The Islamic Way of Life
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THE ISLAMIC WAY OF LIFE To all those who find comfort in Islam Preface This booklet grew out of years of volunteer work by this author in a local prison helping with the Islamic program. It is meant for new Muslims who are yearning to be introduced to their faith without too much scholarly endeavors. It does not intend to be precise nor complete and thorough. Instead, it tries to be light-hearted and inspiring and presents a middle-of-the-road moderate view of Islam that empowers and helps many during difficult times in their lives. Muslims are demanding on themselves and lenient with others. They do not settle for mediocrity. They generate their own inspiration and have reserves to reach deep down into when needed. It is heartwarming to see brothers and sisters change for the better and grow in their lives and in their faith, yearning for self-control and empowerment. Their first steps are wobbly, their pronunciation of the Arabic words are less than perfect, but they just keep on going like deep sea diving. The deeper they reach, the more precious the results are. It’s amazing! The program described here is based on the Qur’an and the tradition of Prophet Muhammad, the Sunna. It is strongly based on the positives that help personal growth. The goal is to shed what we do not like in ourselves and strive to acquire good habits and moral qualities: shedding anger and gaining patience, shedding arrogance and gaining humility, shedding carelessness and gaining compassion for others is a lofty goal; may be ambitious, but worthwhile. The idea is not to expect the entire world to change, but to look for change in ourselves. This booklet lays out the Islamic toolbox: basic beliefs, prayers, fasting, charity, basics of the Islamic law, etc. The works! It covers practical aspects such as what is acceptable and what is to be avoided. It gives the prayer calendar and discusses how it is arrived to. It also explains the lunar calendar. Excerpts from the Qur’an are also included. Useful resources are included at the end. Many books cover the same material in a much more scholarly way. Here, a humble attempt has been made at including only what is necessary for new Muslims in the US at the right dose. Especially those that do not have access to well supplied Islamic libraries. For example, no Arabic characters are used throughout. Only transliteration is used when necessary. This booklet is dedicated to all those who participated in this program and benefited from it. 2 Transliteration of the Arabic Sounds The Arabic sounds comprise the following 28 consonants. Sound Example Sound Example ‘a ‘apple d dwarf b banana t Italy t table dh those th thumb ^a gag reflex letter j jungle gh gargle letter h coughing letter f fox kh snoring letter q back-throat k d dear k kangaroo dh there l love r Spanish r m mother z zebra n nice s sun h hotel sh shy w water s salt y yourself Arabic also uses 3 short vowels and 3 long vowels. a Safia aa Maalik u ^Umar oo Noor i ‘Amin ee Kareem This transliteration convention is adopted all throughout. However, some liberties are taken to keep the writing simple. >> Most of the long vowels are replaced by short vowels. For example, Qur’aan is written Qur’an, ‘Ibraheem is written ‘Ibrahim, in the text. When transliterating parts of the Qur’an, however, long vowels are kept in order to stay true to the basic rules of recitation. >> The first sound (epiglottal stop ‘a) is omitted when at the beginning of a word. For example, ‘Imam is written Imam, etc. >> The closing h at the end of many Arabic words is omitted (for example Sunnah is written Sunna, etc). >> When using the article al, the usual contraction for the “solar” Arabic letters is eliminated. For example, Ash-Shafi^i is written Al-Shafi^i, etc. The Italic font is used for transliterated Arabic words. 3 Preface .......................................................................................................................................2 Transliteration of the Arabic Sounds ......................................................................................3 Islam and Muslims ....................................................................................................................6 The Declaration of Faith ......................................................................................................6 Striving to Do Good .............................................................................................................7 Islamic Beliefs ......................................................................................................................7 Angels and Spirits ................................................................................................................8 Prophets.................................................................................................................................8 Prophet Muhammad .............................................................................................................9 Revealed Books ....................................................................................................................9 The Holy Qur’an ................................................................................................................10 Paradise ...............................................................................................................................10 Traditions of the Prophet ...................................................................................................11 The Tradition of Gabriel ....................................................................................................11 The Islamic Civilization .....................................................................................................12 Muslims in the World .........................................................................................................12 The Islamic Prayers ................................................................................................................14 The Ritualistic Cleansing ...................................................................................................14 The Call to Prayer...............................................................................................................15 The First Two Basic Prayer Units (Rak^as) .....................................................................15 Prayer Recitation Requirements ........................................................................................17 The Obligatory Daily Prayers ............................................................................................18 The Optional Daily Prayers ...............................................................................................19 The Friday Prayer (Jumu^a) and the Holiday (^Eid) Prayers ..........................................20 Other Optional Islamic Prayers .........................................................................................20 Perpetual Daily Prayer Calendar .......................................................................................21 Final Words ........................................................................................................................23 Fasting in Islam ......................................................................................................................24 Fasting in General ..............................................................................................................24 The Islamic Fasting ............................................................................................................24 The Month of Ramadan .....................................................................................................24 Optional Fasting .................................................................................................................25 Benefits of Fasting .............................................................................................................25 The Islamic Lunar Calendar ..................................................................................................26 The Islamic Holidays .........................................................................................................26 The Charity Tax in Islam .......................................................................................................28 What is Zakat? ....................................................................................................................28 The Zakat Rates ..................................................................................................................28 Who Benefits from Zakat? .................................................................................................29 Other Charity Taxes ...........................................................................................................29 Moral Standing ...................................................................................................................30 4 The Islamic Law .....................................................................................................................31 The Sunni Schools of Law .................................................................................................31 Basics of the Islamic Law (Shari^a) .................................................................................31 The Shia School of Thought ..............................................................................................32