Islam is not Arabism

THAT the Arab world is in turmoil is obvious. What people must not do is confuse Islam with Arabism, elitism and so on. Islam is based on six articles of Belief and five Pillars.

1. Belief in one supreme Creator who is eternal.

2. Belief in angels which includes those of the Torah and Bible.

3. Belief in the prophets of the Torah, Bible and ends with Muhammad.

4. Belief in the revelations advises that Muslims accept much of the Bible, Torah and all of the Qur’an.

5. Belief in judgment day, paradise and hell.

6. Belief in predestination which submits the Creator has decreed choosing good and rejecting evil. The Five Pillars of Islam: 1. Testimony of faith is “there is only one Creator and Muhammad is the Creator’s emissary”.

2. Prayer is compulsory five times daily.

3. Alms is a part of income given once a year.

4. Fasting in Ramadaan where abstinence is required from food, drink and sex from dawn to sunset.

5. Pilgrimage to Mecca if physically and financially possible at least once.

What is logical from the above is that the violence in Britain, France, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and so on has little to do with Islam the faith but everything to do with global/ regional politics.

Example, recently some Arab monarchs alienated Qatar for allegedly supporting terrorism. Ironically Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood whose agenda is to expand democracy and human rights.

The problem is that the Arab royalty supported by Britain, the US, France and so on do not want democracy and human rights for regular people in the Middle East. That is why the Arab Spring was quickly ruined. What must ordinary people do to be free from their local and global elite?

Since there is no compulsion in religion in Islam, people can choose their faiths. Thus a Muslim at war cannot kill anyone that is not directly engaged in tangible combat. Bombing and stabbing innocent people is against the laws of Islam. Violence which is linked to Islam is propaganda to create a rift amid Jews, Christians and Muslims. Yagyah Adams Cape Muslim Congress