The ˹Solid˺ Ranks

All prophets face challenges when they invite people to Islam.

The believers are told to stand up for Allah by learning from the example of the faithful followers of 'Isa.

Those who have faith in Allah and stand up for Him are promised a great reward.

And those who challenge His faith are doomed to fail.

After the Muslims moved to Madinah, some of them kept asking the Prophet to allow them to fight against the idol-worshippers who abused them. He told them that he had not yet received an order to fight back. When the order finally came, giving them permission to fight in self-defence, some of those Muslims ran away in battle, and some didn't even show up. So verses 2-4 were revealed to teach them the importance of keeping their word and sticking together. {Recorded by Imam Al-Qurțubi}.

Islam literally means to submit to the Will of Allah, just like the rest of Allah's creation, such as the sun rising from the east and setting in the west. For someone to be Muslim, they need to do 5 things and believe in 6 things

The 5 things that Muslims should do .:

1' To say that Allah is the Only True God and that Muhammad is His Prophet:

2'To pray 5 times a day.:

3.To fast in Ramadan:

4.To pay zakah:

5. To do haj, if they can.:

The 6 things that Muslims believe in are::

1. Allah.:

2. His angels.:

3.. His prophets.:

4. His Holy Books.!:

5.. Free choice, based on His Will and Plan.

6.. Judgment Day, where those who did good will be rewarded and those who did evil will be punished.

Islam is all about having faith in Allah and doing good..

Not everyone in the media is fair-some are biased, others are not..

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world.? Many people accept Islam (with its clear, simple, and practical teachings) because it gives them inner peace and provides logical answers to im- portant questions about Our existence and the purpose of life. If what the media says about lslam was true, how come more people accept lslam than any other faith?.

1 There are 5 original revelations that are mentioned by name in the Quran: 1) The Tawrah of Musa . 2) The Injil of 'Isa . 3) The Zaboor ot Dawood .4) The Book of lbrahim . 5) And the Quran of Muhammad

2 According to Pew Research Center, 2017: (https://pewrsr.ch/2Z3c4o0). Website visited on July 23, 2019

Every religion has some bad followers. Some Muslims do bad things to hurt others. But this shouldn't be used to prove that all Muslims are bad. Almost all mass shootings in the USA are done by white Christian men, but this shouldn't be used to attack Christianity. Muslims should be judged based on what Islam teaches. Islam shouldn't be judged by what a few Muslims do. lslam is perfect; Muslims are not.

Some Muslims confuse Islam with their own culture and in doing so, they give Islam a bad name. For example, some don't allow women to get an education, or receive a share of inheritance, or to have a say in marriage. All of this is against Islamic teachings. But people in the west don't know the difference between Islam and local cultures in some Muslim countries, so Islam gets the blame.

Many minorities have been attacked in the past, including the Jews, blacks, Asians, First Na- tions, and so on. Some politicians attack Islam to win elections, or to sell weapons, or to justify going to war. Somne movie makers and TV hosts attack lIslam because it is a cheap way to make a lot of money. They don't say the truth, but they tell people what they are ready to accept

Now, what should we do to improve this situation?

1. Learn about lslam. You can't help your faith if you don't know what it stands for.

2. Teach others about the beautiful message of Islam.

3. Be proud of who you are.

4. Be a good ambassador for Islam. When you do something good or bad, you don't just represent yourself or your family-you represent your community and your faith

5. We need people like you to represent us in the media, sports, and politics. We need to invest in the media and make movies that represent us and our faith in an honest way. Our voices are not heard because we don't speak for ourselves.

6. Give back to the community and the country where you live by volunteering and donat- ing to good causes.

7.  We should open our homes and mosques to our neighbours, so they can see how friend- ly and generous Muslims are.

8. . We need to continue speaking up against the bad things that some Muslims do in the name of Islam.

9.   We should stand up for others if they are attacked because of their faith, race, or colour They will stand up for us.

10. .The non-Muslim community has many Abu [alibs (nice people) and some Abu Lahabs (hateful people). The Prophet s had to deal with both. We need to reach out and wer with those Abu Talibs in the community, and ignore the hateful words by the Abu la- habs. But we need to treat both fairly and with justice.In verses 7-9 below, Allah teaches us that Islam is the religion of truth. He promises to support it, no matter how hard its enemies attack it.

In 41:33 of the Quran, Allah says that the best Muslim is the one who::

1.. Invites others to believe in Allah.

2.Does good deeds..

3 And is proud to be Muslim.

.' At the age of 12, he lost his bike. Instead of whin- ing, he started to learn boxing for self-defence, and eventually became the world heavyweight champion 3 times. He has been ranked as the greatest boxer of all time. As a boxer, he was famous for floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.

.'He became a Muslim at the age of 22, and changed his name from Cassius Clay to Mu-hammad Ali.

.'Black people suffered from racism in the 1960s. So, after winning boxing matches, Ali would shout, I'm the greatest. I'm pretty not because he was arrogant, but because he wanted other African Americans to be proud of who they are.

.'He was a proud Muslim. He spoke about Islam on national TV, and always gave credit to Allah for his own successes.

.'He refused to join the war against Vietnam, saying that as a Muslim he was not allowed to hurt innocent people. His world title was taken away and he was threatened with jail, but he stood up for his beliefs. And he gained respect.

.'People also loved him for his rhymes and great sense of humour. He said he was so fast that he would turn his bedroom's lights off and get into his bed before the room got dark!

.'He refused to join the war against Vietnam, saying that as a Muslim he was not allowed to hurt innocent people. His world title was taken away and he was threatened with jail, but he stood up for his beliefs. And he gained respect.

.'In 2002, he was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (where famous people have their names on the sidewalk). He said that he carried the name of his be- loved Prophet Muhammad and therefore he would never allow the Prophet's name to be on the floor. He requested his star to be on the wall so people would look up to it and not walk upon it. So an exception was made for him..

.'Ali cared about people. He did a lot of charity work all over the world, and helped many mosques across the US.

.'In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Egyptian judo player Mohamed Ali Rashwan met the famous Japanese player Yamashita in the finals for the gold. Yamashita came in limping because of a leg injury. Rashwan could have easily won the game if he targeted the injured leg. But he didn't. When he was later asked by the media why he didn't do that, he said because it is against my re- ligion to harm someone who is injured. Although Rashwan lost the finals, he won everyone's re- spect. He also received the Sport Spirit medal from the United Nations for his manners. In Japan, he was received by judo fans as a hero. He is married to a Japanese lady who accepted Islam. In 2019, the Japanese ambassador to Egypt honoured him with the Rising Sun Award.

.'1 The Daily Star, Muhammad Ali: Little Jimmy's Friend (https://bit. ly/34TYJAg). Website visited on July 1, 2019.