Islam

Islam is an Abrahamic religion centered around the 7th century CE teachings of Muhammad, who Muslims believe was God's final prophet following Jesus. As with Christianity and Judaism, Islam is a monotheistic faith, believing that there has only ever been one creator god. Islam stands as one of the most common religions on Earth in both Shrouded Piety and F-Zero: Seppuku. Following the death of the Prophet, a debate would arise as to whether Abu Bakr or Ali was his largest successor. This debate would result in Islam splitting into disproportionately into groups of Sunni and Shiites, with the latter being the smaller, more concentrated of the two. In Siontix Realm literature, Sunni Islam is the only branch of Islam to be highlighted.

## Sects

### Sunni

Sunni Muslims make up the majority of the religion and by modern day can be found all around the world in large groupings. The Sunni believe in the Five Pillars of Islam, that there is only God, that Muhammad is the Prophet, that all Muslims pray five times a day in the face of Mecca, that Ramadan be observed, and that one takes on the pilgrimage to Mecca once in their lifetime. One of the key differences with Sunni Islam is the belief that the Father-in-Law, Abu Bakr, was the first successor to Muhammad, rather than Ali.

The Sunni place great emphasis on the universal power that is Allah.

#### Sunni in Shrouded Piety

*"We could end the crusades with today's enemies becoming tomorrow's allies; we only need to ask God how to make this happen. I agree that if there is a cup, we need it."*

*Ever so defiant, Bérard declared, "There will be no compromise with an enemy who has chosen the wrong path. We will champion over our enemies through faith and sword, and we will do so without fantasies."* *―Sir* *Egbert* *and Grand Master Bérard, Order of Yaktosh - Chapter 8*

The Sunni—or Islam in general—is most present in Shrouded Piety, both in Order of Yaktosh and The Osiris Contract. In both stories, Islam stands as a factional adversary to Suri and Selina.

In Order of Yaktosh, Suri's membership in the Knights Templar means that she is a factional opponent to Islamic forces in the Crusade; however, she does not personally show any hostility or even dislike to the faith, likely in part due to her misconception that Brunna is an Egyptian Muslim. The presence of Islam in the story is almost entirely centered around the Crusades, specifically the waning days of the Crusader State of Jerusalem. The most significant Muslim character in Order of Yaktosh is the Sultan Baybars, who delivers a series of crippling blows to the Templar mission.

In The Osiris Contract, Islam plays a less emphasized role, but Selina erroneously attributes the fall of the ancient Egyptian religion to Islam simply due to the fact that Islam is the dominant religion in Egypt when she is freed. Islam in this story is almost exclusively mentioned as it relates to Egypt, especially in Selina's wish to see the Ottoman Empire destroyed and Egypt freed from its control. She believes, naively, that if Egypt is liberated from Ottoman hands and a pharaoh is reinstated to the throne, that Egyptian Muslims will naturally and willingly convert back to her old faith.

The original story of Shrouded Piety, Tale of Two Godcrafts, would have lent great attention to Islam. In the original vision, come the first parliamentarian elections of Father Vickers' Cuba, his primary political opponent would have been a Sunni Imam rallying Cuba's Muslim immigrants into a reactionary party with respect to Islamic principles. Vickers', who would lead a Catholic equivalent to this, would stand as the natural political adversary to the Imam. In a twist, with the rise of socialist support in the country, Vickers' and the Imam would have agreed to a coalition government, agreeing to disagree on a religious line but stand together on the many reactionary principles they agreed upon, as such, Tale of Two Godcrafts would have followed a revolutionary Cuba led by a mixture of Christian and Muslim clergymen.

#### Sunni in F-Zero: Seppuku

Islam does not play much of a role at all in F-Zero: Seppuku; however, the Federation colony of Sand Ocean is said to be mostly Islamic due to the colonization mission being granted to the Arabic world on Earth. Although this is canon to the story, there is close to no actual mentioning of Islam in the literature itself.

The Ottoman Empire is referenced a few times as the homeplace of Black Shadow, likely suggesting he has some ties to the Islamic world, though he more than likely grew up a believer of his cult faith.

It is implied but never outright stated that Azhul is a Sunni Muslim. It is possible albeit unlikely that Abigail Flower would convert to his faith once married, but more possible that their daughter, Lynn Flower, may follow her father's faith.