This article is based on a general situation in the world today. It is not directed to a specific Muslim community, nor is it meant to condemn or judge the religious beliefs of anyone. Whatever is presented here can be established from the Quran, God’s Final Testament to the world, and readers can verify everything for themselves. God is the Best Judge, and He alone knows who is a true Muslim and who isn’t.
For a greater insight into this subject, please explore the online references provided throughout this document. It is recommended that you first understand why God created the human being and what is its role on Earth. This knowledge will help you appreciate the topic being discussed here and more importantly, provide answers to your most crucial questions about life, death, happiness, religious choices, etc.
Why Were We Created
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Most people who profess to be Muslims are not really Muslims in the true sense. And when they claim to follow the religion of Islam, most of what they believe or practice is quite different from the religion detailed in their scripture, the Quran. While you may be surprised to read this, it is true - as true as the fact that the vast majority of Muslims are going to Hell forever, not to Heaven by default which they believe.
To know why the “Muslims” do not really qualify to be called Muslims, let us start with knowing the function of the Quran and meaning of the words Islam and Muslim:
The principal role of all human beings is to seek redemption to God so they may return to Him after their death in this world. But to be redeemed to Him, they must first develop their souls large enough to withstand His awesome presence in the Hereafter which can only be achieved by worshipping God alone and leading a righteous life that pleases Him.
To ensure that they achieve the required level of soul growth and stay on the right track throughout their lives, God has been sending the humans instructions from Him, telling them exactly what they should do or not do on Earth. These instructions have come to the people in the form of ‘scriptures’ delivered by select ‘messengers,’ called prophets - specially appointed by God for this purpose. Any individual or community that “submits to” or obeys God’s will in His scriptures, is guaranteed a happy life in this world and redemption to God in the Hereafter.
The Quran is God’s Final Testament to the world. Revealed in Arabic to Prophet Muhammad over twenty three years between 610 and 632 AD, it is the only scripture in existence that is intact and accurately preserved by God down to every letter. It confirms, consummates, and supersedes all previous scriptures from God, giving the world a complete and perfect manual of “how to submit to God,” in one single book. Everything you need from social, economical, political and judicial laws, along with specific worship practices to develop your soul and enjoy God’s grace and protection throughout your life, is contained in the Quran.
This “system” or religion of ‘Submission to God’ is called Islam, and the one who practices the religion exactly as per Quran is called a Muslim. In English, the words for Islam and Muslim are “Submission” and “Submitter.”
Submitter/Submission
Quran, The Final Testament
Unfortunately, those who call themselves Muslims do not really qualify to be Muslims by virtue of the fact that they neither worship God alone, nor follow the Quran alone as their source of religious guidance. What they believe and practice (knowingly or unknowingly), is significantly different from the clear and precise instructions detailed in the Quran. A few examples below will explain this:
The foundation or first ‘pillar’ of Islam is La Elaaha Ella Allah (No god except God), and all Muslims are required to bear witness to this fact. This is highlighted in Quran verse 3:18, where God also bears witness for Himself that “there is no god except He, and so do the angels and those who possess knowledge.”
But the Muslims do not bear witness about God like this. Instead of their Shahaadah (proclamation of faith) which should be Ash-hadu Al La Elaaha Ellaa Allah (I bear witness that there is no god except God), they proclaim, Ash-hadu Al La Elaaha Ellaa Allah, wa Ash-hadu An Muhammad Rasool Allah (I bear witness that there is no god except God and I bear witness that Muhammad is God’s messenger). Adding names or bearing witness about another entity along with God constitutes ‘Shirk’ (Idolatry), and a direct violation of the first pillar of Islam, nullifying anyone’s claim to be a Muslim at the most elementary phase.
Additionally, proclaiming that Muhammad is God’s messenger and not doing the same for God’s other messengers such as Abraham, David, Moses, John, Jesus etc, directly violates God’s command not to make distinction among His messengers.
The First Pillar of Islam (Submission)
God
Setting up Muhammad as a partner or ‘god’ besides God
God alone created the universe and He alone is the Lord and Master over all things. He has no partner and none equals Him. While the Muslims may claim to worship God alone, the truth is that they often have difficulty in just mentioning God without mentioning Prophet Muhammad along with Him. Instead of reverencing God, they idolize Prophet Muhammad against his will and give him superhuman status by claiming that he was infallible with power of intercession and mercy, which God never decreed for him or anyone else.
Reverencing anyone else besides God; mentioning other names along with God; or believing that anything or anyone besides God can help you in this life or in the Hereafter, constitutes setting up of partners or ‘gods’ besides God. This is Shirk or Idol Worship by definition, and is an unforgivable offense if maintained till death.
Idol Worship
Monotheism
Besides the first pillar of Islam, there are four other pillars which comprise the specific practices that must be performed to enable the soul to grow in huge proportions. These are the Salat (Contact Prayers), Zakat (Obligatory Charity), Seyam (Fasting) and Hajj (Pilgrimage). Like with everything else, these practices are also grossly violated by the Muslims.
Religious Duties: A Gift From God
Salat (Contact Prayers): There are five ‘Contact Prayers’ which must be performed daily at particular times during the day. These prayers are a mathematically coded set of specific sound and body movements that establish ‘direct’ contact with God. Any deviation from the format prescribed by God nullifies the prayers, which is just what the Muslims world over are doing. For example:
Zakat (Obligatory Charity): The Zakat charity is an efficient economic system which guarantees regular provisions for the needy and ensures constant circulation of wealth. It is calculated at 2.5% of net income and given away on the ‘day of harvest’ (like when you receive a paycheck) to parents, relatives, orphans, poor and the traveling alien, in that order. It is such an important practice that God specifies His mercy for those who give it (7:156), but the Muslims insist on doing it all wrong. They calculate their Zakat only on gross assets, once a year during the month of Ramadan, and do not distribute it in the specified order of recipients. Their corrupted practice is not practical because:
Seyam (Fasting): Fasting throughout the month of Ramadan is a great opportunity to develop the soul by practicing self discipline, besides its scientifically proven health benefits by giving the digestive system some rest. But the Muslims have innovated so many complex rules around it that it appears difficult and takes away from the significance of the practice. Some of the man-made illogical rules include: not swallowing saliva when fasting, prohibiting watching TV for the whole month, starting and ending the month only after physically sighting the moon, religiously requiring ending the fast only with date fruit or salt.
Seyam (Fasting)
Hajj (Pilgrimage): The pilgrimage to Mecca is decreed once in a lifetime for those who can afford it. God has decreed four months in which to do Hajj but local Governments restrict it to a few days for their convenience. The consequent overcrowding results in constant dealing with crowds rather than spending those precious few days in concerted worship of God alone. Hajj cannot be performed by one person for another person who is alive or dead. Yet many poor Muslims sell off their assets or go into lifetime debt to make it, because they believe that performing Hajj wipes out all past and future sins.
Besides a variety of complicated rules never decreed by God, most pilgrims also visit Medina to pray at Prophet Muhammad’s tomb. The Prophet, like every true Submitter (Muslim), dedicated his worship practices absolutely to God alone and preached that everyone should do the same. He never visited his own tomb (obviously), and never asked or expected anyone to reverence him before or after his death. He could not help people when he was alive (10:49) so how will it help to commemorate him after this death?
Hajj (Pilgrimage)
The Quran is a perfect, easy-to-follow manual of religious guidance for every generation, if only people would just kill their egos and follow it for their happiness and salvation. In it, God has outlined a comprehensive system that deals with and provides a solution for every aspect of a human’s life from birth to death. Besides the prescribed religious practices, there are also specific laws and guidelines for people to establish a free, fair, and progressive society to live in. But the Muslims have abandoned the Glorious Quran in favor of conjecture, personal opinions (mostly for their convenience), and sources not authorized by God, such as the Hadith and Sunna, which they believe are needed to explain the Quran.
In reality, the Hadith (narrations) and Sunna (actions) are gross falsehoods attributed to Prophet Muhammad and appeared only about two hundred years after his death. In Quran, God mentions the word Hadith by name several times and commands Muslims to study and follow no other Hadith except His Hadith – the Quran (45:6, 7:185, 39:23). The Quran is totally free from any nonsense or contradictions, unlike what is found in the many books of Hadith. It is also an acknowledged fact that the Hadith compilers abandoned over 90% of their own collections because they could not confirm them to be accurate or authentic. Strangely, when the Muslims insist that the Hadith books are needed to explain the Quran, the Hadith passages never tell you which verses of the Quran they are supposed to be explaining!
Hadith & Sunna: Satanic Innovations
Because they do not study the Quran, the Muslims do not realize that the prophet’s role was only to deliver the Quran, not explain it (75:16-19). Even the religious practices of Salat, Zakat, Seyam and Hajj were not taught to him as commonly believed. These practices were taught to Prophet Abraham (21:73) many centuries earlier and were already in existence when the Quran was revealed. However, as a religious and political leader, the prophet was authorized by God to issue certain instructions for the proper functioning of the society and responsible dissemination of God’s message. Whenever he issued such instructions, the people were required to obey him and carry out those instructions.
So in Quran, when God says, ‘obey the messenger,’ it is with reference to those specific instructions when he was alive, not after his death. But the Muslims have taken this completely out of context and created a false parallel religion based on what Prophet Muhammad “apparently” said or did. This covers things like what clothes he wore, how he walked, combed his hair, ate his food and what not - which even if true - have nothing to do with the religion. Whatever we need to do – even our personal actions - is already made clear in the Quran. Ironically, when they claim that they must ‘do as the prophet did,’ the Muslims never seem to copy the prophet’s excellent example of devoting his life and worship absolutely to God alone and following nothing but the Quran for his guidance.
Role of the Prophet Muhammad
Quran, Hadith and Islam
The Muslims who depend on Hadith and Sunnah have completely blocked themselves out of the incredible wisdom of the Quran, and are living in a cesspool of falsehood and confusion led by ignorant/hypocrite religious leaders and scholars. A few examples of false beliefs which have absolutely no basis in the Quran are listed below.
▼The Falsehood: God loves Muslims the most and all of them are guaranteed Paradise. Even if a few really bad ones are sent to Hell, God will forgive them and get them out of there after a few days.
▲The Truth: God gives all humans the opportunity to redeem themselves with no special allowances for anybody (2:62, 5:69). Anyone who wants to go to Paradise needs to worship God alone, while believing in the Last Day and leading righteous life. Most of those who call themselves Muslim are headed towards Hell because they do not uphold God’s words, the Quran.
Quran: All You Need For Salvation
▼The Falsehood: Prophet Muhammad will intercede for the Muslims and save them on the Day of Judgment.
▲The Truth: To believe that anyone, other than God, can intercede on our behalf to have our sins forgiven or our wishes fulfilled, is to set up partners with God. This is idolatry. The Quran proclaims that “All intercession belongs to God” (39:44), and that there will be “no intercession on the Day of Judgment” (2:254).
The Myth of Intercession
▼The Falsehood: For men, sporting a beard is more ‘prophet-like.’ They may wear silver ornaments but never gold, though dental caps made in gold are okay! Women must be covered from head to toe as much as possible. Women cannot wear make-up or nail polish when observing the five daily Salat prayers.
▲The Truth: Both men and women are required to dress modestly and subdue their eyes (24:30-31). Women are required to lengthen their garments (33:59) and cover their chests –not live in a shrouded world of darkness and suffocation. As long as the ablution before the Contact Prayers is observed (5:6), women are free to wear make-up, jewelry or nail polish when praying. Because of their own illogical rules, many Muslim women do not pray at the times decreed by God.
Dress Code
▼The Falsehood: Green is a ‘Muslim’ color, and Friday is an ‘Islamic’ day to start a new venture.
▲The Truth: There is no such thing as a Muslim or Islamic color, and there is no day or time which is more lucky or auspicious in Islam.
▼The Falsehood: Food must only be served and eaten with the right hand. A toilet must never face the direction of the Ka’bah (the Sacred Masjid in Mecca).
▲The Truth: Muslims use both hands during prayer, both hands to earn money, and both hands to cook food. They should be appreciative of both the hands God has given them. If God did not want them to use their left hand for anything, He would have pointed it out in the Quran. The Ka’bah is a focal point for the people (2:125) and determines the direction Muslims face towards when observing the Contact Prayers (Salat). It has nothing to do with the direction you may face when you use the toilet, walk, or sleep.
▼The Falsehood: Taking pictures/videos, or displaying art paintings with humans in them is not recommended because that is akin to creating idols for worship. However, watching TV and movies is okay, except in the months or Ramadan and Muharram.
▲The Truth: What can one say, except that God condemns innovated prohibitions? (7:32)
▼The Falsehood: Hosting special prayers for the dead; making someone perform Hajj or recite Quran for days on end will absolve the deceased person from non-compliance of religious duties when he or she was alive.
▲The Truth: The human was created to work hard to redeem himself, and everyone is responsible for his or her own actions (2:135, 28:55, 53:39). There is no intercession and no nepotism in the Hereafter. No one can perform your obligations for you, and no amount of praying by someone else is going to help you if you choose to commit idol-worship.
▼The Falsehood: Quran must be read and recited in Arabic, even if you don’t understand it. If you want to know what God is saying, you can ask the religious leaders and scholars - who are well versed in Hadith.
▲The Truth: While there are good reasons why God revealed the Quran in Arabic, God wants you to understand the Quran when you read it. This is why God encourages translation of the Quran (26:198-199). Nowhere does He say that the Quran can only be read and recited only in Arabic. God wants people to understand the instructions in the Quran so they can do all the right things, not memorize and recite it without knowing what it says.
Why Was the Quran Revealed in Arabic?
▼The Falsehood: Muslim men can marry four wives.
▲The Truth: The Quran does not encourage polygamy. Taking on an additional wife is only allowed if the objective is to provide fatherly support for an orphaned child. Even then it is discouraged because it is not possible to be equitable in a polygamous relationship. Marrying another wife for carnal pleasure or some other unrighteous reason is not allowed.
Polygamy
As you may have figured by now, most of those who call themselves Muslims are not really Muslims in the true sense, because they do not follow Islam the way God has decreed it. Today the word Muslim has become more of a generic term used to identify a group of people based on certain socio-religious or cultural traits that have become associated with ‘being Muslim.’ For example, using “Arabic sounding” names, using typical socio-religious expressions, dressing in a certain cultural manner and so on. However, none of these external symbols indicate that they are assured of God’s favor upon them no matter what they do on Earth. In other words, nobody becomes a Submitter to God (true Muslim) just by being born into “Muslim-like” surroundings.
Interestingly, when Muslims introduce themselves to each other, they rarely leave it at just saying they are Muslims. Invariably, they have to further distinguish their identity by mentioning which sect of Islam they belong to, even though God has prohibited the formation of sects (6:159, 30:32). Despite their common dependence on Hadith which they think will resolve every aspect of the religion, the Muslims have divided themselves into various factions and rarely see eye to eye over each other’s interpretations of Hadith!
If you think the Muslims are united in practice or knowledge, they are not, and you can check this for yourself. Ask questions about the religion to a few Muslims and you will receive a variety of different answers even from within the same sect. If you challenge the answer or ask for support from Quran, you may be asked to accept the explanation blindly or mind your own business – but you still won’t get a collective answer from Quran!
If you are a reader from a Muslim background and are disappointed or concerned with what you have read here, it is quite understandable, but that is not the objective of this article. Instead, look upon this as an eye opener because the situations described here are true. If God’s perfect religion guarantees a happy and dignified life on Earth, why is it that the Muslims are among the poorest, least developed most tyrannized people in the world? Why does everyone look upon them and Islam with suspicion or aversion?
Obviously they are not doing what God has told them to do in the Quran. Additionally, God will hold them responsible for creating a false picture about His great religion ordained for the world. If the Muslims want to exit the mess they are in, they have to first kill their egos and think about what they are doing. All they need to do is worship God alone, follow the Quran alone and abandon all that they have been blindly practicing till now. If they just repent to God, ask His forgiveness and reform, He will turn everything around for them and guide them in His path of sovereignty, peace and happiness.
At an individual level, you may wish to examine your own practices, just in case you need to correct something before it is too late. Do not let Satan scare you over the requirement to remove Prophet Muhammad’s name from your worship. When you call upon God alone, it does not mean you are disregarding Prophet Muhammad. In fact, when you devote your worship absolutely to God alone, you will be following the prophet in the true sense, because that is exactly what he did. When you reject Hadith, you will be showing your support for the prophet by absolving him of the gross falsehood attributed to him. It is just not worth it for you to care about what your friends and relatives may say or think - a major hurdle for most - because they will not come to your help on the Day of Resurrection. Instead, if you seek dignity with God, He will soften the hearts of the people and make them respect you over everyone else.
Invitation to people of other religions: If you come from a Christian, Jewish, Buddhist or any other background, you may also wish to consider taking a look at your religious beliefs and practices, just to be sure. With no disrespect meant to you or anyone else, a major problem with the world today is that most people do not worship God alone nor follow His truth. There may be many reasons for this: For some, it may be because they are happy to blindly follow what they have been taught since birth without realizing the corruption that has crept into all religions. For others, it may be because they don’t know where to source the correct information to be followed, even though they have been seeking the truth. Several others may be confused about the role of religion in their lives; or are too preoccupied with this world to be bothered; or just do not feel the need to let God guide them.
Whatever the reason, the fact is that God has created the human beings to give them a final chance to redeem themselves back to Him. At the end of this life, there is the irrevocable destination to Heaven or Hell forever. To help them make it, God has placed in all humans the natural instinct to recognize and worship Him alone, and given them His scriptures to guide them in the right path. In the Hereafter they will have no excuse if they fail, so it is important that all people take God seriously and submit to Him while they can.
Why Were We Created?
If you appreciate what has been shared till now, you will agree that the correct thing to do for your soul now is (a) Worship God alone and abandon all forms of idolatry; (b) ‘Submit’ to God and follow His instructions in the scripture.
When you set out to follow the scripture, you should know that scriptures prior to Quran have been lost, fragmented and corrupted over time. However, despite severe distortions, God's truth can still be found in them. For example, both the Old and New Testaments still advocate absolute devotion to God ALONE. Even the Hindu scriptures, commonly associated with worship of man-made statues, also advocate absolute devotion to God.
Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is One God!
Therefore you shall adore the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength. [Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Luke 12:29-30, Quran 3:18]
Let us meditate on God, His glorious attributes,
who is the basis of everything in this universe as its Creator,
who is fit to be worshiped as Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient
and self existent conscious being,
who removes all ignorance and impurities from the mind
and purifies and sharpens the intellect. [Gayatri Mantra, Yajur Veda]
As stated earlier in this article, the Quran is the only scripture in existence that is intact and accurately preserved by God down to every letter. It confirms, consummates and supersedes all previous scriptures from God, giving the world a complete and universal “Manual of Submission” in one single book.
But this does not mean that corruption of God’s message has not continued after revelation of the Quran. The difference is that with the previous scriptures, there is no way to verify what parts of the scripture constitute original content revealed by God and what is man-made, leaving people to follow a mix of assumptions and personal interpretations by scholars and translators. That is why there is so much confusion and disunity within all religions – because no one has an accurate and confirmed source of original reference to take guidance from. In the case of Quran, because it is God’s Final Testament to the world, God has preserved the original message exactly as it was revealed to Prophet Muhammad. The divine source and the perfect preservation of the Quran are proven by the Quran's mathematical code. Therefore, one can always return to the Quran and eliminate whatever corruption has entered the religion because the Muslims have abandoned the Quran in favor of other sources never decreed by God.
You should read this Introduction
So in reality, what lies ahead for people of all religions (including those who call themselves Muslims), is to follow God’s intact and exact guidance - if they want to ensure their happiness and redemption back to God. It is simply not worth the risk to try and make it on your own without God’s guidance, so you are encouraged to keep the big picture in mind and follow what is right. Do not let your ego come in the way of pursuing the truth, because this life is your only opportunity to redeem yourself back to God. Success in the material world is not even the remotest indication that you will be redeemed to God, because all humans are placed on Earth under circumstances God wishes them to test them in. Most people take God for granted and assume that just being nice - as per their own opinion of nice (which may be different from the next person) - is enough and that will forgive them for anything and everything they do wrong. But if your soul is not happy, you know in your heart something is missing. And if we don’t return to God’s path, the permanent loss or reward for the soul is unimaginable and irreversible. But, it’s never too late to start.
Important: It is imperative for you to know that the Quran is neither a ‘Muslim book’ nor the exclusive preserve of any community just because it was revealed in a particular place or language. It is a universal book of assured guidance for anyone who chooses to let God guide him or her. To take God’s guidance from Quran, you do not need to know Arabic, nor change your name, religious lineage, cultural habits or anything like that. Submission to God can be practiced independently and privately with direct accountability to God. In fact, Jews and Christians will be pleasantly surprised to see how much of the truth delivered by their prophets is reiterated in the Quran.
You must also know that Submission to God is an active and joyous existence where you can laugh, sing, play, study, travel, marry, pursue various vocations, earn as much as you wish etc., as long as you remain devoted to God alone and do things righteously to please Him. The Quran is your daily reference book to point out all your limits. Once you discard all your previous idols and decide to become a “Submitter” to God, He erases all your previous sins and puts you on the assured path to happiness and salvation.
Happiness: Now and Forever
As stated in the beginning, this article has not been written to condemn people or judge whether they are going to Heaven or Hell (only God decides that). It is to invite people to God’s final message to humanity. The unfortunate fact is that most of those who call themselves “Muslims” will be shocked to find they are not Muslims as per Quran, and they urgently need to know this. If they wish to continue the way they are, that is entirely their choice and God is the ultimate Judge of everyone’s actions.
The facts remain: the world is in a terrible mess, where people are in constant search of a solution that can bring peace and happiness in their individual lives and to the global community. The answer has always been to follow God’s system from His scriptures, and as you know by now, the Quran contains that specific and perfect system for today. As long as those who call themselves Muslims continue to demonstrate Islam/Submission negatively (as they are doing at present), people will be hesitant to seek God’s truth from the Quran. If the Muslims insist that the Quran is ‘their book’ and Islam is ‘their religion,’ then people are never going to know that the Quran and the religion of Submission to God alone is universal, and can is as much their religion as anyone else’s.
Nevertheless, God has promised that His system will prevail and that He will soon establish His truth over falsehood for the world to follow. This process has already begun with people from everywhere killing their egos and pursuing the truth for their happiness and salvation. This article, God willing, is only a small offering in the process to help people come to God’s guidance.
Proclamation
Peace be upon you.
Note: A summarized version of this article is available at: ../publications/books/sp/2008/apr/page1.html
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