Chapter One

1


What Is This Religion Called Islam?


The religion we know as Islam began in Arabia in the sixth century when a man named Muhammad began to experience a series of "revelations," or communications from the Divine. He was a reluctant prophet at first, even fearing that his own sanity was in question, but his beloved wife, Khadija, said, "Muhammad, a man like you doesn't go crazy." Over a period of twenty-three years he would receive periodic guidance from this Divine Source, often in response to the particular needs of his growing community, in a language of great depth and beauty. This revelation is called the Qur'an and it is the foremost inspiration, reference point, and final authority of the religion of Islam. Here is some of what it says about itself:

God has sent down the best of teaching in a Book fully harmonious with itself, repeating the truth in manifold ways and often repeated in recitation; A Book that causes the skins of all who stand in awe of their Lord to shiver, but in the end their skins and their hearts soften at the remembrance of God. Such is God's guidance. (39:23)

And We have sent down to you, step by step, this Book, to make all matters clear, and as guidance and grace and good tidings unto all who have submitted themselves to God. God commands justice, the doing of good, and giving to one's relatives; and He forbids all that is shameful and runs counter to reason, in addition to aggression. He exhorts you so that you may bear this in mind. (16:90)

Surely it is a sublime Book. No falsehood can ever enter it from before nor behind; it is a bestowal from on high by the One who is All-Wise, ever due to