Allah has sent many messengers and prophets throughout the ages to enjoin on people to worship the One and Only True God. Some of them listened, whilst others persisted in ignoring the truth and were destroyed by Allah in one way or another. For some tribes they were struck by floods, others by earthquakes, whilst others suffered from locust plagues and so on.
One of the reasons that many of these people were destroyed by Allah was that they would stubbornly follow the way of their forefathers, rather than the way of their Lord. Thus, they were more concerned with their culture and traditions even when this meant disobeying their Creator, who created all of mankind.
In the twenty first century the same problem is still apparent. Even in Islamic States, where many of the laws are derived from Islamic Law (Shariah), there are many laws which are purely man made and even go against what Allah has told us about how we should live together in society.
Similarly, many Muslims living both in Islamic States and non-Muslim countries, such as New Zealand, choose to follow the ways of their ancestors, or make permissible to themselves what Allah has forbidden. This may be done out of genuine lack of knowledge on their part or out of arrogance and denial of what Allah has commanded.
It is important for one to be able to differentiate between Islam and Muslims. Islam is a way of life and complete submission to the One and Only God, Allah. Allah has given Islam to humans as the perfect way by which to live their lives according to His ultimate wisdom. There are no flaws in it and it is perfect, just as Allah is perfect. Islam is for every person, from the beginning of mankind to the end of mankind in every place on Earth.
A Muslim, on the other hand is a person who attempts to follow Islam and Allah's wishes in the hope of realising the benefits, both in this life and the Hereafter, that Islam offers.
However, as humans, we are imperfect by nature and are all prone to make mistakes. It can be difficult for someone who is not familiar with what Islam teaches to be able to know when a Muslim is practicing his/her religion and thus following Islam, and when a Muslim is making mistakes, and therefore going against Islam. It is all too easy to see a Muslim (or an Islamic State) doing or saying something and to immediately associate it with Islam, which may or may not be the correct judgement.
There are numerous examples of cases where Muslims may practice something that is not a part of Islam. One such example is in the case of the dowry that is paid before marriage. Islamically, it is the duty of the husband to pay the dowry to the wife, as part of fulfilling the process of marriage. However, in some countries it is the practice that the wife has to pay the dowry to the husband, which goes against the teachings of Islam.
There are many other examples, such as Muslim women and men not covering themselves appropriately, Muslim men shaving their beards and keeping a moustache (which goes against the advice of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)), failing to fast during the month of Ramadan, not praying the five times prayer, drinking alcohol, gambling, reading horoscopes, etc.
If in doubt as to whether a practice is truly Islamic or not, a person should always turn to the Qur'an, the Sunnah (prescribed practices) of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the learned scholars who have studied the divine revelations (see Sources of Guidance), as these are the only sources of guidance that a Muslim should follow. Anything else is man-made and may not be in accordance with the perfect way of life that Allah has enjoined upon His followers.
Whilst a person should do all that they can to avoid straying from the straight path, in the event that they do, they should remember that Allah is The Most Forgiving and The Most Merciful. Indeed Allah has told us that He took all the mercy in the world and divided it into 100 parts. Of this, He gave one part to all of mankind (past, present and future) and kept the rest for Himself. Consequently, we should never despair of His mercy or feel that will not be forgiven if we sincerely repent, strive to do good and remain constant and patient in our worship of Allah, as a person can never have a better helper than Him.
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