The Qur'an and Sunnah are the only two sources for the essential
beliefs of those people who call themselves Muslims.
What are those beliefs? The most important one is that there is no deity
other than Allah. This is the
first half of the attestation of every Muslim, the second half being that
Muhammad is Allah's
Prophet. There are a few other fundamental principles that a Muslim is
required to accept, but further information is available elsewhere on this site. There
is also information available on common misconceptions held by Muslims and
non-Muslims.
This page is dedicated to those who insist on misusing the names of
"Islam" and "Muslim" either intentionally or in ignorance. In this page,
we try to briefly show how many "religious" groups around the world
who use the name of Islam are in fact clearly and absolutely in
violation of certain basic principles contained in the Qur'an and
Sunnah.
The following groups are currently addressed:
The followers of the Nation Of
Islam believe in (all quotes taken from their homepage or their
publications):
...one God (Allah) and that Allah (God) appeared in the
Person of Master W.Fard Muhammad, July, 1930; the long awaited 'Messiah' of
the Christians and the 'Mahdi' of the Muslims...
However, the Qur`an states
in chapter 4, verse 36, "Serve Allah, and join not Any partners with Him;
... ". And according to a hadith narrated by Masruq, in Sahih Bukhari,
'Aisha said, "If anyone tells you that Muhammad has seen his Lord, he is a
liar, for Allah says (in 6:103), 'No vision can grasp Him.'...".
The followers of the Nation Of Islam further believe "in the resurrection of
the dead--not in physical resurrection--but in mental resurrection. We
also believe that the so-called Negroes are most in need of mental
resurrection; therefore, they will be resurrected first." But the Qur`an
states in chapter 20, verse 55, "From the earth did We Create you, and into
it Shall We return you, and from it shall We bring you out once again."
Even more pointedly, the Qur'an also states in 64:7,
The Unbelievers think that they will not be raised up (for Judgement).
Say: "Yea, by my Lord, Ye shall surely be Raised up: then shall ye Be told
(the truth) of All that ye did. And that is easy for Allah."
Besides the above two differences, the followers of the Nation of Islam
also believe in other things contrary to Islam as defined in the
Qur'an and Sunnah, such as:
[We, the Black Muslims, believe] "in the truth of the Bible, but we
believe that it has been tampered with and must be reinterpreted so that
mankind will not be snared by the falsehoods that have been added to it".
The problem with this belief: The true Prophet of Islam ordered Muslims
to neither accept the Bible nor reject it - certainly there was no mention
of reinterpretation.
"That we who declare ourselves to be righteous Muslims, should not
participate in wars which take the lives of humans. We do not believe
this nation should force us to take part in such wars, for we have
nothing to gain from it unless America agrees to give us the necessary
territory wherein we may have something to fight for".
The problem with this belief: The Qur'an and Sunnah are crystal
clear on the necessity of going to war when the situation demands it.
The Nation of Gods and Earths
(5% Nation of Islam) is apparently an offshoot of the so-called Nation
of Islam. Like its parent, this group's beliefs clearly identify it
as being fundamentally outside the pale of Islam. Specifically, and
we quote (from their homepage):
The original man is the Asiatic Blackman, the maker, the owner,
the cream of the planet Earth, father of civilization, God of the
Universe.
...the blackman is god and his proper name is ALLAH. Arm, Leg, Leg,
Arm, Head.
This is in clear contradiction with one of the essential axioms of
Islam, namely that Allah (God) is Creator and all else (including men
- asiatic blacks or otherwise) is created. In chapter 25, verse 54 of
the Qur'an, Allah says that He has created man, therefore it is
logically impossible for man to be Allah.
The second quote above is a prime example of a tendency of the "Nation
of Gods and Earths" to conjure up beliefs that are, to a large extent,
highly confused. Some examples of these beliefs that have nothing to
do with Islam are "supreme mathematics and alphabet", an evil person
named Yacob, a prophet named W. D. Fard, and a belief that black
people are superior in some way.
The true Prophet of Islam refuted this last racist belief in his
Farewell Address,
O people! Verily your Lord is one and your father is one. All of you
belong to one ancestry of Adam and Adam was created out of clay.
There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab
over an Arab; nor for white over the black nor for the black over the
white except in piety. Verily the noblest among you is he who is the
most pious.
For a deeper expose of this group and its parent (the Nation of
Islam), the interested reader might wish to examine the autobiography
of the late Malik Al-Shabaz (Malcolm X).
The Ahmadiyya Movement,
which originated in the Indian subcontinent under the patronage of the British
colonialists, espouses beliefs which leave no doubt as to their apostacy
from Islam. Among their erroneous beliefs is their denial of
the finality of Prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah on
him), an article of faith endorsed by the Qur'an and Hadith reports as well
as the consensus of the Companions and scholars.
The Qur'an states (translation):
"O people! Muhammad has no sons among ye men, but verily, he is the
Messenger of Allah and the last in the line of Prophets. And Allah is
aware of everything." (33:40)
The true Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, observed:
"The tribe of Israel was guided by prophets. When a prophet passed
away, another succeeded him. But no prophet will come after me; only
caliphs will succeed me." (Sahih Bukhari)
The Ahmadiyyas are followers of a certain Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian who
lay claim to prophethood and used fabricated Hadith reports and
twisted meanings of some Qur'anic verses to support himself.
However, the true Prophet of Islam warned of this danger explicitly,
"The Hour will not come ... until nearly thirty "dajjals" (liars)
appear, each one claiming to be a messenger from Allah." (Sahih Bukhari,
Sahih Muslim)
Shortly after the death of Prophet Muhammad, a man named Musailama, a
claimant to prophethood, was fought against together with his followers for
their apostacy. It is worth noting that Musailama did not deny the
prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings on him) and nor did his
followers. It is also worth noting that it was misinformation that led the
tribe of Banu Hunaifa to accept Musailama's false claims. Nevertheless,
the consensus of the companions was to declare them apostates and wage a
war against them. This is evidence enough to declare the Ahmadiyyas as
non-Muslims. For a more thorough treatment of this subject consult this article.
Another example of the Ahmadiyya's rejection of the Qur'an and Sunnah is
their contention that Jesus died, and that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was an
incarnation of Jesus. In fact, according to the 1985 Encyclopaedia
Britannica, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad claimed to be not only Jesus but Prophet
Muhammad, the Mahdi, and the Hindu god Krishna. It suffices to refer back
to the essence of Islam which is the Uniqueness of God: any concept of man
becoming god, worse yet a Hindu god who is one out of many, is
false according to the Qur'an. On this, Islam is
uncomprising, hence this error of the Ahmadiyyas is the foremost indication
of their exit from Islam. Finally, the Ahmadiyyas also rejected jihad, a
tactic which was designed to eliminate Muslim resistance to British
colonialist rule. For a more detailed exposition of the Ahmadiyyas, refer to
the
"Anti Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam Homepage".
The Submitters are followers of the late Rashad Khalifa, a man who claimed
to be a Messenger of Allah. This claim in itself is sufficient to remove
the Submitters from Islam as the Qur'an states (translation):
"O people! Muhammad has no sons among ye men, but verily, he is the
Messenger of Allah and the last in the line of Prophets. And Allah is aware
of everything." (33:40)
The true Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, observed:
"The tribe of Israel was guided by prophets. When a prophet passed
away, another succeeded him. But no prophet will come after me; only
caliphs will succeed me." (Sahih Bukhari)
Much of Rashad Khalifa's misguidance can be traced to his obsession with
numerology, an obsession which has misguided many different people
throughout history. Khalifa alleged that the Qur'an contained a
mathematical code which revolved around the number 19. He went to the
extent of removing two verses from the Qur'an because according to him "the
word `God' ... is not a multiple of 19, unless we remove [it]", and the "sum of
all verse numbers where the word `God' occurs is ... 19x6217 ... If the
false verse 9:129 is included, this phenomenon disappears." By rejecting
a single verse of the Qur'an, the Submitters bring themselves under the
judgement of another verse,
... Do you believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in another part? And
what is the reward of those who do so save ignominy in the life of the
world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be consigned to the most
grievous doom ... (2:85)
It is interesting to note that Khalifa was a numerologist who did his
blighted profession justice: he predicted the end of the world. However,
Allah says in the Qur'an
They ask you about the (last) hour, when will be its taking place? Say: The
knowledge of it is only with my Lord; none but He shall manifest it at its
time; it will be momentous in the heavens and the earth; it will not come
on you but of a sudden. They ask you as if you were solicitous about
it. Say: Its knowledge is only with Allah, but most people do not know. (7:187)
The Submitters also reject the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (saws)- not part
of it, but the whole of it. For the Submitters, the Sunnah is
not a source of Islam. The problems this presents are
overwhelming, for by doing so the Submitters have effectively destroyed
their ability to perform:
- Salaat (obligatory prayers), the second pillar of Islam
- Zakat (obligatory tax), the third pillar of Islam
- Sawm (fasting), the fourth pillar of Islam
- Hajj (pilgrimage), the fifth pillar of Islam
With four out of the five pillars of Islam removed, the Submitters have
little to back their claim to being "Muslim". The true Messenger of Islam
(saws) warned Muslims of falling into this trap,
Narrated AbuRafi':
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Let me not find one of you reclining
on his couch when he hears something regarding me which I have commanded or
forbidden [i.e. from the Sunnah -ed.] and saying: 'We do not
know. What we found in Allah's Book [i.e. the Qur'an] we have
followed.'" Book 40, Number 4588 of Sunan Abu-Dawud
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