بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In The Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.
Introduction
All Praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His Help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah, the Most High, from the evils of our own selves and from our wicked deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whomsoever Allah leads astray, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no true deity worthy of being worshipped except Allah, Alone, without any partner or associate. I further bear witness that Muhammad is His true slave and Messenger. May Allah, the Exalted, bestow His Peace and Blessings upon the final prophet, Muhammad, his good and pure family, and upon al of his noble companions.
Today, many people are curious about Islam, but their knowledge about this faith may vary. Their knowledge may have been gained from an article, a book, or part of a religious t ext book at high school they may have read. They may have known some Muslims, passed by a Mosque, watched a documantary or the evening news, or they might have traveled to a Muslim country. To some, Islam is 'just another religion', but for many others, it has become something 'interesting' to ' look' at. I have written this book for those who are searching within themselves for answers to the many questions they have. "Who am I? Who is the True God? What is the true road to salvation? Is it Islam? If I become a Muslim, what does it mean to me, my family, and the society at large?"
Today, many people realize that all of the materialistic and secular progress which has taken place in society has produced a spiritual vacuum, which in turn has led to social, economic, political and psychological problems. For this reason, those who previously said, "Let us lie this life and enjoy it," or "Hey! We don't want to know about God," are now again searching for the truth. They are raising questions similar to those raised above. This is because the innate nature of man recognizes what is good and bad, and what is true and false. It does not feel at ease when Allah's attributes are degraded, and also when humanlike qualities are associated with Him. It recognizes that there can be no more than Once and Only True God, and thus One and Only true religion accepted by Him. Allah does not request some of the creation to worship Him alone, while ordering to worship Jesus, Buddha, fire, light, Krishna, Joseph Smith, the Sun, the Moon, Khomeini, Rama, temples, Prophets, Eliajah, Farakhan, a cross, a tree, a triangle, saints, priests, monks, or anything else.
Everything besides Allah is a creation! They are imperfect. They are in need of others, but Allah is Self-Sufficient. He is The First, having nothing before Him, and The Last, having nothing after Him. To Him is the Final Return. He does not beget nor is He begotten. No human gave Him the name Allah; rather, He named Himself with this name. It means ' the True and Only Deity Who Deserves to Be Worshipped'. He is not a nationalistic or a tribal god. He is the Creator of everything. He, therefore, deserves that we submit to Him Alone, and He called this type of submission 'Islam'.
Confusion, though, came on the part of man when people started to worship creation, whether animate or inanimate, besides Allah! In the final Revealed Message to mankind, the Qur'aan, Allah clearly explains the purpose for man's presence in this world. Outwardly and inwardly, man is called to live in accordance with Allah's way. This is the meaning of worship in Islam, and it is the purpose for which we all have been created. There are those, though, who accept Allah as the Only True God who deserves to be worshipped, but do not live in accordance with Allah's commandments. Their practices are deviated from Islam. They are not the criteria upon which Islam should be judged. Islam is perfect but people are not. We are called to search into Islam.
The obj ective of this book is to call people to search for their salvation by examining the story of a long search by a man called Salman ' Al-Farisee', or 'the Persian'. Why not? Do we know everything? When we know that we do not even posses the air we breath, and that we were not created by nothing, nor did we create ourselves, it becomes natural that one desires to learn more about God (Allah), Who created us, gave us life, and Who, one Day, will call us back to Him. On that Day, there will either be endless bliss or endless torment.