What is Islam and how is it related to Judaism and Christianity?

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What is Islam and how is it related to Judaism
and Christianity?

• Islam peace, submission
• Muslim submitter
• Not Mohammedanism
• Abrahams two sons
• Isaac ? the Hebrews (Judaism ? Christianity)
• Ishmael ? the Arabs (Islam)
• Islam respects the two earlier Abrahamic
  religions as Peoples of the Book

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Who was Muhammad

• b. 570 CE, d. 632 CE
• Prophet/founder human, not divine
• Lived in Arabia, near Mecca
• Orphaned by age 6, raised by grandfather and
  uncle
• Worked as a caravan driver for a woman Khadija
  15 years his senior
• Age 25 accepted offer to marry Khadija
• Sired six children, only one daughter Fatimah
  had children of her own
• Age 40 Revelation begins 610 CE, continues
  throughout remainder of the Prophets life

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What is the Quran?

• Quran recite, recitation
• Holy book of Islam
• Revealed to Muhammad by God through angel Gabriel
• Written piecemeal by scribes during or shortly
  after Muhammads life
• Compiled as a whole about 20 years after
  Muhammads death
• Comprised of 114 chapters (called surahs)
• Hadith and Sunnah (stories, sayings, and
  traditions of Muhammad)
• Quran Hadith and Sunnah Shariah (Islamic Law)

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The Development of Islam

• Early persecution by Meccans
• Year 619 wife and uncle both die
• Year 622 Hijrah - migration to Yathrib (Medina
  City of the Prophet) (year 1 AH)
• Success in Medina, defense against Meccan attacks
• Year 630 Reclaiming of Mecca
• Year 632 first Muslim pilgrimage (hajj) to
  Mecca, led by Muhammad who died a few months
  later, having united the Arab tribes under the
  banner of Islam
• Within 100 years, spread east toward India and
  west into north Africa and Spain

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Who are Muslims?

• More than one billion Muslims in the world today
• Two major groups
• Sunni 80 in many locations throughout the world
• Shiite 15, mostly in Iran
• Difference is political, basic beliefs and
  practices are the same
• Sufis are Muslim mystics, come from both Sunni
  and Shiite backgrounds
• Most Muslims are not Arab and not all Arabs are
  Muslim

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What do Muslims Believe?

• One God (Allah)
• Spiritual beings
• Angels, Jinn and the Devil (Iblis, Shaitan)
• Prophets Messengers
• Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Muhammad
• Holy Books
• Torah, Psalms, Gospels, Quran
• Decrements (destiny) Inshallah (if God wills)
• End Times (eschatology)
• Resurrection, Judgment day, Heaven Hell

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How is Islam Practiced?The Five Pillars

• Shahada Witness
• There is no God but The God (Allah) and Muhammad
  is the Prophet of God
• Salat Prayer, five times every day
• Zakat alms giving to the poor and needy
• Sawm fasting, sun-up to sun-down during month
  of Ramadan
• Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca (at least once in a
  Muslims life, if able)

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What is the Kaaba?

• Located in the center of Mecca
• Pre-dates Islam (said to have been built by
  Abraham and Ishmael as an altar to God)
• Used by pre-Muslim Arabs for worship of their
  many tribal gods (idols)
• Year 630 reclaimed by Muhammad, cleansed and
  rededicated to Allah
• Center of Islam to this day place of annual
  pilgrimage and direction of prayer for Muslims
  from all corners of the globe

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Other Sacred Places
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What is a Mosque?

• A place for prayer, study, socializing
• No shoes in prayer hall
• Women cover head, separate from men
• Wudu room for ritual cleansing before prayer
• Minaret for call to prayer (Adhaan)
• Prayer hall oriented toward Mecca (qibla)
• Imam (prayer leader) stands in mirahb(niche)

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Prohibitions

• Halal (permissible) and Haram (prohibited)
• No eating of pork (other dietary regulations
  halal)
• No gambling
• No intoxicants
• No usury (charging or paying interest on loans)
  (the rich shall not profit from helping the poor)

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What about Jihad?

• Struggle not Holy War
• Inner spiritual and moral struggle between good
  and evil
• Outer struggle to maintain proper social setting
  according to Gods will
• Struggles in the Holy Land
• Palestinian vs. Israeli, not Muslim vs. Jew
  (political, not religious)

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What about Women in Islam?

• Respected and Protected by Men
• Modest dress for both men and women
• Hijab differs from culture to culture
• Heavy cover and veil not a religious requirement

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Rights of Women

• Right to vote (citizenship)
• Right to inherit
• Right to work, earn and keep their own money
• Right to keep their own name in marriage
• Right to initiate divorce
• Right to refuse additional wives
• Female infanticide outlawed

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Resources

• Jannah.org http//www.jannah.org/
• World Assembly of Muslim Youth http//www.wamy.co.
  uk/
• Discover Islam Online http//www.discover-islam-on
  line.com/ (posters)
• PBS Documentaries
• Islam Empire of Faith http//www.pbs.org/empires/
  islam/
• Muhammad Legacy of a Prophet http//www.pbs.org/m
  uhammad/
• Muslims (Frontline) http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages
  /frontline/shows/muslims/