Faithtutorial.files.wordpress.com



ISLAM TODAYYou have read a brief history of Islam. You know that Muhammad eventually died and was buried in Medina, Saudi Arabia, and was NOT resurrected. After his death controversy arose over leadership of the religion. Consequently, Muslims split into separate factions: Shia and Sunni. These 2 factions, however, share many of the same beliefs and practices. WHAT DO MUSLIMS BELIEVE?Muslims believe in 1 god: ALLAH Muslims do NOT believe in the ‘Trinity’ as Christians do (Christians believe in God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit)Muslims believe that MUHAMMAD was Allah’s prophet, NOT his son.Muslims believe that Jesus was a good man and a prophet, but NOT Allah’s son.ISLAM is built on 5 FOUNDATIONAL PILLARS: 1. Faith in Allah alone 2. Charity—sharing what one has with others who are less fortunate 3. Prayer to Allah* 4. Fasting** 5. Pilgrimage to Mecca****PRAYER: Muslims are taught to pray 5 times each day. When they pray Muslims get on their knees and turn their bodies toward Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad. All activity comes to a halt at prayer time in Islamic countries. In some fundamentalist Islamic regions, religious police are assigned the task of making sure that everyone prays at the appointed time. Failure to pray can bring civil penalties.**FASTING: Muslims for more than 1000 years have fasted during the Islamic month of Ramadan, April 23 through May 23 on our American calendars. The fast during Ramadan is intended to remember and commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad.Fasting occurs each day from sun-up to sun-down. Neither food nor drink can be consumed during daylight hours. Pregnant women and small children are usually exempted, but all others are expected to comply. A celebration and feast usually occur at the end of Ramadan. (See picture on the next page.) ***PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA or Hajj as it is known in Arabic, is required of all Muslims who are physically and financially capable of making the trip. Muslims are expected to make the Hajj journey to Mecca during the last month of the Islamic calendar (August for Americans). The highlight of the experience is going to the most holy MOSQUE in Islam and walking around the Kaaba, built according to Islamic tradition by Abraham and his son Ismael. Ismael, believed to have been saved from death as a baby by the Angel Gabriel, is regarded as a prophet by Muslims. The Hajj or pilgrimage allows Muslims to demonstrate their loyalty to Allah and their unity with other Muslims. It was estimated that approximately 8,000,000 Muslims made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 2018.An Islamic image of Ismael Muslims breaking their fast following Ramadan. Where did Islam begin?MECCAWho founded Islam?MUHAMMADThe Islamic holy book is called theQURANThe Islamic god is calledALLAHIslamic churches are calledMOSQUESMany Muslims regard non-Muslims asINFIDELSToday, it is estimated that 1.5 billion people practice the Islamic religion.Islam is the predominate religion of Asia and Africa.The largest Islamic country by population is INDONESIA, an island nation regarded as part of southern Asia.In 2021 Muslims can be found in most nations of the world. There is a significant number of Muslims currently living in the United States. Muslims have been living in Jackson for several decades. A mosque is located in west Jackson on Airways near McKellar regional airport.There has been an influx of Muslims into most of the European countries in the last decade. Civil War in Syria and the rise of ISIS motivated many Muslims to immigrate to Europe, some coming as refugees and others for a more peaceful, economically friendly environment. Islam has received much negative publicity since several Muslim extremists (mostly from Saudi Arabia) hijacked commercial airliners on September 11, 2001, and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Since that event that took more than 2000 American lives, there have been a significant number of small scale attacks by extremist Muslims against Americans. These ‘terrorist’ attacks against innocent people have resulted in many being killed by guns, bombs, and even by cars and trucks driven intentionally into crowds of pedestrians. Several European countries— most notably Germany, France, the U.K., and Sweden—have also experienced the violence of terrorist attacks. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download