Many
Muslims believe that Islam always existed, and that all the prophets, including
Jesus, were Muslims who practiced Islam.
This belief stems from their definition of ‘Islam’ as it is connected to
the words ‘Salam’ and ‘Muslim’.
All
three words have three letters in common: s, l, m, in that order. Salam is an Arabic Semitic word meaning
‘peace.’ It is part of the Arabic
greeting A-salam aleikum (peace be upon you).
The Hebrew Semitic equivalent of Salam is Shalom, which also means
‘peace’. The word ‘Islam’ means both
‘peace’ and ‘surrender to God (Allah)’.
The word ‘Muslim’ means ‘one who surrenders his will to the will of
God’.
With
these definitions in mind, it is clear why many Muslims believe that Islam
existed throughout the history of man, and that all the prophets were
Muslims. They believe that all the
prophets surrendered their will to the will of God (Muslim) as demanded by the
religion of Islam (surrender to God) and worshiped Him as a way to make peace
(Salam) with Him.
But
are the meanings of these words enough to paint an accurate picture of Islam
and the lives of the prophets? Is it
possible that Islam existed since the beginning of mankind and that all the
holy people of God, including the prophets and Jesus himself, were Muslims?
In
order to answer this question it is important to first lay down a few axioms—key
premises that are true in themselves:.
1.
A thought
exists only in the mind.
2.
A belief is a
series of thoughts (1) organized into a point of view that is held to be true.
3.
Since a belief
is a series of organized thoughts (2), it exists only in the mind of a human
being (1).
4.
A religion is
a belief system (a set of organized beliefs (2)) centered on a deity—a set of
beliefs (3) held to be true (2) in the minds of one or more humans (1).
5.
If one or
more people hold a set of beliefs (of a religion (4)) then that religion
exists.
6.
If no people
hold a set of beliefs (of a religion (4)) then that religion does not exist.
7.
Islam is a
religion (4) that requires 2 fundamental beliefs (3):
a.
That there is
only One God.
b.
That Muhammad
was God’s (last) Prophet.
Premise
1 is a simple statement that is observed by everyone every day. A living human being, even one with the lowest
intelligence, has a functioning mind that produces thought. Man is said to be a thinking animal, and a
being of rational or irrational thought.
A dead person has a brain that has ceased to function and a mind that
has ceased to exist, therefore it has no thought. All thoughts exist in the mind. Likewise, it could be stated that a man who
has never existed has never had a mind, and therefore has never held any
thoughts which could be organized into a set of beliefs centered on a deity.
Premise
2 states that a belief is composed of many thoughts, and that it is something
held to be true. After all, humans
believe what they perceive as true and disbelieve what they perceive as false.
Premise
3 expands a bit on the first two premises.
Since a belief is a set of organized thoughts, and since thoughts exist
only in the mind, then a belief can exist nowhere else but in the mind.
Premise
4 expands on the first three premises.
Since beliefs are thoughts that exist only in the mind and since
religion is a set of organized beliefs centered on a deity, then religion can
only exist in the mind and nowhere else.
Premise
5 expands on the previous four premises.
If one person holds a set of beliefs centered on a deity (a religion),
then that religion exists (in the mind of that person). If multiple people hold the same organized
set of beliefs (a religion) then that religion exists (in the minds) and it
becomes a more pronounced religion.
Premise
6 is the negation of Premise 5. If
nobody holds a set of beliefs centered on a deity (a religion) then that
religion is not in the thoughts of anyone, and that religion does not exist.
Different
belief systems have different identifying names, and the adherents of those
belief systems are named after their respective belief systems. Those who believe in, identify with, and
adhere to Judaism are called Jews. Those
who believe in, identify with, and adhere to Christianity are called Christians. Those who believe in, identify with, and
adhere to Islam are called Muslims.
These religions exist because their respective set of beliefs are held
and shared by their respective groups of adherents.
Premise
7 states the two fundamental requirements needed to hold the organized set of
beliefs (the religion) known as Islam.
This premise also suggests that different religions are based on
different organized sets of beliefs.
This premise reflects the words of the Shahadah, the Arabic name of the
Islamic creed of the faith stated by both Muslims and those converting to
Islam.
Premise
5 shows that Christianity exists because Christians exist. The set of organized beliefs known as
Christianity is held in the minds of all those who call themselves
Christians. They call themselves
Christians because they hold those beliefs to be true. Likewise, Judaism exists because Jews
exist. Islam exists because Muslims
exist.
Premise
6 shows the converse to be true. If all
the Christians in the world suddenly stopped believing in Christianity, then
Christianity would cease to exist. If,
as an example, only ten Christians existed in a non-Christian country,
Christianity would be said to exist in that country (albeit as a tiny
minority). If these ten Christians rode
the same bus to church one Sunday morning and the bus drove over a cliff,
killing all ten Christians, then there would be no one left who would hold the
set of organized beliefs in their minds, called Christianity, and Christianity
would cease to exist in that country.
The same would be true if all ten Christians converted to another
religion. They would no longer hold that
set of organized beliefs (the Christian religion) to be true. It would cease to exist. If there are no adherents of a religion, does
that religion really exist?
A
simple thought experiment would clarify Premises 5 and 6. Would Christianity exist if there were no
Christians? Would Christians exist if
there were no Christianity? After all, if
someone did not create the set of organized beliefs called Christianity in the
first place, would there be such a religion for one to follow? Likewise, would Jews exist if there were no
Judaism? Would Muslims exist if there
were no Islam? If a religion does not
exist, what beliefs would its adherents adhere to?
“Who are the Muslims? Muslims are those 1.9 billion people (per CIA
World’s Facts Book in year 2000), from all races, colors, nationalities and
cultures who believe in One God (Allah) and accept Muhammad, peace be upon him,
as the last Prophet.” (Institute
of Islamic Knowledge, 2008)
The
Institute of Islamic Knowledge states that “Muslims are those…who believe in One God
(Allah) and accept Muhammad…as the last Prophet.” (ibid) These are the requirements to being a
Muslim. One must believe in One God
(Premise 7a). One must accept Muhammad
as the last Prophet of God (Premise 7b).
If one accepts the two above premises, then one is a Muslim. It then follows that one will then study
Islam’s holy book called the Qu’ran, and the secondary holy books called the
Hadiths, and will reject all other holy books of other religions, as Islam
teaches.
These
are two premises in one. Can one be a
Muslim and only believe in the first premise (7a)? Let’s see. Muslims believe in One God, but so do Jews and
Christians. This is easily
verifiable. Both Jews and Christians
accept the Bible’s Scripture of Deuteronomy 5:2-3, “I am the LORD thy God….Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Christians also state this first and foremost
in their Creed, “I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty.” Muslims are
neither Jews nor Christians. Likewise, Jews
and Christians are not Muslims. Therefore,
believing in the first premise alone (Premise 7a) does not make one a
Muslim. To be a Muslim, one must also
believe in the second premise (Premise 7b), to accept Muhammad as the last
Prophet of God. Jews and Christians both
reject Muhammad as a Prophet; therefore they can not be Muslims. To be a Muslim, one must adhere to both
requirements of Premise 7.
The
Institute, in its pamphlet, continues its description of Muslims as follows: “A Muslim is a person who freely and
willingly accepts the supreme power of God and strives to organize his or her
life in accordance with His commandments.
Hence a Muslim is any person anywhere in the world whose obedience,
allegiance, and loyalty are to the One and Only God (Allah), the Creator of the
Universe, and as such submits to the Divine Laws following the Sunnah
(traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.” (ibid)
Once
again a Muslim is described by the two premises explained above. “A
person who accepts…the supreme power of God….and submits to the Divine Laws
following the…traditions of the Prophet Muhammad.” To accept the supreme power of God means to believe
in One God (Premise 7a). To follow the
traditions of Muhammad means to accept Muhammad as the last Prophet (Premise 7b).
In
fact, one can become a Muslim simply by reciting the Shahadah, an Arabic phrase,
“La Ilaha Illallahu
Muhammad-ur-Rasoollallah” which is translated, “There is no deity (god) except Allah (the One and Only True God) and
Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” (ibid)
The Shahadah also includes both premises (7a and 7b) stated above as the
two requirements of becoming, and being a Muslim.
The
conclusion of the two premises above is that one cannot be a Muslim unless both
parts of Premise 7 are true. One cannot be a Muslim if he only believes in
Premise 7a (belief in One God) because Jews and Christians also believe in
Premise 7a but they are not Muslims. He
or she must also accept Premise 7b (accepting Muhammad as the last Prophet).
“What is Islam?....Islam is a total system of
living in peace. Islam is the same
message and guidance which God revealed through all His Prophets to every
people throughout the history of mankind.
One who follows Islam is called a Muslim (an Arabic word which means,
the one who submits to the will of God)” (ibid)
One
who follows Islam is called a Muslim.
And, as has been explained above, a Muslim is one who adheres to Premise
7 and its two parts—one who believes in One God (7a) and accepts Muhammad as
the last Prophet (7b). Therefore, in
order for one to follow Islam, he or she must believe in One God and accept
Muhammad as the last Prophet. Likewise,
one who does not adhere to the two above premises is not a Muslim and does not
follow Islam.
This
begs the question: When was the
beginning of Islam? The Institute states
that Islam was revealed by God through all His prophets throughout the history
of mankind. In other words, all the
prophets since the beginning of history believed in, and followed Islam. Since, as the Institute states, one who
follows Islam is a Muslim, then all the prophets were Muslims. This begs another three questions: Didn’t
Islam begin with Muhammad, and didn’t Muhammad live in the 7th
century A.D.? Wasn’t Muhammad the first
Muslim? If the prophets mentioned by the
Institute lived centuries before Muhammad, then how could they have been
Muslims?
The
definition of a Muslim (Premise 7) is one who believes in One God (7a) and that
Muhammad is God’s last prophet (7b). So
how does the Institute’s belief that all the prophets were Muslim apply to the
definition of a Muslim? Let’s see. In order for all the prophets to have been
Muslims, they would have all had to believe in One God (7a) and to believe that
Muhammad is God’s last prophet (7b). By
a reading of both the Qu’ran and the Bible’s Old Testament, all the prophets of
God believed in One God (7a). Did the
prophets also believe that Muhammad is God’s last prophet (7b)? Let’s ask the following question: Did anyone
accept Muhammad as the last Prophet before Muhammad was born? A simpler question would be: Could any person
be known before they come into existence?
It would seem logical that no one accepted Muhammad as a Prophet when
they knew no such Muhammad. So, if no one
knew of Muhammad then no one could accept him as a Prophet. How does this affect the definition of a
Muslim, as described by the Institute
of Islamic Knowledge? As has been shown above, if one does not
believe that Muhammad was God’s last prophet (7b) then, even if he believes in
One God (7a), he is not a Muslim. To be
a Muslim, one must fulfill both Premise 7a and Premise 7b. The prophets failed to fulfill Premise 7b,
therefore they could not have been Muslims.
Also, if they were not Muslims, then Islam did not exist in their time
(Premise 6).
If
Muslims did not exist before the birth of Muhammad, then Islam also did not
exist. For Islam is the religion of the
Muslims, and without Muslims there could be no religion of Islam (Premise 6).
What
does the Institute
of Islamic Knowledge
believe about Islam? Does it believe
that Islam began with Muhammad, and that it is the newest of the monotheistic
religions?
“Is Islam a new Religion? No! It
is the same religion which was preached by all the prophets and is further
elaborated through the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him….The religion of
Islam is as old as humanity itself. It
was in fact the religion of every prophet of God, who appeared in any part of
the world.” (ibid)
The
above quote is a bit misleading. It
states that all the prophets preached Islam.
Yet, since none of the prophets believed in a yet-unborn Muhammad
(Premise 7b), this presumes that Islam is simply the religion of all people who
believe in One God (Premise 7a). Yet
this assumption alone would have to include Jews and Christians and,
indirectly, calls Jews and Christians followers of Islam. Are Jews and Christians really followers of
Islam? Would any Christian claim to be a
Muslim? Would any Jew claim to be a
Muslim? Would any Muslim believe that
Jews and Christians are followers of Islam?
Any Muslim would reject this idea because Jews and Christians reject
Muhammad as a prophet (7b). Therefore,
the above quote is misleading because it does not include the necessity of
Premise 7b—the belief that Muhammad is the last prophet.
The
pamphlet states that Islam was the religion of every prophet of God who
appeared in any part of the world. Is
this belief logical? It has already been
established that before Muhammad founded Islam, the religion did not exist, for
there were no Muslims in the world until Muhammad named his followers as such. The Institute of Islamic
Knowledge claims that the Prophets of old were
all Muslims. But who does the Qu’ran say
was the very first Muslim?
‘“Say, surely my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and
my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds, He has no partners; thus I
am commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims.” A-Qur’an 6:162-163’ (Ibid).
How is it determined that this verse pertains to
Muhammad? Before this verse, the
pamphlet describes worship in Islam as follows: “Therefore, doing a job, raising a family, interaction with community
are all acts of worship if done in accordance with God’s commandments as acted
upon and directed by the Prophet Muhammad….” (Ibid)
Muhammad,
by his own admission, was therefore the first Muslim, and there could not have
been any Muslims before him. Without
adherents to Islam there could not have existed a religion known as Islam. This means that none of the prophets were
Muslims and no one followed Islam (Premise 6).
Now,
one may say that although there was no official religion called Islam, Islam
was still preached by the prophets because they believed in One God only (7a),
and worshiped in the ways of Islam.
However, Jews and Christians believe in One God and they are not
Muslims, so this explanation is lacking and therefore invalid.
By
definition, Islam is not only the worship of One God (7a), but it is also the
belief that Muhammad was the last prophet (7b).
After all, one cannot be a Muslim if one does not accept both premises
as true. Since Islam is the religion of
the Muslims and Muslims believe in One God and that Muhammad is God’s last
prophet, then Islam could not have been preached by the prophets who had no
knowledge of Muhammad.
In
answer to the title question, it is a logical and reasonable conclusion that
Islam began with Muhammad, the first Muslim, and the prophets and Jesus who
came before him were not Muslims.
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