Islamic views:
The term "Islam" is a verb
form of the word "salima", meaning "to be safe." Islam is
monotheistic Abrahamic religion that originated in Saudi
Arabia in the 7th century CE. A Muslim is an adherent of Islam. There are
over 1.98 billion Muslims — a quarter of the world's population, making Islam
the second-largest religion in the world. It is also the religion for the
poor. Islam means “submission to the will of God”.
A Muslim may also be called Musalmaan
in Hindi or Urdu, Moslem or Mohammedan, because the religion of Islam was
founded by Prophet Mohammed.
Five Pillars of Islam
Islam calls for Muslims to practice the
"five pillars":
- 1. Tawhid (faith): Believe in God,
believe that there is only one God, and that Prophet Muhammad was his
messenger.
- 2. Sallah (prayer): Muslims pray 5 times
a day — dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall. When they pray, they
face the city of Mecca. This prayer ritual is called namaz in Persian, Turkish
and Urdu.
- 3. Zakah (charity): All Muslims who can
afford to donate money are obligated to do so to help the community.
- 4. Sawm (fasting): Fasting during
Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year. Muslims do not eat or drink from
dawn till sunset for one lunar month. After Ramadan, there is a holiday called
Eid al-Fitr (which means "festival of end-fast" in English). On Eid
al-Fitr, Muslims usually go to the mosque in the morning for a special
religious service, and then have a party with families and friends.
- 5. Hajj (pilgrimage to
Mecca): Every able-bodied Muslim, whether man or woman, is obliged to make the
pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life. Muslims believe Mecca to be a
holy city because the Masjid al-Haram ('Sacred Mosque') — the holiest site in
Islam — is in Mecca. In 630 CE Prophet Mohammed declared it a site of
pilgrimage after his triumphant return to the city after years of exile in
Medina.
There were 1.8 billion Muslims in the
world as of 2015 – roughly 24% of the global population – according to a Pew
Research Center estimate. But while Islam is currently the world’s
second-largest religion (after Christianity), it is the fastest-growing major
religion. Indeed, if current demographic trends continue, the number of Muslims
is expected to exceed the number of Christians by the end of this century.
Although many countries in the Middle
East-North Africa region, where the religion originated in the seventh century,
are heavily Muslim, the region is home to only about 20% of the world’s
Muslims. A majority of the Muslims globally (62%) live in the Asia-Pacific
region, including large populations in Indonesia, India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey.
The Muslim population in Europe also is
growing; we project 10% of all Europeans will be Muslims by 2050.
How Islam spread so quickly in the world?
There are many reasons why Islam spread
so quickly. First Mecca was connected to many global trade routes. Another
important reason was their military conquered lots of territory. A third factor
was the Muslims fair treatment of conquered peoples.
The expansion of the Arab Empire in the
years following the Prophet Muhammad’s death led to the creation of caliphates,
who occupied a vast geographical area and sought converts to Islamic faith.
The people of the Islamic world created
numerous sophisticated centers of culture and science with far-reaching
mercantile networks, travelers, scientists, hunters, mathematicians, doctors,
and philosophers.
Historians distinguish between two
separate strands of converts of the time. One is animists and polytheists of
tribal societies of the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile crescent; the other
is the monotheistic populations of the Middle Eastern agrarian and urbanized
societies.
The Arab conquerors generally respected
the traditional middle-Eastern pattern of religious pluralism with regard to
the conquered populations, respecting the practice of other faiths in Arab territory,
although widespread conversions to Islam came about as a result of the
breakdown of historically religiously organized societies.
Historians distinguish between two
separate strands of converts of the time. One is animists and polytheists of
tribal societies of the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile Crescent; the other
is the monotheistic populations of the Middle Eastern agrarian and urbanized
societies. For the polytheistic and pagan societies, apart from the
religious and spiritual reasons each individual may have had, conversion to
Islam “represented the response of a tribal, pastoral population to the need
for a larger framework for political and economic integration, a more stable
state, and a more imaginative and encompassing moral vision to cope with the
problems of a tumultuous society.” In contrast, for sedentary and often already
monotheistic societies, “Islam was substituted for a Byzantine or Sassanian
political identity and for a Christian, Jewish or Zoroastrian religious
affiliation.” Initially, conversion was neither required nor necessarily wished
for: “ The Arab conquerors did not require the conversion as much as the
subordination of non-Muslim peoples. At the outset, they were hostile to
conversions because new Muslims diluted the economic and status advantages of
the Arabs.”
Only in subsequent centuries, with the
development of the religious doctrine of Islam and with that the understanding
of the Muslim Ummah, did mass conversion take place. The new understanding by
the religious and political leadership led in many cases to a weakening or
breakdown of the social and religious structures of parallel religious
communities such as Christians and Jews. With the weakening of many churches,
for example, and with the favoring of Islam and the migration of substantial
Muslim Turkish populations into the areas of Anatolia and the Balkans, the
“social and cultural relevance of Islam” were enhanced and a large number of
peoples were converted. During the Abbasid Caliphate, expansion ceased and
the central disciplines of Islamic philosophy, theology, law, and mysticism
became more widespread, and the gradual conversions of the populations within
the empire occurred. Significant conversions also occurred beyond the extents
of the empire, such as that of the Turkic tribes in Central Asia and peoples
living in regions south of the Sahara in Africa through contact with Muslim
traders active in the area and Sufi orders. In Africa it spread along three
routes—across the Sahara via trading towns such as Timbuktu, up the Nile Valley
through the Sudan up to Uganda, and across the Red Sea and down East Africa
through settlements such as Mombasa and Zanzibar. These initial conversions
were of a flexible nature.
The Islamic Golden Age started with the
rise of Islam and establishment of the first Islamic state
in 622.
The introduction of paper in the 10th
century enabled Islamic scholars to easily write manuscripts; Arab scholars
also saved classic works of antiquity by translating them into various languages. The
Arabs assimilated the scientific knowledge of the civilizations they had
overrun, including the ancient Greek, Roman, Persian, Chinese, Indian,
Egyptian, and Phoenician civilizations.
Scientists advanced the fields of
algebra, calculus, geometry, chemistry, biology, medicine, and astronomy.
Many forms of art flourished during the
Islamic Golden Age, including ceramics, metalwork, textiles, illuminated
manuscripts, woodwork, and calligraphy.
The Islamic Golden Age refers to a
period in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the
13th century, during which much of the historically Islamic world was ruled by
various caliphates and science, economic development, and cultural works
flourished. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the
reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (786–809) with the inauguration
of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, where scholars from various parts of the
world with different cultural backgrounds were mandated to gather and translate
all of the world’s classical knowledge into the Arabic language. The end
of the age is variously given as 1258 with the Mongolian Sack of Baghdad, or
1492 with the completion of the Christian Reconquista of the Emirate of Granada
in Al-Andalus, Iberian Peninsula. During the Golden Age, the major Islamic
capital cities of Baghdad, Cairo, and Córdoba became the main intellectual
centers for science, philosophy, medicine, and education. The government
heavily patronized scholars, and the best scholars and notable translators,
such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq, had salaries estimated to be the equivalent of those
of professional athletes today. The School of Nisibis and later the
School of Edessa became centers of learning and transmission of classical wisdom.
The House of Wisdom was a library, translation institute, and academy, and the
Library of Alexandria and the Imperial Library of Constantinople housed new
works of literature. Nestorian Christians played an important role in the
formation of Arab culture, with the Jundishapur hospital and medical academy
prominent in the late Sassanid, Umayyad, and early Abbasid periods. Notably,
eight generations of the Nestorian Bukhtishu family served as private doctors
to caliphs and sultans between the 8th and 11th centuries.
The idea that Islam was spread by the
sword has had wide currency at many different times and the impression is still
widespread among the less reflective sections of the media and the wider public
that people converted to Islam because they were forced to do so. This is, of
course, a very useful argument in all sorts of ways. It allows non-Muslims to
explain the otherwise problematic fact that so many people converted to Islam
when it was, clearly, an inferior or even completely wicked religion. Claiming
that people were forced to convert meant avoiding the difficult idea that
people might have converted because of inadequacies or failings among the
Christian clergy or worse, the intolerable thought that Islam was the true
religion and that God was on the side of the Muslims. So much easier, then, to
say that people were converted because they had no choice or rather that the
choice was between conversion and death. In this paper I want to consider the
role that violence and armed might played in the spread of Islam in the central
Middle East between the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632and about the year
1000. By the central Middle East I mean the lands between Egypt in the west and
Iran in the east. All these lands, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Iran were
conquered in the years between 632 and 650. It was an astonishing series of
campaigns and victories, campaigns and victories which have affected the
history of the area ever since. If we want to abandon cliché and take this
discussion further, we must start off with the Quran and ask what the Muslim
sacred text says about conversion and violence. The Quran contains a number of
passages instructing the Muslims as to how they should relate to the
unbelievers and the different passages seem to give very mixed messages. There
are a group of verses which recommend peaceful argument and discussion with the
non-Muslims in order to convince them of the error of their ways. 16:125, for
example, exhorts the Muslims to “Invite all to the way of your Lord with wisdom
and beautiful preaching: and argue with them in ways that are best and most
gracious: For your Lord knows best who has strayed from His path, and who
receives guidance”. A number of verses suggest that at least some Muslims were
very reluctant to join military expeditions and they are rebuked for staying at
home and doing nothing when they should have been fighting “ in the path of
God”. The number and urgency of these exhortations suggests that there was a
quietist group among the early Muslims who were, for whatever reason, reluctant
to fight aggressive wars for their new religion. In some passages those who do
not fight are shown to be missing out on the temporal benefits of victory as
well as rewards in the life to come. Sura 4:72-4, makes it clear to them“ Among
you is he who tarries behind, and if disaster overtook you [the Muslim force],
he would say “God has been gracious unto me since I was not present with them”.
And if bounty from Godbefell you, he would surely cry, as if there had been no
friendship between you and him: “Oh, would that I had been with them, then I
would have achieved a great success. Let those fight inthe path of God who sell
the life of this world for the other. Whoever fights in the path of God,
whether he be killed or be victorious, on him shall We bestow a great reward”
Other verses stress only the spiritual rewards Sura 9: 38-9 for example, reads,
“Obelievers! What is the matter with you that when it is said to you, “March
out in the path of God” you are weighed down to the ground. Are you satisfied
with the life of this world over the Hereafter? The enjoyment of the life of
this world is but little when compared with the life of the Hereafter. If you
do not march forth, He will afflict you with a painful punishment, and will
substitute another people instead of you. You cannot harm Him at all, but God
has power over everything”. Here we find the idea, expressed in so many pious
conquest narratives, that there wards of the afterlife were, or at least should
be, the motivating factor for the Muslim warrior.There are also passages which
suggest a much more militant and violent attitude to nonMuslims. The classic
statement of these views in the Qur’an comes in Qur’an 9:5 “When the sacred
months are past [in which a truce had been in force between the Muslims and
their enemies], kill the idolators wherever you find them, and seize them,
besiege them and lie in waitfor them in every place of ambush; but if they
repent, pray regularly and give the alms tax, then let them go their way, for
God is forgiving, merciful”. This verse can almost be considered the foundation
text for the Muslim conquests and its terms are echoed in numerous accounts of
the surrender of towns and countries to Muslim arms. It is somewhat tempered by
other verses suchas 9.29 “Fight those who do not believe in God or the Last
Day, and who do not forbid what hasbeen forbidden by God and His Messenger
[Muhammad], and those among the People of the Book who do not acknowledge the
religion of truth until they pay tribute [jizya], after they have been brought
low”. This verse, and others like it, make it clear that the People of the Book
(that isChristian and Jews who have revealed scriptures) should be spared as
long as they pay tribute and acknowledge their position as second class
citizens.Muslim scholars trying to reconcile these apparently contradictory
statements claimed that the earlier, more pacific passages were abrogated or
replaced by the later ones. The militant verses, especially 9:5 cited above
therefore represent to final Muslim view on Holy War. However, it would be
wrong to imagine that the argument was cut and dried at the time of the
early Muslim conquests and it was not until almost two hundred years after
the death of the Prophet that the definition of jihād began to be
formalized by such scholars as Abd Allāh b.Mubārak (d. 797)1. Quran
certainly provided scriptural support for the idea that Muslims could and
should fight the unbelievers, but at no point does it suggest that they should
be presented with the alternative of conversion or death. The alternatives are
conversion, submission and the payment of taxes or continuing war. Some, like
the distinguished Syria jurist Sufyan al-Thawri (d. 778) argued that violent
jihad could only be justified if it was defensive. Many later ascetics and
mystics argued that there were two sorts of jihad, the lesser jihad which
involved military force against the unbelievers and the greater jihad which was
the internal struggle every good Muslim conducted with his own impious and
unworthy thoughts and deeds.
The nature of the early Muslim
conquests in the Middle East made forcible conversional most impossible. The
Muslim armies were comparatively small, between ten and twenty thousand are
possible estimates for the numbers in the armies which conquered Syria and
Iraq, probably fewer in Egypt and Iran. To be sure, more Arab Muslims emigrated
from Arabia to settle in the newly conquered areas but even so the Arab Muslims
were a small minority, perhaps10% of the population of Egypt and perhaps 20% of
the most densely settled area, Iraq. In these circumstances, forcing unwilling
people to convert was out of the question. According to the traditional
accounts, much of the Arab conquests was achieved by treaty and we have texts of
many of these agreement. Here, for example is the treaty that was made by the
Caliph Umar with Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, probably 638:“In the name
of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. This is the assurance of safety(amān)
which the servant of God Umar, the Commander of the Faithful, has given to the
people of Jerusalem.. He has given them an assurance of safety for themselves,
for their property, their churches, their crosses, the sick and healthy of the
city and for all the rituals which belong to their religion. Their churches
will not be inhabited by Muslims and will not be destroyed. Neither they, nor
the land on which they stand, nor their cross, nor their property will be
damaged. They will not be forcibly converted. No Jew will live with them in
Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem must pay the poll-tax like the people of
other cities and must expel the Byzantines and the robbers. Those of the people
of Jerusalem who want to leave with the Byzantines, take their property and
abandon their churches and crosses will be safe until the reach their place of
refuge. The villagers (ahl al-ar ) (who had taken refuge in the city at the
time of the conquest) may remain in the city if they wish but must pay taxes
like the citizens.
Retaining its emphasis on an
uncompromising monotheism and a strict adherence to certain essential religious
practices, the religion taught by Muhammad to a small group of followers spread
rapidly through the Middle East to Africa, Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the
Malay Peninsula, and China. By the early 21st century there were more than 1.5
billion Muslims worldwide. Although many sectarian movements have arisen within
Islam, all Muslims are bound by a common faith and a sense of belonging to a
single community. This article deals with the fundamental beliefs
and practices of Islam and with the connection of religion and society in the
Islamic world. The history of the various peoples who embraced Islam is covered
in the article Islamic world.
From the very beginning of Islam,
Muhammad had inculcated a sense of brotherhood and a bond of faith among his
followers, both of which helped to develop among them a feeling of close
relationship that was accentuated by their experiences of persecution as a
nascent community in Mecca. The strong attachment to the tenets of the Qurʾānic
revelation and the conspicuous socioeconomic content of Islamic religious
practices cemented this bond of faith. In 622 CE, when the Prophet migrated to
Medina, his preaching was soon accepted, and the community-state of Islam
emerged. During this early period, Islam acquired its characteristic ethos as a
religion uniting in itself both the spiritual and temporal aspects of life and
seeking to regulate not only the individual’s relationship to God (through
conscience) but human relationships in a social setting as well. Thus, there is
not only an Islamic religious institution but also an Islamic law, state, and
other institutions governing society. Not until the 20th century were the
religious (private) and the secular (public) distinguished by some Muslim
thinkers.
Followers of Islam aim to live a life
of complete submission to Allah. They believe that nothing can happen without
Allah’s permission, but humans have free will. Islam teaches that Allah’s
word was revealed to the prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.
Muslims believe several prophets were
sent to teach Allah’s law. They respect some of the same prophets as Jews and
Christians, including Abraham, Moses, Noah and Jesus. Muslims contend that
Muhammad was the final prophet. Mosques are places where Muslims worship.
Some important Islamic holy places
include the Kaaba shrine in Mecca, the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, and the
Prophet Muhammad’s mosque in Medina. The Quran (or Koran) is the major
holy text of Islam. The Hadith is another important book. Muslims also revere
some material found in the Judeo-Christian Bible.
Followers worship Allah by praying and
reciting the Quran. They believe there will be a day of judgment, and life
after death. A central idea in Islam is “jihad,” which means “struggle.” While
the term has been used negatively in mainstream culture, Muslims believe it
refers to internal and external efforts to defend their faith. Although rare,
this can include military jihad if a “just war” is needed. The prophet
Muhammad, sometimes spelled Mohammed or Mohammad, was born in Mecca, Saudi
Arabia, in A.D. 570. Muslims believe he was the final prophet sent by God to
reveal their faith to mankind. According to Islamic texts and tradition,
an angel named Gabriel visited Muhammad in 610 while he was meditating in a
cave. The angel ordered Muhammad to recite the words of Allah. Muslims
believe that Muhammad continued to receive revelations from Allah throughout
the rest of his life. Starting in about 613, Muhammad began preaching
throughout Mecca the messages he received. He taught that there was no other
God but Allah and that Muslims should devote their lives to this God.
Hijra, Abu Bakr
In 622, Muhammad traveled from Mecca to
Medina with his supporters. This journey became known as the Hijra (also
spelled Hegira or Hijrah), and marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
Some seven years later,
Muhammad and his many followers returned to Mecca and conquered the region. He
continued to preach until his death in 632.
Sunnis and Shiites
When Muhammad died, there was debate
over who should replace him as leader. This led to a schism in Islam, and two
major sects emerged: the Sunnis and the Shiites. Sunnis make up nearly 90 percent of Muslims
worldwide. They accept that the first four caliphs were the true successors to
Muhammad. Shiite Muslims believe that
only the caliph Ali and his descendants are the real successors to Muhammad.
They deny the legitimacy of the first three caliphs. Today, Shiite Muslims have
a considerable presence in Iran, Iraq and Syria. After Muhammad’s passing, Islam began to
spread rapidly. A series of leaders,
known as caliphs, became successors to Muhammad. This system of leadership,
which was run by a Muslim ruler, became known as a caliphate. The first caliph was Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s
father-in-law and close friend. Abu Bakr
died about two years after he was elected and was succeeded in 634 by Caliph
Umar, another father-in-law of Muhammad.
Other Types of Islam
Other, smaller Muslim denominations
within the Sunni and Shiite groups exist. Some of these include:
Wahhabi: This Sunni sect, made up of members of
the Tameem tribe in Saudi Arabia, was founded in the 18th century. Followers
observe an extremely strict interpretation of Islam that was taught by Muhammad
bin Abd al-Wahhab.
Alawite: This Shiite form of Islam is prevalent in Syria. Followers hold similar
beliefs about the caliph Ali but also observe some Christian and Zoroastrian
holidays.
Nation of Islam: This primarily Black, Sunni sect was founded in the 1930s in Detroit,
Michigan. Black Muslims now comprise one-fifth of all Muslims in the United
States.
Sufism: A mystical denomination of Islam, those who follow the Sufi faith seek
to attain a purer state of existence through their personal and direct
relationship with God.
Kharijites: This sect broke from the Shiites after disagreeing over how to select a
new leader. They are known for radical fundamentalism, and today are called
Ibadis.
The Quran (sometimes spelled Qur’an or Koran) is
considered the most important holy book among Muslims. It contains some basic information that is
found in the Hebrew Bible as well as revelations that were given to Muhammad.
The text is considered the sacred word of God and supercedes any previous
writings. Most Muslims believe that
Muhammad’s scribes wrote down his words, which became the Quran. (Muhammad
himself was never taught to read or write.)
The book is written with Allah as the first person, speaking through
Gabriel to Muhammad. It contains 114 chapters, which are called surahs. Scholars believe the Quran was compiled
shortly after Muhammad’s death, under the guidance of Caliph Abu Bakr.
Major Muslim’s Beliefs
:
Belief in the Oneness of God: Muslims
believe that God is the creator of all things, and that God is all-powerful and
all-knowing. God has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is
unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
Belief in the Angels of God: Muslims
believe in angels, unseen beings who worship God and carry out God's orders
throughout the universe. The angel Gabriel brought the divine revelation to the
prophets.
Belief in the Books of God: Muslims
believe that God revealed holy books or scriptures to a number of God's messengers.
These include the Quran (given to Muhammad), the Torah (given to Moses), the
Gospel (given to Jesus), the Psalms (given to David), and the Scrolls (given to
Abraham). Muslims believe that these earlier scriptures in their original form
were divinely revealed, but that only the Quran remains as it was first
revealed to the prophet Muhammad.
Belief in the Prophets or Messengers of
God: Muslims believe that God's guidance has been revealed to humankind through
specially appointed messengers, or prophets, throughout history, beginning with
the first man, Adam, who is considered the first prophet. Twenty-five of these
prophets are mentioned by name in the Quran, including Noah, Abraham, Moses,
and Jesus. Muslims believe that Muhammad is the last in this line of prophets,
sent for all humankind with the message of Islam.
Belief in the Day of Judgment: Muslims
believe that on the Day of Judgment, humans will be judged for their actions in
this life; those who followed God's guidance will be rewarded with paradise;
those who rejected God's guidance will be punished with hell.
Belief in the Divine Decree: This
article of faith addresses the question of God's will. It can be expressed as
the belief that everything is governed by divine decree, namely that whatever
happens in one's life is preordained, and that believers should respond to the
good or bad that befalls them with thankfulness or patience. This concept does
not negate the concept of "free will;" since humans do not have prior
knowledge of God's decree, they do have freedom of choice.
Difference between sunni and shia:
Sunni Muslims believe that the Prophet
did not explicitly declare a successor. Shia Muslims believe that the Prophet
publicly designated his cousin and son-in-law, Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him),
as the first in a line of hereditary Imams from the Prophet's family to lead
the community after him.
The primary difference between them
lies in their beliefs regarding the rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad.
While Sunnis believe that the caliphate should be chosen by consensus, Shias
believe that it should be passed down through Prophet Muhammad's bloodline,
specifically through his cousin Ali and his descendants. Here’s a primer on the
differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims.
In terms of religious belief and
practice there are more similarities than differences between Sunni and Shi‘a
Muslims and the idea that Sunnis and Shi’as have been in perpetual conflict is
historically inaccurate. Sunni-Shi‘a differences are often blamed for increased
tensions and violence among Muslims in the Middle East and elsewhere, but in
terms of belief and practice the two have much in common. In countries where
Sunni and Shi‘a population share
fairly evenly balanced, they tend to accept one another and live together
peacefully. In countries where one group predominates and holds power tensions
tend to be greater with the minority population stigmatized and sometimes
subject to violence or terror attacks. Geo-political conflict in the country or
wider region rather than ideological differences lie behind these disputes. In
some countries, sectarian conflicts are more likely to occur between different Sunni
groups than between Sunnis and Shi‘as.
In terms of religious belief and
practice there are more similarities than differences between Sunni and Shi‘a
Muslims. Shi‘ism should not be thought of as a later branch or off-shoot of
Sunni Islam. The two traditions have their origins in a dispute following the
death of the Prophet in 632 about who should succeed him and have authority
among Muslims. The idea that Sunnis and Shi‘as have been in perpetual conflict
since this dispute is historically inaccurate.• Sunni Islam and Shi‘ism only
assumed their current forms in the ninth century, after the collection of the Prophet’s
sayings (Hadith) and the end of the line of Shi’a Imams. Although Shi‘a Muslims
only constitute between 10% and 13% of the global Muslim population, they form
the majority in five countries: Iran, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Iraq and Lebanon.
Recent conflicts between Sunnis and Shi‘as in the Middle East have arisen from
political rather than religious differences, although these have had an
ideological component.
It accuses Shi‘as of using a different,
corrupted version. Both draw on narratives of what the Prophet said(Hadith),
but they favour different collections. The five pillars of Islam are also
accepted by both groups. Despite these similarities, the two differ over the
issue of religious authority and the role of the Prophet’s descendants. Sunnis
focus on the life and example of the Prophet Muhammad and the traditions that
have built up around his life. Although Muhammad’s prophetic role is also
recognized in Shi‘ism, high status is afforded in addition to his cousin,
Ali, and his descendants, Hasan and Hussein. They are remembered by Shi‘a
Muslims in annual festivals. Both Sunni and Shi‘a Muslims keep the fast in
Ramadan, but only the latter remember the death of Ali during that month. In
addition, only Shi‘as celebrate the festival of Muharram, keeping alive the
martyrdom of Hussein at the battle of Karbala by fasting, and acts of mourning
and self-mortification. The authority vested in Muhammad’s descendants
was not thought to end with the death of Hussein. The principal branch of
Shi‘ism – Ithna ‘Ashariyyah or Twelver Shi‘ism – accepts a line of twelve
Imams, of which Hussein was the third.
Both Sunni Islam and Shi‘a Islam are
considered orthodox. Al-Azhar university in Cairo, a Sunni institution,
recognizes both Sufism and Shi‘ism in its curriculum. Sunnis and Shi‘as
have lived together and intermarried in many parts of the world over many
centuries. Nevertheless, the division between the two has deepened in the
Middle East, especially since the Iranian revolution. Claims by extremist Sunni
groups, that Shi‘as are not true Muslims, have increased in recent decades In
global research undertaken in 2012, on how Muslims perceive themselves and
others, the Pew Research Centre found that Muslims in many Middle Eastern and
North African countries held strong views about sectarian differences (with
some 40% of Sunnis not accepting Shi‘as as Muslims). In Lebanon and Iraq,
however, where Sunnis and Shi‘as have lived alongside one another, there was a
high degree of mutual acceptance. In Muslim-majority countries beyond the
Middle East.
Relations between Sunnis and Shi‘as
have been significantly impacted by Iran’s role in the region. Iran has
assisted Shi‘as in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, for example. At various
times it has provided operational, financial and ideological support for
Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and more recently for the Syrian Alawite
regime of Basharal-Assad. Shi‘a-dominated governments in Iraq and Syria have
been responsible for violence against their minority Sunni populations. On the
Sunni side, the alliance between Wahhabi leaders and the House of Saud has ensured
that Shi‘as have remained marginalized in Saudi Arabia. Extremist Salafi
movements operating in the region language. Only 2-3% of mosques serve the UK Shi’a
population. Older Sunni and Shi‘a Muslims report that they co-existed
peacefully for much of the last sixty years, but that tensions have been
growing. Wahhabi Sunni groups are blamed for this, together with radical
preachers whose views are given a platform by some mosques and university societies.
In 2013, Anjem Choudary led a demonstration in London in which banners
proclaimed that the Shi‘a were enemies of Allah. Events overseas, particularly
in Iraq and Syria, have tended to fuel potential sectarian tensions in the UK.
Some Shi‘as have reported that divisions appear to be hardening in student
societies and that they feel unwelcome in Sunni mosques. However, other Muslims
note that internal Sunni conflicts in the UK not only have a longer history
than Sunni- Shi‘a ones, but that internal divisions within Sunni Islam have become
more pronounced under the influence of Wahhabi preachers and funding.
ʿĀʾishah (bint Abī Bakr), (born
614, Mecca, Arabia—died July 678, Medina), Third wife of Muhammad. The daughter
of his supporter Abū Bakr, she became Muhammad’s favourite wife. Left a
childless widow at 18, she became politically active during the reign of the
third caliph, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, leading the opposition that resulted in his
murder in 656. She led an army against his successor, ʿAlī, who defeated her in
the Battle of the Camel. She was allowed to live her remaining years quietly in
Medina and is credited with transmitting more than a thousand Ḥadīth.
Allah, (Arabic: “God”) Standard
Arabic word for God, used by Arab Christians as well as by Muslims. According
to the Qurʾān, Allah is the creator and judge of humankind, omnipotent,
compassionate, and merciful. The Muslim profession of faith affirms that there
is no deity but God and emphasizes that he is inherently one: “nothing is like
unto him.” Everything that happens occurs by his commandment; submission to God
is the basis of Islam. The Qurʾān and the Ḥadīth contain the 99 “most beautiful
names” of God, including the One and Only, the Living One, the Real Truth, the
Hearer, the Seer, the Benefactor, and the Constant Forgiver.
prophet muhammad family tree project
