☪ Who are Muslims? ☪

Who are Muslims?

The followers of the faith Islam are called Muslims. Muslims do not worship Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who, according to their religion, was a Prophet divinely inspired, but a mortal man. ‘Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is only (a man) charged with a Mission, before whom there have been others who received heavenly Missions and died.’



Muhammad did not claim to be the founder of a new religion; his mission was to restore the earlier religions to their pristine purity. The Muslims believes in a chain of inspired prophets and teachers, who taught the same truths, beginning with the dawn of religious consciousness in man. With the evolution, progress, and advancement of humanity, the Divine Will reveals and manifests itself more clearly and distinctly. They believe in the Divine Revelations of all earlier prophets, and that the Koran is the latest Revelation of them all, and has been sent to revive and consolidate the fundamental truths of religion, to the end that it might consolidate the fundamental truths of religion, to the end that it might continue in the earth.



The Koran makes no distinction between any of the prophets, and the Muslims use for all of them the same term of respect, as they use for their own prophet, Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The Muslims believes in the message of Lord Jesus (peace be upon him) but not in his divinity or son ship. We are all of God (Allah), and towards Him are we progressing.’ The spark of the Divine is latent in the heart of every atom.



The Muslim conception of God (Allah) is that He does not assume human form and is free from all human needs and imperfections; He is One, Invisible, Eternal, Indivisible, Beneficent, Almighty, All-Knowing, Omnipresent, Just, Merciful, Loving and Forgiving. Belief in the unity of God (Allah) is the essential requirement for a Muslim; no baptism or formal ceremony of conversion is necessary as in the Christian religion.



The Muslims believe that the Jews made the mistake of denying the Mission of Christ, and that the Christians erred by exceeding the bounds of praise and deifying Christ. In order to avoid any misconception, Muhammad’s (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) position as a Messenger or Prophet of Allah is repeatedly made clear.



There is neither monasticism nor any priesthood in Islam. Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The retirement that becomes my followers is to live in the world and yet to sit in the corner of a Mosque in the expectation of prayers.” Muslims do not believe that any priest, pastor or saint can intervene or mediate between the individual worshipper and his Creator, nor can anyone grant indulgence or absolution from sins. In congregational worship any Muslim of good character can be the ‘Imam’ or leader of the prayers in the Mosque. The idea of a church and clergy in the Christian sense is foreign to and unknown in Islam.



The Muslims believe in the immortality of the soul, and the accountability for human actions in another existence; but they do not accept the doctrine of original sin, and hence, according to Islam, the souls of unbaptised babes are not lost. Muslims do not believe in the doctrine of Redemption or of vicarious atonement: each soul must work out its own salvation. It is therefore held that, provided a person believes in the cardinal doctrines of Islam, no one can say that he is not a Muslim. If a bad Muslim amends and reforms by sincere repentance, Allah will forgive his sins. Islam does not promise salvation to Muslims alone, but gives equal hope to the righteous and God-fearing of all religions. And Allah says,

“…Whether Muslim, Jew, Christian or Sabian, whosoever believes in Allah and in the Last Day and does good to others, verily he shall find his recompense with his Lord. For him there shall be no terror, neither any torment nor suffering.” (Koran: V 2:62)