Islam – a very short overview
The word Islam means “submission to the will of God”. Islam is the second largest religion in the world. The flowers of Islam are called Muslims. It is a monotheistic religion, as the Muslims believe there is only one God. Muslims believe that Islam was revealed over 1400 years ago in Mecca, Arabia. The word for God in Arabic is Allah. Muslims believe that God sent several prophets to people to teach about his law, including Jesus, Moses, Abraham, and Muhammad. Thus all the prophets of major religions of the World are respected by Muslims. Muslims base their laws on their holy book the Qur’an, and the Sunnah.
The Qur’an is the holy book for Muslims, revealed in stages to the Prophet Muhammad over 23 years. Qur’an revelations are regarded by Muslims as the sacred word of God, intended to correct any errors in previous holy books such as the Old and New Testaments. Some Qur’an fragments have been dated as far back as the eighth, and possibly even the seventh, century. The oldest existing copy of the full text is from the ninth century. Although early variants of the Qur’an are known to have existed, Muslims believe that the text we have today was established shortly after the death of the Prophet by the Caliph Uthman. There are 114 chapters in the Qur’an, which is written in the old Arabic dialect. All the chapters except one begin with the sentence “In the name of Allah the most merciful and the most kind” – this is the thought with which Muslims should start every action.
Shariah is the Islamic Law – the disciplines and principles that govern the behavior of a Muslim individual towards his or herself, family, neighbors, community, city, nation and the Muslim polity as a whole, the Ummah. Similarly Shariah governs the interactions between communities, groups and social and economic organizations. Shariah establishes the criteria by which all social actions are classified, categorized and administered within the overall governance of the state. As one looks from a satellite at this planet, the Shariah conceives of the earth as a single ‘city’ with diverse inhabitants—in modern parlance, a ‘global village.’ Islam looks to the benefit of the society as a whole from a general perspective and presents a theoretical model that if followed provides safety and protection for society.
The Shariah, based primarily on texts from Qur’an and Sunnah, embodies broad, general rules that are immutable, not unlike today’s modern societal rules: the sanctity of life, security and freedom of expression, and the inviolability of these rights. The adaptation of law according to time and circumstance is necessitated by changes in society, and the influx of various cultures and material conditions. Islam first came to one people with one lifestyle. As the religion spread and the borders of Muslim lands expanded, all of the different civilizations, each with their own codes of law, traditions and cultures, had to be incorporated into the Islamic policy (Kabbani, 2015).
Muslims believe the Sunnah is the practical example of Prophet Muhammad and that there are five basic Pillars of Islam. These pillars are the declaration of faith, praying five times a day, giving money to charity, fasting and a pilgrimage to Mecca (at least once in a lifetime).
Salat is the obligatory Muslim prayers, performed five times each day by Muslims. All Muslims try to do this. Muslim children as young as seven are encouraged to pray.This prayer timetable gives Muslims the pattern of their day. In Islamic countries, the public call to prayer from the mosques sets the rhythm of the day for the entire population, including non-Muslims.The prayer ritual, which is over 1400 years old, is repeated five times a day by hundreds of millions of people all round the world. Carrying it out is not only highly spiritual, but connects each Muslim to all others around the world, and to all those who have uttered the same words and made the same movements at different times in Islamic history.Prayer for a Muslim involves uniting mind, soul, and body in worship; so a Muslim carrying out these prayers will perform a whole series of set movements that go with the words of the prayer. Muslims make sure that they are in the right frame of mind before they pray; they put aside all everyday cares and thoughts so that they can concentrate exclusively on God.
Interestingly, Muslims do not pray for the benefit of Allah, because they believe that Allah does not need human prayers because he has no needs at all. Muslims pray because God has told them that they are to do this, and because they believe that they obtain great benefit in doing so. In the ritual prayers each individual Muslim is in direct contact with Allah. There is no need of a priest as an intermediary. While there is a prayer leader in the mosque – the imam – he is not a priest, but rather simply a person who is most knowledgable about Islam. Muslims can pray anywhere, but it is especially good to pray with others in a mosque. Praying together in a congregation helps Muslims to realise that all humanity is one, and all are equal in the sight of Allah. Muslims must be clean before they pray (Abdulsalam, 2006). They make sure of this by performing ritual washing, called wudhu. Mosques have washing facilities.
Muslims believe that all wealth and gain are worldly charms and that everything comes from God. As such, it is their moral and religious obligation to help those less fortunate and to take care of the poor. So, a purifying tax or Zakat must be paid, as charity to help the poorer members of the Muslim community.
If somebody says that something is Haraam, they usually mean it is “forbidden”. Haraam refers to anything that is prohibited in the Qur’ran or would result in sin when committed by a Muslim. For example adultery, murder or money obtained through cheating or stealing. It can also refer to certain foods and drinks such as pork or alcohol, that are considered Haraam
Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the holiest of all Islamic beliefs and practices. It was during Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar, that Prophet Muhammad was blessed with the revelation of the Quran through the angel Jibril. During this month, Muslims must not consume any food or drink and should not be intimate with each other from sunrise to sunset. They must break their fast, with the Azan of the Maghrib prayer, at which a feast or Iftar is served and eaten. This month is very holy and prayers and an atmosphere of piety should be observed to reflect the holiness of this time period. In addition to fasting, a Muslim must abstain from foul language or thoughts, remove oneself from worldly comforts and temptations and be charitable to one and all. The traveling, the sick, the elderly and lactating and pregnant mothers are exempted from fasting temporarily, as they must make up for the lost fasts later in the month.
It is important to note that whatever the name of the religion, we can see the similarities in what is prohibited and what is valued. The basic principles and objectives of the Divine Law in Islamic religion are protecting faith, life, reason, wealth, and lineage and establishing justice in the land. Some of the fundamental prohibitions are fornication, murder, theft, and giving false witness. Moreover, such moral virtues as honesty, justice, charity, kindness, chastity, righteousness, and mercy are equally valued by Muslims as by the people practicing other religions.