Quran is nothing but Purana. Purana means old story. Quran is the new story of the old story. Purana are Veda in story form for people to understand the messages in Veda. Quran contains the same messages and are given by the prophet. The key messages of Quran are:
1) Do not steal. Do not hurt. Do not harm.
2) Be faithful to your wives. In olden days, prostitution was very high. So multiple marriages were allowed to give respectability to women. It does not mean that man should be unfaithful to his wife and have multiple affairs and marry them so that he can have a harem. Currently in today’s world, even old men marry young girls. This is vasana (lust) and they are not faithful to their wife. One should marry and be faithful to their partner. Without love there should not be marriage. No woman should be compelled to marry against her wishes.
3) Give respect to women. In olden days, women were abused a lot. So, they were kept indoors to prevent any harm to them. Imposing these restrictions in today’s time is incorrect. Women have equal rights. They have the same right of education, same right of freedom, same right of choice and same right of living. Thus, in name of respect, one cannot impose restrictions, inequality and trod upon women.
4) Sacrifice for the lord. Sacrifice does not mean sacrifice animals or humans to God. Sacrifice means give up your pleasures or what you like for God. Sacrifice means giving up a part of you for the lord for e.g., if you love to sleep, you will get up early for God; if you love food, you will eat in moderation for God.
5) Pray to the lord 5 times a day. In olden days, people never used to remember God. Thus, to make people remember God, they were asked to pray to him 5 times. First time on waking up and thanking that you are alive to see a new day. A new opportunity has been given to you. Second time before breakfast thanking for the food that you are going to partake. Third time before lunch again for the food that you will partake. Fourth time before sunset thanking for the opportunities that you had been given throughout the day. Fifth time before dinner again for the food that you will partake. This way people would remember God in humility and all the time be thinking about him.
6) Give charity & donation.
7) Maintain healthy life. Because one has to be healthy, people think that they have to eat meat. In olden days, all those who ate meat used to remain healthy as other food was scarce. However, Prophet never said that eat meat. If with vegetarian food also you can remain healthy, you could eat only that. So, meat is not an essential part of diet.
8) Do not undergo abortion. Men should have circumcision. In olden days, people were immoral. So, this rule about no abortion was laid so that people will avoid immoral activity. Circumcision would help to decrease libido and also help to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
9) Do not take loans or gamble. Again, in olden days people used to take money from others, not return it and infact use it in gambling. Thus, to prevent this Prophet gave this rule. It does not mean that bank loans cannot be taken for housing. If need arise and there is sincerity to give back, then one can take loan in today’s world provided it is used for good purpose and is repaid back on time.
10) Everyone should eat together. In olden days, there was lot of famine. So, lot of people would be starving. Thus, to prevent this, all were advised to eat together so that no one remains empty stomach. In today’s time with various diseases, it is not necessary to eat from one plate, but people should sit together and eat. It may be from different plates also.
11) Do not drink wine. Again, this rule was laid down to prevent immorality.
Addition done by followers
1) Haj pilgrimage to Mecca & Medina, fasting during Ramzan were added later in Quran by followers of Prophet. This was not originally professed by the Prophet. Infact fasting during day & eating during night, going on pilgrimage, facing Mecca while praying have been copied from Hindu religion. Hindus fast day & night, so Muslims fast during day but eat at night. Hindus face east (in the direction of rising sun) while praying, Muslim face Mecca (in the direction of the holy city) while praying. During pilgrimage, one receives several blessings, so it was added as part of Muslim spiritualism.
2) Jihad - It means holy war. When Prophet returned from Medina to Mecca, he won over people’s heart with his compassion. Even though he faced violence and lot of his followers were killed, Prophet Mohammed achieved victory only through compassion. No one can forcefully convert & maintain people in a particular religion. Through his love, Prophet converted people to a new way of life. Thus, he showed the path of God to people and thus it is known as Jihad. His followers then stated that he waged a war against adharma (evil) and won it. Thus, they think jihad is war against adharma (evil). The evil is within us, and the holy war has to be against all faults and evils within us.
3) Day of judgement- Prophet never said anything about only one life. But his followers added that so that people would be scared about it and do good deeds only so that they do not go to hell. But his followers would not then explain to people why some were rich, some were poor, some were disabled while come were healthy. They did not give explanation for this inequality. People could not understand that when faced with cruelty, why they had to behave good, and they would answer cruelty with cruelty.
4) Cover the head with a skull cap. This was part as mark of respect for the Prophet. Keep a beard - This is just for maintaining different identity as compared to people of other religion. This is the main purpose no matter whatever explanation the priests give.
5) Green color is for harmony and growth. Thus, green color has been adopted by the Muslims. In Hindus, saffron means purity and vairagya (detachment).
Articles - Islam 15-12-14
Islam means e= God and salaam means salutations. Islam is the path by which salutations are given to God. True Islam is like bhakti (devotion) where the worshippers lose their identity in fervor of God e.g., Rumi of Turkey, Nooruddin Reshi of Kashmir, other Sufi saints.
Khuda = means self. Self means God.
Allah= means God of all.
Akbar = means greatest of all men.
Allah hu Akbar = God of all, you are the greatest of all
Illah - means God
The symbol of Moon & Star: Moon stands for serenity & peace and star depicts God.
Followers of Islam are called as Muslims. Mu = means me, slim means Salim (Salim also means companion of Prophet Mohammed or perfect). Muslim means I follow the ways of Prophet Mohammed which leads to perfection.
- These are topics of various aspects of spirituality as told by Para.