Write@Home
Winter 2015

General

Close up of a Muslim mans hands praying and holding prayer beads

Islam is the most recent religion that has been revealed to mankind through a prophet named Mohamed. Islam was established in the Arabian desert in 578. The word Islam comes from the word salam in Arabic meaning peace.

Before Islam, the Arabes used to worship idols, believe in multiple gods, drink alcohol, do not help poor people, and be unjust. Also, they used to bury their daughters alive. They also used to marry a lot of women (up to 5). The Prophet Mohamed (peace be upon him - PBUH) was known as a saddiq (truthful) and an 3amin (trustworthy man).

The essence of Islam today is to trust in God (Allah) and to all His messengers such as Mohamed, Issa (Jesus), Moussa (Moesus), and many others. Islam teaches us to be kind to our parents, especially our mothers because they went through a lot of hardships in order to bring us into this world. This is why the Prophet (PBUH) said in one of his teachings: Paradise is located under the foot of a mother. In other words, if you respect your mother, if you are kind to your mother, if you take care of her the way she took care of you when you were a child, then you will go to paradise.

Contrary to what the media says, Islam is a religion of peace, of mercy and of joy. Do you know that in Islam, you are not allowed to insult people, nor to kill people, nor to lie or to steal? In fact, Islam teaches us to be just to every being: human, animal, and nature. As a Muslim, we have been taught to be generous, to take care of the needy, to take care of the oldest and the youngest among us. We have been taught to respect our neighbours. We also have been taught to be courageous and hardworking people. Our religion teaches us to be independent and give charity to people around us.