Islam

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Islam is a monotheistic religion of Abraham based on the teachings of Muhammad. Islam has grown to be the second largest religion in the world, with over 1.4 billion followers. The word "Islam" means submission to God. The followers of Islam are called Muslims. Muslims practice complete monotheism, worshiping a god called Allah and believing Muhammad to be his last and greatest prophet. They live by the Koran, which they consider to be the pure and holy word of Allah. Muslims wash their hands before reading the book, which is considered complete and perfect only in the original Arabic, and burn old copies instead of throwing them away. Muslims follow the five pillars of Islam, which are straightforward and easy to understand.

Mecca, the holy city of the Muslim's

The Five Pillars of Islam are:

1. Shahadah (Profession of Faith) -The Shahadah is the Muslim profession of faith. The English translation is "There is none worthy of worship except God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God"

2. Salat (Ritual Prayer) -All Muslims are required to Pray to Allah five times each day while facing Mecca.

3. Zakat (Charity) A Muslim must donate one-fortieth of their salary to the poor.

4. Sawm (Fasting) All Muslims must fast during daylight hours during the entire month of Ramadan. According to Muslims, this purifies the body and soul.

5. Hajj (Pilgrimage) All able-bodied Muslims must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives.


Pages from the Koran, the holy book of the Islamic religion.


Islam and Paganism

Although most Muslims profess belief in a single, almighty God, a substantial minority of accredited Western scholars believe that some Muslim beliefs, like those of the early Roman Catholic Church, system can be traced back to distinctly polytheistic antecedents. Some, for example, have attempted to link Allah to a moon deity, though Allah is cited in the Koran as the God of Abraham and Isaac (Judaism and Christianity). [1] Others have pointed to the pagan roots of various Muslim prohibitions, such as the ban on pork (also practiced in Orthodox Judaism) originating in the 3rd-century AD Damascene cult of the pig-god Jamal. [2] There is some evidence that traditional Muslim scholars have been suppressing this information as well as various recently-recovered scrolls that hint at early Muslim human sacrifice, which was also a part of early Judaism which ended after the Genisis story of Abraham and Isaac (e.g., at Uhud). [3]

References

  1. ↑ Abramahov, "Islamic Theology". Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, 1988. [1]
  2. ↑ Ibid.
  3. ↑ Esposito, "The Oxford History of Islam", p. 523. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1999. [2]
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