World Religions Assignment

May 6, 2017

World religion: Islam

Introduction
This essay attempts to provide a preliminary overview of the beliefs and practices of the
religion common for 25% of the world’s population: Islam. It is estimated that the
growth of Islam is twice the global population. This is because Muslims marry young
and have a higher birthrate – thereby being able to give birth to more children. The
beliefs of Muslims vary to a certain degree – between the major branches of Sunni and
Shia. Nevertheless, there is a core system of beliefs and practices. This essay examines
this core belief and practice system.

Historical background
First, the historical background of Islam needs to be understood to get a good grasp on
the beliefs of Islam.

There appears to be some debate as to the origins of Islam. Nevertheless, it is believed to

have originated in the period called Late Antiquity (3rd to 8th century AD). While many
sociopolitical and religious events led up to the founding of Islam, it is sufficient to
consider the proper beginning of Islam is with the birth of the founder of Islam (the
Prophet Mohammad) around 570AD. He was born into one of the most powerful tribes
in Arabia: the Quaraysh tribe. This tribe was the ruling tribe of Mecca (in northwestern
Arabia), where he was born. He experienced family tragedy after his birth with the death
of a string of his guardians: his dad, his mom, his grandfather, and finally his uncle.
During the time with his uncle, he was sent to live with Bedoins where he tended sheep
and learnt Arabic more deeply. He married a business colleague, Khadijah, in 590 and
had several children. Khadijah was a successful businesswoman and supported
Mohammad. During this time, Mohammad garnered a reputation of honesty and charity
with those he had business dealings with.

Not much noteworthy happened to him until the age of 40. At this age, he developed the
habit of regularly meditating in a cave on the side of Mount Hira near Mecca. In 610AD
during one of his regular meditation sessions, he said that the angel Gabriel appeared to
him in his sleep. Gabriel was carrying a book that he asked Mohammad to “read”.
There is dispute about whether Mohammad was literate or illiterate. Whether he was or
wasn’t literate, Gabriel recited to him some teachings which Mohammed recited in his
sleep. When he awoke, he felt these teachings were etched in his heart. These words
proclaimed a monotheistic God as the sole Creator and source of all knowledge.

Initially, Mohammed only proclaimed these teachings to his wife and close friends.
However, as the volume of recitations and teachings expanded and they insisted he was to
tell everyone, he began to tell more and more people. These people became his early
followers. They were mostly slaves and poor people at first but later came to include
wealthy citizens of Mecca. All of these revelations (and many later ones) were to be
included in the holy book of Islam, the Koran. This all started to happen around 613AD.

At first, there was general acceptance of Mohammad’s message of strict monotheism and
the rejection of polytheism among the Meccans. This message was accepted at first but
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many wealthy Meccans started to question, doubt, and oppose Mohammad and his
message. Their motivation for this may have been mostly economical. He preached
against polytheism so vehemently that the sale and use of idols began to decline. This
hits the pocketbook of many of these Meccan merchants. As the number of his followers
increase, so does the opposition to his teachings. This culminates in a plot to assassinate
him in 622. He hears wind of this plot and subsequently escapes to the city of Medina,
300km north of Mecca. In addition, his wife died in 619AD, so there is nothing keeping
him in Mecca and a lot to compel him to leave.

Mohammad choosing Medina to relocate to was not by random chance. He was quite
familiar with Medina and its inhabitants. One reason for this is that he met many Medina
inhabitants coming to Mecca on pilgrimage and spoke to them about Islam. By doing
this he secured a number of conversions and followers. Because of this, a number of
people in Medina invited him to relocate to Medina.

This escape or trip is hailed by Muslims as key trip which became known as the Hijira. It
is considered to be the starting point of Islam. Some Muslims call it “a break in history”
with the establishment of a new era (the era of Islam) and a new way of life (the life of
Islam). Muslims consider the Hijrah not so much a “flight” but a “carefully planned
migration”. Interestingly enough, the cave recitations at Hira is not thought of as the
starting point of Islam. It was merely a precursor. This appears to provide a window
into the inner-thinking of Muslims. Mohammad receiving and proclaiming these Hira
cave recitations were crucial but secondary in importance to the sociopolitical event in
Mohammad’s life of fleeing and relocating to Medina. It reveals that Islam places more
importance on the sociopolitical events than internal religious experiences.

At the time, Medina was a prosperous oasis where business was booming. The people of
Medina welcomed him and treated him well. Even though he had a strong background in
business in Mecca; he becomes a religious, political and military leader in Medina. The
number of followers of Mohammad’s teachings grow greatly in Medina. During this
time, he receives more and more revelations, so he continues to preach and teach his
growing followers. Also, the Koran is put together during this time with his followers
compiling and transcribing all his teachings. Later on in 650, the final text of the Koran
is established and written down. The inhabitants and tribes living in Medina are called
Muslims.

From 624 to 630, the relationship between Mecca and Medina worsened. They were
fighting throughout this period for various reasons. Mohammad leads the Muslim troops
from Medina out to battle during this time. In 629AD, Mohammad succeeds in
conquering Mecca. After they enter the city, Meccans are impressed with the Muslims
self-control and dignity. This causes most Meccans to accept Islam and join the Muslim
community. Thus, Mohammad establishes a new universal “tribe”: the “tribe” or
community of Muslims. Mohammad shows that Muslims belong to a community that
goes beyond tribal or blood-ties. Every Muslim is part of this universal community.

Belief System
At its core, Muslims claim that Islam is the religion of God. This means it is a set of
beliefs and practices that God has instructed people to follow. In other words, it is a way
of life. The teachings of Islam are quite comprehensive and cover all aspects of life.

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Because these teachings and beliefs cover most aspects of life, they are quite complex
and sprawling. It would take years to completely understand them. To make these
teachings more accessible and memorable, the 5 pillars of Islam were developed. Of all
the teachings of the Koran, these were singled out by early Muslim scholars as being key
practices in their religion. The 1st pillar is the confession of faith. This confession states
that there is no God but God and Mohammad is God’s prophet. This 1st pillar establishes
Islam’s emphasis on pure and unadulterated monotheism. The 2nd pillar is practicing the
prayer ritual 5 days a day. This ritual includes facing Mekkha, saying special words, and
moving the body in a prescribed manner. The third pillar is to fast once per year during
the month of Ramadan. This does not mean fasting completely for a 30-day period. It
means to fast from sunrise to sunset and to feast between sunset and sunrise. The 4th
pillar is alms-giving. This means giving money to the poor and the greater Muslim
community. In the case of many Muslim nations, this takes the form of a government
tax. The fifth and final pillar is the requirement for each and every able-bodied Muslim
to complete a pilgrimage to Mekkha once in their lifespan. This pilgrimage includes an
elaborate set of rituals that must be performed in the Mekkha and Medina. These cities
have been designated as pilgrimage destinations because of the importance in the life of
the Prophet Mohammad. While these 5 pillars of Islam are the most important teachings
and practices of Islam, many others are part of Islam. It is just that these 5 pillars have
been considered as essential.

Point of contact

Leading Muslims to Christ is an essential duty of all Christians. When doing this, it is
best to keep a few things in mind. Do not try to win an argument. Do not demonstrate
the fallacies of Islam (and truthfulness of Christianity). Instead, communicate the truth of
the gospel. Never underestimate the power of the pure, undiluted gospel. Since Muslims
do not believe in original sin (and thus thinking that Jesus did not need to atone for this
non-existing original sin), the gospel will offend them. The gospel SHOULD offend
them but NOT the person sharing the gospel. Another point of contact is emphasizing the
similarities that Muslims and Christians share (e.g., guilt for doing wrong, evil &
injustice in the world like human trafficking). If a Muslim feels guilty for past sin or a
sinful habit he cannot currently shake, present the gospel. It should go without saying
that preceding any meeting with a Muslim, deep and sustained prayer should have been
done. This is to prepare the “battlefield”.

One thing to avoid is providing a commentary or opinion about anything related to their
religion. This is true whether they ask for it not. Some Muslims may ask you, the
Christian, about what you think of Islam. Avoid walking through this minefield. First,
most Muslims are (painfully?) aware of the often-too-bloody differences between the
Sunni and Shia strands of Islam and do not need to be reminded of it. (I wonder how
many Muslims wish this difference had never occurred.) Second, the purpose of this
questioning may be to entrap the Christian in making negative comments about Islam.
This is not always the case but the Christian should be aware. Finally, the Muslim may
be trying to convert the Christian. They may share the same aim but in opposite
directions. That is, the Muslim wants the Christian to accept Islam and become a CBB
(Christian-background believer) while the Christian wants the Muslim to embrace Christ
and become a MBB (Muslim-background believer). In this context, the MBB is going to
heaven and the CBB is going to hell. Thus, after this conversation is over, it is much
more pleasing to God for the result to be another MBB instead of another lost CBB.