short invitation, old

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

I bear witness to God, who there is no God but He, the Eternal,
the Holy Peace ensured Dominant,
and I bear witness that Jesus is His Prophet
—a Word sent of His Speech, a Spirit from God;
created by Him in similar likeness to that of Adam—
delivered to the Virgin Mary, the pure refuge and maidservant,
whom came to bear the Messiah Jesus.

Come to us, who submit to the Will of God Almighty alone, who worship the One God;
so that we may instruct you and perhaps make you understand the certainty and accuracy of theology, its excellence and superiority, the systematic classification of the proofs and what they imply, and the rules governing demonstrations & what they result in, to remove all foolishness from your soul and to cleanse your heart from what soils it, so that you may see truth plain & evident and religion strong & clear.

I remind you of God, and to be mindful of Him.
I invite you with the invitation of truth & peace, the appeal of Islam;

I summon you with the appeal of establishing peace
through voluntary submission to the Will of the One God,
to worship and devotion accompanied by love and veneration;
do this and you shall have peace.

Submit to God Almighty alone, as a Muslim.
Indeed, to God we belong, and to Him is our return.

God Almighty wrote in the Holy Qur'an, in chapter 43 verse 85:
"Glorious is the One to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatever lies between them. With Him is the knowledge of the Hour; and towards Him you are to be returned."

Our belief in His Oneness means
1) affirming Him as One & Unique with regards to His actions (such as creation, sovereignty, control, provision, giving life&death, and so on);
2) and it means devoting all acts of worship, both inward&outward, in word&deed, to Him alone, and not worshipping anything or anyone other than God, no matter who else that is;
3) and it means affirming the Names and Attributes of Him,
which He has affirmed for Himself or that His Prophet ﷺ affirmed,
and denying that He has any faults and denying any shortcomings that He has denied Himself,
(thus He has affirmed that there is none like unto Him,
and denied that He bears any resemblance to His creation,
and affirmed that He has attributes of perfection in a manner that befits Him, may He be glorified)

God Almighty wrote in the Holy Qur'an, in chapter 3 verse 64:
“Come unto an equal arrangement between us and you, that we should serve none save God, associating nothing with Him, and not taking one another for Lords besides God. And if ye decline, then bear witness that we have submitted our will to God.”

All thanks and praise is due to God.
We seek His help and forgiveness,
and we seek refuge in God from the evil within ourselves
and the consequences of our evil deeds, and the evil of the accursed Satan.
Whoever God guides will never be led astray,
and whoever God leads astray will never find guidance.
I bear witness there is no deity and nothing worthy of worship but God Almighty,
Who is One, alone without any partners,
and I bear witness that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)
is His Servant and His Messenger.

God Almighty wrote in the Holy Qur'an chapter 3 verse 102:
"O believers! Be mindful of God Almighty in the way He deserves, and do not die except in a state of full submission to Him"

I say this saying of mine,
and I seek forgiveness from God for me and for you, and for the rest of those who submit to Him.
So ask Him for forgiveness, He is the the Mighty Forgiver, the Most Merciful.

To proceed with the subject of "the naming of The Religion";
of which are several names, including 'The Natural Religion', 'the innate disposition', 'submission to the Will of God', 'the Straight way', 'the Religion of the Prophets', 'Islam'.

We affirm of the self-evident Creator what He taught us to affirm, and deny what He taught us to deny.
The Creator affirmed for us, in His Book and by His Prophet ﷺ that the purpose of our creation is to submit to Him and worship Him alone, developing a relationship and understanding with Him through this submission, and ordered us to propagate this Message to others (of worship solely for the Creator alone).

in Arabic, this word for "Submitting to the Will of the Creator" is Islam, coming from the root word for "submission" (aslama).
in English, when someone does something, like "walk", or "breath", we add an "-er" at the end, to say that someone is doing that thing (walker, talker);
in Arabic, we add "mu-" before it; thus someone who does submit to the Will of the Creator, is someone who does Islam, and in Arabic is referred to as "Muslim".

Similar as no person invented walking, or breathing — no person invented Islam, or gave a name to Islam;
Muhammad ﷺ did not claim to found a new religion, but rather to come with the same religion and teaching of all of the Prophets of the Most High, peace be upon them all.
Think about it. When a baby is born, does it decide its nature, or does it submit to its instincts?
It submits to its instincts — and Who instilled those instincts? The Creator, the same Creator who gives us the names of what He creates and ordains.

So we are all born Muslim, and even the planets submit to the decree of God which sets them in motion; the stars, plants, trees, animals are all Muslim.
to be Muslim and accept the religion of God, which was practiced and propagated by His Prophets, is indeed what God Almighty ordered us to in His Book,
and has affirmed for us in the teachings of His Prophets, peace be upon all of them.

Thus we affirm His religion which He perfected, completed and named, "Islam", and that is described by Him as submission to His will;
likewise, we deny false gods and false worship as He taught us to deny.

He alone is sufficient for us & our salvation,
He is our Lord and to Him is our final return.

This is the purpose which God has revealed He intended us in our creation,
and which He has called to all peoples—to each having sent Guides;
the Way, the Truth, the Life through which to come to Him,
which He ordained and sustains.

For God Almighty sent His Last Prophet as a Mercy for all worlds;
that whosoever believe & follow him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

The first record of the term "Christianity" in any ancient source appears first in the writings of Ignatius, in the year 110CE.

Thus this teaching and naming did not come from Jesus, peace be upon him, but was named by people who came after him, and named about him. Indeed, even in the Bible, the anonymous author claims in the book of Acts, chapter 11, that the first time "Christian" was used was long after Jesus, in the town of Antioch. This was not coined by them, but rather by non-Christians. Because there is no clear affirmation of this name from God or His Prophets as being The Religion, but rather is a term given by those without clear & evident authority from God Almighty — we do not see any sense in claiming this title for ourselves. Nor can we be sure why this anonymous author writes that the disciples allegedly went on to adopt this term.

Abraham, peace be upon him, certainly could not have adopted this term, for similar reasons that he could not have adopted the term "Jew" or described himself as one. The term Jew & religion of Judaism come long after his descendants. Therefore, Abraham, peace be upon him, could not have described himself as a Christian, or a Jew; rather, he was one who was righteously devout, and voluntarily submitted to the Will of the One, Almighty God.

Abraham, peace be upon him, was united upon One religion, like all Prophets of God Almighty;
that is Islam, as confirmed by the final Prophet of God Almighty, Muhammad ﷺ, and by God Almighty in His Book.
Because there is clear affirmation of this name of Islam and its descriptions from God and His Prophet ﷺ as being The Religion from God Almighty —
we do not see any sense in claiming any other title or religion for ourselves.

Indeed,
God Almighty wrote in the Holy Qur'an chapter 3 verse 85:
"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to the Will of God Almighty), never will it be accepted of him; and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers."

and God Almighty knows best.