Islam

Islam is the worlds second largest religion, but many people dont know many aspects of the religion. Ill go through Islams history, sacred texts, sacred sites, celebrations and worship, their god and religious leaders, sacred symbols, and location and size. All of this in order for you to better understand the religion. Islams history begins around 570 A.D. when a child was born named Muhammad. Muhammads early life was rough, both his parents died before he was 6. He would live the rest of his childhood in the care of his uncle, Abu Talib. Muhammad would grow to be a trader, traveling widely in the Middle East. When Muhammad was in his Forties he began to retire to meditation in a cave near Mount Hira outside Mecca. One day, he heard the voice of the angel Gabriel. He ordered Muhammad to recite the words: In the name of thy Lord who created, Created man from a clot of blood. 3 times Muhammad said he was unable to, but Gabriel continued to demand it be recited. Finally Muhammad gave in and recited the words which are now the first 5 verses of the 96th Surah (chapter). When Muhammad returned to Mecca he only revealed his revelations to his wife and others close to him. But as more revelations were revealed to him the more he spread his knowledge among the public. This idea of one god was new to the people, but more and more people came to follow Muhammad. As his following grew so did the amount of people who were against it. Even the clan Muhammad belonged to rejected him. Many leaders in Mecca were angered by Muhammad because Mecca was a religious center for pagan religions and many relied on profit from peoples pilgrimages to the city. Others just disliked its idea of oneness of god which was so heavily centered on. After

nearly a decade of preaching, his opposition grew so great that there were even plots to assassinate Muhammad. When Muhammad learned of these plots, he and his followers fled to Yathrib, present day Medina. This movement to Medina is named the Hijrah in Islam. Muhammad spent years in Medina. The city embraced his ideas and the city became a Muslim community. To battles between Mecca and Medina during this time both won by Islamic defense. Finally in 629, Muhammad reentered Mecca with 15000 followers. No opposition occurred, and negotiations were made to claim the Kabbah destroying the pagan symbols and making the Kabbah a sacred symbol of Islam. Three years later Muhammad fell ill, and on June 8th, 632 Muhammad died. (Islamicity) Islam has two main sacred texts. The first and most important, the Quran. The Quran contains the word of god revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. The Quran is required reading for all Muslims orders to fully understand the religion. Some Muslims devote their lives to memorizing the Quran word for word. When this is accomplished they are revered in Islamic society. The second to the Quran in importance is the Hadith. The Hadith contains Islamic traditions and laws (Sunna). While not required reading, many still do read the Hadith. (Sacred-Texts) Islam has several sacred sites. The most important location in Islam is the Kabbah in Mecca. The Kahbah is a cubed shaped building claimed to have been built by Abraham. A mosque has been built around the building. Muslims are required to travel to the Kabbah at least once in their life time as commanded by the pillars of Islam, this is called Hajj. The second most important site is the Prophets Mosque in Medina. This mosque was built by Muhammad and was the worlds first mosque. Since Muhammad built it has been rebuilt and now much larger. The mosque also contains the

tomb of Muhammad. The final most important site is the Dome of The Rock in Jerusalem. The building contains a stone believed to be the location where Muhammad ascended to heaven. Islam has a strict conduct for worship. Muslims are required to pray 5 times a day: at sunrise, noon, afternoon, evening, and sundown. This strict prayer schedule is described in the pillars of Islam. The person is required to recite the Salat as he performs the prayer. Islam also has celebrations for important dates. The most important of these holidays is Ramadan, the ninth month on the Islamic lunar calendar. During this month, Muslims are required to fast from sunrise to sunset. The month is meant for Muslims to reflect on the teachings in Islam. Another important holiday is the Hajj required by all Muslims to do within their lifetime. There are also to other holidays, one after Ramadan, the other after Hajj. These are called Eids. (About) Islam is very built on the message that there is one god, Allah. He is the only one worthy of worship and worshiping anything other than Allah is sin. Islam used to be ruled by Caliphs but the institution was abolished in the early 1900s. This means Islam has no true leaders. Islam has a couple symbols. Probably the most well known and iconic is the star and crescent moon. The interesting thing is that Muhammad and the religion of Islam are actually against the use of holy symbols. For this reason many Muslims reject the use of any symbols. Islam is the worlds second largest Religion, a total population of around 1.66 billion. The majority of this population is located in Asia, specifically the Middle East. Many countries in the area have Islam as the Nation Religion. Even thought the majority

is here there is a Muslim population in nearly every country in the world. There are about 7 million Muslims in the United States. (Islamic Population) I went over the basics of Islam, the history, sacred sites, sacred texts, celebration and worship, their god and leaders, sacred symbols, and location and size. These are all the things you need to know if you wanted to learn about Islam. Now you have the knowledge and basic understanding for future use.