Islam

Islam is an Abrahamic religion. It believes in one God. Muhammad founded it. Muslims follow the Quran and the hadith (the teachings of Muhammad). There are approximately 2 billion Muslims worldwide. A person who believes in Islam is called a Muslim. Islam means submission of one's will to the will of God.

Most teachings and beliefs of Islam are written out in the Quran (the words from God) (also spelled Qur'an), the central holy scripture of Islam. Alongside the Qur'an, Muslims also believe in the previous revelations of God, such as the Tawrat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel), Muslims believe that the Quran was revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. The Quran is regarded as the word of God (or Allah), while Muhammad is regarded as the last prophet and messenger of God. Other beliefs and rules about what Muslims should do may come from hadiths.Kamali, Mohammad Hashim. A textbook of Hadith studies: authenticity, compilation, classification and criticism of Hadith. Kube Publishing Ltd, 2014. 

Muslims believe that there were many other prophets before Muhammad since the dawn of humanity, beginning with the Prophet Adam and including the Prophet Noah (Nuh), the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim), the Prophet Moses (Musa), the Prophet David (Dawuud), and the Prophet Jesus (Isa). They believe that all these prophets were given messages by God to their communities, but Satan (referred to as 'Shaytan شيطان' in Arabic) made the past communities deviate from them. Muslims believe that the content of the Quran (written in Arabic) is protected by Allah as mentioned in the Quran and is the final message of God for all of mankind until the Day of Judgement.

Most Muslims belong to one of two groups.  The most common is Sunni Islam (75–90% of all Muslims are Sunni Muslims). The second is Shia Islam (10–20% of all Muslims are Shias – also called Shiites). There are also non-denominational Muslims who do not follow any sect and school of thought (madhab); they make up a majority of the Muslims in eight countries (and a plurality in three others): Albania (65%), Kyrgyzstan (64%), Kosovo (58%), Indonesia (56%), Mali (55%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (54%), Uzbekistan (54%), Azerbaijan (45%), Russia (45%), and Nigeria (42%).

With about 1.75 billion followers (24% of the world's population), Islam is the second-largest religion in the world. Islam is also the fastest-growing religion in the world.

 History 

Muslims believe the Qur'an was first revealed to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel in a cave on the mountain of Hira in Mecca, and then over a period of twenty-three years until his death. The Quran was written in Arabic language.

After Muhammad died, the Arab Muslim leadership was assumed by Abu Bakr. He was followed by Umar, Uthman ibn Affan, Ali, and Mu'awiya I, who established the Umayyad Caliphate. Under these caliphs, Islam became one of the most important religions in the world.  Under Umar, more than two thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire was conquered by the Arab Muslims. The Arab Islamic empire reached its largest geographical extent under the Umayyad Caliphate.

Beliefs and practices 

According to the Qur’an, Muslims believe in God, his angels, his books, his messengers, the Last Day, and Fate. In accordance with a Qur’anic verse: “We have created everything with predestination As much is good and bad". And in hadith the Messenger Muhammad when he said that faith is: “to believe in God, his angels, his books, his messengers, and the Last Day, and believe in the destiny of good and bad.” Muslims believe that God is the one God who created the universe with everything in it. The Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel. They believe that he is the final messenger of all messengers that are sent before him. The Prophets are human beings, whom God chose to be his messengers. Muslims believe that the prophets are not gods, but merely human beings with some miracles to prove their prophethood. They are the ones who receive divine revelation.

The Quran mentions the names of many prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others. According to the Qur’an, all of the prophets were Muslims who preached Islam, but with different laws. Islam is defined in the Qur’an as “the instinct of God upon which people have broken in.” "Therefore set your face to the religion purely, the upright creation upon which He originated people. There is no change in the creation of Allah. This is the valuable religion, although most people do not know} (The Romans -Ar-Rum Surah, versus 30). Muslims also believe that Hanifism is the basis of Abraham's religion. And they see that the difference between the Abrahamic religions is in the Sharia (Law) only and not in the creed and that the Sharia of Islam abrogates what preceded it from the Sharia. this means that Islamic religion consists of Belief and Sharia.

As for belief, it is the set of principles that a Muslim must believe in, and it is fixed and does not differ according to the different prophets. As for Sharia (Law), it is the name for practical rulings that differ according to the different messengers.

 The Five Pillars of Islam 

According to Islamic tradition, there are five basic things that Muslims should do. They are called "The Five Pillars of Islam":
Shahadah: The Testimony (faith in English) is the core of the Muslim belief that there is no God but Allah himself, and that Muhammad is his last messenger.
 Salat: The mandatory prayer that is performed five times every day at prescribed times. When Muslims pray, they face the Kaaba, a large cubic structure located at the holy city of Mecca. Salat is namaz in Persian, Urdu and Turkish. Shia Muslims pray the afternoon and evening prayers right after each other.The Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims: A Short Introduction - Page 28, Jimmy R. Davis - 2007 
 Zakat: Muslims who have money must give 1/40th of the amount which they've had for one year as charity to help people who do not have money or need help.
 Sawm (also spelled as Siyam or Sawm):  Fasting during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year.  Muslims do not eat or drink from sunrise till sunset for one lunar month. After Ramadan, there is a holiday called Eid al-Fitr (which means "festival of end-fast" in English). On Eid al-Fitr, Muslims usually go to the mosque in the morning after sunrise for a special Salaah.
 Hajj (Pilgrimage in English): During the month of Zulhejja, the 12th month of the Islamic Calendar is the pilgrimage season where many Muslims go to Mecca, the holiest city of Islam. However, if a Muslim is financially unable to perform the Hajj, it is not necessary for them to do so. Those who possess great financial capacity were the most obligated to perform the Hajj.

Note: The Five Pillars of Islam is a term in the view of Sunni Islam that gathered out of the hadith. There is another term Usool ul-Din (Religion Principles in English) in Shia Islam. That contains five beliefs: Tawheed, Adl, Nabuwwah, Imamah, Maad.

 Quran 
In Islamic belief, the Quran is the holy book of Islam and contains what Muslims claim Allah (God) conveyed to the Prophet Muhammad through the archangel Jibraeel (Gabriel), who had been tasked since the times of Adam to convey the words of God as guidance to mankind. The Quran is the central point of reference and is a link which connects humanity with God.

The Qur'an contains many passages and chapters which cover the entire aspect of humanity, down to the most minute detail. From the creation and conception of human children, to the details of the Earth, and beyond. In the aspect of human life, it contains stories and tales of old civilizations, past prophets, and their life chronicles. The Quran contains the Sharia law or hudud, and emphasizes the equal rights of man and women alike, with mothers given special status, where it is sinful to even glare at them.

The Qur'an has a total of 30 Juzuks. In each Juz, there are many Surahs or verses, with 114 Surahatun which begin with Surah al-Fatiha (The Beginning) and ended with Surah an-Naas (Humanity). A Hafiz is a Muslim who has memorised the Quran and can accurately say every word in the Quran without flipping a single page and apply them to daily life.

Other important teachings in Islam are previous revelations of God, such as the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), the Injeel (Gospel), the Scrolls of Abraham, and the Scrolls of Moses, as well as the Sunnah (which tell about Muhammad's life) and the Hadith (which are collections of dialogues of conversation that Muslims believe Muhammad said). 

The Qur'an is considered in Islam as a manual for all of humanity and its teachings are to be implemented and shared by its readers.

Place of worship / Quran readings
Muslims pray in a place of worship called the mosque. A mosque is called a masjid in Arabic. Most mosques were mostly seen having at least a single dome, and some have one or more towers called Minarat, where the Muezzin gives the Adhan, the Call for Muslim Prayer which is 13 or 15 sentences. But many mosques were built without either domes or towers.

Muslims take their shoes off before entering the masjid to pray.  Prayer is one of the most important things that a Muslim does.

 Prayer 
The Muslim is called to prayer or salah 5 times a day. This call to prayer is called Adhan. The muezzin, a man chosen to make the call to prayer, uses a loudspeaker, which carries his voice to the people nearby.  The call to prayer is often done out loud, in public, in Muslim countries.  Being called to solah is a normal part of daily life for most people in Muslim countries.

Muslims pray on a mat, which is called a prayer mat or prayer rug in English. Common Arabic names for the prayer mat include sajjāda and namaz.

When it is time to pray, Muslims made Wudu, then face the direction of Qibla - the direction they are supposed to pray in, towards the Kabah.  They then roll out their prayer mat, and perform their prayers to God.

Peace be upon him
According to Islamic teachings, Muslims must say "صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ" shortened as "ﷺ" whenever they hear or say the Prophet's ﷺ name or ﷺ being a common noun.

Islam in the world

In 2009, a study was done in 193+1+=(195)+37 countries and territories.Miller (2009), pp.4,11 This study found that 23% of the global population or 1.57 billion people are Muslims. Of those, between 75% and 90% are SunniEncyclopædia Britannica, Sunnite  and between ten and twenty five percent are Shi'a.  A small part belong to other Islamic sects. In about fifty countries, more than half of the people are Muslim.Miller (2009), p.11  Arabs account for around twenty  percent of all Muslims worldwide. Islam has three holy sites:Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina.

Most Muslims live in Asia and Africa. Around 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million followers in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.Secrets of Islam  – U.S. News & World Report. Information provided by the International Population Center, Department of Geography, San Diego State University (2005).Miller (2009), pp.15,17

In the Middle East: The non-Arab countries such as: Turkey, and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries. In Africa: Egypt and Nigeria have the biggest Muslim communities.

Most estimates indicate that the People's Republic of China has about 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population). However, data provided by the San Diego State University's International Population Center to U.S. News & World Report suggests that China has 65.3 million Muslims.Secrets of Islam , U.S. News & World Report. Information provided by the International Population Center, Department of Geography, San Diego State University. Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in many European countries,See:
Esposito (2004) pp.2,43
and is slowly catching up to that status in the Americas.

European Islam is the term used for Muslims from the Balkans, former Yugoslavia and Crimea, it including People like Xoraxane Roma, Albanians, Bosniaks, Pomak, Gorani, Torbesh, Turks from Bulgaria, North Cyprus, Greece, Romania, North Macedonia like the Yörüks and East Thrace, the European side in Turkey like the Amuca tribe and Crimean Tatars, the majority belong to the Bektashi Sufism Dervish Tarika.

 Different denominations 
Like with other religions, over time different movements have developed in Islam. These movements are based on different interpretations of the scriptures. The following sections list the most common movements.
 Non-denominational Muslims are Muslims who do not follow any branch and simply call themselves Muslim.
 The Muwahidin or Muwahid Muslims are a Muslim restoration movement that accepts mainstream Islam, but prefer to orient themselves towards a primacy of God's commands on issues pertaining to sharia law. Muwahidists believe that modern Islam has been mixed with many cultural traditions and they want to change that.
 The Shi'ites believe that just as only God can appoint a prophet, he can appoint a second leader after the prophet. Shi'a Muslims believe that God chose Ali as the leader after Muhammad. About 10-20% of Muslims are Shi'a which means that there are about 120 million world wide. Shi'a Muslims form the majority of Muslims in Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Lebanon. The largest adhab in Yemen is Zaydi Shia. Shias commonly gather for Day of Ashura in Karbala. They accept four hadiths. 
 Sunnism considers Abu Bakr to be the successor of Muhammad. Sunnis make up roughly 75% of Muslims.From the article on Sunni Islam in Oxford Islamic Studies Online  Sunnis believe that leaders of Islam should be chosen by the people of the Muslim world. After Abu Bakr died, Omar took his place, then Uthman, and then Ali. All of them were companions of Muhammad and lived in Medina. Sunni beliefs are typically based on the Qur'an and the Kutub al-Sittah (six hadiths). Sunnis are sometimes called Bukharists.

 The Sufi are a branch  Sunnism that focuses more on the spiritual and mystic elements of Islam. Sufis usually conclude their prayers with dhikr recitations.
 Ahmadiyyas are Muslims who follow Mirza Ghulam Ahmed whom they consider to be the mahdi. They are divided into two subgroups; the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement. However, they are not recognised as Muslims by most of the  Muslim community.Historical Dictionary of Islamic Fundamentalism - Page 22, Mathieu Guidère - 2012
 The Quraniyoon accept the "Quran alone" as generally reject the authority of the hadiths. Such Muslims, also known as Quranists and Ahle Quran, believe that the Quran is the only source of guidance.  They say the hadiths are not endorsed by the Quran, and some call them an innovative bid'ah.
 Ibadis are Muslims who originated from the Kharijites. Ibadis today have reformed beliefs from original Kharijites.

 Related pages 
 Non-denominational Muslims
 Uthmaniyya
 Umayyad Caliphate
 Sunni Islam
 Shia Islam
 Quranism
 Halal
 Wudu

References

General references







Notes

Other websites

Academic resources
 Patheos Library – Islam
 University of Southern California Compendium of Muslim Texts
 Divisions in Islam

Online resources
 Islam, article at Encyclopædia Britannica

Islamic DP

Directories
Islam (Bookshelf)  at Project Gutenberg
Islam from AsiaAuthorities Asia  UCB Libraries  GovPubs 


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