A Brief About Islam Religion

It has been said that true bankruptcy is a full belly and an empty  soul. Religion must be a matter of conscious choice. Not a  matter of accidental birth. Because on it depends our peace of  mind, how we view the world, our relationships with others,  what choices we make and the results of those choices in this  life and the Hereafter.

What we choose to believe or reject must  be done thoughtfully after due reflection and investigation  because our present and our everlasting future both depend on  it. It can‘t be left to incidental following of traditions and  customs we don‘t even know the origin or meanings of just  because our parents or elders used to do them.  One‘s spiritual journey is as important if not more, as one‘s  journey in this life in terms of one‘s career or other criteria and   so deserves an equal mindshare and effort.

It has long been on my mind to write a small, easy to  understand book about Islam for the average non-Muslim who  has questions about Islam and Muslims, many of which may be as a result of the prejudiced representation which has become the fashion in the media and elsewhere today. I believe it is therefore necessary to state the facts as they stand and leave it to the reader to draw their own conclusions.

It is not my purpose in this book to convince you one way or the other. Simply to present facts about Islam so that the reality of  what Islam is and stands for is before you. The rest is up to you.

I believe that the single biggest source of conflict is bad information. Wrong information about someone or their culture, beliefs and ways which leads to others making assumptions about them that develop into stereotypes. The difficult part is that for most people it is not easy to get good information, firstly because they don‘t know who to ask and  secondly because in the case of some technical or legal matters it is necessary to have some basic knowledge and understanding  of sources, derivative principles and interpretations to understand a particular ruling.

On the other hand the media in its single minded pursuit of  profit irrespective of means or methods uses Islam in particular as a means of attracting attention by sensationalizing  everything possible instead of taking a reasoned and rational  approach. The result is that the average viewer/reader is left at best bewildered and at worst, forms negative opinions based purely on propaganda masquerading as fact. ‗News‘ today is
closer to advertising copy than to the accurate reporting of events.

It is in this context that I decided to write this book. Over the years many people, friends, strangers, Muslim and  non-Muslim, have asked me questions about Islam.

In answering them I tried to do two things:
1. Give evidence for my answers and explanations from the  two foundational sources of Islam, the Qur‘an and the  Sunnah (Hadith)
2. Try to explain in the common person‘s language giving  examples which are modern and easy to understand.

This seems to have worked well and on the suggestion of some  of the questioners who found the answers they were looking for,  I have tried to put together as many answers as I can in this book. The arrangement of the questions and answers is not sequential and so you can open the book at any point and read.
It is not necessary to read it from beginning to end. READ MORE AT HERE

What Is Islam - Answering Common Questions Of Non-muslim

The common misconceptions about Islam arise in the minds of a majority of non-Muslims, because they are constantly being bombarded with misinformation about Islam. International media is mainly controlled by the
western world, whether it is international satellite channels, radio stations, news papers, magazines or books. Recently the Internet has become a powerful medium of information. Though it is not controlled by anybody, one finds a large amount of virulent propaganda about Islam on the Internet. Of course, Muslims too are utilizing this tool to portray the right image of Islam and Muslims, but they are far behind as compared to the propaganda against Islam. I hope the efforts by the Muslims will increase and continue to be pursued.

Misconceptions change with time
The most common questions about Islam are different in different periods and eras. This set of twenty most common questions is based on present times. Decades earlier, the set of questions was different and decades later too, the set of questions may change depending upon how Islam is projected by the media.

Misconceptions are the same throughout the world
I have interacted with people in different parts of the world and have found these twenty most common questions about Islam to be the same everywhere. There may be a couple of additional questions depending upon the locale, the surrounding or culture. For instance in America, the additional common
question is - “Why does Islam prohibit taking and giving of interest?”
I have included among these twenty most common questions, certain questions more common among the Indian non-Muslims. For instance, “why do Muslims have non-vegetarian food?” The reason for including such questions is that people of Indian origin are spread throughout the world and constitute about
20% i.e. 1/5th of the world population. Thus, their questions become common questions asked by non-Muslims throughout the world.

Misconceptions of non-Muslims who have studied Islam
There are many non-Muslims who have studied Islam. Most of them have only read books on Islam written by biased critics of Islam. These non-Muslims have an additional set of twenty common misconceptions about Islam. For instance, they claim to have found contradictions in the Qur’an, they contend that the
Qur’an is unscientific, etc. There is another set of additional replies clearing these twenty misconceptions among non-Muslims who have studied Islam from distorted sources. I have also given the replies to twenty additional less common questions among the non-Muslims in my public talks and book on “Answers to Common Questions about Islam by Non-Muslims who have some knowledge about Islam”.
Read More this at this guides book online (pdf)

About Islam - Sunni and Shia (Shiite)

The majority of the world’s Muslim population follows the Sunni branch of Islam, and approximately 10-15% of all Muslims follow the Shiite (Shi’ite, Shi’a, Shia) branch. Shiite populations constitute a majority in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan. There are also significant Shiite populations in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen. Sunnis and Shiites share most basic religious tenets.

The differences between the Sunni and Shiite Islamic sects are rooted in disagreements over the succession to the Prophet Muhammad, who died in 632 AD, and over the nature of leadership in the Muslim community. The historic debate centered on whether to award leadership to a qualified, pious individual who would follow the customs of the Prophet or to transmit leadership exclusively through the Prophet’s bloodline. The question was settled initially when community leaders elected a companion of the Prophet’s named Abu Bakr to become the first Caliph (Arabic for “successor”). Although most Muslims accepted this decision, some supported the candidacy of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, husband of the Prophet’s daughter Fatima. Ali had played a prominent role during the Prophet’s lifetime, but he lacked seniority within the Arabian tribal system and was bypassed.

This situation was unacceptable to some of Ali’s followers, who considered Abu Bakr and the two  succeeding caliphs (Umar and Uthman) to be illegitimate. Ali’s followers believed that the Prophet Muhammad himself had named Ali as successor and that the status quo was a violation of  divine order. A few of Ali’s partisans orchestrated the murder of the third Caliph Uthman in 656 AD, and Ali was named Caliph. Ali, in turn, was assassinated in 661 AD, and his son Hussein (680 AD) died in battle against forces of the Sunni caliph. Ali’s eldest son Hassan (d. 670 AD) is also revered by Shiite Muslims, some of who claim he was poisoned by the Sunni caliph Muawiyah.

Those who supported Ali’s ascendancy became later known as “Shi’a,” a word stemming from the term “shi’at Ali,” meaning “supporters” or “helpers of Ali.” Others respected and accepted the legitimacy of his caliphate but opposed political succession based on bloodline to the Prophet. This group, who constituted the majority of Muslims, came to be known in time as “Sunni,” meaning “followers of [the Prophet’s] customs [sunna].”

The caliphate declined as a religious and political institution after the thirteenth century, although the term “caliph” continued to be used by some Muslim leaders until it was abolished in 1924 by Turkey’s first President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The decline and abolition of the caliphate became a powerful religious and political symbol to some Sunni Islamic activists during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These activists argued that leaders in the Islamic world had undermined the caliphate by abandoning the “true path” of Islam. Inspired by these figures, some contemporary Sunni extremists, such as Osama bin Laden and others, advocate the restoration of a new caliphate based on “pure” Islamic principles. The religious, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic diversity that exists within the global Muslim community present significant challenges to the reemergence of centralized, pan-sectarian, and widely recognized Islamic religious
leadership.  Read More at this article here (pdf)

Islam Beliefs - Learn About Islam (Shiites)

No religion has suffered as much as Islam has.

Religions can be classified in two categories; they are either forged  and concocted by individuals or those revealed by divine inspirations. As for the first category, no one mourns any distortion  that befalls this kind of religions. As for those revealed by the Divine, their role has expired and their function has come to an end,
and although any distortion and corruption in those religions is an immense crime, and treason beyond which there is none, however these afflictions would not be lamented since they have served their purpose, and have passed their time.

As for Islam, it is alive even though some have fatally hit it, and it is a mountain even if it is engulfed by tornados, and it is light even if surrounded by darkness, Islam is like an individual who is being buried alive while he is crying I am alive, help me, rescue me, do not entomb me!

No religion has been oppressed like Islam has: it has been repressed by its own people through their ignorance, and it has been repressed by its enemies by their injustice . . . amongst its followers it is distant
and in its homeland it is foreign.

It is therefore imperative upon every Muslim to repel this injustice and oppression that has, willingly or unwillingly, befallen Islam, and rescue this victim of oppression from the claws of its exploiters and
abusers, and those who are ignorant of it.

The start of this defence is through the pen and the spread of the word. So the pens must start moving, and words of the mouth must spread, and the conscience must awaken. For the manifestation of Islam are its basic harmonious beliefs and principles, its prophethood  and leadership, its politics and organizations, its justice and wisdom, its religion and its government, . . . and it being presented and offered to the people; then it is up to them to take up the offer or refuse it:
^. . . that those who died might die after clear Sign (had been
given), and those who lived might live after a Clear Sign (had
been given) . . .`

In my role I present in this paper a brief outline of the Islamic belief, which is the foundation, in the light of the Qur’an, the Hadith (the Tradition), and reason as I see it as my obligatory duty, and Allah is
the helper.  More at this ebook here