Islam

The name "Allah" shows no plural or gender. In Islam "Allah" Almighty as the Qur’an says:

"(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things)." [definite article in Allah linguistically indicates the divine unity. Muslims believe that the God they worship is the same God of Abraham. Muslims reject the Christian doctrine concerning the trinity of God, seeing it as akin to polytheism. Quoting from the Qur'an, sura An-Nisa:

"O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of God aught but the truth. Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, was (no more than) a messenger of God, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in God and His messengers. Say not "Trinity": desist: it will be better for you: for God is one God: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is God as a Disposer of affairs." [idolatry and are thus disdained. Moreover, most Muslims believe that God is incorporeal, making any two- or three- dimensional depictions impossible. Such aniconism can also be found in Jewish and some Christian theology. Instead, Muslims describe God by the names and attributes that he revealed to his creation. All but one Sura (chapter) of the Qur'an begins with the phrase "In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful".

The Qur'an

The first surah in a Qur'anic manuscript by Hattat Aziz Efendi.

The Qur'an is considered by Muslims to be the literal, undistorted word of God, and is the central religious text of Islam. It has also been called, in English, "the Koran" and (archaically) "the Alcoran." Qur'an is the currently preferred English transliteration of the Arabic original (قرآن); it means “recitation”. Although the Qur'an is referred to as a "book", when a Muslim refers to the Qur'an, they are referring to the actual text, the words, rather than the printed work itself.

Muslims believe that the Qur'an was revealed to the prophet 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 had written them down on parchments, stones, and leaves, to preserve the revelation.

Most Muslims regard paper copies of the Qur'an with veneration, washing as for prayers before reading the Qur'an. Old Qur'ans are not destroyed as wastepaper, but burned.

Most Muslims memorize at least some portion of the Qur'an in the original language (i.e. Arabic). Those who have memorized the entire Qur'an are known as hafiz (plural huffaz).

Muslims believe that the Qur'an is perfect only as revealed in the original Arabic. Translations were the result of human effort, the differences in human languages, and human fallibility, as well as lacking the inspired verses believers find in the Qur'an. Translations are therefore only commentaries on the Qur'an, or "interpretations of its meaning", not the Qur'an itself. Many modern, printed versions of the Qur'an feature the Arabic text on one page, and a vernacular translation on the facing page.

Organization

Islamic law

The Sharia (Arabic for "well-trodden path") is Islamic law, as shown by traditional Islamic scholarship. The Qur'an is the foremost source of Islamic jurisprudence. The second source is the sunnah of Muhammad and the early Muslim community. The sunnah is not itself a text like the Qur'an, but is extracted by analysis of the hadith (Arabic for report), which contain narrations of Muhammad's sayings, deeds, and actions. Ijma (consensus of the community of Muslims) and qiyas (analogical reasoning) are the third and fourth sources of Sharia.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Islamic law covers all aspects of life, from the broad topics of governance and foreign relations all the way down to issues of daily living. Islamic laws that were covered expressly in the Qur’an were referred to as hudud laws and include specifically the five crimes of theft, highway robbery, intoxication, adultery and falsely accusing another of adultery, each of which has a prescribed "hadd" punishment that cannot be forgone or mitigated. The Qur'an also details laws of inheritance, marriage, restitution for injuries and murder, as well as rules for fasting, charity, and prayer. However, the prescriptions and prohibitions may be broad, so how they are applied in practice varies. Islamic scholars, the ulema, have elaborated systems of law on the basis of these broad rules, supplemented by the hadith reports of how Muhammad and his companions interpreted them.

In current times, as Islam has spread to countries such as Iran, Indonesia, Great Britain, and the United States, not all Muslims understand the Qur'an in its original Arabic. Thus, when Muslims are divided in how to handle situations, they seek the assistance of a mufti (Islamic judge) who can advise them based on Islamic Sharia and hadith.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Apostasy and blasphemy

In Islamic law (sharia), the consensus view is that a male apostate must be put to death unless he suffers from a mental disorder or converted under duress, for example, due to an imminent danger of being killed. A female apostate must be either executed, according to Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), or imprisoned until she reverts to Islam as advocated by the Sunni Hanafi school and by Shi'a scholars.

Some contemporary Shi'a jurists, scholars, writers, and Islamic sects have argued or issued fatwas that either the changing of religion is not punishable or is only punishable under restricted circumstances,[Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri: "Not Every Conversion is Apostasy"], by Mahdi Jami, In Farsi, BBC Persian, February 2, 2005, retrieved April 25, 2006 [What Islam says on religious freedom], by By Magdi Abdelhadi, BBC Arab affairs analyst, 27 March 2006, retrieved April 25, 2006 [Fatwa on Intellectual Apostasy], Text of the fatwa by Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi S. A. Rahman in "Punishment of Apostasy in Islam", Institute of Islamic Culture, Lahore, l972, pp. 10-13 [The punishment of apostasy in Islam], View of Dr. Ahmad Shafaat on apostasy. but these minority opinions have not found broad acceptance among Islamic scholars.

Islamic calendar

Islam dates from the Hijra, or migration from Mecca to Medina. Year 1, AH (Anno Hegira) corresponds to AD 622 or 622 CE, depending on the notation preferred (see Common Era). It is a lunar calendar, but differs from other such calendars (e.g. the Celtic calendar) in that it omits intercalary months, being synchronized only with lunations, but not with the solar year, resulting in years of either 354 or 355 days. Therefore, Islamic dates cannot be converted to the usual CE/AD dates simply by adding 622 years. Islamic holy days fall on fixed dates of the lunar calendar, which means that they occur in different seasons in different years in the Gregorian calendar.

Denominations

There are a number of Islamic religious denominations, each of which have significant theological and legal differences from each other but possess similar essential beliefs. The major schools of thought are Sunni and Shi'a; Sufism is generally considered to be a mystical inflection of Islam rather than a distinct school. According to most sources, present estimates indicate that approximately 85% of the world's Muslims are Sunni and approximately 15% are Shi'a. [Sunni and Shia Islam], Country Studies, retrieved April 04, 2006

Sunni

The Sunni are the largest group in Islam. In Arabic, as-Sunnah literally means principle or path. Sunnis and Shi'a believe that Muhammad is a perfect example to follow, and that they must imitate the words and acts of Muhammad as accurately as possible. Because of this reason, the Hadith in which those words and acts are described are a main pillar of Sunni doctrine.

Sunnis recognize four major legal traditions (madhhabs): Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanafi, and Hanbali. All four accept the validity of the others and Muslims choose any one that he/she finds agreeable to his/her ideas. There are also several orthodox theological or philosophical traditions (kalam).

Shi'a

A view of the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a holy site in Islam

Shi'a Muslims, the second-largest branch, differ from the Sunni in rejecting the authority of the first three caliphs. They honor different accounts of Muhammad (hadith) and have their own legal traditions. Shi'a scholars have a larger authority than Sunni scholars and have greater room for interpretation. The concept of Imamah (leadership) plays a central role in Shi'a doctrine. Shi'a Muslims hold that leadership should not be passed down through a system such as the caliphate, but rather, descendants of Muhammad should be given this right as Imams.

Sufism

Sufism is a spiritual practice followed by both Sunni and Shi'a. Sufis generally feel that following Islamic law or jurisprudence (or fiqh) is only the first step on the path to perfect submission; they focus on the internal or more spiritual aspects of Islam, such as perfecting one's faith and fighting one's own ego (nafs). Most Sufi orders, or tariqas, can be classified as either Sunni or Shi'a. However, there are some that are not easily categorized as either Sunni or Shi'a, such as the Bektashi. Sufis are found throughout the Islamic world, from Senegal to Indonesia. Their innovative beliefs and actions often come under criticism from Wahhabis, who consider certain practices to be against the letter of Islamic law.

Others

Salafis are a smaller, more recent Sunni group. To other Muslims and non-Muslims Wahabi is the term most popularly associated with them. Followers of Salafism often also use the term "Ahl-us Sunnah Wa Jama'ah" as a label for their following, which would translate to english as "Congregation of the Followers of Sunnah". Salafiyyah is a movement commenly thought as founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab in the 18th century in what is present-day Saudi Arabia. They are classified as Sunni. One of the foremost principles, however, is the abolition of "schools of thoughts" (legal traditions), and the following of Muhammad directly through the study of the sciences of the Hadith (prophetic traditions). The Hanbali legal tradition is the strongest school of thought where the Islamic law in Saudi Arabia is derived from, and they have had a great deal of influence on the Islamic world because of Saudi control of Mecca and Medina, the Islamic holy places, and because of Saudi funding for mosques and schools in other countries. The majority of Saudi Islamic scholars are considered as Wahhabis by other parts of the Islamic world.

Another sect which dates back to the early days of Islam is that of the Kharijites. The only surviving branch of the Kharijites are the Ibadi Muslims. Ibadhism is distinguished from Shiism by its belief that the Imam (Leader) should be chosen solely on the basis of his faith, not on the basis of descent, and from Sunnism in its rejection of Uthman and Ali and strong emphasis on the need to depose unjust rulers. Ibadi Islam is noted for its strictness, but, unlike the Kharijites proper, Ibadis do not regard major sins as automatically making a Muslim an unbeliever. Most Ibadi Muslims live in Oman.

Another trend in modern Islam is that which is sometimes called progressive. Followers may be called Ijtihadists. They may be either Sunni or Shi'ite, and generally favor the development of personal interpretations of Qur'an and Hadith. See: Liberal Islam

One very small group, based primarily in the United States, follows the teachings of Rashad Khalifa and calls itself the "Submitters". They reject the Hadith and Fiqh, and say that they follow the Qur'an alone. They also consider Khalifa a messenger after Muhammad (Rashad Khalifa proclaimed himself the Messenger of the Covenant). Note that this is different to a Prophet. Neither the "Submitters" nor Rashad Khalifa believe there will be any more prophets after Muhammed. Most Muslims of both the Sunni and the Shia branches consider this group to be heretical. Some Muslims, however, will reject Khalifa's messenger status but will also reject both the Fiqh and the Hadith.

Islam and other religions

The Qur'an contains both injunctions to respect other religions, and to fight and subdue unbelievers during war. Some Muslims have respected Jews and Christians as fellow people of the book (monotheists following Abrahamic religions), while others have reviled them as having abandoned monotheism and corrupted their scriptures. At different times and places, Islamic communities have been both intolerant and tolerant. Support can be found in the Qur'an for both attitudes.

The classical Islamic solution was a limited tolerance — Jews and Christians were to be allowed to privately practice their faith and follow their own family law. They were called dhimmis and paid a special tax called the jizya. The status of dhimmis is a matter of dispute, with some claiming that dhimmis were persecuted second-class citizens, and others that their lot was not difficult.

The medieval Islamic state was often more tolerant than many other states of the time which insisted on complete conformity to a state religion. The record of contemporary Muslim-majority states is mixed. Some are generally regarded as tolerant, while others have been accused of intolerance and human rights violations.

Related Faiths

The Yazidi, Sikhism, Bábísm, Bahá'í Faith, Berghouata and Ha-Mim religions either emerged out of an Islamic milieu or have beliefs in common with Islam in varying degrees; in almost all cases those religions were also influenced by traditional beliefs in the regions where they emerged, but consider themselves independent religions with distinct laws and institutions. The last two religions no longer have any followers.

History

The territory of the Caliphate in the year 750

Islamic history begins in Arabia in the 7th century with the emergence of Muhammad. Within a century of his death, an Islamic state stretched from the Atlantic ocean in the west to central Asia in the east, which, however, was soon torn by civil wars (fitnas). After this, there would always be rival dynasties claiming the caliphate, or leadership of the Muslim world, and many Islamic states or empires offering only token obedience to an increasingly powerless caliph.

Nonetheless, the later empires of the Abbasid caliphs and the Seljuk Turks were among the largest and most powerful in the world.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} After the disastrous defeat of the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, Christian Europe launched a series of Crusades and for a time captured Jerusalem. Saladin, however, recaptured Palestine and defeated the Shiite Fatimids.

From the 14th to the 17th centuries, one of the most important Muslim territories was the Mali Empire, whose capital was Timbuktu.

In the 18th century, there were three great Muslim empires: the Ottoman in Turkey, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean; the Safavid in Iran; and the Mogul in India. By the 19th century, these realms had fallen under the sway of European political and economic power, due to European industrialism and colonialism.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} Following WWI, the remnants of the Ottoman empire were parceled out as European protectorates or spheres of influence. Islam and Islamic political power have revived in the 20th century.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} However, the relationship between the West and the Islamic world remains uneasy.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Contemporary Islam

Although the most prominent movement in Islam in recent times has been fundamentalist Islamism, there are a number of liberal movements within Islam, which seek alternative ways to align the Islamic faith with contemporary questions.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Early Sharia 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. One vehicle proposed for such a change has been the revival of the principle of ijtihad, or independent reasoning by a qualified Islamic scholar, which has lain dormant for centuries.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

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 centre of modern thought and freedom.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Many Muslims counter the claim that only "liberalization" of the Islamic Sharia law can lead to distinguishing between tradition and true Islam by saying that meaningful "fundamentalism", by definition, will eject non-Islamic cultural inventions — for instance, acknowledging and implementing Muhammad's insistence that women have God-given rights that no human being may legally infringe upon. Proponents of modern Islamic philosophy sometimes respond to this by arguing that, as a practical matter, "fundamentalism" in popular discourse about Islam may actually refer, not to core precepts of the faith, but to various systems of cultural traditionalism.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

The demographics of Islam today

Main articles: Islam by country and Demographics of Islam

Distribution of Islam per country. Green represents a Sunni majority and blue represents a Shia majority.

Based on the figures published in the 2005 CIA World Factbook (["World"]), Islam is the second largest religion in the world. According to the [World Network of Religious Futurists], the [U.S. Center for World Mission], and Samuel Huntington, Islam is growing faster numerically than any of the other major world religions. [Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance] estimate that it is growing at about 2.9% annually, as opposed to 2.3% per year global population growth. Non-Muslim observers attribute this growth to the higher birth rates in many Islamic countries (six out of the top-ten countries in the world with the highest birth rates are majority Muslim [Stats > People > Birth rate > Top 10], NationMaster.com, retrieved March 27, 2006). A recent demographic study, meanwhile, has determined that the birth rates of some Muslim countries are plummeting to the levels of western countries ["The demographics of radical Islam"], by Spengler, Asia Time Online, August 23, 2005, retrieved March 27, 2006.

The most exact calculations estimate Islamic population to be a little over 1.3 billion.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} Commonly cited estimates of the Muslim population today range between 900 million and 1.4 billion people (cf. [Adherents.com]); estimates of Islam by country based on U.S. State Department figures yield a total of 1.48 billion, while the Muslim delegation at the United Nations quoted 1.2 billion as the global Muslim population in September 2005.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Only 18% of Muslims live in the Arab world; 20% are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, about 30% in the South Asian region of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, and the world's largest single Muslim community (within the bounds of one nation) is in Indonesia. There are also significant Muslim populations in China, Europe, Central Asia, and Russia.

France has the highest Muslim population of any nation in Western Europe, with up to 6 million Muslims (10% of the population [France], CIA - The World Factbook, January, 2006, retrieved March 27, 2006). Albania has the highest proportion of Muslims as part of its population in Europe (70%), although this figure is only an estimate (see Islam in Albania). Countries in Europe with many muslim is Bosnia and Herzegovina (estimated around 50 % or little less is bosniaks, muslims) and Macedonia where over 30 % is muslim, mostly ethnic albanians in Macedonia. Kosovo has 90 % muslim and is not an independence country but may be that in the near future. The country in Europe with most muslim is Russia. The number of Muslims in North America is variously estimated as anywhere from 1.8 to 7 million.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Political and religious extremism

The term Islamism describes a set of political ideologies derived from Islamic fundamentalism.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} Most Islamist ideologies hold that Islam is not only a religion, but also a political system that governs the legal, economic and social imperatives of the state according to interpretations of Islamic Law.

Islamic extremist terrorism refers to acts of terrorism claimed by its supporters and practitioners to be in furtherance of the goals of Islam. The validity of an Islamic justification for these acts is contested by other Muslims.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]} Islamic extremist violence is not synonymous with all terrorist activities committed by Muslims. Nationalists, separatists, and others in the Muslim world often derive inspiration from secular ideologies. These are not well described as either Islamic extremist or Islamist.^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}

Symbols of Islam

Muslims do not accept any icon or color as sacred to Islam as they believe that worshipping symbolic or material things is against the spirit of monotheism. Many people assume that the star and crescent symbolize Islam, but these were actually the insignia of the Ottoman Empire, [Crescent Moon: Symbol of Islam?], by Huda, About, retrieved April 01, 2006 not of Islam as a whole. The color green is often associated with Islam as well; this is custom and not prescribed by religious scholars. However, Muslims will often use elaborately calligraphed verses from the Qur'an and pictures of the Ka'bah as decorations in mosques, homes, and public places. The Qur’anic verses are believed to be sacred.

See also

Further information:

• Criticism of Islam

Islamic economics

References

Bibliography

• Arberry, A. J. The Koran Interpreted: a translation by A. J. Arberry. Touchstone, ISBN 0684825074
• Kramer, Martin. The Islamism Debate. University Press, (1997) ISBN 9652240249
• Kurzman, Charles. Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook. Oxford University Press, (1998) ISBN 0195116224
• Rahman, Fazlur. Islam. University of Chicago Press; 2nd edition, (1979) ISBN 0226702812
• Safi, Omid. Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender and Pluralism. Oneworld Publications, (2003) ISBN 1-85168-316-X
• Tibi, Bassam. The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder. Univ. of California Press, (1998) ISBN 0520088689

External links

• [Islam.org]
• [Light Upon Light]
• [Islam Guide]
• [Sultan.org]
• [Harunyahya.com]
• [Islam Web]
• [Al-Islam]
• [Zaytuna Institute]
• [Islamic Council]
• [Islam Tomorrow]
• [Islamic Finder]
• [Islam Online]
• [Islami City]
• [Beconvinced.com]
• [Spirit Of Islam]
• [Islam Questions & Answers]
• [Canadian Council On American-Islamic Relations]
• [Islamic Society Of North America]
• [Young Muslims In Canada]
• [Islam Today]
• [Islam from Various Aspects in Light of Quran & Sunnah]
• [Al-Azhar Islamic University]

Academic resources

• [University of South California Compedium of Muslim Texts]
• [Encyclopedia of Islam (Overview of World Religions)]
• [Resources for Studying Islam] (Department of Islamic Studies, University of Georgia)
• [Unit on Islam] from the NITLE Arab Culture and Civilization Online Resource

Directories

• Islam in [Western Europe], [the United Kingdom], [Germany] and [South Asia]

Islam and the arts, sciences, and philosophy

• [Islamic Art] (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
• [Muslim Heritage] (Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation, UK)
• [Islamic Architecture (IAORG)] illustrated descriptions and reviews of a large number of mosques, palaces, and monuments.
• [Islamic Philosophy] (Journal of Islamic Philosophy, University of Michigan)
• [Famous Muslim scientists & scholars]

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