Islam is currently the world’s second-largest religion, with more than 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide. Although there are currently fewer Muslims than Christians, Islam is growing at a rate that is nearly twice that of Christianity. The main beliefs of the Islamic religion include the belief in one and only God, Allah. The main objective for those of Muslim faith is to abide by Allah’s will in hopes of a favorable outcome on the Day of Judgement—the day when every human’s life will be assessed to determine if they may go to heaven, or be eternally punished in hell.
Understanding Divinity in Allah
Muslims believe that Allah is the creator of all things. Allah has no human characteristics including race, gender or physical body. Allah is the provider and the commander, and Allah is the only God to be worshiped. Muslims believe in the existence of Angels, or beings who are made from light and whose purpose is to bring messages to the prophets from Allah and assist humans in their obedience to Allah by
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The faithful will enjoy a life of peace in a “Garden of Paradise” filled with beautiful, natural elements created by Allah. Humans who have not followed Allah’s wishes will be punished with an eternity in hell.
The imperfection that is innate in all humans is addressed by a fair and just God who understands that humans are destined to fail in their quest for complete obedience. Allah will forgive those who are truly sorry for their wrongdoing, and those who display a willingness to do good things. One must always pledge their allegiance to Allah, although this will never be enough to get to heaven. In this way, Islam is a religion that promotes peace and fairness for all people as the only way to get to heaven is to live a good and honest life—which benefits not only the individual, but also the community in which he or she
After the fall of the Roman Empire, no one imagined that the next great world power would emerge from Saudi Arabia. Especially, because ancient empires thought that the land was worthless but they didn’t know that it had great trade routes. Trade brought them in connection with other civilizations and that’s how the city of Mecca, located in Saudi Arabia became known. The city of Mecca was a mix of religious beliefs, they used to worship many gods and had their own rituals. The world of Islam took place in Mecca where Muhammad was born in 570 CE. He became known as “the Prophet,” he was meant to be God’s final prophet. The main two groups of Islam are the Shia and Sunni; which they were created after Muhammad’s death. The Islam religion as
law, whose descendants were seen by the Shiites as the appropriate leaders. However, after Ali became the fourth caliph, he was assassinated.
Christianity and Islam are the largest religions in the world. Thirty-three percent of the world 's population are Christian, twenty-one percent Muslim. The world 's two largest religions have much in common, but they are also different in some crucial ways.
The Arab and Islamic Empire made some of the greatest contributions to the world during its reign. During a time when Europe was in the midst of the Middle Ages was cut off from the rest of the world, the Arab Empire flourished with trade and intermingling. As Christian Europeans struggled to reclaim Jerusalem for themselves with the Crusades, the Muslims’ vast territory not only housed Jerusalem, but Mecca, and land as far as Cordova, Spain. Where European Medieval doctors were untrained and performed numerous amputations, and leeching, Islamic doctors studied and practiced advanced medical treatments. The Muslims made great contributions to education, science, and trade alike. The Muslims were able to make contributions that impacted the
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion alongside Judaism and Christianity. It is currently the second largest religion in the world today. Its beliefs come from the Qur'an which literally means "the recitation" which is believed to be a literal transcription of the word of God. Its main prophet is named Muhammad who began Islam by speaking with the angel Gabriel in a cave during his meditation and then acting as an instrument of God to help write the Qur’an. Muhammad then spread Islam to the scattered tribes of Arabia by becoming the leader of Yathrib and using his wonderful leadership abilities to then grow his influence over virtually all of Arabia. Muhammad is known by Muslims to be the seal of the profits because no profits after Muhammad should be considered legitimate. Muhammad also left behind the Hadith or “tradition” which is a collection of writings compiled of reports of Muhammad’s actions as leader of Yathrib. These reports are used as a more specific code of ethics in day to day life and from these reports the 5 Pillars of Islam are derived (Smith 160). Although Islam shares many similarities to Judaism and Christianity it is often viewed in the US with hate derived from preconceived notions following the attack on September 11th 2001. This paper seeks to provide an overview of Islam’s history as well as its two major sects and 5 main pillars to remove preconceived notions and provide a glance into the minds of the Islamic people.
The Middle East was a famous historic region where it provisioned as the origin for some religions and societies, for example, Christianity and Islam. These two religions differ in their history, conviction, and customs. They also have an additional number of similarities.
Islam’s present day relevance is due to it being one of the world’s most talked about religions. It is also one of the largest religions in the world. Islam has followers in all areas of the globe. (Zissis, 2007) Islam first began spreading in 610 CE and has not stopped. Today, India’s population includes approximately 150 million Muslims and Islam has contributed greatly to the area and its people. (Kennedy, 2007) The spread of Islam is vast and instead of focusing on the entire realm of Islam’s range, I will put an emphasis on the Mughal Dynasty and it’s impact on the spread of Islam.
The Foundation of Islam It is sometimes suggested that abolishing capital punishment is unfair to the taxpayer, on the assumption that life imprisonment is more expensive than execution. If one takes into account all the relevant costs, however, just the reverse is true. "The death penalty is not now, nor has it ever been, a more economical alternative to life imprisonment. " 56 A murder trial normally takes much longer when the death penalty is at issue than when it is not.
Islam is a religion that is based on the submission oneself to the will of God, who is called Allah. Muslims are the people believe in that, regardless of their culture, background or ethnicity. It is believed that God’s prophets brought a message for the people to worship one God without intermediaries and that prophet Muhammad was the end of G...
Throughout history it is evident that many religions have been tried, tested, and, for some, radically changed. Many religions have gone through periods of time in which the way they were run or enforced underwent changes in practice and leadership. In many cases disagreements and differing outlooks among members of certain religions were to blame for these changes. Christianity and Islam are two examples of religions that have experienced changes over the course of their existence. While these religions seem to have little in common at first glance, both have strikingly similar pasts that consist of radical splits due to disagreements among members of the Christian and Islamic churches, resulting in new branches within each religion.
Believing in the Angels of God is the second article of faith in Islam. These angels are purely spiritual and glorious beings created by God. These angels are sinless. They require no food, drink or sleep. They have neither physical desires or material needs (“Islamic Path”). The angels spend their time in the amenity of God. Each angel is given a specific obligation. Each human being is assigned two angels who serve as guardians and recorders of the individual’s deeds, both good and bad (“Islamic Path”). Even though we cannot see the angels with ou...
The world you once knew is falling to ashes and food is become such a scarcity that people are fighting over a few pieces of bread. The political class is too busy fighting among themselves to care for anyone else. Children are roaming the streets and begging for work to feed their dying, hungry stomachs. This is not a scene from a horror movie, but rather the reality of the beginning of post classical era. In these times of hardship the people turned to a higher power, which resulted in a religious boom. The main religion during the post classical era that had the greatest impact on people was Islam due to Muhammad, trade routes, the Black Plague, conquests and Islamic culture.
Islam the complete ‘surrender to Allah’ is a living religious tradition with the principal belief in one God – Allah. Islam has remained the same in its principle beliefs of Allah, His Angels, His Prophets, His Books, The Last Day and his complete authority over destiny and has also changed over time to ensure that Islam remains a living religious tradition. Over its history Islam has had many significant people including Al Ghazali and Aisha Bint Abu Bakr who have ensured that Islam remains living in the hearts and minds of its adherents. In addition to significant individuals participation in the Five Pillars e.g. the Hajj ensure that Islam will continue to be the living religious tradition that it is.
Muslims believe that the absolute deity is Allah. However, they also believe that there was a string of prophets sent by God to teach his word. The last of these prophets was Muhammad. His life is used as a foundation for Muslims to see how they are supposed to live and to help explain the teachings of the holy book of Islam, which is called Holy Qur’an. These teachings are said to have been revelations that Muhammad received that confirmed the God’s unity and the direct life in the world.
In the Islamic religion, human beings will be judged in accordance to their deeds. Therefore, people are prompted to observe due diligence and uphold life while acting in a manner that indicates virtuous behaviour. The punishment of evil deeds is succumbing to hell and joining Satan, who refused to kneel before Adam and was cursed to an eternity of fire.