sajiblobon
Junior Member
Islam is a Semitic religion, which has more than 1.2 billion adherents all over the world. What Islam means is “submission to the will of Allah”. In Islam Muslims accept the Qur’an, as the word of God revealed to Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). Islam states that Allah sent messengers and prophets throughout the ages with the message of the Unity of God, and accountability in the Hereafter. Thus muslim Islam makes it an article of faith to believe in the earlier prophets, starting with Adam, and including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, John, Jesus and many others (may peace be on them all).
The Most Concise Definition of God about Islam :
The most concise definition of God in Islam is given in four verses of
Surah Ikhlas which is Chapter 112 of the Holy Qur’an:
“Say: He is Allah, The one and Only.
“And there is none like unto Him.” [Holy Qur’an 112:1-4]
“Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
“He begets not, nor is He begotten.
The word ‘Assamad’ is difficult to translate. It means ‘absolute existence’, which can be attributed only to Allah, all other existence being temporal or conditional. It also means that Allah is not dependent on any person or thing but all persons and things are dependent on Him.
Surah Ikhlas – the touchstone of theology:
Surah Ikhlas (Chapter 112) of the Holy Qur’an, is the touchstone of theology. ‘Theo’ in Greek means God and logy means study. Thus Theology means study of God and to Muslims this four lines definition of Almighty God serves as the touchstone of the study of God. Any candidate to divinity must be subject to this ‘acid test’. Since the attributes of Allah given in this chapter are unique, false gods and pretenders to divinity can be easily dismissed using these verses.
In Islam beliefs what is said about ‘god-men’?
India is often called the land of’god-men’. This is due to the abundance of so called spiritual masters in India. Many of these ‘babas’ and ‘saints’ have a large following in many countries. Islam abhors deification of any human being.
To understand the muslim/Islamic stand towards such pretenders to divinity let us analyze one such ‘god-man’, Osho Rajneesh. Rajneesh was one among the multitude of’spiritual teachers’ produced by India. In May 1981 he went to U.S.A. and established a town called ‘Rajneeshpuram’. He later fell foul of the West and was finally arrested and asked to leave the country. He came back to India and started a commune in Pune which is now known as the ‘Osho’ commune. He died in 1990. The followers of Osho Rajneesh believe that he is Almighty God. A visitor to the ‘Osho commune’ in Pune will find the following epitaph on his tombstone:
“Osho — never, born never died; only visited the planet earth between 11tH December 1931 to 1gth January 1990”.
They forget to mention that he was not given visa for 21 different countries of the world. The followers of Rajneesh see no problem in their ‘god’ visiting the earth and requiring a visa to enter a country!
Let us put this candidate to divinity, Bhagwan Rajneesh, to the test of Surah Ikhlas, the touchstone of theology:
i) The first criterion is “Say, He is Allah, one and only”. Is Rajneesh one and only? No! There are many people like Rajneesh who claim divinity. Some disciples of Rajneesh may still hold that Rajneesh is one and only.
ii) The second criterion is, ‘Allah is absolute and eternal’. Rajneesh was surely not absolute and eternal since he died in 1990. We know from his biography that he was suffering from diabetes, Asthma, and chronic backache. He alleged that the U.S.A. Government gave him slow poison in Jail. Imagine Almighty God being poisoned! Rajneesh was neither absolute nor eternal.
iii) The third criterion is ‘He begets not, nor is He begotten’. We know that Rajneesh was born in Jabalpur in India and had a mother as well as a father who later became his disciples.
For more details visit
http://commonfaith.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/what-is-islam/
The Most Concise Definition of God about Islam :
The most concise definition of God in Islam is given in four verses of
Surah Ikhlas which is Chapter 112 of the Holy Qur’an:
“Say: He is Allah, The one and Only.
“And there is none like unto Him.” [Holy Qur’an 112:1-4]
“Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
“He begets not, nor is He begotten.
The word ‘Assamad’ is difficult to translate. It means ‘absolute existence’, which can be attributed only to Allah, all other existence being temporal or conditional. It also means that Allah is not dependent on any person or thing but all persons and things are dependent on Him.
Surah Ikhlas – the touchstone of theology:
Surah Ikhlas (Chapter 112) of the Holy Qur’an, is the touchstone of theology. ‘Theo’ in Greek means God and logy means study. Thus Theology means study of God and to Muslims this four lines definition of Almighty God serves as the touchstone of the study of God. Any candidate to divinity must be subject to this ‘acid test’. Since the attributes of Allah given in this chapter are unique, false gods and pretenders to divinity can be easily dismissed using these verses.
In Islam beliefs what is said about ‘god-men’?
India is often called the land of’god-men’. This is due to the abundance of so called spiritual masters in India. Many of these ‘babas’ and ‘saints’ have a large following in many countries. Islam abhors deification of any human being.
To understand the muslim/Islamic stand towards such pretenders to divinity let us analyze one such ‘god-man’, Osho Rajneesh. Rajneesh was one among the multitude of’spiritual teachers’ produced by India. In May 1981 he went to U.S.A. and established a town called ‘Rajneeshpuram’. He later fell foul of the West and was finally arrested and asked to leave the country. He came back to India and started a commune in Pune which is now known as the ‘Osho’ commune. He died in 1990. The followers of Osho Rajneesh believe that he is Almighty God. A visitor to the ‘Osho commune’ in Pune will find the following epitaph on his tombstone:
“Osho — never, born never died; only visited the planet earth between 11tH December 1931 to 1gth January 1990”.
They forget to mention that he was not given visa for 21 different countries of the world. The followers of Rajneesh see no problem in their ‘god’ visiting the earth and requiring a visa to enter a country!
Let us put this candidate to divinity, Bhagwan Rajneesh, to the test of Surah Ikhlas, the touchstone of theology:
i) The first criterion is “Say, He is Allah, one and only”. Is Rajneesh one and only? No! There are many people like Rajneesh who claim divinity. Some disciples of Rajneesh may still hold that Rajneesh is one and only.
ii) The second criterion is, ‘Allah is absolute and eternal’. Rajneesh was surely not absolute and eternal since he died in 1990. We know from his biography that he was suffering from diabetes, Asthma, and chronic backache. He alleged that the U.S.A. Government gave him slow poison in Jail. Imagine Almighty God being poisoned! Rajneesh was neither absolute nor eternal.
iii) The third criterion is ‘He begets not, nor is He begotten’. We know that Rajneesh was born in Jabalpur in India and had a mother as well as a father who later became his disciples.
For more details visit
http://commonfaith.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/what-is-islam/