AsSalaam Alkuim,
In the name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful
This is Haqq Dawah Media Presents: Glad Tidings Season 2 Episode 10: Little known facts about Islam. As you can see the show will cover facts about Islam that you may not know and I will sprinkle in some facts about Muslims also. So, let’s begin.
- Islam is not a new religion.
- The first Muslim was our father Adam (AS). Not Muslim as we are today but, as a man who worshiped Allah alone, and followed Sharia. It wasn’t until later on in life did people start following and worshiping other than Allah. ( After the death of Adam and up until the time of Noah (AS), and after).
- All the Prophets of Allah were Muslims and taught the Islam of their time.
- It was until Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that we have the Islam that we follow today.
2. The first Quran translated to english was by a man named Alexander Ross in 1649. Mr Ross was the chaplain to King Charles 1. The Quran was translated from French.
a. Next was George Sale who named the translated Quran Alcoran of Mohammed.
b. The first Muslim to translate the Quran to english was Mirz Abdul Fazl in 1910.
3. Muslims do not believe in the “Original Sin” concept
- As Muslims we do believe that Adam (AS) did eat from the tree Allah forbid him from doing. What we don’t believe is that we pay for his actions and that we are born sinning. The Quran speaks on this in Surah 53 Verse 38-39. “ man can have nothing but what he strives for.”
- Matter of fact the original sin is a concept only followed by Eastern christians.
- Even the bible says: “The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
4. The Muslims created a House of Wisdom (Bait-ul-Hikmat), which was active during the 9th –13th centuries, where both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars sought to translate the world’s knowledge into Arabic. Many classic works of antiquity that might have otherwise been lost were preserved in Arabic and Persian and later translated into Turkish, Hebrew, and Latin. Here, scholars synthesized and significantly advanced knowledge gained from the Roman, Chinese, Persian, Egyptian, Greek, Byzantine, and other civilizations.
5. There are an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, which is about 1/5 of the world’s population. Due to birth and conversion rates, Islam is considered to be the fastest-growing religion in the world today.
6. Islam prove the life of Adam, Noah, Moses, Jesus and other Prophets (AS). This is due to the fact that they are mentioned in the Quran. Being that the Quran is the words of Allah and there is no falsehood in it and these Prophets are mentioned it is proven that they onced lived. No one can say for sure that they know where the graves for these Prophets are and there is no authentic history of them. It could be said without the Quran that these Prophets and their stories were false.
7. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the only Prophet that is history books and has a marked identified grave.
8. The Islamic world produced the first skilled, specially trained pharmacists, who made their own medicines and worked closely with physicians.
9. The first mosque built in the U.S. was the “Mother Mosque of America,” which was built in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1934. It is still used for worship today. First documented.
10. Islam is the fasting growing religion in Ireland.
11. Islam was spread by war and peace.
- Yes Islam was spread by war as all civilizations were. This action is nothing new to history. Difference being that Islam never forced anyone to convert. The conquered territory were given two options, convert or pay a protection tax (Jizya) to help pay for the Army for the territories protection.
- There are numerous countries that Muslims never set foot on that converted due to their interactions with Muslims (trading or just ones they came in contact with). Areas and countries such as Central Asia, The Sahara, Timutu, The Sudan, Uganda, South Asia, East Indies, and the Bulkins.
- During the infant stage of Islam in Mecca,many Muslims were persecuted. Some of these Muslims left and went to Abyssinia (current day Ethiopia) and some went to Somalia and other places. While in Somalia the Somalis were so impressed with the Muslims and adopted Islam well before it took root in the Arab Peninsula. ( Somali Muslim percentage is 99.8%) May Allah guide and give them peace and stability.
12. The oldest University is an Islamic Woman's University, University of Quranaouiyine founded in Fez, Morocco in 859. By Fatima al Fihri ( may Allah bless her). It is still open today.
13. The name Muhammad is the most common name in the world.
14. The Sears Tower ( now the Willis Tower) in Chicago was designed by a Muslim American Fazlur Rahman Khan.
15. Islam and the Nation "of Islam" are two different religions. Islam is a religion for all races and enjoins the worship of the One Unseen God who never took human form. On the other hand "the Nation" is a movement geared towards non-whites that teaches God appeared as a man named Fard Muhammad and that Elijah Muhammad was a prophet. According to orthodox Islam these are blasphemous beliefs that contradict the basic theology defined throughout the Qur'an and other authentic texts. The followers of "the Nation" adhere to some Islamic principles that are mixed with other practices and beliefs completely alien to authentic Islamic teachings.
16. Forced marriages, honor killings, female genital mutilation and the confinement of women to their homes are all forbidden in Islam. These practices stem from deeply entrenched cultural traditions and/or ignorance of the true Islamic teachings or how to apply them in society. Arranged marriages are allowed in Islam but are not required. In fact, one of the conditions for a valid Islamic marriage contract is the mutual consent of both parties to the marriage. And divorce is permissible provided the Islamic guidelines are followed which protect the rights of all affected parties, especially women and unborn children.
17. Most historians agree Columbus was not the first person to “discover” America and that explorers, including Muslims from West Africa, arrived several centuries before Columbus. In fact, when Columbus made his historical journeys, he relied on the maps and geography studies of the 12th-century Muslim scholar Al-Idrisi.
With # 17 that leads us to S.2 Ep. 10 B the story of my Brother Mansa Abu Bakari.
May Allah let this information be beneficial! (Ameen)
AsSalaam Alkuim,
The Haqq Dawah Group
