Our Statement of Beliefs

We feel that every denomination, para-church organization, religious group, and religious web site should consider creating a statement of belief or faith and displaying it prominently. This is particularly important among Christian groups who may use the term "Christian" to refer to only the Roman Catholic Church, or only to Evangelical Protestantism, or to the full range of Christian denominations and beliefs, or to some other subset of the religion. Quite often, when we visit a Christian web site for the first time, we have to search around among its articles to find out exactly what Christian belief system they follow and promote on their web site.

That said, the following is our attempt at a statement of belief.



OCRT Statement of Belief:
We are a multi-faith group. As of 2008-FEB, we consist of one Atheist, Agnostic, Christian, Wiccan and Zen Buddhist. Thus, the OCRT staff lack agreement on almost all theological matters, such as belief in a supreme being, the nature of God, interpretation of the Bible and other holy texts, whether life after death exists, what form the afterlife may take, etc.

We do believe:

In the inherent worth of every person. People are worthy of respect, support, and caring simply because they are human. Unfortunately, we have not reached a consensus on when human life, in the form of an ovum and spermatozoon, becomes a human person. On this matter, our lack of agreement mirrors that of society at large.
In working towards a culture that is relatively free of discrimination on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, physical disability, age, etc.
In the sanctity of the human person. We oppose the use of torture and cruel or unusual punishment including the death penalty. 1
In the importance of democracy within religious, political and other structures.
In the separation of church and state; and the freedoms of speech, association, and expression. 2
That the systems of truth that we have studied on the topics of morals, ethics, and religious belief are not absolute: they vary by culture, by religion, and over time. 3
In the generally positive influence that most religions have had on their followers and on society. 4
In the importance of individual believers determining evil influences and policies within their chosen faith group, and strongly advocate for their correction.
In the importance of education. We believe that people are not truly educated unless they have studied the world's major religions and ethical systems. They need to learn of the good and bad impacts they have had on society. 5

Loving Allah

Without loving Allah, you cannot be a professional worshiper of Allah. Those who really love what they do, succeed in their work. A teacher, who loves to teach, succeeds in teaching more than a teacher who teaches for money. A chef, who loves to cook, succeeds more than a chef who does not like their job. Applying the same logic, only a person who genuinely loves Allah is equipped to worship Him wholeheartedly. It is impossible to worship that which you know not and love not. Worship and love are intimately related. The highest level of love is worship and love is the foundation and essence of godly living. True and genuine worship of Allah does not take place except through loving Him.
Allah’s Messenger said, “None of you believes until I am more beloved to him than his family, wealth and all the people.” If the authenticity of your belief is conditional upon loving Allah’s messenger more than anything else, then the obvious reality is that one does not even smell the fragrance of faith until they love Allah more than anything else individually and collectively.
Our love to Allah is the very foundation of our faith. Since, love is as good as the entity in which it is placed, achieving close to perfect faith is directly related to the perfection of the beloved. Allah’s perfection infinitely exceeds our perception of perfection. He is free from any deficiency and all his attributes are occasion for praise. Thus, those who know Him, love Him more than they love anyone and anything else. Therefore, they freely submit themselves to Him, not because they have to, but because they love to; they love it and enjoy it. Worship is the submission and subordination internally and externally to the beloved Lord out of love and adoration. You and I psychologically are neither willing nor able to subordinate or submit ourselves, both internally and externally in all conditions except through worshipful love. Hence, this love must be dispensed only to Allah. This type of love provides the long term impetus for worship and service. Love without subordination and servitude is not worshipful love. Without love, subordination and servitude do not constitute worship. However, when love is coupled with servitude, humility, submission, subordination, adoration and veneration, the result of combining these attitudes of faith is true and genuine worship. This love-based submission brings about liberation from worldly control.

Allah ( God )

It is a known fact that every language has one or more terms that are used in reference to God and sometimes to lesser deities. This is not the case with Allah. Allah is the personal name of the One true God. Nothing else can be called Allah. The term has no plural or gender. This shows its uniqueness when compared with the word god which can be made plural, gods, or feminine, goddess. It is interesting to notice that Allah is the personal name of God in Aramaic, the language of Jesus and a sister language of Arabic.
The One true God is a reflection of the unique concept that Islam associates with God. To a Muslim, Allah is the Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to Him. The Prophet Muhammad was asked by his contemporaries about Allah; the answer came directly from God Himself in the form of a short chapter of the Quran, which is considered the essence of the unity or the motto of monotheism. This is chapter 112 which reads:

"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.Say (O Muhammad) He is God the One God, the Everlasting Refuge, who has not begotten, nor has been begotten, and equal to Him is not anyone."

Some non-Muslims allege that God in Islam is a stern and cruel God who demands to be obeyed fully. He is not loving and kind. Nothing can be farther from truth than this allegation. It is enough to know that, with the exception of one, each of the 114 chapters of the Quran begins with the verse: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate." In one of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) we are told that "God is more loving and kinder than a mother to her dear child."
But God is also Just. Hence evildoers and sinners must have their share of punishment and the virtuous, His bounties and favors. Actually God's attribute of Mercy has full manifestation in His attribute of Justice. People suffering throughout their lives for His sake and people oppressing and exploiting other people all their lives should not receive similar treatment from their Lord. Expecting similar treatment for them will amount to negating the very belief in the accountability of man in the Hereafter and thereby negating all the incentives for a moral and virtuous life in this world. The following Quranic verses are very clear and straightforward in this respect:

"Verily, for the Righteous are gardens of Delight, in the Presence of their Lord. Shall We then treat the people of Faith like the people of Sin? What is the matter with you? How judge you?" (68:34-36)

Islam rejects characterizing God in any human form or depicting Him as favoring certain individuals or nations on the basis of wealth, power or race. He created the human beings as equals. They may distinguish themselves and get His favor through virtue and piety only.
The concept that God rested in the seventh day of creation, that God wrestled with one of His soldiers, that God is an envious plotter against mankind, or that God is incarnate in any human being are considered blasphemy from the Islamic point of view.
The unique usage of Allah as a personal name of God is a reflection of Islam's emphasis on the purity of the belief in God which is the essence of the message of all God's messengers. Because of this, Islam considers associating any deity or personality with God as a deadly sin which God will never forgive, despite the fact He may forgive all other sins.

[Note that what is meant above applies ONLY to those people who die in a state wherein they are associating others with God. The repentance of those who yet live is acceptable to God if He wills. - MSA of USC]

The Creator must be of a different nature from the things created because if he is of the same nature as they are, he will be temporal and will therefore need a maker. It follows that nothing is like Him. If the maker is not temporal, then he must be eternal. But if he is eternal, he cannot be caused, and if nothing outside him causes him to continue to exist, which means that he must be self-sufficient. And if the does not depend on anything for the continuance of his own existence, then this existence can have no end. The Creator is therefore eternal and everlasting: "He is the First and the Last."
He is Self-Sufficient or Self-Subsistent or, to use a Quranic term, Al-Qayyum. The Creator does not create only in the sense of bringing things into being, He also preserves them and takes them out of existence and is the ultimate cause of whatever happens to them.

"God is the Creator of everything. He is the guardian over everything. Unto Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth." (39:62, 63)
"No creature is there crawling on the earth, but its provision rests on God. He knows its lodging place and it repository." (11:6)

About Islam

Who is (Allah) ??

Some of the biggest misconceptions that many non-Muslims have about Islam have to do with the word "Allah". Many people have come to believe that Muslims worship a different God than Christians and Jews. This is totally false...