Rel 134 - Islam

Islam

Tammy Jamison

REL/134

November 7, 2016

Jim Davidson

Islam

Islam is a one God-oriented religion a religion that is conveyed by the Qur’an.

Islam is the second largest religion in the world second only to Christianity. This paper will discuss Islam’s history, the significance of the Qur’an, the Five Pillars and Ramadan beginning with a brief summary of the Prophet Muhammad.

Before Islam arose, the Arabian Peninsula primary religions were Christianity, Judaism, and local traditional religions (Molloy, 2013). The Local religious practices worshipped spirits, tribal gods, capricious spirits (genie) that were believed to enter people. God known by Islam as Allah was an object of faith not of worship as he was the creator but not the object of rituals (Molloy, 2013). Mecca was already religious prior to Muhammad’s birth, Muhammad’s father passed on prior to his birth and his mother died when he was just a child leaving Muhammad to reside with his grandfather (Molloy, 2013). Abd al-Muttalib was Muhammad’s grandfather and he was known to play an important role in the Quraysh that was the primary tribe in Mecca. Muhammad was a religious person and he often went into the known caves of Mecca used for prayer to meditate this is where he received his first revelation this is recorded in the Qur’an (Molloy, 2013). Muhammad doubted his revelation originally but over time he began to share his revelations even though they were not well received. Muhammad insisted there is only one god Allah and the worship of another god was forbidden leading to destruction of of things that had been worshipped. These messages created hostility as the new revelations demeaned businesses and tribal gods causing Muhammad and his followers to leave Mecca for Yathrib this began the start of Islamic community (Molloy, 2013).

The Islamic community believes heavily in the Qur’an as it is considered sacred. Muslims believe God spoke to the Prophet Muhammad and Muhammad believed he was God’s final Prophet. The Qur’an has been translated in different languages yet the Arabic version is the only one considered to Muslims as the true authority. There are 114 chapters in the Qur’an these are considered a collection of God’s revelations to the Prophet Muhammad called suras. There is no chronological order but the suras are placed by length from longest to shortest (Molloy, 2013). The Qur’an is a guide for conduct, economics and the primary source of Muslim faith. The Qur’an has remained unchanged and by following the Qur’an is how Muslims believe they will achieve contentment and tranquility in life after death. Although the Qur’an does not specify the five pillars there are verses indicating the five pillars as foundations of Islam.