Islam is an ideology not just religion: Muslim students say

Islam is an ideology 
[http://www.sa.niu.edu/msa/articles/ideology.htm]

If I say this I become a hate monger. But it is ok if Muslim students ( Muslim Students Association) say this. Now, are they in ignorance of Islam? And they are neither extremists not terrorists. The webpage is directly loaded from website of an important university in USA. 


If one finds it boring to read the entire, then just read the lines in red color.

It is well known that Islam is built upon five pillars, the shahada, prayer, fasting, hajj and zakat. Ibn Omar, the son of Omar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with both, is reported to have said "I heard the messenger of Allah say: "Islam has been built on five [pillars]: testifying that there is no ilah but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, performing the prayers, paying the zakat, making the pilgrimage to the House, and fasting in Ramadan." related by Bukhari and Muslim.

When applying Islam in life it is incumbent upon the believers to follow the Sunnah of Muhammad (saw) and not to innovate nor add anything to it. So the manner of prayer is well defined in the Sunnah and it is unacceptable to pray in another manner. Muhammad (saw) said "Any matter not taken from our order is rejected" and Allah Ta'ala says "Whatever the Messenger gave you take it, and whatever he rejected leave it". Therefore the manner of building the Islamic way of life upon the five pillars must be taken from the Prophet (saw) and not from any other basis as he (saw) established Islam completely and in the best manner and all other references are a false reference and will not earn Allah's pleasure, we seek refuge with Allah from that.

The Shahada is the Foundation, or the first pillar, of Islam: the statement which brings a person from the darkness of ignorance into the light of Islam. If understood correctly this statement becomes the basis from which the life of a Muslim emanates. This is the statement which the enemies of Islam do not want the Muslim to understand. This was the statement which was responsible, at first for the persecution of the earlier Muslims and, later, for the great victory of Islam. It is this word which distinguishes the Muslim from the Kafir, the believer from the disbeliever. The performers of actions are praised or dispraised depending on whether they utter this word. If a capitalist company director who does not believe in Islam is seen given money to a charitable cause, the people will naturally be suspicious and accuse him of using the gift for his benefit. Whereas, if a Muslim does the same action, Muslims will assume that he is seeking no more than to gain closeness to his Lord.

The Shahada is the testification that there is none worthy of worship than Allah, that there is none to submit to than Allah, that Allah is the sole one worthy of referring to and no other way should be followed than that of Allah's.

The key in understanding this statement is in the words "no ilah...". Ilah means the One who creates, legislates, has to be obeyed, worshipped, from who you take your life style, to whom you submit your will to, from whom you take all your ideas and concepts about life, and according to whose instruction you live your life and treat others. Thus this Shahada states that there is nothing that possesses these qualities but Allah (swt).

However, if we give any of these powers to any other entity, then that entity becomes our god and we have nullified the shahada. This shirk was explained by Allah (swt) in the following ayah as the very mistake that the Christians and the Jews have made until the present day: "They have taken their rabbis and priests as lords other than Allah." This ayah was explained by the Messenger of Allah (saw), as reported by Tirmidhi on the authority of Adi bin Hatim who was a Christian before accepting Islam. Adi who had just accepted Islam, heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) recite the above ayat. He objected, "They do not worship their priests." The Prophet (saw) replied, "Whatever their priests and rabbis call permissible, they accept as permissible; whatever they declare as forbidden, they consider as forbidden, and thus they worship them."

So Islam forbids for any legislation to be taken other than that contained in the Qur'an and Sunnah. Allah says "The ruling is for none but Allah" and "Rule between them by what Allah has revealed". Therefore making the Shar'iah as the basis of actions by individuals and society is the practical implementation of the Shahada in life. If other than the Shariah is followed then the Shahada is neglected and the first pillar of Islam is missing from life. In this situation the way of life cannot be described as Islamic. 


P.S. It all means Muslims give a damn about constitutions of infidel nations. When it comes to Non-Muslims and Jihad, there is only one Sharia which relegates all Non-Muslims to second class citizens and Jihad is nothing but effort of Muslims to implement Sharia.

And also note that how sharia also become - not just a constitution of Muslim society -  a part of actions of Muslims.