The Foundation of Islam is the set of basic beliefs which is composed of (1) belief in One God Alone, Allah with all His attributes and knowing their meaning and impact on one's life. (2) belief in divine guidance of mankind through His Prophets and Messengers and belief in Muhammad (S) as the last Prophet/Messenger, (3) belief in the Books of Allah and Qur'an being His last and complete Book, (4) belief in the Angels as Allah's functionaries, (5) belief in the Last Day of the Last Hour, (6) belief in the Life Hereafter which includes resurrection of man and accountability to his Creator and Lord, the Day of Judgement followed by reward and punishment meaning the eternal life of paradise or hell, and (7) belief in destiny (Qadr).

The set of beliefs may be looked at as the engine of a car. If the engine of a car is good, the car (body) will go places and if the engine is bad, the car will not go anyplace irrespective of the condition of the body.

The set of beliefs of a person is his engine; if the beliefs are no good, the person will have problems in his life. A society composed of people with sick beliefs will be a sick society as is the condition of Muslim society today.

The rest of the building of Islam, GOOD DEEDS OR WORKS (a'maalus salihaat), consists of the following seven components.

(1)The first component consists of RITES OR ACTS OF WORSHIP commonly known as the five pillars of Islam namely, shahadah, salah, zakah, saum and hajj . These pillars support the building of Islam above ground.

(2)The most important good work after establishing the pillars for a Muslim is to be a ROLE MODEL for mankind as Prophet Muhammad(s) is the role model for Muslims. To be a role model requires excellence in knowledge which includes professions and vocations. A good Muslim must be the best in his vocation to be a role model. A society composed of knowledgeable best persons Will also be the best society which would become a role model for all other societies of the world.

(3) The MORAL CODE of Islam is another component of the building of Islam. Propagation of the moral code of Islam, enjoining good and forbidding evil (amr-bil-ma'roof wa-nahi 'an-al-munkar) is a duty of every Muslim.

(4) RIGHTS AND DUTIES given by Islam is another component of the building. There are three areas of rights and duties, namely (a) God-man relation, (b) man-man relations, and (c) man-earth relations.

(5) Islam also provides guidelines in SHARIA, which is the system of civil and penal law. As part of the legal system, there are guidelines for allowed / lawful (halaal) and disallowed/unlawful (haraam) in four areas, namely, (a) eating and drinking, (b) sources of income, (c) spending of wealth, and (d) sexual relations. This system of law makes a part of the building of Islam.

(6) Islam makes every person responsible to convey the message of Islam to other human beings (DA'WAH) due to our love for them. How would it be possible for a Muslim to hope for going to paradise by the Grace of Allah without providing any such chance to non-Muslims? This love for mankind demands that others be informed about the message of Islam and provide them a chance to accept it. CONVEYING THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM is an essential component of the building of Islam.

(7) This earth belongs to Allah, therefore, only He has the right to rule this earth according to His design. The human being is a trustee or manager of God on earth (KHALIFAH) which simply means that man has a duty to manage the earth according to the wishes of the Owner (Trustor, Allah) NOT according to his (trustee's, humankind's) wishes. This means IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RULE OF ALLAH on earth is the responsibility of Muslims. Every Muslim must implement the Rule of Allah beginning with his personal life and extending it to family life, to social life, to economic life and to include life at local, national and international levels. This aspect completes the building of Islam with its finishing touches.

Let us come together and work together to rebuild the beautiful building of Islam, in its entirety. This will be the rebuilding of the Muslim Ummah to implement the Rule of Allah in its entirety.