Islam

ISLAM

Islam is a monotheistic faith and, like Christianity and Judaism, an Abrahamic religion. It is the world's second-largest religion. Followers of Islam, known as Muslims, believe that God (or Allāh in Arabic), revealed his divine word directly to humanity through many prophets, and that Muhammad was the final prophet of Islam.

General Beliefs

The basic tenet of Islam is: "There is no god but God (Allah) and Muhammad is the messenger of God (Allah)." A person who truly believes in the meaning of these words is to be considered a Muslim. but one may be required to recite the words in the presence of witnesses to be deemed a part of the faith by other members of the society.

Muslims believe that God revealed his direct word to humankind through Muhammad (c. 570–632 CE) and earlier prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims believe that Muhammad is the last of the prophets until the day of the Resurrection. Muslims claim that parts of the Gospels, Torah, and Jewish prophetic books have been forgotten, misinterpreted, erroneously edited by humans, or distorted by their followers and thus their original message has been despoiled over time. Therefore. Muslims aver that the main written record of God's revelation to people is the Koran, which they believe to be flawless, unchallengeable, the final revelation of God, and a correction of Jewish and Christian texts.

Muslims hold that Islam is in essence the same belief as that of all the prophets sent by God to mankind since Adam, with the Koran (the text used by all sects of the Muslim faith) outlining the final revelation of God. Islamic texts depict Judaism and Christianity as derivations of the teachings of Abraham and thus acknowledge common Abrahamic roots. The Koran calls Jews and Christians (and sometimes people of other faiths) "People of the Book."

Sects and their beliefs

The Sunni Muslims are the largest subgroup of the Muslims, although there are large numbers of Shi'a Muslims in Middle Eastern countries such as Iran and Iraq. All Muslims agree on the following five basic obligations of believers, which Sunnis term the Five Pillars of Islam, and which Shi`a would consider to be elements of the Roots of Religion and the Branches of Religion.

1.Testifying that there is none worthy of worship except God and that Muhammad is his prophet
2. Performing the five daily prayers.
3.Fasting from dawn to dusk in the month of Ramadan.
4. Giving charity.
5.The Pilgrimage to Mecca, which is compulsory once in a lifetime for one who has the ability to do it.

Shi'a and Sunni also agree on the following beliefs, although they classify them differently:

1. The justice of God.
2.The Day of Resurrection.
3. Commanding what is good.
4. Forbidding what is evil.
5. Striving to seek God's approval.

Distinctive Shi'a beliefs, not held by the Sunni, include:

1. Leadership. The belief in the divinely appointed and guided imamate of Ali and some of his descendants.
2. Paying the tax on profit.

Many Muslims, however, do not like to label themselves as belonging to any of the denominations listed above. These Muslims believe that the Koran bans the formation of sects within Islam, and therefore classify themselves as simply 'Muslims'.

The fundamental tenet of Islam is the oneness of God Allah has no gender. nor is there a plural for the word Allah. Monotheism is absolute. This is unlike the word god, which has plurals and gender, as in gods and goddesses.

The Koran

The Koran is the sacred text of Islam. The Koran is the currently preferred English transliteration of the Arabic word meaning “recitation”. Although the Koran is referred to as a "book", when a Muslim refers to the Koran, they mean the actual words, rather than the printed work itself. They believe the Koran was revealed to Muhammad by God through the Angel Gabriel on numerous occasions between the years 610 and up till his death in 632. In addition to memorizing his revelations, his followers are said to have written them down on parchments, stones, and leaves.

Donna Joseph

April 28, 2006