Main article:
History of Islam
Before Muhammad,
Arabia was inhabited by
Bedouin; Mecca was a religious and commercial
center. Arabs were
polytheists, and they worshipped a host of
idols in the Ka'aba at Mecca. They had a number of
unsavoury habits such as ceaseless tribal warfare, and
the burying alive of unwanted infant girls.
Muhammad was born in
571 to the equivalent of a middle-class family. He
was known as Al-Ameen, "the
trustworthy" because of his spotless reputation in all
his dealings. He was said to be illiterate. When he grew
up, he traveled with many caravans as an administrator
whose responsibility was to see that the caravan arrived
safely and with all goods intact. He did this throughout
most of his working life. In
610, Muhammad (now aged 40) reported that while he
was sitting in a cave in the hills outside Mecca
mediating, the angel Gabriel gave him a message from
Allah. He was commanded to memorize all of his visions.
Islamic historiography holds that since he was
illiterate he could not write them down. He did so, and
after reluctantly revealing his experiences to his wife
Khadijah, he began to gain followers by the force and
quality of the words he recited. By
615, he had developed a large following in Mecca.
His basic message was one of belief in one God,
respect for morality above and beyond tribal links, and
prayer. As the ranks of his followers swelled, he became
a threat to the local tribes, especially the Quraysh
his own tribe whose responsibility it was to look after
the Kaba, which at this time was home to the several
thousand 'idols' that people worshipped as gods. As
Muhammad preached against this pantheon he became deeply
unpopular with the rulers and his followers suffered
from repeated attacks to person and property. Eventually
there was an assassination attempt. He was forced to
flee Mecca on
July 16,
622; this is known as the Hijrah, and it is the date
that marks the beginning of the
Islamic calendar.
Muhammad went to
Medina (at that time known as "Yathrib") where he
was invited to become ruler of the town by a large group
of residents. He declared a welfare state, collected
taxes for the needy, organised town defences against
numerous raiding parties from Mecca and beyond, and
entered numerous trade agreements. He built mosques, and
established a religous culture based on respect for
other religions and their freedom to practice (the town
also was home to a number of Christians and Jews). He is
credited with creating the first
Constitution.
After the repeated raid attempts on the town,
Muhammad and his followers began to raid the raiders'
caravans, in retaliation and he distributed the treasure
equally amongst his followers. By
627, Muhammad had united Medina under Islam with
protected privileges for the Jews and Christians who
lived there. Word of the new religion, with the peace
and prosperity it brought spread by trade. The Bedouin
became keenly interested in this new religion; they saw
its potential to bring peace and plenty to their
wandering tribes, and after much negotiation they became
allies with Muhammad and after much contact with the
town and muslims they gradually converted. At this stage
the revelations that had been coming to Muhammad were
almost complete, and he was told that he was to return
to Mecca and reclaim the Kaba. With negotiation and
assent of the elders of the Quraysh he made an unarmed
pilgrimage to the Kaba. This continued for a while but
then the agreement broke down, and war was declared. But
there was no bloodshed. In
630, 20 years after being forced to flee, Muhammad
marched with an army of 10,000 followers back to Mecca,
and the Meccans surrendered without a fight. He became a
religious and political leader of the city. He destroyed
all the idols in the Kaba, and gave a general amnesty to
all his enemies in the town.
The Quran may have been written down during his
lifetime. It is believed to be the word of God, sacred
and unalterable, although some Muslim scholars believe
that at one time there were verses in the Koran inspired
by Satan, which Muhammad removed after the angel Jibreel
revealed their source. These are referred to as
The Satanic Verses, but scholars disagree as to
whether they existed or if this is a mere fable. Only
the original Arabic version of it is regarded as the
Quran; translations are seen as poor shadows of the
original's meaning.
The Quran describes two forsm of
Jihad. One form is described as a struggle with
one's self for mastery of the soul, another form is
described as a holy war, and describes a war that
Muslims must wage against all those who oppose them.
According to Islam, if a person dies in the middle of
Jihad, he is sent to heaven without punishment for any
sins.
Most Muslims believe that when Muhammad died in 622,
he did not name a successor. His advisors took over, and
the next four leaders of Islam are known as the Four
Rightly Guided
Caliphs.
Abu Bakr was the first as he was the oldest and seen
as the wisest; he was Muhammad's father-in-law, and he
laid foundations for the years ahead uniting the tribes
of Arabia under Islam.
Umar was next, and he conquered Persia, Syria,
Egypt, and northern Africa. After him came
Uthman, who conquered even more territory and
developed a navy based in
Alexandria, Egypt. Within three generations the
Muslims had gone from being a group of wandering
camel-herders to being in charge of the largest empire
the world has ever known.
When Uthman died,
Ali Ben Abu Talib became Caliph. Ali was a cousin
and sun-in-law of Muhammad. Ali was the husband of
Fatima Zahra, Muhammad's daughter. There are people
that believe that he should have been the first Caliph
because he was named by the prophet. This was rejected
by the majority of Muslims who said that the best person
for the task of leader should be chosen. His supporters
were known as Shi'a ul Ali, (of Party of Ali) or
Shi'a for short. The Shi'a believe that the other
three Caliphs were illegitimate because they were not
named by the prophet. Over time, differences between
Shi'a Muslims and Sunni Muslim rose to the level of them
practically becoming separate faiths. Some Sunni leaders
hold that Shi'a is not truly a form of Islam (and
vice-versa). These are, however, the minority of the
leaders. In some Arab nations open warfare has erupted
between Sunni and Shi'a. In
Iraq, the secular Sunni government has oppressed the
Shi'a majority. In
Iran the religious Shi'a majority made life
difficult for Sufi, Sunni and other Muslims. In
Saudi Arabia, the religious Sunni majority made life
difficult for Shi'a Muslims.
The
Quran is the holy book of Islam. Its title means
"Proclamation". It consists of 114 chapters or Suras
laid out roughly in order of size, the largest being
near the front, the smallest near the back.
It is written as Arabic poetry and describes the
origins of the Universe, Man, and their relationship to
each other and their Creator Allah. It sets out laws for
society, morality, economics and many other topic. It is
intended for recitation and memorization. The Quran is
primarily taught from one generation to the next this
way. Muslims regard the Quran as sacred and inviolable.
Islam is the largest religion after Crhistianity, and
currently the fastest growing. It began in
Saudi Arabia in 622AD, and according to
adherents.com it now comprises 1.3 billion believers,
23% of the world's population, with almost 2 million
believers in the
USA. Only 18% of
Muslims live in the
Arab world, a fifth are found in Sub-Saharan Africa,
and the world's largest Muslim community is in
Indonesia. There are significant Islamic populations
in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and South America.
When eating meat, Muslims may only eat from meat that
has been slaughtered in the name of
Allah, and meets stringent dietary requirements.
Such meat is called pure, or halal. Islamic law
prohibits a Muslim from eating pork, monkey, dog, cat,
any carnivores, and several other types of animal, as
these animals are haram (forbidden). For the
meat of an animal to be halal (lawful) it must be one of
the declared halal animals, it must be slaughtered by a
Muslim, and the animal may not be killed by any cruel or
prolonged means. The animal is killed by slicing the
jugular veins, and thus rendering the animal unconscious
immediately, the blood then flows out from the body, and
the animal dies in its sleep. Some Muslim clerics have
ruled that the animal does not have to be killed by a
Muslim, but may be slaughtered by a Jew as long as it
meets their strict dietary laws. Thus, some observant
Muslims will accept
kosher meat (meat prepared in accord with
Jewish law) as halal.
Islam does not prohibit women from working, but
emphasizes the importance of caring for house and family
for both parents. In theory, Islamic law allows each
spouse to
divorce at will, by saying "I divorce you" three
times in public. In practice it's more involved than
this, and there may be separate state proceedings to
follow as well. This practice is valid within most of
the Muslim world today. Usually, the divorced wife keeps
her dowry from when she was married, if there was one,
and is given child support until the age of weaning at
which point the child may be returned to its father if
it is deemed to be best.
Women are generally not allowed to be clergy or
religious scholars. Many interpretations hold that woman
may not have a prominent job, and thus are forbidden
from working in the government.
The Quran also places a
dress code upon its followers. For women, the
hair and body are to be covered with the exception
of
hands and
face, and no curvatures of the body should be seen.
Men have a dress code, which is more relaxed. The
rationale given for these rules is that:
- Women should be respected rather than becoming
objects of
sexual desire.
- Men are more easily
aroused than women.
Many Muslims do not follow these dress codes, or only
follow them during religious ceremonies.
There is a separate section on
Islamic philosophy.
Circumcision for males involves the removal of the
foreskin and is customary in (although normally
performed at different ages in different cultures) most
muslim communities.
Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam in the United
States is not unified; there are many organizations and
groups that work to promote various forms of Islam.
One such group is the moderate
Islamic Supreme Council of America. This group
represents many Muslims, but likely less than 10% of
Muslims in the USA.
The
Council on American-Islamic Relations, known by its
acronym CAIR. CAIR is a non-profit pro-Islam
organization, established to promote a positive image of
Islam and Muslims in America. CAIR portrays itself as
the voice of mainstream, moderate Islam. However CAIR is
also a highly controversial organization; its leadership
and members publicly support known
terrorist organizations such as Hizbollah and Hamas.
(The State Department of the United States classified
these groups as terrorist organizations). CAIR has been
accused of inciting death threats against moderate
American Muslims.
The
American Islamic Congress (http://www.aicongress.org)
is a small but growing moderate Muslim organization that
promotes
religious pluralism. Their official Statement of
Principles states that "Muslims have been
profoundly influenced by their encounter with America.
American Muslims are a minority group, largely
comprising African-Americans, immigrants, and children
of immigrants, who have prospered in America's climate
of religious tolerance and civil rights. The lessons of
our unprecedented experience of acceptance and success
must be carefully considered by our community." Their
statement goes on to say that:
- American Muslims must champion pluralism and
condemn all forms of intolerance. This section of
the statement of principles explicitly states that
not only should Muslims oppose hateful speech
towards Muslims, but that they should oppose hateful
speech by Muslims.
- Secondly, American Muslims must be leading
ambassadors to the Muslim world.
- Thirdly, American Muslims must recognize and
celebrate our own diversity.
- Fourthly, all Muslims around the world should
enjoy the social and economic prosperity experienced
by American Muslims.
- Fifthly, American Muslims must champion the
rights of minorities in the Muslim world.
Although the dominant movement in Islam in recent
times has been religious
fundamentalism, there are a number of liberal
movements within Islam which seek alternative ways to
reconcile the Islamic faith with the modern world.
Islamic traditions have several sources: the Quran,
the
hadiths, and interpretations of both by scholars.
Over the centuries, there has been a tendency towards
fundamentalism, with interpretations being regarded
as immutable, even those that consist of
folk religion not directly traceable to the prophet
Muhammad.
Early
shariah had a much more flexible character than is
currently associated with
Islamic jurisprudence, and many modern Muslim
scholars believe that it should be renewed, and the
classical jurists should lose their special status. This
would require formulating a new
fiqh suitable for the modern world, e.g. as proposed
by advocates of the
Islamization of knowledge, and would deal with the
modern context.
This movement does not aim to challenge the
fundamentals of Islam; rather, it seeks to clear away
misinterpretations and to free the way for the renewal
of the previous status of the Islamic world as a center
of modern thought and freedom. See
Modern Islamic philosophy for more on this subject.
See Also:
Mosque --
History of Islam --
Shariah --
Four Schools of Madhhab --
Shaafi'i --
Hanafi --
Maliki --
Hanbali --
Imam --
Mujtahid[?] --
Tawhid --
Qibla al-Qudsiyya --
Shiite
Jihad --
Islamic rituals (births, weddings, burials...) --
djinn --
Munkar and Nakir --
List of famous Muslims
-- Life of Prophet Muhammad[?]
- The Encyclopaedia of Islam
- The Quran
- H. A. R. Gibb, Islam, Oxford 1969
- The Islamism Debate, Martin Kramer,
University Press, 1997
- Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook, Charles
Kurzman, Oxford University Press, 1998
- The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political
Islam and the New World Disorder, Bassam Tibi,
Univ. of California Press, 1998
