duality in Islam?

Submitted by Taj Ashaheed (United States), Apr 23, 2006 at 14:25

Lisa, I am afraid you are tryng to critique a concept that simply does not exist in Islam. There is no concept of duality, especially as compared to the trinity. Indeed Muhammad is an important person regards the religion, however he is not considered divine, nor an object of worship. The belief ascribed to him is the same belief ascribed to all the Prophets. In a logical sense, we as Muslims believe him to be a Prophet which lends credence to not only the Quran being of divine origin, but also that he himself was taught how to exemplify it - a lesson in turn for the Believers who follow(ed)...

The assumption that belief in Muhammad as a Prophet and belief in God are the same is a misconception, which interestingly enough, the Quran has addressed in numerous was - from admonition of the Prophet himself to asserting that there is no distinction between the Messengers, to reminding its readers that Muhammad himself is subservient to God as well as any other human being or created thing...

Regarding zakat, perhaps a bit more understanding is in order. First, zakat is not charity - although this is a common mistranslation of the term. In fact there is actually a whole other word in arabic that is used for charity: sadaqa...

Zakat is a tax that is paid from one's wealth - and not everyone is required to pay due to there having to be a particular amount of assets to meet the requirement of "wealth". Additionally, zakat is not paid to Muslims only; claim to "know the pillars" - if so, then you know the 8 categories of people to whom zakat goes, and thus you'd know that the categories do not all carry a prerequisite of religion...

Of course, this is only in lieu of zakat...charity itself is enjoined upon Muslims and as a concept it has no such (assumed) requirement to be for Muslims only...

It suffices to conclude that in light of your insightful comment about "working together" one cannot begin to uphold this idea by assuming "problems" in another religion and yet demonstrate a knowledge/criticism of such limited to misconceptions or cursory understanding...

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