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Beliefs and practices in islam
Rise and expansion of Islam
Rise and expansion of Islam
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Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, had an emphasis on the religion. His followers were called Muslims, meaning “practitioners of Islam.” Islam was a direct and simple faith, and it emerged around the fifth and sixth centuries. In addition, one can claim the views of Islam as a product of Western Civilization because of its significance to the western world. The Islamic religion emerged during the fifth and sixth centuries when the Arabian Peninsula took on new importance. At first, there was no priesthood, and all members of the tribe were involved in the practice of the faith. Allah was symbolized by a sacred stone, and each tribe had its own stone. When the Arabian Peninsula began to change tension grew and into this intense world came Muhammad. Muhammad was born in Mecca to a merchant family and was orphaned at the age of five. In his middle years, he began to experience visions that he believed were …show more content…
Its basic message was that there was no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet. The Koran recorded the beliefs of the Muslims, and it served as their code of ethics and laws. Islam was direct faith. It emphasized the need to obey the will of Allah. This meant following the ethical code consisting of the Five Pillars of Islam. Islam was not just a set of religious beliefs but a way of life. After the death of Muhammad, Muslims established a law code, known as the Shari’a. It provided believers with a set of prescriptions to regulate their daily lives. The death of Muhammad presented his followers with a dilemma. Even though Muhammad had not claimed to be divine, Muslims did not see any separation between religious and political authority. Submission to the will of Allah was the same thing as submission to his Prophet. The Koran quotes, “Whoever obeys the messenger obeys Allah” (Spielvogel 208). Soon after Muhammad’s death, his closest followers selected Abu Bakr as temporal leader of the Islamic
The town of Mecca was the birthplace of Islam, at first the leaders of the city refused the changing of this new religion and forced Muhammad to leave. Muhammad returned and preached to the people about what he had heard, that there is only one god. Islam spread quickly for two main reasons they are the message and military conquest.
He became known as “the Prophet,” and was meant to be God’s final prophet. The main two groups of Islam are the Shia and Sunni which were created after Muhammad’s death. The Islamic religion as well as the Judaism and Christianity are monotheistic; these three religions have small disputes but they all believe in only one god. There were two men that wanted to be the first caliph (successor) of Muhammad.
Abu Bakr states that he is not the best among them and that he still has limitations. He praises God and asks for guidance and assistance. Then, he states that if he disobeys God, then his people owe him no obedience.
Unlike Christians, Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad spread their religion throughout the world. Islam began in the year 610, when the prophet Muhammad started receiving messages from Allah, through the Angel Gabriel. He started spreading the word to others and that is how the Islamic faith began. The Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 AD in Saudi Arabia, Mecca. Both of his parents passed away by the time he was 6 years old and he was raised by his uncle. Muhammad’s first job was a camel driver and later he started managing caravans for many merchants. In doing so, he was employed by a woman named Khadija. They soon got married and it was said that she made his life easier because Allah was through her. When Muhammad was in his 30’s, he would go to Mount Hira to be alone and pray.One day on the mountain while in solitude an angel came to him saying he was chosen to spread the word of Allah. At first, Muhammad said he was not the right one to do this mission however, the angel persisted. He went home to tell his wife and through his wife he found the courage to follow what the angel told him. Khadija was his first follower. In the first three years, he only converted 40 people in Mecca. It was only a small amount of people but it caused a lot of chaos in Mecca. Many of his followers were sentenced to death and Muhammad was next. As persecution was rising, Muhammad found out that he had followers in a city
The Islamic faith was founded by Muhammad, considered “the last prophet who came to restore the true religion” (Fisher, 2014) by Muslim devotees. Muhammad is not worshipped as a god, but his life and good deeds serve as models for Muslims. The prophet was greatly compassionate and caring and spent
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.
Because of Islam’s holy book, The Qur’an revolved a lot around the sacred language, Arabic, which was very beneficial for trade. Since the text in The Qur’an was in Arabic, it helped spread language, religion and culture when people traded it (Outside Source: Spread of Islam Background Reading Packet). This helped spread Islam because a lot of people read it, they may have thought of the same way and told themselves that they should become and adherent (Adherent: “Sticking to” or “ Having Faith in”) to Islam (Doc
Muslims follow in accounts of Prophet Muhammad's teachings following his death by following the faith from the words of Allah found in the Qur’an. “There are three matters in
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...
Islam is a major world religion. Its origin can be traced back to 610 CE in Arabia. The basis of this religion is the revelations to the prophet Mohammad. Dissatisfied with his life, he traveled to deserts, hills, and the wilderness surrounding Mecca, where he lived, to meditate and reflect. He became a new man through his revelations, which many of his followers believe Allah transmitted to him through his angel Gabriel. Islam was originally an Arab religion, but many different beliefs and practices were added to it, making it extremely popular and aiding in its rapid spread. This new religion spread to many different areas surrounding Arabia, both under Mohammad and after his death. The Muslim Empire grew to encompass Spain and the Eastern Roman Empire as well Persia and Africa. Many different practices and methods were used to spread Islam. The religion itself was appealing to, in addition to the inhabitants of Arabia, other people in the surrounding areas because of its distinct religious beliefs and practices, such as the five pillars, as well as the humility and prayerfulness of the Islamic people. They fought cruel, vicious wars with their enemies. Many different things motivated the warriors to expand, but above all, the riches they would gain from the people of the Fertile Crescent encouraged them to expand.
Common characteristics Islam share with other religions is one God. To be a Muslim in essence means privately and publicly believing in the one, divine, transcendent, omnipotent God, Allah in Arabic. It is believed that God did not leave us without guidelines with our behavior and morals. God provided us with rules to live by, and a
The prophet Muhammad had a significant impact on the rise and spread of the religion Islam. According to World Civilizations, Muhammad “began receiving revelations transmitted from Allah,” and later these revelations became holy scripts in the Quran. Muhammad started off with very few followers but as the faith of Allah started to spread, he gained more followers and he became a threat to Mecca’s rulers. As mentioned in World Civilization, “in 622 Muhammad left Mecca for Medina where his skilled leadership brought new followers.” In Medina, Muhammad became the religious authority in the area and he used this power to conquer Mecca, a holy place for Islamic believers. By the time of his death, he was able to have created a religious empire that controlled all of the Arabian Peninsula.
In the seventh century, a new faith arose in the Middle East known as the Islamic religion. Just like Christianity and Judaism, the Islamic religion believed in one God known as Allah. The founder of Islam was a very unique individual known as Mohammad. Mohammad had an amazing spiritual experience that transformed his life and made a great impact in history. He experienced visions and revelations from Allah which he accepted as messages. Mohammed
The beginning of Islam all started in Arabia around 570 C.E. when a prophet was born. This prophet was known as Muhammad, although it is said that he has multiple names, which was born in a city called Makkah, or Mecca. This man lived a normal life by getting married and having children. He would venture out into the desert every now and then to pray and fast. It was during one time in the desert within a cave that an archangel known as Gabriel approached him. It is at this time that Gabriel gave Muhammad the first verses of the revelation. This would continue on for years up until Muhammad’s death. All of the verses that he was provided would eventually end up into the sacred text known as the Qur’an, or Koran. During Muhammad’s time of receiving the messages from God, his tribe wanted him dead as they did not want to change their way of living. Before his own tribe killed him, he was invited to travel to a city known as Yathrib to be their ruler, which this city would later be called Madinah. Muhammad and his followers set out for this particular city around June 622, which marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
The Muslims were very religious in fact the first thing a father taught his children was the Shahada. This phrase when spoken in Arabic is "La ilaha illa Allah; Muhammad rasul Allah". Muslims believed that the words in the Koran were exactly the same as God's. Also the world was made by God and people would be sent to heaven or hell. Since Muhammad's death the Islamic rules have never changed.