Islam
| Islam | |
|---|---|
| الإسلام al-Islām | |
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| Classification | Abrahamic |
| Scripture | |
| Theology | Monotheistic |
| Region | Worldwide[3] |
| Language | Quranic Arabic |
| Territory | Islamic world |
| Founder | Muhammad[4] |
| Origin | c. 610 CE Jabal al-Nour |
| Separations | |
| Number of followers | est. 2 billion[8]  (individually referred to as Muslims, collectively referred to as the Ummah) |
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Islam[a] is an Abrahamic religion based on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. The monotheistic religion has an estimated 2 billion worldwide adherents, called Muslims. Islam is the world's second-largest religious population after Christianity. Muslims believe that there is a primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets and messengers, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, and they believe that Islam is the universal and complete version of this faith.
Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God and the unaltered, final revelation. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations, such as the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injil (Gospel). They believe that Muhammad is the main and final prophet of God, through whom the religion was completed, and after whom no new prophet or divine law will come. The teachings and normative examples of Muhammad, called the Sunnah, documented in accounts called Hadith, provide a constitutional model for Muslims. Islam is based on the belief in the oneness and uniqueness of God (tawhid), and belief in the afterlife (akhirah) with the Last Judgment—wherein the righteous will be rewarded in paradise (jannah) and the unrighteous will be punished in hell (jahannam). The Five Pillars, considered obligatory acts of worship, are the Islamic oath and creed (shahada), daily prayers (salah), almsgiving (zakat), fasting in the month of Ramadan (sawm), and a pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). Islamic law (sharia), touches on virtually every aspect of life, from banking and finance and welfare to men's roles and women's roles and the environment. The two main religious festivals are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The three holiest sites are Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem.
Islam originated in Mecca c. 610 CE. Muslims believe this is when Muhammad received his first revelation. By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam. Islam rapidly expanded beyond Arabia under the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates. The two main Islamic branches are Sunni Islam (87–90%) and Shia Islam (10–13%).[10] Sunni and Shia Muslims together constitute nearly the entire global Muslim population, with estimates ranging from approximately 1.7–1.8 billion Sunnis to 285–300 million Shias worldwide.[11][12][13] While the Shia–Sunni divide initially arose from disagreements over the succession to Muhammad, they grew to cover a broader dimension, both theologically and juridically. The Sunni canonical hadith collection consists of The Six Books, while the Shia canonical hadith collection consists of The Four Books. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 53 countries.[8] Approximately 12% of the world's Muslims live in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country; 31% live in South Asia; 20% live in the Middle East–North Africa; and 15% live in sub-Saharan Africa. Muslims are also present in the Americas, China, and Europe. Muslims are the world's fastest-growing major religious group, primarily due to a higher fertility rate and younger age structure compared to other major religions.[14] Islam is projected to be the world's largest religion by the end of the 21st century, surpassing that of Christianity.[15][16]
Etymology
In Arabic, Islam (Arabic: إسلام, lit. 'submission [to God]')[17][18] is the verbal noun of Form IV originating from the verb سلم (salama), from the triliteral root س-ل-م (S-L-M), which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of submission, safeness, and peace.[19] In a religious context, it refers to the total surrender to the will of God.[20] A Muslim (مُسْلِم), the word for a follower of Islam,[21] is the active participle of the same verb form, and means "submitter (to God)" or "one who surrenders (to God)". However, Quranic studies scholar Mohsen Goudarzi has argued that in the Quran the word dīn means "worship", the islām means "monotheism" and the muslim means "monotheist".[22] In the Hadith of Gabriel, Islam is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān (faith), and ihsān (excellence).[23][24] Islam itself was historically called Mohammedanism in the English-speaking world. This term has fallen out of use and is sometimes said to be offensive, as it suggests that a human being, rather than God, is central to Muslims' religion.[25]
Articles of faith
The Islamic creed (aqidah) requires belief in six articles: God, angels, revelation, prophets, the Day of Resurrection, and the divine predestination.[26]
God
The central concept of Islam is tawḥīd (Arabic: توحيد), the oneness of God. It is usually thought of as a precise monotheism, but is also panentheistic in Islamic mystical teachings.[27][28] God is seen as incomparable and without multiplicity of persons such as in the Christian Trinity, and associating multiplicity to God or attributing God's attributes to others is seen as idolatry, called shirk. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules and do not attribute forms to God. God is instead described and referred to by several names or attributes, the most common being Ar-Rahmān (الرحمان) meaning "The Entirely Merciful", and Ar-Rahīm (الرحيم) meaning "The Especially Merciful" which are invoked at the beginning of most chapters of the Quran.[29][30] The direct Arabic name for God, Allāh (الله), a term with no plural or gender, is also commonly used in other languages by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews to refer to God, whereas ʾilāh (إله) is a term used for a deity or a god in general.[31] Islam teaches that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God's command as expressed by the wording, "Be, and it is,"[i] and that the purpose of existence is to worship God.[32] He is viewed as a personal god and no intermediaries, such as clergy, are needed to enable contact with God. Awareness of God is referred to as taqwa.
Angels
Angels (singular: Arabic: ملك, malak) are beings described in the Quran[33] and hadith.[34] They are described as created to worship God and also to serve in other specific duties such as communicating revelations from God, recording every person's actions, and taking a person's soul at the time of death. They are described as being created variously from 'light' (nūr)[35][36][37] or 'fire' (nār).[38][39][40][41] Islamic angels are often represented in anthropomorphic forms combined with supernatural images, such as wings, being of great size or wearing heavenly articles.[42][43][44][45] Common characteristics for angels include a lack of bodily needs and desires, such as eating and drinking.[46] Some of them, such as Gabriel (Jibrīl) and Michael (Mika'il), are mentioned by name in the Quran. Angels play a significant role in literature about the Mi'raj, where Muhammad encounters several angels during his journey through the heavens.[34] Further angels have often been featured in Islamic eschatology, theology and philosophy.[47]
Scriptures
The pre-eminent holy text of Islam is the Quran. Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by God, through the archangel Gabriel, on multiple occasions between 610 CE[48] and 632, the year Muhammad died.[49] While Muhammad was alive, these revelations were written down by his companions, although the primary method of transmission was orally through memorization.[50] The Quran is divided into 114 chapters (sūrah) which contain a combined 6,236 verses (āyāt). The chronologically earlier chapters, revealed at Mecca, are concerned primarily with spiritual topics, while the later Medinan chapters discuss more social and legal issues relevant to the Muslim community. Muslim jurists consult the hadith ('accounts'), or the written record of Muhammad's life, to both supplement the Quran and assist with its interpretation. The science of Quranic commentary and exegesis is known as tafsir.[51][52] In addition to its religious significance, the Quran is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature,[53][54] and has influenced art and the Arabic language.[55]
Islam also holds that God has sent revelations, called wahy, to different prophets numerous times throughout history. However, Islam teaches that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, such as the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospel), have become distorted—either in interpretation, in text, or both,[56][57][58][59] while the Quran (lit. 'Recitation') is viewed as the final, verbatim and unaltered word of God.[60][61][62][63]
Prophets
Prophets (Arabic: أنبياء, anbiyāʾ) are believed to have been chosen by God to preach a divine message. Some of these prophets additionally deliver a new book and are called "messengers" (رسول, rasūl).[65] Muslims believe prophets are human and not divine. All of the prophets are said to have preached the same basic message of Islam – submission to the will of God – to various nations in the past, and this is said to account for many similarities among religions. The Quran recounts the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus, among others.[66][67] The stories associated with the prophets beyond the Quranic accounts are collected and explored in the Qisas al-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets).
Muslims believe that God sent Muhammad as the final prophet ("Seal of the prophets") to convey the completed message of Islam.[68][69] In Islam, the "normative" example of Muhammad's life is called the sunnah (literally "trodden path"). Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's moral behaviors in their daily lives, and the sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Quran.[70][71][72][73] This example is preserved in traditions known as hadith, which are accounts of his words, actions, and personal characteristics. Hadith Qudsi is a sub-category of hadith, regarded as God's verbatim words quoted by Muhammad that are not part of the Quran. A hadith involves two elements: a chain of narrators, called sanad, and the actual wording, called matn. There are various methodologies to classify the authenticity of hadiths, with the commonly used grading scale being "authentic" or "correct" (صحيح, ṣaḥīḥ); "good" (حسن, ḥasan); or "weak" (ضعيف, ḍaʻīf), among others. The Kutub al-Sittah are a collection of six books, regarded as the most authentic reports in Sunni Islam. Among them is Sahih al-Bukhari, often considered by Sunnis to be one of the most authentic sources after the Quran.[74] Another well-known source of hadiths is known as The Four Books, which Shias consider as the most authentic hadith reference.[75][76]
Resurrection and judgment
Belief in the "Day of Resurrection" or Yawm al-Qiyāmah (Arabic: يوم القيامة) is also crucial for Muslims. It is believed that the time of Qiyāmah is preordained by God, but unknown to man. The Quran and the hadith, as well as the commentaries of scholars, describe the trials and tribulations preceding and during the Qiyāmah. The Quran emphasizes bodily resurrection, a break from the pre-Islamic Arabian understanding of death.[77][78][79]
On Yawm al-Qiyāmah, Muslims believe all humankind will be judged by their good and bad deeds and consigned to Jannah (paradise) or Jahannam (hell).[80] The Quran in Surat al-Zalzalah describes this as: "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it." The Quran lists several sins that can condemn a person to hell. However, the Quran makes it clear that God will forgive the sins of those who repent if he wishes. Good deeds, like charity, prayer, and compassion towards animals[81] will be rewarded with entry to heaven. Muslims view heaven as a place of joy and blessings, with Quranic references describing its features. Mystical traditions in Islam place these heavenly delights in the context of an ecstatic awareness of God.[82][83][84] Yawm al-Qiyāmah is also identified in the Quran as Yawm ad-Dīn (يوم الدين "Day of Religion");[ii] as-Sāʿah (الساعة "the Last Hour");[iii] and al-Qāriʿah (القارعة "The Clatterer").[iv]
Divine predestination
Some Muslims believe in divine predestination, (Arabic: القضاء والقدر, al-qadāʾ wa l-qadar) that every matter is decreed by God.[85][86][87][88] The Muʿtazila and certain Shia Muslims do not believe in the concept.[89][90][91][92][93][94] Often, this belief in divine destiny is expressed with the phrase Inshallah, (Arabic: إن شاء الله, if God wills) when speaking on future events.[95]
Acts of worship
There are five acts of worship that are considered duties–the Shahada (declaration of faith), the five daily prayers, Zakat (almsgiving), fasting during Ramadan, and the Hajj pilgrimage–collectively known as "The Pillars of Islam" (Arkān al-Islām). In addition, Muslims also perform other optional supererogatory acts that are encouraged but not considered to be duties.[96]
Declaration of faith
The shahadah[97] is an oath declaring belief in Islam. The expanded statement is "ʾašhadu ʾal-lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāhu wa ʾašhadu ʾanna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh" (أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمداً رسول الله), or, "I testify that there is no deity except God and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God."[98] Islam is sometimes argued to have a very simple creed with the shahada being the premise for the rest of the religion. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the shahada in front of witnesses.[99][100]
Prayer
Prayer in Islam is called as-salah (Arabic: الصلاة), or the more Persian word Namaz. It is seen as a personal communication with God, and consists of repeating units called rakat that include bowing and prostrating to God. There are five timed prayers each day that are considered duties. The prayers are recited in the Arabic language and performed in the direction of the Kaaba. The act also requires a state of ritual purity achieved by means of either a routine wudu ritual wash or, in certain circumstances, a ghusl full body ritual wash.[101][102][103][104]
A mosque, also called a masjid or a namazgah, is a place of worship for Muslims. Although the primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place of prayer, it is also an important social centre for the Muslim community. For example, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, used to also serve as a shelter for the poor.[105] Minarets are towers used to call the adhan, a vocal call to signal the prayer time.[106][107]
Almsgiving
Zakat (Arabic: زكاة, zakāh), also spelled Zakāt or Zakah, is a type of almsgiving characterized by the giving of a fixed portion (2.5% annually)[108] of accumulated wealth by those who can afford it to help the poor or needy, such as for freeing captives, those in debt, or for (stranded) travellers, and for those employed to collect zakat. It acts as a form of welfare in Muslim societies.[109] It is considered a religious obligation that the well-off owe the needy because their wealth is seen as a trust from God's bounty,[110] and is seen as a purification of one's excess wealth.[111] The total annual value contributed due to zakat is 15 times greater than global humanitarian aid donations, using conservative estimates.[112] Sadaqah, as opposed to Zakat, is a much-encouraged optional charity.[113][114] A waqf is a perpetual charitable trust, which finances hospitals and schools in Muslim societies.[115]
Fasting
In Islam, fasting (Arabic: صوم, ṣawm) precludes food and drink, as well as other forms of consumption, such as smoking, and is performed from dawn to sunset. During the month of Ramadan, it is considered a duty for Muslims to fast.[116] The fast is to encourage a feeling of nearness to God by restraining oneself for God's sake from what is otherwise permissible and to think of the needy. In addition, there are other days, such as the Day of Arafah, when fasting is optional.[117]
Pilgrimage
The Islamic pilgrimage, called the ḥajj (Arabic: حج), is to be done at least once a lifetime by every Muslim with the means to do so during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Rituals of the Hajj mostly imitate the story of the family of Abraham.[118][119] In Mecca, pilgrims walk seven times around the Kaaba, which Muslims believe Abraham built as a place of worship, and they walk seven times between Mount Safa and Marwa, recounting the steps of Abraham's wife, Hagar, who was looking for water for her baby Ishmael in the desert before Mecca developed into a settlement.[120][121][122] The pilgrimage also involves spending a day praying and worshipping in the plain of Mount Arafat as well as symbolically stoning the Devil.[123] All Muslim men wear only two simple white unstitched pieces of cloth called ihram, intended to bring continuity through generations and uniformity among pilgrims despite class or origin.[124][125] Another form of pilgrimage, Umrah, is optional and can be undertaken at any time of the year. Other sites of Islamic pilgrimage are Medina, where Muhammad died, as well as Jerusalem, a city of many Islamic prophets and the site of Al-Aqsa, which was the direction of prayer before Mecca.[126][127]
Other acts of worship
Muslims recite and memorize the whole or parts of the Quran as acts of virtue. Tajwid refers to the set of rules for the proper elocution of the Quran.[128] Many Muslims recite the whole Quran during the month of Ramadan.[129]
One who has memorized the whole Quran is called a hafiz ("memorizer"), and hadiths mention that these individuals will be able to intercede for others on Judgment Day.[130] Supplication to God, called in Arabic duʿāʾ (Arabic: دعاء IPA: [dʊˈʕæːʔ]) has its own etiquette such as raising hands as if begging.[131]
Remembrance of God (ذكر, Dhikr') refers to phrases repeated referencing God. Commonly, this includes Tahmid, declaring praise be due to God (الحمد لله, al-Ḥamdu lillāh) during prayer or when feeling thankful, Tasbih, declaring glory to God during prayer or when in awe of something and saying 'in the name of God' (بسملة, basmalah) before starting an act such as eating.[132]
History
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Muhammad and the beginning of Islam (570–632)
According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 CE and was orphaned early in life. Growing up as a trader, he became known as the "trusted one" (Arabic: الامين) and was sought after as an impartial arbitrator. He later married his employer, the businesswoman Khadija.[133] In the year 610 CE, troubled by the moral decline and idolatry prevalent in Mecca and seeking seclusion and spiritual contemplation, Muhammad retreated to the Cave of Hira in the mountain Jabal al-Nour, near Mecca. It was during his time in the cave that he is said to have received the first revelation of the Quran from the angel Gabriel.[58] The event of Muhammad's retreat to the cave and subsequent revelation is known as the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr) and is considered a significant event in Islamic history. During the next 22 years of his life, from age 40 onwards, Muhammad continued to receive revelations from God, becoming the last or seal of the prophets sent to mankind.[134]
During this time, while in Mecca, Muhammad preached first in secret and then in public, imploring his listeners to abandon polytheism and worship one God. Many early converts to Islam were women, the poor, foreigners, and slaves like the first muezzin Bilal ibn Rabah.[136] The Meccan elite felt Muhammad was destabilizing their social order by preaching about one God and giving questionable ideas to the poor and slaves because they profited from the pilgrimages to the idols of the Kaaba.[137][138]
After 12 years of the persecution of Muslims by the Meccans, Muhammad and his companions performed the Hijra ("emigration") in 622 to the city of Yathrib (current-day Medina). He established the first Islamic state there with the Medinan converts (the Ansar) and the Meccan migrants (the Muhajirun). The Constitution of Medina was signed by all the tribes of Medina. This established religious freedoms and freedom to use their own laws among the Muslim and non-Muslim communities as well as an agreement to defend Medina from external threats.[139] Meccan forces and their allies lost against the Muslims at the Battle of Badr in 624 and then fought an inconclusive battle in the Battle of Uhud[140] before unsuccessfully besieging Medina in the Battle of the Trench (March–April 627). In 628, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was signed between Mecca and the Muslims, but it was broken by Mecca two years later. As more tribes converted to Islam, Meccan trade routes were cut off by the Muslims.[141][142] By 629 Muhammad was victorious in the nearly bloodless conquest of Mecca, and by the time of his death in 632 (at age 62) he had united the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity.
Early Islam (632–750)
Muhammad died in 632 and the first successors, called Caliphs – Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali and sometimes Hasan ibn Ali[143] – are known in Sunni Islam as al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn ("Rightly Guided Caliphs").[144] Some tribes left Islam and rebelled under leaders who declared themselves new prophets but were crushed by Abu Bakr in the Ridda wars.[145][146][147][148][149] Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and heretics and taxed heavily, often helped Muslims take over their [ambiguous] lands,[150] resulting in rapid expansion of the caliphate into the Sassanid and Byzantine empires.[151][152][153] Uthman was elected in 644 and his assassination by rebels led to Ali being elected the next Caliph. In the First Fitna, Muhammad's widow, Aisha, raised an army against Ali, attempting to avenge the death of Uthman, but was defeated at the Battle of the Camel. Ali attempted to remove the governor of Syria, Mu'awiya, who was seen as corrupt. Mu'awiya then declared war on Ali and was defeated in the Battle of Siffin. Ali's decision to arbitrate angered the Kharijites, an extremist sect, who felt that by not fighting a sinner, Ali became a sinner as well. The Kharijites rebelled and were defeated in the Battle of Nahrawan but a Kharijite assassin later killed Ali. Ali's son, Hasan ibn Ali, was elected Caliph and signed a peace treaty to avoid further fighting, abdicating to Mu'awiya in return for Mu'awiya not appointing a successor.[154]
Mu'awiya began the Umayyad dynasty with the appointment of his son Yazid as successor, sparking the Second Civil War. During the Battle of Karbala, Husayn ibn Ali, Ali's second son and the prophet's grandson, was brutally killed by Yazid's forces; the event has been annually commemorated by Shia Muslims ever since. Sunnis, led by Ibn al-Zubayr and opposed to a dynastic caliphate, were defeated in the siege of Mecca. These disputes over leadership would give rise to the Sunni-Shia schism,[155] with the Shia believing leadership belongs to Muhammad's family (the Ahl al-bayt).[156] Abu Bakr's leadership oversaw the beginning of the compilation of the Quran. The Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz set up the committee, The Seven Fuqaha of Medina,[157][158] and Malik ibn Anas wrote one of the earliest books on Islamic jurisprudence, the Muwatta, as a consensus of the opinion of those jurists.[159][160][161] The Kharijites believed there was no compromised middle ground between good and evil, and any Muslim who committed a grave sin would become an unbeliever. The term "Kharijites" would also be used to refer ISIS.[162] The Murji'ah taught that people's righteousness could be judged by God alone. Therefore, wrongdoers might be considered misguided, but not denounced as unbelievers.