Islam (Ethics and Teaching)

This treatise is a modest compendium of Islam, its tenets and teachings. The object throughout is as much to explain the Islamic faith and practical percepts to the modern readers for better understanding .oddly, enough, very little has been written on the subject in English. The present title, it is hoped will fill the vacuum. The book is set out in convenient chapters, each treats in capsule from one basic principle.

Progress is a never ending entity. With every Idea something hitherto unknown to the world is born; the new idea which is absolute truth or nearer to perfection never ceases to exist. Something old falls with every change as the poet sang, “Old order changeth yielding place to new.”

Full knowledge about the creator was beyond human comprehension. The primitive people, unable to solve the mystery of creation had worshipped all those rare phenomena around them—the sun, the moon, the stars, the water, the mountain; and even plants and animals. Thus the moon was the lord for sometime, then the sun, stars etc. Azer, the father of Prophet Abraham who is believed to have lived some four thousand years ago had had worshipped may gods. As a boy, Abraham too followed him. When night drew its shadow over him, he saw several stars twinkling in the sky. “They are surely my gods”, he exclaimed. But when they faded in the morning light, he said, “I will not worship gods that fade.” Next he turned to the waning and waxing moon. “This is my Lord.” But when it too set, he said,” This too is not my lord.” And when he saw the daily round of the sun, he believed it must be the great Being. This is bigger then the other two, the stars and the moon. He quickly abandoned it when it too disappeared in the morning sky. (Sura VI cattle) it was this Azer who had initiated making clay images. However, when these mute gods refused to answer their quest for knowledge, his followers turned to explanatory and aesthetic myths and witchcrafts.

Guiding the mankind to the right path, God had sent many messiahs with Divine messages. Even though they preached Universal Pease and Truth, their teachings vary in essence. There is fundamental difference in the preaching of Hosiah and Amos. Issiah and his contemporary prophet Meccah jointly preached more on forgiveness of God. Six the several hundred prophets who preached to mankind are dignified with special titles:

One of the later prophets, John Baptist “does not well the people to, give up their job an retire to the forest, he advises them to lead a holy life within their status and profession, “Jesus Christ was the prophet of mercy, he was in the fact the sixth century, in the full limelight of the history is the Prophet of “the last of the great modern religions to develop” whose teaching is the essence of all previous messages.

We learn that every religion –whether Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Buddhism or Christianity—is made complete with final prophet hood. Jainism is based on the teachings of twenty four Tirthankaras ending with Mahavira Vardhamana who is the last and final leader. He is the real founder of Jainism Mahayana Buddhists believe not in one Buddha but many, one for each creation of the world. In Zoroastrianism, there is a long line of Zorothustra and the religion is founded on the last Prophet who is also the greatest. Islam, the youngest of the great religious of the world is perfect with the last and final prophet hood of Muhammad (God’s Blessings be upon him) and Al-Quean, the Sacred text of Islam, is “the quintessence of all previous scripts verified and consolidated.” Islam is thus universal Faith, the religion of Mankind. “This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favors upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” Thus, God has perfected the religion with the final prophet hood of Muhammad, and Islam is the Chosen Religion of Mankind.

A fundamental Islamic teaching is that no Prophet was command to establish a religion. Prophets area warners-pure and simple. God said to Prophet Muhammad: “your only duty is to give warning. We have sent you with the truth to proclaim good news to warn your people, for there is no nation that has not been warned by an apostle.” The prophets carry messages of good conduct and warned the people when they had deviated from truth.

The philosophy of Gautama Buddha who was born in a princely Hindu kshatriya family was turned into a religious dogma by the moral flabbishness of the people that lived immediately after him. Jesus Christ has never wished to be the founder of a religion named after him. Jesus of Nasreth, the king of the Jews had emphatically said,” Do not think that I have come to set aside the law and the prophets. I have not come to set them aside. But to bring them to perfection.” Dissatisfied the conflicting ideologies of Hinduism and Islam, Guru Nanak preached moderation, a middle-of-the road policy, but unaware, a new religion in the name of Sikhism was founded on his teaching. “Zarathustra never calls himself the founder of a religion, but a reformer as did Lao Tse and Kung Tse.”