First and foremost, the word Islam is an Arabic verbal noun which means to surrender,submit,to concur and to and to adhere etc. It is equally a derivative of one of the attributes " Allah-As-Salaam", meaning the Lord of peace. Islam can therefore be defined as a religion of peace and total submission to the will of Allah. It is a religion as well a comprehensive way of life that covers the whole gamut of human life in all its ramifications as it does not divide life into water tight compartment of spiritual and temporal.
Hence, an adherent of Islam is called a Muslim,that is one who adheres, surrenders himself and whatever he has totally to the will of Allah without leaving anything behind with himself to be given to Caesar . This is based on the teaching of Islam that Caesar whatsoever he had or possessed belong to Allah to whom he Caesar had eventually returned.
ISLAMIC WORLDVIEW
Since Islam is a way of life as comprehensive as it is, it must necessarily therefore has its philosophy of life and or worldview. When we talk about Islamic worldview ,three basic principles are paramount . These are 1. Al-Tawheed( The oneness of God,position of Islam is that there cannot be a design without a designer and in this regard, the Heaven and the Earth could neither have evolved by themselves nor by a "by bang" as we are made to understand. So the truth about the universe uphold by Islam is that Allah is its architect. He created them and all they contain both in heaven and the earth). 2.Ar-Risalah(this literally means message.However in this case, it refers to the message ,revelations or inspirations sent by God to man since man is ignorant of his coming to the earth surface as earlier observed, and since Allah created him for certain purpose;the need therefore arise that he should be made to have a correct understanding of the purpose for which he had been created.No wonder Allah had been sending inspirations through His angels to His chosen ones i.e the prophet or messengers some of which include Adam , Noah, Methusela, Lot,Enouch,Abraham, Ishmael,Isaac,Joseph,Jacob,Jethro, Moses,David, Solomon,Jonah,Job,Ezekieh,Elias, Elisha, Elijah, Zacharias,John the baptist,Aaron ,Jesus Christ and Muhammed). And 3.Al-Khilafah( this refers to the position of honour and dignity given to man by Allah among the comity of His creatures. it linguistically refers to representation , vicegerency or viceroyship. Man according to this principle is a representation of Allah on earth where he is to live for a short while and excercise his right of vicegerent.
ISLAM FAITH AND DUTIES
Islam as a religion and a way of life is built upon five pillars. These pillars are herein referred to as faith and duties aas the first one of them centers around faith while the rest four are duties expected of those who profess the faith.
PILLARS OF ISLAM
1.Iman which means their faith or belief(there are six articles of faith, namely; belief in the unity of God,Belief in Angels,belief in the Prophets,belief in scriptures,belief in destiny/predestination and belief in life after death/ resurrection.
2.Salat :this means the Islamic prayers( the Muslims pray 5 time a day from 5:30 to 6:30a.m, 1:30 to 3:30pm,3:30 to 6:30pm,sunset and lastly 8:00 before bed time.
3.Zakat: Islamic Tax or Charity.
4.Sawn: Fasting in the month of Ramadan. the ninth month of Islamic calender.
5.Hajj : pilgrimage to Makkah.
THE GREATEST SIN ISLAM
The greatest sin in Islam is called Shirk that is association of something or somebody with God. Those who do this are known as Mushrikun, that is polytheist and this sin is unpardonable
Islam teaches that there is only one God who is self subsisting. He has no partner, He begets not nor was He begotten. He is Omniscient as well as omnipresent. This belief is fundamental to Islam so much so that it is the major distinction between the Muslims and the non-muslims. Thank you so much ...... i remain my humble self Black albino aka. g-soft