1. Fundamental Beliefs and Practices of Islam:
– Etymology: Islam means submission to God; Muslim refers to a follower of Islam.
– Articles of Faith: Belief in God, angels, revelation, prophets, Resurrection Day, and divine predestination.
– Central Concepts: Tawḥīd (oneness of God), purpose of existence, consciousness of God (Taqwa).
– Scriptures: The Quran, primary holy text; includes Torah, Psalms, Gospel.
– Acts of Worship: Five Pillars (Shahada, prayers, Zakat, fasting, Hajj), almsgiving (Zakat, Sadaqah, Waqf), fasting during Ramadan, pilgrimage (Hajj, Umrah), other acts of worship (recitation, Tajwid, supplication, remembrance, Al-Ikhlas).
2. Spiritual Entities in Islam:
– Angels: Created to worship and serve God, communicate revelations, and record actions.
– Prophets: Chosen by God to preach, some deliver new books, Muhammad viewed as the final prophet.
– Resurrection and Judgment: Belief in bodily resurrection, judgment of deeds, rewards and consequences.
– Divine Predestination: Every matter decreed by God, belief expressed with “In-sha-Allah.”
– History: Muhammad’s life, revelations, migration to Medina, establishment of a religious polity.
3. Islamic History and Expansion:
– Expansion of Rashidun Caliphate: Muhammad’s successors, expansion into Persian and Byzantine empires.
– Umayyad Dynasty: Conquests, struggles with legitimacy, overthrown by Abbasid Revolution.
– Classical Era (750–1258): Hadith reliability, Sunni and Shia collections, Sunni Madhhabs, Sufism, theological debates.
– Islamic Golden Age: Scientific achievements in medicine, mathematics, astronomy; contributions to medieval Europe.
– Founding and Early Expansion: Establishment of the world’s oldest university, contributions from non-Muslims, dynasties, Shia Century.
4. Pre-Modern and Modern Islamic Developments:
– Pre-Modern Era (1258–18th Century): Spread through trade networks and Sufi orders, Ottoman Empire’s influence, cultural shifts.
– Modern Era (18th–20th Centuries): Last Ottoman Caliph, puritanical movements, Salafist movements, Islamic modernism.
– Political Decline and Responses to Western Imperialism: Decline compared to European powers, Reconquista, British annexations, Sharia codification.
– End of Ottoman Empire and Caliphate: Disintegration after World War I, abolition of Ottoman Caliphate in 1924, fall of Sharifian Caliphate.
5. Intellectual, Social, and Cultural Influences in Islam:
– Intellectual Movements: Contributions of scholars like Avicenna, Rhazes, Ibn al-Haytham; concepts of algebra and function.
– Syncretism and Integration: Conversion examples, integration of beliefs like Turkish Shamanism.
– Responses to Global Changes: Intellectual reforms, Sharia codification, political responses to Western Imperialism.
– Social and Cultural Shifts: Spread through trade and Sufi orders, Ottoman Empire’s influence, cultural adaptations.
Islam (/ˈɪzlɑːm, ˈɪzlæm/ IZ-la(h)m; Arabic: ٱلْإِسْلَام, romanized: al-Islām,IPA: [alʔɪsˈlaːm], lit. 'submission [to the will of God]') is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centered on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad, the religion's founder. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number approximately 1.9 billion worldwide and are the world's second-largest religious population after Christians.
| Islam | |
|---|---|
| ٱلْإِسْلَام Al-Islām | |
 | |
| Type | Universal religion |
| Classification | Abrahamic |
| Scripture | Quran |
| Theology | Monotheistic |
| Region | Worldwide |
| Language | Quranic Arabic |
| Territory | Muslim world |
| Founder | Muhammad |
| Origin | 610 CE Jabal al-Nour, Mecca, Hejaz, Arabian Peninsula |
| Separated from | Arabian polytheism |
| Separations | Bábism Baháʼí Faith Druze Faith |
| Number of followers | c. 1.9 billion  (individually referred to as Muslims, collectively referred to as the Ummah) |
Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets and messengers, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God and the unaltered, final revelation. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations, such as the Tawrat (the Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injil (Gospel). They believe that Muhammad is the main and final Islamic prophet, through whom the religion was completed. The teachings and normative examples of Muhammad, called the sunnah, documented in accounts called the hadith, provide a constitutional model for Muslims. Islam emphasizes that God is one and incomparable. It states that there will be a "Final Judgment" wherein the righteous will be rewarded in paradise (jannah) and the unrighteous will be punished in hell (jahannam). The Five Pillars—considered obligatory acts of worship—comprise the Islamic oath and creed (shahada); daily prayers (salah); almsgiving (zakat); fasting (sawm) in the month of Ramadan; and a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. Islamic law, sharia, touches on virtually every aspect of life, from banking and finance and welfare to men's and women's roles and the environment. The two main religious festivals are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The three holiest sites in Islam are Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
The religion of Islam originated in Mecca in 610 CE. Muslims believe this is when Muhammad received his first revelation. By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam. Muslim rule expanded outside Arabia under the Rashidun Caliphate and the subsequent Umayyad Caliphate ruled from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indus Valley. In the Islamic Golden Age, specifically during the reign of the Abbasid Caliphate, much of the Muslim world experienced a scientific, economic and cultural flourishing. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various states and caliphates as well as extensive trade and religious conversion as a result of Islamic missionary activities (dawah), as well as through conquests, imperialism, and colonialism.
The two main Islamic branches are Sunni Islam (85–90%) and Shia Islam (10–15%). While the Shia–Sunni divide initially arose from disagreements over the succession to Muhammad, they grew to cover a broader dimension, both theologically and juridically. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 49 countries. Approximately 12% of the world's Muslims live in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country; 31% live in South Asia; 20% live in the Middle East–North Africa; and 15% live in sub-Saharan Africa. Muslim communities are also present in the Americas, China, and Europe. Largely due to having a high proportion of young people, and a high fertility rate, Muslims are the world's fastest-growing major religious group.
