Islam is a monotheistic religion founded in the 7th century CE by the prophet Muhammad. It is one of the largest religions in the world with over 1.5 billion followers. The core beliefs of Islam include the oneness of God (Allah), belief in all prophets (including Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, etc.), holy books (Quran), angels, Day of Judgment, and destiny. The five pillars of Islam are the declaration of faith, prayer, charity, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca.
Islam is a monotheistic religion founded in the 7th century CE by the prophet Muhammad. It is one of the largest religions in the world with over 1.5 billion followers. The core beliefs of Islam include the oneness of God (Allah), belief in all prophets (including Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, etc.), holy books (Quran), angels, Day of Judgment, and destiny. The five pillars of Islam are the declaration of faith, prayer, charity, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca.
Islam is a monotheistic religion founded in the 7th century CE by the prophet Muhammad. It is one of the largest religions in the world with over 1.5 billion followers. The core beliefs of Islam include the oneness of God (Allah), belief in all prophets (including Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, etc.), holy books (Quran), angels, Day of Judgment, and destiny. The five pillars of Islam are the declaration of faith, prayer, charity, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca.
MWF 3:30 4:30 PM Prophets Mosque Prophets Mosque, Medina, Saudi Arabia. Quick Facts Formed 622 CE Origin Arabian peninsula Followers 1,500,000,000 Deity Allah Sacred Texts Qur'an Headquarters None Islam is
a monotheistic religious tradition that
developed in the Middle East in the 7th century C.E. Islam, which literally means "surrender" or "submission," was founded on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as an expression of surrender to the will of Allah, the creator and sustainer of the world. Allahis viewed as the sole Godcreator, sustainer, and restorer of the world. The will of Allah, to which human beings must submit, is made known through thesacredscriptures, the Qurn(often spelled Koran in English), which Allah revealed to his messenger, Muhammad. In Islam Muhammad is considered the last of a series of prophets (includingAdam,Noah,Abraham,Moses, Solomon, andJesus), and his message simultaneously consummates and completes the revelations attributed to earlier prophets. Muhammad the Founder of Islam Muhammad (also spelled Mohammed) born 570 AD in Mecca (current day Saudi Arabia), and passed away June 8, 632 in Medina (current day Saudi Arabia) is the founder of the religion of Islam; however, he is contrarily regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of God, the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets, as taught by the Qur'an. Muslims thus consider him the restorer of the uncorrupted original monotheistic faith of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets.He was also active as a diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, reformer, military general, and, according to Muslim belief, an agent of divine action. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad, at the age of 40, was confronted by a being that identified himself as the angel Gabriel. It was the angel Gabriel who commanded him to "proclaim the name of God."What Muhammad saw and heard in successive revelations over some 20 years was summarized in what became Islam's sacred book, The Qur'an. Six main Articles of faith in Islam
To believe in the Oneness of Allah
To believe in all His Angels To believe in all His Books To believe in all His Prophets To believe in the Day of Resurrection To believe in the Decree of Allah To believe in the Oneness of Allah
The Islamic concept of Unity also inculcates in man
the realisation of the oneness of the human species, and does away with all such barriers as divide man into racial, ethnic and colour denominations. This gives birth to the universal concept of equality in Islam, which is its distinctive feature. Hence from the vantage point of God, all human beings, wherever and in whichever age they were born, stand equal in His sight. To believe in all His Angels Let us now try to comprehend the nature of angels with reference only to the Quran and the traditions of the Holy Prophet of Islam, and not with reference to commonly held views. According to the Quran, the entire material universe as well as the entire religious universe is governed by some spiritual powers, which are referred to as angels. Although some angels are referred to as single persons -- such as Gabriel, Michael or Israel -- they in fact do not work alone. For each function there is one leader or one supreme angel who governs that function and under him work a host of angels, who are referred to in the Holy Quran as theJunoodof the Lord. Whatever they do is completely subject to the will of God and the design that He has created for things. They cannot make the slightest deviation from the set course of functions allocated to them, or from the overall plan of things made by God. To believe in all His Books
Muslims are required to believe not only in the divine
scripture revealed to the Holy Founder of Islam, which is called the Quran, but it is essential for every Muslim to believe in all such divine revelations as were vouchsafed to other prophets, from wherever and whichever age. It is an essential part of a Muslim's belief that if anyone professes belief only in the divine origin of the Quran, and refuses to acknowledge the divine origin of other books, such as the Old Testament and the New Testament etc., his profession of Islam would be invalidated. To believe in all His Prophets There are two things which are specifically mentioned in the Quran relating to this issue: a) Although the names and short histories of some prophets were revealed to the Holy Founder of Islam, the list is in no way exhaustive. They are just specimen names, and there are a large number of prophets do not find mention in the Quran. b) In the list of prophets who are specifically mentioned, there are certain names which do not seem to belong to the prophets of Israel. Many commentators therefore are inclined to believe that they are non-Arab prophets who are included in the list just for the sake of representation of the outer world. For instance, Dhul-Kifl is one name in the list of prophets which is unheard of in the Arab or Semitic references. To believe in the Day of Resurrection In the Quran are given many signs of the coming of the Hour but its exact timing is known only to God. Following is a description of the Day of Judgment taken from Surah al Qariah, the 101st Chapter of the Holly Quran: The Great Calamity; What a Great Calamity! And what should make thee know what the Great Calamity is? The day when men will be like scattered moths; And mountains will be like carded wool; Then as for him whose scales are heavy, He will have a pleasant life. But as for him whose scales are light, He will have hell as his resort. (101:2 10) To believe in the Decree of Allah We have covered in detail the five fundamental beliefs in Islam. There are, however, many other beliefs which are also very important in Islam. We will mention a few of these below: (vi) A Muslim believes in taqdir or the Divine Decree. In Islamic philosophy taqdir, or God's decree, controls the eventual outcome of all actions in this universe. (vii) A Muslim believes that every person is born innocent and free from sin. Sin is a conscious breach of some ordinance of God brought to one's attention by the Prophet, or by one's own intellect, a God-given faculty. Only when a person reaches maturity of understanding and can distinguish between right and wrong, does he become accountable for his actions. (viii) A Muslim believes that God does not hold anyone responsible unless He has shown him the right way. This is the reason why God has sent so many messengers and revelations. God always sends His guidance and warning before inflicting His punishment on people. (ix) A Muslim believes that faith is not meaningful if it is followed blindly, without reasoning or understanding. A person should use his powers of reasoning and reflect upon God's teachings. (x) A Muslim believes that every person is responsible for his own deeds and that no one carries the burden of another. On the Day of Judgment, no intercession will be accepted on behalf of another and each soul will be rewarded according to what it had earned. (xi) A Muslim believes that all prophets were sent by God and that no distinction should be made among them in this respect. The Five Pillars of Islam (Declaration of the Islamic Faith) Bearing witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah Observance of Prayer Paying Zakat Fasting during Ramadhan Pilgrimage to the house of Allah 1. DECLARATION OF FAITH The first step towards the implementation of faith in Islam is to declare it. The declaration of faith or Kalima carries in its two short sentences the essence of Islam: "There is none worthy of worship except God Muhammad is the Messenger of God" In the early days of Islam, the reciting of this Kalima marked the act of conversion to the new faith. 2. PRAYER There are two kinds of prayers in Islam: Du'a or the Silent Prayer, invoking God's help, and Salat or the ritualistic Prayer. In this section we will deal mainly with the Salat. The performing of the Salat was the rust duty enjoined upon the Holy Prophet and the keeping up of Prayer is the most frequently repeated injunction in the Holy Quran. In Islam, no one day is set aside exclusively for Prayer such as the Sabbath (Saturday) for the Jews and Sunday for the Christians. For Muslims, Prayer is made part of everyday life. There is a Prayer in the morning before sunrise; another just after midday; a third in the afternoon; a fourth at sunset; and a fifth later in the evening. The names of these five Daily Prayers are as follows: Fajr Prayer in the morning before sunrise Zuhr Prayer in the early afternoon Asr Prayer in the late afternoon Maghrib Prayer just after sunset Isha Prayer later in the evening There are certain times during the day when the performing of the Salat is prohibited. These are: o when the sun is rising o when the sun is directly overhead, and o when the sun is setting 3. FASTING The third act of worship in Islam is the fasting during the Islamic month of Ramadhan by all able, adult Muslims. The fasting begins before daybreak and continues till sunset. During this period a Muslim does not eat or drink anything and abstains from any vulgar speech or act. Fasting in some form or another has been practiced by almost all religions. The purpose of fasting in Islam is summarized below: by fasting a Muslim obeys the command of God which is a justification for fasting in itself fasting is a mini sacrifice of one's physical needs and makes one feel better spiritually experience shows that other worships like duo and Salat are more enjoyable and spiritually more beneficial, when one is fasting it is during a fast that we find out how the hungry and poor people in this world really feel even on purely medical grounds, fasting is an excellent activity and a good training for the body systems 4. PILGRIMAGE The fourth act of Islamic worship is the performing of the Hajj or the pilgrimage to Mecca. A Muslim must perform this pilgrimage at least once in his lifetime if economic and political conditions are favourable. The focal point of this pilgrimage is the Ka'ba, which was rebuilt by Prophet Abraham some 4,000 years ago. 5. ZAKAT (OBLIGATORY ALMS WITH PRESCRIBED RATE) The proceeds of Zakat are supposed to be devoted towards: relieving poverty and distress helping those in debt providing comfort and convenience for travelers providing stipends for scholarships providing ransom for prisoners of war propagation of Islam meeting the expenses for the collection of Zakat other things beneficial for the society Quick Fact Details: Formed: This date reflects Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina, considered the beginning of the Islamic calendar. Sacred Texts: While the Quran alone is considered sacred scripture, the Sunna, in its written formhadith, is also part of the Islamic canon.