Islam is the acceptance of and obedience to the teachings of Allah which He revealed to His last prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon him. A Muslim has the duty to submit himself to the will of Allah as He is the Lord of mankind, who created the seven heavens and the earth and who fashioned Adam and Eve. Muslims are not true Muslims if they obey their resolve other than the will of Allah. His will can only be found in the Holy Qur’an and through the teachings of his last Prophet, Muhammad.
“Say, [O Muhammad], “O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all, [from Him]” [Quran 7:158]
Contrary to what other people believe, Prophet Muhammad was not the founder of a new religion, but he was sent as the final Prophet of Islam. By revealing Allah’s final message to Muhammad, which is an eternal and universal message for all of mankind, Allah finally fulfilled the covenant that He made with Abraham.
“And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], “Worship Allah and avoid Taaghoot.” [Quran 16:36]
“And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, There is no deity except Me, so worship Me.” [Quran 21:25]
Amongst the messengers of Allah was Muhammad, from the progeny of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, may the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon him, who was sent as a messenger in succession to Jesus. Muhammad preached the same message of Islam as the previous prophets and messengers – to direct all worship to Allah alone and no one else and to obey His commandments – in which the followers of the previous prophets went astray.
“Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allah]. And he was not of the polytheists.” [Quran 3:67]
“When his Lord said to him, “Submit”, he said “I have submitted [in Islam] to the Lord of the worlds.” [Quran 2:131]
The first of these messengers of Allah was Noah, who was sent to preach this message of Islam to his people after they had started to direct worship to their pious forefathers along with Allah. Noah called his people to leave the worship of their idols and ordered them to return to the worship of Allah alone. Some of them followed the teachings of Noah, while the majority disbelieved in him. Those who followed Noah were followers of Islam, or Muslims, while those that did not, remained in their disbelief and were seized with a punishment for doing so.
Allah said about Noah : “…and I have been commanded to be of the Muslims [i.e. those who submit to Allah].” [Quran 10:72]
After Noah, Allah sent messengers to every nation who had strayed from the truth, to steer them back to it. This truth was the same throughout time: to reject all objects of worship and to direct all worship without exception to Allah and no one else, the Creator and Lord of all, and to abide by His commandments. But because each nation differed in regard to their way of life, language, and culture, specific messengers were sent to specific nations for a specific time period.
Allah sent messengers to all nations, He sent Abraham – one of the earliest and greatest prophets – who called his people to reject the worship of the idols to which they were devoted. He called them to Islam, but they rejected him and even tried to kill him. Allah put Abraham through many tests, and he proved true to all of them. For his many sacrifices, Allah proclaimed that he would raise from amongst his progeny a great nation and choose prophets from amongst them. Whenever people from his progeny started to stray away from the Truth, which was to worship none but Allah alone and to obey His commandments, Allah sent them another messenger steering them back to it.
Many prophets were sent amongst the progeny of Abraham, such as his two sons Isaac and Ishmael, along with Jacob (Israel), Joseph, David, Solomon, Moses, and Jesus, to mention a few, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all. Each prophet was sent to the Children of Israel (the Jews) when they went astray from the true religion of Allah, and it became obligatory upon them to follow the messenger which was sent to them and obey their commandments. All the messengers came with the same message, to reject worship of all other beings except Allah Alone and to obey His commandments. Some disbelieved in the prophets, while others believed. Those that believed were followers of Islam, or Muslims.
Yusuf said: {… Cause me to die a Muslim and join me with the righteous.} [Quran 12:101]
Allah also Says about Moses {And Moses said, “O my people, if you have believed in Allah, then rely upon Him, if you should be Muslims [i.e. submitting to Him].} [Quran 10:84]
The disciples said to Jesus: “We have believed in Allah and testify that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]”. [Quran 3:52]
Just as it was incumbent upon the those who were alive to follow the message of the last of the succession of prophets which was sent to them, it becomes incumbent upon all of humanity to follow the message of Muhammad, peace be upon him. Allah promised that this message would remain unchanged and fit for all times and places. Suffice is it to say that the way of Islam is the same as the way of the prophet Abraham, because both the Bible and the Quran portray Abraham as a towering example of someone who submitted himself completely to Allah and directed worship to Him alone and none else, and without any intermediaries. Once this is realized, it should be clear that Islam has the most continuous and universal message of any religion, because all prophets and messengers were “Muslims”, i.e. those who submitted to Allah’s will, and they preached “Islam”, i.e. submission to the will of Almighty Allah by worshipping Him Alone and obeying His commandments.
To conclude, we see that those who call themselves Muslims today do not follow a new religion; rather they follow the religion and message of all prophets and messengers which were sent to humanity by Allah’s command, also known as Islam. The word “Islam” is an Arabic word which literally means “submission to Allah”, and Muslims are those who willfully submit to and actively obey Allah, living in accordance with His message.
Allah Say: {Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam.} [Quran 3:19]
{And whoever desires other than Islam as religion – never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.} [Quran 3:85]
