Essential definitions for non Muslims

Allah (God or Lord):

         He is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe and all things. He is One, with no partners, Perfect in all characteristics, Unique and Absolute in attributes, and none is comparable to Him. He is the First without Beginning and the Last without End, the Eternal. He is Glorified beyond any similarity to any of His creations. He is Self-Subsisting and the Maintainer of all Creation.

Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him):

         He is a Servant and the Last Messenger of Allah. He was born in Makkah in 570 A.D., began to receive the Message of Islam at age 40 until its completion within 23 years, and died in 632 A.D. His life was well recorded in every aspect and detail, exemplary for all mankind, and he was known among his people as the truthful and trusted even before receiving the Message.

Islam:

         The linguistic meaning of the word Islam is surrender and submission.As a term referring to the religion of Islam, it means the complete submission and obedience of man before Allah (the almighty ), and it is the religion of all Prophets and Messengers as well as a universal Message for all humanity.

The Qur'an:

         The Qur’ an is the final, complete Revelation from Allah   (God) out of all the revelations presented to the Prophets throughout   human history, and was  revealed to His Prophet Muhammad  (peace and blessings be upon him), as a Guidance for all mankind. It is literally God’s Word, faithfully memorized and recorded as it was revealed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and it has been kept, absolutely unchanged, through the centuries. It is important to emphasize the fact that the Qur’an is the only revealed Book which has been kept in its original language. Translations are not considered Qur’an, since both the words, or the medium, and their meanings, were revealed without any involvement or modification from Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)     or from anyone else. It is not possible to fully transmit the meanings of the passages from the Arabic language, and the characteristic style and unique construction of the Arabic text are also lacking in a translation. Renderings in English are, at most, close approximations to the meaning of the original Arabic text.

The Sunnah (Hadith):

         Hadith refers to the words, deeds, and approvals, both explicit and implicit, of Prophet Muhammad (peace  and blessings be upon him) which have been collected and narrated through accepted and known channels according to specific rules of criticism, which apply to the conditions, situations and integrities of the narrators. It is important to note that this type of discipline, which was established by the Muslim scholars, is unique for recognizing the credibility and authenticity of reports and narrations from various sources. Some of their methodology is now followed by modern historians in order verify the authenticity of the information that they are collecting.

   Print this page        Close the page