Basics of Becoming a Muslim

Islam is an Arabic word and it connotes submission, surrender and obedience. As a religion, Islam stands for complete submission and obedience to Allah (God).

Islam, in fact, is an attributive title. Anyone who possesses this attribute, whatever race, community, country or group he or she belongs to, is a Muslim. According to the Qur'an (the Holy Book of the Muslims), among every people and in all ages there have been good and righteous people who possessed this attribute - and all of them were and are Muslims.

Islam is a universal and eternal religion. Its appeal is to the whole humanity. Any person who declares belief in La ilaha illallah Muhammad-ur-Rasulullah (there is no deity but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet) enters the fold of Islam and entitles him or herself to the same rights as those of other Muslims.

Prophet Muhammad (blessings of Allah and peace be upon him) has enjoined us to believe in five articles of faith:

1) Belief in one God Who has absolutely no associate with Him in His divinity;
2) Belief in God's Angels;
3) Belief in God's Books, and in the Holy Qur'an as His Last Book;
4) Belief in God's Prophets, and in Muhammad (blessings of Allah and peace be upon him) as His Last and Final Messenger; and
5) Belief in life after death.

One who believes in these articles enters the fold of Islam and becomes a member of the Muslim community. But one does not become a complete Muslim by mere vocal profession alone. To become a complete Muslim one has to fully carry out in practice the instructions given by Prophet Muhammad (blessings of Allah and peace be upon him) as ordained by God.

Ref : http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/Muslim.htm

Basic Beliefs of Islam

The teachings of Quran and Hadith (sayings of Prophet Mohammad) revolves around two Arabic word namely, Emaan (Faith) and Amaal (Acts).

Emaan is like the roots of a tree and Amaal are the stems, leaves or other parts of it. Just as without the roots, the tree cannot survive, similarly, without faith, the acts are useless.

The teachings of Quran emphasize mostly on the beliefs and an overview the acts, whereas the Hadith explains both beliefs and acts in details. Muslims believe that although there may be reservations in the Hadith, but Quran is free from all the mistakes and is infallible.

Quran is comprised of 114 Surahs (chapters) and 6236 Ayats (verses). Quran was preserved through writing and memorization. Undoubtedly, today Quran is the only book which is fully memorized by more than 10 million people all over the world. The teachings of Quran confirm the revelations of other books and scriptures on various prophets. But, at the same time, all these books are considered to be corrupted with time and do not contain the original script of God.