ISLAM

The second largest world religion
...and growing.

Quotation:

"The best jihad [struggle] is (by) the one who strives against his own self for Allah, The Mighty and Majestic," by the Prophet Muhammad.

Origin of Islam:

Most religious historians view Islam as having been founded in 622 CE by Mohammed the Prophet (circa 570 to 632 CE) in Mecca, when the angel Jibreel (Gabriel) read the first revelation to Muhammad. (Muhammad and Muhammed are alternate spellings for his name.) Islam is seen as the youngest of the world's great religions. However, many if not most of the followers of Islam believe that:

Islam existed before Mohammed was born,
The origins of Islam date back to the creation of the world, and
Mohammed was the last of a series of Prophets.

Followers of Islam are called Muslims. "Muslim" is an Arabic word that refers to a person who submits themselves to the Will of God. "Allah" is an Arabic word which means "the One True God." An alternate spelling for "Muslim" that is occasionally used is "Moslim"; it is not recommended because it is often pronounced "mawzlem": which sounds like an Arabic word for "oppressor". Some Western writers in the past have referred to Islam as "Mohammedism"; this is deeply offensive to many Muslims, as its usage can lead some to the concept that Mohammed the Prophet was in some way divine.

About Muhammad:

Little is known about Muhammad's childhood. He was orphaned at the age of 6 and brought up by his uncle. As a child, he worked as a shepherd. He was taken on a caravan to Syria by his uncle at the age of 9 (or perhaps 12). Later, as a youth, he was employed as a camel driver on the trade routes between Syria and Arabia. Mohammed later managed caravans on behalf of merchants. He met people of different religious beliefs on his travels, and was able to observe and learn about Judaism, Christianity and the indigenous Pagan religions.

After marriage, he was able to spend more time in meditation. At the age of 40, (610 CE), he was visited in Mecca by the angel Gabriel. He developed the conviction that he had been ordained a Prophet and given the task of converting his countrymen from their pagan, polytheistic beliefs and what he regarded as moral decadence, idolatry, hedonism and materialism.

He met considerable opposition to his teachings. In 622 CE he moved north to Medina due to increasing persecution. The trek is known as the hegira . Here he was disappointed by the rejection of his message by the Jews. Through religious discussion, persuasion, military activity and political negotiation, Mohammed became the most powerful leader in Arabia, and Islam was firmly established throughout the area.

About Islam:

By 750 CE, Islam had expanded to China, India, along the Southern shore of the Mediterranean and into Spain. By 1550 they had reached Vienna. Wars resulted, expelling Muslims from Spain and Europe. Since their trading routes were mostly over land, they did not an develop extensive sea trade (as for example the English and Spaniards). As a result, the old world occupation of North America was left to Christians.

Believers are currently concentrated from the West coast of Africa to the Philippines. In Africa, in particular, they are increasing in numbers, largely at the expense of Christianity.

Many do not look upon Islam as a new religion. They feel that it is in reality the faith taught by the ancient Prophets, Abraham, David, Moses and Jesus. Mohammed's role as the last of the Prophets was to formalize and clarify the faith and to purify it by removing foreign ideas that had been added in error.

Estimates of the total number of Muslims in the world vary greatly:

0.700 billion or more, Barnes & Noble Encyclopedia 1993
0.817 billion, The Universal Almanac (1996)
0.951 billion, The Cambridge Factfinder (1993)
1.100 billion, The World Almanac (1997)
1.200 billion, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic relations)

At a level of 1.2 billion, they represent about 22% of the world's population. They are the second largest religion in the world; Christianity has 33%.

Islam is growing about 2.9% per year which is faster than the total world population which increases about 2.3% annually. It is thus attracting a progressively larger percentage of the world's population. The number of Muslims in North America is in dispute: estimates range from under 3 million to over 6 million. The main cause of the disagreement appears to be over how many Muslim immigrants have converted to Christianity since they arrived in the US. Statistics Canada reports that 253,260 Canadians identified themselves as Muslims (0.9% of the total population) during the 1991 census. Those figures are believed to be an under-estimate.

Important Texts:

There are two main texts consulted by Muslims:

the Qur'an are the words of God. This was originally in oral and written form; they were later assembled together into a single book, the Qur'an. Its name is often spelled "Koran" in English. This is not recommended, as some Muslims find it offensive.
The Hadith, which are collections of the sayings of Mohammed. They are regarded as an excellent guide for living. However, the writings are not regarded as having the same status as the Holy Qur'an; the latter is considered to be God's word.

Muslim Beliefs and Practices:

Muslims follow a lunar calendar which started with the hegira, a 300 mile trek in 622 CE when Mohammed relocated from Mecca to Medina.

A Muslim's duties as described in the Five Pillars of Islam are:

to recite at least once during their lifetime the shahadah (the creed: "There is no God but God and Mohammed is his Prophet"). Most Muslims repeat it at least daily.
to perform the salat (prayer) 5 times a day. This is recited while orienting one's body towards Mecca. It is done in the morning, at noon, mid-afternoon, after sunset and just before sleeping.
to donate regularly to charity through zakat, a 2.5% charity tax, and through additional donations to the needy as the individual believer feels moved.
to fast during the month of Ramadan [began 1995-FEB-2, 1995 (Year 1415); begins 1996-JAN-22 (Year 1416) and 1997-JAN-10 (Year 1417)]. This is believed to be the month that Mohammed received the first revelation of the Qur'an from God.
if economically and physically able, to make at least one hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca

Jihad (struggle) is probably the most misunderstood religious word in existence. It often mentioned on Western TV and radio during news about the Middle East, where it is implied to be a synonym of "holy war" - a call to fight against non-Muslims in the defense of Islam.

The vast majority of Muslims have an entirely different definition of Jihad. It is seen as a personal, internal struggle with one's self. The goal may be achievement in a profession, self-purification, the conquering of primitive instincts or the attainment of some other noble goal. ₂₉

Common beliefs:

strict monotheism. God is the creator, is just, omnipotent and merciful
respect for earlier prophets and belief in their teachings: Abraham, Moses and Jesus
that Mohammed is the last of the prophets
belief in the existence of Satan who drives people to sin
that Muslims who sincerely repent and submit to God return to a state of sinlessness
belief in Hell where unbelievers and sinners spend eternity. One translation of the Qur'an 98:1-8 states: "The unbelievers among the People of the Book and the pagans shall burn for ever in the fire of Hell. They are the vilest of all creatures." ("People of the Book" refers to Christians, Jews and Muslims
belief in Paradise, a place of physical and spiritual pleasure where the sinless go after death
abstinence from alcohol and gambling
rejection of racism
avoid the use of alcohol, other drugs, eating of pork, etc.
avoid gambling
that Jesus is a prophet. They regard the Christian concept of the deity of Jesus to be blasphemous
that Jesus was not executed on the cross

Originally, in Islamic countries, there was no separation between religious and civil law, between Islam and the state. Turkey and some other countries have become secular states during this century. This is a controversial move in Islamic circles.

Understanding of Jesus, within Islam and Christianity:

Traditional Christians and Muslims have certain beliefs in common concerning Jesus. They both accept that:

Jesus' birth was miraculous.
Jesus was the Messiah.
He cured people of illness.
He restored dead people to life.

However, they differ from Christians in a number of major areas. Muslims do not believe:

In original sin (that everyone inherits a sinful nature because of Adam and Eve's transgression)
That Jesus was killed during his crucifixion. Muslims believe that he escaped being executed, and later reappeared to his disciples without having first died.
That Jesus was resurrected (or resurrected himself) circa 30 CE.
Salvation is dependent either upon belief in the resurrection of Jesus (as in Paul's writings) or belief that Jesus is the Son of God (as in the Gospel of John).

Schools within Islam:

There are different schools of jurisprudence within Islam. The main divisions are:

Sunni Muslims: These are followers of the Hanifa, Shafi, Hanibal and Malik schools. They constitute a 90% majority of the believers, and are considered to be main stream traditionalists. Because they are comfortable pursuing their faith within secular societies, they have been able to adapt to a variety of national cultures, while following their three sources of law: the Qur'an, Hadith and consensus of Muslims.
Shi'ite Muslims: These are followers of the Jafri school who constitute a small minority of Islam. They split from the Sunnis over a dispute about the successor to Mohammed. Their leaders promote a strict interpretation of the Qur'an and close adherents to its teachings. They believe in 12 heavenly Imams (perfect teachers) who led the Shi'ites in succession. Shi'ites believe that the 12th Imam, the Mahdi (guided one), never died but went into hiding waiting for the optimum time to reappear and guide humans towards justice and peace.
Sufism: This is a mystic tradition in which followers seek inner knowledge directly from God through meditation and ritual and dancing. They developed late in the 10^th century CE as an ascetic reaction to the formalism and laws of the Qur'an. There are Sufis from both the Sunni and Shi'ite groups. However, some Sunni followers to not consider Sufiism as a valid Islamic practice. They incorporated ideas from Neoplatonism, Buddhism, and Christianity. They emphasize personal union with the divine. In the Middle East, some Sufi traditions are considered to be a separate school of Islam. In North and sub-Saharan Africa, Sufism is more a style and an approach rather than a separate school.

Unlike Christianity, Islam does not have denominational mosques. Members are welcome to attend any mosque in any land.

The Egypt Air tragedy:

An Egypt Air airliner crashed of the east coast of New England, with the loss of all of the lives on board. The cause of the crash is unknown; some people suggested that an officer on the plane had committed suicide, thus murdering all of the occupants. The co-pilot allegedly recited the "Shahada" shortly before the plane descended. Shahada means "testimony." It states: "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his messenger." This was described by some uninformed media writers as "a Muslim death prayer." It is not. The Shahada is a prayer recited by many Muslims every day. It affirms the unity of God, and that Muhammad is His Prophet. It is no more a death prayer than is the Christian Lord's prayer.

There is a very strong prohibition against suicide within Islam. A pilot who had decided to commit suicide would realize that he was operating beyond God's mercy, and would definitely not recite the Shahada.

Deviations from Islam:

There are over 70 other groups which originated within Islam and broke away from the Sunni or Shi'ite faith communities. Some are:

Baha'i World Faith: This is an attempt to integrate all of the world religions. It was originally a break-away sect from Islam but has since grown to become a separate religion.
Ahmadis: Followers of the Ahmadiyya Movement believe that God sent Ahmad as a Messiah, "a messenger of His in this age who has claimed to have come in the spirit and power of Jesus Christ. He has come to call all people around one Faith, i.e. Islam..."
The movement's founder was Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908). He was born in Qadian, India. He felt that he had a mandate from God to correct a serious error within Christianity. Most Christians believe that Jesus is a member of the Godhead. "...because Jesus, whom God sent as a Messiah to the Israelites was taken for a God, Divine jealousy ordained that another man [Ahmad] should be sent as Messiah so that the world may know that the first Messiah was nothing more than a weak mortal."

After his death, the community elected a series of Khalifas (successors). The current and "Fourth Successor (Khalifatul Masih IV), to the Promised Messiah was chosen in the person of Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad" on 1982-JUN-10.

The Ahmadiyya Community currently has more than 10 million members worldwide. They are very heavily persecuted in Pakistan. They regard themselves as a reform movement within Islam. ₂₈
Black Muslim Movement (BMM): This is largely a black urban movement in the US. One driving force was a rejection of Christianity as the religion of the historically oppressing white race. It was started by Wallace Fard who built the first temple in Detroit. Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Poole) established a second temple in Chicago and later supervised the creation of temples in most large cities with significant black populations. They taught that blacks were racially superior to whites and that a racial war is inevitable. The charismatic Malcolm X was perhaps their most famous spokesperson; he plaid an important role in reversing the BMM's anti-white beliefs. In its earlier years, the movement deviated significantly from traditional Islamic beliefs (particularly over matters of racial tolerance the status of the BMM leaders as prophets). This deviation is being reversed.

Criticisms of Islam:

Islam is growing rapidly and is now followed by more than 20% of the world's population. Christianity is not growing; its popularity has been stuck at about 33% of the worlds population for many decades. It is in decline in the United States (in terms of "market share"). Christian attacks on Islam are inevitable. Most criticisms are not well grounded in reality:

Islam is often blamed for female genital mutilation. But it is obvious that FGM is grounded in cultural tradition, not religious belief, in those countries where it is practiced.
A number of anti-Islamic books have been written recently, criticizing some Islamic countries for lack of religious tolerance, equality for women, lack of democracy, etc. One of the most famous of these books is "Why I am Not a Muslim" by Ibn Warraq, an ex-Muslim. Many reviews by readers of this controversial book are available on-line from the Amazon.com web site. An excellent rebuttal of the book by Jeremiah D. McAuliffe, Jr., titled "Trends and Flaws in Some Anti-Muslim Writing as Exemplified by Ibn Warraq" is at: http://idt.net/~balboa19/warraq/warraq1a.html
Some conservative Christian web sites include attacks on Islam. They base their position on the inerrancy of the Bible, and their belief that Christianity is the only valid religion. An essay by Ric Llewellyn at http://www.seafox.com/islam.html is typical. He makes heavy use of emotionally loaded, judgmental terms, such as: false religion, false doctrines, dubious beginnings, fanaticism, irrational, accursed, religious bondage, cults, wicked doctrines, etc. It is our belief that these attacks are counter-productive. The main result of these web pages is to demonstrate the degree of intolerance and hatred held by their Webmasters; this does not reflect well on Christianity.
The media has historically disseminated a very negative image of Islam. It overwhelmingly reports on the beliefs and practices of the most conservative wing of the religion. Many non-Muslims are unaware that a moderate wing even exists in Islam. A number of anti-defamation groups have been organized to combat these negative portrayals. CAIR, The Council on American-Islamic Relations is a leader in this field.

Related essay:

A joint Senate/House resolution promoting religious tolerance towards Muslims.

References:

Renaissance is a monthly Islamic journal from Pakistan. See: http://www.renaissance.com.pk/ They operate a query service. You can send questions on any aspect of Islam to query@Renaissance.com.pk and receive a personal answer
IslamiCity maintains a wide-ranging web site at: http://www.islamicity.org/
Arshad's Islam World is an easily read, extensive web site on Islam. See: http://members.home.net/arshad/
A guide to Islam for non-Muslims titled "A brief illustrated guide to understanding Islam" is available on-line. See: http://www.islam-guide.com/
IslamicWeb is at: http://islamicweb.com/
The International Islamic News Agency (IINA) disseminates Islamic news from its headquarters in Saudi Arabia. See: http://www.islamicnews.org/english/
The Caltech Muslim Student Association (MSA) maintains an impressive web site at: http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/calmsa.html. It includes essays on Islam and many links to other Islamic WWW sites.
"The true religion," has about 200 clearly-worded essays on Islam at: http://thetruereligion.org/
Mona's "Islam for women," isn't just for women. It has a group of clearly-worded essays about all aspects of Islam. See: http://www.islam4women.8m.com/
The Muslim Student Association at the University of West Virginia has an equally inclusive web site at: http://www.wvu.edu/~msa/
The Al Muhaddith Project has over 160 MB of Islamic texts, in Arabic and English; Indonesian is expected soon. See: http://www.muhaddith.com/../index.html
The Sunnah Islamic Page is at: http://www.al-sunnah.com/ Of particular interest to non-Muslims is their essay on misconceptions about the religion at: http://members.aol.com/call2truth/misconceptions.html
The Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project has a web site at: http://www.al-islam.org/
A major Islamic site from Indonesia is IsNet at: http://www.isnet.org/
An inclusive Web site: "Islam, the fastest growing religion in the world" discusses Islam, its relationship to science, the role of women in Islam, comparison of Islam with other religions, and other topics. Of particular interest are a series of debates on various topics of interest to Muslims and Christians. See: http://www.beconvinced.com/
Islam and the Baha'i Faith is a Web site by an individual member of the Baha'i Faith. It promotes "a better understanding of the relationship between the Baha'i Faith and Islam, and to dispel some of the misconceptions which may have led to feelings of mistrust and suspicion." See: http://bci.org/islam-bahai/
Islamic Voice carries news from the Islamic world. http://www.islamicvoice.com/ They have a FAQ essay at: http://www.islamicvoice.com/august.98/zakir.htm
About Islam and Muslims provides "accurate information about Islamic Beliefs, history and civilization for Muslims and Non-Muslims" at: http://www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/
Iowa Muslim is a Muslim group in Iowa. See: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/1592/
Yesim Yesilada has a very attractive web page at: http://harunyahya.org/Eng/homeeng.html
Ahmed Hulûsi, "Allah Sufism-Islâm," at: http://www.allah-sufism-islam.com/
The Canadian Society of Muslims has a home page at: http://muslim-canada.org/
The Mist91 home page is at: http://people.goplay.com/mist91/
A series of Questions and Answers on Islam is at: http://www.islam-qa.com/
The Revival of Ilsmaic dawah at: http://www.troid.org/
The Salafi creed worship & methodology at: http://www.salafipublications.com/
Al-Qur'an was-Sunnah Society at: http://www.qss.org/
Ahmadiyya Awareness Portal is a web site containing information on the Ahmadiyyat movement, pro and con. See: http://users.pandora.be/heba4u/aaportal/
"Jihad explained," The Institute of Islamic Information and Education at: http://www.irshad.org/islam/iiie/iiie_18.htm

Books about Islam:

Dar-us-Salam Publications produces Islamic books in Arabic, English, French, Spanish, Urdu and other languages. See: http://www.dar-us-salam.com/
River Garden Arts, an Islamic book publisher, invites all Muslims to share their stories in the new book: "Coming to Islam: A Muslim Anthology, Volumes 8 & 9." See: http://members.aol.com/RvrGdnArts/islam1.htm