The monotheistic religion of Islam is presented as being the fastest growing religion in the world today. It’s origins date back to nearly 600 AD to the guidelines preached by Prophet Muhammad who is quintessentially the most influential figure role in the Islamic faith and is recognized as being the last messenger of God, who is also known as Allah. Muslims, followers of Islam, go about a lifestyle with accordance to their holy book titled the Koran, which was recorded by Prophet Muhammad from the word of Allah. (Yusuf Estes) Much like its fellow world religions, Islam is greatly comparable to Judaism and Christianity. Muslims believe in an afterlife of either paradise or hellfire and a day of judgment. Furthermore, Islam is an Abrahamic faith. This means that its original followers are believed to be descendants of Abraham. Also, much like Christianity and Judaism, Islam stresses the importance of leading a life of righteousness, thoughtfulness, brotherly love, and obedience to God. Docile Muslims follow what is called the Five Pillars of Islam. These five pillars are: (1) Shahadah, belief in no god but the only and great Allah; (2) salat, prayer of five times a day; (3) sawm, fasting during the month of Ramadan; (4) zakat, charity to the poor and needy; and (5) hajj, pilgrimage to the Kaaba in the city of Mecca at least once in their lifetime. The religion of Islam’s population has been divided into two major sects, the Sunni and the Shi’ite Muslims.
Prophet Muhammad was an extremely influential man to the early followers of the Islamic faith and still is to this very day. The prophet was the individual that made it mandatory to communicate to the nations that they must change their rituals from worshipping of idols to wors...
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...ed into power, both sects believe in the same main principles Islam is centered around. Around the world, no matter which branch of Islam one may associate with, if one is a faithful Muslim he or she will believe in and follow The Five Pillars of Islam, such as fasting during the month of Ramadan, praying, reading of the Koran. The main dividing factor that acts as a separation between the two sects are the influence of the Prophet and his lessons in one branch versus the other. Sunni’s reliance on the Prophets life and morals is weighed heavily while the Shi’ite’s point of view place great emphasis on obsolete Imam and that he may come and be able to fulfill divine will. With that being said, however, most Muslims do not distinguish themselves by claiming to be part of a member to any particular branch, but rather they prefer to call themselves modestly, "Muslims.”
They have different lifestyle beliefs such as beliefs of praying, eating, and social limitations which restrict the fact that they can purely, peacefully coexist together in a diverse society. All of these religions have different beliefs of when and where they worship, such as Muslim people pray five times a day and their holy place is a Mosque. Christian people pray on Sundays at Church and the Jewish people pray Friday night to Saturday night and their holy building is a Synagogue. These religions have different ideas about when and where they pray that make them very different. Because these beliefs of when and where to pray are so different, it makes it very hard to think that these people will be able to totally respect and understand other religions without the need to be defensive or offensive to their own and other people’s religions. And therefore, the beliefs of praying make it so that these religions are separated even more so because of their praying habits ...
Huda. "Shia and Sunni Muslims: What's the Difference?" Religion and Spirituality. Ask.com, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014. .
Islam is the baby of all religions, but that most definitely does not put a damper on the incredibly large impact that Islam has had on the world. The DBQ, or document based question, is an assignment where our class digs deeper into a certain subject by carefully inspecting and dissecting primary sources from the time in which the events occurred. Then we are given a question and we must present an answer and support this claim with evidence from the sources provided. The question I have chosen is as follows: Did Islam’s most lasting and important impacts come about through trade and peaceful interaction, or did they come mainly through war in conquest? I believe and will argue that although some impacts may have been influenced by war and
During this time, Mecca was mostly populated with polytheistic followers. In 610 C.E, Prophet Muhammad, had his first revelations that advance the Islamic culture. His revelations became a way of life for his followers. When the religion started rising in numbers, Muhammad and his followers was exiled from Mecca. When the followers migrated to Medina, Islam began to spread. This religion had much influence in the locations it was practiced in. The Quran is the way of life to its people. The five pillars expressed in the Quran were the religious laws Muslims were expected to follow. They were expected to only accept there is one God and one messenger, Muhammad, pray five times a day, give the poor 2.5 percent of their savings, fast during the month of Ramandan, and pilgrimage to Mecca, where the Holy Ka’ba is located. Besides the religious impact, Muhammad also created a political empire. He united different tribes and customs. Muhammad was very influential that after his death, the religion faced a challenge. They did not have a successor or leader, so many followers left the religion, refused to pay taxes, and wars begun. In the mid- seventh century, the Muslims started wars with the Byzantine and Persian Empires and conquered them. Muslims ruled over many religious groups including Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. As the Muslims became powerful, they created laws that taxed other religious groups to practice their faith. In the “Pact of Umar”, Christians agreed under extreme circumstances in order to practice their faith. They agreed to not fix the damages done to their churches, to not display any religious ornaments, to not spread the faith, and many more. The Muslims conquered and progressed in
Islam is a religion that is based on the submission oneself to the will of God, who is called Allah. Muslims are the people believe in that, regardless of their culture, background or ethnicity. It is believed that God’s prophets brought a message for the people to worship one God without intermediaries and that prophet Muhammad was the end of G...
Both Islam and Christianity have practices or duties, which are central to the daily routines of life. The five pillars of Islam are the foundation of the way Muslims live. The first pillar of Islam is the Shahadah, the Declaration of Faith. This says; ‘There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah’. The second pillar is salah, which says that Muslims should pray five times a day. This applies to all Muslims, except Shi’is are permitted to combine the five prayers into three sessions. The third pillar is zakah, which means giving money to people who are poor or in need. The fourth pillar is sawm, which means fasting. Every year, during the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast during hours of daylight. The fifth pillar is Hajj. This is the pilgrimage to Mekkah, which
Sunni and Shia are two different part of the Islamic Religion, Sunni is the more popular side of the religion because they won who got to lead the religion. How the religion split in half is because when the Prophet Muhammad died, they could not agree on who should be ruler, so they split up and started to fight. However, they still believe in most of the things in the religion, such as Muhammad, the five pillars and Qur'an. Their main difference is what they rely on for their religion, Sunni Muslims believe in Sunnah. The Shia Muslims rely on ayatollahs. All in all, the two separate sides of the religion
Islam is also a monotheistic religion that believes there is one God. Islam is based on the teachings and normative example of Muhammad, who is considered to be the last prophet of God . People who follow the Islam faith are called Muslims. The Qur’an is the central text of the Islam faith, and Muslims believe it to be a revelation from God. There are two main denominations of Islam. There is Sunni, which is the largest denomination making up 75-90% of all Muslims and Shia, which is the second largest branch with 10-20%.
Islam the complete ‘surrender to Allah’ is a living religious tradition with the principal belief in one God – Allah. Islam has remained the same in its principle beliefs of Allah, His Angels, His Prophets, His Books, The Last Day and his complete authority over destiny and has also changed over time to ensure that Islam remains a living religious tradition. Over its history Islam has had many significant people including Al Ghazali and Aisha Bint Abu Bakr who have ensured that Islam remains living in the hearts and minds of its adherents. In addition to significant individuals participation in the Five Pillars e.g. the Hajj ensure that Islam will continue to be the living religious tradition that it is.
The division between Shia and Sunni dates back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad, and the question of who was to take over the leadership of the Muslim nation. Sunni Muslims agree with the position taken by many of the Prophet's companions, that the new leader should be elected from among those capable of the job. This is what was done, and the Prophet Muhammad's close friend and advisor, Abu Bakr, bec...
The spread of Islam in Africa had taken course from a number of factors, including external and internal forces. After my analyzing of the spread of Islam in Africa, I have gather three main themes that stuck out during the expansion of Islam: Islam and trade, the conversion conditions of Islam, and the economics/political development involving Islam. These three themes provide great insight on how Islam started to spread through out Africa. Through trade the culture and religion of Islam was spread to many different areas. This correlates to the conversion of different people, which helped spread Islam. By these conversions Islam was able to establish Islamic states, which played a factor in the development of strong economic and political
Post September 11, 2001 the life of a Muslim women living in America changed forever. Islamophobia is the prejudice against Islam or Muslims. Islamophobia is not a new concept, it has roots hundreds of years ago, however after 9/11 it became much more prevalent in America. Following 9/11 Western media used Islam and Muslim women who covered to inflict fear in American citizens. Western media framed Islam as a dangerous and hateful religion that needed to be stopped. At the same time the media became obsessed with Muslim women who veiled and wanted to save these women from their oppression. However, these articles written about the oppressed Muslim women did not feature Muslim women and their experiences veiling. They were not given a voice
The spread of Islam throughout the African continent was predominantly influenced by the trading routes in North and East Africa. While Islam was very influential in the political and economic sphere of these areas, many of the original practices and traditions of Africa remained. The dominant people who facilitated the spread of Islam throughout the continent were the elite of Africa, such as the kings, and the traders themselves. While the spread of religion is typically looked at as a spreading of faith or a way to exclude yourself from warring nations, Africa’s conversion to Islam was incredibly economical and political. Primary sources from the time period, like Meadows of Gold, serve to further highlight how the effects of trade and commerce were able to have so much impact on the spread of Islam throughout the continent.
September 11, 2001 forever changed the landscape of the generalized view of the Muslim community in the United States; these acts created a defining stereotypical image that all Muslim’s are extreme terrorists, or condone such behavior. Although this view of the Muslim community was not necessarily new, it was not widely acknowledged in America until the events of September 11th as it was continually thrust upon the public by print and news media. This study will discuss the dichotomy between representations of the Muslim community held by many in the Western culture as well as the psychological cause and effect of such depictions. The sociological “norms” as determined by popular American culture, the development of “terrorist” stereotypes through modern media, and the cause and effect postcolonial literature has had on the subject are all topics that will be evaluated. The objective of this research is to provide enhanced comprehension of the situational attitudes held by Muslims and Americans alike. Also, this will offer an educated understanding of the gap between what is believed and what is factual, in hopes of creating emphasis for the need of a new approach in creating a discrimination free partnership with the Muslim community while maintaining awareness and security.
Many people have been led to the fact that Islam is violent, but all these people do not know the truth, they hear it by the famous people and believe it. The famous people have led other people to believe that all Muslims are risky to be near. I believe that because of these Muslim terrorists, media thinks that all Muslims or believers of Islam are disgraceful, which leads to everyone believing the media.