All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe. May peace and blessings of Allah be upon Mohammad, His last messenger. The purpose of this hand-out More

All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the universe. May peace and blessings of Allah be upon Mohammad, His last messenger. The purpose of this hand-out is to correct a false idea spread among those willing to adopt Islam as their faith. Some people have a wrong notion that entering into the Islamic fold requires an announcement from the concerned person in the presence of high ranking scholars or shaikhs or reporting this act to courts of justice or other authorities. It is also thought that the act of accepting Islam, should, as a condition, have a certificate issued by the authorities, as evidence to that effect. We wish to clarify that the whole matter is very easy and that none of these conditions or obligations are required. For Allah, Almighty, is above all comprehension and knows well the secrets of all hearts. Nevertheless, those who are going to adopt Islam as their religion are advised to register themselves as Muslims with the concerned governmental agency, as this procedure may facilitate for them many matters including the possibility of performing Hadj (Pilgrimage) and Umrah. If anyone has a real desire to be a Muslim and has full conviction and strong belief that Islam is the true religion ordained by Allah for all human-beings, then, one should pronounce the "Shahada", the testimony of faith, without further delay. The Holy Qur'an is explicit on this regard as Allah states: "The Religion in the sight of Allah is Islam." (Qur'an 3:19) In another verse of the Holy Qur'an, Allah states: "If unyone desires a religion other than Islam (Submission to Allah), Never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (their selves in the hell fire)."(Qur'an 3:85 In addition, Islam is the only religion prevailing over all other religions. Allah states in the Holy Qur'an: "To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety:..." (Qur'an 5:48) Mohammad, the Prophet of Allah (Peace and blessing of Allah be upon him), said: "The superstructure of Islam is raised on five (pillars): testifying that there is no God (none truely to be worshiped) but Allah, and that Mohammad is the messenger of Allah, performing the prayer, paying the Zakah (poor-due), fasting the month of Ramadan, and performing Hadj". The Shahada can be declared as follows: "ASH-HADU ANLA ELAHA ILLA-ALLAH WA ASH-HADU ANNA MOHAMMADAN RASUL-ALLAH". The English translation is: "I bear witness that there is no deity (none truely to be worshipped) but, Allah, and I bear witness that Mohammad is the messenger of Allah", However, it would not be sufficient for anyone to only utter this testimony oraly either in private or in public; but rather, he should believe in it by heart with a firm conviction and unshakeable faith. If one is truly sincere and complies with the teachings of Islam in all his life, he will find himself a new born person. This will move him to strive more and more to improve his character and draw nearer to perfection. The light of the living faith will fill his heart until he becomes the embodiment of that faith. What would be next after declaring oneself a Muslim? One should then know the real concept underlying this testimony which means the Oneness of Allah and meet its requirements. One must behave accordingly, applying this true faith to every thing one speaks or does. What do the words of the "Shahada" signify? The significant point which every Muslim must know very well is the truth that there is no God (deity) to be worshipped other than Allah. He - glory be to Him - is the only true God, Who alone deserves to be worshipped, since He is the Giver of life and Sustainer and Nourisher of mankind and all creation with His unlimited bounties. Man must worship Allah, Who alone is worthy of worship. The second part of the Shahada (i.e., Wa ash-hadu anna Mohammadan rasul-Allah) means that Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is the servant and chosen messenger of Allah. No one must have two opinions about this matter. In fact the Muslim has to obey the commands of the Prophet (PBUH), to believe him in what he has said, to practice his teachings, to avoid what he has forbidden, and to worship Allah alone according to the message revealed to him, for all the teachings of the Prophet were in fact revelations and inspirations conveyed to him by Allah. What is the meaning of worship? It simply means rendering sincere service, showing reverence for Allah. In a deeper shade of meaning, it implies total submission and complete obedience to Allah's commandments both in utterances and actions of man whether explicit or implicit. Worship fall into two categories: 1. Visible (manifest or outward) 2. Invisible (concealed or inward) Visible worship includes acts such as uttering the two parts of the "Shahada", performing prayers, giving Zakah (the poor-due), recitation of the Ho
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More about this video and Taoism here......................... This short video is from the 1970's TV series "Kung Fu". "Kung More

More about this video and Taoism here......................... This short video is from the 1970's TV series "Kung Fu". "Kung Fu" tells the adventures more...of a fictional Shaolin priest named Kwai Chang Caine, played by David Carradine. Caine wanders the American "Wild West" in the 1880's, with nothing more than compassion, moderation, humility and a little Shaolin magic. The teachings of the Shaolin were meticulously researched for the "Kung Fu" series, making it one of the most authentic interpretations of the Taoist philosophy in popular culture. I recently decided to post selected scenes from "Kung Fu", to illustrate this extremely insightful ancient Chinese philosophy. In this clip from the episode "The Brujo", Caine meets a Christian priest. Father Salazer (Julio Medina) is surprised to hear Caine is also a priest and asks him what he worships. Caine gives the simple yet profound answer "Life". We often take the process of life for granted, but can there really be anything above this phenomenon? Why do so many of us search for something beyond Nature's most magnificent achievement? Taoism is the belief life is a direct manifestation of the ultimate and there is nothing beyond this. All things, including oneself, are an aspect of the total unity called the Tao. The Tao is beyond all sensory awareness and words, yet the wisdom of the Tao is intuitively available to everyone. This is a very unfamiliar paradigm for Westerners, who have unshakable faith in their sensory awareness. It is probably for this reason Western culture perpetuates a view that everything is isolated and the only thing common to everything is a personal God. A world of isolation is considered an illusion in Taoism, although an extremely convincing one. To put the Taoist concept of absolute unity into context, rather than "Love your neighbour"; a Taoist believes that at a level beyond normal perception, you are your neighbour. This may seem unbelievable, but this parallels the findings of modern science. To learn more about the parallels between modern science, oneness, intuitive wisdom and the Taoist philosophy, please visit my website: www.yinyangnature.com or my Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/yinyangnature
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