Assalamu alaykum,
A Muslim is someone who had true belief in Allahs books and Messengers. Today, a Muslim is someone who who worships Allah without ascribing partners to him, and accepts the Prophets Jesus, Abraham Moses and all the Prophets... including the final messenger, the Prophet Muhammad
Before Muhammad
was given prophethood, there existed a group of people who followed Jesus's teachings properly, so they were "Muslims" and hence they are in paradise.... and likewise before Jesus (peace be upon him) there were Jews who were upon the truth.
So in this aspect Islam is the only religion that is accepted, that is the religion of pure monotheism.
The Christianity of today has major problems in the realms of Tawheed (believing in the oneness and uniqueness of Allah in his names and attributes, i.e. only he is the Most Merciful, Allah is the
King of Kings, not Jesus nor anyone else...... only Allah is able to answer our prayers... this is without the need of Jesus or Mary as an intermediary...... to make them intermediaries just because they are beloved to God, is Shirk, it means that you are associating partners with God, and lowering the Status of God.
God can answer anyone's prayers, the weak, the old, the rich, the famous those who are learned and those who are ignorant.... There is no need to go to "confession" or to see a priest, rabbi or holy man to be blessed... both of these things are high sins.
Infact, things became so corrupt that the clergy even today take money for blessing people, this can be seen in parts of Africa... and other places. In medieval Europe (and to some extent today), the clergy had a lot of power and were part of the elite. They exherted immeasurable influence over the people and it was used in many bad ways, such as controlling , taking taxes and .. keeping the Serfs (those who worked in the fields) in fear of the land owners and establishment
At the very same time, Islamic Spain allowed peasants to buy, sell and rent land.... In Islam the financially fortunate people of society give charity, they are expected to pay a fixed (wajib) mandatory sum each year called the Zakat..... AND extra money and help to the poor is seen as mustahab... So, this gave the poor a ladder of hope.
These were some of the main reasons that many cities happily accepted Islam and didnt want anything to do with the Visigoth Christian rulers who would treat them very badly.
Allah's mercy knows no bounds ....... Your past good actions from before Islam are counted as the good deeds you did. Anything that you did from before which were not good are forgiven by God and they are wiped clean.
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Hadith - Sahih Bukhari (#70) and Muslim
[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Hakim ibn Hizam said to the Prophet
, "You know that in the days before Islam I used to maintain family ties, free slaves, and give charity. Will I be rewarded for any of those deeds?" The Prophet
replied,
"You accepted Islam with all the good you did in the past."
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Wasalam,
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