Understanding Islam in 7 minutes
Preamble
At first, May Allah's blessings, who created us and created everything, to guide you to the path to Paradise that you are looking for.
Especially if you know that there are more than ten thousand religions in this world, each of which claims to be the right religion. In fact, the right religion can only be one of these religions, and it is that reaches Paradise.
Therefore, every sane person shall look for this right religion in order to win Paradise and be saved from Hell, no matter how much time and effort it costs him.

 Introduction:
The most prominent reasons that prompted many Pastors, Scholars and Thinkers from all over the world to enter Islam were monitored. The most prominent of these are four main reasons as follows:
1- The unity of God the Exalted and Glorious, the Almighty said, “Say: 'He is Allah, the One – the called upon – Who has not given birth, and has not been born – and there is none equal to Him.”
2- If a person has sinned, he does not need a medium between him and God, but rather he turns to God Almighty for forgiveness of his sin.
3- That a person is born without sin, so no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.
4- Equality between people, no one is preferred over another except by fearing God.

 Meaning of Islam:
In order to clarify the meaning for us, I will briefly mention a number of definitions of Islam by some Muslim scholars and thinkers:
 It is called Islam because the Muslim surrenders his command to God, unites Him, and worships Him alone.
 Islam in its general sense means submitting to God’s judgments by following His orders and avoiding His prohibitions, and all the prophets called for that.
 The essence of the message of Islam includes the message of every prophet and every book revealed. All the prophets, from Adam, peace be upon him, to Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, brought Islam. Therefore, we see that the foundations of the messages of the prophets and the principles of their call are the same, because they are prophets from one sender, who is the Lord of the Worlds.

We note that all of these definitions are close and taken from what God, may His Glory be exalted, has mentioned in the Holy Qur’an: The Almighty said (Say: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam)." Surah Al-Baqarah
And the Almighty said: He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus - to establish the religion and not be divided therein. Difficult for those who associate others with Allah is that to which you invite them. Allah chooses for Himself Whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him]. Surah Ash-shuraa.

 Major issues
It is the orbit of questions for all religions, but the Islamic religion is unique in its complete clarity in explaining these important issues, which are:
The story of humanity, the origin of sin and forgiveness, the sending of prophets, and the relationship between religions.
All this is explained by the noble verses of the Holy Qur’an:
1- When your Lord said to the angels: 'I am placing on the earth a caliph, ' they replied: 'Will You put there who corrupts and sheds blood, when we exalt Your praises and sanctify You? ' He said: 'I know what you do not know. '
2- And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful."
3- They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise."
4- He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had informed them of their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed."
5- And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers.
6- And We said, "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers."
7- But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time."
8- Then Adam received from his Lord Words. And his Lord pardoned him (accepted his repentance). Verily, He is the One Who forgives (accepts repentance), the Most Merciful.
9- We said: "Get down all of you from this place (the Paradise), then whenever there comes to you Guidance from Me, and whoever follows My Guidance, there shall be no fear on them, nor shall they grieve.
10- And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs - those will be companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally." This shows that Islam is not a new religion. It is the religion of instinct and the religion of all prophets.

Islam has six belief pillars:
1. Belief in Allah: He is the Creator, the Owner, the Ruler, and He alone is deserving of worship. He has the greatest beautiful names (Al-Asma Ul-Husna) and supreme perfect attributes. Allah says: “Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.
2. Belief in angels: They are honorable slaves created by Allah, so they worshiped and obeyed Him, and assigned them various works, among them Gabriel, Mikael and Israfil and the angel of death, who is charged with catching souls.
3. Belief in the Books of Allah: It is belief in in the Books of Allah revealed to the prophets and messengers, such as the Torah revealed to the prophet Moosa, peace be upon him, the Injeel revealed to the prophet ISA (Jesus), peace be upon him, the Zabur revealed to the prophet Dawood, peace be upon him, and the Suhuf revealed to the prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and the last of which is the Great Qur’an that collected and copied the previous books and Allah preserved it, and the Qur’an will remain a proof for all of creation until the Last Day.
4. Belief in the Messengers: Allah sent messengers to His creation, the first one was Noah, peace be upon him, passing through a large number of prophets, including Ibrahim, Moosa and (ISA) Jesus, peace be upon them all, and Mohammed is the last and final prophet, peace be upon him, as Allah ends the messages with the prophet Mohammed and sent him to all people, peace be upon him after whom there is no other Prophet.
5. Belief in the Last Day: It is the Last Day on which Allah will gather all creation when people will be resurrected from their graves to enter in the bliss of Heaven or the misery of Hell.
6. Belief in Fate and Destiny (good and bad): It is the belief that Allah destined beings and created creatures. Allah knew the deeds of His slaves and the destinies of His creation before He created them, and He wrote that in the Divine-protected Tablet. You shall know that whatever befalls you was never going to miss you and whatever missed you was never going to come to you.

Islam is based on five practical pillars, namely:
1. The First Pillar: Bearing witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. This testimony of faith is the key to Islam and its foundation on which it is built.
2. The Second Pillar: Prayer (Salah), which is the most important pillar of Islam. Five prayers are performed during the day and night. It is a link between the slave and his Lord, in which he speaks with Allah and pray. The slave attains psychological and physical comfort, which pleases him in this world and the Hereafter.
3. The Third Pillar: Zakat, which is an affordable charity that obliges the rich to spend for the poor, purify their wealth, console those in need and drive the pests away from their property.
4. The Fourth Pillar: Fasting the holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar months, in which all Muslims give up their desires of food, drink and consummation of marriage from dawn to sunset.
5. The Fifth Pillar: Hajj, which is going to the Sacred House of Allah (The Kaaba) to perform a specific act of worship at a specific time that Allah has imposed on those who are capable once in a lifetime. Muslims gather from everywhere in the best parts of the earth wearing the same simple white garment. There is no difference between the boss and the subordinate, the rich and the poor, the white and the black.

● This is Islam:
● A realistic religion in line with human innateness. Islam regulated the lives of its people, individuals and groups, in a way that guarantees them happiness in this world and the Hereafter. Islam permitted all that is beneficial such as: marriage, trade offers and all good things, and prohibited everything that is harmful such as: adultery, homosexuality, alcohol, drugs, and all Maliciousness.
● Islam is a religion that includes the relationship between the slave and Allah. Islam explains to the slave what he shall do and what he shall not do with accuracy, clarity and ease. Islam also clarified to slave the relationship between him and people in all his affairs. Slave walks with insight until he meets Allah Almighty.
● Islam is a religion that conforms to spiritual and physical demands.
● Islam is a religion of moral and sensory hygiene, such as: washing from impurity, washing on Friday, ablution five times a day, adorning yourself for prayer, circumcision, shaving the pubic hair, plucking the armpits, etc.
● Islam is a religion that urges righteousness to one's parents and kinship cordiality.
● Islam is a religion that recommends the neighbor, and consideration for the elderly, widows and the needy.
● Islam is a religion that urges knowledge and action and brotherhood between reason and science.
● A religion that saved the woman and preserved her rights, granted her the right to keep her money with the obligation of the husband’s maintenance on her. It gave her the right of the name so that she does not belong to the husband but rather to her family. It gave her the right to be financially supported if she is a mother, sister or relative. It gave her the right to khula’. It gave her the right to ask for divorce. It singled her out with a precise and comprehensive system for everything related to them and guaranteed her rights.

● How to be a Muslim
That is by pronouncing the two testimonies, “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” then washing and practicing the rituals of Islam. It is not a requirement that you go to the mosque and you can say it yourself and then become a Muslim.

● Conclusion
Islam is the religion that God has accepted for his creation, an easy and facilitating religion, with no difficulty or hardship in it. It did not obligate its adherents to what they could not, it is a religion based on the worship of Allah alone, and its motto is honesty. There is nothing in the Sharia of Islam that minds do not comprehend, as well as its commands, all of them are justice. whenever the wise and intelligent people contemplates the rulings of Islam, they will find that it calls to good manners, calls to honesty, chastity, justice, keeping promises, fulfilling trusts, honoring the guest, and showing good morals. Islam calls to attain enjoying the pleasures of life with purpose and moderation. It only enjoins what brings happiness and prosperity to the individual and the group, and it only forbids what brings misery and harm to the worshippers.

In conclusion, I ask Allah to open your heart to worship him alone and to grant us sincerity in saying and doing, for He is the Guardian of that and the One who is capable of it.

Contents
● Introduction.
● The most prominent four reasons that prompted many priests and scholars to convert to Islam.
● Meaning of Islam.
● Major issues: the story of humanity, the origin of sin, and the relationship between religions.
● Pillars of Faith.
● Pillars of Islam.
● Some of the beauties of Islam.

Written by / Suleiman bin Ahmed Al-Yahya
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