then after those four Gospels, there are 15 more books written by a man who was an apostolic, who killed Christians, tortured Christians and then said that he in a vision saw Jesus and he was commissioned as an Apostle of Jesus. If I told you, Hitler after killing 6 million Jews, then he himself decided that he wanted to be saved, then he met Jesus Christ or Moses on the path and he became a Jew and he wrote 15 books and added them to the Torah. Will this be accepted by the Jews? No! you wouldn’t accept that. So how come 4 books without the last name and 15 other books written by another man and this is the first time God is called a man, this is the first time God is called three and it is the first time God is given a son – how is it acceptable to you Christians? How? Think about it. We won’t argue on that point, I will just give you something to think about.

The advent of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) did not bring a new religion or way of life as some people claim. On the contrary, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) confirmed the life and message of all the previous Prophets and Messengers, both through his personal conduct and with the Divine revelation which he received from the Almighty. The sacred scripture that Muhammad (pbuh) brought is called Al-Quran, it means that which is recited. Muhammad (pbuh) did not write the Quran, he did not author the Quran, nobody came and helped him to write the Quran or to author the Quran. And nobody collaborated with him in this, but the angel Gabriel recited to him and Almighty God made his heart a receptacle of that, just like a satellite disk is a receptor of waves and gives you the TV images. Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) heart was receptacle of revelation and as a result we have Al-Quran which has been preserved for over 1400 years without the change of a dot. Is there any other book in the world that you know of, that was preserved as it was revealed without the changing of even a dot? No book – only the Quran. Don’t take my word for it, go to the library and read what the Encyclopaedia Britannica says or the World Encyclopaedia or the Americana’s Encyclopaedia or any other universal encyclopaedia of the world that is not written by Muslims - read what it says about Islam, Quran and Muhammad (pbuh). Read what the non-Muslims said about the Quran, Islam and Muhammad (pbuh). Then you will accept that, what I am saying is universally documented and clear. That Muhammad (pbuh) is the profound individual in the history of humanity. Profound why? Read what they say. That the Quran is the most incredible, the most profound piece of literature in the annals of history. Read what they say. That the Islamic way of life is categorized and so precise and dynamic, it has never changed. Read what they say.

The sacred scripture that Muhammad (pbuh) received is called the Quran. And each of the Prophets/Messengers – they also received the scriptures. And in the Quran these Prophets, their scriptures, their stories, the principle of their mission is maintained with profound detail. Did Muhammad (pbuh) meet them, eat with them, talk with them and collaborate with them to write their biographies? No, of course he didn’t.

In the Quran, Muhammad (pbuh) is referred to as the Messenger of Almighty God and the seal of the previous Prophets, which is the limit of his role as a human being. Muslims do not worship Muhammad. We are not Muhammadans. We don’t have the right to take the name as Muhammad and say we are Muhammadans. Nor were the people who followed Moses – they were not Mosians or the people who followed Jacob were not Jacobites or the people who followed Abraham were not Abrahamians or the people who followed David were not Davidians. No no no. So how do people call themselves Christians? Christ did not call himself a Christian. How do people call themselves Christians? Christ said that whatever he receives from Almighty God is the word of God and what he heard is what he said. That is what he did. So how do we call ourselves Christians? We have to be Christ like. And what was Christ like? He was a servant of Almighty God, so you should be servants of Almighty God. That’s all. And the final scripture and the divine revelation, the Quran makes a very clear and concise statement:

Al-yawma ak-maltu lakum Diina-kum wa at-mamtu alaykum ni-matii wa radhiitu lakumul ISLAAMA Dinaa.
Chapter 5 Verse 3

In this statement Allah says:
This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed my favour unto you and have chosen for you as religion AL-ISLAM.

So through the Quran, the word Islam came. As a word – Islam, it came in the Quran, because when the building is complete you call it a house. When a car is on the assembly line, it is not an automobile, it is in the process of assembly. When the assembling has been completed and when it has been certified and when it has been test driven, it is now an automobile. When Islam was completed as a revelation, as a book, as an example through the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), it then became Islam. It became a complete way of life. Deen Al-Islam. So it is the word that was new, but not the practice, not the Prophet, not the order from God, not a new God, not a new revelation, but only a name Islam. And as we said previously – what were all the Prophets? They were all Muslims. Another distinction which we need to keep in mind is that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) unlike his predecessors, he did not come to the Arabs or his own people exclusively. No. Therefore Islam is not a religion of the Arabs, it is not for Arabs only. Yes, Muhammad (pbuh), the son of Abdullah was born in Makkah, a city in Arabian peninsula, so certainly he was an Arab by birth – consequences of his birth, choice of the Almighty. Additionally, the Quran was revealed in the Arabic language to protect it, make it clear, make it pure and precise. Yet the Quran dispels any inclinations or associations that the message of Muhammad (pbuh) was limited or meant for Arabs only.

Allah says:
Wa maa arsalnaaka 'illaa kaaffah li an naas basher(an) wa nazer(an) wa laakin akthar an naas laa ya lamuun
Chapter 34 Verse 28

Translated as:
We have not sent thee but as a universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings, and warning them (against sin), but most men understand not.

As such Muhammad (pbuh) is the finality of the great Prophets/Messengers before him. And since we are making reference to the Quran to support our presentation, we should give some background information on the Quran itself. First of all, the Quran makes the claim that it is product of divine revelation ie it was sent down to Muhammad (pbuh) from Almighty God through inspiration.

Allah says:
Wa maa yantiqu anil-hawaa
In huwa illaa wahyunyyuuhaa
Chapter 53 Verses 3-4

Translated as:
Nor does he (Muhammad) speak of (his own) desire.
It is only a Revelation revealed.

This is a statement of Allah. If we are to convince someone about the authenticity of the Quran, then we must prove that it was impossible for Muhammad (pbuh) to manufacture such a book. Secondly, we must prove that it was equally impossible for any human agency to have created it.

Let us think about this. The Quran makes the statement:

Khalaqal-insaana min alaq Chapter 96 Verse 2

Translated as: He has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood).

How did the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) know that the embryo started out as a clot and clinging to the wall of the Uterus of the mother? Did he have a Telescope? Did he have a Stethoscope? Or did he have some kind of X-Ray vision? How did he receive this knowledge when it was just discovered around 50 years ago?

How did he know that the oceans have a barrier between them to separate the salt and the fresh water?

How did he know that Sun and the Moon and the Planets are all swimming in an orbit that has been ordained for them?

How did he know that? And on and on and on. How did he know that when these things have just been discovered 30 or 40 years ago?

Technology and Science, the sophistication of which you and I know have just discovered these things. How did Muhammad (pbuh) know about these things over 1400 years ago? An uneducated Shepherd, a man raised in the desert, a man who was uneducated, who could neither read nor write. How could he say something like this (The Quran)? How could he produce something like this (the Quran)? And how could someone living with him, before or after him, produce something which has just been discovered recently? How could a man who never left the Arabian Peninsula, who never sailed on a Ship, who lived 14 centuries ago, make such clear and astounding descriptions that were recently discovered.

Also, if this is not enough, let me mention to you that the Quran has 114 chapters and over 6000 verses. And there were 100s of people in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who memorized this book entirely. Where they some kind of genius? How did that happen? Did anyone memorize any of the Gospels, the Old and New testament, the Psalms of David? Nobody; not even the Pope, but there are millions of Muslims today, who has memorized this entire book. This is the ambition of every Muslim. Not some, every.

How many Christians have you ever met in your life who have memorized their Bible? None. You never met any Christian who has memorized the whole Bible, because you never met a Christian who even knew what was the whole Bible – because the Christians themselves have over 700 different denominations and they are approximately 39 different versions of the Bible, with different books and different versions, different amount of verses and different amount of chapters and they don’t agree to that, so how could they even memorize what they don’t agree about?

In a condemning fashion, I am a person who was a Christian. A person who found out these things to my own investigation. A person who is now sharing this information for you, over turning some rocks for you to look under. And it is up to you.

Finally, suppose I told you that this book has been universally preserved, without the slightest alteration of any kind in over 14 centuries. If all of this is true – what all I am saying. If it is all true, would you agree that this book is quite profound and unique to say the least, would you be honest enough to say that? Of course you would if you were honest and you are. Within yourselves you will have to come to that conclusion. Many other non-Muslims came to the same conclusion. For example: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill and many others. I can go on and on and on, they came to the same conclusion. Whether they accepted Islam openly or not, they came to that conclusion, that there is no other literature in the world, that is so profound as the Quran and as a source of Wisdom and Healing and Direction.

Now that we have settled the issue of the authenticity of the Quran, let us turn to another subject matter – the basic themes of the Quran, which are:

The Supreme Oneness of Almighty God, which includes His names, the Attributes, the relationship between the Almighty and His creations and how man should maintain that relationship.
The continuity of Prophets and Messages, their lives and their messages and their overall mission.
The insistence upon following the final and Universal example Muhammad (pbuh) – the seal of the Prophets and Messengers.
Reminding the human beings of the shortness of this life and calling them towards the eternity of this life and calling them towards the eternity of the life here after.
Life here after; meaning after here. After you leave here, you are going somewhere, I mean today/tonight. Well after you die and leave this earth, you are going somewhere, whether you accept it or not, you are going there, where you will be held responsible for your deeds. And you have been told even, but you have rejected. Because the object of this life is not for you to sit here and after this do nothing and have no effect. Every cause has an effect. And we came into this life for a cause and a purpose and it must have an effect. You don’t go to school to stay there, you don’t go to work not to get paid, you don’t build a house and not move in, you don’t make a suite and don’t wear it, you don’t grow up as a child and don’t become an adult, you don’t work without expecting a reward, you cannot live without expecting to die, you cannot die without the expectancy of the grave and you cannot expect that the grave is the end, because that would mean that God has created you for a foolish purpose. And you have not gone to school or worked or came here today/tonight for a foolish purpose. So how can you assign to God something less than yourself.
In attempt to capture and prevent the imagination and faculties of reasoning, the Quran goes through great length and view to expound upon Oceans and Rivers, the Trees and Plants, the Birds and Insects, the Wild and Domestic animals, the Mountains and the Valleys, the expansions of the Heavens, the Universe, the Fishes and the Aquatic life, the Human Anatomy and Biology, the Human Civilization and History, the description of Paradise and Hell, the evolution of Human Embryo, the mission of all the Prophets and Messengers and the purpose of life on Earth. And how could a man born in the desert, a man who was illiterate and could not read and was watching Sheep, expound on subjects to which he was never exposed to?
The most unique aspect of Quran is that it sources to confirm all the previously revealed scriptures.
And that if you decide becoming a Muslim, you do not have to consider yourself changing your religion, you are not changing your religion. If you gain weight and you have a suit and you really like that suit, you don’t have to throw the suit away – do you? No! take it to the tailor and tell him, "listen, make some adjustments and make it little bigger because I really like this suit". Similarly if you have lost some weight, you don’t have to throw away the 500 dollar suit, take it to the tailor and say, "listen, make it little tight by making some alterations because I like this suit". With your belief, your honour, your virtue, your love of Jesus Christ, your attachment to God, your Worship, your truthfulness and your dedication to Almighty God, you don’t have to change and throw that away – you hold on to them, but you have to make alterations when you know that the truth has been revealed to you. That is all, but you have to be honest enough to know that you have lost some weight and need to make some adjustments.
Islam is simple my brothers/sisters. Bear witness that there is none to be Worshipped except Almighty God. If I ask any of you to bear witness that "my father is my father", how many of you will bear witness that "my father is my father", "my son is my son", "my wife is my wife", "I am who I am", then how is it that you hesitate to bear witness that Almighty God is One and Almighty God is the Only and Almighty God is your Lord and your Creator. Why? Are you arrogant? Are you being Glorious? Do you possess something which God does not possess? Do you possess some secret that you want to share with us? Or are you confused? That is the question you have to ask yourself.

If you thought that you will die tonight and in front of you was Paradise and back of you was Hell Fire and you had a chance to put things straight with your conscience and to put things straight with God and to ask God to accept the best of your deeds, if you had a chance to do that and if you thought you will die tonight, you will not hesitate to bear witness that there is only One God, you will not hesitate to bear witness that Muhammad (pbuh) is the Messenger of God and representative of all the Prophets. You will not hesitate that; you are one of those who would like to be written down in the book of God as, those who submit. You will not hesitate, but you think you are going to live little more while and you want to enjoy few more things, you want to drink little more scotch, you want to lie down with few more girls, you want to wear few more panty suits, you want to dance little bit more, you want to sing little bit more, you want to hang out little bit more. And of course you are not ready to pray every day, that is because you think you are going to live a while. But how much is a while? I see some of you getting bald like me. How long ago was it when you had full hair? I see that some of you have grey hair. How long ago was it when your hair were all black? You have aches and pains in your knees and elbows and other places. How long ago was it when you were just a child, running and playing without a care? How long ago was it? It was yesterday, yes! And you are going to die tomorrow. So how long do you want to wait?

Islam is to bear witness that Almighty God is the God, the Only God, the Only One without any partners.

Islam is to acknowledge the existence of the Angels who were sent with the duty of revealing the revelations to the Prophets, carrying the message to the Prophets, controlling the winds, the mountains and the oceans and taking the life of those to whom God has ordered to die.

Acknowledge that all the Prophets and Messengers of God were righteous men and they were all sent by Almighty God.

And acknowledge the fact that there will be final day of judgement for all creatures.

Acknowledge that all Good and Evil has been proportioned by Almighty God.

Acknowledge that there will definitely be a resurrection after death.

The fundamental duties of every Muslim is simple; five things. Islam is like a big house. And every house has to be built with Pillars and Foundation. Pillars and Foundation. And you have to build the house with rules. The Pillars are the rules. And when you build your house you must follow the rules.

The first of the five rules of Islam is to uphold the code of strict monotheism i.e.

not to accept any partners with God
not worship anything along with God
not to say anything about God that you have no right to say
not to say that He has a father or a son or a daughter or a mother or uncle or aunt or board of trustees or anybody He has to ask or to say anything about God that you have no right to say
To bear witness; now you sentence yourself. You take the sentence you want. You sentence yourself to Peace and Paradise or you sentence yourself to Confusion, Frustration, Hell Fire and Punishment. You sentence yourself. You ask yourself. Do I bear witness that there is only One God? If you ask yourself that question, you will say, yes I bear witness. Do I witness that Muhammad (pbuh) as he as been explained, is the Messenger of God? Yes I do bear witness. If you bear witness to that, then all of you and all of us are Muslims. Yes, Muslims. And you don’t have to change what you were, you just have to make alteration in what you were i.e. in your thinking and practice.
In finality; brothers/sisters, I ask you a honest and direct question. How many of you understood what I said to you? How many of you understood – just raise your hands? How many of you disagree with what I said about God, about Muhammad, about the creation of Life? How many disagree essentially with what I said? OK! All those who agree with what I said raise your hands. Say: I bear witness that there is only One God, I bear witness that there is only One God and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Amen! Amen! Amen!

May Allah bless us, may Allah help us and may Allah guide us. I would say to all you brothers/sisters that you were very honest and very patient.