This week’s quest is to teach something to the IFC community. This reminded me of the curiosity shown by @apolymask towards Islam. As a faith Islam isn’t known by many in the west although they have heard the name Muslim on many news headlines called as terrorists, but what is Islam. Hear it from a Muslim.

What is Islam

Image Source
Almost 1400 years ago the Arabian Peninsula was at a disastrous time in terms of morals and societal ethics. Women weren’t respected small baby girls buried alive, the rich had all the power over the poor and there was no morality in society because religions at the time weren't being followed instead idols made of clay were worhsipped and people did whatever they wanted. At the time Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was born. He had special attributes from the beginning among the people of Makkah, people used to call him (Sadiq ul Ameen) the Truthful and Trustful man. Like the Prophets before him Muhammad (S.A.W) didn’t agree with the society the Arabs had become and was curious in the existence of only One God (Allah).

In his later life he began receiving revelations in the form of Quran, just like the revelations received by Prophet Moses (A.S) and Prophet Jesus (A.S). The teachings of the message of Islam were taught by him to us through this book. Muhammad (S.A.W) is considered the last Messenger of Allah and the Quran His final message to the human beings in the form of the words of Allah.
Image Source
Eventually the Arabs drove the Muslims from Makkah to Madina from where Islam spread rapidly, the Muslims battled the non-believers of the Quraish thrice and won two of the battles convincingly while conceded greater deaths from them. During his last year Muhammad (S.A.W) gave his last sermon and in it he gave out a beautiful message “All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over a white – except by piety and good action.”
Image Source
After the sermon ended he looked to the sky and said,” O Allah be witness, that I have conveyed Your message to Your people.” These types of quotes are known as Hadith and we as Muslims only believe in the teachings of Quran and these Hadith both of which are authentic. The Quran is protected by Allah himself as stated in it "Surely, We have revealed the 'Zhikr' (Quran), and surely, We will preserve it" 15:9, there are 114 Surah or chapters in the Quran so this is from the 15th Surah and in each Surah there are Ayat or sentences this is the 9th Ayat within the 15th Surah. Each Surah has a different issue or message to convey and there are themes within it. The most read Surah is the first Surah which is read in our prayers its message is the glorification of Allah.

The Hadith are authenticated by the scholars each hadith taken was thoroughly checked and put into categories, like the Sahih (Authentic), Hasan (doubtful) and Zaeef (very weak with contradictions). The Sahih Hadith shouldn’t be contradictory to the message of Quran, the man reporting it must have the chain of narrations reporting back to the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and each person in between must be truthful and ethically correct in every way. After this it was written for us to read.

There are five pillars of Islam, these are the foundation of the religion.
Image Source

Tauheed (Oneness of Allah)

Tauheed is the first and most important pillar of Islam, we as Muslims cannot associate any partners to Allah. There are no blood relatives associated to Him, He is Eternal and All power Only He is worthy of worship. Associating partners to Allah (Shirk) is an unforgivable punishment. In the Quran it is written that every bad deed can be forgiven except Shirk.

Namaz (Prayer)

This is the second pillar, we Muslims pray five times a day with specific timing in our masjids (place of holy worship). These masjids are open for everyone, our prayer is a little complicated to explain verbally as it involves a lot of actions and recitations from the Quran but I’m sure you can understand it with the video link.
Prayer method

Fasting

Moving on we Fast in the month of Ramadan every year. It involves eating and drinking before the time of sunrise and then opening it after the sunset. This doesn’t only include food but during fasting we cannot speak ill of anyone, harm anyone and do any immoral activity otherwise our Fast has no meaning.

Zakat (Charity)

We Muslims those who have more than 84 grams of gold in possession the whole year round must give Zakat to the poor, it is only 2.5% of the total wealth and this is beneficial in helping the poor and needy people who are looking for help to survive. The wealth is distributed from the rich to the poor.

Hajj (Pilgrimage)

This is the last Pillar of Islam every year in the month of ZulHajj according to the Islamic calendars hundred thousands of Muslims perform Hajj. This is obligatory only to those who can afford it and is obligatory only once in our lives. I have performed Hajj as a child living in Saudi Arabia but my obligatory Hajj isn’t completed with my own hard earned money.
Image Source
Other than these five Pillars we also have the articles of Faith, these are the true tests of faith as Muslims because this is believing in something that science cannot explain but as a Muslim and believing in the word of Quran we believe these faiths that are the fundamentals of Islam.
Image Source

Tauheed (Oneness of Allah)

Again Oneness of Allah is our first faith that every Muslim must have.

Angels of Allah

We must believe in the Angels of Allah made of light and are so many that we cannot imagine.

Books of Allah

Muslims believe in the Revelations sent by Almighty God to His Prophets and Messengers, including the Qur’an, the Torah, the Gospel, the Scrolls of Abraham and the Psalms of David.

Prophets of Allah

All Messengers and Prophets of Allah such as Noah, Moses, Solomon, Jesus and Muhammad were mortal human beings endowed with Divine Revelations and appointed by God to teach humankind how to submit to His will and obey His Laws.

Day of Judgment

We believe that there is a Day of Judgment and a Heaven and Hell made for the righteous and the evil of mankind.

The Premeasurement of Allah

Muslims believe that Almighty Allah has knowledge of, and control over, everything that exists in all of
Time and space.

The Resurrection after Death

We believe after the world ends every soul will be brought back to life for its judgment to be made.

These principles and believes are the fundamentals of every Muslim across the globe, other than that we aren’t some barbaric race HAHA, I’m just like any other dude just waiting to see Avengers Endgame in the cinema. The teachings of Islam is peaceful as Muhammad (S.A.W) said, “Anyone who kills an innocent it is as if he has killed all of mankind.”

This is Islam if you have any queries and are curious to ask please do in the comments, even if you have any disagreements feel free to say it I’m open to answer them all.