Islam in a Changing World

Islam is one of the world's most popular religions for many reasons. Several of these reasons
include, but are not limited to its rich history, its architecture, its literature, and most
importantly, the richness of its culture. As a result of these, it's no surprise that more than one
fifth of the people of the world (1.5 billion) practice Islam. To perfectly understand how
Islam became such a great religion, one must look back at the history of Islam; the point at
which Islam first came into existence.
Aside from the beginning of Islam, one would very much be interested in how Islam spread
around the world to such an extent. To begin this discussion, one must first look at the five
pillars, or religious duties, of Islam. The five pillars of Islam are the belief in one god, the
hajj, prayer, fasting, and charity. The so called sixth pillar of Islam, called jihad, was
sometimes interpreted to mean that Muslim armies must spread Islam by the sword, or
through holy wars. It was in this fashion, that the Muslim conquests were conducted, moving
through a lot of the world at several points in time, and attempting to convert all infidels to
their religion.

Islam:
Islamic civilization has been the last great world civilization to appear to date. The
fundamental ideas and values of Islam have their roots in Muhammad's recitation of the
Qur'an from the city of MAKKAH. Despite the simplicity of this single event, Islam spread
far beyond its Arabian beginnings. As a result of the Arab conquests of the seventh century,
many people were attracted to the unity of this Islamic society. The rise of Islam as an
international tradition of religious, political, and social principles and institutions is one of the
greatest revelations of all time.
In the fifth century C.E. a merchant aristocrat called Muhammad from MAKKAH claimed to
have received a divine prophecy from God's messenger, Angel Gabriel. This prophecy is
known as the Quran. Mecca was a thriving commercial town that was a pilgrimage site where
KABA stood and was the center of the caravan trade. Mecca also held the origins of Islam.
Muhammad was motivated to begin this new religious tradition because he saw what
materialism and idolatry was doing to the world. After Muhammad's proclamation of God's
last call to the people, him and his followers fled to Medina in 622 due to the religious
persecutions they had received. This flight is known as the hegira, which is also the beginning
of the Islamic calendar.
In Medina, the organization of this new religious tradition began to develop. Muhammad, the
prophet and founder of Islam, defined his followers as being Muslim, which is being
submissive to God's will. Their beliefs were held in the Five Pillars of Islam: absolute
obedience to one God, five daily prayers facing Mecca, charity, fasting during Ramadan, and
a pilgrimage to Mecca. Muslims were also to abstain from pork and alcohol and to have

allegiance to their Islamic community. The message of the Qur'an was that the way to
paradise lay in gratitude to God for forgiveness and guidance.

Islam & the Islamic World:

Islam and the Islamic world have played and continue to play a major role in world history. In
the century following the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 C.E., Islam spread widely
and Muslim rulers created an empire that extended from North Africa to South Asia. The
empire was greater than that of Rome at its zenith. While the West passed through its Dark
Ages, Islamic civilization flourished, making major contributions to mathematics (Arabic
numerals, algebra, geometry), philosophy, medicine and other sciences, art, and architecture.
Today Islam is the second largest of the world's religions, encompassing one-fifth of the
world's population. The 1.2 billion Muslims live in some 56 Muslim countries, where they
make up a majority of the population. Moreover, if Islam and Muslims seemed invisible in
Europe and America only a few decades ago, today Islam is the second largest religion in
Europe and the third largest in the United States.
Awareness of Islam and Muslim politics came suddenly to many in America and other parts
of the world with the shock of Iran's Islamic revolution of 1978-1979, which revealed the
West's limited knowledge of Islam and the Islamic world. Ignorance and stereotypes of Islam
and Muslims were compounded by the astonishing lack of coverage of Islam in schools and
universities, the media, publications, and political analysis.
The result over the past two decades has been a flurry of studies, conferences, and media
coverage, as well as the introduction of coverage of Islam and the Muslim world in
educational curricula.The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, against New York's World
Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the resultant war against terrorism
have increased interest, coverage, and the need to know more about the faith, history, politics,
and culture of Islam and Muslims. Now, more than ever, it is important to understand the
faith of Islam, its enormos contributions to world history and civilizations, the issues that
affect the development of Muslim society, and the factors that shape and determine
international politics and relations.