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Thanks to another listener for the question:
The original Qur’an is in Arabic, and the Prophet Muhammad and his followers and other stories around him are all around the Arabian peninsula. Therefore, whether Islam is only a religion of the Arabs?
Before answering this question, it is necessary to explain the basic vocabulary here again. Islam is an Arabic word, and the Chinese literal pronunciation is “Yee See Lan”. It has several meanings, namely surrender to Allah, peace and tranquility. And those who follow and surrender to Allah are called in Arabic word Muslims. Therefore, all things in the heaven and earth, including the stars, moon, sun, the whole celestial bodies, all insects, animals and plants are Muslims. They live, move, reproduce, and worship Allah day and night according to the will and direction of Allah. The only difference is that they are not given free mind like human beings, and they have their own laws of existence/survival that cannot be changed at will.
And everyone is a Muslim when they were born, because from birth, to breathing, to crying, to drinking milk and other actions, they are all instinctive responses given by Allah at birth, but it is only because of the influence of parents or the living environment that they change the belief with age.
Since the creation of the first human being, the ancestor Adam, Allah has continuously sent different prophets to different nations to teach and guide the world to believe in the only message: “to believe in One Allah”, this message in one Arabic word to describe is “Islam”. But because of the different languages of other nations, there may be completely different words to describe these two words: Islam and Muslims.
For example, the name “sun”, which is Tai Yeung (太陽) in Cantonese, Soleil in French, Sonne in German, taeyang (태양) in Korean, or al-shams (الشمس) in Arabic, has completely different word structure, and pronunciation. Regardless of their language, how they are called, they actually refer to the same sun. Therefore, in other ethnic groups and languages, they didn’t use the Arabic word to describe the concepts of “Islam or Muslim”, which does not mean that these concept did not exist, but just because the language is different. Therefore, according to Quran, Islam has been existed since the existence of Prophet Adam, the first human being.
Although the number of prophets is numerous, there are only about 25 prophets mentioned in the Qur’an, and several prophets are mentioned many times, namely Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Lot, David, Solomon, Moses, Jesus, etc. (may Allah bless all the prophets). Among the prophets mentioned above, they all belonged to other nations and spoke different languages, for example, the “Torah” brought by Moses, also known as the “Mosaic Law”, or the Old Testament, and Jesus brought The New Testament is not in Arabic. But they all with the guidance of Allah, delivering the same message of the Oneness of the Lord.
(3:84) Say, “We have believed in Allah and in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descendants, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [submitting] to Him.”
Therefore, from this verse, it is clear that Islam is not a new religion, nor is it a religion of the Arabs alone.
(36:2-4) “By the wise Qur’an. Indeed you, [O Muhammad], are from among the messengers, On a straight path.”
In this Ayat, clearly pointed out that Prophet Muhammad was one of the messengers. And Allah has sent different prophets to different peoples in the past, only to guide their local ethnic people, with the exception of the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh).
(21:107) And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.
From this verse it is more clear that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) not only guides the Arabs but also the whole world, so after the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) there is no need for another prophet, because Allah has given His complete blessing to the world through the descending of the Qur’an until the Day of Judgment.
(33:40) Muhammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allah and last of the prophets. And ever is Allah, of all things, Knowing.
Here, the seal of the prophets [in Chinese translation], that is, he was the last prophet to be sent, and after him, anyone who claims to be a prophet or a messenger of Allah is a liar.
It is worth mentioning that during the Prophet’s lifetime, he had some very important and famous followers that were not Arabs, such as the Persian “Salman”, the Jewish “Salman” (Abdullah ibn salam), the Roman “Sohaib” and African “Bilal” (Bilal) and so on.
These important companions played an important role in spreading Islam when it was still in its early stages, and they were also very active and devout.
The connection between Muslims is not based on their race, but on their sincere faith and obedience to the one and only God. As long as they believe in Allah in the same way, they are all brothers and sisters.
(49:13) O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.
In this verse, it is also clearly stated that Allah created many nations and religions so that people can know each other, understand each other, and tolerate each other. For Allah, the most honorable person does not depend on that person’s nationality, background, skin colour and language, but those who fear Allah the most are the most honorable people in front of Allah’s eyes. One of the most well known of this was the Prophet’s last Hajj sermon, where he said:
“All human beings are from Adam and Eve, and an Arab is not superior to a non-Arab, and a non-Arab is not superior to an Arab; likewise, except for piety and good conduct, whites are not superior to blacks, and blacks are not superior to whites. It is important to know that every Muslim is a brother and constitutes a Muslim brotherhood.
Therefore, from this short Hajj sermon, it is once again clearly pointed out that Islam is not just the religion of the Arabs, but a blessing to the world.
From a historical point of view, since the end of the seventh century, the number of people who believed in Islam continued to increase and spread to many countries in the world. At that time, many people began to learn Arabic in order to have a deeper understanding of the Quran, and eventually most of the North African countries even adopted Arabic as the language of their countries. It was passed down from generation to generation and became their mother tongue. Until after the colonial repression, the use of Arabic changed to different extent due to the influence of life under colonial rules. Therefore, there are some differences in pronunciation or use of Arabic vocabularies between different countries.
However, no matter what the evolution of Arabic languages went through in different regions, the Quran is still the same as the Prophet’s time and unchanged no matter how many wars and muslims got killed in the last few centuries.
And like any corner of the world, not everyone in the same ethnic group has the same beliefs. And one of the most delusional people has, is that whoever speaks Arabic, then they must be Muslims. Most people who equate Arabic speakers with Muslims are wrong. In fact, many Arabic speakers are Christians, Jews, or atheists too.
Another illusion is that whoever can speak Arabic will understand the Qur’an, which is actually not true. As mentioned before, the same thing in each region will have different words to describe it, and the words the region used may not always be used or same in the Qur’an. So people who can speak Arabic does not mean that they can fully understand the Quran, and they still need to learn the Quran properly like everyone else.
According to the global population survey, there are about 7.9 billion people in the world, and Muslims account for about 1.8 billion people in the world, that is, about one out of every five people is a Muslim. Among these 1.8 billion Muslims, only 20% are Arabic speakers from the Middle East and North America. The remaining 80 percent of Muslims are actually from different races in the world.
Therefore, Islam is not just a religion for Arabs, but a religion for all mankind. Islam is not a new religion. From the time of the prophet Adam, different prophets came to different groups with the same message of believing in the oneness of the Lord. Among the many known prophets, they all come from different ethnic background and spoke different languages, but they all carry the same message. The one who was finally sealed as the last Prophet was Muhammad, he happened was an Arab, chosen by Allah. It can be seen from this that surrender to Allah has a long history, starting from Adam, the ancestor of mankind.
Finally, be clear that people who speak Arabic are not the same as Muslims, except those who are willing to surrender to Allah. Allah has created people of different races, backgrounds, ethnic groups, skin colors and languages, but in the end, Allah views only those who revere him are the real honorable people. And in front of Allah, everyone has an equal opportunity to become an honorable person.
Hopefully this has answered the audience’s questions, and will continue in the next episode, thank you for listening.