For more information on the society, committee, upcoming events and contact details, please visit our NEW ISLAMIC SOCIETY WEBSITE
You can also email islamic@ussu.sussex.ac.uk, and visit the campus prayer room in person for more details on current activities and the current committee (the prayer room is situated next to the main entrance to Falmer House.
Who are Muslims?
Muslim is the arabic word for one who is
committed to peace by continuously striving to follow the way of righteousness and justice
revealed by God; the Arabic word Muslim refers to a man, Muslima
to a woman. In either case the literal meaning is "one who submits to God's
teachings and commandments which leads to peace". Muslims are enjoined to
organize their lives on the basis of a series of ritual acts of worship which are ordained in the Qur'an as ways which discipline human beings to remember God constantly, accepting His Sovereignty and pledging to obey His commandments:
1) Declaration of belief(Shahada): this is the initial act of faith, expressed in a simple creedal statement which testifies one's commitment to following the straight path of God's guidance upon which Muslims seek to live their lives;
"I bear Witness that there is no god but
God;
"I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant
and His prophet"
2)Prayer (salat), offered five
times a day, has the effect of reminding the faithful that "remembrance of God is indeed the greatest virtue," and helps them adhere to the path of righteousness, and to restrain themselves from indecency and evil.
3)Fasting (sawm), observed through the daylight hours of the 29/30 days of the Islamic month of Ramadan, involves abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking and marital intercourse; this reminds the believers of their dependence upon God, as well as their kinship with, and responsibility for the millions of human beings in the world who experience involuntary fasting because of the lack of provisions, or their unjust distribution.
4) Purification of wealth (Zakat): this requires the annual giving of a fixed amount of excess personal assets for the benefit of the poor, the
incapacitated, the deprived, and the welfare of the
community; it serves to remind Muslims that all beneficence comes from the bounty of God,
and is enjoyed only by His mercy; sharing becomes an act of purification both of the
wealth itself, and of the giver whose soul is disciplined against greed by the virtue of
selflessness.
5) Pilgrimage (hajj), which
all Muslims should perform at least once in a lifetime if personal circumstances permit,
gathers the believers as members of the diverse human family into a single community; they
perform prescribed acts of worship at the Holy House of the Ka'ba in
Mecca which, according to the Qur'an, was originally built by the Prophet Abraham and his
son Ishmael; and at Mount Arafat where they remember the pure and original way of life of
Adam, the progenitor of all human beings, reaffirmed by the Patriarch of the entire human
family, the Prophet Abraham, and finally perfected and completed by God for all
humanity through the mission of the Prophet Muhammad - the way of life known as Islam which
has at its heart the doctrine of the unity and uniqueness of the One God.
Each of these prescribed acts of worship bring
Muslims daily and repeatedly before God Almighty as the Creator, Sustainer and Judge of
all humanity.Through these acts of worship God helps Muslims to
fulfill the obligation of striving which He has ordained for this life: the striving
actively and freely to surrender one's own will in obedience to the Will of God, inwardly
in intention and outwardly in word and deed, individually in personal conduct and
collectively in the improvement of society.
What is Islam?
Islam is not a new religion, but the same truth that God revealed through all His prophets to every people. For a fifth of the world's population, Islam is both a religion and a complete way of life. Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness, and the majority have nothing to do with the extremely grave events which have come to be associated with their faith. Islam presents human beings with a simple twofold invitation:
This declaration is the door to a life of service, and to participation in a community of believers whose highest duty is to call humanity to embrace what is righteous and good, and to reject what is evil and degrading. Muslims are sisters and brothers of all people of true faith, and wish to strive with them for peace in this world.
ALLAH is for Muslims the greatest and most inclusive of the Names of God, an Arabic word of rich and varied meaning, denoting
the one who is adored in worship and who creates all that exists.
"He is God, the One God,
Independent and Sought by all;
He begets not, nor is He begotten,
and there is none like unto Him.
(The Holy Qur'an Chapter of Sincerity of Faith)
Islam teaches that all faiths have, in essence, one common message:
the existence of a Supreme Being, the one and only God, whose sovereignty is to be acknowledged in worship and in the pledge to obey His teaching and commandments, conveyed through His messengers and prophets who were sent at various times and in many places throughout history.
Islam, an Arabic word, is rich in meaning. One important dimension is the "commitment to submit and surrender to God so that one could live in peace" peace (salam) is achieved through active obedience to the revealed Commandments of God for God is the Source of all Peace. Commitment to Islam entails striving for peace through a struggle for justice, equality of opportunity, mutual
caring and consideration for others' rights, and continuous research and acquisition of knowledge for the better protection and utilization of the resources of the universe. Islam teaches that the objective of the Commandments of God is that peace should be established in the human societies of this world, in preparation for a further dimension of human existence in the world to come, the Afterlife. Islam's vision of peace is therefore truly universal; it transcends time and belongs to the order of God's eternity.
Islam affirms these simple beliefs as the
basis of the decent, civilized society for which it strives. Its vision of society is, in
essence, no different from that upheld by all monotheistic religions. This is particularly
true of Judaism and Christianity which share with Islam the direct spiritual
lineage of the Prophet Abraham. Islam affirms the divinely-ordained missions of the
Prophet Moses, through whom God revealed the sacred scripture called the Torah, and of the
Prophet Jesus, through whom God revealed the scripture known as the Gospel. The message of
Islam is in essence the same as that which God revealed to all his prophets and
messengers. The Prophet Muhammad (the peace and blessing of God be upon him) was commanded
to recite in the Holy Qur'an:
"Say: we believe in God, and that which was
revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and
Jacob, and the tribes, and that which was vouchsafed unto Moses and Jesus and the prophets
from their Lord; We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have
surrendered. "
(The Holy Qur'an 3:84)
The success of civilizations and cultures is
directly related to the extent of their practice of the righteous way of life revealed in
the teaching and commandments of God, and set forth in the monotheistic religions which
are confirmed by Islam God's revelation enshrines the highest values of humankind,
and the divine commandments are essentially no different from the values which human
beings have cherished and striven to maintain throughout history, irrespective of
cultural, racial, linguistic and socio-economic differences. Success in this life is
directly related to the practice of these values.
Islam teaches that human diversity is a sign of the
richness of God's mercy, and that God wills human beings to compete with each other
in goodness in order to test who is the finest in action: this is, according to Islam, the
reason for the creation of the universe. To strive for peace in the societies of
this world is to compete in the fulfillment of human destiny in preparation for the
ultimate Abode of Peace in a further, renewed dimension of human existence in the
Afterlife. The irreducible minimum of faith is to believe in God as the sole sovereign
Lord of this world and of the next, and to believe in the reality of the Afterlife for
which human beings are to prepare by living righteously in this world. God alone is the
Judge of human righteousness, and it is God alone who rewards and punishes in this life
and in the life hereafter.
Righteousness does not mean for you
to turn your faces towards the East and West, but righteousness means one should believe
in God (Alone), the Last Day, angels, the Book and prophets; and no matter how he loves
it, to give his wealth away to near relatives, orphans, the needy, the wayfarer and
beggars, and towards freeing captives; and to keep up prayer and pay the welfare tax; and
those who keep their word whenever they promise anything; and are patient under suffering
and hardship and in time of peril (stress). Those are the ones who act loyal and perform
their duty.
(The Holy Qur'an 2:177)
Revelation is where Allah gives whatever knowledge He wills to those whom He chooses to receive it. Allah gives this knowledge to them in order for them to convey it to whomever else He wishes.
All the Messengers of Allah experienced revelation. Allah says:
Revelation is a fact that cannot be denied by anyone who believes in the existence of Allah and His absolute Power. The Creator and Sustainer maintains His creation in any manner that pleases Him. The connection between the Creator and his Creation is by way of His Messengers, and these Messengers only know what Allah wants from them by way of revelation, either directly or indirectly. The rational mind cannot dismiss the possibility of revelation, since nothing is difficult for the All-Powerful Creator.
