Islam

Islam is a monotheistic religion founded in the 600s based on the religious text known as the Quran. According to Islam, the religion was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad when Allah sent an angel to dictate a series of revelations to him, which Muhammad memorized. Muhammad was illiterate, and his followers later wrote down Muhammad's memorized revelations to form the Quran. Muhammed is considered to be the chief and final prophet.

Adherents of Islam are called Muslims (sometimes spelled "Moslem".) In some older English texts they are referred to as "Muhammadans" or "Mohammadan"; however this term is not commonly used because Muslims find it offensive, as this term implies that they worship Muhammad, which they do not.

The meaning of the word Islam

Islam is an Arabic word meaning "submission (to Allah)". It also has an etymological relationship to other Arabic words, such as "peace". The word Muslim is derived from Islam and means "one who surrendered" or submitted (to Allah).

Teachings of Islam

Muslims believe in one God, the God of Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus, who are all regarded as prophets or "Messengers" before Muhammad. Muslims believe that Muhammad came to bring the final message of God, the correct path and true knowledge of the afterlife to pagan polytheists and to the Christians and Jews -- monotheists who had deviated from the correct path.

For Muslims, the Qur'an answers questions about daily needs, both spiritual and material. It discusses God and God's Names and attributes; believers and their virtues, and the fate of non-believers (kâfir); Mary, Jesus, and all the other prophets; and even scientific subjects. Sunni Muslims (the majority of world's Muslims) do not follow the laws of the Quran exclusively; they also follow the understanding of the Quran contained in the teachings of the prophet known as the Hadith.

Muslims are taught that God sent down 4 books and 100 pages. Besides the Qur'an, the others are the Law of Moses (the Taurah), the Psalms of David (the Zabûr) and the Gospel of Jesus (the Injil). The Qur'an describes Christians and Jews as "the people of the Book" (ahl al Kitâb).

The teachings of Islam concern many of the same personages as those of Judaism and Christianity. However, Muslims frequently refer to them using Arabic names which can make it appear they are talking about different people: e.g. Allah for God, Iblis for Satan, Ibrahim for Abraham, etc. A belief in a day of judgment and an afterlife are pivotal to Islam.

The Six Elements of Belief

A moslem believes the following:

God
Angels
Books (sent by God)
Messengers (sent by God)
Day of Judgment
Both good and bad (or more precisely, what people call good and bad) come from God.

There is no authority that can decide whether a person is accepted to, or dismissed from, the community of believers. It is enough to believe with one's heart and recite with one's tongue the above, or the even shorter version contained in shahada. As no one can split open another's heart to see what's inside, it is enough to say that you are a moslem to be treated as a moslem by the moslems.

The Five Pillars of Islam

The Five Pillars of Islam are five basic duties of moslems:

the recitation and acceptance of the Creed or shahada: "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is His prophet."
prayer, ablutions, and purifications (salat); (five times every day)
alms (zakat); One over forty (%2.5) of your wealth every year
observing the fast of Ramadan (saum) (one month per year); and
making the Haj, or pilgrimage to Mecca (once in a lifetime)

Jihad is sometimes referred to as the "sixth pillar of Islam".

Views of Jews and Christians

Islam consigns Jews and Christians to the status of the dhimmi. A dhimmi is a non-Muslim citizen of a Muslim nation, given a number of rights, among them the right to freely practice their faith. This status is based on a passage from the Quran, which says that Jews and Christians are "people of the book": monotheistic religions with a holy book, similar in some ways to Islam. Historically in practice this resulted in varying degrees of persecution and discrimination, although religious minorities had much greater liberty generally under Islamic rule than they did in Europe during the Medieval period.

Divisions of Islam

Islam is divided into two main sects: the Sunni, the Shia, and many smaller sects such Zaydi and Isma'ili. The Sufi Islam, the mystics of Islam, can be found among all Muslim groups. Most Muslims however are folk Muslims, practicing a combination of orthodox and traditional religious practices from their own cultures.

The division dates back to a dispute over who was to be caliph, i.e. successor of Muhammad as leader of the Muslim community (or Ummah); though not his successor as prophet. The Sunni believed that the leader of the Muslims should be elected, so long as he came from the Quraysh tribe, the tribe of the prophet; the Shia believed that only Muhammad's son-in-law Ali and his descendants should be eligible for the position. The Sunni are in the majority world-wide, and are the majority in most Muslim countries, with the exception of Iran and Iraq, where the majority is Shia.

There are other Muslim sects including the Ismailis, the Nizaris (more commonly known as the Assassins), the Druze (which have developed into a separate religion), and the Ahmadiyya, a controversial messianic sect.

The Nation of Islam is a radical black nationalist movement in the United States which claims to call for black empowerment. Its leader is Louis Farrakhan. The Nation of Islam claims to be Islamic, however most other Muslims reject their claim, on the grounds that their teachings differ radically from those traditionally associated with Islam.

Practices of Islam

Muslims are of many different races and (political and ethnic) nationalities. The majority of Muslims are in the countries of South Asia, South-East Asia, Central Asia, the North Africa and the Middle East.

Holidays

The Muslim Sabbath is on Friday -- A Muslim attends prayer in a mosque of his town and hears two sermons; these sermons form the principal part of the midday prayer. When the holidays occur is according to the Islamic calendar, meaning each year they shift relative to the Gregorian calendar.

Festivals through the year:

Ramadan - month long observance of fasting.

Feast of Breaking the Fast (idu-l-fitr), or the Little Feast (al-idu s-saghir)- occurs at the conclusion of Ramadan. It is held on the first four days of the month of Shawwal

The Big Feast, (idu-l-adha,), also "The Feast of Sacrifice" (Kurban Bayram) - two months and 10 days after the Little Feast. Animals are slaughtered to commemorate Abraham's sacrificing of a ram instead of his son Ishmael. Those who are able make a pilgrimage to Mecca do so around this date.

Ashura - the 10th day of the month of Muharram. This is the day on which Mohammed's grandson, Imam Husain, was martyred in Iraq. For Shiites this is a day of mourning. Some Sunnis connect this holiday to the deliverance of the Children of Israel from Egypt, and is a day of special prayer, rejoicing and music. This holiday is strongly discouraged by the Islamist movement (fundamentalist Islam), which is becoming predominant in the Arab world

The Prophet's birthday (al-mawlidu n-nabawi sh-sharif) - This holiday is prohibited by the Islamist movement (fundamentalist Islam). Entire Arab nations, such as Saudi Arabia, forbid Muslims to celebrate this holiday.

Muslim New Year - not generally celebrated as an official Muslim holiday, although many Arab communities have some kind of celebrations. This holiday is prohibited by the Islamist movement (fundamentalist Islam), which is now predominant in the Arab world.

Historical origin of Islam

The preaching of Mohammed as the messenger of God owed its origin to the prophet's firm conviction of the approach of the Day of Judgment ("Yaum al-Din") and to his thorough belief in monotheism. The former was primarily a reaction against the conduct of the Meccan aristocracy of his time, which in his eyes was sensual, avaricious, proud, oppressive, and wholly indifferent to things spiritual; the latter was a protest against the polytheistic traditions of the Arabs.

Mohammed was led to both through Jewish and Christian influences, to which he was subjected in his immediate surroundings as well as during the commercial journeys undertaken by him in his youth. Only in the second period of his activity, after the Hegira ? the departure of himself and his most faithful followers to Medina (formerly Yathrib) in 622 CE ? did he undertake a practical organization of his prophetic work, and, by making concrete laws, give a definite form to the general religious feelingwhich had been aroused by his preaching. These laws dealt both with social relations and with religious worship. It was only then that the religious tendency which had arisen out of a reaction against the heathenism of Arabia took on the form of a real, positive institution.

Mohammed's conception of his own calling and the fate which his efforts had to endure at the hands of the infidels ("kafir"= "kofer") appeared to his mind as a reflection of the prophets of the Bible, whose number he increased by a few characters. The persecutions which were suffered at the hands of their fellow citizens by those whose work he had now taken up were repeated in his own career. There was the same refusal, the same appeal to ancestral traditions, the resigning of which for the sake of a Godsent message heathen nations had ever opposed. In the conduct of the Meccans toward Mohammed were repeated the actions of earlier peoples toward the messengers and prophets sent from time to time by Allah to mankind. Mohammed saw himself as the last link in the prophetic chain; the "seal of the prophets" ("khatam al-anbiya").

Relation to Predecessors

Mohammed held that the religion he established was not new. Rather, in his eyes it was only a restoration of the ancient religion of the biblical patriarch Abraham. Mohammed held that he was not responsibile for this new faith; rather, God had called him through Gabriel, the angel of revelation, whom Mohammed identified with the Holy Ghost. He claimed that he was to continue the mission of the earlier prophets from Adam to Jesus, and demanded for all of them faith and recognition.

Mohammed did not wish to be regarded as being above the sphere of humanity; he was only a man, of the same flesh and blood as those to whom his speech was directed; and he declined any suggestion to perform miracles.

Since he claimed to be a restorer of the ancient, pure religion revealed to Abraham, he connected his teaching with the Bible. There are many parallel teachings in Bible and Koran, but there are discrepancies too. For example, Koran states that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, but rejects that Jesus is the son of God.

Moslems, as they believe Koran is directly Gods word, think that Koranic version are the real ones, whereas the present Bible reflects the corrupted state of the initial books. On the other hand, Non-moslems (by definition) think that Mohammad wrote the Koran, therefore it reflects his level of information (or ignorance) about Bible. (and many other things too)

Mohammad was illiterate, and this is emphasized in Koran, as making the revelation miraculous, a book to be read by millions from an illiterate man. It is a fact that he was no scholar, nor had any information on Bible before the revelation began.

According to non-moslems, what information he received from Jews was mixed with haggadic elements current orally among Arabian Jews or existing in written form, possibly preserved in Ethiopic translations of Hebrew pseudepigraphic writings. His conception of Christian teachings was sometimes that of the heretical sects (Collyridians, Docetæ) scattered throughout the Orient, and not recognized in the canonical doctrines of Christianity. Historians believe that Mohammed not only borrowed from Jews and Christians, but was influenced also by Parseeism, with the professors of which ("majus," "magian") he came into direct contact.

The Koran

The first and most ancient document of Islam is the Koran ("Proclamation"), which forms the foundation of Islam. The doctrine of faith and practise preached by Mohammed is unfolded gradually with the succession of stages in the growth of the Koran.

In the first period of his activity (at Mecca) he was occupied chiefly with his inspirations in regard to the truths of the faith, the monotheistic idea, the divine judgment, and his prophetic calling. The monotheistic conception of God, which he opposes to Arabian heathendom, agrees in substance with that of the Old Testament; he emphasizes more the universal power and the unhindered free will of God than His holiness. Mohammed connects the idea of omnipotence with the attribute of mercy, which forms an essential element in the exercise of God's omnipotence and which is expressed in the name for God taken from the mother religion, "al-Rahman".

The formulation of the social and ritualistic laws was said to be revealed to him principally after the Hegira, during his sojourn in Medina; while the most essential elements of the ritual ordinances had been evolved during the Meccan period.

Attempts to court and convert Jews

In Medina, Mohammed had counted much on the support of the influential Jews, by whom he expected to be regarded as the final messenger of God. He at first made them various concessions. He pointed to Jerusalem as the direction toward which they should turn when praying, and he established the tenth day of the first lunar month ('Ashura) as the great annual fast-day. The prohibition against eating pig was also taken from Judaism, and, like that against drinking wine, was accepted, since it was difficult in those days for Arabs to procure that beverage; whereas the adoption of the Biblical prohibition against camel's flesh would have encountered great opposition, because such meat formed an integral part of the national food. Circumcision, a custom preserved from old Arabian heathendom, does not possess in Islam the fundamental character peculiar to it among the Jews.

In view of his failure to convert Jews to his faith, Mohammed soon annulled some of these concessions. Prayer was directed instead toward Mecca (sura ii. 136); the month Ramadan became the great period of fasting, in place of the tenth day of the first month; and in other cases also he opposed some of the principal details of Jewish practise. He set aside the restrictions of the dietary laws (retaining only those in regard to pork, and animals which die a natural death or are offered as heathen sacrifices); and he protested against the Jewish conception and observation of the Sabbath. Instead of the day of rest in commemoration of God's resting, he appointed Friday ("Jum'ah") as a day of assembly for divine worship.

Since this time there has been continual tensions between Islam and Judaism, as Islam holds itself to be the one true form of God's will; its classical texts, still taught today, hold that Judaism is a deliberate and willful pervesion of the word of God.

Dietary laws

When eating meat, Muslims may only eat from meat that has been slaughtered in the name of Allah. Such meat is called halal. Islamic law prohibits a Muslim from eating pork, monkey, dog, cat and several other animals, as these animals are haram (unlawful). For the meat of an animal to be halal (lawful) it must be one of the declared halal animals, it must be slaughtered by a Muslim, and the animal may not be killed by being boiled or electrocuted. The blood, which is considered dirty, must outflow completely. Some Muslim clerics have ruled that the animal does not have to be killed by a Muslim, but may be slaughtered by a Jew or a Christian. Thus, some observant Muslims will accept kosher meat (meat prepared in accord with Jewish law) as halal.

Many Muslims living in Western nations will eat non-halal meat, as long as it isn't pork.

The role of women in Islam

Islam does not prohibit women from working, but emphasizes the importance of caring for her house and family and not neglecting their needs. Islamic law allows a man to divorce his wife at his will, by saying "I divorce you" three times in public. This practice is valid within most of the Muslim world today. Usually, the divorced wife keeps her dowry from when she was married. Women are also allowed to iniate divorce, however the process is more difficult

In Saudi Arabia, Wahhabi Islamic scholars teach that men may kill their wives if they accuse them of infidelity. This practice is widespread. Moderate Muslim scholars have written with concern about this practice, and are looking for ways to introduce changes into fundamentalist Islamic societies so as to end such practices.

Other topics to be described in this section should include the religious practices of women, marriage, veiling, change in Muslim views over the last century, and the effect of the Islamist movement on women.

Circumcision

Circumcision is not mentioned in the Qu'ran. Rather, circumcision - both for males and females - is based in the Sunna. Circumcision for males involves the removal of the foreskin and is customary in (although normally performed at different ages in different cultures) most muslim communities. Various types of female circumcision are practiced in some African Muslim communities. However this has no basis in the Quran, is not practiced by Muslims outside of Africa, and practiced by some non-Muslim African communities. Indeed, many Arab Muslims teach that female circumcision is not proper.

Islam since the Enlightenment

Not all Muslims follow Sharia, Islamic law. In the past century many Muslims have moved to many European and North and South American countries; these nations underwent great changes as a result of the Enlightenment in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Perhaps the most significant change was total or effective separation of Church and State, thus state ending encouragement, and even enforcement, of religious observance. The effect that this massive social change had on Christians and Jews is now having a similar effect on Muslims. Many secularized Muslims have stopped participating in religious duties; many of them are so-called second-generation Muslims in western countries, the children and grandchildren of Muslim immigrants, who live in-between two cultures and have developed ambivalent feelings towards their religious duties!!! On the one hand they tend to cling to their traditions for identity reasons, on the other hand the influence of (corrupting) western mentality, daily life and peer-pressure tears them away from muslim culture. Plus, a complicating factor for observing Ramadan and the five prayers is the fact that western society is not designed for committing to anything but your desires.

This phenomenon is not as noticeable in the Middle East, because to a large degree the "Enlightenment" never occurred in the Arab nations. Many nations still have Islam as their official religion, and the practice of other faiths is often strictly controlled, or even forbidden. In some nations asking people to join a non-Muslim faith is a crime punishable by imprisonment or death. It is only in the last fifty years that Enlightenment values have begun to seriously penetrate Arab and Muslim nations.

Islamism - Islam and Contemporary Political Movements

The Islamist movement and pan-Arabism are the major movements to affect Islam in the past century

Just as has happened in Christianity and Judaism, the political, social and theological beliefs of many Muslims today is not identical to the beliefs of many Muslims of a century ago. Due to the predominance of the Islamist movement in the 20th century, Islam has in the last century become increasingly intolerant of any disagreement or criticism. A recent feature of worldwide Islam is the tendency to issue public death threats against Muslims who disagree with the religion, ask to modernize the Quran, or write a book about leaving Islam. The death threats are not the province of a small number of fanatic clerics; in most of the cases cited below there have been public demonstrations by thousands of people in many nations, even Arabs in Western nations such as England, burning the "heretics" in effigy and calling for their death. Moderates in the Arab community are not empowered to overturn the fatwas (religious edicts) calling for such death sentences. For examples of some of these death sentences, see Fatwa.

Islam in the United States of America

Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam in the United States is not unified; there are many organizations and groups that work to promote various forms of Islam.

One such group is the moderate Islamic Supreme Council of America. This group represents many Muslims, but likely less than 10% of Muslims in the USA.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, known by its acronym CAIR. CAIR is a non-profit pro-Islam organization, established to promote a positive image of Islam and Muslims in America. CAIR portrays itself as the voice of mainstream, moderate Islam. However CAIR is also a highly controversial organization; its leadership and members publicly support known terrorist organizations such as Hizbollah and Hamas. (The State Department of the United States classified these groups as terrorist organizations). Imams affiliated with CAIR are often Islamist. CAIR has been accused of inciting death threats against moderate American Muslims. Many Jewish groups accuse CAIR of promoting Anti-Semitism.

The American Islamic Congress is a small but growing moderate Muslim organization that promotes religious pluralism. Their official Statement of Principles states that "Muslims have been profoundly influenced by their encounter with America. American Muslims are a minority group, largely comprising African-Americans, immigrants, and children of immigrants, who have prospered in America's climate of religious tolerance and civil rights. The lessons of our unprecedented experience of acceptance and success must be carefully considered by our community." Their statement goes on to say that:

American Muslims must champion pluralism and condemn all forms of intolerance. This section of the statement of principles explicitly states that not only should Muslims oppose hateful speech towards Muslims, but that they should oppose hateful speech by Muslims. Secondly, American Muslims must be leading ambassadors to the Muslim world. Thirdly, American Muslims must recognize and celebrate our own diversity. Fourthyly, All Muslims around the world should enjoy the social and economic prosperity experienced by American Muslims. Fifthly, American Muslims must champion the rights of minorities in the Muslim world.

See Also: Mosque -- History of Islam -- Shariah -- Four Schools of Madhhab -- Shaafi'i -- Hanafi -- Maliki -- Hanbali -- Imam -- Mujtahid -- Tawhid -- Qibla al-Qudsiyya --

Islamic_anti-semitism -- Jihad -- Islamic Sects -- Syncretism in Islam -- Islamic rituals (births, weddings, burials...) -- djinn -- Munkar and Nakir -- List of famous Muslims