The right of ownership is inviolable and there is no objection or limit on the amassing of wealth provided it is secured by lawful ways. Unlawful ways of collecting wealth are delineated, including usury, cheating and fraud, stealing, monopoly, etc. The rights of capital are coupled with its duties including taxation and contribution commensurate with the needs of society. The Zakat tax is mandatory and roughly equals 2.5% of money hoarded over the span of one year, with other formulas for earnings from agriculture, animal husbandry, real estate or industry. Every individual is the joint responsibility of the whole community and no one can behave like an isolated island. Rules of commercial dealings and exchanges are delineated.

Authentic marriage through a solemnized and documented marriage contract is the only legitimate way of pairing off to form a family and beget children. Purity of lineage and the right to know with certainty one's parents and one's progeny is a must. The Shari'a spells out certain relations that make the marriage of a couple impermissible. The mutual rights and duties between spouses, and between parents and children are detailed. Sustaining the family is the obligation of the husband, whereas the financial contribution of the wife is her option. Extramarital (including premarital) sex is sinful, and may also become a legal offense if witnessed by four witnesses. Family laws and the laws of inheritance are detailed. Family planning (natural or medical) is permitted but not if it entails the killing of a life (abortion). Women have the right of independent individual ownership, the right of inheritance, the right of education and the right to work as compatible with the integrity of the family. Men and women are equal, and obligations (and prohibitions) of Islam apply to them equally. The pursuit of fertility and treatment of infertility is legitimate but only as admissible by the Shari'a. The fetus has the right to life, inheritance and reception of a will or an endorsement. Breast feeding is encouraged, optimally for two years. Western style adoption is censored but fosterage or endorsement is encouraged as a charity, devoid of the lie of claiming true sonhood or daughterhood. The child is told the truth about his/her origin. After growing up, if that child proposes to marry a biological child of the family, the proposal cannot be denied on the basis that they are brother and sister, since in reality they are not.

It was a wise decision for Europe to separate church and state. The near monopoly of the early church over all aspects of life had no basis in Christianity as taught by Jesus. Its power to obstruct freedom of thought and scientific progress is reflected in many well known historical examples. Later on, America followed the same line for the same reason, as well as to avoid one faith having a heavy hand over the others and thus interfering with freedom of religion. Many of the early immigrants to America were in fact fleeing the religious intolerance and persecution that afflicted European Christianity.

As we perceive it, the separation of church and state is consistent with the essential ideals of Christianity for its primary purpose was to purify the human soul and ennoble the human character, but not to pursue the organization of the state. Jesus' Kingdom was not of this world. When asked whether to pay taxes to the Roman Empire he took a coin with Caesar's engraving on it and said: "Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's." Muslims in the United States, like all others, appreciate the idea of pluralism that ensures the freedom of religion for all without bigotry or persecution, which as a matter of fact coincides with the Islamic teachings in this respect.

Perhaps it is timely here to express a reservation felt by many Muslims, Christians and Jews in America and the West. They feel that the principle of separation of church and state has been wrongly exploited, and manipulated to exclude the heeding of God in the daily life of people in an attempt to cast away His universal values of morality and human decency. The debate "Is God dead" has been raging in American media over the past three decades, that influenced many attitudes. Many of those who believe that God is not dead, have ceased to acknowledge His authority to tell us what to do with our lives, as individuals and as a nation. Calls for moral behavior or against pronography and licentiousness and other social ailments are often accused of violating the separation of church and state. The slogans "One nation under God" and "In God we trust" are becoming hollower by the day, and if things continue moving in the same direction, we anticipate that constitutional amendments to delete them will be implemented before long.

A universal reaction in the West when people hear that Muslims in Islamic countries want to be ruled by the Islamic laws, is one of disapproval and dismay. Conditioned by European history that led to separation of church and state, they automatically abhor the idea and translate it as a regression to dark ages where Europe toiled under the repressive authority of the church. This conclusion is not correct, because the two situations are not the same. When we study the case of Islam, we find that the principle of separating church and state is obviously inapplicable. Whereas in Christianity there is no state, in Islam there is no church, which makes it impossible to project one situation on the other. Although there is scholarship, there is no clergy in Islam, nor an institution of priesthood. The fact that some graduates of Islamic studies in some Islamic countries wear a special outfit is not a religious requirement and does not really make them priests or raise them any degree above the rest of the Muslims. It did not exist at the onset or early times of Islam and is a rather late phenomenon as society recognized special garbs for special groups like the military and police uniform or the white coat of the doctor. Religious knowledge and studying are open, and interpretation is not the monopoly of certain group, although of course scholastic specialization is considered and respected but not sanctified. Nor is it part of Islam that those religious scholars should conduct the government, for obviously they lack the technical expertise in the various divisions of the executive branches. Office should be held upon personal qualification and posts are open to both Muslim and non-Muslim citizens.

Reviewing the goals of the Shari'a even at the level of the brief bird's eye view we gave here, it is obvious that their implementation goes beyond the area of individual behavior into the realm of government. The Shari'a, the constitution, is the source of legislation and the foundation from which laws are to be derived. Although secularism in Christian societies is not incompatible with Christianity, the same cannot be said about Islam, for this would entail ignoring, inactivating or replacing much of the dictates of the Quran and Sunna, contradicting the basic creed of Islam. Appreciation of these facts should clarify the fact that what is agreeable to Christian societies might not be so to Muslim societies, each within the freedom of religion and the right to self-determination. Neither Islamic nor Christian nations should impose their views on one another, but unfortunately this is not the case as the West, unilaterally, seems to be bent on preventing Muslims from self-rule in accordance with their own religion. It supports both secular dictatorship or dictatorships that identify themselves as Islamic but are abysmal on human rights, basic freedoms of men and women, and government by the people for the people, the hallmarks of real Islamic government. As a matter of fact there is hardly any state now that can qualify to be the perfect representation of the Islamic state. Whenever sound democratic process is about to lead to the victory of an Islamic party, a paradoxical and embarrassing alliance between the major democracies and the reigning dictatorships immediately intervenes to abort the attempt without considering giving it the chance to prove or disprove itself. Alas! The democracies are more keen on the status quo than they are on democracy itself.

One of the charges leveled against the demand of Islamic nations to be ruled by Islamic laws pertains to the status of Christian and Jewish minorities who are citizens of those countries. This objection is being played upon and blown up by both media and politics although in reality it has no standing whatsoever. It is a sparsely known fact that the Islamic system, uniquely, leaves it to Christian and Jewish communities to run their affairs of a legal nature in accordance with the guidelines of their own religions. Such issues, however, are few, and pertain to family issues (marriage, divorce, inheritance, and the like). Otherwise, with neither conflict with their Books nor alternative therein, the minorities will not be wronged to stand equal with the majority before the law the majority claims (out of religious conviction) in keeping with sound democratic principles.

We will not be completely honest, however, without voicing a few remarks and apprehensions about the question of implementing the Shari'a. In various instances we see it has been relegated to the realm of sloganism and emotionalism. Some overenthusiastic youth have transformed it to a confrontation with followers of other religions. The Shari'a, however, requires them to behave in a completely opposite way, aiming at dissipating fears and alleviating anxieties and exhibiting the ethics of good citizenship in a practical way, a task we know that mainstream Muslims and the great majority of Islamic movements are actively pursuing although with hardly any coverage in the media or in professional political circles in the West.

Islamic political parties that decide on the democratic option are also in need of a word of advice here. Although they wage the electoral battle under the attractive banner of Islam, they should also present the electorate with the detailed programs they have prepared to realize the goals of the Shari'a. The word 'Islam' is not a magic word that will solve the complex economic, social and political problems that burden their countries. Intense technical and specialist studies should be made to work within the Shari'a towards appropriate solutions. Prospectively, those who opt for democracy are required by Islam to be honest to their declarations, and not commit the treachery of exploiting democratic rhetoric until they are in power, and then it is gone with the wind. The worst case scenario is for some Islamic parties to ride over democracy to power, then fail to deliver their promises, then refuse to acknowledge their failure erroneously thinking that their personal failure will be ascribed to failure of Islam, and so they deny the nation its right to remove them by rigging or abolishing the following elections, and then, alas, it is just another dictatorship! Islamic parties are yet to be tested on that, and it is unfair to prejudge them without trial. Their adversaries, however, who hold to power against the will of their people, have been proven a failure and it behooves the major democracies of the world not to support them. If Islamic parties ever come to power, we advise them not to do the same, for it is not only Islamic laws that are needed, but above all, Islamic character and integrity as well.

Some famous examples who claim, even boast, that they rule by the Shari'a are in our opinion lacking in honesty or in knowledge about the Shari'a or in both. Reducing the Shari'a to a selected few items of its penal code without regard to its total context is a big fraud. Meting harsh punishment on petty crimes without any attempt at addressing the massive corruption in the ruling circles or their greedy exploitation of the nation's resources in total absence of accountability can never pass as Islamic. In Islam the ruler is accountable to the nation, and is considered its servant and not its master. Besides, the Shari'a is to be implemented from beginning to end and not from end to beginning. Islam curbs crime by three defense lines: the cultivation of Islamic conscience (education and guidance), the prevention of the causes that might lead to crime (social and economic), and then comes legal punishment; in that sequence. And then, the law knows no ceiling. It is against Islam to judge the commoners and the enfeebled and let the nobility get away with violations.

The question is quite often posed these days whether Islam is compatible with democracy. It is striking to note that those who say it is not are such a heterogeneous group, they hardly share anything else. Just as groups of Islamic intelligentsia at the turn of the century were fascinated by the West to such a degree that they called for the adoption of the good as well as the bad in the Western experience, the present time witnesses such disillusionment with the moral decline and the political injustices of the West that many reject, by way of reaction, all that is Western, including democracy. Secular dictators of Islamic countries, of course, abhor democracy by virtue of being dictators and have vested interest in featuring democracy to their Muslim masses as un-Islamic. Dictators who wear Islamic garb and claim to be Islamic also propagate the view that democracy is alien to the Islamic faith and have in their retinue and payroll religious scholars that are willing to play that Machiavellian role.

Traditional adversaries of Islam in the West, both in the media and political circles, are also relentlessly bent on featuring Islam as an anti-democratic religion that has no room for democratic values. The aim of course is to further alienate Islam from the psyche of the Western public opinion, making it both possible and palatable to demonize Muslims in a way that facilitates the acceptability by public opinion of the harsh ways and unjust positions by their governments towards Muslims. They often raise up the issue of the lack of democracy in the majority of Islamic countries. What they do not mention is that the only effective support of the dictators against the democratic aspiration of their peoples in the Middle East is provided by the Western democracies.

It is perhaps not feasible to compare the Islamic system that came into being early in the seventh century with the democratic institutions of the West, that began to evolve many centuries later, and as we see them today. Nor are the Western democratic systems an exact replica of one another but simply share the principle and ideology of democracy. The Quran (fourteen centuries ago) spelled out explicitly the principle of "Shura", which means that issues are to be decided by joint deliberation and consultation. The practical applications of this principle in the earliest days of Islam (the time of the prophet and his immediate successors) qualify it to be considered the forerunner of democracy. Only in his capacity as prophet was Mohammad to be obeyed without reserve, but outside the area of conveying and explaining religion as he received it from God, Mohammad himself made it clear that he was an ordinary human being who could not foretell the future or claim to have more knowledge over ordinary people in their respective areas of artisanship or trade. On the eve of the battle of 'Badr', the first and historically the most significant military encounter between Islam and the Arab alliance of idolaters, the prophet drew a military plan entailing deployment of his meagre troops in a certain fashion. But then one of his followers would ask him "Is this positioning revelation from God so that we have to abide by it without question, or is it an opinion of strategy and plan?" When Mohammad answered that it was indeed the latter, his companion gave his sincere criticism and offered an alternate plan which the prophet accepted and adopted; the outcome was a resounding victory.

Years later, the enemies dispatched a large army to attack the Muslims in Madinah. It was Mohammad's opinion to remain at Madinah and meet the enemy there, but discussions revealed that the majority preferred to march out and make battle with the enemy at Mount Uhud well outside Madinah. Mohammad yielded to the majority opinion in compliance with the principle of Shura. Muslims achieved an initial victory until the battalion of archers positioned at the mountain top thought that the battle was over and rolled down to join the chase, disobeying clear orders the prophet had given them earlier never to leave their positions no matter whether it was victory or defeat. This caught the eye of Khaled ben el Waleed (a military genius leading a cavalry regiment of the enemies) who took a stealth circle to the mountain top and rolled down on the Muslim infantry so upsetting the balance that the best the Muslims could do was a graceful retreat after incurring heavy losses. Although there was fault twice on part of the Muslims, Quran was shortly revealed addressing Mohammad "And it was of the mercy of God that you dealt gently with them (your followers): had you been harsh or thick of heart they would have dispersed from around you. So pardon them and ask (God) for their forgiveness and maintain Shura with them." (3:159) This Shura is to pervade all walks of life at all levels, even to the detail mentioned in the Quran that the decision to wean a suckling infant should be taken by mutual shura and consent of both parents.

When the prophet died it meant the conclusion of the prophethood, but he had to be succeeded by a head of state. This was done in a meeting in open debate, with more than one contender, until Abu Bakr the closest companion to the prophet, was chosen by consensus to be first caliph. On that occasion, established Islamic principle was reiterated and emphasized, foremost of all by the caliph himself, the significant rules in which are:

1- The post is filled by the mandate of the people (Abu Bakr immediately proceeded to seek the opinion of others who were not in the meeting to make sure they concurred).

2- The appointment was conditioned (obey me as long as I obey God - the caliph declared).

3- The right of the people to give the mandate is coupled with their right to withdraw it (Abu Bakr declared that if he went wrong then the people owed him no obedience).

4- The ruler was the nation's employee, hired by them to fulfil the duties of his office (seeing that Abu Bakr in his earliest few days pursued the management of his business to make his living, the people imposed on him to take a salary equal to the earnings of an average Muslim, neither rich nor poor, in lieu of working full time).

5- The head of state was no hostage to the elite or nobility or interest groups. His words were: "The weak amongst you is strong with me until I secure what is due to him, and the strong amongst you is week with me until I take from him what is due on him."

In short, it looks like the antithesis of what we see in the majority of Islamic countries nowadays. We have no doubt that if things evolved in the same direction ever since, as the Islamic empire expanded and the Islamic civilization developed in maturity and sophistication, that the Muslims would have achieved a form of government that endorses the best in modern day democracies while free from their shortcomings. Things went on in a very promising manner for sometime. The second caliph (Omar) further alerted the nation of its duty to support him when right but to correct him if wrong, to which a man answered, "If you go wrong we will correct you even by our swords." The caliph's comment was, "You are no good if you don't say it, and we are no good if we don't accept it."

Unfortunately the trend was broken in one of the saddest, if not the saddest, incidents in Islamic history. Caliph Uthman had to face a rebellion accusing him of nepotism and was assassinated. Caliph Ali was a cousin of the prophet, his son-in-law, and a very beloved person to him. He also possessed outstanding personal merits, and when he was chosen for caliph, the notables and masses poured in to give allegiance. However, the governor of Syria (now part of the Islamic empire) refused to give the pledge and eventually marched towards Madinah at the head of a large army. The apparent pretext was on how to deal with the assassins of the late caliph, who was a relative of Moawya, the governor of Syria (both from the Umayyad tribe) and who demanded direct revenge rather than resort to lengthy due process. On the battlefield the victory was Ali's, but Moawya was a resourceful man, and in his camp were some very cunning men so he could secure a tricky arbitration. Some disgruntled people targeted both for assassination but only succeeded in killing Ali. The nation was shocked, but after negotiations Hassan, Ali's son and successor, consented to yield authority to Moawya to avoid further bloodshed and gave his allegiance.

A short while later Moawya, well entrenched in authority, shocked the nation again by forcing from them a pledge to his son, Yazid, as successor after him, resorting to the technique of punishment and reward. Hussein, the second son of Ali, headed a revolution against Yazid (both Moawya and Hassan had died). The inhabitants of Iraq had promised Hussein their support, but under the trickery and brutality of the central government they deserted him. Rather than flee or capitulate, Hussein and seventy loyal followers faced Yazid's army of several hundred thousand soldiers and bravely fought to their death at Karbala. This proved much later to have been the first nail in the coffin of the Umayyad dynasty which reigned for some two centuries.

This was also the birth of Shiism as a movement, hard-liners who called themselves the proponents of Ali (the Arabic word is the Shi'a of Ali), that actually started as a political dissidence but where it is not possible to separate politics from religion since the strive for justice is a religious dictate. As time went on Shiism took the form of an Islamic sect, centered around the belief that eligibility to the caliphate should belong to Ali then consecutively to his progeny (eldest son in succession). They acquired many secondary views as they broke into several sects, the major being the Twelver Shiites who believe that the twelfth of the successors (Imams), who mysteriously disappeared as a child, will come back one day as the awaited Mahdi and reign in justice. The Shiites constitute some ten per cent of the Muslims, the remainder are traditionally called the Sunni's. The Shiites tend to hold a grudge against the Sunnis for early acquiescence to the unjust authority, but all believe in the one Quran and the prophethood of Mohammad. It is a palpable fact that the Sunni's also hold the same sympathies and sentiments towards Ali and his sons, Hassan and Hussein, and their households. Every year the Shiites commemorate the Battle of Karbala and the martyrdom of Hussein, many of them slashing themselves in mourning and in remorse that their forebears deserted Hussein at the critical moment.

And now enough for history even though I tried to make it extremely brief and back to the issue of democracy. That sad historical episode was the precedent for transfer of power from hand to hand not by the pledge of the nation but by sword and gold. This seemed to plague the history of Muslims ever since. Despots always could find scholars to rationalize while others stood in opposition and paid with their lives or freedom. Things went well when the caliph was good and went bad when the caliph was bad, which was more often than not. In either case the authority of the people and their rights over the ruler were eroded. Islamic civilization, however, flourished because there were people who believed it was a religious duty to seek knowledge, to excel in science and establish civilization. Government encouraged them in all aspects but left little room for writings on the rights of the people versus the ruler and means of controlling him. Given the genius of Islamic civilization in all walks of knowledge writings on the constitutional rights of the nation were powerful and marvelous but scant.

To our Muslim brethren who convulse and contort against democracy, we would like to say that democracy was never one of the ailments of the Muslim nation, but always the affliction was despotism and dictatorship. We would be blind if our history fails to reveal to us this fact. To those who accuse Islam of being intolerant to democracy, we say you are wrong, but there is a major difference. In a Western democracy God can be vetoed or outvoted if His opponents can muster a majority vote. Under Islam the constitution is based on the Shari'a so any legislation that conflicts with it will be unconstitutional. Within that context the democratic process takes its course one hundred per cent. The contemporary Islamic resurgence is beyond the widely publicized images of inflammatory extremism or violent statement or despotic secular or religious (!!) governments. A broad enlightened and quiet mainstream has discovered the realities of the religion and awakened to the lessons of history. It is not fueled by hollow sloganism. After all, Islamic scholars have decreed for a long time that a non-Islamic state that observes justice is better than an Islamic state riddled with tyranny and injustice.

Chapters I & II dealt with the articles of Faith, defined in the words of prophet Mohammad: "That you believe in God, His angels, His Books, His messengers, the Last Day, and you believe in fate (that which you have no control on) whether good or bad." In our presentation we did not present them as a 'dogma' just to be blindly accepted but tried to base them on the logic of an intellectual process of thinking. The way of the Quran always was to challenge the human mind to think and to point to signs and pose questions to convince rather than to impose.

The creed of Islam with its articles of faith is generally the same as that of the other Abrahamic religions, Christianity and Judaism. Indeed Islam describes the previous messengers of God and their followers as "muslims" (small m) following "islam" (small i), the literal meaning of islam being submission to the will of God. Having displayed in this chapter the general map of the Islamic religion and its Shari'a, this section deals with an aspect that is more specific to Islam, which is the system of worship. It is so central to Islam since it focuses on the individual Muslim in order that the Islamic collectivity be made of healthy units, or in other words, the building be made of healthy blocks.

Mandatory worship in Islam comprises five areas, as described by prophet Mohammad. "Islam is built on five pillars: the declaration (bearing witness) that there is no god but God (Allah) and that Mohammad is His messenger, the establishment of prayers, the payment of the Zakat (tax), the observation of the fast of Ramadan and the Hajj (pilgrimage) if affordable." On another occasion, when the prophet was asked to give a definition of Islam, he named those five pillars. Needless to say people do not live in pillars only for the pillars are there to carry a whole building. Those who reduce Islam to the area of ritual worship naturally lack the understanding of the comprehensive and total nature of Islam and the symbolism which these rituals are supposed to reflect on life in general. A brief comment on each of the pillars will now be given. They constitute the bare minimum of requirements (obligatory articles), worship in any amount or form and charitable pursuits are open without limit, down to the detail of meeting people with a smiling face or removing dirt from the road as Mohammad taught. Practically all details of life can, upon one's intention, belong in the area of worship.

The simple 'I bear witness there is no god but Allah and that Mohammad is His messenger' is the password into Islam. Uttering it before two witnesses is all the formality required from new embracers of Islam. It is also included in the call to prayer (adhan) and repeated during all prayers. And yet it is more than a verbal formality, for when you take God as your God it means that you take Him as the shaper and guider of your life, undistracted by other influences be they people, things or moods and desires. And as you profess that Mohammad is His messenger it means a pledge to abide by the instructions and teachings given by Mohammad and to acknowledge their divine source. In Islamic jurisprudence and literature over the ages lengthy works have be written on the far reaching implications of 'No god but God and Mohammad is His messenger.

Ritual prayer is a distinct entity from prayer in its wider sense, that is communicating your feelings to God at any time in any place and asking for His guidance, help and forgiveness, an ingredient of life which is highly commendable whether in Islam or other religions. Ritual Islamic prayer takes a special form and content, where both body and soul are harmoniously involved. It is given five times a day at early morning, noon, after-noon, after sunset and night. They are performed at any place (home, mosque, park, work place, etc.) by an individual or together with one or more Muslim men and/or women, one of the men then leading the prayers as an 'imam'. A prayer takes a few minutes to perform. Only the noon prayer on Friday is mandated to be a collective (group) prayer, at the mosque and is preceded by a sermon (Khutba). The Imam (prayer leader) is not a priest nor need be the same person every time, but considerations of scholarship and knowledge of the Quran and the religion are exercised in choosing him (doctors, teachers, business people and others as well as religion scholars are commonly featured in bearing this responsibility). For prayer one has to be clean, having performed an ablution (wodou) entailing cleaning by water of mouth, nares, face, ears, forearms to the elbows, wiping head and ears and washing the feet. An ablution may take one through several prayers but has to be repeated if the person passes urine, stools, flatus or falls asleep. Sex necessitates a full bath. Women are exempted from prayers during their menstrual (or puerperal) flow, and at its cessation a bath is necessary (Tuhr).

Each prayer is practically an audience with God. Facing in the direction of the Kaaba (the first mosque ever, built by patriarch Abraham and his son Ismail for the worship of the One God, at the site which long later became the city of Makkah in Arabia), the prayer is opened by saying "Allah Akbar", ie. God is Greater (than all else), and practically you are turning your back to all the universe and are addressing God. One of the constant readings during prayer is the Opening Chapter of the Quran that reads "Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The Compassionate, the Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment. You only do we worship and to You only we cry for help. Guide us to the straight path. The path of those on whom You have bestowed Your grace, those whose lot is not wrath, and who go not astray." (1:1-7) Bowing down and prostrating oneself (to God) interjecting "Glory to my Lord the Great", "Glory to my Lord the Highest", "Allah listens to those who thank Him" and what fills one's heart by way of supplication, the prayer is concluded in the sitting position by reiterating the affirmation of the faith, the Shahada, and seeking God's peace and blessings on Mohammad and Abraham and their people and followers. Only around the Kaaba mosque in Makkah do Muslims stand in circles for their prayers (quite an impressive scene). All the world over they are in straight lines, leaving no gaps, and facing Makkah. Women usually occupy the back lines, not necessarily a requirement of religion but an esthetic preference, since women would feel comfortable with no men behind them during the movements of bowing and prostration.

Prayer, obligatory and spontaneous, is an immense spiritual treasure to be tapped. It inspires peace, purity and tranquility and instills companionship with God. It amazingly reduces the hustle and bustle of life to tame proportions. By their spacing to five times a day, including its beginning, prayers tend to maintain a therapeutic level and practically leave no room for mischievous thought or deed.

Giving money for charity is highly commendable, and the sky is the limit, but Zakat, the third pillar of Islam, is different because it is obligatory and is given in a calculated amount. In general terms, what remains over and above the meeting of needs and expenses, and is hoarded for the full span of one year, is liable to Zakat at the amount of two and a half per cent. Idle money would therefore be penalized by attrition over about forty years which is an incentive to put money to work and thus serve public interest. Other gains and profits have their respective formulae, such as proceeds from industry, agriculture and animal husbandry, real estate, etc. as thoroughly detailed in specialized references. Zakat is the right of the poor in the wealth of the rich and is neither optional charity nor philanthropy. In an Islamic state it is collected by the government and is a primary source of budget, to be complemented as necessary by other legislated taxation. It may be given to voluntary Islamic institutions or directly to the needy where Islamic law does not operate (as in the case of Muslim minorities all over the world or under secular rule). Needy non-Muslims may be included as beneficiaries. Zakat represents the unbreakable bond between members of the community, whom prophet Mohammad described to be "like the organs of the body, if one suffers then all others rally in response." Literally, the word zakat means 'purification' in Arabic, meaning that you purify your money by giving out of it. As Muslims pay the Zakat they have the genuine feeling that it is an investment and not a debit.

The month of Ramadan is part of the lunar calendar, and since this is eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, Ramadan comes eleven days earlier every year which allows fasting in various seasons and weather throughout a life time. From dawn to sunset there is no food or drink (not even water), but then food and drink are allowed. There are exemptions for situations of health and travel. Sex is also banned during day time, and one should not exhibit anger or other misbehavior. Ramadan is not a month of starvation since nutrition and hydration are ensured at night although it is recommended to be taken in a mood of asceticism. As one conquers the daily habits and endures hunger and thirst, Ramadan furnishes a first class drill in self-restraint and will power (and what would humanity be if the faculty of self restraint is gone?)

Fasting is a very enriching experience as one transcends the needs of our material component and cherishes the spiritual. The month feels like going "into maintenance" and is almost like charging your batteries for the rest of the year. Intensified worship and charity are a feature of the month. At its conclusion Muslims celebrate one of their two Eids (the other at the conclusion of the pilgrimage season) by a special collective morning prayer and a mood of festivity with family and friends.

Islam relates so profoundly to the monotheistic mission of Abraham that its fifth pillar (Hajj) is none but a ritualistic commemoration of the Patriarch. Throughout his belief in the One True God and submission (islam) only to His will, Abraham stood the test of confronting authority (King Nemrod who argued that like Abraham's God, he could give and take life by ordering a prisoner killed and another spared. When Abraham retorted that God brings the sun from the East and challenged him to bring the sun from the West, the King was just confounded), and confronting public opinion and their religious leaders when he destroyed their idols, was arrested and condemned to die by fire, but God saved him "We said O fire, be coolness and safety upon Abraham." (21:69) A more taxing test, however, was when Abraham, upon the nagging of his wife Sarah agreed to take Hagar and their son Ismail and banish them in the desert, "and the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son." (Genesis 21:11) When Abraham abandoned them at the site of the future city of Makkah, their provisions became nearly depleted and the mother went through the ordeal of fetching for water in panic and near despair, until the Well of Zam-Zam unexpectedly erupted. Abraham periodically came to visit, and on one of those visits he was ordained by God to build, with the assistance of Ismail, the first mosque for the worship of God, and to call the believers on an annual season of pilgrimage (hajj) to visit that mosque in worship. The most strenuous test for Abraham was no doubt the divine command to slay his own son, that he finally brought himself together to obey, followed by God's will to spare the boy and ransom him with the ram.

The pilgrimage therefore started with Abraham and Ismail and continued unbroken ever since. Unfortunately, however, the people after many generations slipped again into paganism, and transformed the House of God into a house for idols. Each tribe of those pagan Arabs took an idol, gave it a name, and placed it in the Kaaba. The pilgrimage season remained in observance, but instead of worshipping God it became a season of merriment and festivities, booze and vice, and new rituals were improvised like encircling the Kaaba in the nude while clapping, singing and whistling. It was a great financial bonanza for the people of Makkah, whose economy was based on the season and on two annual caravan journeys for transit trade between East (Africa and Asia) and West (Syria and beyond to the Byzantian Empire). A clergy arose to speak on behalf of the god's and accept offerings and pledges.

For thousands of years that state of affairs continued on this (Ismail's) side of the seed of Abraham. Out of the distant progeny of Ismail, from the powerful tribe of Qureish, Mohammad was born in the year 570 C.E. His father died before he was borne, and his mother in his early childhood. Mohammad was raised by his grandfather, and when the latter died, by one of his uncles. As he grew up he became the focus of respect and admiration of all the community, and at quite an early age he was nicknamed "the honest." At the age of twenty five he married a wealthy widow, Khadija, whom he had worked for as caravan trade manager and who valued his character. She was fifteen years his elder, but they lived happily in monogamous marriage for the next twenty eight years until she died. He never shared with his people the worship of the idols or the various wrongs or ineptitudes that were the very life of those pre-Islamic (jahiliyya ie. taken to ignorance) Arabs.

He habitually visited a cave at the top of a mountain near Makkah to reflect and meditate, and during one of those visits the Angel Gabriel appeared to him and conveyed the divine assignment of prophethood, and gave him the first revelation ever from the Quran that read: "Read! In the name of thy Lord who created.. created man out of a leech-like clot. Read; and thy Lord is the Most Bountiful. He who taught with (the use of ) the Pen. Taught man what man knew-not." (96:1-5) The month was Ramadan, and the night was the Night of Power (Qadr). Mohammad was over-awed, and hurried home shivering and trembling, where his wife comforted and tranquilled him saying: "By Him who dominates Khadija's soul, I pray that you will be the prophet of this nation. You are kind to your kin, generous to the guest, helpful to the needy and truthful in your speech, so God will not let you down."

The angel visited again, and again until Mohammad went about his ministry. Although it was the truth and the turning from polytheistic idolatry back to the pure monotheism of Abraham, nothing could be more threatening to the alliance between the rich and powerful and the clergy, whose very existence depended on the status quo. For thirteen years Mohammad and his followers were persecuted, until they emigrated to their base in Madinah and permitted (by the Quran) to hit back. Eventually Mohammad's army conquered Makkah, declaring general amnesty, but they destroyed the idols, purifying the shrine of Abraham from paganism and restoring the religion to its pure source. Pilgrimage went on at its specified season, and the fifth pillar of Islam was decreed upon every Muslim man and woman once in a life time for those who are physically and financially able to afford it. After this lengthy explanation, is it not reason enough for a heart to ache on reading some of those specialists, experts and scholars (clergy and orientalist) who described pilgrimage simply as "a pagan ritual incorporated by Islam"?

The pilgrimage season comes with the twelfth month of the lunar calendar, which is called the month of the hajj (Zul Hijja), already known when Islam came, since it was an Abrahamic event. Men have to wear a pair of white unsewn body garbs, without any other (under) clothing except perhaps sandals and a (pocketed) belt. It is a universal dress and they all look alike without any class distinctions and mingle together in full brotherhood and prompt eagerness to offer help to one another whenever possible, transcending all differences in colour, language, race, ethnicity, degree of education.. .. only the goodness of humanity shows and the purity of the belief that humanity is ONE family worshipping ONE GOD. The women wear ordinary clothes that cover the whole body except the face and hands. There is no segregation, and families and other groupings try to stick together so none would drift and be lost amongst the millions.

Rituals include worship at the Mosque of Abraham and circumambulating the Kaaba, several to-and-fro walks between the hills of Safa and Marwat where Hagar had frantically ran in search of water for her son, the assembly around Mount Arafat in prayer and supplication, stopping at the three sites where the devil tried to tempt Abraham against slaying his son and throwing pebbles at them symbolic of conquering the temptation. The highlight is the collective prayer and sermon of the Eid (of sacrifice) followed by sacrificial slaughter of a ram (donated to the poor but part goes to family and friends) following upon the tradition of Abraham. Muslims who are not in hajj also celebrate the Eid by the collective prayer (and sermon) and the sacrificial offering of a sheep, and the Eid lunch is a happy occasion to rejoice in. In view of the large number of animals sacrificed at the hajj near Makkah, that cannot be possibly consumed there and then, the Saudi Arabian authorities established a meat packaging plant (upon securing the necessary fatwa or religious opinion) to preserve and can the meet for leisurely shipment to the poor and needy in the Islamic world. Their other efforts to accommodate, manage, and facilitate the mass movements of the pilgrims (at least two million) within the tight schedule of time and space are to be commended.

A Taste of the Quran

Islamic morality is the same as Christian morality and Jewish morality in their pure form as prescribed by the Torah and the Gospel and devoid of this latter day revisionism that allows certain (religious!) circles to play havoc with the moral heritage and change the moral code in such a way that made the immoralities of yesterday look like the moralities of today, and indeed coating them with new (nice) nomenclature such as "love", "gay", "relationship", "boy/girl friend", "lover" etc., hoping a nice name might camouflage (or help promote) the old stuff.

Instead of embarking on enlisting and discussing individual issues, we thought it a better investment of this section to introduce the reader directly to the source, by displaying a number of quotations from the Quran and the Hadeeth (sayings) of the prophet Mohammad. It is an area that the Western reader is particularly lacking in and separated from by layers upon layers of negative indoctrination by so called experts and specialists. So many times did we read or hear on radio and television how the Quran orders Muslims to lie or cheat or kill the non-Muslims, and that Mohammad was a ruthless villain drunk with his own ambitions and fondness for lust and sensuality. We try to counter, and sometimes we succeed in getting an answer published or even getting an apology, but the flow continues. Yet, at our varied initiatives, more and more people are getting to know the truth about Islam, and once a minimal critical mass of individuals are able to differentiate the false from the true, it will be the end of the campaign of malevolence and stereotyping upon which many have made their career.

Islamic morality is not merely a list of "do's" and "don'ts". It aims at building the personality that knows and accepts the role of Man as God's vicegerent on earth so that he/she is willing to manage the nature within and the nature outside him/her in harmony with the Owner's manual. We here forward some excerpts, with no other order than that in which they came to our memory.

(1) "And the servants of (Allah) the Most Gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them they say "Peace!". And those who spend the night in adoration of their Lord, prostrate and standing. Those who say 'Our Lord! Avert from us the wrath of Hell, for its wrath is indeed an affliction grievous. Evil indeed is it as an abode and as a place to rest in. Those who, when they spend are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold a just (balance) in between those (extremes). Those who invoke not with God any other deity, nor slay such life as God has made sacred except for just cause; nor commit adultery, and any that does this (not only) meets punishment, (but) the chastisement on the Day of Judgment will be doubled to him, and he will dwell therein in ignominy: unless he repents, believes and works righteous deeds, for God will change the evil of such persons into good, and God is Oft-Forgiving, Oft-Merciful. And whoever repents and does good has truly turned to God in repentance. Those who give no false witness, and if they pass by futility, they pass by it with honorable avoidance. Those who, when they are admonished with the signs of their Lord, droop-not down at them as if they were deaf and blind. And those who pray: 'Our Lord, grant unto us spouses and offsprings who will be the comfort of our eyes, and give us (the grace) to lead the righteous." (25:63-74)

(2) "Be quick in the race for forgiveness and for a garden whose width is that (of the whole) of heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous: Those who spend freely whether in prosperity or in adversity; who restrain anger and pardon all people, for God loves those who do good. And those who, having done an act of indecency, or wronged their own souls, remember God and ask for forgiveness for their sins: and who can forgive sins except God?, and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly in that (wrong) they have done. For such, the reward is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens with rivers flowing underneath: an eternal dwelling, how excellent a recompense for those who work (and strive)." (3:133-136)

(3) "Behold, Luqman said to his son admonishing him. 'O my son! Join not in worship (others) with Allah (God): for false worship is indeed the highest wrong-doing'. And We have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents. In travail upon travail did his mother bear him. And in years twain was his weaning. Hence (O man): 'Show gratitude to Me and to your parents, to Me is the final goal. But if they strive to make you join in worship with Me things of which your mind cannot accept, obey them not; yet bear them company in this life with kindness, and follow the ways of those who turn to Me, in the end the return of you all is to Me and I will tell you all that you did. 'O my son' (said Luqman), 'if there be but the weight of a mustard seed and it were (hidden) in a rock, or (anywhere) in the heavens or on earth, God will bring it forth, for God is Subtle and Aware. O my son! establish the prayer, enjoin what is just and forbid what is wrong; and bear with patient constancy whatever betides you, for this is firmness (of purpose) in the conduct (of affairs). And swell-not your cheek (for pride) at people, nor walk in insolence through the earth, for God lovest-not arrogant boasters. And be moderate in your pace, and tame your voice, for the most detestable of sounds without doubt is the braying of the ass." (31:13-19)

(4) "Let not those among you who are endued with grace and amplitude of means, resolve by oath against helping their kinsmen (who had done them injustice), those in want and who have left their homes in the cause of God. Let them forgive and overlook: do you not wish that God should forgive you? For God is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful. Those who slander chaste, unsuspecting and believing women are cursed in this life, and in the hereafter for them is a grievous chastisement." (24:22-23)

(5) "It is not righteousness that you turn faces towards East or West; but it is righteousness to believe in God and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the freeing of slaves.. to be steadfast in prayer and give Zakat, to fulfil the contracts which you have made; and to be firm and patient in suffering, adversity and times of panic. Such are the people of truth, the God-fearing." (2:177)

(6) "Verily, for all men and women who have submitted (to the will of God), for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for truthful men and women, for truly patient and constant men and women, for humble men and women, for charitable men and women, for men and women who fast, for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in the remembrance of God: for them has God forgiveness and great reward." (33:35)

(7) "God commands justice, the doing of good and giving to kith and kin, and He forbids indecencies, evil and offence; He instructs you that you may receive admonition. Fulfil the covenant of God when you have entered into it, and break-not your oaths after you have confirmed them: indeed you have made God your surety, for God knows all that you do." (16:90-91)

(8) "Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him and that you be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them: but address them in terms of honor. And lower to them the wing of humility out of compassion, and say 'My Lord, bestow on them your mercy even as they cherished me in childhood." (17:23-24)

(9) "It may be that God will establish friendship between you and those whom you (now) hold as enemies, for God has power (over all things) and God is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful. God forbids-you-not with regard to those who do not fight you for your religion nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for God loves those who are just." (60:7-8)

(10) "O you who believe! Stand out firmly for God as witness to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just, that is closeness to piety; and fear God, for God is well acquainted with all that you do." (5:8)

(11) "O you who believe: Let not some men among you deride others, it may be that the latter are better than them. Nor let some women (do the same) to other women, it may be that the latter are better than them. Nor defame nor be sarcastic to each other. Nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames: ill-seeming is a name connoting wickedness (to be used of one) after he has believed, and those who do not desist are indeed doing wrong. O you who believe! avoid a lot of suspicion for suspicion in some cases is a sin. And do not spy on each other. Nor speak ill of each other behind their backs: would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother and be abhorred by you? But fear God for God is acceptor of Repentance, Most Merciful." (49:11-12)

(12) "But if the enemy incline towards peace, do (thou) also incline towards peace, and trust in God, for He is the One that hears and knows (all things)" (8:61)

(13) "Nor can goodness and evil be equal, so repel (evil) with what is better: then will he between whom and you was enmity become as it were an intimate friend." (41:34)

(14) "Have you seen him who gives the lie to the religion? Then such is the one who repulses the orphan and does not prompt the feeding of the indigent. So woe to those who are praying (but) absent-minded about their prayers. Those who want (but) to be seen, but refuse to provide contributions." (107:1-7)

(15) "Woe to those that deal in fraud; those who when they have to receive by measure from others, exact full measure, but when they have to give by measure or weight to others, give less than due. Do they not think that they will be raised up on a mighty day, a day when (all) mankind will stand before the Lord of the Worlds?" (83:1-6)

(1) "None of you (truly) believes until he wished for his brother what he wishes for himself."

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