Introduction about islam pdf

At least three such documents emanating from the Prophet himself have come down to us. An interesting incident may be mentioned here. On the day of the capture of Mecca in the year 8 H.

At the demand of a Yemenite, the Prophet ordered that a written copy of his pronouncement should be prepared and handed over to the person Abu-Shah.

We may also mention a case of the translation of the Qur'an. The Prophet had prescribed that every Muslim should celebrate his worship in Arabic. Certain Persians embraced Islam and they did not want to put off prayer till the time they should have committed to memory the Arabic texts or chapters of the Qur'an. With the approval of the Prophet, Salman al-Farsi, a Muslim of Persian origin knowing Arabic, translated into Persian the first chapter of the Qur'an for the immediate above-mentioned requirements of the Persian converts.

They employed it till they learned the Arabic text by heart. Works incorporating these kinds of documents at the time of the Prophet cover several hundreds of pages. It may be observed that the Prophet was particularly interested in public instruction, and he used to say: "God has sent me as a teacher mu'allim.

This was the famous Suffah which served as dormitory during the night and as lecture hall during the day for all those who wanted to profit by this facility.

In the year 2 H. Ibn Hanbal and Ibn Sa'd. These and other arrangements contributed to the rapid increase of literacy among Muslims. It is not surprising that the companions of the Prophet grew ever more interested in the preservation by writing of the pronouncements of their supreme guide. Like every new and sincere convert, their devotion and enthusiasm were great.

A typical example is the following: 'Umar reports that on his arrival at Madinah, he became contractual brother of a local Muslim at the time of the famous Fraternisation ordered by the Prophet rehabilitating the 21 Introduction to Islam By Dr. When 'Umar worked, his companion visited the Prophet and reported to 'Umar in the evening all that he had seen or heard in the presence of the Prophet, and when his turn came, 'Umar did the same. Thus both of them kept abreast of what was happening around the Prophet, e.

As to the written compilation of the Hadith, during the lifetime of the Prophet, the following incidents will speak for themselves: Compilation of the time of the Prophet At-Tirmidhi reports: One day an Ansarite Madinan Muslim complained to the Prophet that he had a weak memory and that he forgot quickly the Prophet's instructive discourses. The Prophet replied: Take the aid of thy right hand i. A large number of sources at-Tirmidhi, Abu-Dawud, etc. One day his comrades rebuked him, saying that the Prophet was a human being, he could sometimes be happy and satisfied, at other times annoyed or angry, and that it was not desirable that one should note indiscriminately all that he uttered.

He replied, "Yes. Nothing that comes out of this mouth is ever a lie. For several generations it was taught and transmitted as an independent work; it was later incorporated into the larger collections of the Hadith compiled by Ibn Hanbal and others. Ad-Darimi and Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam reported: Once this same Abdallah had his pupils around him and somebody asked: Which of the two cities will be captured by Muslims first, Rome or Constantinople?

Abdallah caused an old box to be brought to him, took a book out of it, and after having turned its pages for awhile, read as follows: "One day when we were sitting around the Prophet to write down what he was saying, someone asked him: Which of the two cities will be captured first, Rome or Constantinople? He replied: The city of the descendants of Heraclius.

More important is the case of Anas. Anas was one of the rare Madinans who could read and write when he was only ten years old, was presented, by his devoted parents, to the Prophet as his personal attendant.

He did not quit the company of the Prophet till he died. Remaining night and day in his house, Anas had the opportunity of seeing the Prophet and hearing from him that which was not practicable for others. It is Anas who reports the saying of the Prophet: "Capture science by means of writing. The case is cited by numerous classical authorities, such as ar-Ramhurmuzi d. Compilations of the time of the companions of the Prophet It was natural that the interest in the biography of the Prophet should have increased after his death.

His companions left, for the benefit of their children and relatives, accounts of what they knew of the Prophet. The new converts had a thirst for the sources of their religion. Death was diminishing daily the number of those who knew first hand the Hadith and this was an added incentive to those who survived to pay closer attention to the preservation of their memoirs. A large number of works were thus compiled on the sayings and doings of the Prophet, based on the narration of his companions, after the death of the master.

Of course that refers to first-hand knowledge. When the Prophet nominated Amr ibn Hazm as governor of Yemen, he gave him written instructions regarding the administrative duties he was to perform. Amr preserved this document, and also procured copies of twenty-one other documents which emanated from the Prophet which were addressed to the tribes of Juhainah, Judham, Taiy, Thaqif, etc.

He compiled them as a collection of official documents. This work has come down to us. In the Sahih of Muslim, we read that Jabir ibn Abdallah compiled an opuscule [small work] on the pilgrimage of Mecca in which he gave an account of the last pilgrimage of the Prophet which also included his celebrated farewell address which was pronounced on the occasion.

Several sources mention also a Sahifah of Jabir, which his pupils used to learn by heart. Probably it dealt with the general sayings and doings of the Prophet. Two other companions of the Prophet, Samurah ibn Jundab and Sa'd ibn Ubadah, are also reported to have compiled their memoirs for the benefit of their children.

Ibn Hajar mentions them and adds that the work of Samurah was big and voluminous. Ibn 'Abbas, who was very young at the death of the Prophet, learnt many things from his elder comrades, and compiled with this material numerous works. The chroniclers state that when he died, he left a camel-load of writings. Ibn Mas'ud, one of the greatest jurists among the companions, had also compiled a book on Hadith, and later his son 'Abd ah-Rahman used to show that to his friends cf.

Ibn Mas'ud. They even took the initiative of communicating, to officials and friends for instance, decisions of the Prophet which bore on the problems of the day. The following report is more instructive and has been preserved by numerous sources such as Ibn 'Abd al-Barr's Jami' Bayan al-Ilm : 'One day a pupil of Abu-Hurairah told him: Thou hadst told me such and such a thing. Abu-Hurairah, who was apparently in his old age with enfeebled memory, refused to believe the Hadith, yet when his pupil insisted that it was from him that he had learnt it, Abu-Hurairah replied: If thou hadst learnt it from me, it must be in my writings.

He took him by his hand and conducted him to his house, showed him "many books on the Hadith of the Prophet," and at last he found the narration in question. Thereupon he exclaimed: I had told thee that if thou hadst learnt it from me, it must be found in my writings. To one of his pupils, Hammam ibn Munabbih, he dictated or gave in writing an opuscule of traditions about the Prophet. This work, which dates from the first half of the first century of theHijrah, has been preserved.

It enables us to make a comparison with later compilations of the Hadith and to confirm the fact that the memoirs of the ancients on the Hadith have been preserved with great care for the benefit of posterity. Adh-Dhahabi Tadhkirat al-Huffaz reports: The caliph Abu-Bakr compiled a work in which there were traditions of the Prophet, and handed it over to his daughter Aishah. The next morning, he took it back from her and destroyed it, saying: "I wrote what I understood. It is possible however that there might be certain things in it which did not correspond textually with what the Prophet had uttered.

Everybody seconded the idea. Yet 'Umar continued to hesitate and pray to God for a whole month for guidance and enlightenment. Ultimately he decided not to undertake the task, and said: "Former peoples neglected the Divine Books and concentrated only on the conduct of the prophets. I do not want to set up the possibility of confusion between the Divine Qur'an and the Prophet's Hadith.

The details would be too long to elucidate here. Interdiction on the writing down of Hadith The last two narrations regarding Abu-Bakr and 'Umar are important inasmuch as they explain the real implication of the tradition which says that the Prophet forbade to write down his sayings. If there really was a general interdiction, these two foremost companions of the Prophet would have not dared to even think of the compiling of the Hadith; and when they renounced the idea of recording the Hadith, they would not have invoked a reason other than the interdiction of the Prophet to silence those who remained in favour of the idea.

As far as we know, the only narrators who are reported to have said that the Prophet had ordered not to write down anything other than the Qur'an are Abu-Sa'id al-Khudri, Zaid ibn Thabit, and Abu- Hurairah. Neither the context nor the occasion of this direction is known. However intelligent they might have been, it is comprehensible that the Prophet prohibited them in the early years after the Hijrah from noting down his talks.

And it is unthinkable that a man of his character would have violated an express prohibition of the Prophet if he had not heard later from the Prophet himself of the lifting of that prohibition.

Abu- Hurairah came from Yemen in the year 7 H. It is possible that in the first days after his conversion, the Prophet ordered him to write down nothing but the Qur'an; and later, when he had mastered the Qur'an and was able to distinguish between the Divine Book and the Hadith, the reason of the interdiction ceased to exist.

An important fact is that Ibn 'Abbas is also reported to have said, as his personal opinion, without reference to the Prophet, that the Hadith should not be compiled in writing. Nevertheless, as we have seen above, through his prolific power of writing, he surpassed those companions of the Prophet who had consigned the Hadith in writing. The contradiction between the word and the deed of those who are nevertheless known for their piety and scrupulous observance of the directions of the Prophet confirms our supposition that the injunction against writing down of the Hadith had a certain context which has not been preserved to us in the narrations, and that it had a limited scope.

We must therefore seek to reconcile between the two contradictory orders of the Prophet rather than reject them both. Three possible explanations come to our mind: 1 The interdiction might have been individual, and concerned those who had newly learnt the art of writing, or those who had newly embraced Islam and were hardly able to distinguish between the Qur'an and the Hadith.

The interdiction was waived in case of the proficiency later acquired. Abu-Hurairah, for instance, came from Yemen, and it is probable that he mastered the Musnad of Himyarite script and not the so-called Arabic script prevalent in Mecca and from thence to Madinah.

Abu-Sa'id al-Khudri alludes to it; and we possess the formal injunction of the caliph 'Umar against this particular way of writing Hadith. Other explanations may be illustrated, but these will suffice for the present. In later centuries In the beginning, the compilations of the Hadith were short and individual, every companion recording his own recollections.

In the second generation, when students attended lectures of more than one master, it became possible to collect several memoirs in larger volumes, noting carefully the difference of the sources. A few generations later, all the memoirs of the companions of the Prophet were collected, and still later an attempt was made to classify these traditions according to subject matter and deduce juridical rules and other scientific usages.

It was required to learn by heart every Hadith, as in the case of the Qur'an, and to aid the memory, one utilized the written texts. Learning from qualified and authorized teachers was also 25 Introduction to Islam By Dr.

This triple method of preservation and security was rigorously observed by some, and less so by others. Hence the relative importance of the different masters and their trustworthiness. Not long after the Prophet, the reporters of the Hadith adopted the habit of mentioning not only the name of the Prophet as the ultimate source of the knowledge in question, but also the means, one after another, of obtaining that information.

For every single report of a few words upon the Prophet, there is such an exhaustive chain of references relating to successive authorities. In a single chain of the narrators, which we have just cited, we find reference made not only to the Sahih of al-Bukhari, but also the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal, theMusannaf of 'Abd ar- Razzaq, the Jami' of Ma'mar, and the Sahifah of Hammam dictated to him by Abu-Hurairah, the companion of the Prophet.

We find the reports of this chain in all these works which luckily have all come down to us in exactly the same words. In the presence of a succession of such authoritative sources, for instance it would be a foolish presumption and slanderous to suggest that al-Bukhari had invented the narration and attributed it to the Prophet or fabricated himself the chain of the narrators, or simply collected the folklore, the hearsay of his epoch, and attributed it to the Prophet.

Conclusion It is by this triple safeguard, viz. This is true not only for the Qur'an, but also the Hadith which consists of the memoirs of the companions of the Prophet, and concern the sayings, doings and tacit approval by him of the conduct of his companions. It may be remembered that as a founder of religion too, the Prophet Muhammad had had immense success. In fact, in the year 10 H. The biographers of the companions of the Prophet affirm that the number of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad who had reported at least one incident of the life of the Prophet exceeds , There are bound to be repetitions, but the very multiplicity of the sources recounting one and the same event does add to the trustworthiness of the report.

We possess in all about 10, reports eliminating the repetitions of the Hadith, on the life of the Prophet of Islam, and these concern all aspects of his life including directions given by him to his disciples in spiritual as well as temporal matters. In his natural state, man scarcely thinks of anything but his own individual interests, and then only later of his close relatives. However, there have been human groups in every epoch who have particularly distinguished themselves.

When we study the features and characteristics of past civilizations and we are now possibly at the dawn of another one we find that even though one group may become distinguished as the torch-bearer for a civilization in a particular epoch, that does not necessarily mean that all other contemporary groups would be living in a state of savagery.

There is instead the relative pre- eminence of one over the other, in the ladder of graded civilizations. For instance, when the Phoenicians appeared on the scene and developed a brilliant civilization, several other contemporary peoples were perhaps almost as civilized, although lacking the occasion an a suitable field of their activity. At the Arabo-Islamic epoch, the Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Indians and others, possessed all the characteristics of civilized peoples.

Even so, they did not rise to the heights of the standard-bearers of the civilization of their epoch. In our own time, if the people of the USA and Russia form the vanguard with their nuclear might and other claims, the British, Chinese, French and the Germans follow close behind.

Notwithstanding this progress of some, there are, at the same time, even in this second half of the 20th century, in certain parts of the globe, groups still in savagery if not actual cannibalism. The question arises as to why the evolution of some is rapid, and others slow? In an epoch when the Greeks enjoyed a glorious civilization, why was it that Western Europe was barbarian? Why did barbarism prevail in Russia when the Arabs had risen to the height of splendour?

The same question may be posed with respect to several countries in several epochs. Is it purely and simply a question of chance and circumstance? Or is it due to the fact that some individuals of lofty note and noble personality were born in one human group to the exclusion of other groups?

There are other possible explanations which are more complex and depend upon a variety of co-existing causes which govern the accomplishments of some, and the frustration or even extinction of the other. There is still another question. After a momentary state of splendour, why do people fall anew into relative obscurity, if not into a semi-barbarous state? We propose to investigate these questions in relation to contemporary Islam, and discuss, if possible, its chances for survival. If one were to believe Ibn Khaldun, the biological factor is the essential cause.

At the end of a single generation, the race exhausts its vitality, and for purposes of rejuvenation there must be a change at least in the family of men at the helm of affairs. This racial theory, even though it may be considered a learned exaggeration, can affect ethnic civilizations and such religions which do not admit conversion. Islam luckily escapes this cycle of decadence, for its followers are found among all races, and it continues to achieve greater or smaller progress everywhere in the world.

Moreover, it is unanimously recognized that Islam has almost completely eliminated, inside its community, racial prejudices - a feature which permits it to accept, without hesitation, men of any race to be its leaders and standard-bearers. The systematic emancipation of slaves, which was ordered by the Qur'an, presents another glorious example.

As a matter of fact there have been several dynasties of Muslim rulers in history, drawn solely from slaves who had been freshly liberated.

The life and death of a civilization depends on equal measure on the quality of its basic teaching. If it invites its adherents to renounce the world, spirituality will certainly make great progress, yet the other constituent parts of man, his body, his intellectual faculties, etc. If, on the other hand, a civilization lays emphasis only on the material aspects of life, man will make great progress in those aspects at the expense of others. Such a civilization may even become a sort of boomerang which causes its own death.

For materialism often engenders egoism and lack of respect for the rights of others, and this creates enemies who await their chance for reprisal. The result is mutual killing. The story of the two brigands is well known. They had captured some booty. One of them went to the town to buy provisions, and the other went to collect wood to prepare the meal.

However, each one decided secretly in his heart to get rid of the other and to monopolize the illicit gain. So the one who had gone shopping poisoned the provisions, while his comrade awaited him in ambush and killed him upon his return from the town. Only when he tasted the food, he then joined his companion in the other world. There may be another defect inherent in a civilization when its teachings do not contain an innate capacity for development and adaptation to circumstances.

However nice its teachings may be for one epoch or one environment, it may not prove so for another. So to be captivated by such a teaching will evidently be fatal to those who come later. An ordinary example would illustrate this point. At a time when there was no electric lighting and when the cultural centres had no stable revenues, it was certainly an act of piety to light a candle in some place of religious interest frequented during the night.

Nothing may be said against a belief that an act of piety on the part of a repentant constitutes an expiation and an effacement of the crime committed against God or against man which otherwise was hard to repair.

But wouldn't the continuation of lighting a candle in a place which is already brilliantly lit with electric lamps be anything more than a wastage? Let us study Islam in the light of these circumstances.

Islamic Ideology Yet Islam can be practised by an overwhelming majority of mankind, who follow an intermediate path and seek to develop the body and the soul simultaneously, thus creating a harmonious equilibrium in man as a whole. Islam has insisted on the importance of both these components of man, and of their inseparability, so that one should not be sacrificed for the benefit of the other.

If Islam prescribes spiritual duties and practices, these will also contain material advantages. Similarly, if it authorizes an act of temporal utility, it will also show how this act can be a source of spiritual satisfaction. The following examples will illustrate this.

One will agree that the aim of spiritual practice is to get closer to the Necessary Being dhat wajib al-wujud , our Creator and Lord, and to obtain His pleasure. In short, a believer tries to behave entirely according to His will, and seeks to even imitate Him according to one's humble human capacities.

A believer must fast at the moment prescribed by the Qur'an, because that is an order of God. To obey an order of the Lord is in itself piety, but in addition to that, the fast will weaken the body and that, in turn, will fortify the soul by diminishing material desires. One feels a spiritual uplift, thinks of God and of everything He does for us, and enjoys 29 Introduction to Islam By Dr.

But the fast does material good as well. The acidity which secrete from the glands when one is hungry and thirsty kill many a microbe in the stomach. Also one develops the capacity to bear privation at moments of a crisis and still remain able to carry on one's normal duties undisturbed.

If one fasts for material ends, it will have no spiritual value. But if one fasts for gaining the good will of God, the material advantages are never lost. Without entering into a detailed discussion, it may be observed that all other spiritual acts or practices of Islam also have the same double effect - spiritual and temporal.

It is the same in worship, whether individual or congregational. It is the same with the abnegation of the self at the moment of the pilgrimage to the House of God; in charity to the poor; and in other religious and spiritual practices apart from the obligatory minimum. If one does something solely for the sake of God, it has a double merit - spiritual advantage without any loss of material benefits.

On the other hand, if one does the same thing for material aims, one may obtain the desired object, but the spiritual advantage would be completely lost. Let us recall the celebrated saying of the Prophet Muhammad: "Verily actions are entirely according to motives and intentions. Speaking of a strict temporal act, such as a tax or a war, one pays taxes to the government. It should not be astonishing that Islam considers this act as one of the five basic elements of the Faith, which is as important as belief, worship, fasting and pilgrimage!

When this duty of paying the taxes becomes fixed in the mind as something sacred, a duty unto God from Whom nothing can be concealed and Who is, moreover, capable of resuscitating us and demanding our account, one can easily understand with what care and scruples a believer will pay his dues in the performance of this obligation.

Similarly, war is forbidden in Islam except in the way of God, and it is not difficult to understand that this type of soldier is more apt to be humane and will not seek any earthly gain in the course of risking his life.

By spiritualising the temporal duties, Islam has had no other motive but to strengthen the spiritual side of man who, in this manner, far from seeking the material advantage of a material thing, aspires to obtain only the pleasure of God thereby. The great mystic al-Ghazzali was not exaggerating when he said: "If somebody worships or fasts for ostentation, that is shirk polytheism and a worship of one's self, not of God Almighty.

On the other hand, if one even cohabits with one's own wife, not for the sake of carnal pleasure, but for the performance of the duty imposed by God, then that is an act of piety and devotion and merits the pleasure of and reward from God.

Perhaps the corollary of the same all-embracing conception of life is the fact that the Qur'an uses the double formula "believe and do good deeds," The mere profession of faith, without application or practice does not have much value because Islam insists just as much on the one as on the other. In the interests of society, doing good deeds without belief in God is certainly preferable to the practice of evil deeds. But from the spiritual standpoint, a good deed without faith cannot bring salvation in the Hereafter.

But how can one distinguish good from the evil? In the first instance, it is the revealed law which can be the criterion alone, but in the latter case, it is one's conscience which can be one's arbiter. When a problem is posed, one can refer to the text of the Islamic law, if necessary.

Yet a jurisconsult can only reply on the basis of facts which have been brought to his attention. If certain material facts should have been concealed from him, whether intentionally or otherwise, the consequent injustice cannot be blamed on the law. We may recall a charming little discourse of the Prophet, who said one day: "People!

If, by lack of full disclosure, I decide in favour of someone who has no right, let him know that I accord him a part of the Hell-fire. To never think of others and instead think exclusively of one's own self, is not only inhuman but beastly.

However, to think of others after having satisfied one's own needs is normal and permitted. Yet the Qur'an praises those "who prefer others above themselves though poverty become their lot" Evidently this is only a recommendation and not an obligatory duty which has been laid upon the average man -- if one does not observe it, one will neither be considered a criminal nor a sinner.

We can cite the famous saying of the Prophet in the same vein of recommendation: "The best of men is the one who does good to others. The Qur'anic direction may be considered as a characteristic train of Islam, to wit: "and of the bounty of thy Lord on thee by thy discourse A saying of the Prophet cited by Tirmidhi explains this in an impressive manner: "God likes to see the traces of His bounty on His creature.

When the Prophet asked him the reason, he replied that he preferred to have a wretched look, not for miserliness but for piety, as he preferred the needy to his own self. Abu Dawud : "When God has given you means, the traces of His bounty should be visible on you. On the contrary, one must use all one's gifts and talents in order to profit from God's creations and acquire as much as possible and what exceeds one's requirements may then go to aid those who lack the necessaries.

The Prophet has unequivocally said: "It is better that you leave behind you relatives who are well off rather than obliging them to beg alms of others. On the contrary, the Qur'an reproaches those who would develop such an attitude: "Say: Who hath forbidden the adornment of God which He hath brought forth for His servants, and the delicious things of nourishment? Say: they are, in the life of this world, for those who believe, being exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection.

Thus do We detail Our commands for people who have knowledge. Belief in God Man seems to have always sought to know his Creator for the sake of obeying Him. The best religious leaders of every epoch and civilization have established certain rules of conduct for this purpose. The primitive people worshipped the manifestations of power and beneficence of God, hoping thus to please Him. Some others believed in two separate gods, one of the good and the other of the evil.

Yet they overlooked the logical consequences of such a distinction which implies a civil war between gods. Still others have enshrouded God with mysteries which mystify the person of God sometimes. And some others have felt the need of such symbols, formulas or gestures, which will hardly distinguish their theological conceptions from idolatry or Polytheism. In this field, Islam has its particularity. It believes in the absolute Oneness of God, and prescribes a form of worship and prayer which will admit neither images nor symbols considering both to be the remnants of primitivism and idolatry.

In Islam, God is not only transcendent and non-material, beyond any physical perception cf. The relation between man and his Creator are direct and personal, and do not require any intermediary.

Even the saintliest of the saints, such as prophets, are only guides and messengers and it is left to the individual to make a choice and be directly responsible to God. Thus it will be seen that Islam seeks to develop the personality of the individual. It admits that man has his weaknesses, as he is constituted simultaneously of capacities for both good and evil.

Yet it does not admit that there is original sin in him, because that would be an injustice. If Adam had committed a sin, this should create no responsibility on his posterity, and so each individual human being remains responsible for his personal account only. In his weakness, an individual may commit offences against God or against his fellow creatures.

Each offence has, in principle, a proportionate liability punishment. Yet Islam recognizes the possibility of pardon, the elements of which are repentance and reparation.

As to offences against man, they should be amended, as far as possible, so that the victim may pardon either gratuitously, or at the restitution of the object taken away from him, or by having it replaced, or in any similar way.

As regards offences against God, man may receive either a suitable punishment or a gracious pardon from the Lord. Islam does not admit that God needs to punish first some innocent person in order to accord His pardon to other repentant sinners, for this vicarious punishment would be unjust on the part of God.

Society Even as Islam seeks to develop individuality in man, it seeks also social collectivity. This can be seen in all its prescriptions, be they religious or temporal. Thus, the service of worship is collective in principle in case of need, if there is some exemption regarding the five daily prayers, there is none regarding the weekly or annual prayer services ; pilgrimage is even a more manifest example, since the believers assemble in the same place, and come from all points of the globe; the collective aspect of fasting manifests itself in the fact that it takes place in the same month for the faithful all over the world; the requirement of having a caliph, the obligation of paying the zakat-tax intended for the needs of the collectivity, etc.

It goes without saying that in a collectivity, or society, there is a force which people do not possess individually. For reasons best known to God, He has endowed different individuals with different talents. Two children with the same parents, two students in the same class do not always have the same qualities or capacities.

All lands are not equally fertile; climates differ; two trees of the same species do not produce the same quantity or quality. Every being, every part of a being has its own idiosyncrasies. On the basis of this natural phenomenon, Islam affirms the original equality of all on the one hand, whereas on the other hand, the superiority of individuals one over the other. We are all creatures of the same Lord, and material superiority does not count for obtaining the greater appreciation of God.

Piety alone is the criterion of the greatness of the individual. After all, life in this world is but ephemeral, and there must be a difference between the behaviour of a man and of a beast. Nationality It is in this sense that Islam rejects the narrow basis of birth and common blood as the element of solidarity.

The attachment to parentage or to the soil on which one is born, is no doubt natural; yet the very interest of the human race demands a certain tolerance towards other similar groups. The distribution of the natural wealth in different parts of the world in varying quantities renders the world as interdependent. Inevitably one is forced to "live and let live.

Nationality on the basis of language, race, colour or birthplace is too primitive, and therein is a fatality - an impasse - something in which man has no choice. The Islamic notion is progressive and it is based solely on the choice of the individual, for it proposes the unity of all those who believe in the same ideology, without distinction of race, tongue, or place of abode.

Since extermination or subjugation of others is excluded, the only valid possibility is assimilation. And what means can serve this assimilation better if not the belief in the same ideology? It may be repeated that Islamic ideology is a synthesis of the requirements both of body and soul. Moreover it inspires tolerance. Islam has proclaimed that God has always sent His messengers to different peoples in different epochs. Islam itself claims nothing more than the function of renewing and reviving the eternal message of God, so often repeated at the hands of prophets.

It prohibits all compulsion in the matter of religious beliefs. Also, no matter how unbelievable it may sound, Islam is under the self-imposed religious dogmatic duty to give autonomy to non-Muslims who reside on the soil of the Islamic State. The Qur'an, the Hadith and the practice of all time demand that non-Muslims should have their own laws, administrated by their own tribunals, with their own judges, and without any interference on the part of Muslim authorities, whether it be in social or religious matters.

In addition, the author focuses on the meaning and continuing application to modern life of the Quran and hadith as sources for Islamic theology kalam and jurisprudence fiqh.

Raudvere offers an unusually comprehensive, richly illustrated, up-to-date and enjoyable introduction to Islam. It is easy to grasp, without being simplistic, and represents instructive reading for students and rewarding teaching material for instructors.

Tauris, , co- edited with Leif Stenberg. Raudvere Publications By Catharina Raudvere. Sites of Power and Resistance or Melting Pots? Download PDF. The author does not evade the difficult debate about the relationship between the West and the Islamic world, but succeeds in creating a broader perspective on this controversial issue.

Introduction to the principles of Submission. Articles on the purpose of our creation, worship practices, status of women in Islam , hadith and sunnah, and heaven and hell and peaceful co-existence. Read Quran, or download Quran. Those who follow Islam are called Muslims. Muslims believe that there is only one God. Christians who speak Arabic refer to their deity "Yahwea," as "Allah.

K An introduction to Islam Ebook download Religion de plus d'un milliard de femmes et d'hommes, l' Islam est une composante importante du monde francophone.