"... Oh my Lord, indeed I have wronged
my soul. I SUBMIT MYSELF ALONG WITH SOLOMON, TO GOD THE LORD OF THE WORLDS"
Sura, 27:44.
All of God's prophets have come to this world,
and all the scriptures have been delivered. The time has come to purify and
consolidate all the messages delivered by God's prophets into one message,
and to proclaim that henceforth, there is only one religion acceptable to
God, "Submission" (3:19,85). Islam is an Arabic word and means "Submission",
surrender and obedience. As a Religion Islam means submission and surrender
to God alone.
"Submission" is the religion whereby we recognize
God's absolute authority,
and reach an unshakeable conviction that God
ALONE possesses all power; no
other entity possesses any power that is independent
of Him. The natural result
of such a realization is to devote our lives
and our worship absolutely to God
ALONE. This is the First Commandment in all
the scriptures, including the Old
Testament, the New Testament, and this Final
Testament.
Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is One God! Therefore you shall adore
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your
mind, and with all your strength. [Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Luke 12:29-30, Quran
3:18]
Let us meditate on God, His glorious attributes, who is the basis of everything
in this universe as its Creator, who is fit to be worshiped as
Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient and self existent conscious being,
who removes all ignorance and impurities from the mind and purifies and sharpens
the intellect. [Gayatri Mantra, Yajur Veda]
To associate anything or anyone with God is
known as 'shirk', the highest degree of blasphemy, which God does not forgive.
This is made clear in chapter 4 verse 48. The Quran also stipulates that
Muslims must profess faith in the One God and not call on anyone else.
To profess their faith in Islam or to convert
one will make this declaration: "I bear witness that there is no god
except God " (Arabic transliteration: "Ash hadu anlaa ilaaha illallaah").
This testimony is called the Shahadah.
Also There is another, not less important,
attestation, which Muslims can recite to affirm their faith or to convert.
It can be found in the Quran and to show
this attestation of faith, the Prophet Abraham is an excellent
example. "Whose religion is better than one who SUBMITS himself to
God, works righteousness and follows the faith Of Abraham the monotheist?
God has chosen Abraham as a beloved friend". Sura, 4:125.
The next verse tells us:
"When his Lord
said to him "SUBMIT" he said, "I SUBMIT TO THE LORD OF THE WORLDS" (Arabic:
Aslamtu Li Rabbil Aalameen) Sura 2:131.
So here we have it. When God showed Abraham
the perfect religion, He commanded Abraham to Submit ("Aslimu") and Abraham
said "Aslamtu li rabbil aalameen". This is how MUSLIMS (or converts) should
attest their faith (or to convert);
"I SUBMIT TO THE LORD OF THE
WORLDS"
The story of Abraham continues in the next verse:
"The same did Abraham enjoin upon his sons and also Jacob, "0 My sons,
God has chosen for you the true faith, therefore DIE NOT SAVE AS MEN WHO
HAVE SUBMITTED". Sura 2:132
Abraham enjoined his sons to believe in the
same things he did. He also successfully enjoined his people to say the same
thing "Aslamtu li rabbil aalameen" which means "I submit myself to the Lord
of the Worlds". This is revealed in the next verse: "Or were you present
when death came to Jacob, when he said unto his sons, 'What will you
worship after me?" They said, 'We shall worship thy God, the God of thy fathers
Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac, One God, and UNTO HIM WE HAVE SUBMITTED"
Sura
2:133.
This is the truth about how Abraham submitted
himself to God, as it was revealed to the Messenger through the Quran. And
the Messenger is commanded to follow Abraham: "And they say, "Be Jews
or Christians, then you will be rightly guided. "Say; "No,
We follow the faith of Abraham, the upright, and he was not of
the idolaters". Sura 2:135 "Say, 'We believe in God and that which
is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham..." Sura,
2:136.
Now it is clear that Muslims cannot attest their
faith by witnessing a Messenger, especially as they cannot be seen. Witnessing
on Muhammad's messengership is just the idolization of one prophet. Giving
distinction to one messenger above another is strictly forbidden in the Quran
as mentioned in verses 2.285 and 4.150-152.
There is no doubt that the prophet Muhammad
followed the faith of Abraham. "And we inspired you (Muhammad) to FOLLOW
THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM, he who was naturally upright, he was never an idolater"
Sura 16:123.
The Prophet did exactly as God commanded him.
If anyone wants to become a Muslim should they then not follow the prophet
Muhammad's example that affirmed his faith in the same way as Abraham?
"Those among mankind who have the best
claim to Abraham are those who followed him, and this prophet, and those
who believe, and God is the protecting friend of the believers".
Sura,
3:68.
Say, (Muhammad) "I am forbidden to worship
those whom you call besides God, since there has come to me clear proofs
from God, and I AM COMMANDED TO SUBMIT TO THE LORD OF THE WORLDS (wa umirtu
un aslima li rabbil aalameen) Sura 40:66.
The Messenger and his companions simply submitted
themselves to God: "Say "Shall we call those things besides God, which
can neither harm us nor benefit us, and shall we turn back after God has
guided us - like one possessed by the devils, who has companions (sahaba!)
Who invite him, saying "Come to us?" Say, 'The guidance of God is indeed
true guidance and WE ARE COMMANDED TO SUBMIT TO THE LORD OF THE WORLDS
(wa
umirna li nuslimn li rabbil aalameen)" Sura 6:71
The Quran also gives an incident of the prophet
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba as another example of submission to God. It
records the moment when the Queen reverts to Islam. She was an idolater and
Solomon had invited her to Islam. To prove the greatness of God, Solomom
used powers given to him to move the Queen of Sheba's magnificent palace
intact, from one place to another in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, she realized God's power, immediately
repented and said, "Rabbi inn salamtu nafsin, wa aslamtu ma'a Sulaimaana,
lillaahi rabbiul aalameen" which means, "... Oh my Lord, indeed I have
wronged my soul. I SUBMIT MYSELF ALONG WITH SOLOMON, TO GOD THE LORD OF THE
WORLDS" Sura, 27:44.
To affirm their faith or to convert Muslims
should use the examples given in the Quran. What they should say is
"I
SUBMIT MYSELF TO THE LORD OF THE WORLDS". (Arabic: Aslamtu li rabbil
aalameen). Others who have affirmed their faith in this way are the Prophets
Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Solomon and of course the Prophet Muhammad
(Sura 40:66). Also the Queen of Sheba and the companions of the Prophet did
the same. If you adopt their way, you will be in good
company.
In conclusion, a convert must attest his or
her faith by submitting to Lord of the universe by saying;
" I SUBMIT MYSELF TO THE LORD OF THE WORLDS".
(Arabic: Aslamtu li rabbil aalameen)",
and by attesting to the truth that
there is no other god but GOD by saying; "I bear witness that there
is no god except God " (Arabic transliteration: "Ash hadu anlaa ilaaha
illallaah").
Of course submission will not be complete unless one obeys God's every
command in his Glorious book, The Holy Qur'an and by observing the duties
encumbered by all Muslims (submitters) such as; Salat, Fasting, Zakat and
Hajj.
" When his Lord said to him "Submit" he
said
" I submit to the Lord of the
Worlds"
(Quran Sura 2:131)
info@submission.org
