Page 20 - Perceptions papers

ISLAM

Prof. Abdul Karim Khan

ALLAH, the Lord of the Creation, created us to worship Him. Who did and who did not

worship Him will be decided on the Judgment Day, a day of reckoning and accountability.

People with good deeds will be rewarded and sent to paradise. People with bad deeds will be

punished and sent to hellfire, though Allah Almighty has the profound power and marvelous

mercy to forgive anyone He wishes. We are living here in this fleeting world momentarily with

the purpose to prepare for the eternal life after death. While death is the end of this life, it is the

beginning of the next life, the eternal life in the Hereafter.

Allah sent messengers/prophets to people in different places and periods to teach them how

to live according to their Creator’s Commandments. Both the Quran (the word of God) and the

Hadith (the words and works of Prophet Muhammad) give us the Divine guidance obeying

which will put us on the Straight Path of Islam that will lead us to peace in this life and the next

eternal life. Whatever we do here in this life will have consequences, especially, in the afterlife.

According to Islamic teachings, live a responsible and answerable life, obey the Lord and be

good to everyone, and you will, literally, live happily ever after in the Hereafter---no kidding!

That is why, belief in the one true God, Allah, the Most Kind and Merciful, belief in His

messengers, the Day of Judgment that will start the eternal life in Hereafter are some of the

fundamental beliefs without which one cannot be a Muslim.

WHAT IS ISLAM?

ISLAM is the name of a major world religion. With more than 1.6 billion people as its

followers, Islam is the second largest religion in the world, second only to a combined

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