This article is based on a general situation in the world today – March 2008. It is not directed to a specific Muslim community, nor is it meant to condemn or judge the religious beliefs of anyone. Whatever is presented here can be established from the Quran, God’s Final Testament to the world, and readers can verify everything for themselves. God is the Best Judge, and He alone knows who is a true Muslim and who isn’t.
For a greater insight into this subject, please explore the online references provided throughout this document. It is recommended that you first understand why God created the human being and what is its role on Earth. This knowledge will help you appreciate the topic being discussed here and more importantly, provide answers to your most crucial questions about life, death, happiness, religious choices, etc.
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Most people who profess to be Muslims are not really Muslims in the true sense. And when they claim to follow the religion of Islam, most of what they believe or practice is quite different from the religion detailed in their scripture, the Quran. While you may be surprised to read this, it is true - as true as the fact that the vast majority of Muslims are going to Hell forever, not to Heaven by default which they believe.
To know why the Muslims do not really qualify to be called Muslims, let us start with knowing the function of the Quran and meaning of the words Islam and Muslim:-
The principal role of all human beings is to seek redemption to God so they may return to Him after their death in this world. But to be redeemed to Him, they must first develop their souls large enough to withstand His awesome presence in the Hereafter which can only be achieved by worshipping God alone and leading a righteous life that pleases Him.
To ensure that they achieve the required level of soul growth and stay on the right track throughout their lives, God has been sending the humans instructions from Him, telling them exactly what they should do or not do on Earth. These instructions have come to the people in the form of ‘scriptures’ delivered by select ‘messengers,’ called prophets - specially appointed by God for this purpose. Any individual or community that “submits to” or obeys God’s will in His scriptures, is guaranteed a happy life in this world and redemption to God in the Hereafter.
The Quran is God’s Final Testament to the world. Revealed in Arabic to Prophet Muhammad over twenty three years between 610 and 632 AD, it is the only scripture in existence that is intact and accurately preserved by God down to every letter. It confirms, consummates, and supersedes all previous scriptures from God, giving the world a complete and perfect manual of “how to submit to God,” in one single book. Everything you need from social, economical, political and judicial laws, along with specific worship practices to develop your soul and enjoy God’s grace and protection throughout your life, is contained in the Quran.
This “system” or religion of ‘Submission to God’ is called Islam, and the one who practices the religion exactly as per Quran is called a Muslim. In English, the words for Islam and Muslim are “Submission” and “Submitter.”
Unfortunately, those who call themselves Muslims do not really qualify to be Muslims by virtue of the fact that they neither worship God alone, nor follow the Quran alone as their source of religious guidance. What they believe and practice (knowingly or unknowingly), is significantly different from the clear and precise instructions detailed in the Quran. A few examples below will explain this:
The foundation or first ‘pillar’ of Islam is La Elaaha Ella Allah (No god except God), and all Muslims are required to bear witness to this fact. This is highlighted in Quran verse 3:18, where God also bears witness for Himself that “there is no god except He, and so do the angels and those who posses knowledge.”
But the Muslims do not bear witness about God like this. Instead of their Shahaadah (proclamation of faith) which should be Ash-hadu Al La Elaaha Ellaa Allah (I bear witness that there is no god except God), they proclaim, Ash-hadu Al La Elaaha Ellaa Allah, wa Ash-hadu An Muhammad Rasool Allah (I bear witness that there is no god except God and I bear witness that Muhammad is God’s messenger). Adding names or bearing witness about another entity along with God constitutes ‘Shirk’ (Idolatry), and a direct violation of the first pillar of Islam, nullifying anyone’s claim to be a Muslim at the most elementary phase.
Additionally, by proclaiming that Muhammad is God’s messenger and not doing the same for God’s other messengers such as Abraham, David, Moses, John, Jesus etc, directly violates God’s command not to make distinction among His messengers.
The First Pillar of Islam (Submission)
Setting up Muhammad as a partner or ‘god’ besides God
God alone created the universe and He alone is the Lord and Master over all things. He has no partner and none equals Him. While the Muslims may claim to worship God alone, the truth is that they often have difficulty in just mentioning God without mentioning Prophet Muhammad along with Him. Instead of reverencing God, they idolize Prophet Muhammad against his will and give him superhuman status by claiming that he was infallible with power of intercession and mercy, which God never decreed for him or anyone else.
Reverencing anyone else besides God; mentioning other names along with God; or believing that anything or anyone besides God can help you in this life or in the Hereafter, constitutes setting up of partners or ‘gods’ besides God. This is Shirk or Idol Worship by definition, and is an unforgivable offense if maintained till death.
Besides the first pillar of Islam, there are four other pillars which comprise of specific practices that must be performed to enable the soul to grow in huge proportions. These are the Salat (Contact Prayers), Zakat (Obligatory Charity), Seyam (Fasting) and Hajj (Pilgrimage). Like with everything else, these practices are also grossly violated by the Muslims.
Religious Duties: A Gift From God
Salat (Contact Prayers): There are five ‘Contact Prayers’ which must be performed daily at particular times during the day. These prayers are a mathematically coded set of specific sound and body movements that create a mystical harmony in the universe and establish ‘direct’ contact with God. Any deviation from the format prescribed by God nullifies the prayers, which is just what the Muslims world over are doing. For example:
The Muslims add some extra prayers/units of their own which break the mathematical connection of the specified five prayer set. The ablution to prepare for prayer has only four simple steps but they do upwards of eight steps. In Islam, the premise that “more is better” does not apply in the case of specified religious practices. What counts is that God’s instructions are carried out exactly as prescribed by Him – which is what submission to God is all about.
They perform some parts of the Salat prayer silently, while God commands the entire Contact Prayer to be uttered in a moderate tone.
Several Muslims do not do the Dawn and the other Salat prayers at their scheduled times. They practice an innovation called Kazaa or ‘make good’ prayer which allows them to do the prayers at a later time convenient to them. This completely defeats the purpose of performing a specific practice when God wants you to.
Muslim women do not observe the Salat Prayer during their period, denying themselves a few days of vital soul growth every month. Menstruation is a natural body function like mucous in the nose, wax in the ear or continuous discard/replenishment of skin and hair. Deeming it to be a spiritual impurity or curse from God is a condemnation of God’s perfect design of the human body. In Islam, God treats men and women as absolute equals and nowhere in the Quran does He prohibit women from worshipping Him during their period.
The objective of the Salat Prayer is to remember and commemorate God. By taking the name of Prophet Muhammad in the prayer, the prayer is nullified as it is no longer devoted absolutely to God alone.
Salat (Contact Prayers) / Mathematical Evidence
Zakat (Obligatory Charity): The Zakat charity is an efficient economic system which guarantees regular provisions for the needy and ensures constant circulation of wealth. It is calculated at 2.5% of net income and given away on the ‘day of harvest’ (like when you receive a paycheck) to parents, relatives, orphans, poor and the traveling alien, in that order. It is such an important practice that God specifies His mercy for those who give it, but the Muslims insist on doing it all wrong. They calculate their Zakat only on gross assets, once a year during the month of Ramadan, and do not distribute it in the specified order of recipients. More so, they give their Zakat only to Muslims. Their corrupted practice is not practical because:
Calculation on gross assets instead of net income causes inaccurate and unnecessary deliberation on arriving at the Zakat amount to be distributed. If the gross assets have appreciated greatly, it may encourage cheating in the accounting basis, or force the giver to sell assets to fund the high amount. On the other hand, smaller amounts calculated only when net income is received, place no burden on the giver. Islam is an extremely practical religion and God wants His servants to have convenience, not hardship, in practicing it.
A large amount given only once a year may cause overspending by the recipient and not leave enough reserve for the rest of the year. Additionally, if the Zakat is lost, stolen or destroyed, the needy recipient will have to wait one whole year to get relief again!
If Zakat is reserved only for Muslims; the parents, relatives, orphans, poor and traveling aliens who are not Muslims will be denied their much needed share of charity. Should one not help suffering people just because they follow a different faith? What impression will people have of God’s great religion that advocates compassion, if Muslims deny the due alms to those whom God has assigned it for?
Seyam (Fasting): Fasting throughout the month of Ramadan is a great opportunity to develop the soul by practicing self discipline, besides its scientifically proven health benefits by giving the digestive system some rest. But the Muslims have innovated so many complex rules around it that it appears difficult and takes away from the significance of the practice. Some of their illogical rules include; not swallowing saliva when fasting, not watching TV for the whole month, starting and ending the month only after physically sighting the moon, ending the fast only with date fruit or salt.
Hajj (Pilgrimage): The pilgrimage to Mecca is decreed once in a lifetime only for those who can afford it. It cannot be performed by one person for another person who is alive or dead. Yet many poor Muslims sell off their assets or go into lifetime debt to make it, because they believe that performing Hajj wipes out all past and future sins. God has decreed four months in which to do Hajj but local Governments restrict it to a few days for their convenience. The consequent overcrowding results in constant dealing with crowds rather than spending those precious few days in concerted worship of God alone.
Besides a variety of complicated rules never decreed by God, most pilgrims also visit Medina to pray at Prophet Muhammad’s tomb. The Prophet, like every true Submitter (Muslim), dedicated his worship practices absolutely to God alone and preached that everyone should do the same. He never visited his own tomb (obviously), and never asked or expected anyone to reverence him before or after his death. He could not help people when he was alive so how will it help to commemorate him after this death?
Abandonment of Quran
The Quran is a perfect, easy-to-follow manual of religious guidance for every generation, if only people would just kill their egos and follow it for their happiness and salvation. In it, God has outlined a comprehensive system that deals with and provides a solution for every aspect of a human’s life from birth to death. Besides the prescribed religious practices, there are also specific laws and guidelines for people to establish a free, fair, and progressive society to live in. But the Muslims have abandoned the Glorious Quran in favor of conjecture, personal opinions (mostly for their convenience), and sources not authorized by God, such as the Hadith and Sunna, which they believe are needed to explain the Quran.
In reality, the Hadith (narrations) and Sunna (actions) are gross falsehood attributed to Prophet Muhammad and appeared only about two hundred years after his death. In Quran, God mentions the word Hadith by name several times and commands Muslims to study and follow no other Hadith except His Hadith – the Quran. The Quran is totally free from any nonsense or contradictions, unlike what is found in the many books of Hadith. It is also an acknowledged fact that the Hadith compilers abandoned over 90% of their own collections because they could not confirm them to be accurate or authentic. Strangely, when the Muslims insist that the Hadith books are needed to explain the Quran, the Hadith passages never tell you which verses of the Quran they are supposed to be explaining!
Hadith & Sunna: Satanic Innovations
Because they do not study the Quran, the Muslims do not realize that the prophet’s role was only to deliver the Quran, not explain it. Even the religious practices of Salat, Zakat, Seyam and Hajj were not taught to him as commonly believed. These practices were taught to Prophet Abraham many centuries earlier and were already in existence when the Quran was revealed. However, as a religious and political leader, the prophet was authorized by God to issue certain instructions for the proper functioning of the society and responsible dissemination of God’s message. Whenever he issued such instructions, the people were required to obey him and carry out those instructions.
So in Quran, when God says, ‘obey the messenger,’ it is with reference to those specific instructions when he was alive, not after his death. But the Muslims have taken this completely out of context and created a false parallel religion based on what Prophet Muhammad “apparently” said or did. This covers things like what clothes he wore, how he walked, combed his hair, ate his food and what not - which even if were true - have nothing to do with the religion. Whatever we need to do – even our personal actions - is already made clear in the Quran. Ironically, when they claim that they must ‘do as the prophet did,’ the Muslims never seem to copy the prophet’s excellent example of devoting his life and worship absolutely to God alone and following nothing but the Quran for his guidance.
The Muslims have closed the door of guidance on themselves
Because of their dependence on Hadith, the Muslims have completely blocked themselves out of the incredible wisdom of the Quran, and are living in a cesspool of falsehood and confusion led by ignorant/hypocrite religious leaders and scholars. Below are a few examples of their false beliefs which have absolutely no basis in the Quran.
↓The Falsehood: God loves Muslims the most and all of them are guaranteed Paradise. Even if a few really bad ones are sent to Hell, God will forgive them and get them out of there after a few days.
↑The Truth: God gives all humans the opportunity to redeem themselves with no special allowances for anybody. If the Muslims want to go to Paradise, they have to worship God alone and follow His word in Quran correctly. Most Muslims are headed towards Hell.
Quran: All You Need For Salvation
↓The Falsehood: Prophet Muhammad will intercede for the Muslims and save them on the Day of Judgment.
↑The Truth: No one can intercede for anyone, and no one except God has power of mercy and forgiveness in the Hereafter.
↓The Falsehood: For men, sporting a beard is more ‘prophet-like.’ They may wear silver ornaments but never gold, though teeth caps made in gold are okay! Women must be covered from head to toe as much as possible. Women cannot wear make-up or nail polish when observing the five daily Salat prayers.
↑The Truth: Both men and women are required to dress modestly and subdue their eyes. Women are required to lengthen their garments and cover their chests – that’s all - not live in a shrouded world of darkness and suffocation. The ablution before prayer is all that is required, so women are free to wear make-up, jewelry or nail polish when praying. Because of their own illogical rules, several Muslim women do not pray at all or pray at a later time convenient to them!
↓The Falsehood: Green is a ‘Muslim’ color, and Friday is an ‘Islamic’ day to start a new venture.
↑The Truth: There is no such thing as a Muslim or Islamic color, and there is no day or time which is more lucky or auspicious in Islam.
↓The Falsehood: Food must only be served and eaten with the right hand. A toilet must never face the direction of the Ka’bah (the Sacred Masjid in Mecca).
↑The Truth: Muslims use both hands during prayer, both hands to earn money, and both hands to cook food. They should be appreciative of both the hands God has given them. If God did not want them to use their left hand for anything, He would have pointed it out in the Quran. The Ka’bah is a universal point of direction which Muslims face towards when observing the Salat prayers. It has nothing to do with the direction you may face when you use the toilet, walk, or sleep.
↓The Falsehood: Taking pictures/videos, or displaying art paintings with humans in them is not recommended because that is akin to creating idols for worship. However, watching TV and movies is okay, except in the months or Ramadan and Muharram!
↑The Truth: What can one say, except that the Muslims deserve the confusion they live in?
↓The Falsehood: Hosting special prayers for the dead; making someone perform Hajj or recite Quran for days on end will absolve the deceased person from non-compliance of religious duties when he or she was alive.
The reality: The human was created to work hard to redeem himself, and everyone is responsible for his or her own actions. There is no intercession and no nepotism in the Hereafter. No one can perform your obligations for you, and no amount of praying by someone else is going to help you if you failed in your responsibilities when you were alive.
↓The Falsehood: Quran must be read and recited in Arabic, even if you don’t understand it. If you want to know what God is saying, you can ask the religious leaders and scholars - who are well versed in Hadith.
↑The Truth: There is a technical reason why God revealed the Quran in Arabic, and nowhere does He say that the Quran can only be read and recited in that language. God wants people to understand the instructions in the Quran so they can do all the right things, not memorize and recite it like parrots without knowing what it says.
Why Was the Quran Revealed in Arabic?
↓The Falsehood: Muslim men can marry four wives.
↑The Truth: The Quran does not advocate polygamy. Taking on an additional wife is only allowed if the objective is to provide fatherly support for an orphaned child. Even then it is discouraged because it is not possible to be equitable in a polygamous relationship. Another wife for carnal pleasure or some other reason is not allowed.
So are Muslims really Muslims?
As you may have figured by now, those who call themselves Muslims are not really Muslims in the true sense, because they do not follow Islam the way God has decreed it. Today the word Muslim has become more of a generic term used to identify a group of people based on certain religious/cultural traits that have become associated with ‘being Muslim.’ For example, Muslims have typical names, use typical socio-religious expressions, or dress in a typical manner and so on. However, none of these external symbols indicate that they are assured of God’s favor upon them no matter what they do on Earth. In other words, nobody becomes a true Muslim by default, just by being born into Muslim-like surroundings.
Interestingly, when Muslims introduce themselves to each other, they rarely leave it at just saying they are Muslims. Invariably, they have to further distinguish their identity by mentioning which sect of Islam they belong to, even though God has prohibited the formation of sects. Despite their common dependence on Hadith which they think will resolve every aspect of the religion; the Muslims have divided themselves into various factions and rarely see eye to eye over each other’s interpretations of Hadith!
If you think the Muslims are united in practice or knowledge, they are not, and you can check this for yourself. Ask some questions about the religion to a few Muslims and you will receive a variety of different answers even from within the same sect. If you challenge the answer or ask to show support from Quran, you may be asked to accept the explanation blindly or mind your own business – but you still won’t get a collective answer from Quran!
What Next
If you are a reader of Muslim background and are disappointed or concerned with what you have read here, it is quite understandable, but that is not the objective of this article. Instead, look upon this as an eye opener because the situations described here are true. If God’s perfect religion guarantees a happy and dignified life on Earth, why is it that the Muslims are collectively the most oppressed, miserable and backward people in the world? Why does everyone look upon them and Islam with suspicion or aversion?
Obviously they are not doing what God has told them to do in the Quran. Additionally, God will hold them responsible for creating a false picture about His great religion ordained for the world. If the Muslims want to exit the mess they are in, they have to first kill their egos and think about what they are doing. All they need to do is worship God alone, follow the Quran alone and abandon all that they have been blindly practicing till now. If they just repent to God, ask His forgiveness and reform, He will turn everything around for them and guide them in His path of sovereignty, peace and happiness.
At an individual level, you may wish to examine your own practices, just in case you need to correct something before it is too late. Do not let Satan scare you over the requirement to remove Prophet Muhammad’s name from your worship. When you call upon God alone, it does not mean you are disregarding Prophet Muhammad. In fact, when you devote your worship absolutely to God alone, you will be following the prophet in the true sense, because that is exactly what he did. When you reject Hadith, you will be showing your support for the prophet by absolving him of the gross falsehood attributed to him. It is just not worth it for you to care about what your friends and relatives may say or think - a major hurdle for most - because they will not come to your help on the Day of Resurrection. Instead, if you seek dignity with God, He will soften the hearts of the people and make them respect you over everyone else.
Invitation to people of other religions: If you are of non-Muslim background, you may also wish to consider taking a look at your religious beliefs and practices, just to be sure. With no disrespect meant to you or anyone else, a major problem with the world today is that most people do not worship God alone nor follow His truth. There may be many reasons for this: For some, it may be because they are happy to blindly follow what they have been taught since birth without realizing the corruption that has crept into all religions. For others, it may be because they don’t know where to source the correct information to be followed - so they have left the idea altogether. Several others may be confused about the role of religion in their lives; or are too preoccupied with this world to be bothered; or just do not feel the need to let God guide them in anything!
Whatever the reason, the fact is that God has created the human beings to give them a final chance to redeem themselves back to Him. At the end of this life, there is the irrevocable destination to Heaven or Hell forever. To help them make it, God has placed in all humans the natural instinct to recognize and worship Him alone, and given them His scriptures to guide them in the right path. In the Hereafter they will have no excuse if they fail, so it is important that all people take God seriously and submit to Him.
Looking Forward
If you appreciate what has been shared till now, you will agree that the correct thing to do for your soul now is (a) Worship God alone and abandon all forms of idolatry. (b) ‘Submit’ to God and follow His instructions in the scripture.
When you set out to follow the scripture, you should know that all scriptures prior to Quran have been largely lost, fragmented and corrupted over time. However, despite severe distortions, God's truth can still be found in them. For example, both the Old and New Testaments still advocate absolute devotion to God Alone and never ask you to set up anyone or anything else as a lord besides/instead of God. Even the Hindu scriptures, commonly associated with worship of man made statues, also advocate absolute devotion to God.
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]
As stated earlier in this article, the Quran is the only scripture in existence that is intact and accurately preserved by God down to every letter. It confirms, consummates and supersedes all previous scriptures from God, giving the world a complete and universal “Manual of Submission” in one single book.
But this does not mean that corruption of God’s message has not continued after revelation of the Quran. The critical difference is that with the previous scriptures, the original content is itself not available, leaving people to follow a garbled mix of assumptions and personal interpretations by scholars and translators. That is why there is so much confusion and disunity within all religions – because no one has an accurate and confirmed source of original reference to take guidance from. In the case of Quran, because it is His Final Testament to the world, God has preserved the original message exactly as it was revealed to Prophet Muhammad. Therefore, whatever corruption has entered Islam is not in the text of the scripture, but in its practice because the Muslims have abandoned the Quran in favor of other sources never decreed by God.
You should read this Introduction
So in reality, what lies ahead for people of all religions (including those who call themselves Muslims), is to follow God’s intact and exact guidance - if they want to ensure their happiness and redemption back to God. It is simply not worth the risk to try and make it on your own without God’s guidance, so you are encouraged to keep the big picture in mind and follow what is right. Do not let your ego come in the way of pursuing the truth, because this life is your only opportunity to redeem yourself back to God.
Important: It is imperative for you to know that the Quran is neither a ‘Muslim book’ nor the exclusive preserve of any community just because it was revealed in a particular place or language. It is a universal book of assured guidance for anyone who chooses to let God guide him or her. To take God’s guidance from Quran, you do not need to know Arabic, nor change your name, religious lineage, cultural habits or anything like that. Submission to God can be practiced independently and privately with direct accountability to God. In fact, Jews and Christians will be pleasantly surprised to see how much of the truth delivered by their prophets is reiterated in the Quran.
Article Summary
Those who call themselves Muslims are not really Muslims by definition of the scripture, because they neither worship God alone nor follow the Quran alone for their guidance.
Muslims are not going to Heaven by default which they think. If they want to be counted as Muslims, they must worship God alone and obey His commandments in Quran.
God has always sent the humans scriptures to help them lead a happy, righteous life and redeem themselves back to Him. Anyone who worships God alone and follows His instructions is guaranteed a wonderful life on Earth and redemption to Him in the Hereafter.
The Quran is God’s Final Testament, confirming and superseding all His previous messages in one single book. It contains a perfect and fully detailed ‘system’ of religious guidance. Scriptures revealed before Quran are largely lost or corrupted, eliminating the possibility of following a complete system of Submission prior to Quran. This is in accordance with God’s will because the Quran henceforth represents a single source of religious guidance for all generations until the end of the world.
In Arabic, God’s System of Submission is called Islam and the one who practices Submission is called a Muslim. The English words for Islam and Muslim are Submission and Submitter.
The Quran is not only for a select group of people who maintain a certain cultural profile. To practice Submission, you do not need to know the Arabic language or adopt any Arabic/Muslim names or traits. The Quran can be studied in any language and followed independently by any individual from anywhere in the world.
Most humans commit idol worship in one way or another and are on their way to Hell. The safest and assured way to prevent this is to lead their lives in accordance with God’s instructions in the scripture. Even those who call themselves Muslims need to abandon their corrupted practices and return to God’s truth on equal terms along with all the other people on Earth.
As stated in the beginning, this article has not been written to condemn or judge the religious beliefs of the Muslims or anyone else. But the fact is that those who call themselves Muslims are not Muslims as per Quran, and they urgently need to know this. If they wish to continue the way they are, that is entirely their lookout because God is the ultimate Judge of everyone’s actions.
However, there is larger problem here which they have not considered. The world is in a terrible mess where people are in constant search of a solution that can bring peace and happiness in their individual lives and as a global community. The answer has always been to follow God’s system from His scriptures, and as you know by now, the Quran contains that specific system for today. As long as those who call themselves Muslims continue to demonstrate or sell Islam/Submission they way they are doing at present, people will be hesitant to seek God’s truth from the Quran. If the Muslims insist that the Quran is ‘their book’ and Islam is ‘their religion,’ then people are never going to know that the Quran and the religion of Submission to God alone is as much their religion as anyone else’s.
Nevertheless, God has promised that His system will prevail and that He will soon establish His truth over falsehood for the world to follow. This process has already begun with people from everywhere killing their egos and pursuing the truth for their happiness and salvation. This article, God willing, is only a small offering in the process to help people come to God’s guidance.
Peace be upon you.