Despite the fact that one in every five people of Earth is a Muslim and that Islam is the fastest growing ideology in the world, it is still much misunderstood by many. This is because over the centuries many lies and fabrications have been perpetuated by various persons and institutions, for various reasons. In modern times, the media plays the most prominent role in spreading these fabrications. To the end of removing these misconceptions we present below brief answers to some of the frequently asked questions about Islam.

What is ‘Islam’? 

The word ‘Islam’ linguistically means ‘submission’ and refers to the submission of a person to the Will of their Creator. His Will is manifested in the last revelation from him, the Qur’an, and in the example of his final messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Islam is founded upon a comprehensive concept which states that this world and all of its components; man, life, and the universe, are created by one Creator, who has all the attributes of perfection. He is all-knowing, all-hearing, all-seeing and all-powerful, to mention some. He is to sole being worthy of our submission and worship. He revealed to the people, through Prophets, rules, regulations and principles for them to follow throughout their lives. In this worldly life people left to choose between obedience and disobedience. In the next life, which is unending, everyone will be held accountable with respect to their actions. Those who chose to follow his revelation will be rewarded with eternal bliss, and those who rejected the message will face a severe torment.

In sum then, Islam is an ideology or way of life based on a set of specific ideas (the existence of God, Prophethood, revelation, afterlife, etc.) as well as laws and principles (prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, charity, etc.) emanating from those ideas. The purpose of these ideas and laws is for the human being to know his Creator and realise closeness to Him in a relationship of humble servitude. Thus the human is raised for the worship, intentional or otherwise, of created things like trees, animals or even other humans, to the submission of His Creator alone.

Who is a ‘Muslim’? 

Grammatically, the term ‘Muslim’ is the active participle of the verbal noun ‘Islam’. In meaning, anyone who adopts Islam as their way of life is a Muslim. In other words anyone who submits their will to the Will of God is termed a ‘Muslim’. Some people at times confuse between ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslim’. In simple terms, a Muslim is to Islam what a Christian is to Christianity, a Jew to Judaism, a Liberal to Liberalism or a Socialist to Socialism.

Who/What is ‘Allah’? 

Allah, as a term, is merely the Arabic word which refers to the Creator. That is, it is Arabic for what in English we refer to as ‘God’. It is not a reference to a specific god or to anything else. Nor is it a reference to a ‘Muslim God’. Arab Christians and Jews use the word Allah just as Muslims do. In Arabic is a grammatically unique word however as it cannot be pluralised or given a gender, reflecting the uniqueness of the Creator as a being totally dissimilar to any created being. The use of pronouns like He and Him in reference to Allah is only a semantic convention, and does not imply ‘maleness’ in any way.

What is the concept of worship in Islam? 

Worship is to conform to the will of the worshipped. Worshipping Allah is to conform in all of life’s affairs to His commands and prohibitions as found in the revelation from Him. Hence worship includes both ritual worship like prayer and pilgrimage as well as general worship in all affairs of life like marrying, trading and eating in accordance to the Sacred Law.

What does Islam say about the concept of ‘freedom’?

When speaking of freedom a clear distinction has to be drawn between actual freedom and legal freedom. In other words, there is an importance difference between freedom as a matter of fact and freedom as a matter of law. De facto people are free to do whatever they chose. There are always implications to our actions, but in origin we can do what we want to. As for freedom de jure, which is what matters in this discussion, it differs from ideology to ideology. Liberalism holds that people are free to do whatever they want so long as they do not infringe upon the freedom of others. Islam however rejects this notion and in ascribing sovereignty to the Creator alone (and not to human beings) holds that people are not free to do what they want; they must submit to the Will of Allah. This is because He is the Creator and Owner of everything. Hence the right of legislation and disposal is His alone.

What are the pillars of Islam?

Islam is built upon five major pillars:

• to bear witness that there is no entity worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad (pbuh) was His messenger. This requires firm conviction in this testimony, not mere verbal articulation
• to perform five prescribed prayers every day according to a prescribed method at set times
• to pay two and a half percent (2.5%) of one’s wealth to those in need every year if your savings exceed a certain minimum level whereby your needs are met.
• to fast the (lunar)month of Ramadan every year from sun rise until sunset daily
• to perform a pilgrimage to the (symbolic) house of Allah in the Holy Lands of Mecca (in the Arabian Peninsula) once in a lifetime if and when it is financially and physically possible.

 What is the Islamic view about spirituality?

Islam has a very clear and straightforward concept of spirituality. The ‘spirit’ is one’s connection or relationship with the Divine (their Creator). In turn, attaining spirituality is to realise this relationship and to strengthen it. This is done by first acknowledging the existence and attributes of Allah, and then by fulfilling ones obligations to him and performing as much supererogatory acts of prayer, fasting, charity, moral conduct, and the like.

In some other religions, like Hinduism and Buddhism, the ‘spirit’ was incorrectly defined the secret of life and as such was held to be in conflict with ‘matter’. In turn, the way of getting closer to God was said to be by relinquishing the world (matter) and resorting to worship in solitude. Islam rejects this erroneous conception outright and establishes a critical balance between spirit and matter.

What does Islam say about politics?

Islam is as much political as it is spiritual. In fact Islam does not recognise the separation of politics and spirituality in the first instance. Politics is the management of the affairs of people, and this is precisely what Islam came to guide humanity on. However it does so on the basis of the revelation from Allah, which is the spiritual aspect. Hence Islam can be said to be a spiritual-political creed.

Islam views manmade systems as incorrect. Such a system is subject to the understanding of people which differs from place to place and from time to time. It is also subject to the influence of the surrounding environment and special interests. Therefore, manmade system results in unjust conditions in any society that implements it.

Secularism has no place in Islam. There is no separation between Islam and life or Islam and state. The state and its functions are organized according to the rules and laws provided in the Quran, and by the Prophet (pbuh).

What is the ‘Islamic State’?

The Islamic State, or Caliphate, is the body through which Islam is implemented in society. It is the means through which the collective obligations of society are fulfilled through their chosen representative, the Caliph, who is the head of the Islamic State.

The head of the Islamic State is not imposed upon the people. He represents the people and does not represent God as in a papal theocracy. Hence, the terms such as autocracy, theocracy, and democracy are alien to the Islamic ideological vocabulary. The authority to legislate does not belong to the government or its head. The authority simply executes the laws that are already laid down by the Creator.

What is Jihad?

Jihad in Islam has always been given a negative connotation in the West. The first thing which came to mind when talking about Jihad is a picture of blood-thirsty bearded men carrying swords, ready to kill for Islam. Jihad has been presented in the Western media as the Islamic Holy War, where Muslims force people of other religions to convert to Islam. This is an entirely wrong conception.

The manner in which to understand Jihad is to understand the nature of Islam itself. Islam as an ideology is an intellectual creed which forms the basis for a way of life. More precisely, Islam, as we mentioned consists of an idea and a methodology. This idea provides an understanding of what life is all about, and provides solutions to man’s problems. The method describes how to establish and implement these solutions and a way to protect and convey the ideology. This is how Jihad comes into the picture, because Islam is not an isolationist ideology. It is the perfect ideology for mankind, because it is designed by the One who created mankind. Therefore, Islam is carried to all the people. In this regard Jihad is the means to remove the obstacles in this process.

Relationships between different states entail many political activities. At times this results in conflict which has to be resolved by diplomacy or by force if necessary. Hence, Jihad in Islam is the means for protecting and conveying the ideology. This naturally includes both defensive and offensive measures of war.

However, the main difference between Islam and the other ideologies, in this regard, is that Islam openly uses force for the well being of the people other countries. It only seeks to remove the obstacles of implementing the Islamic system and not to convert individuals to Islam. It does not utilise war for economic self-interest or for the opportunity of seizing power, both of which are features of imperialism. However, other nations use it covertly and primarily to secure wealth and economic benefits for their own citizens. British colonialism in the 19^th century and modern-day American imperialism are classic examples.

Was Islam spread by the sword?

As above, Islam does not allow people to be forced to become Muslim. In fact such an act is sinful. As such the claim that Islam was spread by the sword is a classic fabrication perpetuated against Islam. One which has been refuted in contemporary times by even non-Muslim scholars. Thomas Arnold says for example,

"...of any organized attempt to force the acceptance of Islam on the non-Muslim population, or of any systematic persecution intended to stamp out the Christian religion, we hear nothing. Had the caliphs chosen to adopt either course of action, they might have swept away Christianity as easily as Ferdinand and Isabella drove Islam out of Spain, or Louis XIV made Protestantism penal in France, or the Jews were kept out of England for 350 years. The Eastern Churches in Asia were entirely cut off from communion with the rest of Christiandom throughout which no one would have been found to lift a finger on their behalf, as heretical communions. So that the very survival of these Churches to the present day is a strong proof of the generally tolerant attitude of Mohammedan [sic] governments towards them."

Arnold, Sir Thomas W., The Preaching of Islam, A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith, Westminister A. Constable & Co., London, 1896, p. 80.

Is there a clergy in Islam?

In Islam, there is no hierarchy of religious leadership such as the people of some other religions may have come to expect. There are no priests, bishops, monks, or pope. A Muslim scholar is someone who has knowledge of the sacred texts and their ancillary disciplines. Their role is to interpret the texts and inform the people about the divine rulings on matters which face the people. This is a very important role and as such scholars are given great respect and honour. However they do not have any special divine powers, such as being able to forgive sins, nor are they a intermediary link between the people and Allah. They cannot issue passes to heaven, nor do they have knowledge of the unseen. Further they are not above the sacred law. It applies to them just as it applies to anyone else. In fact they have greater responsibility given their knowledge.

Are all Muslims Arabs?

Out of the 1.5 billion Muslims around the world, only 18% live in the Arab world. One out of every five people in the world is a Muslim. They are a vast range of races, nationalities, and cultures from around the globe from the Philippines to Nigeria. The largest Muslim population by nation is in Indonesia. Thirty percent of Muslims live in the Indian subcontinent, 20% in Sub-Saharan Africa, 17% in Southeast Asia, and 10% in the Soviet Union and China. Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan make up 10% of the non-Arab Middle East. Although there are Muslim minorities in almost every area, including Latin America and Australia, they are most numerous in Russia and its newly independent states, India and central Africa. There are about 500,000 Muslims in Australia.

What do Muslims believe about Jesus?

Muslims respect and revere Jesus as a Prophet of God. We firmly deny however any ascription of divinity to him. We consider him one of the greatest of Allah's messengers to mankind. The Qur'an confirms his virgin birth and Mary is considered of the purest woman in all creation. It also narrates many of the miracles performed by Jesus. Fundamentally however, Jesus came to affirm the same basic tenets which all prophets before and after him affirmed, namely that God is one and He alone deserved to be worshipped.

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