Islamic Knowledge for Beginners

The most important articles of Islam are the following 5 matters:

Professing and believing no one is God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

Prayer

Zakah

Fasting

Hajj.

Professing (with the tongue) and believing (in the heart) that no one is God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; This is a prerequisite to become a Muslim and to have one’s deeds accepted by God. The belief in the truth of Islam is the same regardless of one’s color of the skin, gender, amount of wealth accumulated, place of residence, family, or friends.

Prayer, five times each day, is required by all Muslim mukallaf (Mukallaf in this context means sane and pubescent.).

Zakah is paying a certain portion of one's money (Money in this context includes 

property, possessions, and wealth.) to specific types of people with certain conditions.

 This provides for the poor Muslims and those whose needs are not being met within the Muslim community.

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is an obligation on all Muslims who have reached puberty and who are physically able to fast. This helps the Muslim to feel what the poor feel, and in this way one remembers to care for those less fortunate than oneself. Fasting also disciplines the Muslim and brings Muslims together--uniting them by a common, shared experience.

Hajj, pilgrimage as defined by Islam, is the journey to the Ka^bah to perform, at a specific period of the year, certain actions in Makkah and its vicinity. It is required at least once during the lifetime of each Muslim mukallaf if he is able. During Hajj, all Muslims leave their worldly possessions and perform the same religious obligations in the same way as those Muslims with them and those Muslims who performed Hajj before them.

Collected From:http://www.aicp.org/islamic-information-mainmenu-42/51-basic-islamic-information-for-beginners/525-islamic-knowledge-for-beginners

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Islam for Beginners

Islam originates from the root word 'salama' which means getting free of inward evils. The derivatives are many, such as peace, submission, surrender, survival, health and safe reconciliation. Hence, a Muslim is one, who submits to none except the Will of the Creator, Who fashioned the human beings as the most excellent form of creation, and endowed them with the power called brains.

As our analysis proved in 'Towards Peace', Prophet Moses never described his teachings as Judaism, nor did Prophet Jesus choose the word Christianity for his message, or for that matter Buddha and others, named their mission as Buddhism and etc. Therefore, it is an erroneous notion to think that Islam originated a mere fourteen centuries ago, all of a sudden, in the deserts of Arabia. But as facts testify, Islam, or submission to the Almighty's Will and a healthy way of survival, was the message preached by all prophets. However with the revelation to Prophet Muhammad (saw), the word Islam became a proper name for the true path, and came to acquire added significance.

Thus, it is not without reason, that Islam is often referred to as the 'Natural Religion' because its dynamism has withstood the test of time, and its tenets perfectly blend with, and have scientifically catered to the needs of the human race in every time and era.

Islam for Beginners: ISLAMIC PRINCIPLES

The starting point of Islam is the testimony (Shahada): There is no god but Allah (La Ilaha Ill-Allah). This wondrous phrase indicates the pinnacle of human intellect and will power, because Islam is not the paying of mere lip service out of fear of superstition, but a firm conviction in the Omnipotence of the Creator. It means that man is responsible to the Creator alone for his acts and deeds, and how he passes the transitionary lifespan. It means that everything in this universe is subordinate to the power of the Creator, who fashioned the universe out of naught and made the human race as the finest form of life. It also means that the human kind and human mind is far superior to all man-made objects or other creatures, and even the powers of nature, whom retarded minds had worshipped as deities. Lastly it means that one who professes this testimony realizing its deep meanings is in firm control of his own will power, which if not properly harnessed by intellect and ration, destroys the human itself.