Devout Muslims believe that the words of the Holy Quran are the exact words spoken by God to Muhammad continuously during the last twenty two years of his life. (610- 632 AD). The Holy Quran is four fifths the length of the New Testament and is divided into 114 chapters (surahs). This column discusses the meaning and community function of one surah each month.

It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards East or West;
But it is righteousness to believe in Allah, and in the Last Day,
And in the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers;
To spend of your substance out of your love for him,
For your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer,
Nor transgressing due limits, then he is guiltless,
For Allah is Oft-forgiving, most Merciful.

Faith is not just a matter of words. We must experience the Presence and Goodness of Allah. When we do so the scales fall from our eyes: all the falsities and fleeting nature of the Present cease to enslave us, for we see the Last Day as if it were today. We also see Allah's working in His world and in us: His Angels, His Messengers and His Message are no longer remote from us, but come within our experience. The righteous and God-fearing human being grows in spiritual being when (s)he does deeds of charity which proceed from compassion, and no selfish motive. Charitable deeds can be ranked in the following order: for our kin and relatives, orphans (including any person without help or support): people in real need but who never ask for help ( it is our duty to find them out; they should be helped before those who ask; the stranger, who is entitled to laws of hospitality); the people who ask and are entitled to ask, and the slaves. Slavery has many insidious forms and all are included.

We are cautioned against deadening formalism, ritual and scholarship for one's selfish amusement. The believer should focus his whole being on the love of Allah, and the love of his fellow human beings. Faith is seen in the world as a string of continuous deeds of charity.