Before you read this : Yusuf Islam ( formely Cat Stevens ) used to be one of the most famous POP singers in England in the 70th till he decided to be a Muslim and Alhamdulillah he found the light of Allah !
All I have to say is all what you know already, to confirm what you already know, the message of the Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) as given by God - the Religion of Truth. As human beings we are given a consciousness and a duty that has placed us at the top of creation. Man is created to be God's deputy on earth, and it is important to realize the obligation to rid ourselves of all illusions and to make our lives a preparation for the next life. Anybody who misses this chance is not likely to be given another, to be brought back again and again, because it says in Qur'an Majeed that when man is brought to account, he will say, "O Lord, send us back and give us another chance." The Lord will say, "If I send you back you will do the same."
MY EARLY RELIGIOUS UPBRINGING
I was brought up in the modern world of all the luxury and the high life of show business. I was born in a Christian home, but we know that every child is born in his original nature - it is only his parents that turn him to this or that religion. I was given this religion (Christianity) and thought this way. I was taught that God exists, but there was no direct contact with God, so we had to make contact with Him through Jesus - he was in fact the door to God. This was more or less accepted by me, but I did not swallow it all.
I looked at some of the statues of Jesus; they were just stones with no life. And when they said that God is three, I was puzzled even more but could not argue. I more or less believed it, because I had to have respect for the faith of my parents.
POP STAR
Gradually I became alienated from this religious upbringing. I started making music. I wanted to be a big star. All those things I saw in the films and on the media took hold of me, and perhaps I thought this was my God, the goal of making money.
When Muhammad was 40 years old, he was commanded by God, through his angel, Gabriel, to declare his identity to the idolaters and polytheists of the complete world, and to deliver the message of peace to an embattled humanity. In response to the current command of heaven, Muhammad launched the significant program known as Islam which was to change the destiny of mankind forever.
Burns, Thomas J. "Islam." Religion and Society. OU Campus' Dale Hall, Norman. 14 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.
Again I was raised neutrally with religion. As a family we didn't attend church. My grandparents are all Jehovah's Witness's, although both my father and mother ended up being disfellowshipped from the congregation. Since not having any religious influence being taught to me, I was open to explore different religions for myself. I learned about several different religions. I know now that I am a Spiritualist, rather than Christian.
Islam is a religion that is based on the submission oneself to the will of God, who is called Allah. Muslims are the people believe in that, regardless of their culture, background or ethnicity. It is believed that God’s prophets brought a message for the people to worship one God without intermediaries and that prophet Muhammad was the end of G...
Thomas W. Lippman gives an introduction to the Muslim world in the book Understanding Islam. He has traveled throughout the Islamic world as Washington Post bureau chief for the Middle East, and as a correspondent in Indochina. This gave him, in his own words, "sharp insight into the complexities of that turbulent region." However, the purpose of the book is not to produce a critical or controversial interpretation of Islamic scripture. It is instead to give the American layman an broad understanding of a religion that is highly misunderstood by many Americans. In this way he dispels many myths about "Muslim militants," and the otherwise untrue perception of Islamic violence. In this way the American reader will become more knowledgeable about an otherwise unfamiliar topic. However, the most significant element of Lippman’s book is that it presents Islam in a simple way that makes the reader feels his awareness rise after each chapter. This encourages him to continue learning about the world’s youngest major religion. Understanding Islam dispels many misconceptions about the Muslim world, and presents the subject in a way that urges his reader to further his understanding of Islam through continued study.
For as long as I can remember, I have gone to church. My entire life I have known this concept of Jesus and who he was. And for some reason, that was supposed to be important to me. As a kid, I could tell you the majority of the Bible stories, after all, I heard them all the time. Even at a young age, though, I could tell there was more to the whole Jesus thing. It seemed that some people understood on a deeper level what all this church stuff was actually about. As I began to learn more about this Jesus, I began to question why he was important to me and what he had to do with the life change in the people around me.
The world you once knew is falling to ashes and food is become such a scarcity that people are fighting over a few pieces of bread. The political class is too busy fighting among themselves to care for anyone else. Children are roaming the streets and begging for work to feed their dying, hungry stomachs. This is not a scene from a horror movie, but rather the reality of the beginning of post classical era. In these times of hardship the people turned to a higher power, which resulted in a religious boom. The main religion during the post classical era that had the greatest impact on people was Islam due to Muhammad, trade routes, the Black Plague, conquests and Islamic culture.
The Much common ground is shared in attempt to provide approaches to finding answers to some of the deepest questions of life. I will discuss these significant similarities focusing on human dignity, identity, difference, and guardianship. “Islam is similar to Christianity in respect to human dignity and identity in that both acknowledge creation and that God is the creator of heaven and earth”. The aspect of both subscribes to the role of prophets who were venerated in both Islam and Christianity. Due to this fact, they both are traced to the times of Abraham (Ipgrave and Marshall 14-77). The goal of each faiths’ ethos is to love God by way of obeying His commandments on guidance from their respective Holy Books. They both do broadly consist of individuals that owe their allegiance to a metaphysical deity. Owing to the fact that the two are considered Abrahamic religions. They do both captures in the strictest sense the aspect of guardianship in respect to both having belief in only one God. A belief is impliedly preaching the existence of heaven and hell. Goes on to affirm the existence of the belief of the second coming of the Savior, which affirms the faiths’ ethos towards the attainment of the religions’ goals. Aimed at promoting and achieving a holistic understanding of religion, as the flexibility to accommodate diverse backgrounds of its adherents that is always prone to abuse. Christianity and Islam’s
In Zainab Ali's book, "Unveiling Islam: What Muslims Believe," she explains the basic beliefs of a Muslim. She also elaborates on the images of Muslims in the media created by important leaders such as Saddam Hussein and Louis Farrakhan and how they contradict the Islamic belief. The writer then gives her explaination of these contradictions with respect to Islamic rules. She focuses on the rules of the faith - the five pillars of Islam - by provinding explanations, definitions, and examples. After an elaboration of each pillar, the writer explains the relevance of the pillars in life and the affects that the pillars have on the character of a true Muslim. She then compares this character to the characters of the Islamic leaders in the media to support her claim that people of the Islamic faith are not compatible with the images portrayed through the media. By making this claim, the author is trying to correct the misunderstandings of the Islamic faith and of the Muslim image by providing examples, explanations, and comparisons to define a "true" Muslim.
Religion and faith have been a part of my life since the day I was born. My grandfather has been a pastor at Selma Church of God for 39 years and my mom, along with my grandmother and aunts, run our churches worship team. One could only assume, I have spent much of my life in the church. From years of children 's church and Sunday school, I learned of God 's unconditional love for me and His constant willingness to forgive me of my sins. My family and teachers explained the crucifixion and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. As a child, I knew all these things, these wonderful things about my God and my religion, but it was not until my early teens that I began to thirst for more.
My faith in Jesus Christ has had its fair share of ups and downs. Growing up in the church, I have never truly had a “life before Christ” like so many others have testified about; however, I have endured some life changing and faith altering situations. My faith has been heavily influenced by my family, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and most of all, by me. If there is one thing I have learned in my walk with Christ, just as C.S. Lewis said, it is that Christianity is like the rising sun; “not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
I am fortunate to have realized my faith in god in early years of my life and experiences in life have only strengthened my faith; I was born and raised in a small town in India and my elementary to undergraduate education has been from a Christian, catholic school, Convent of Jesus & Mary, a congregation established by Mother Claudine Thevnet who wanted to undertake the education of girls in India. It was in school, I first experienced the introduction to Christianity and my family being Hindu resonated a lot of common values being taught at school. Since there was no conflict in my values learnt at school and those at home, these were only deepened and have become an important part of my personality. As a result of my upbringing and my education, memories of my faith are amongst my earliest. I believe in the presence of god and I believe that god has bigger plans for me. My education and my family has integrated values in me for respecting, accepting, understanding other members of the society. Hinduism taught me how to be respectful and tolerant to others, it taught me that I need to understand that I am a human and I am here to serve and help others in need. There have been times when faced with difficult challenges in life and I have followed the path laid by god, ignorance went away and I found solutions and answers to the problems and challenges that I faced.
In this book , Esposito provides a succinct, up-to-date survey of the Islamic experience, an introduction to the faith, belief, and practice of Islam from its origins to its contemporary resurgence. He traces the emergence and development of this dynamic faith and its impact on world history and politics. He discusses the formation of Islamic belief and practice (law, theology, philosophy, and mysticism), chronicling the struggle of Muslims to define and adhere to their Islamic way of life. Equally important is the essential information Esposito provides on the contemporary world of Islam, from Muslim responses to the challenges of colonialism and modernization to the reassertion of Islam in politics and society.
Islam is a monotheistic religion and has been world’s fastest spreading religion. The religion Islam is originated in the seventeenth century by an Arabian prophet called Muhammad in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Seventeenth century was period of slavery and cold war. Islam is an Arabic word which means submission and it basically means submission to god and realizing his power. The followers of Islam is called Muslims. The meaning of Muslim is to surrender and it basically means surrender themselves to Prophet Muhammad and by obeying his instruction they can surrender to Allah. The scared text of Islam is Quran. Major Islamic branches include Shiite Islam (Shia) and Sunni Islam. They belief that to achieve heaven they need to fulfill five pillars of Islam which include creed (shahadha), prayer (salah), almsgiving (Zakat), fasting (sawm) and pilgrimage (hajj). The various aspects of Islam can be further discussed through Muhammad life, Quran, hijrah, core beliefs of Muslim, contributions of Islam, and by discussing how it is related to western civilization.