Brothers and sisters! The topic of today’s khutbah is about understanding the basic meaning and message of Islam. 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 or Buddhism named after Buddha, or Confucianism after Confucius, or Marxism after Karl Marx, and so on. Nor was it named after a tribe like Judaism after the tribe of Judah or Hinduism – the religion of the Hindus referring to the people who lived beyond the river Indus.
The name of Allah’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. Allah says:
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا
“This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”. (Al-Ma’idah 5:3).
Islam implies the total submission of one’s will to the will of Allah (SWT) – the only true God worthy of worship. From a spiritual perspective, Islam may be defined as the state of peace attained through following God’s guidance. This concept of peace embraces peace with oneself, peace with God, peace with human beings, and peace with one’s surroundings including the animal and plant kingdoms, and the ecological order. Muslims believe that this generic Islam has been the core of all Prophetic teachings throughout human history. Anyone who follows Islam is called a Muslim.
Hence, Islam is not a new religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (S) in Arabia in the seventh century; rather it is the same religion, way of life or system which was delivered to Adam (A), the first man and the first prophet of Allah, and then to all the prophets and messengers of Allah who followed him. Islam was re-expressed in its final form during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (S).
Islam has proclaimed that Allah has always sent His messengers to different peoples in different eras. As Christians view their revelation as both fulfilling and completing the revelation of the Old Testament, Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad (S) received his revelations from Allah through Angel Jibril to correct human error that had made its way into the Scriptures and belief systems of Judaism, Christianity, and other belief systems.
Far from being the youngest of the major monotheistic world religions, Islam is the oldest because it represents the original as well as the final revelation of the God of Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, ‘Isa and Muhammad (peace be upon them).
The Qur’an specifically mentions about Ibrahim (A) who lived long before Musa (A) and ‘Isa (A) that he was not a Jew or a Christian but a Muslim.
مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلَا نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَكِنْ كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
“Ibrahim was neither a Jew nor a Christian; but an upright Muslim, and he was not one of the polytheists.” (Aal ‘Imran 3:67)
Nowhere in the Bible will you find Allah saying to Prophet Musa’s people or their descendants that their religion was Judaism, nor to the followers of Christ that their religion was Christianity. Like the prophets before him, ‘Isa (A) called the people to surrender their will to the will of God, which is Islam, and he warned them to stay away from the false gods of human imagination.
Since the total submission of one’s will to Allah (SWT) represents the essence of worship, the basic message of Islam is to worship Allah alone and to avoid any form of worship directed to any other person, place or thing. Since everything other than Allah is His creation; it may be said that Islam, in essence calls man away from the worship of creation and invites him to worship only his Creator. This basic principle is enshrined in the opening chapter of the Qur’an – Surat Al-Fatihah:
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
“You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help.” (Al-Fatihah, 1:4) There is a stern warning in the Qur’an which says:
وَمَنْ يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ
“If anyone desires a religion other than Islam, never will it be accepted of Him.” (Aal ‘Imran 3:85)
It is worth noting that the basic message of Islam is that Allah and His creation are distinctly different entities. Neither is Allah His creation nor a part of it, nor is His creation Him or a part of Him. This might seem obvious, but, man’s worship of creation instead of the Creator is to a large degree based on ignorance of this concept. This erroneous concept is that the essence of Allah is everywhere in His creation or that His Divine Being is or was present in some aspects of His creation, which has provided justification for the worship of creation though such worship may be called the worship of God through his creation.
However, the message of Islam as brought by the prophets of Allah is to worship only Allah and to avoid the worship of his creation, either directly or indirectly. Allah says:
وَلَقَدْ بَعَثْنَا فِي كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولًا أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَاجْتَنِبُوا الطَّاغُوتَ
“We surely sent a messenger to every community, saying, ‘worship Allah and reject false gods.’” (Al-Nahl 16:36)
When the idol worshipper is questioned as to why someone bows down to idols created by men, the invariable reply is that they are not actually worshipping the stone idol or image, but are worshipping God who is present within it. They claim that the stone idol is only a focal point for God’s essence and is not in itself God. One who has accepted the concept of the presence of God’s being within His creation in any way will be obliged to accept this argument of idolatry. However, one who understands the basic message of Islam and its implications would never concede to idolatry no matter how it is rationalized.
Today, the idols people worship have changed. The modern and postmodern conditions have handed down to humanity a variety of idols, which are worshipped besides the One Supreme God. The term ‘idol’ has come to be used in a wider connotation and need not necessarily imply an image or symbol; it can also mean a cause or idea. Thus nationalism, humanism, narcissism, and all other forms of isms are idols. When man is no longer directed by God and His commandments, man replaces God with an idol of his own making.
Also, those who have claimed divinity for themselves down through the ages have often based their claims on the mistaken belief that God is present in man. They merely had to assert that although God according to their false beliefs is in all of us, He is more present in them than in the rest of us. Hence, they claim, we should submit our will to them and worship them as they are either God in person or God concentrated within the person.
One who has grasped the basic message of Islam and its implications could never agree to worship another human being under any circumstance. God’s religion in essence is a clear call to the worship of the Creator and the rejection of creation-worship in any form. This is the meaning of the motto of Islam: “La ilaha illallah” (There is no god but Allah).
There are so many sects, cults, religions, philosophies, and movements in the world, all of which claim to be the right way or the only true path to God. How can one determine which one is correct or if, in fact, all are correct? The method by which the answer can be found is to clear away the superficial differences in the teachings of the various claimants to the ultimate truth, and identify the central object of worship to which they call, directly or indirectly.
We pray to Allah, the exalted, to keep us on the right path to which He has guided us, and to bestow on us a blessing from Him, He is indeed the Most Merciful. Praise and gratitude be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be on prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions, and those who rightly follow them.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Brothers and sisters! A Muslim is a person who freely and willingly accepts the supreme power of Allah and strives to organize his or her life in accordance with Allah’s commandments conveyed by Allah through His messengers. A person becomes a Muslim not by birth alone, but by his faith and deeds.
The word “Muslim” means one who submits to the will of God. In a broader sense, anyone who willingly submits to the will of God is a Muslim. Thus, all the prophets preceding the prophet Muhammad (S) are considered Muslims.
There are born Muslims who are not at all submitting to the will of God and there are Muslims who are doing their best to submit to the will of God by worshipping and obeying Him. One cannot and should not judge Islam by looking at those individuals who have a Muslim name but in their actions, they are not living or behaving as Muslims. The extent of being a Muslim can only be according to the degree to which one is submitting to the will of God, in his beliefs and in his actions.
Also, according to the Qur’an, a Muslim must accept, revere, and believe in all the prophets and messengers of God without discrimination. They all represent one brotherhood. The Qur’an precludes the notion of narrow partisanship that may lead to hatred or even violence against communities who perceive themselves as followers of other prophets.
May Allah (SWT) forgive our sins and help us to turn to Him by making us more devout and better Muslims. May He protect us from idolatry, both in its manifest as well as in its hidden forms. May He give us the tawfiq to work sincerely and seriously to enable us to contribute towards the betterment of the society at large. Allahumma Ameen.
