ISLAM

Introduction

Islam is one of the fastest growing

world religions today. It is the oldest
monotheistic religion in the country.
Revealed to humanity by the Prophet
Muhammad, those who follow Islam are
called Muslims. They believe that there
only one God – Allah
History of Islam
 Islam is the second most widespread
religion, next to Christianity.
 Those who practice Islam are called
Muslims.
 Like Judaism and Christianity, there are
variations within Islam.
 The two major divisions of Islam are
Sunnites and the Shiites.
 The study of Islam is important because it is
about the message from God revealed
within from within Abrahamic tradition
from which Judaism and Christianity came
from.
 Islam seems to be the third and major
branch of monotheism.
 It is, therefore, a religion that somehow
necessitates the study of the whole religious
family to which Jews and Christian belongs.
 Islam considers itself as the final and
definitive revelation in the history of
humanity.
 It believers that there will be no other
revelations until the end of human history as
it is described in the final chapters of the
Qur’an, which is the verbatim word of God in
the Islamic tradition.
 Muhammad is the Prophet of Islam and he
is often referred to as “the Seal of
Prophets”; he is the last prophet.
 Islam considers itself as the final
revelation in the chain of prophecy that
begins with Adam, who they consider as
the father of humankind and also as the
first prophet.
 “There is in fact but a single religion, that of
Divine Unity, which has constituted the heart
of all messages from heaven and which Islam
have come to assert in its final form. The
Islamic message is none other than the
acceptance of God as the One and
submission to Him, which results in peace;
hence the name of Islam means surrender to
the Will of the One God, and He is called
Allah in Arabic.” (Nasr 1993, 428)
 To become a Muslim, it is enough to profess
the faith before two Muslim witnesses that
“There is no god but God” (la ilaha illa’Llah)
and that Muhammad is the messenger of
Allah.
 These constitute the core of the Islamic
message.
 The Qur’an emphasizes the doctrine of the
Unity and Oneness of God.
 Allah is not a tribal or ethnic god but the
supreme Divine Principle in the Arabic
language; Allah is translatable to God.
 As the final religion of humanity, Islam is
the last divinely orchestrated response of a
yes to the pre-eternal divine question, the
response that constitutes the very
definition of being human.
 Islam signifies also the return to
primordial religion.
 It is not based on a particular historical
event or ethnic group but on universal
and primordial truth, which has
therefore always been and will always
be.
 Islam is a return not only to the religion
of Abraham but to Adam, restoring
primordial monotheism without
identifying it with a single people, as is
seen in the case of Judaism or a single
event of human history, as one observes
on the prevalent purely historical view of
the incarnation in Christian theology.
 The Prophet asserted that he brought
nothing new but reaffirmed the truth that
always was.
 The primordial character of the Islamic
message is reflected not only the terminal
religions preceded it.
 As every veritable Omega is also the alpha,
Islam is not only the terminal religion but
also the primordial religion, and this is
discernible in the Qur’an.
The Qur’an
 The Qur’an, sacred text of Islam, is
belied to be the literal word of Allah.
 They begin it at an early age; the Qur’an
is read to babies, and to toddlers who
can already speak are asked to memorize
and recite Qur’anic verses.
 They learn to write by copying verses of
the Qur’an by hand.
 People who manage to memorize the
book are held in high regard by the
communities.
 Since the Qur’an is written in Arabic, the
language is respected by the Muslims.
 For the, the book is a unique vent in the
history of humankind, held as eternal
and unchangeable, just like Allah.
 The Qur’an consists of 114 chapters or
surahs, each composed of verses or ayahs.
 The shorter chapters are called Meccan
surahs because they are believed to have
been revealed to Muhammad in Mecca,
while the longer ones are called Median
chapters, believed to have been revealed
later when Muhammad was in Medina.
 The Qur’an is believed to be the last in a
series of revelations of Allah himself,
which includes the Hebrew revelations
recorded in Torah, and Jesus’ teachings
recorded in the New Testament.
 These messages are held in high esteem,
but Muslims believe that they have
corrupted by the interpretations of men
and women.
 The Qur’an condemns any association of
a person or thing with God.
 They believed it violates a fundamental
Islamic principle – that there is just one
God.
 That is why they reject the divinity of
Jesus Christ.
 The Qur’an is supposed to correct the
mistaken interpretation of men and
women.
 An important branch of Islam is the
proper interpretation of Qur’an, and the
intellectual explanation of Qur’an is
called Tafsir, written by Muffasir.
 Again, like Judaism and Christianity,
Islam is a religion that emphasizes on the
community.
 According to the Quran, God made the
Muslims into a particular community, the
ummah, and a devout Muslim is both
loyal to Allah and the ummah.
 “The goal of the Muslim Society is to
create a just society.” (Gordon 1991, 50)
FIVE PILLARS
The Five Pillars of Islam is the
foundation of the faith of
Muslims. They follow and
practice these pillars. These are
mentioned in the Qur’an
Shahadah
(CREED)
 “There is no God but Allah, and
Muhammad is his messenger”.
 This creed summarizes the faith of a
Muslim.
 “It is the first sentence whispered into the
ears of a newborn infant: it is recited daily
in prayer; and is written in Arabic
everywhere inside the domes of mosques
and over their doors.”
 In this very short and simple creed, we see
its contrast to the Christian creed, which is
long and emphasizes belief in the Trinity,
and belief that Jesus is divine.
 Muslims reject this, because for them
there is only one God, and Muhammad is
just a messenger, and not divine like Jesus.
Salat
(PRAYER)
 Muslims pray five times a day: before
dawn, midday, midafternoon, sunset, and
nighttime.
 Before prayer, there is an individual
cleansing ritual with water, washing the
hands, arms, face, neck, and feet.
 Muslims pray facing Mecca; there is a
special arched niche called mihrab inside
the mosque that indicates the qibla- the
direction of the Kaaba in Mecca.
 The early Muslims prayed facing
Jerusalem, but later revelations to
Muhammad instructed them to pray
facing Mecca.
 “Friday is a day of public prayer. On other
days, people may pray privately, at home
or at work, as well as in a mosque.”
Zakat
(CHARITY)
 Muslims donate certain percentages of
their wages to the poor.
 In Islamic countries the government is
involved in imposing taxes for zakat.
 “In addition to established yearly
donations, a good Muslim is expected to
perform isolated acts of generosity and
charity for the poor when such acts are
called for in everyday life.”
Sawm
(FASTING ON RAMADAN)
 Ramadan is a period of shared fasting
among Muslims.
 Ramadan is the ninth month in the Muslim
calendar, which commemorates Alllah’s
first revelations to Muhammad.
 During the month-long Ramadan, people
abstain from food, drinks, tobacco, and
sex from dawn until dusk, except for
travelers , pregnant woman, and the sick.
 “The purpose of fasting is to discipline
oneself, to develop sympathy for the poor
and hungry, and to give to others what one
would have eaten. Fasting is thought to be
good for individual spiritual growth.”
Hajj
(PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA)
 Pilgrimage is a “religious journey by a
believer to a sacred city or site…All
Muslims (unless prevented by poverty or
sickness) are expected to visit Mecca at
least once in their lifetime.”
 Hajj is already a practice before
Muhammad’s time.
 When he went back to Mecca after
preaching in Medina, he continued several
practices of the pilgrimage, including
veneration of the black meteorite- which is
believed to be a special gift from Allah,
carried to earth by the angel Gabriel.”
REPORTED BY:
Neza Cebo, Daphne Oliveros, Czarina Pacinos
of Grade 12 St.Mannetus