Islam
Islam is a religious tradition stressing submission to God according to the revelations from God to the prophet Muhammad (570/571-632 CE), whom Muslims hold to be the last in a line of prophets including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muhammad's revelations are recorded in the Qur'an, the sacred scripture of Islam, and Muslims also consider Hadith - reports of Muhammad's sayings and customs - to be authoritative guides for moral life. Divergent views on the proper leadership of the Muslim community (Ummah) led to a split between Sunni and Shi'a Islam. With around 1.5 billion followers, Islam is the second largest religion in the world, predominating across the Middle East, North Africa, and many parts of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Politicized Islam, known as Islamism, is currently widespread in many Muslim societies, with some groups advocating a moderate brand of Islam while others have used terrorism to further their aims.
ESSAYS ON ISLAM:
Islam
Islam originated with the life and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (ca. 570-632 CE). A radically monotheistic faith that, like Judaism and Christianity, traces its origins back to Abraham, Islam spread rapidly across the Arabian Peninsula and into Asia, Africa, and Europe in the decades following Muhammad’s death. Its scripture consists of the Qur'an, considered the word of God directly revealed to Muhammad, and the Sunna, reports of the Prophet’s sayings, deeds, and decisions. The Qur’an and the Sunna are the source of the divine law (shari'a), which outlines rights owed to God and to others. The former include regular prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage – four of the five “Pillars of Islam” along with the basic profession of faith (“There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet”). Rights owed to others include norms for family life (marriage, divorce, inheritance), commerce, finance, war and peace, and many others. Five main schools of legal interpretation have emerged on this shared foundation, as have a variety of philosophies and spiritual practices, most notably, Sufism. The major division within Islam, between majority Sunni and the minority Shia, can be traced to the power struggles for leadership of the Muslim community (ummah) after Muhammad’s death. The majority tradition in Iran and Iraq today, Shi’ism is characterized by more hierarchical clerical structures and traditionally closer ties with the state.
Islamic Beliefs
The core beliefs of Islam are that there is only one God – unitary and beyond comprehension – and that Muhammad is His prophet, the last in a series beginning with Adam and including Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. The Qur’an is upheld as the eternal, literal word of God, and revelations to earlier prophets, as seen in the Jewish Torah and Christian Gospels, are believed to have become distorted by human intervention. Muslims believe that the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel, and belief in angels as God’s servants is part of the Islamic tradition. Belief in the “Day of Judgment,” when all people will undergo bodily resurrection and be judged by God, is another core tenet. While Sunni and Shi’a Muslims adhere to these basic beliefs, Shi’a also believe in the Imamate, the line of infallible spiritual and political leaders who succeeded Muhammad, beginning with his cousin and son-in-law, Ali.
Islamic Scripture
The primary scripture of Islam is the Qur’an, a book regarded by Muslims as the eternal, literal word of God as revealed to the prophet Muhammad over a 23-year period in the 7th century CE. The Qur'an sets out core Muslim beliefs about the oneness of God as well as moral and practical guidelines. The original Arabic, considered the final revelation by God to humanity, was fixed in writing shortly after the death of Muhammad in 623 CE. The Qu’ran contains 114 chapters (suras), all but one beginning with the Basmala: “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”. The secondary scripture of Islam are the Sunnah and the Hadith, a collection of the sayings and actions of Muhammad, compiled in the centuries following his death.
Islamic Practices
Muslims live their faith by performing the Five Pillars of Islam. The shahada is the Muslim declaration of faith that proclaims the belief in the oneness of Allah (tawhid) and that Muhammad is his Prophet (rasul). Salat is the performance of ritual prayers five times each day facing toward Mecca. Zakat is paying an alms tax to benefit the poor. Sawm is the practice of fasting during the month of Ramadan, which is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. Finally, hajj is the pilgrimage that every able adult Muslim must undertake to Mecca at least once in his or her life. Dietary restrictions include prohibitions on pork, blood, carrion, and alcohol, and all meat must come from herbivorous animals slaughtered in the name of God by a Muslim, Christian, or Jew, thus making it halal, or permissible. While most Muslim communities adhere to a form of Islamic law (Sharia), Islam’s decentralized leadership allows for a variety of interpretations.
Demographics of Islam
Islam is the world’s second largest religion after Christianity, with approximately 1.5 billion adherents – nearly a quarter of the global population. Islam dominates the religious landscape of the Middle East, North Africa, and large parts of Asia. Though the Arab world is often regarded as the historical heartland of Islam, Arabs comprise only about 20% of the world’s Muslim population, while about 30% come from the Indian subcontinent and the rest live in Asia outside the Middle East and the West. The country with the largest Muslim population is Indonesia, home to about 13% of all Muslims worldwide. Islam is the largest religion in Africa, with a particularly strong presence in the North and West. Sizeable Muslim minorities exist in many countries, including Russia and China. Islam is the second largest religion in much of Europe, and Muslim communities exist in North and South America as well. By best estimates, 87-90% of Muslims are Sunni and 10-13% are Shi’a, with small numbers belonging to other sects.
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