Origin of Islam:
Most religious historians view Islam as having been founded in 622 CE by
Mohammed the Prophet (circa 570 to 632 CE) in Mecca, when the angel Jibreel
(Gabriel) read the first revelation to Muhammad. (Muhammad and Muhammed are
alternate spellings for his name.) Islam is seen as the youngest of the
world's great religions. However, many if not most of the followers of Islam
believe that:
Islam existed before Mohammed was born,
The origins of Islam date back to the creation of the world, and
Mohammed was the last of a series of Prophets.
Followers of Islam are called Muslims. "Muslim" is an Arabic word that
refers to a person who submits themselves to the Will of God. "Allah" is an
Arabic word which means "the One True God." An alternate spelling for
"Muslim" that is occasionally used is "Moslim"; it is not recommended
because it is often pronounced "mawzlem": which sounds like an Arabic word
for "oppressor". Some Western writers in the past have referred to Islam as
"Mohammedism"; this is deeply offensive to many Muslims, as its usage can
lead some to the concept that Mohammed the Prophet was in some way divine.
About Muhammad:
Little is known about Muhammad's childhood. He was orphaned at the age of 6
and brought up by his uncle. As a child, he worked as a shepherd. He was
taken on a caravan to Syria by his uncle at the age of 9 (or perhaps 12).
Later, as a youth, he was employed as a camel driver on the trade routes
between Syria and Arabia. Mohammed later managed caravans on behalf of
merchants. He met people of different religious beliefs on his travels, and
was able to observe and learn about Judaism, Christianity and the indigenous
Pagan religions.
After marriage, he was able to spend more time in meditation. At the age of
40, (610 CE), he was visited in Mecca by the angel Gabriel. He developed the
conviction that he had been ordained a Prophet and given the task of
converting his countrymen from their pagan, polytheistic beliefs and what he
regarded as moral decadence, idolatry, hedonism and materialism.
He met considerable opposition to his teachings. In 622 CE he moved north to
Medina due to increasing persecution. The trek is known as the hegira . Here
he was disappointed by the rejection of his message by the Jews. Through
religious discussion, persuasion, military activity and political
negotiation, Mohammed became the most powerful leader in Arabia, and Islam
was firmly established throughout the area.
By 750 CE, Islam had expanded to China, India, along the Southern shore of
the Mediterranean and into Spain. By 1550 they had reached Vienna. Wars
resulted, expelling Muslims from Spain and Europe. Since their trading
routes were mostly over land, they did not an develop extensive sea trade
(as for example the English and Spaniards). As a result, the old world
occupation of North America was left to Christians.
Believers are currently concentrated from the West coast of Africa to the
Philippines. In Africa, in particular, they are increasing in numbers,
largely at the expense of Christianity.
Many do not look upon Islam as a new religion. They feel that it is in
reality the faith taught by the ancient Prophets, Abraham, David, Moses and
Jesus. Mohammed's role as the last of the Prophets was to formalize and
clarify the faith and to purify it by removing foreign ideas that had been
added in error.
Estimates of the total number of Muslims in the world vary greatly:
0.700 billion or more, Barnes & Noble Encyclopedia 1993
0.817 billion, The Universal Almanac (1996)
0.951 billion, The Cambridge Factfinder (1993)
1.100 billion, The World Almanac (1997)
1.200 billion, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic relations)
At a level of 1.2 billion, they represent about 22% of the world's
population. They are the second largest religion in the world; Christianity
has 33%.
Islam is growing about 2.9% per year which is faster than the total world
population which increases about 2.3% annually. It is thus attracting a
progressively larger percentage of the world's population. The number of
Muslims in North America is in dispute: estimates range from under 3 million
to over 6 million. The main cause of the disagreement appears to be over how
many Muslim immigrants have converted to Christianity since they arrived in
the US. Statistics Canada reports that 253,260 Canadians identified
themselves as Muslims (0.9% of the total population) during the 1991 census.
Those figures are believed to be an under-estimate.
Important Texts
There are two main texts consulted by Muslims:
the Qur'an are the words of God. This was originally in oral and written
form; they were later assembled together into a single book, the Qur'an. Its
name is often spelled "Koran" in English. This is not recommended, as some
Muslims find it offensive.
The Hadith, which are collections of the sayings of Mohammed. They are
regarded as an excellent guide for living. However, the writings are not
regarded as having the same status as the Holy Qur'an; the latter is
considered to be God's word.
Muslim Beliefs and Practices
Muslims follow a lunar calendar which started with the hegira, a 300 mile
trek in 622 CE when Mohammed relocated from Mecca to Medina.
A Muslim's duties as described in the Five Pillars of Islam are:
to recite at least once during their lifetime the shahadah (the creed:
"There is no God but God and Mohammed is his Prophet"). Most Muslims repeat
it at least daily.
to perform the salat (prayer) 5 times a day. This is recited while orienting
one's body towards Mecca. It is done in the morning, at noon, mid-afternoon,
after sunset and just before sleeping.
to donate regularly to charity through zakat, a 2.5% charity tax, and
through additional donations to the needy as the individual believer feels
moved.
to fast during the month of Ramadan [began 1995-FEB-2, 1995 (Year 1415);
begins 1996-JAN-22 (Year 1416) and 1997-JAN-10 (Year 1417)]. This is
believed to be the month that Mohammed received the first revelation of the
Qur'an from God.
if economically and physically able, to make at least one hajj (pilgrimage)
to Mecca
Jihad (struggle) is probably the most misunderstood religious word in
existence. It often mentioned on Western TV and radio during news about the
Middle East, where it is implied to be a synonym of "holy war" - a call to
fight against non-Muslims in the defense of Islam.
The vast majority of Muslims have an entirely different definition of Jihad.
It is seen as a personal, internal struggle with one's self. The goal may be
achievement in a profession, self-purification, the conquering of primitive
instincts or the attainment of some other noble goal.
Common beliefs:
strict monotheism. God is the creator, is just, omnipotent and merciful
respect for earlier prophets and belief in their teachings: Abraham, Moses
and Jesus
that Mohammed is the last of the prophets
belief in the existence of Satan who drives people to sin
that Muslims who sincerely repent and submit to God return to a state of
sinlessness
belief in Hell where unbelievers and sinners spend eternity. One
translation of the Qur'an 98:1-8 states: "The unbelievers among the People
of the Book and the pagans shall burn for ever in the fire of Hell. They are
the vilest of all creatures." ("People of the Book" refers to Christians,
Jews and Muslims
belief in Paradise, a place of physical and spiritual pleasure where the
sinless go after death
abstinence from alcohol and gambling
rejection of racism
avoid the use of alcohol, other drugs, eating of pork, etc.
avoid gambling
that Jesus is a prophet. They regard the Christian concept of the deity of
Jesus to be blasphemous
that Jesus was not executed on the cross
Originally, in Islamic countries, there was no separation between religious
and civil law, between Islam and the state. Turkey and some other countries
have become secular states during this century. This is a controversial move
in Islamic circles.
Understanding of Jesus, within Islam and Christianity
Traditional Christians and Muslims have certain beliefs in common concerning
Jesus. They both accept that:
Jesus' birth was miraculous.
Jesus was the Messiah.
He cured people of illness.
He restored dead people to life.
However, they differ from Christians in a number of major areas. Muslims do
not believe:
In original sin (that everyone inherits a sinful nature because of Adam and
Eve's transgression)
That Jesus was killed during his crucifixion. Muslims believe that he
escaped being executed, and later reappeared to his disciples without having
first died.
That Jesus was resurrected (or resurrected himself) circa 30 CE.
Salvation is dependent either upon belief in the resurrection of Jesus (as
in Paul's writings) or belief that Jesus is the Son of God (as in the Gospel
of John).
Schools within Islam
There are different schools of jurisprudence within Islam. The main
divisions are:
Sunni Muslims: These are followers of the Hanifa, Shafi, Hanibal and Malik
schools. They constitute a 90% majority of the believers, and are considered
to be main stream traditionalists. Because they are comfortable pursuing
their faith within secular societies, they have been able to adapt to a
variety of national cultures, while following their three sources of law:
the Qur'an, Hadith and consensus of Muslims.
Shi'ite Muslims: These are followers of the Jafri school whoconstitute a
small minority of Islam. They split from the Sunnis over a dispute about the
successor to Mohammed. Their leaders, Imams promote a strict interpretation
of the Qur'an and close adherents to its teachings. They believe in 12
heavenly Imams (perfect teachers) who guide the faithful from their
locations in Paradise.
Sufism: This is a mystic tradition in which followers seek inner knowledge
directly from God through meditation and ritual and dancing. They developed
late in the 10th century CE from the Shi'ite group as an ascetic reaction to
the formalism and laws of the Qur'an. They incorporated ideas from
Neoplatonism, Buddhism, and Christianity. They emphasize personal union with
the divine. In the Middle East, some Sufi traditions are considered to be a
separate school of Islam. In North and sub-Saharan Africa, Sufism is more a
style and an approach rather than a separate school.
Unlike Christianity, Islam does not have denominational mosques. Members are
welcome to attend any mosque in any land.
Deviations from Islam
There are over 70 other groups which originated within Islam and broke away
from the Sunni or Shi'ite faith communities. Some are:
Baha'i World Faith: This is an attempt to integrate all of the world
religions. It was originally a break-away sect from Islam but has since
grown to become a separate religion.
Ahmadis: Followers of the Ahmadiyya Movement believe that God sent Ahmad
as a Messiah, "a messenger of His in this age who has claimed to have come
in the spirit and power of Jesus Christ. He has come to call all people
around one Faith, i.e. Islam..."
The movement's founder was Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908). He was
born in Qadian, India. He felt that he had a mandate from God to correct a
serious error within Christianity. Most Christians believe that Jesus is a
member of the Godhead. "...because Jesus, whom God sent as a Messiah to the
Israelites was taken for a God, Divine jealousy ordained that another man
[Ahmad] should be sent as Messiah so that the world may know that the first
Messiah was nothing more than a weak mortal."
After his death, the community elected a series of Khalifas (successors).
The current and "Fourth Successor (Khalifatul Masih IV), to the Promised
Messiah was chosen in the person of Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad" on
1982-JUN-10. The Ahmadiyya Community currently has more than 10 million
members worldwide. They are very heavily persecuted in Pakistan.
Black Muslim Movement (BMM): This is largely a black urban movement in the
US. One driving force was a rejection of Christianity as the religion of the
historically oppressing white race. It was started by Wallace Fard who built
the first temple in Detroit. Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Poole) established
a second temple in Chicago and later supervised the creation of temples in
most large cities with significant black populations. They taught that
blacks were racially superior to whites and that a racial war is inevitable.
The charismatic Malcolm X was perhaps their most famous spokesperson; he
plaid an important role in reversing the BMM's anti-white beliefs. In its
earlier years, the movement deviated significantly from traditional Islamic
beliefs (particularly over matters of racial tolerance the status of the BMM
leaders as prophets). This deviation is being reversed.
Criticisms of Islam
Islam is growing rapidly and is now followed by more than 20% of the world's
population. Christianity is not growing; its popularity has been stuck at
about 33% of the worlds population for many decades. It is in decline in the
United States (in terms of "market share"). Christian attacks on Islam are
inevitable. Most criticisms are not well grounded in reality:
Islam is often blamed for female genital mutilation. But it is obvious that
FGM is grounded in cultural tradition, not religious belief, in those
countries where it is practiced.
A number of anti-Islamic books have been written recently, criticizing some
Islamic countries for lack of religious tolerance, equality for women, lack
of democracy, etc. One of the most famous of these books is "Why I am Not a
Muslim" by Ibn Warraq, an ex-Muslim. Many reviews by readers of this
controversial book are available on-line from the Amazon.com web site. An
excellent rebuttal of the book by Jeremiah D. McAuliffe, Jr., titled
"Trends and Flaws in Some Anti-Muslim Writing as Exemplified by Ibn Warraq"
is at: http://idt.net/~balboa19/warraq/warraq1a.html
Some conservative Christian web sites include attacks on Islam. They base
their position on the inerrancy of the Bible, and their belief that
Christianity is the only valid religion. An essay by Ric Llewellyn at
http://www.seafox.com/islam.html is typical. He makes heavy use of
emotionally loaded, judgmental terms, such as: false religion, false
doctrines, dubious beginnings, fanaticism, irrational, accursed, religious
bondage, cults, wicked doctrines, etc. It is our belief that these attacks
are counter-productive. The main result of these web pages is to demonstrate
the degree of intolerance and hatred held by their Webmasters; this does not
reflect well on Christianity.
The media has historically disseminated a very negative image of Islam. It
overwhelmingly reports on the beliefs and practices of the most conservative
wing of the religion. Many non-Muslims are unaware that a moderate wing even
exists in Islam. A number of anti-defamation groups have been organized to
combat these negative portrayals. CAIR, The Council on American-Islamic
Relations is a leader in this field.
Related essay
A joint Senate/House resolution promoting religious tolerance towards
Muslims.
References:
IslamiCity maintains a wide-ranging web site at: http://www.islamicity.org/
Arshad's Islam World is an easily read, extensive web site on Islam. See:
http://members.home.net/arshad/
A guide to Islam for non-Muslims titled "A brief illustrated guide to
understanding Islam" is available on-line. See: http://www.islam-guide.com/
IslamicWeb is at: http://islamicweb.com/
The Caltech Muslim Student Association (MSA) maintains an impressive web
site at: http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/calmsa.html. It includes essays
on Islam and many links to other Islamic WWW sites.
"The true religion," has about 200 clearly-worded essays on Islam at:
http://thetruereligion.org
Mona's "Islam for women," isn't just for women. It has a group of
clearly-worded essays about all aspects of Islam. See:
http://members.xoom.com/islam4women/
The Muslim Student Association at the University of West Virginia has an
equally inclusive web site at: http://www.wvu.edu/~msa/
The Al Muhaddith Project has over 160 MB of Islamic texts, in Arabic and
English; Indonesian is expected soon. See:
http://www.muhaddith.com/index.html
The Sunnah Islamic Page is at: http://www.al-sunnah.com/ Of particular
interest to non-Muslims is their essay on misconceptions about the religion
at: http://members.aol.com/call2truth/misconceptions.html
The Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project has a web site at:
http://www.al-islam.org/
A major Islamic site from Indonesia is IsNet at: http://www.isnet.org/
An inclusive Web site: "Islam, the fastest growing religion in the world"
discusses Islam, its relationship to science, the role of women in Islam,
comparison of Islam with other religions, and other topics. Of particular
interest are a series of debates on various topics of interest to Muslims
and Christians. See: http://www.beconvinced.com
Islam and the Baha'i Faith is a Web site by an individual member of the
Baha'i Faith. It promotes "a better understanding of the relationship
between the Baha'i Faith and Islam, and to dispel some of the misconceptions
which may have led to feelings of mistrust and suspicion." See:
http://bci.org/islam-bahai/
Islamic Voice carries news from the Islamic world.
http://www.islamicvoice.com/ They have a FAQ essay at:
http://www.islamicvoice.com/august.98/zakir.htm
About Islam and Muslims provides "accurate information about Islamic
Beliefs, history and civilization for Muslims and Non-Muslims" at:
http://www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/
Iowa Muslim is a Muslim group in Iowa. See:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/1592/
Yesim Yesilada has a very attractive web page at:
http://harunyahya.org/Eng/homeeng.html
Ahmed Hulūsi, "Allah Sufism-Islām," at: http://www.allah-sufism-islam.com/
The Canadian Society of Muslims has a home page at:
http://muslim-canada.org/
The Mist91 home page is at: http://people.goplay.com/mist91/
A series of Questions and Answers on Islam is at: http://www.islam-qa.com/
The Revival of Ilsmaic dawah at: http://www.troid.org/
The Salafi creed worship & methodology at:
http://www.salafipublications.com/
Al-Qur'an was-Sunnah Society at: http://www.qss.org/
River Garden Arts, an Islamic book publisher, invites all Muslims to share
their stories in the new book: "Coming to Islam: A Muslim Anthology, Volumes
8 & 9." See: http://members.aol.com/RvrGdnArts/islam1.htm
Copyright © 1995 to 2000 incl.
Last update: 2000-FEB-24
Hyperlinks checked: 1999-NOV-22
Author: B. A. Robinson
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