2. Islam
is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion that espouses
that God is one and incomparable and that the purpose
of man’s existence is to worship and serve God.
Islam started in Arabia and was revealed to humanity
by the Prophet Muhammad who is considered in this
religion as the last Prophet of God.
5. Muhammad the Prophet (570-
632) is the last Prophet
according to Islam. His
revelations , covering political
and social as well as religious
principles became the basis of
Islamic religion and civilization .
6. Around the year AD 570 , Muhammad was born in
Mecca at the time was the central city of the
Arabian Peninsula.
His Father died before he was born in Mecca at the
time was the central city of the Arabian Peninsula.
Like other men in his tribe, Muhammad became a
trade and made some journeys to Syria .He then
began to manage the business of the rich widow
Khadija
7. Muhammad’s earliest teachings highlighted his
belief in one transcendent but personal God , the
last judgement , and social .and economic
justice .
He preached that God has sent prophets to
other nations throughout history, but, having
failed to reform , those nations have been
destroyed
8. Sacred texts: Qur’an Hadith
The Qur’an (Koran) is the holy book of Islam. Islams holds
that this sacred scriptures in the infallible word of Allah , as it
was revealed to the prophet Muhammad in the 7th Century.
In Islam, Qur’an is the chief source of authority, law and
theology, and identity.
For instance, the Qur’an merely prescribes without details
prayer, an essential religious duty.
9. Hadith, the second source of authority in Islam , complements
the Qur’an and affords the most wide-ranging for Islamic law.
It’s also believed that that Muhammad’s sayings and practices
were treated by his companions to answer questions about
Islam.
Unlike Qur’an ,however ,Hadith was circulated orally in the
early periods. No Attempts were made to codify it into law until
the beginnings of the second Century of Islam.
11. These are:
1. professing the confession of faith –(SHAHADA or
KALIMA) 2. carrying out the five daily prayers –
(SALAT)
3. fasting during the month of Ramadan-(SAUM)
4. paying the alms tax –(ZAKAT)
5. performing the major pilgrimage to Mecca-(HAJJ)
The Five Pillars of Islam, called arkan in Arabic, refers to
the five rituals duties that mainstreams Muslims consider
as principal to their faith.
12. Shahada or Kalima
The Shahada involves pronouncing the Arabic statements
“La ilah illa Allah wa Muhammad rasul Allah ,” meaning
“There is no God but the one God and Muhammad is his
prophet “.
In addition to Shahada or Kalima, Muslims must also utter
thier beliefs in the Qur’an angels, and the last day. The
Shahada also is spoken as part of the Muslim call to
prayer(adhan).
13. Salat
Known as the namaz ,in Iran, India ,and Turkey the
“SALAT” refers to the five required daily prayers.
These prayers are performed only “after ritual
bathing and takes place before sunrise, after
sunset, and before midnight.
Praying in Islam is marked by a specified set of
postures , such as standing , bowing , and
prostrating .
14. Saum
The Saum designates a Muslim fasting
prescribed only for healthy , adult Muslims during
the 30 days of Ramadan, the ninth month in the
Islamic calendar .
No foods
No drinks
Or sexual relations allowed from dawn until dusk.
15. Zakat
Refers to alms tax levied annually on the crops ,
livestock, precious metals ,and cash of Muslims
living above the subsistence and whose debts do
not exceed their assets.
Since the late Middle Ages (AD 476-
1453),mainstream Shia Muslims have had the tax
collected by their jurists , legal scholars of Islamic
law .
16. Hajj
It is the greater of two pilgrimages to
Mecca required of all Muslims, the other
one being the umra.
Those who performed the Hajj may use
the honorific title Hajji if male and Hajja if
female .
18. God: Allah
Allah is the Arabic name of the supreme being. The term is a
contraction of the Arabic al-allah ,”the God”. Both the idea and the
word existed in pre-Islamic Arabian tradition.
Qur’an declares that Allah is the creator and the one who rewards
and punishes; that he is unique and can only be one ; that he is
eternal , omniscient , omnipotent , and all-merciful.
Although Allah, being the creator, is utterly transcendent and not to
be compared to any of his creatures , he is nonetheless a personal
God, a fair judge, and benevolent.
19. Before accomplishing religious obligations , Muslims
recite, “In the name of Allah, the merciful, the
Compassionate.
Islam does not recognize any mediator between
Allah and humans. A person approaches Allah
directly in personal prayer and in reciting the Qur’an,
which is considered literally the speech of Allah.
21. Suni
Sunni Islam is one of the two main branches of Islam , Shia (or
shi’ite) Islam being the other . Sunni Muslims constitute the
vast majority of Islamic community in the world .
Sunni Muslims believe that Muhammad willed that the Muslims
community ,by consensus , choose a successor , or caliph, to
lead the theocracy (early kingdom under God’s rule) he had
established.
The doctrines of Sunni of Islam were formed toward the end of
the 9th century , and it’s theology was developed as a complete
system during the 10th century .
22. Shi’ite
Is the second-largest branches of Islam , emerged out of dispute
over the succession to Muhammad. The prophets successors called,
caliphs, were both political and religious leaders of the theocracy that
Muhammad had set up.
After the assassinations of Ali, the fourth caliph, in 661, Ali’s followers
claimed that it had been Ali’s right to succeed Muhammad directly
and that the caliphs before him had thus been usurpers.
The Shia also developed a doctrine of the infallibility, sinlessness,
and divine right to authority of the descendants of Ali, whom called
imams.
23. Shia Islam considers the imam as a repository of wisdom,
absolute in his political and religious authority . Shia Muslims
hold the beneath the explicit and literal meaning of Qur’an are
other levels of meaning which are known only to the imam ,
who can reveal them to chosen followers .
Shia Islam also upholds the validity of a form of temporary
marriage called muta. Shia Muslims pay the tax called zakat to
their religious leaders, rather than to state authorities.
24. Sufi
Sufi or Sufism is an ascetic tradition which underscored
personal piety and mysticism . It contributed to Islamic cultural
diversity further enhanced the Muslims heritage .
Sufism highlighted as a way of knowing God. During the 9th
century Sufism developed into a mystical doctrines , with
direct communication or even ecstatic union with God as its I
deal.
Sufism’s stress on intuitive knowledge and the love of God
amplified Islam’s appeal to the masses and essentially made
possible its extension beyond the Middle East into Africa and
East Asia.
26. In Islamic countries , the issue on gender inequality involves a
secular, liberal feminism seeking to eradicate discrimination against
women and to outlaw practices such as polygyny (multiple wives),
limitation of the right divorced to the husband , and purdah.
Purdah refers to a system of seclusion of women practiced by some
Muslim {and Hindu} peoples .
The word purdah also designates a curtain or screen used to keep
women separate from men and strangers, used especially in India.
27. In Afghanistan, visiting between family , friends, and neighbors is mostly
segregated by gender . Homes regularly have a special room where
guests are received by the male host. Females hang out elsewhere in
the compound.
They also obscure group known as the Taliban Islamic movement had
taken control of most of the country by spring 1997 and enforced a strict
a social order focusing mainly on women’s role and behavior .
In Saudi Arabia , the roles of men and women are distinctly divided in
many respects , a reflection of conservative Islamic practices and local
costume.
28. Men are expected to provide for the households
financial well being.
Women are expected to marry , have children , and
raise them according to Islamic principles.
29. The issues on militant Islam is tied with the concept of Islamic
Fundamentalism. It refers to the diverse political and social
movements in Muslims countries of North America, the Middle
East , and South Asia that have as their objective the creation
of more Islamically oriented states and societies founded on the
principles and values of Islam.
For non- Muslims the term “militant Islam” and Islamism
fundamentalism induce images of hostage crisis, emphasis
under siege, hijacking, and suicide bombers.
30. The Opening Lines of Qur’an
Sura Al-Fatiha ( The opening or the Exordium)
Al- Fatiha has special role in Muslims daily
prayers (salat), being recited at the start of
each unit of prayer (rak’ ah)
7 verses of prayers are for the guidance,
lordship, and mercy of Allah
31. The life and Times of Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad is born n 570 common era in the city of
mecca the Arabian peninsula.
At age of 40 during 610 common era he has his first
experienced of Islam.
In the year 622, Muhammad immigrated to Yathrib.
32. The core teaching of Islam
“There is only one god and Muhammad is his final
greatest messenger.”
Muslims declare that Islam is a faith that has always
existed and that it was gradually revealed to
humanity by a number of prophets.
Islam teaches an essential difference between Allah
and those which he had created.
