With the information from my last post in our minds, we turn to what these groups actually believe, starting with the Muslims, who, as we know, practice a religion called Islam. For the sake of brevity, I will be extremely simplistic. It’s not hard to find a ton of information, should anyone be interested.
First, some demographic information. While most people associate Islam with the Middle East, far more Muslims live in what we may call the Asia-Pacific region (that is, the far southwestern part of the Pacific). As of 2010, nearly 1 billion of the 1.6 billion worldwide Muslims lived in this region, that includes Indonesia, the largest Muslim country where 87% claim membership, for a total of 209 million. Close to 200 million Muslims live in India, comprising only about 15% of their population. Just .2% of the world’s Muslims live in North America, given the most recent data.
Now, for some history. About 500 years after the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem (70 AD), dramatically altering the history of Judaism, another huge event occurred in that part of the world. According to tradition, Muhammad was born in 570 in the trading town of Mecca, on the Arabian Peninsula. Around the year 610, he began having audio and visual experiences that he understood as revelations that needed to be shared. He saw himself as God’s messenger, a prophet sent to set right the misinterpretations about God espoused by Jews and Christians.
His followers regarded him in the same line as earlier Jewish and Christian prophets except much better informed. They saw him as the last in line of prophets of the one true God, the same God worshipped by Jews and Christians. They would trace their heritage back to Adam all the way through Jesus who they saw as preaching the same message of belief in one sovereign transcendent God. These followers whom we can call Muslims saw Muhammad as the finest human who ever lived. They do not claim he was God incarnated. He only performed one miracle and that was vocally delivering the sacred scriptures we know as the Qur’an or Koran. The work was not printed until after his death in 632. It is about the same length as the New Testament. Muslims believe it is the direct and literal Word of God. It includes mention of Abraham and Isaac, Moses and Pharaoh, David and Solomon.
Muhammad’s successors were called “caliphs.” (Note, ISIS is an attempt to establish a modern caliphate.) It is also important to note that a huge schism occurred right after Muhammad died. A minority of his followers claimed that he had designated his son-in-law as his successor. They became the “Party of Faction” which is translated as Shi’a. The majority said Muhammad had not made such a designation but that it should be up to a group of elders to decide his successor. These were called the “People of Sunnah and the Assembly,” Sunni for short. Anyone who wants to know why the Shiites of Iran have been in such strong historic conflict with the Sunnis of Iraq and Saudi Arabia, can trace their division back to here.
To make a long story short, Muslims eventually conquered all of the Middle East and spread upwards to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and a great deal of South Asia by the 16th century, including Afghanistan and the northern two thirds of India.
Next, their core beliefs. The most fundamental Muslim beliefs are contained in a two part statement: “I confess that there is no deity but God, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” Muslims know this through the prophets, the last and most important of whom was Muhammad. This confession is the first of “Five Pillars of Faith.” The other four pillars are almsgiving, daily prayer, fasting during Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca.
Muslims believe that God is very close to each individual. He is highly personal. Their tradition states that God’s mercy is greater than his anger. Like Christians, they believe in an afterlife and that humans are accountable for their free moral decisions. They believe in a Day of Judgment. They also believe in both Heaven and Hell and, possibly, purgatory.
Muhammad said that Jews and Christians are “People of the Book,” meaning they are all Abrahamic. They believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary but do not believe he was crucified and resurrected. Muslims believe that the God they call Allah is the same God worshipped by Jews and Christians.
Mecca (in what is now known as Saudi Arabia) is the holiest city in Islam. It is the site of the Ka’ba (Arabic for cube), a stone structure that is about 40 feet on each side. It occupies part of the Sacred Mosque and is the holiest site in Islam. Muslims believe it is here where Muhammad was born. It can be loosely compared to the Holy of Holies at the Temple in Judeo-Christian tradition. I understand that Muslims believe Abraham almost sacrificed his son, Ishmael, there. All Muslims are expected to make a pilgrimage (their Hajj) once in their lives to this spot. It is also the spot towards which Muslims bow in prayer each day. The second holiest city is Medina, where Muhammad built his following. The third most holy city in Islam is Jerusalem, where Muslims believe Muhammad was mysteriously transported from Medina, later ascending to heaven from the high point that was home to the Second Temple and is now also home to the Muslim Dome of the Rock.
A couple of terms are prevalent today. The first is Jihad, which in Arabic means striving or struggle. Throughout the history of Islam it has had many meanings. Apparently, it can be interpreted both as an inner struggle and an outward one, the latter including both defensive and offensive means. As we know, it is now widely used to define extreme forms of Islam in their “right” to push their sets of beliefs around the world. It is now a highly charged term with a lot of political connotations. The second term is Sharia, which means religious law. Its, also, has enormous political connotations, as many cultures wherein Islam is practiced are facing significant differences of opinion on the role of Sharia in civil society. In Islamic theocracies like Saudi Arabia, there is virtually no difference between Sharia and civil law. In pluralistic cultures like in Europe and North American, there are escalating disputes about the role of Sharia. Like in some other religions, the battle is also within the faith as moderates and extremists will disagree.
This is all only a preliminary sketch of some basics of Islam. There is so much more history and detail about their beliefs, practices, and cultural phenomenon. Suffice for now that they are the second largest of the three monotheistic faiths practiced in the world and are growing in both numbers and percentage of adherents.
bradlichtman 