Who is Allah?

One of the greatest misunderstandings of Islam in the west today is the perception of whom or what is Allah. Many people think that Allah is the “Muslim God”, as if He were a separate entity from the “Christian God”. In fact, Allah is the standard word for God amongst all Arabic speakers; Muslims, Christians and Jews. If you pick up an Arabic version of the Bible you will find the name Allah used for God. Surprised? Islam teaches that there is only one God, the same God that has revealed himself since the beginning of time to various prophets such as Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them all. Islam teaches that the cycle of humanity is something like this: God reveals himself to a prophet who then goes forth and preaches to his people, most of the people reject that prophet while a small number, usually the poor and downtrodden, will faithfully follow that prophet throughout his life. When the prophet dies there will be a group of people that continues to follow him, but slowly, over a period of generations, the information that the prophet taught will be lost or changed by mankind. Eventually, God sends another prophet to confirm the message that was brought before him and to bring people back to the straight path. Muslims believe that Muhammad (PBUH) was the final prophet to be sent forth by God to mankind, the seal of prophethood. Perhaps the most important concept of God in Islam is the concept of Tawhid, which refers to the oneness of Allah. The greatest sin is to associate partners in the worship of God, this is called shirk in Arabic. God is only one, but that is not like the number one which can be divided into smaller parts, such as the trinity, but one and indivisible. God describes himself in varying, subtle ways throughout the Qur’an, leaving the reader with no clear concept of what exactly He is. Even the pronoun that God uses for himself in the Qur’an is constantly changing, sometimes it is the “royal we”, sometimes it is “I” and at still other times it is the third person “He”. This is meant to leave the reader with no clear concept of God in their mind. In fact, God says in the Qur’an that He does not resemble any of His creations which is, of course, a major difference from Christianity. The fact that God is the supreme creator and doesn’t resemble any of his creations, means that any image you might come up with in your mind of what God is or looks like is false, because the mind itself is a creation. However, we can get an understanding of who Allah is by his attributes. In the Qur’an Allah gives 99 names to himself, each of which is one of His divine attributes. Those names are, in English: The compassionate, The merciful, The sovereign, The holy one who is free from all blemishes, The source of all peace, The giver of peace, The giver of protection, The mighty, The overpowering Lord, The self-glorious, The creator, The one who gives life, The fashioner of shapes, The exceedingly forgiving, The one who has control over all things, The giver of all things, The sustainer and provider, The remover of difficulties and giver of decisions, The all-knowing, The straightener of sustenance, The extender of sustenance, The one who humbles and lowers, The exalter, The giver of honor, The giver of dishonor, The all-hearing, The all-seeing, The maker of immutable judgment, The just, The knower of innermost secrets, The all-knowing, The clement, The great, The forgiving, The highly grateful, The most high, The infinite, The protector, The giver of sustenance and strength, The reckoner, The one with exalted position, The benevolent, The caretaker, The answerer of prayers, The lenient, The wise, The most loving, The venerable, The resurrector of the dead, The omnipresent, The truth, The provident, The almighty, The invincible, The patron, The praiseworthy, The keeper of counts, The originator, The one who has the power to create again, The giver of life, The giver of death, The everlasting, The sustainer of life, The all-perfect, The all-excellent, The one unequalled, The one free from want, The all-powerful, The source of all power, The one who causes advancement, The one who retards, The first, The last, The obvious, The latent, The one who exercises responsibility over all things, The one far above the attributes of the entire creation, The beneficent, The oft-returning, The one who takes retribution, The one who pardons, The king, The possessor of sovereignty, The majestic and benevolent, The most just, The assembler, The free from need, The supplier of needs to others, The hinderer, The one who can cause loss, The one who confers benefits, The light, The one who gives guidance, The devisor, The eternal, The one who remains alive after everyone and everything dies, The one who loves virtue and piety and The most forbearing. That is Allah, the one true God.

by: Laura Cosse'

What is Islam?

This short article is the first in a seven part series called Islam 101. As the name indicates, this series of articles is meant to, Insha Allah, give a brief, succinct overview of some of the basic beliefs of Islam. So what exactly is Islam? The name itself comes from the root word “salam” which means “peace” in Arabic. “Islam” actually means “submission”, which is understood as submission of the human being’s will to the will of God. So, a complete definition for the word Islam would be “submission to God in order to obtain peace.” And a Muslim, coming from that same root word s-l-m, is a person who submits himself to God in order to obtain peace. How do we submit ourselves to God? The answer is that it is not easy, it is extremely difficult. To submit yourself to God means putting your own natural human desires on the back shelf when they conflict with God’s desires. It means caring more about the next life than this one. It means desiring the intangible good of the hereafter more than the material things of this world. It means conquering our inner pride, loving the things that God loves and hating the things that He hates. It’s a tall order for a mere human. Islam is more than just a religion that one should think about once a week; Islam is an entire way of life. Islam gives guidance for every aspect of a person’s life, including what food to eat, what clothes to wear, and how to act as a mother, father, brother, sister and member of society in general. It’s all inclusive, or at least it should be. If all people perfectly submitted their wills to God’s we would have a near utopian society. Human beings need structure in their lives, which is observable in day to day activities. There are 5 pillars of Islam which provide that crucial structure to a person’s life. These 5 pillars are the foundation of an individual’s religion, without them there can be no Islam, but they are only the bare minimum requirements. The first is the shahada, or the declaration of faith. It is when a person says and believes that there is no deity worth of any type of worship except for God, and that Muhammad is His messenger. The second is the prayer which should be performed a minimum of 5 times each day. The third is zakat which can be thought of as a tax to feed the poor and purify your money. The fourth is fasting for the entire month of Ramadan from sunrise to sunset each day. Last but not least, the fifth is the hajj which is the pilgrimage to Mecca. The hajj should be performed at least once in a person’s life if they are able. There is so much more that can be said on this topic, but we will leave it here until next time. Thank you for reading and God bless!

by: Laura Cosse'

Organizing Without Going Physical And Emotionally Bankrupt

A few years ago on a Monday night I was giving my 10 year old daughter instructions on cleaning her room. I was pointing out the clothes and nick nacks that needed to be put away, where to put them and how to organize the room. I was going a mile a minute just picturing the progress she would make with my expert advice when she said to me "MOM, ISN'T THERE A TUESDAY?" That brought me up short. I didn't know what she meant until I stopped to think what she was saying. When we get an idea that we are going to organize and everything will be perfect right now, —remember the saying: "Rome wasn't built in a day"—we don't need to get everything de-cluttered and organized in one day. It is an important step in organizing anything, a room, a closet, a desk, an office, shelves, attic, or garage, or other places we realize it is important that first comes chaos during the organizing process. When looking at the project it may feel overwhelming but realizing physically things will purposefully be undone and many times emotionally we will be undone and there will be chaos, but when focusing on the goal we can be sure it will all be organized and something better will have been accomplished. It shows something new is being created in your life. Remember the Phoenix was burnt to ashes? Out of the ashes it was reborn. When doing many ordinary tasks first comes chaos. For Example: Take clothes shopping for instance. By searching through racks and stacks of clothes, discarding many and trying on others; we eventually find what we want and then purchase them. Once home it is necessary to sort through the bags and separate the clothes in piles according to the person they were intended for. These will then be taken to their rooms to be put away. The shopping experience went from chaos to organization. For people who sew or quilt first comes organized chaos. There is the process of selecting the fabric among a plethora of bolts of fabric, finding the right pattern, gathering the necessary supplies, cutting the fabric into pieces, then sewing it all back together to make a beautiful quilt. This beautiful work of art started in creative chaos. When students are studying for a test it first starts with chaos. There are books to read, notes to refer back to, study groups to attend and organizing of thoughts. Then comes the test and it all comes together. By taking things one step at a time we will accomplish what we want to accomplished and be organized with the least amount of stress. Remembering that first comes chaos both physically and emotionally but out of this will rise calm, peace and a sense of accomplishment. When tackling a room, a box, the kitchen cupboards, or the closet that will hardly close just remember there IS a Tuesday and by starting with one thing at a time, realizing out of chaos comes beauty organizing will be a rewarding and less stressful.

by: Marilyn Bohn