ISLAM

•Islam is the second largest group and

one of the youngest and fastest
growing religions in the world founded
by Muhammad in the 7 century C.E.
th

•1.5 billion Muslims, comprising almost

¼ of the world population
•Majority live in Asia and Africa
•The term “Islam” originated from an Arabic
word meaning “submit.” in other words, Islam
means to “surrender or submit oneself for
obedience to God” or to “enter into a
condition of peace and security with God
through allegiance and surrender to Him.”
•“Muslim” is the Arabic word for a person who
submits.
•Allah – “the one who is God”
Symbols •The star and crescent has
become the acknowledges
representation of the Islamic
faith.
•Crescent moon or the hilal has
early connections with royalty.
•It is closely linked to the lunar
calendar that orders the
religious life of the Muslims
Historical Background
•Islam began with the Arabian desert people
around early seventh century C.E.
•They set their own beliefs and had been
influenced by other religions such as
Byzantine, Christianity, Judaism and
Zoroastrianism
Historical Background
•Pre-Islamic people worshipped a variety of
gods. While they recognize the existence of
one supreme god, local and tribal gods were
mostly venerated by the people.
•Carved images were done to represent these
gods that were often revered and given
blood sacrifices (Hopfe 1983).
Historical Background
•Pre-Islamic religion was animistic in
character.
•Spirits found in rocks, trees, and wells had to
be revered at their sanctuaries and placated
for assistance.
Historical Background
•A meteoric stone that had fallen
in Mecca centuries before
became an object of veneration
to the animistic people.
•Pilgrims then built an enclosure
around the stone that had fallen
and called it Kaaba.
The Life of Muhammad
•Around the year 570 C.E.,
Muhammad ibn Abdullah was
born in the oasis town of
Mecca.
•He belonged to the clan of
Hashim of the Quraysh tribe
that controlled the Kaaba.
The Life of Muhammad
•He was raised by his grandfather
Abd al-Muttalib.
•Later on, Muhammad was taken into caused by
his paternal uncle, Abu Talib, who was chief of
the Quraysh tribe.
The Life of Muhammad
•He worked as a caravan worker
travelling across the Arabian
Peninsula as a camel driver.
•Muhammad soon learned the various
ways and means of their belief
system because he may have met
and conversed with Christians, Jews,
and Zoroastrianians.
The Life of Muhammad
•He was married to older-
wealthy widow named Khadija,
fifteen years his senior.
•Khadija became his staunch
supporter and one of his first
converts to the new religion he
founded.
The Life of Muhammad
•Around the year 610 C.E.,
Muhammad began hearing
the voice of God, in Arabic
language, in a cave on the
summit of Mount Hira, just
outside Mecca in the Arabian
Hijaz.
The Life of Muhammad
•Around the year 610 C.E.,
Muhammad began hearing the
voice of God, in Arabic language,
in a cave on the summit of Mount
Hira, just outside Mecca in the
Arabian Hijaz.
•He first disclosed the divine revelation of God to
his wife to prevent social disorder of his tribe.
The Life of Muhammad
•The Muslims consider Muhammad as a
messenger and the last prophet sent by God to
humankind who has visited by the angel
Gabriel.
•The radical teachings of Muhammad angered
local tribes so they began persecuting him and
his loyal followers.
The Life of Muhammad
•The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina is
know as hijra which marked the beginning of the
Islamic calendar.
•The Muslims who follow Muhammad in his journey
are known as Muhajirun (“those who made the hijra”)
•Those who supported him in Medina are known as
Ansar (“the helpers”)
The Life of Muhammad
•Finally, after almost eight years of struggle,
Muhammad and his troops of around ten
thousand converts marched to Mecca and
took over the city almost unopposed. In
Kaaba, he tore down the three hundred
sixty pagan idols displayed at the holy
shrine.
The Life of Muhammad
•In632 C.E., Muhammad died at the age of
62 but his newly founded religion had
spread across the entire Arabian Peninsula
and the Muslims had been united as one
religious community.
Sacred Scriptures
•Q’uran (Koran in English) – the
sacred writing of the Muslims .
This literally means “recitation”
or “reading.”
•Quran is a copy of the eternal
scripture written in heaven but
made known to Muhammad
chapter by chapter (Hopfe 1983)
Sacred Scriptures
•Any translation of Quran, either in English
or any other language, is neither a Quran
nor a version of the Quran; rather, it is only
a translation of the meaning of the Quran
(Ibrahim 1997)
Sacred Scriptures
•For about twenty-three years, God revealed
these messages through Muhammad who
initially memorized these lines because he
was illiterate.
•He relayed these to his companion and
secretary Zayd ibn Thabit.
Sacred Scriptures
•Zayd wrote them on
leather scraps, stone
pieces, ribs of palm
leaves, shoulder blades
of animals, and
parchments
Sacred Scriptures
•The chapters that compose the Quran are
called surahs while the verses are called
ayahs which mean “evidence” or “sign”
Sacred Scriptures

•Aperson who is able to memorize the

Quran is called hafiz (“guardian”) the
female counterpart is called hafiza.
Hadith

•Itis the collection of the deeds and

sayings of Muhammad and his
followers (traditional reports or
sayings) and is the second source of
shari’a law.
Hadith

•The hadiths were collected

generations after the death of
Muhammad. These are recognized
today as second in authority after the
Koran.
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES

•Islamic religious laws cover the daily

life of all Muslims – from education,
dress, marriage, sexual relations,
justice, punishments, economics, diet,
and even rules of hospitality.
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES

•For all Muslims, there is only one

compassionate, everlasting, and
omnipotent God, being the lord of
everything in existence, including
humans.
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES

•Based on their own deeds and fully

aware of the effects of these deeds in
this life, everyone will then be sent to
either paradise or hell for perpetuity.
FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM
(the basic obligations of Muslims)

1. The Creed (Shahada)

2. Obligatory Prayer (Salat)
3. Poor Tax (Zakat)
4. Fasting (Sawm)
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj
THE CREED (SHAHADA)

•The basic creed of Islam that “there is

no God but Allah; Muhammad is the
messenger of Allah.” (“La ilaha illa
Allah; Muhammadon rasul Allah.”)
THE CREED (SHAHADA)

•To be accepted into the Islam fold, one

must recite the kalima or phrase with two
witnesses.
•Tawheed (“the unity”) – first half of kalima
•Rasillah (“acceptance of prophethood” –
the second half of kalima
1. THE CREED (SHAHADA)

•Fora Muslim to deny any part of the

Shahada is tantamount to the crime of
reversion to Islam that is punishable
under Quranic law
2. OBLIGATORY PRAYER (SALAT)

•Facing in the direction of Mecca or qiblah,

Muslims must offer prayers or salat five
times each and everyday – sunrise (as-
subh), noon (az-zuhr), mid-afternoon (al-
asr), immediately after sunset (al-
maghreb), and before midnight (al-isha)
2. OBLIGATORY PRAYER (SALAT)

•Each prayer session begins when the

strong-voiced muezzin or called recites
the call to prayer (adhan) from the
tallest point of the mosque
2. OBLIGATORY PRAYER (SALAT)

•Before any prayer commences, an

elaborate ritual washing (wudu) must
be performed to remove any
impurities and unclean substances
from the body or clothes of the
faithful.
2. OBLIGATORY PRAYER (SALAT)

•To pray, a Muslim stands on clean

ground without shoes or wearing clean
ones.
3. POOR TAX (ZAKAT)

•Muslims who live above the

subsistence level must pay zakat to aid
the underprivileged Muslims
3. POOR TAX (ZAKAT)

•The zakat is payable the moment a

Muslim has accumulated sufficient
resources starting with a basic rate
which is fortieth (2.5 percent) of a
person’s entire asset, including
savings, jewels, and land.
4. FASTING (SAWM)

•Fasting or sawm during the entire 30 days

of Ramadan, the ninth month of the
Islamic calendar.
•During this time, a Muslim refrain from
eating, drinking, smoking, and engaging
in any sexual intimacy from dusk to dawn.
4. FASTING (SAWM)

•The sawm culminates with the “Feast

of Breaking” (‘Id al-Fitr) wherein
Muslims may celebrate and partake in
festivities.
4. FASTING (SAWM)

•Any Muslim who has reached puberty

and is healthy must undertake sawm.
•Muslims who are exempted from
performing sawm include small children,
those who are on a journey, sick
persons, and mothers nursing infants.
5. PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA (HAJJ)

•Muslims must attempt to visit the Holy

Place Mecca at least once in their
lifetime during the twelfth Islamic
month.
5. PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA (HAJJ)

•For Muslim men to participate in hajj,

they must be sound, physically able,
and able to provide for their
dependents while they are on
pilgrimage to Mecca.
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES
•The Islamic
calendar is
composed of 12
lunar months
with 354 days
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

Month 1: Muharram (“The Sacred Month”)

•TheIslamic years starts in the day of
the hijra, Muhammad’s journey from
Mecca to Medina in 622 C.E.
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

Month 3: Rabi al-Awai (“The Spring”)

•Birth of the Prophet Muhhamad
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

Month 9: Ramadam (“The Month of Great

Heat”)
Muslims do not eat or drink during daylight
hours
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

Month 10: Shawwal (“The Month of

Hunting”)
•‘Id al-Fitr: The festival of the breaking the
fast
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

Month 12: Dhu al-Hijja (“The Month of

Hajj”)
•Month of Pilgimage (Hajj) to Mecca
ISLAMIC LAW
•The concept of law and justice in Islam, or
the shari’a (“the road to the watering
place”), is based upon the Quranic verses as
revealed by God to Muhammad.
ISLAMIC LAW
•The shari’a is a path of conduct that must be
followed by all Muslims. It concerns almost the
totality of a Muslim;s life – from home life,
business interests, ,marital relations, inheritance,
and various duties to the state and community.
ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE

Forbidden actions:
•Eating animals that have died from
natural causes or that were not ritually
slaughtered.
•drinking, blood, eating dried blood, and
taking liquors.
ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE

Obligatory practices: Five Pillars

•Alms giving
•Daily prayers
•Ritual fasting
ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE
•Makruh – reprehended actions but not
subject to punishments.
•Mandub – meritorious or recommended
deeds
•Mubah – permitted behaviors that are
neither good nor bad but neutral