ISLAM (0)

ISLAM
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion articulated by the Koran , a book considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God. By the teachings and normative example of Muhhamad, considered by them to be the last prophet of God. An adherent of Islam is called Muslim .
Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable and the purpose of existence is to worship God. Muslims are beliving that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed before many times throughout the world, including notably through Noah , Adam, Abraham , Jesus and Moses, whom they consider prophets. They belive that the previous messages and revelations have been partially misinterpreted or alerted over time, but consider the Arabic Koran to be both the unalerted and the final revelation of God. Religious concepts and practices include the five pillars of Islam, which are basic concepts and obligatory acts of worship, and following Islamic law, which touches on virtually every aspect of life and society, providing guidance on multifarious topics from banking and welfare , to warfare and the environment.
There are two main denominations in Muslims: Sunnis and Shias. The largest denomination in Islam is Sunni Islam, which makes up 75%-90% of all Muslims. Sunnis are also called as Ahl as-Sunnah what means „people of the tradition “. These hadiths, recounting Muhammad ’s words , actions , and personal characteristics, are preserved in traditions known as Al-kutub Al-Sittah(Six major books ). Sunnis belive that the first four caliphs were rightful successors to Muhhamad. Also, Sunnis think that anyone who is righteous and just could be a caliph but they have to act like Koran and the Hadith says, the example of Muhhamad and give the people their rights .
The Sunnis follow the Koran and then the Hadith. If legal matters are not found in the Koran or the Hadith, they usually follow madh ’habs( schools of thought): Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi’i, established around the teachings of Abu Haifa, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Malik ibn Anas and al-Shaif’i respectively. All four accept the validity of the others and a Muslim can choose any one that he or she finds acceptable. The Salafi is an ultra- orthodox Islamic movement which takes the first generation of Muslims as exemplary models.
The Shias are making the second biggest branch of Islam, constitute 10-20%. While the Sunnis believe that a Caliph should be elected by the community, Shia’s believe that Muhhamad appointed his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, as his successor and only certain descendants of Ali could be Imams(leaders). All in all, they believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first Imam , rejecting the legitimacy of the previous Muslim caliphs Abu Bakr , Uthman ibn al-Affan and Umar ibn al-Khattab.
Shia Islam has some several branches. The largest of which is the Twelvers, followed by Zaidis and Ismailis. Different branches accept different descendants of Ali as Imams. After the death of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq considered the sixth Imam by the Twelvers, and the Ismaili’s, the Ismailis started to consider his son Isma’il ibn Jafar as the Imam and the Twelver Shia’s started to consider his other son Musa al-Kazim as their seventh Imam. While the Zaydis consider Zayd ibn Ali, the uncle of Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, as their fifth man.
Islam is the second-largest religion and the fastest –growing religion in the world. About 13% of Muslims live in Indonesia which is the largest Muslim- majority country in the world. 25% are living in South Asia , 20% in the Middle East, and 15% in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sizable minorities are also found in Europe , China, Russia , and the Americas . Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world. In the world there are about 1.6 billion followers of Islam and it makes around 23% of earth’s population.
Islam’s most fundamental concept is a rigorous monotheism, called tawhid. Muslims and Jews repudiate the Christian doctrien of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension and Muslims are not expected to visualize God. God is described and referred to by certain names or attributes, the most common being Al-rahman, meaning „The Compassionate“ and Al-Rahim, meaning „The Merciful“.
There is a strong believe amongst Muslims that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God’s sheer command, „Be and so it is,“ and that the purpose of existence is to worship God. He is known as a personal God who responds whenever a person in need or distress calls him. There are no intermediaries, such as clregy, to contact God who states , I am nearer to him than jugular vein.“ The reciprocal nature is mentioned in the hadith qudsi, „I am as My servant thinks I am.“
Allah is the term with no plural or gender used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews to reference God, while ’ilah is the term used for a deity or a god in general. Some other non- Arab Muslims might use different names as much as Allah, for instance „Tanri“ in Turkish, „Khoda“ in Persian or „Khuda“ in Urdu.
Is it said that belief in angels is fundamental to the faith of Islam. The arabic word for angel , malak, means „messenger“, like its counterparts in Hebrew(malakh) and Greek (angelos). According to Koran, angels do not possess free will, and therefore worship and obey God in total obedience. Angels’ duties include communicating revelations from God, glorifying God , recording every person’s actions, and taking a person’s soul at the time of death. Muslims believe that angels are made of light.
The Islamic holy books are the records which most Muslims believe were dictated by God to various prophets. Muslims believe that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, the Tawrat and the Injl, had become distorted- either in interpretation , in text, or both. The Koran is viewed by Muslims as the final revelation and literal word of God and is widely regarded as the finest literary work in the Arabic language.
The Koran is divided into 114 suras(chapters), which contain 6236 verse. The chronologically earlier suras, revealed at Mecca, are primarily concerned with ethical and spiritual topics. The later Medinan suras mostly discuss social and moral issues relevant to the Muslim community. Muslims are usually viewing the Koran as the original scripture as revealed in Arabic and that any translations are necessarily deficient, which are regarded only as commentaries on the Koran.
Muslims identify the prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God to be his messengers. According to the Koran, the prophets were instructed by God to bring the „will of God“ to the peoples of the nations. Muslims believe that prophets are human and not divine, though some are able to perform miracles to prove their claim. The Koran mentions the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, among others.
Muslims believe that God finally sent Muhammad as the last prophet to convey the divine message to the whole world. In Islam, the normative example of Muhhamad’s life is called the Sunnah. This example is preserved in traditions known as hadith, which recount his words, his actions, and his personal characteristics. The Sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Koran.
For Muslims is also remarkable to believe in the „Day of Resurrection“, Yawm al-Quiyamah. They believe the timee of Qiyamah is preordained by God but unkown to man. The trials and tribulations preceding and during the Qiyamah are described in the Koran and the hadith, and also in the commentaries of scholars. The Koran emphazises bodily resurecction, a break from the pre-Islamic Arabian understanding of death. On Yawm al-Qiyamah, Muslims believe all mankind will be judged on their good and bad deeds. The Koran lists several sins that can condemn a person to hell , such as disbelief in God, and dishonesty, however , the Koran makes it clear God will forgive the sins of those who repent if he so wills. Good deeds, such as charity, prayer and compassion towards animals , will be rewarded with entry to heaven. For Muslims is heaven a place of joy and bliss , with Koranic references describing its features and the physical plesarues to come .
The Pillars of Islam are five basic acts in Islam, considered obligatory for all believers. The Koran presents them as a framework for worship and a sign of commitment to the faith. They are the shahadah( creed ), daily prayers, almsgiving, fasting during Ramadhan and the pigrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime . Both Shia and Shunni sects agree on the essential details for the performance of these acts. The Shahadah which is the basic creed of Islam that must be redicted under oath with the specific statement: „'ašhadu 'al-lā ilāha illā-llāhu wa 'ašhadu 'anna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh", or „I testify that there are no deities other than Allah alone and I testify that Muhammad is his Messenger.“ Muslims must repeat the shahadah in prayer, and non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are requierd to recite the creed.
Ritual prayers, called Salah or Salat , must be performed five times a day. Salat is intended to focus the mind of God, and is seen as a personal communication with him that expresses gratitude and worship. Salat is compulsory but flexibility in the specifics is allowed depending on circumstances. The prayers are redicted in the Arabic language, and consist of verses from the Koran. A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims, who often refer to it by its Arabic name, masijd. Although the primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place of prayer, it is alsom important to the Muslim community as a place to meet and study .
„ Zakat “ is giving a fixed portion of accumulated wealth by those who can afford it to help poor or needy and for those employed to collect Zakat. It is considered a religious obligation that the well-off owe to the needy because their wealth is seen as a „trust from God’s bounty “ .Conservative estimates of annual zakat is estimated to be 15 tims global humanitarian aid contributions. The amount of zakat to be paid on capital assets for people who are not poor. The Koran and the hadith also urge a Muslim to give even more as an act of voluntary alms-giving called sadaqah.
Fasting from food and drink must be performed from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadhan. The fast is to encourage a feeling of nearness to God, and during it Muslims should express their gratitude for and dependence on him, atone for their past sins, and think of the needy. Sawm is not obligatory for several groups for whom it would constitute an undue burden. For others, flexibility is allowed depending on circumstances, but missed fasts usually must be made up quickly.
The pilgrimage, called the hajj has to be done during the Islamic month of Dhu-al-Hijjah, in the city of Mecca. Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it must make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his or her lifetime. Rituals of the Hajj include: spending a day and a night in the tents in the desert plain of Mina, then a day in the desert plain of Arafat, praying and worshiping God, following the foot steps of Abraham. Then spending a night out in the open , sleeping on the desert sand in the desert plain of Muzdalifah, then moving to Jamarat, symbolically stoning the Devil recounting Abraham’s actions. Then going to Makkah and walking seven times around the Kaaba which Muslims believe was built as a place of worship by Abraham. Then walking seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah, recounting the steps of Abraham’s wife , while she was looking for water for her son Ismael in the desert before Mecca developed into a settlement.
The Shari’ah is Islamic law formed by traditional Islamic scholarship, which most Muslim groups adhere to. Shari’ah constitutes a system of duties that are incumbent upon a Muslim by virtue of his or her religious belief. The Koran set the rights, the responsibilities and the rules for people and for societies to adhere to. Muhammad provided an example, which is recorded in the hadith books, showing how he practically implemented those rules in a scoiety. Many of the Sharia laws that differ are devised through Ijtihad where there is no such ruling in the Koran or the Hadiths of Islamic prophet Muhammad regarding a similar case .
As Muhammad's companions went to new areas , they were pragmatic and in some cases continued to use the same ruling as was given in that area during pre-Islamic times. If the population felt comfortable with it, it was just and they used Ijtihad to deduce that it did not conflict with the Quran or the Hadith. This made it easier for the different communities to integrate into the Islamic State and that assisted in the quick expansion of the Islamic State. Since the Constitution of Medina, was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad the Jews and the Christians continued to use their own laws in the Islamic State and had their own judges.
Sufism is a mystical-ascetic approach to Islam that seeks to find divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of intuitive and emotional faculties that one must be trained to use. However, Sufism has been criticized by the Salafi sect for what they see as an unjustified religious innovation. Hasan al-Basri was inspired by the ideas of piety and condemnation of worldliness preached by Muhammad and these ideas were later further developed by Al-Ghazali in his books on Sufism. Sufi -majority countries include Senegal , Chad and Niger .
Kervin Kull ,
Erasmus, 2014