Islam
Islam is one of the most important world religions (Muslim population is estimated at over 935 million), originating in the Arabian peninsula and based on the teachings of Muhammad (570-632), called the Prophet. According to the Quran, Islam is the universal and primordial religion. The Muslim is a follower of the divine revelation contained in the Quran and formulated by the Prophet Muhammad. Since, in the Qur'an, Muslim is the name given to the followers of Muhammad (Quran 22.78), Muslims are offended when they are called Mohammedans as this implies the idea of a personal worship of Mohammed, forbidden in Islam.
Muslims consider the Kaaba, at the center of the great mosque in Mecca, to be the holiest place on earth. Muslim tradition says that the patriarchs Abraham and Ishmael built the sanctuary on the first foundations laid by Adam. All the Muslims of the world pray in this direction, and all those who do not have a serious impediment must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. This image shows the ceremony in which pilgrims must kiss the Black Stone (Kaaba). The faithful remain in this place for several days, celebrating rituals.
Doctrine and Practice
The two fundamental sources of Islamic doctrine and practice are the Qur'an and the sunna (exemplary conduct of the Prophet Muhammad). Muslims regard the Qur'an as the "uncreated" word of God, revealed to Muhammad through Gabriel, the archangel of revelation. Islamists believe that God, not the Prophet, is the author of these revelations. Therefore, the Qur'an is infallible.
The Qur'an contains the revelations transmitted to Muhammad during the nearly 22 years of his prophetic life (610-632). The second essential source of Islam, the sunna or example of the Prophet, is known through the Hadith, a compilation of traditions based on what the Prophet said or did. Unlike the Quran, the Hadith are not considered infallible.
Monotheism is a central subject for Islam:the belief in one God (Allah), one and omnipotent. God performs four fundamental functions in the Universe and in humanity:creation, sustenance, guidance and judgment, which concludes with the day of judgment, in which humanity will be gathered and all individuals will be judged according to their deeds. God, who created the Universe out of absolute mercy, is also obligated to maintain it. Nature is subordinate to men who can exploit it and benefit from it. Yet the ultimate human goal is to exist for the "service of God."
As far as Islamic practice is concerned, five duties—known as the "pillars of Islam"—are fundamental:
– profession of faith or witness; "There is nothing higher than God and Muhammad is sent from him." This profession must be made publicly by every Muslim at least once in their lifetime.
– five daily prayers. During prayer, Muslims look towards the Kaaba in Mecca (Makka). Before each community prayer, a public call is made by the muezzin from the minaret of the mosque.
– Pay the zakat (obol), instituted by Muhammad.
– fasting in the month of Ramadan.
– pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca. Every adult Muslim, physically able and endowed with sufficient assets, must perform it at least once in their lifetime.
In addition to these five basic institutions, Islam imposes a ban on the consumption of alcohol and pork. Besides the Kaaba, the most important centers of Islamic life are the mosques.
Islam and society
The Islamic concept of society is theocratic, with the goal of all Muslims being the "rule of God on Earth". Islamic social philosophy is based on the belief that all spheres of life constitute an indivisible unity that must be imbued with Islamic values. This ideal inspires Islamic law, called sharia, which explains the moral goals of the community. Therefore, in Islamic society, the term law has a broader meaning than in the modern secularized West, as it encompasses moral and legal imperatives.
The basis of Islamic society is the community of believers that remains consolidated in the fulfillment of the five pillars of Islam. Its mission is to "inspire good and forbid evil" and thereby reform the Earth. The fight for this objective tries to materialize through jihad (holy war) which, if necessary, can encompass the use of violence and the use of armies. The purpose prescribed by jihad is not territorial expansion or the seizure of political power, but the conversion of peoples to Islam.
History of Islam
In Mohammed's time, the Arabian peninsula was inhabited by nomadic Bedouins—dedicated to herding and plundering—and Arabs who lived by trade. The religion of pre-Islamic Arabs was polytheistic and idolatrous, although there was an ancient tradition of monotheism. Muhammad was preceded by monotheistic orators, but with little success. Belonging to the Hashemite clan of the Kuraichita Bedouin tribe, Muhammad began his ministry at age 40, when he began preaching in Mecca, his hometown. After four years, he had converted about 40 people. Hostilized by the other inhabitants who saw that monotheistic discourse as a threat to the profits made with the caravans that stopped in Mecca to worship local idols, Muhammad ended up fleeing to Medina, in 622. From this event, known as Hegira, the Islamic calendar begins. . At the time of his death in 632, Muhammad was already the head of a religion that was rapidly gaining power.
The first important school of Islamic theology, the Mutazilite, emerged thanks to the translation of Greek philosophical works into Arabic, in the eighth and ninth centuries, and emphasized reason and rigorous logic. The question of the importance of good deeds continued, but the main emphasis was on the absolute oneness and justice of God. The Mutazilites were the first Muslims to adopt Greek philosophical methods to spread their ideas. Some of his opponents used the same methods and the debate resulted in the Islamic philosophical movement, whose first important representative was al-Kindi (9th century), who tried to reconcile the concepts of Greek philosophy with the revealed truths of Islam. In the 10th century, the Turk al–Farabi was the first Islamic philosopher to subordinate revelation and religious law to philosophy. He argued that philosophical truth is identical throughout the world and that the various existing religions are symbolic expressions of an ideal universal religion. In the 11th century, the Persian Muslim philosopher and physician Avicenna (Ibn Sina) achieved the most systematic integration of Greek rationalism with Islamic thought. Averroes, the 12th century Ibero-Muslim philosopher and physician, defended Aristotelian and Platonic concepts and became the most important Islamic philosopher in the intellectual history of the West.
The stagnation of Islamic culture after the Middle Ages resulted in a renewed insistence on original thought (ijtihad) and on religious, social and moral reform movements. The first of its kind was the Wahhabite, named in honor of its founder Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, who emerged in Arabia in the 18th century and became the leader of a great movement that integrated with the ramifications of the Muslim world. Other Islamic reformers were marked by Western ideas like Mohamed Abduh or Mohamed Iqbal. Although modern ideas are based on plausible interpretations of the Quran, Islamic fundamentalists have strongly opposed them, especially since the 1930s. They are not against modern education, science and technology, but accuse reformers of spreading Western morality. . Finally, the resentment that Muslims feel towards Western colonialism has made many of them relate to Western cultures everything that is synonymous with and representation of evil.
Arab Civilization