ISLAM

Sacred Worships and Beliefs and

Subdivisions
Scriptures Observances Doctrines
 ISLAM
•Established around seventh century
C.E., Islam is the youngest among the
world’s major religions. With more than
1.5 billion adherents comprising almost
one-fourth of the entire world population,
Islam is the second largest group and
one of the fasting growing religions in the
world.
•INDONESIA
• The star and crescent has
become the acknowledged
representation of the Islamic
faith. The symbol can be seen in
the national flags of states that
came about following the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire
in the 20th century. Around the
1970s, it was adopted by
movements that advocated Arab
nationalism. Traditionally, the
crescent moon or the hilal has
early connections with royalty. It
is also closely linked to the lunar
calendar that orders the religious
life of the Muslims.
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF

ISLAM
• Islam began with the Arabian desert people
around early seventh century C.E. These
people had developed their own set of
beliefs prior to the formal establishment of
Islam and had been influenced by other
religions for a long period of time,including
Byzantine Christianity, Judaism, and
Zoroastrianism.
•Perhaps the single most important factor that
accelerated the development of a new
religion in the Arabian interior was the native
religion practiced by the Arabs.Pre-Islamic
people worshipped a variety of gods.
While they recognize the existence of one
supreme god, local and tribal gods were
mostly venerated by the people.Carved
images were done to represent these
gods that were often revered and given
blood sacrifices.
•Apart from worshipping a pantheon of
gods, pre-Islamic religion was also
animistic in character. Spirits found in
rocks, trees, and wells had to be revered
at their sanctuaries and placated for
assistance.In time, the city of Mecca
became a sacred shrine because of these
animistic. A meteoric stone that had fallen
in Mecca centuries before became an object
of veneration to the animistic people.
• Pilgrims then built an enclosure around the
stone and called it Kaaba. Various images and
relics gradually filled the Kaaba, including a
painting of Jesus and Mary. Pilgrims travelled to
Mecca to worship at the shrine. The “Black
Stone,” which according to Muslim tradition
dates back to the time of Adam and Eve,
eventually became a very important object for
the Meccans at the time when various clans
struggled to control the Kaaba.
 The Life of
Muhammad
• Around the year 570 C.E., Muhammad ibn
Abdullah was born in the oasis town of Mecca
just off the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
Muhammad’s father died before he was born while
his mother died before he was six years old. He
belonged to the clan of Hashim of the Quraysh
tribe that controlled the Kaaba and the camel trade
that passed through Mecca. Following the tradition,
he was sent to be reared among the Bedouins.
When his mother died, Muhammad was raised by
his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib.
• Later on, Muhammad was taken into custody by his
paternal uncle, Abu Talib, who was chief of the Quraysh
tribe. Life must have been very difficult for the young
Muhammad. With no formal schooling, Muhammad worked
as a caravan worker travelling across the Arabian Peninsula
as a camel driver. From his travels in the Arabian Peninsula
to the different Byzantine cities, he may have met and
conversed with Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians alike.
Muhammad soon learned the various ways and means of
their belief system that may have led him to question the
faith of his own people, especially with regard their
animistic practices and reverence given to numerous gods
and idols (Hopfe 1983). He used to retreat to Mount Hira
near Mecca in search of truth about God.
• Muhammad later married an older wealthy widow
named Khadija, fifteen years his senior.
Muhammad was twenty-five years old when he
married Khadija who was about forty years old at
the time. Khadija managed her own caravan and
Muhammad was working for her. He was married
only to Khadija as long as she lived even though
it was acceptable for men to have multiple wives
then. Khadija became his staunch supporter and
one of his first converts to the new religion he
founded.
• Around the year 610 C.E., Muhammad began hearing
the voice of God in a cave on the summit of Mount Hira,
just outside Mecca in the Arabian Hijaz. God was
speaking to Muhammad in the Arabic language. Mostly
auditory but occasionally in visual form, he began to
experience divine revelations delivered by the angel
Gabriel. Muhammad first disclosed these revelations
only to his wife since revealing these messages to
his tribe could disturb the social order that was
primarily anchored on clan and kinship. He was
preaching a new order built upon God’s will and human
submission to this belief.
• The Muslims consider Muhammad as a
messenger and the last prophet sent by
God to humankind who was visited by
the angel Gabriel. While he gained the
loyalty of several followers who were
convinced by his religious ideals, the
Meccan tribes eventually grew hostile to
Muhammad’s emerging faction. The
radical teachings of Muhammad angered
local tribes so they began persecuting him
and his loyal followers.
•Muhammad and his followers waged a
constant battle against Meccan tribes
until 630 C.E. Finally, after almost eight
years of struggle, Muhammad and his
troops of around ten thousand converts
marched to Mecca and took over the city
almost unopposed. In Kaaba, he tore
down the three hundred sixty pagan
idols displayed at the holy shrine.
•In 632 C.E., Muhammad died at the age
of 62 but his newly founded religion had
spread across the entire Arabian
Peninsula and the Muslims had been
united as one religious community. He
was a classic example of a just,
compassionate, honest, and brave human
being far removed from all evil deeds.
Muhammad’s actions were solely for the
sake of Allah as he is ever mindful and
fearful of his one true god.
 SACRED SCRIPTURES
1. The Q'uran
• The sacred writing of the Muslims is called
Quran that literally means “recitation” or
“reading.” The Quran is the revelation from
God of his speech (kalam) and is the
foundation of the Islam religion. It is the
supreme authority in all matters of faith,
theology, and law.
• For about twenty-three years, God revealed
these messages through Muhammad who
initially memorized these lines because he
was illiterate. The revelation spanned from
about 609 to 632 C.E., the year of the prophet’s
death. Muhammad relayed these messages to
his companion and secretary Zayd ibn
Thabit (c.610-c.660 C.E.) who wrote them on
leather scraps, stone pieces, ribs of palm
leaves, shoulder blades of animals, and
parchments
2. The Hadith
• The Hadith is the collection of the deeds and
sayings of Muhammad and his followers
(“traditional reports or sayings”) and is the second
source of shari’a law (Horrie & Chippindale 2003).
Unlike the Quran that was officially compiled
under the auspices of a central authority (as
initiated by the first caliph Abu Bakr), the hadiths
were collected generations after the death of
Muhammad. The hadiths are recognized today
as second in authority after the Koran.
BELIEFS/DOCTRINES
FIVE
PILLARS OF
ISLAM
1. The Creed (Shahada)
• The basic creed of Islam that “there is no God
but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of
Allah” is known as shahada. In Arabic, the
shahada is recited as “La ilaha illa Allah;
Muhammadon rasul Allah.” These are the very
first words uttered into an infant’s ear and
perhaps the last words given to a dying
Muslim. The shahada asserts that Allah is the
only divinity and that he has relayed his will
through Muhammad.
2. Obligatory Prayer (Salat)
• Just as the body requires food for its daily
sustenance, prayers are done for spiritual
development so that a Muslim’s character and
conduct remain sound and healthy (Aziz 1993).
Facing in the direction of Mecca or qiblah,
Muslims must offer prayers or salat five times
each and every day—before sunrise (as-subh),
noon (az-zuhr), mid-afternoon (al-asr),
immediately after sunset (al-maghreb), and
before midnight (al-isha)
• Before any prayer commences, an elaborate
ritual washing (wudu) must be performed
to remove any impurities and unclean
substances from the body or clothes of the
faithful. Most mosques are frequently
equipped with facilities for washing hands,
feet, and face before prayer. Clean and
potable water must be given to any person
who comes to a mosque. Muslim men often
pray in mosques while women pray at their
homes.
3. Poor Tax (Zakat)
• Muslims who live above the subsistence level
must pay zakat or the poor tax to aid the
underprivileged Muslims. Affluent Muslims
must share their wealth to the unfortunate
ones. Originally, almsgiving was for the benefit of
the poor, widows, and orphans through an act of
charity. Later on, it became mandatory amounting
to a certain percentage of a Muslim’s total
resources. Islam has never viewed begging as
dishonorable.
4. Fasting (Sawm)
• Fasting or sawm during the entire 30 days of
Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic
calendar, must be performed by all Muslims every
year. The Ramadan is believed to be the month
when Muhammad received the first surah of
the Quran. The sawm is done by all Muslims to
express obedience to Allah and the readiness to
relinquish pleasures in their lives. By undertaking
sawm, Muslims observe discipline and
experience the deprivations of the poor.
•During this time, a Muslim must refrain
from eating, drinking, smoking, and
engaging in any sexual intimacy from
dusk until dawn. By resisting the
demands of the body during sawm, the
Muslims strengthen their will. Muslims
are reminded that they have the
capacity to ignore the longing of the
body or material gratification.
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)
•All Muslims must attempt to undertake a
pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca or
hajj (“visitation of Holy Places”) at least
once in their lifetime during the twelfth
Islamic month. The “Grand Mosque” (Al-
Masjid al-Haram) in Mecca houses the
most sacred site of Islam, the Kaaba
(“House of Allah”).
 WORSHIP AND
OBSERVANCES
•Ramadan
•Islamic Law
•Islamic
Jurisprudence
 RAMADAN
• is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar wherein
Muslims are expected to observe sawm. Muslims
may not eat, drink, or have sex during daylight
hours. The last 10 days of the month may be
spent by continuous prayers of the most devoted
Muslims. Finally, the sawm ends with ‘Id al-Fitr or
the Festival of Breaking the Fast marked by
popular rejoicing and festal prayer.
•‘Id al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice
is the most important festival in the
Muslim calendar marking the end of
the pilgrimage season. On the tenth
day of the hajj, Muslims are required to
slaughter a live animal (a sheep or
goat) to commemorate Abraham’s
willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael
and his obedience to God.
•Friday is the special day of worship for
the Muslims as commanded by
Muhammad. In mosques, Muslims are
required to pray with his fellows and
prayers are led by an imam. An imam
is a member of the community selected
to lead the congregation due to the
devoutness and religiosity he manifests
to the people.
 ISLAMIC LAW
• The concept of law and justice in Islam, or the
shari’a (“the road to the watering place”), is based
upon the Quranic verses as revealed by God to
Muhammad.
• The shari’a is a path of conduct that must be
followed by all Muslims. It concerns almost the
totality of a Muslim’s life – from home life,
business interests, marital relations, inheritance,
and various duties to the state and community
 ISLAMIC
JURISPRUDENCE
• Islamic jurisprudence or the science of Islamic law
is called fiqh. All aspects of Muslim way of life and
actions are covered through fiqh. Human behavior
may be classified into five categories: forbidden
(haram), discouraged (makruh), neutral
(mubah), recommended (mandub), and
obligatory (fard). Forbidden actions are both
sinful and criminal under pain of punishment.
•Accordingly, it is forbidden for all
Muslims to eat animals that have died
from natural causes or those animals
that were not ritually slaughtered. Pork is
considered as the most unclean of all
meats and must not be eaten no matter
how the pig meat was produced. Other
haram behaviors include drinking blood,
eating dried blood, and taking liquors.
SUBDIVISIONS
1. Sunni Muslims (The
Sunnis)
2. Shi’a (The Shi’ites)
3. Sufi
 SUNNI MUSLIMS
(THE SUNNIS)
• Majority of Muslims, around 87% to 90% of the
entirety of Islam believers, belong to the Sunni
denomination. The Sunnis (“Followers of the
Smooth Path”) are traditionalists and are
considered the orthodox of Islam as they
endeavor to follow the original religion
established by Muhammad and guided by the first
four righteous caliphs.
•The Sunnis believe that any
Muslim can be a ruler and he
does not need to prove his
lineage to Muhammad as long as
he gets the approval and
confidence of the ummah or
community.
 SHI’A (THE SHI’ITES)
• The Shi’ite Muslims are the largest faction within the
Islam religion that separated from the rest of the
community. Historically speaking, three close associates
of Muhammad became successive leaders or caliphs of
Islam with the death of the founder in 632 C.E. The
caliphate acted as a central unifying agency in Islamic
history. Initially, caliphs were friends of Muhammad that
acted as virtuous leaders of the believers. They may be
chosen by election or general consent. Later on, the
position became hereditary resembling that of a king.
 SUFI
•Muslims whose concern mainly dwell for
a mystical union with God are
collectively called Sufis. Their name
originate from the word suf that means
“woolen” since they wore coarse wool
garments or robes to symbolize poverty
and denunciation of worldly pleasures.
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