What is Islam, and where did it come from? What is this religion all about? Islam is not the new kid on the block in regards to religion. Islam is in fact an old, ancient religion. It is not that unlike of the Christian faith either; in fact, Islamic beliefs are in the Torah, which is Jewish, and also in the bible, which is Christian. The book that Islam goes by is called the Qur’an, which is the story of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad, Who is the founder of the Islamic faith and is believed to be the last of the prophets of God. Practitioners of Islam are referred to as Muslims, and their place of worship is a mosque, which is similar to the Christians place of worship which is the church. These days Islam has become a very common and widely practiced religion throughout the world. Islam has become very misunderstood, especially within western culture. Today, many Americans and Europeans see Islam as a serious threat to their way of life. Though there have been some very serious and unfortunate events in the news that have transpired to fuel this misunderstanding,
Islam is one of the oldest religions in history dating back to about 600 AD. It began when a man named Muhammad heard a voice from the heavens instructing him to proclaim the word of god. Currently there are over 800 million followers of the Muslim religion. The main text of the religion is the Quran which is said to be the word of God, or Allah as called in Muslim. Within the Quran, The five pillars of Islam are proclaimed along with many other concepts very unique to the Muslim religion. Prayer is a very important aspect of Islam as well. Islam has a long history of invention, heritage, and world imperialism that must be understood to completely identify with the concepts of the religion and culture.
Across the world there are countless religions, new and old, each having their own unique traditions and laws that believers abide by. As defined by World History, Sharia, the Arabic word meaning “the path” or “the way”, alludes to traditional Islamic law. (Ellis, Esler, and Beers, 255) Sharia originates within the Koran, the holy book of Islam, which Muslims consider the unaltered word of God. Along with the Koran, Sharia is derived from the teachings and examples set by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, who Muslims view as the perfect man of faith. Muslims believe that God revealed his true conviction to Muhammad, who in turn was to spread the commands of God through the Koran. Between Muhammad’s death in the seventh century and leading up to the tenth century, many Islamic scholars worked to understand Sharia in its entirety, and apply it to the rapidly expanding Muslim Empire of the time (Dunn, 57). Sharia played a key role in uniting the Islamic Empire by serving as the precedent which dictated laws concerning both private and public behavior.
The religion of Islam dates back to the 7th century CE and the life of its founder, Muhammad of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. Islam is an Arabic word meaning: making something safe and secure, making something sound and whole, entering into peace and tranquility, and surrendering to something other than oneself. A follower of Islam is called a Muslim. In the religion of Islam, it requires the belief in certain core tenets, which include the articles of faith and the five pillars of worship. These two combined, form the Islamic creed.
Misconception of Islam
Many people have been led to the fact that Islam is violent, but all these people do not know the truth, they hear it by the famous people and believe it. The famous people have led other people to believe that all Muslims are risky to be near. I believe that because of these Muslim terrorists, media thinks that all Muslims or believers of Islam are disgraceful, which leads to everyone believing the media.
Many Muslim teenagers and children struggle with fitting in regardless of their religion or culture.
The religion that most Muslims believe in is Islamic, a religion where they believe that there is only one God, Allah; the Arabic word for god (dictionary, 2014). This religion is to be the second largest religion in the world with 1 billion followers (BBC, 2014). Just like Christians or Catholic, Muslims have book of laws like The Bible, it is called the Qur’an but they also have the Sunnah. These two books are the basis of the practice and beliefs of Islam. The Sunnah is the traditional part of the Muslim law that is based on the words and acts of Muhammad, and preserved into the traditional literature (dictionary, 2014). Muhammad was the person who first founded the religion of Islam, which is accepted by Muslims across the world as the last of the prophets of God (Britannia). Also, within the Sunnah is the five basic Pillars of Islam. These are the most important practices of the religion because it is the obligations that every Muslim must they must be satisfied with in order to live a good and responsible life; according to Islam (BBC, 2014). The five pillars consist of Shahadah, Salat,Zakat, Sawm, and Hajj. The Shahadah is when they recite the Muslim profession of faith, the Salat is when perf...
The Islam Trading Empire
Around the mid-seventh century, followed by the lead of Muhammad, Muslims conquered a huge area including Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa. The Muslims created a complete unified system between church and state, which allowed them to mange such a prodigious empire with vast diversity. The connection of church and state did justified that Islam has the right to impose their will, intervene, expand, and exploit resources by rising the economy, improving the military and tax system, and boosting the Golden Age of learning.
After Muslims conquer, the economy began to show a positive result on the newly formed empire.
“Islam has two meanings: Peace and submission to Allah (God). Muslims believe that Islam is the only true religion and that it was revealed by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the seventh century. Pious Muslims attach themselves to the five pillars of Islam: 1) Acknowledging that there is no true god except God and that Muhammad is the Prophet of God. 2) Praying five times a day facing toward Mecca. 3) Giving alms to the poor. 4) Fasting in the month of Ramadan (the ninth month of the lunar year). 5) For those who are financially and physically able, making an annual pilgrimage to Mecca” (Ojeda).
Muslims are monotheistic people who believe in Allah, the god of Islam, and that Mohammad is the last and final prophet. Being that Islam is a universal religion, it is the fastest growing religion and the second most followed belief in the world. Muslims believe that the angels carry out the will of God and the Qur’an is Allah’s eternal word. Also, they are taught to live in harmony with all creations. The Islamic religion came from humble beginnings and has been around for thousands of years. At first followers were treated cruelly, but with time, it was able to spread across the world.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the earliest civilizations in the Arabian Peninsula (Royal Embassy 2013). The Arabian Peninsula historically represents an ancient center of trade and commerce and is the birthplace of Islam, one of the world’s major monotheistic religions (Royal Embassy 2013). The religion of Islam was based upon the revelations of the Prophet Muhammad during the 7th century (Religious Facts 2013). Islam is the world’s second largest, and fasting growing religion in the world. The definition of the Arabic word Islam is “submission” denoting the religions central tenet of submitting to the will of God (Religious Facts 2013). A Muslim is a person who engages in the act of submission or surrender to the will of God, consequently, a Muslim is a follower of Islam. All Saudi Arabian citizens are by law, Muslim. Islamic practices are defined by the Five Pillars of Islam: faith, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and alms. Muslim doctrine is integral to the beliefs in one God, the angels of God, the books of God (especially the Qur’an), the prophets of God (especially Muhammad), the Day of Judgment (the afterlife), and the supremacy of God’s will (predestination).