WHAT IS ISLAM?

The Islamic Way of Inviting Mankind to the Truth

The following verse of the Holy Qur'an lays down in clear terms the only method by which mankind can be invited to the Truth, that is, through Islam.
It is true that Islam was spread with the sword. But which sword? Not the one the Christian Church used under the Edict of Milan against the poor and helpless Jews, men, women and innocent children, but with the sword of ever-triumphant Islamic ethics, through the ideal conduct and godly character of the Holy Prophet, and through the matchless sacrifices of the Holy Ahlul- Bait - a lovely heavenly weapon shipper and surer than the brutal one used to spread the creed started in the name of Jesus. The following is the Qur'anic injunction on the preaching of the faith by the Muslims:
And call thou unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and kindly exhortation, and dispute with them in the manner which is the best; Verily thy Lord knoweth better of him who hath gone astray from His path; and He knoweth best of those guided aright.
Truth is that which even the enemy is helpless to deny. Let the world listen to what the great Christian scholar declares:
History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon the conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated.
(De Lacy O'Leary in Islam at the Crossroads, London 1923, page 8)
There are many more of such open declarations by impartial scholars of the non-Muslim world who earnestly seek the truth.
To quote all of them would need a separate volume in itself.
The Meaning of Deen and Maz'hab The Arabic term Deen or Maz'hab stands for the word "Religion"
in English. Religion is Human recognition of superhuman controlling power and especially of a personal God entitled to obedience, effect of such recognition on conduct and mental attitude." (OED)
Man by nature is conscious of an Absolute Authority, a Super Power of the highest order, and the way he thinks and behaves in his desire to reach or to please that Power, that is religion.
Islam, as a religion, stands for the divinely prescribed code for disciplining the human Ego or self in its practical life on earth, to enable man to raise himself from the abyss of material degradation towards the sublime heights of eternal heavenly bliss. Such bliss is in store for those who successfully conquer the lust for material possessions and physical power and restrain carnal desires.
Islam is a divinely formulated and perfectly regulated formula. Expressed in a few words, it is:
Say thou (Oh, our Apostle Muhammad!), My Prayer, my Sacrifice, my Life and my Death (are all, only) for God, the Lord of the worlds. (6:163)
It is worth imagining, if man ponders over the complete implications of this heavenly guidance in its fullness and acts upon it, how glorious life on earth would Be; there would be no need for man to aspire to Paradise, For the earth itself would become a replica of Heaven. This is the spirit and aim of Islam, the Islam-Original called Shiaism .