Islamic Information

ISLAMIC OBLIGATORY KNOWLEDGE

 

  • Islamic Concepts

"The best deed is the belief in Allah and His Messenger." (Al-Bukhariyy)

  • What is Islam? Linguistically, Islam means submission. According to Islamic terminology, Islam means a specified submission. It is the submission to what the Prophet (peace be upon him) brought. This takes place by uttering the THE TWO TESTIFICATIONS OF FAITH.
  • Belief, on the other hand, linguistically means certitude. According to Islamic terminology, it means a specified certitude. It is to accept as true what the Prophet(peace be upon him) brought. The least of Belief is to believe in the THE TWO TESTIFICATIONS OF FAITH.
  • Islam and Belief cannot be disassociated. One of them is not accepted without the other, although their original meanings are not identical. Imam Abu Hanifah said in Al-Fiqh Al-'Akbar: "Islam is not acceptable without Belief and Belief is not accepted without Islam. They are like the front of something and its back." Islam is the Religion of all the Prophets.


  • What are the Two Testifications of Faith? The Two Testifications of Faith are: I bear witness that no one is God except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad the son of ^Abdullah is the Prophet of Allah, (peace be upon him).
  • The non-Muslim embraces Islam by believing in the Two Testifications of Faith and uttering them with the intention of leaving out blasphemy.
  • The first Testification means that no one or thing deserves to be worshipped except God, Who is the Creator of everything.The second Testification states that Muhammad, the son of ^Abdullah who was born in Makkah about 1400 years ago is a Messenger of God. He was sent to convey what God revealed to him so that the humans believe in and work with the Laws he received and conveyed. He is truthful in all what he conveyed. The Two Testifications reject the Godhood of anyone or anything other than God. They confirm the Godhood of God only with the acknowledgment of the message of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).


  • Basic Islamic Belief One has to believe that the Creator, Allah, exists, and is not similar to anything. He is the only Creator and the only One Who deserves to be worshipped. He does not need anything and everything needs Him. God has Attributes of perfection that befit Him and any imperfection is not attributable to Him. Any imperfection, such as ignorance, place, direction, body, soul, organ, children, change or weakness, is not attributed to God.
  • The rule is simple: Whatever you imagine in your mind, God is different from it.
  • God sent Messengers, the first of them was Adam and the last one was Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon them all). All the Messengers, including Jesus and Moses, were truthful, ordering their people to believe in One God, Allah, and not to associate any partner with Him. Hence, their Religion was the same: Islam.


  • How Does One Become a Muslim? One becomes a Muslim by believing in the Two Testifications of Faith and uttering them with the intention of leaving out blasphemy. The Two Testifications of Faith are: I bear witness that no one is God except Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad(peace be upon him)is the Prophet of Allah.


  • Who is Prophet Muhammad the son of ^Abdullah? Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him)was born in Makkah in Arabia in the 6th century. His father was ^Abdullah the son of ^Abd al-Muttalib, the son of Hashim the son of ^Abdu Manaf from the tribe of Quraysh- the head of the Arab tribes. His father died while his mother was still pregnant with him. He was raised by his grandfather, the head of Quraysh, after the death of his mother. His uncle Abu Talib, subsequently took care of him and supported him. The Prophet(peace be upon him) received the revelation in Makkah when he was 40 years old and he stayed in Makkah after that for 13 years. He immigrated to al-Madinah and lived there for 10 years before he died there. His age was 63 years old when he died. He was buried in al-Madinah and it is rewardable to visit his grave there.
  • Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him)revived the call for Islam after Jesus was raised to the skies and after none of the Muslim followers of Jesus remained alive. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) conveyed that there will be no Prophet after him, and Jesus will come back to rule according to his teachings. This was also revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the Qur'an. The Qur'an spoke about other Prophets like: Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elias, and Jesus. All of those Prophets were Prophets following the correct religion, which is called Islam. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) exerted successful efforts in calling for Islam and was supported by God with miracles. By that, Prophet Muhammad proved to others that he is a Prophet and truthful. Before the death of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) his companions reached about 100,000 in number. Today, the Muslims are about 1 billion.
  • Since the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Muslims have kept, one generation after the other, conveying the teachings and following the rulings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Believing in Islam is not valid if one does not believe in Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and that he is the final Messenger.


  • What is the Qur'an? The Qur'an is a revelation from God to the Prophet (peace be upon him). Neither angel Gabriel, nor Prophet Muhammad composed the Qur'an. The Qur'an was revealed by Allah and conveyed by the Prophet (peace be upon him).
  • The Qur'an is a long-lasting miracle. The Prophet challenged others, Arabs and non-Arabs, to bring something like it. The challenge is still valid. None was able to bring anything like it and no one will be able to do that. God promised to save the Qur'an from perversion. This is readily noticed.
  • Today, all over the world, Muslims refer to one Qur'an. The Qur'an is written in the book of al-Mushaf. Al-Mushaf is one book. Muslims follow today, as always, the same Mushaf. If one goes back in history, one will still see that Muslims had one Mushaf- the same Mushaf which we refer to today. As a matter of fact, the original copies of the Mushaf which was written by the companions is still available in Muslim museums in Turkey and other countries.
  • Muslim children and adults memorize the whole Qur'an by heart. This is an Islamic tradition which was preserved since the time of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). One generation of Muslims convey the Qur'an to the next generation. They keep following the methods for reciting the Qur'an as these methods were originally conveyed by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The lineage to the Prophet is extremely strong. From here, one realizes that it is impossible to tamper with the Qur'an.
  • The Qur'an is the evidence Muslims use to learn about Islam and rule accordingly. Muslims also refer to the traditions conveyed by Prophet Muhammad called Sunnah which is considered a part of revelation. The Muslims also refer to the unanimous agreement of the top Muslim scholars on religious issues. Ruling on new issues is established based on proofs given by the Qur'an, Sunnah and consensus following a particular method for deducing judgments. Only individuals who are highly qualified may deduce judgments in Islam. Nowadays, there are many people who are not qualified, passing judgements that actually go against Islam.


  • Some of the Attributes of Allah: God has Attributes of perfection which befit Him. Some of these are Existence, Existence without a beginning, Existence without an end, Oneness, Non-resemblance to the creation, Non-neediness of the creation, Life (without body and soul), Will, Power, Knowledge, Hearing (without an ear), Sight (without an eye) and Divine Speech without letters, sounds or languages.

ISLAMIC OBLIGATORY KNOWLEDGE

The person whom Allah willed to grant goodness, Allah makes him knowledgeable about the Religion. (Al-Bukhariyy)

  • What is Islamic Obligatory Knowledge? Islamic Obligatory Knowledge is the knowledge that every accountable person is obligated to know. It includes the knowledge of Islamic Belief, cases of Islamic Law about Purification, Prayer, Fasting and the like. It also includes knowledge of the rules pertaining to dealings and contracts. One also has to learn the Obligatory Knowledge about the sins of the heart and body organs like the tongue, stomach, hands, private parts and the like. Ask for your copy of: "The Summary of ^Abdullah Al-Harariyy Ensuring Personal Obligatory Knowledge of the Religion", by Al-Muhaddith, Shaykh ^Abdullah Al-Harariyy, may Allah raise his rank.