Islam

1. Islam Aaron Prill Cole Wiese The Symbol of Islam

2. Founders • Islam 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 • The prophet Muhammad was a religious, political and military leader from Mecca • Islam was founded in 622 ce, it originated in the Arabian Peninsula, Islam currently has 1.5 billion followers. • Allah is the Diety, and their sacred text is the Qur’an/Koran A depiction of The Prophet Muhammad

3. The Five Pillars • The Five Pillars consist of a ritual profession of faith (the Shahadah), ritual prayer (Salah), the zakat (donation of wealth), fasting (sawm) and the hajj (or pilgrimage to the holy land). • The Five Pillars are core beliefs that shape Muslim thought, deed and society. A Muslim who fulfills The Five Pillars of Islam, remains in the faith of Islam. The Five Pillars of Islam

4. The First Pillar (Shahadah) • TheShahada is the Muslim profession of faith and the first of the ‘Five Pillars’ of Islam.  The word shahada in Arabic means ‘testimony.’  The shahadais to testify to two things: • (a)   Nothing deserves worship except God (Allah). • (b)  Muhammad is the Messenger of God (Allah). • A Muslim is simply one who bears witness and testifies that “nothing deserves worship except God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” One becomes a Muslim by making this simple declaration. • It must be recited by every Muslim at least once in a lifetime with a full understanding of its meaning and with an assent of the heart.  Muslims say this when they wake up in the morning, and before they go to sleep at night.  It is repeated five times in the call to prayer in every mosque.  A person who utters the shahada as their last words in this life has been promised Paradise. The Shahadah in Arabic and English

5. The Second Pillar (Salah) • Salahis the daily ritual prayer enjoined upon all Muslims as one of the five Pillars of Islam.  It is performed five times a day by all Muslims.  Salah is a precise worship, different from praying on the inspiration of the moment.  Muslims pray or, perhaps more correctly, worship five times throughout the day: • ·        Between first light and sunrise. • ·        After the sun has passed the middle of the sky. • ·        Between mid-afternoon and sunset. • ·        Between sunset and the last light of the day. • Between darkness and midnight. Each prayer may take at least 5 minutes, but it may be lengthened as a person wishes.  Muslims can pray in any clean environment, alone or together, in a mosque or at home, at work or on the road, indoors or out.  Under special circumstances, such as illness, journey, or war, certain allowances in the prayers are given to make their offering easy. Muslims praying towards Mecca

6. The Third Pillar (Zakat) • Charity is not just recommended by Islam, it is required of every financially stable Muslim.  Giving charity to those who deserve it is part of Muslim character and one of the Five Pillars of Islamic practice. Zakat is viewed as “compulsory charity”; it is an obligation for those who have received their wealth from God to respond to those members of the community in need.  Devoid of sentiments of universal love, some people know only to hoard wealth and to add to it by lending it out on interest.  Islam’s teachings are the very antithesis of this attitude.  Islam encourages the sharing of wealth with others and helps people to stand on their own and become productive members of the society. A painting depicting Zakat

7. The Third Pillar (continued) • In Arabic it is known as zakat which literally means “purification”, because zakat is considered to purify one’s heart of greed.  Love of wealth is natural and it takes firm belief in God for a person to part with some of his wealth.  Zakat must be paid on different categories of property — gold, silver, money; livestock; agricultural produce; and business commodities and is payable each year after one year’s possession.  It requires an annual contribution of 2.5 percent of an individual’s wealth and assets. Muslims are required to pay an annual contribution of 2.5% of their individual wealth

8. The Fourth Pillar (Sawm) • Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan , is the fourth pillar of Islam. Ordained in the Holy Qur’an the fast is a deep act of personal worship in which Muslims seek a richer perception of God. Fasting is also an exercise in self-control whereby one’s sensitivity is heightened to the sufferings of the poor. Ramadan, the month where the Holy Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, begins with the sighting of the new moon, after which abstention from eating, drinking and other sensual pleasures is obligatory from dawn to sunset. Ramadan is also a joyful month. Muslims break their fast at sunset with a special meal , iftar, perform additional nocturnal worship, tarawih, after evening prayer. The end of Ramadan is observed by three days of celebration called Eid Al-Fitr, the feast of the breaking of the fast.

9. The Fifth Pillar (Hajj) • The Fifth Pillar of Islam is the Hajj (a pilgrimage to Mecca the holiest city of Islam) • The pilgrimage is made to the Kaaba, found in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudia, the ‘House of God,’ whose sanctity rests in that the Prophet Abraham built it for the worship of God.  God rewarded him by attributing the House to himself, in essence honoring it, and by making it the devotional epicenter which all Muslims face when offering the prayers (salah).  The rites of pilgrimage are performed today exactly as did by Abraham, and after him by Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon them.

10. The Fifth Pillar (continued) • Pilgrimage is viewed as a particularly meritorious activity.  Pilgrimage serves as a penance - the ultimate forgiveness for sins, devotion, and intense spirituality.  The pilgrimage to Mecca, the most sacred city in Islam, is required of all physically and financially able Muslims once in their life.  The pilgrimage rite begins a few months after Ramadan, on the 8th day of the last month of the Islamic year of Dhul-Hijjah, and ends on the 13th day.  Mecca is the center towards which the Muslims converge once a year, meet and refresh in themselves the faith that all Muslims are equal and deserve the love and sympathy of others, irrespective of their race or ethnic origin.

11. Roles of Women • At a time when female children were buried alive in Arabia and women were considered transferable property, Islam honored women in society by elevating them and protecting them with unprecedented rights. Islam gave women the right to education, to marry someone of their choice, to retain their identity after marriage, to divorce, to work, to own and sell property, to seek protection by the law, to vote, and to participate in civic and political engagement. In Islam, women are not obligated to earn or spend any money on housing, food, or general expenses. If a woman is married, her husband must fully support her financially and if she’s not married, that responsibility belongs to her closest male relative (father, brother, uncle, etc).

12. Roles of Men • A Muslim man has the privilege to: be respected and obeyed as the leader of his household and have the final say on matters such as choosing his children’s names, spending income etc., Have his property taken care of by the Women of his household in his absence, and not have any person he does no like enter his house in his absence. Apicture showing a typical Muslim Man

13. Men’s Dress • Modesty in dress is enjoined not just upon women, but also men for similar reasons.   Men must cover themselves from their navel to their knees.  It is preferable for them to also wear clothing that will cover their shoulders.  Shorts that fall above the knee are not permitted.  It is also desirable that they should cover their head (with a small cap or turban).The beard is one of the most outward expressions of a Muslim male and to not have one goes against the practices and advice of Prophet Muhammad . What a Muslim man would wear

14. Men’s Dress (continued) • Among one of the most important aspects of a man's appearance is his beard . The beard should be kept tidy and clean and the moustache should be trimmed so that it doesn't go over the lips. A Muslim man is not permitted to wear silk or gold or clothing that is saffron in color (since such clothing is customarily worn by certain groups of men who worship other gods and the Muslim should not imitate such people).  A man's clothing should also not fall below the ankles and drag on the ground out of too much pride A Muslim man with proper trimmed facial hair and proper dress

15. Holy Sites • Mecca (the most sacred place in Islam is the Ka’ba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Ka’ba is a mosque built around a black stone, The Prophet Muhammad designated Mecca as the Holy City of Islam and the direction in which all Muslims should offer their prayers) • Medina (the second most holiest site in Islam is Medina. It was to Medina that Muhammad fled when he was initially driven out of Mecca and the place where he attracted his first followers. Medina is the home of The Prophet’s Mosque) • Muslim Jerusalem (the third most holy site in Islam, which was the original direction of the prayer before it changed to Mecca. In Muslim tradition Muhammad miraculously traveled to Jerusalem by night and ascended from there into heaven. Jerusalem is also home to the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque The Ka’ba

16. Holy Sites (continued) • Karbala (Karbala is the Holy City of Shia Islam. Karbala is one of Iraq's wealthiest cities, profiting both from religious visitors and its agricultural produce. It is split into two districts, "Old Karbala", the religious center, and "New Karbala", the residential district containing Islamic schools and government buildings. At the center of the old city is the Mashad al-Husain, the tomb of Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad by his daughter Fatima and Ali ibnAbiTalib.) • Najaf Najafis one of the holiest cities in Shi'a Islam and is the center of Shi'a political power in Iraq. Najaf is renowned as the site of the tomb of Ali ibnAbiTalib (also known as Imam Ali), who the Shi'a consider to be their founder and first Imam (some believe he is buried at Mazar-e Sharif in Afghanistan). The city is now a great center of pilgrimage from throughout the Islamic world. Only Mecca and Medina receive more Muslim pilgrims) The tomb of Ali ibnAbiTalib

17. Islamic Holidays • Muharram (Islamic New Year, this year it lies on November 4th) • Mawlid al-Nabi (Muhammad’s Birthday which lies on January 13 2014) • Ramadan (month of fasting which begins on June 28th 2014) • Eid al-Fitr (Ramadan ends on July 28th 2014) • Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice which is on October 4th2014) Indian Muslims praying during Eid al-Fitr

18. Symbols • Thestar and crescent is the best-known symbol used to represent Islam. It features prominently on the flags of many countries in the Islamic world, notably Turkey and Pakistan. • Certain words in Arabic script or characters can be regarded as visually representing Islam, such as "Allah"

19. Major Beliefs • Islam is a Monotheistic religion that was founded on the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad as an expression of surrender to the will of Allah. • Essential to Islam is the belief that Allah is the one true God with no partner or equal. • Islam has two branches with very much variety in those branches. The two branches are the Sunni and the Shia The Islamic Symbol for Allah, their God

20. Major Beliefs (continued) • The Shia Muslims believe that following the Prophet Muhammad's death, leadership should have passed directly to his cousin/son-in-law, Ali bin Abu Talib. • The Sunni Muslims agree with the position taken by many of the Prophet's companions, that the new leader should be elected from among those capable of the job.

21. The Schism • The split (or schism between Sunni Islam and Shia Islam) goes all the way back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad in the year 632 and it had to do with succession; that is, who would be the rightful successor to the Prophet? • Essentially, those who became Sunni believed that the heir to Mohammad should be determined by the community of elder Muslim clerics. To the contrary, those who became Shias (a distinct minority), felt Mohammad’s successor should come from the Prophet's own family, namely Ali, his son-in-law, since Mohammad had no sons who survived into adulthood. • Schism in Islam between Shia and Sunni began immediately after the death of the Prophet Muhammad around 632 as Muslims were divided into two groups; those who supported Abu Bakr as the first successor (Caliph) of the Prophet Mohamed and those who believed that Mohamed’s son-in-law and immediate cousin, Ali, should be the Caliph.

22. The Schism (continued) • There was a bloody civil war between the two communities immediately after Abu Bakr became the caliph.  • The sectarian split and conflict between the two Muslim communities intensified after bin Umayyad came to power as MaawiyaIbn Abu Sufyan became Caliph in 661.  • Unlike the Shia, the Sunni communities uniformly condone all caliphs.

23. Fundamentalism • Islamic Fundamentalism is a broad term that refers to the philosophical or theological approach of certain groups within the Islamic tradition who hold that the Qur'an is the inerrant and literal word of God, and that Muslims are required to strictly adhere to the religious practices and moral codes found there. Most forms of Islamic Fundamentalism maintain that a true Muslim state and society is essential for following Islamic religious law, and hold that there should be no distinction between religious and political life, a position that puts them in tension with the modern democratic principle of the separation of church and state.  However, Fundamentalist Islamic movements vary greatly regarding doctrine and social and political positions. Some fundamentalist movements are markedly conservative and propound a narrow understanding of the Islamic tradition, whereas others employ Marxist and other socialist strategies and principles.

24. Influence on Art • Islamic architecture, particularly the shapes of arches, and of course the minaret, has become ingrained in Western architecture. Islamic societies were the birthplace of algebra and calculus, which are fundamental to the way we see and interact with the world today, as well as the birthplace of alchemy, which developed into modern chemistry. Muslims were great astronomers, and developed several major astronomical innovations, this influence greatly remains in Spain.

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