Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an
Abrahamic monotheistic religion
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...
centred primarily around the
Quran, a religious text considered by
Muslims to be the direct word of
God (or ''
Allah
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
'') as it was revealed to
Muhammad, the
main and final Islamic prophet.
[Peters, F. E. 2009. "Allāh." In , edited by J. L. Esposito. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . (See also]
quick reference
) " e Muslims' understanding of Allāh is based...on the Qurʿān's public witness. Allāh is Unique, the Creator, Sovereign, and Judge of mankind. It is Allāh who directs the universe through his direct action on nature and who has guided human history through his prophets, Abraham, with whom he made his covenant, Moses/Moosa, Jesus/Eesa, and Muḥammad, through all of whom he founded his chosen communities, the 'Peoples of the Book.'" It is the
world's second-largest religion behind
Christianity, with its followers ranging between 1-1.8 billion globally, or around a quarter of the world's population.
Due to the average younger age and higher
fertility rate,
Islam is the world's fastest growing major religious group, and is projected by ''
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
'' to be the world's largest religion by the end of the 21st century, surpassing
Christianity.
It teaches that God is
merciful
Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...
,
all-powerful
Omnipotence is the quality of having unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence only to the deity of their faith. In the monotheistic religious philosophy of Abrahamic religions, omnipotence is often listed as one ...
, and
unique, and has guided humanity through
various prophets,
revealed scriptures, and
natural signs, with the Quran serving as the final and universal revelation and Muhammad serving as the "
Seal of the Prophets
Seal of the Prophets ( ar, خاتم النبيين, translit=khātam an-nabīyīn or khātim an-nabīyīn; or ar, خاتم الأنبياء, translit=khātam al-anbiyā’ or khātim al-anbiyā), is a title used in the Qur'an and by Muslims ...
" (the last prophet of God).
The teachings and practices of Muhammad () documented in traditional collected accounts () provide a secondary constitutional model for Muslims to follow after the Quran.
Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a
primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets such as
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
,
Noah
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...
,
Abraham,
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
, and
Jesus, among others; these earlier revelations are attributed to
Judaism and
Christianity, which are regarded in Islam as
spiritual predecessor faiths. They also consider the Quran, when preserved in
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic ( ar, links=no, ٱلْعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ, al-ʿarabīyah al-fuṣḥā) or Quranic Arabic is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notab ...
, to be the unaltered and final revelation of God to humanity. Like other Abrahamic religions, Islam also teaches of a "
Final Judgement" wherein the righteous will be rewarded in
paradise () and the unrighteous will be punished in
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
(). The religious concepts and practices of Islam include the
Five Pillars of Islam—considered obligatory acts of worship —and following Islamic law, , which touches on virtually every aspect of life, from
banking and finance
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
and
welfare to
women's roles
A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...
and the
environment.
[ (See also:]
sharia
via ''Lexico
Lexico was a dictionary website that provided a collection of English and Spanish dictionaries produced by Oxford University Press (OUP), the publishing house of the University of Oxford. While the dictionary content on Lexico came from OUP, th ...
''.) The Five Pillars comprise ''
Shahada'', the Islamic
oath and
creed
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets.
The ea ...
; ''
Salah
(, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba wit ...
'', daily
prayers; ''
Zakat,'' forms of
almsgiving;
''Sawm'', religious
fasting; and ''
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
'', a
mandated once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to
Mecca during the 12th month of the lunar calendar.
''Khitan'', the religious rite of
circumcision, is seen as obligatory or recommendable for male followers.
Prominent
religious festivals include
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
,
Eid al-Fitr
, nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast
, observedby = Muslims
, type = Islamic
, longtype = Islamic
, significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan
, dat ...
, and
Eid al-Adha. The cities of Mecca,
Medina, and
Jerusalem are home to the
three holiest sites in Islam, in descending order:
Masjid al-Haram
, native_name_lang = ar
, religious_affiliation = Islam
, image = Al-Haram mosque - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg
, image_upright = 1.25
, caption = Aerial view of the Great Mosque of Mecca
, map ...
,
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (), known in English as the Prophet's Mosque, is a mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the city of Medina in the Al Madinah Province of Saudi Arabia. It was the second mosque built by Muhammad in Medina, after Qub ...
, and
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque (, ), also known as Jami' Al-Aqsa () or as the Qibli Mosque ( ar, المصلى القبلي, translit=al-Muṣallā al-Qiblī, label=none), and also is a congregational mosque located in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is situa ...
, respectively.
Islam originated in the 7th century at
Jabal al-Nour, a mountain peak near Mecca where
Muhammad's first revelation is said to have taken place. Through various
caliphates, the religion later
spread outside of Arabia shortly after Muhammad's death, and by the 8th century, the
Umayyad Caliphate had imposed Islamic rule from the
Iberian Peninsula in the west to the
Indus Valley
The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
in the east. The
Islamic Golden Age refers to the period traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century, during the reign of the
Abbasid Caliphate, when much of the
Muslim world was experiencing a
scientific,
economic, and
cultural flourishing. Islamic scientific achievements encompassed a wide range of subject areas especially
medicine,
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
,
astronomy,
agriculture as well as
physics,
pharmacology
Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...
,
engineering and
optics. The expansion of the Muslim world involved
various states and caliphates as well as extensive trade and religious conversion as a result of
Islamic missionary activities ().
There are two major
Islamic denominations
Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of Islam. There are many different sects or denominations, schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and schools of Islamic theology, or ''ʿaqīdah'' (creed). Within Islamic groups themselves ...
:
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
(85–90 percent)
[Denny, Frederick. 2010]
''Sunni Islam: Oxford Bibliographies Online Research Guide''
Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 3. "Sunni Islam is the dominant division of the global Muslim community, and throughout history it has made up a substantial majority (85 to 90 percent) of that community." and
Shia Islam (10–15 percent);
combined, they make up a majority of the population in
49 countries. While
Sunni–Shia differences initially arose from disagreements over the
succession to Muhammad
The succession to Muhammad is the central issue that split the Ummah, Muslim community into several Islamic schools and branches, divisions in the first century of Islamic history, with the most prominent among these sects being the Shia and S ...
, they grew to cover a broader dimension both
theologically and
juridically, with the divergence acquiring notable political significance.
Approximately 12 percent of the world's Muslims live in
Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country; percent live in
South Asia; 20 percent live in the
Middle East–North Africa; and 15 percent live in
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
.
Sizable Muslim communities are also present in the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and
Europe.
Etymology
In Arabic, ''Islam'' ( ar, إسلام, lit=submission
o God}) is the verbal noun of
Form IV originating from the verb (), from the
triliteral root (), which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of submission, safeness, and peace. In a religious context, it refers to the total surrender to the will of
God.
A ''
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
'' (), the word for a follower of Islam, is the
active participle
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb, nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a wo ...
of the same verb form, and means "submitter (to God)" or "one who surrenders (to God)". In the
Hadith of Gabriel
In Sunni Islam, the Hadith of Angel Gabriel, Gabriel (also known as, ''Ḥadīth Jibrīl'') is a ''hadith'' of the Islamic prophets of Islam, prophet Muhammad (the last prophet of Islam) which expresses the religion of Islam in a concise manner. a ...
, ''Islam'' is presented as one part of a triad that also includes (faith), and (excellence).
Islam itself was historically called
''Mohammedanism'' in the
English-speaking world. This term has fallen out of use and is sometimes said to be
offensive
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...
, as it suggests that a human being, rather than God, is central to Muslims' religion, parallel to
Buddha in
Buddhism. Some authors, however, continue to use the term ''Mohammedanism'' as a
technical term for the religious system as opposed to the
theological concept of Islam that exists within that system.
Articles of faith
The Islamic
creed
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets.
The ea ...
(''
aqidah'') requires belief in
six articles: God, angels, revelation, prophets, the
Day of Resurrection, and the divine decree.
God
The central concept of Islam is ''
tawḥīd
Tawhid ( ar, , ', meaning "unification of God in Islam (Allāh)"; also romanization of Arabic, romanized as ''Tawheed'', ''Tawhid'', ''Tauheed'' or ''Tevhid'') is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. Tawhid is the religion ...
'' ( ar, توحيد, link=no), the oneness of God. Usually thought of as a ''precise
monotheism'', but also
panentheistic in Islamic mystical teachings. God is seen as incomparable and without partners such as in the
Christian Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
, and associating partners to God or attributing God's attributes to others is seen as
idolatory
Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Ab ...
, called
''shirk''. God is seen as transcendent of creation and so is beyond comprehension. Thus, Muslims are not
iconodules and do not attribute forms to God. God is instead described and referred to by several
names or attributes, the most common being ''Ar-Rahmān'' () meaning "The Entirely Merciful," and ''Ar-Rahīm'' () meaning "The Especially Merciful" which are invoked at the beginning of most chapters of the Quran.
Islam teaches that the creation of everything in the
universe was brought into being by God's command as expressed by the wording, "
Be, and it is,"
[ Q2:117 ] and that the
purpose of existence is to worship God. He is viewed as a personal god
and there are no intermediaries, such as
clergy, to contact God. Consciousness and awareness of God is referred to as
Taqwa. ''
Allāh
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
'' is a term with no
plural or
gender being ascribed to it and is also used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews in reference to God, whereas ' () is a term used for a deity or a god in general. Other non-Arab Muslims might use different names as much as Allah, for instance in Turkish or in Persian.
Angels
Angels ( ar, ملك, link=no, ') are beings described in the Quran and hadith. They are described as created to worship God and also to serve other specific duties such as communicating
revelations from God, recording every person's actions, and taking a person's
soul at the time of death. They are described as being created variously from 'light' (
''nūr'') or 'fire' (''nār''). Islamic angels are often represented in
anthropomorphic forms combined with
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
images, such as wings, being of great size or wearing heavenly articles. Common characteristics for angels are their missing needs for bodily desires, such as eating and drinking. Some of them, such as
Gabriel and
Michael, are mentioned by name in the Quran. Angels play a significant role in the literature about the
Mi'raj, where Muhammad encounters several angels during his journey through the heavens. Further angels have often been featured in
Islamic eschatology
Islamic eschatology ( ar, علم آخر الزمان في الإسلام, ) is a field of study in Islam concerning future events that would happen in the end times. It is primarily based on hypothesis and speculations based on sources from t ...
,
theology and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
.
Books
The Islamic holy books are the records that Muslims believe various prophets received from God through revelations, called ''
wahy''. Muslims believe that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, such as the ''
Tawrat'' (
Torah) and the ''
Injil'' (
Gospel), had become
distorted—either in interpretation, in text, or both,
while the Quran (lit. 'Recitation')
is viewed as the final, verbatim and unaltered word of God.
Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by God, through the
archangel Gabriel (''
Jibrīl''), on multiple occasions between 610 CE and 632, the year Muhammad died. While Muhammad was alive, these revelations were written down by his companions, although the prime method of transmission was orally through
memorization.
The Quran is divided into 114 chapters (
suras
The Abhira kingdom in the Mahabharata is either of two kingdoms near the Sarasvati river.
They were dominated by the Abhiras, sometimes referred to as Surabhira also, combining both Sura and Abhira kingdoms. Modern day Abhira territory lies with ...
) which combined contain 6,236 verses (''
āyāt''). The chronologically earlier chapters, revealed at
Mecca, are concerned primarily with spiritual topics while the later
Medinan chapters discuss more social and legal issues relevant to the Muslim community.
[
"The word ''Quran'' was invented and first used in the Qurʼan itself. There are two different theories about this term and its formation."] Muslim jurists consult the ''hadith'' ('accounts'), or the written record of Prophet Muhammad's life, to both supplement the Quran and assist with its interpretation. The science of Quranic commentary and exegesis is known as ''
tafsir''. The set of rules governing proper
elocution
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...
of recitation is called
tajwid. In addition to its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in
Arabic literature, and has influenced art and the Arabic language.
Prophets
Prophets (Arabic: ar, أنبياء, label=none, translit=anbiyāʾ) are believed to have been chosen by God to receive and preach a divine message. Additionally, a prophet delivering a new book to a nation is called a ''rasul'' ( ar, رسول, label=none, translit=rasūl), meaning "messenger". Muslims believe prophets are human and not divine. All of the prophets are said to have preached the same basic message of Islam – submission to the will of God – to various nations in the past and that this accounts for many similarities among religions. The Quran
recounts the names of numerous figures considered
prophets in Islam, including
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
,
Noah
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...
,
Abraham,
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
and
Jesus, among others.
Muslims believe that God sent Muhammad as the final prophet ("
Seal of the prophets
Seal of the Prophets ( ar, خاتم النبيين, translit=khātam an-nabīyīn or khātim an-nabīyīn; or ar, خاتم الأنبياء, translit=khātam al-anbiyā’ or khātim al-anbiyā), is a title used in the Qur'an and by Muslims ...
") to convey the completed message of Islam. In Islam, the "normative" example of Muhammad's life is called the
sunnah
In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...
(literally "trodden path"). Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's moral behaviors in their daily lives, and the Sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Quran. This example is preserved in traditions known as
hadith, which are accounts of his words, actions, and personal characteristics.
Hadith Qudsi is a sub-category of hadith, regarded as God's verbatim words quoted by Muhammad that are not part of the Quran. A hadith involves two elements: a chain of narrators, called
''sanad'', and the actual wording, called ''
matn
Hadith studies ( ar, علم الحديث ''ʻilm al-ḥadīth'' "science of hadith", also science of hadith, or science of hadith criticism or hadith criticism)
consists of several religious scholarly disciplines used by Muslim scholars in th ...
''. There are various methodologies to classify the authenticity of hadiths, with the commonly used grading being: "authentic" or "correct" ( ar, صحيح, links=no, translit=
ṣaḥīḥ, label=none); "good", ''hasan'' ( ar, حسن, links=no, label=none, translit=
ḥasan); or "weak" ( ar, ضعيف, label=none, translit=
ḍaʻīf), among others. The ''
Kutub al-Sittah'' are a collection of six books, regarded as the most authentic reports in
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
. Among them is ''
Sahih al-Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari ( ar, صحيح البخاري, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī), group=note is a ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (810–870) around 846. Al ...
'', often considered by Sunnis to be one of the most
authentic sources after the Quran.
[ al-Rahman, Aisha Abd, ed. 1990. '' Muqaddimah Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ''. Cairo: Dar al-Ma'arif, 1990. pp. 160–69] Another famous source of hadiths is known as ''
The Four Books'', which Shias consider as the most authentic hadith reference.
Resurrection and judgment
Belief in the "Day of Resurrection" or ''
Yawm al-Qiyāmah
In Islam, "the promise and threat" () of Judgment Day ( ar, یوم القيامة, Yawm al-qiyāmah, Day of Resurrection or ar, یوم الدین, italic=no, Yawm ad-din, Day of Judgement),
when "all bodies will be resurrected" from the dead, an ...
'' ( ar, يوم القيامة, link=no), is also crucial for Muslims. It is believed that the time of ''Qiyāmah'' is preordained by God but unknown to man. The Quran and the hadith, as well as in the commentaries of
scholars
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...
, describe the trials and
tribulations
In Christian eschatology, the Great Tribulation ( grc, θλῖψις μεγάλη, thlîpsis megálē) is a period mentioned by Jesus in the Olivet Discourse as a sign that would occur in the time of the end.
At Revelation 7:14, "the Great Tr ...
preceding and during the ''Qiyāmah''. The Quran emphasizes
bodily resurrection, a break from the
pre-Islamic Arabian understanding of death.
On Yawm al-Qiyāmah, Muslims believe all humankind will be judged by their good and bad deeds and consigned to ''
Jannah'' (paradise) or ''
Jahannam'' (hell). The Quran in
Surat al-Zalzalah
Al-Zalzalah ( ar, الزلزلة, ''al-zalzalah'', "The Quake") is the 99th chapter (surah) of the Qur'an, composed of 8 ayat or verses. Although it is usually classified as a Medinan surah, the period during which the surah was revealed is no ...
describes this as: "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it." The Quran
lists several sins that can condemn a person to
hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
, such as
disbelief in God ( ar, كفر, translit=kufr, label=none), and dishonesty. However, the Quran makes it clear that God will forgive the
sins of those who repent if he wishes. Good deeds, like charity, prayer, and compassion towards animals, will be rewarded with entry to heaven. Muslims view heaven as a place of joy and blessings, with Quranic references describing its features. Mystical traditions in Islam place these heavenly delights in the context of an ecstatic awareness of God. ''Yawm al-Qiyāmah'' is also identified in the Quran as ''Yawm ad-Dīn'' ( "Day of Religion");
[;] ''as-Sāʿah'' ( "the Last Hour");
[;] and ''
al-Qāriʿah'' ( "The Clatterer");
Divine predestination
The concept of
divine decree and
destiny in Islam ( ar, القضاء والقدر, ') means that every matter, good or bad, is believed to have been decreed by God. ''Al-qadar'', meaning "power", derives from a root that means "to measure" or "calculating". Muslims often express this belief in divine destiny with the phrase
"Insha-Allah" meaning "if God wills" when speaking on future events. In addition to loss, gain is also seen as a test of believers – whether they would still recognize that the gain originates only from God.
Acts of worship
There are five obligatory acts of worship – the
Shahada declaration of faith, the five daily prayers, the
Zakat alms-giving,
fasting during Ramadan
During the entire month of Ramadan, Muslims are obligated to fast ( ar, صوم, ''sawm;'' Persian: روزہ, ''rozeh''), every day from dawn to sunset (or from dawn to night according to some scholars). Fasting requires the abstinence from sex ...
and the
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
pilgrimage – collectively known as "The Pillars of Islam" (''Arkān al-Islām'').
Apart from these, Muslims also perform other supplemental religious acts.
Testimony
The
''shahadah'', is an
oath declaring belief in Islam. The expanded statement is "" ( ar, أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمداً رسول الله, label=none), or, "I testify that there is no
deity
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
except
God and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God." Islam is sometimes argued to have a very simple creed with the shahada being the premise for the rest of the religion. Non-Muslims wishing to
convert to Islam are required to recite the shahada in front of witnesses.
Prayer
Prayer in Islam, called
as-salah or aṣ-ṣalāt ( ar, الصلاة, link=no), is seen as a personal communication with God and consists of repeating units called
rakat that include
bowing and
prostrating to God. Performing prayers five times a day is compulsory. The prayers are recited in the Arabic language and consist of verses from the Quran. The prayers are done in direction of the
Ka'bah. Salah requires ritual purity, which involves ''
wudu'' (ritual wash) or occasionally, such as for new converts, ''
ghusl
( ar, غسل ', ) is an Arabic term to the full-body ritual purification mandatory before the performance of various rituals and prayers, for any adult Muslim after sexual intercourse/ejaculation or completion of the menstrual cycle.
The washin ...
'' (full body ritual wash). The means used to signal the prayer time is a vocal call called the ''
adhan
Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer (salah) in a mos ...
''.
A
mosque is a
place of worship
A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...
for Muslims, who often refer to it by its Arabic name masjid. Although the primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place of prayer, it is also important to the
Muslim community as a place to meet and study with the
Masjid an-Nabawi ("Prophetic Mosque") in Medina,
Saudi Arabia, having also served as a shelter for the poor.
Minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
s are towers used to call the
adhan
Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer (salah) in a mos ...
.
Charity
Zakāt (
Arabic: ar, زكاة, translit=zakāh, label=none) is a means of
welfare in a Muslim society, characterized by the giving of a fixed portion (2.5% annually)
[Ahmed, Medani, and Sebastian Gianci. "Zakat." p. 479 in ''Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy''.] of
accumulated wealth by those who can afford it to help the poor or needy, such as for freeing captives, those in
debt, or for (stranded) travellers, and for those employed to collect zakat. It is considered a religious obligation that the well-off owe to the needy because their wealth is seen as a "trust from God's bounty" and is seen as a "purification" of one's excess wealth. The total annual value contributed due to zakat is 15 times greater then global humanitarian aid donations, using conservative estimates. ''Sadaqah'', as opposed to Zakat, is a much encouraged
supererogatory charity. A
waqf is a perpetual
charitable trust, which financed hospitals and schools in Muslim societies.
Fasting
During the month of
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
, it is obligatory for Muslims to fast. The Ramadan fast (
Arabic: ar, صوم, translit=ṣawm, label=none) precludes food and drink, as well as other forms of consumption, such as smoking, and is performed from dawn to sunset. The fast is to encourage a feeling of nearness to God by restraining oneself for God's sake from what is otherwise permissible and to think of the needy. In addition, there are other days when fasting is supererogatory.
Pilgrimage
The obligatory Islamic
pilgrimage, called the "" ( ar, حج, link=no), is to be done at least once a lifetime by every Muslim with the means to do so during the
Islamic month of
Dhu al-Hijjah
Dhu al-Hijja ( ar, ذُو ٱلْحِجَّة, translit=Ḏū al-Ḥijja, ), also spelled Zu al-Hijja, is the twelfth and final month in the Islamic calendar. It is a very sacred month in the Islamic calendar, one in which the ''Hajj, Ḥajj'' (P ...
. Rituals of the Hajj mostly imitate the story of the family of
Abraham. Pilgrims spend a day and a night on the plains of
Mina, then a day praying and worshipping in the plain of
Mount Arafat, then spending a night on the plain of
Muzdalifah; then moving to
Jamarat, symbolically
stoning the Devil, then going to the city of
Mecca and walking seven times around the
Kaaba
The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...
, which Muslims believe Abraham built as a place of worship, then walking seven times between
Mount Safa and Mount Marwah recounting the steps of Abraham's wife,
Hagar, while she was looking for water for her baby
Ishmael
Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...
in the desert before Mecca developed into a settlement. All Muslim men should wear only two simple white unstitched pieces of cloth called
ihram
''Ihram'' ( ar, إِحْرَام, iḥrām, from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-R-M) is, in Islam, a sacred state which a Muslim must enter in order to perform the major pilgrimage ('' Ḥajj'') or the minor pilgrimage (''ʿUmrah''). A pilgrim mus ...
, intended to bring continuity through generations and uniformity among pilgrims despite class or origin. Another form of pilgrimage, ''umrah'', is supererogatory and can be undertaken at any time of the year.
Medina is also a site of Islamic pilgrimage and
Jerusalem, the city of many Islamic prophets, contains the
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque (, ), also known as Jami' Al-Aqsa () or as the Qibli Mosque ( ar, المصلى القبلي, translit=al-Muṣallā al-Qiblī, label=none), and also is a congregational mosque located in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is situa ...
, which used to be the
direction of prayer before Mecca.
Quranic recitation and memorization
Muslims recite and memorize the whole or parts of the Quran as acts of virtue. Reciting the Quran with elocution (''tajwid'') has been described as an excellent act of worship. Pious Muslims recite the whole Quran during the month of Ramadan. In Muslim societies, any social program generally begins with the recitation of the Quran. One who has memorized the whole Quran is called a hafiz ("memorizer") who, it is said, will be able to intercede for ten people on the Last Judgment Day. Apart from this, almost every Muslim memorizes some portion of the Quran because they need to recite it during their prayers.
Supplication and remembrance
Supplication to God, called in Arabic ''ad-duʿāʾ'' ( ar, الدعاء ) has its own etiquette such as
raising hands as if begging or invoking with an extended index finger.
Remebrance of God ( ar, ذكر, translit=Dhikr', label=none) refers to phrases repeated referencing God. Commonly, this includes Tahmid, declaring
praise be due to God ( ar, الحمد لله, translit=al-Ḥamdu lillāh, label=none) during prayer or when feeling thankful,
Tasbih, declaring glory to God during prayer or when in awe of something and saying '
in the name of God' (, ) before starting an act such as eating.
History
Muhammad (610–632)
Born in
Mecca in 570, Muhammad was orphaned early in life. New trade routes rapidly transformed Meccan society from a semi-bedouin society to a commercial urban society, leaving out weaker segments of society without protection. He acquired the nickname "
trustworthy
Trust is the willingness of one party (the trustor) to become vulnerable to another party (the trustee) on the presumption that the trustee will act in ways that benefit the trustor. In addition, the trustor does not have control over the acti ...
" ( ar, الامين), and was sought after as a bank to safeguard valuables and an impartial arbitrator. Affected by the ills of society and after becoming financially secure through marrying his employer, the businesswoman
Khadija
Khadija, Khadeeja or Khadijah ( ar, خديجة, Khadīja) is an Arabic feminine given name, the name of Khadija bint Khuwaylid, first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In 1995, it was one of the three most popular Arabic feminine names in th ...
, he began retreating to a
cave to contemplate. During the last 22 years of his life, beginning at age 40 in 610
CE, Muhammad reported receiving revelations from God, conveyed to him through the
archangel Gabriel, thus becoming the seal of the prophets sent to mankind, according to Islamic tradition.
During this time,
while in Mecca, Muhammad preached first in secret and then in public, imploring his listeners to abandon
polytheism and worship one God. Many early converts to Islam were women, the poor, foreigners, and slaves like the first
muezzin Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi. The Meccan elite profited from the pilgrimages to the idols of the Kaaba and felt Muhammad was destabilizing their social order by preaching about one God, and that in the process he gave questionable ideas to the poor and slaves. Muhammad, who was accused of being a poet, a madman or possessed, presented the
challenge of the Quran to imitate the like of the Quran in order to disprove him. The Meccan authorities persecuted Muhammad and his followers, including a boycott and banishment of Muhammad and his clan to starve them into withdrawing their protection of him. This resulted in the
Migration to Abyssinia of some Muslims (to the
Aksumite Empire).
After 12 years of the
persecution of Muslims by the Meccans
In the early days of Islam at Mecca, the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse and persecution. The persecution lasted for twelve years beginning from the advent of Islam to Hijrah. Muhammad preached Islam secretly for three years. Then, he o ...
, Muhammad and his
companions performed the ''
Hijra'' ("emigration") in 622 to the city of Yathrib (current-day Medina). There, with the Medinan converts (the ''
Ansar'') and the Meccan migrants (the ''
Muhajirun
The ''Muhajirun'' ( ar, المهاجرون, al-muhājirūn, singular , ) were the first converts to Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad's advisors and relatives, who emigrated with him from Mecca to Medina, the event known in Islam as the ''Hijr ...
''),
Muhammad in Medina established his
political and religious authority. The
Constitution of Medina
The Constitution of Medina (, ''Dustūr al-Madīna''), also known as the Charter of Medina ( ar, صحيفة المدينة, ''Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīnah''; or: , ''Mīthāq al-Madina'' "Covenant of Medina"), is the modern name given to a document be ...
was signed by all the tribes of Medina establishing among the Muslim and non-Muslim communities religious freedoms and freedom to use their own laws and agreeing to bar weapons from Medina and to defend it from external threats. Meccan forces and their allies lost against the Muslims at the
Battle of Badr
The Battle of Badr ( ar, غَزْوَةُ بَدِرْ ), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ) in the Quran, Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan (calendar month), Ramadan, 2 Anno Hegirae, AH), near the ...
in 624 and then fought an inconclusive battle in the
Battle of Uhud
The Battle of Uhud ( ar, غَزْوَة أُحُد, ) was fought on Saturday, 23 March 625 AD (7 Shawwal, 3 AH), in the valley north of Mount Uhud.Watt (1974) p. 136. The Qurayshi Meccans, led by Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, commanded an army of 3,000 m ...
before unsuccessfully besieging Medina in the
Battle of the Trench
The Battle of the Trench ( ar, غزوة الخندق, Ghazwat al-Khandaq), also known as the Battle of Khandaq ( ar, معركة الخندق, Ma’rakah al-Khandaq) and the Battle of the Confederates ( ar, غزوة الاحزاب, Ghazwat al- ...
(March–April 627). In 628, the
Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was signed between Mecca and the Muslims, but it was broken by Mecca two years later. As more tribes converted to Islam, Meccan trade routes were cut off by the Muslims. By 629 Muhammad was victorious in the nearly bloodless
conquest of Mecca
The Conquest of Mecca ( ar, فتح مكة , translit=Fatḥ Makkah) was the capture of the town of Mecca by Muslims led by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in December 629 or January 630 AD ( Julian), 10–20 Ramadan, 8 AH. The conquest marked t ...
, and by the time of his death in 632 (at age 62) he had united the
tribes of Arabia into a single religious
polity
A polity is an identifiable Politics, political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relation, social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize ...
. Muhammad's closest companions, such as
Abu Hureyrah
Abu Hurayra ( ar, أبو هريرة, translit=Abū Hurayra; –681) was one of the companions of Islamic prophet Muhammad and, according to Sunni Islam, the most prolific narrator of hadith.
He was known by the ''kunyah'' Abu Hurayrah "Fathe ...
, recorded and compiled what would constitute the hadith.
Caliphate and civil strife (632–750)
Muhammad died in 632 and the first successors, called
Caliphs –
Abu Bakr,
Umar,
Uthman ibn al-Affan,
Ali ibn Abi Talib
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
and sometimes
Hasan ibn Ali – are known in Sunni Islam as ''al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn'' ("
Rightly Guided Caliphs"). Some tribes left Islam and rebelled under leaders who declared themselves new prophets but were crushed by Abu Bakr in the
Ridda wars. Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and heretics and taxed heavily, often helped Muslims take over their lands, resulting in rapid expansion of the caliphate into the
Persian and
Byzantine empires.
Uthman
was elected in 644 and his assassination by rebels led to Ali being elected the next Caliph. In the
First Civil War, Muhammad's widow,
Aisha
Aisha ( ar, , translit=ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr; , also , ; ) was Muhammad's third and youngest wife. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" ( ar, links=no, , ʾumm al-mu'min, muʾminīn), ...
, raised an army against Ali, asking to avenge the death of Uthman, but was defeated at the
Battle of the Camel
The Battle of the Camel, also known as the Battle of Jamel or the Battle of Basra, took place outside of Basra, Iraq, in 36 AH (656 CE). The battle was fought between the army of the fourth caliph Ali, on one side, and the rebel army led by ...
. Ali attempted to remove the governor of Syria, Mu'awiya, who was seen as corrupt. Mu'awiya then declared war on Ali and was defeated in the
Battle of Siffin. Ali's decision to arbitrate angered the
Kharijites
The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
, an extremist sect, who felt that by not fighting a sinner, Ali became a sinner as well. The Kharijites rebelled and were defeated in the
Battle of Nahrawan but a Kharijite assassin later killed Ali. Ali's son, Hasan ibn Ali, was elected Caliph and signed a
peace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surr ...
to avoid further fighting, abdicating to
Mu'awiyah in return for Mu'awiyah not appointing a successor. Mu'awiyah began the
Umayyad dynasty with the appointment of his son
Yazid I
Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...
as successor, sparking the
Second Civil War. During the
Battle of Karbala,
Husayn ibn Ali
Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, أبو عبد الله الحسين بن علي بن أبي طالب; 10 January 626 – 10 October 680) was a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a son of Ali ibn Abi ...
was killed by Yazid's forces; the event has been
annually commemorated by Shia ever since. Sunnis, led by
Ibn al-Zubayr, opposed to a dynastic caliphate were defeated in the
Siege of Mecca. These disputes over leadership would give rise to the
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
-
Shia schism,
with the Shia believing leadership belongs to Muhammad's family through Ali, called the
ahl al-bayt
Ahl al-Bayt ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْبَيْت, ) refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but the term has also been extended in Sunni Islam to apply to all descendants of the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and even to all Muslims. ...
.
Quietist forms of Kharijites led to the third largest denomination in Islam,
Ibadiyya.
Abu Bakr's leadership oversaw the beginning of the compilation of the Qur'an. The Caliph
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz set up the committee,
The Seven Fuqaha of Medina, and
Malik ibn Anas wrote one of the earliest books on Islamic jurisprudence, the ''
Muwatta'', as a consensus of the opinion of those jurists. The
Kharijites
The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
believed there is no compromised middle ground between good and evil, and any Muslim who commits a grave sin becomes an unbeliever. The term is also used to refer to later groups such as
Isis. The
Murji'ah taught that people's righteousness could be judged by God alone. Therefore, wrongdoers might be considered misguided, but not denounced as unbelievers. This attitude came to prevail into mainstream Islamic beliefs.
The Umayyad dynasty conquered the
Maghreb, the
Iberian Peninsula,
Narbonnese Gaul and
Sindh
Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...
. The Umayyads struggled with a lack of legitimacy and relied on a heavily patronized military. Since the jizya tax was a tax paid by non-Muslims which exempted them from military service, the Umayyads denied recognizing the conversion of non-Arabs as it reduced revenue. While the Rashidun Caliphate emphasized austerity, with Umar even requiring an inventory of each official's possessions, Umayyad luxury bred dissatisfaction among the pious. The Kharijites led the
Berber Revolt leading to the first Muslim states independent of the Caliphate. In the
Abbasid revolution, non-Arab converts (''
mawali''), Arab clans pushed aside by the Umayyad clan, and some Shi'a rallied and overthrew the Umayyads, inaugurating the more cosmopolitan Abbasid dynasty in 750.
Classical era (750–1258)
Al-Shafi'i codified a method to determine the reliability of hadith. During the early Abbasid era, scholars such as
Bukhari and
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
compiled the major
Sunni hadith collections
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...
while scholars like
Al-Kulayni and
Ibn Babawayh compiled major Shia hadith collections. The four Sunni
Madh'habs, the Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi'i, were established around the teachings of
Abū Ḥanīfa
Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Musl ...
,
Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Malik ibn Anas and
al-Shafi'i. In contrast, the teachings of
Ja'far al-Sadiq formed the
Ja'fari jurisprudence
Jaʿfarī jurisprudence ( ar, الفقه الجعفري; also called Jafarite in English), Jaʿfarī school or Jaʿfarī fiqh, is the school of jurisprudence (''fiqh'') in Twelver and Ismaili (including Nizari) Shia Islam, named after the sixth ...
. In the 9th century
Al-Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
completed the first commentary of the Quran, that became one of the most cited commentaries in Sunni Islam, the ''
Tafsir al-Tabari''. Some Muslims began questioning the piety of indulgence in worldly life and emphasized poverty, humility, and avoidance of sin based on renunciation of bodily desires. Ascetics such as Hasan al-Basri would inspire a movement that would evolve into ''Tasawwuf'' or Sufism.
At this time, theological problems, notably on free will, were prominently tackled, with Hasan al Basri holding that although God knows people's actions, good and evil come from abuse of free will and the
devil. Greek rationalist philosophy influenced a speculative school of thought known as
Muʿtazila
Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islamic ...
, first originated by
Wasil ibn Ata. Caliphs such as
Mamun al Rashid
Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد, Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn ar-Rashīd; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'mu ...
and
Al-Mu'tasim made it an official creed and unsuccessfully attempted to force their position on the majority. They carried out inquisitions with the traditionalist
Ahmad ibn Hanbal notably refusing to conform to the Mutazila idea of the creation of the Quran and was tortured and kept in an unlit prison cell for nearly thirty months. However, other
schools of
speculative theology
Speculative may refer to:
In arts and entertainment
*Speculative art (disambiguation)
*Speculative fiction, which includes elements created out of human imagination, such as the science fiction and fantasy genres
**Speculative Fiction Group, a Per ...
–
Māturīdism founded by
Abu Mansur al-Maturidi and
Ash'ari founded by
Al-Ash'ari – were more successful in being widely adopted. Philosophers such as
Al-Farabi,
Avicenna
Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic G ...
and
Averroes sought to harmonize Aristotle's metaphysics within Islam, similar to later
scholasticism
Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translate ...
within Christianity in Europe, and
Maimonides' work within Judaism, while others like
Al-Ghazali argued against such
syncretism
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in t ...
and ultimately prevailed.
This era is sometimes called the "
Islamic Golden Age".
Avicenna
Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic G ...
was a pioneer in
experimental medicine
An experimental drug is a medicinal product (a drug or vaccine) that has not yet received approval from governmental regulatory authorities for routine use in human or veterinary medicine. A medicinal product may be approved for use in one disea ...
,
[Jacquart, Danielle (2008). "Islamic Pharmacology in the Middle Ages: Theories and Substances". European Review (Cambridge University Press) 16: 219–227.] and his ''
The Canon of Medicine'' was used as a standard medicinal text in the Islamic world and
Europe for centuries.
Rhazes was the first to distinguish the diseases
smallpox and
measles
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
.
Public hospitals of the time issued the first medical diplomas to license doctors.
Ibn al-Haytham is regarded as the father of the modern
scientific method and often referred to as the "world's first true scientist", in particular regarding his work in
optics.
[ Haq, Syed (2009). "Science in Islam". Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages. . Retrieved 22 October 2014] In engineering, the
Banū Mūsā
The Banū Mūsā brothers ("Sons of Moses"), namely Abū Jaʿfar, Muḥammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (before 803 – February 873); Abū al‐Qāsim, Aḥmad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (d. 9th century); and Al-Ḥasan ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir (d. 9th ce ...
brothers'
automatic
Automatic may refer to:
Music Bands
* Automatic (band), Australian rock band
* Automatic (American band), American rock band
* The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band
Albums
* ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 electronic rock ...
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
player is considered to have been the first
programmable machine A program is a set of instructions used to control the behavior of a machine. Examples of such programs include:
*The sequence of cards used by a Jacquard loom to produce a given pattern within weaved cloth. Invented in 1801, it used holes in punc ...
.
In
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, the concept of the
algorithm is named after
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, who is considered a founder of
algebra, which is named after his book
''al-jabr'', while others developed the concept of a
function. The government paid scientists the equivalent salary of professional athletes today.
The
Guinness World Records recognizes the
University of Al Karaouine
The University of al-Qarawiyyin ( ar, جامعة القرويين; ber, ⵜⴰⵙⴷⴰⵡⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵇⴰⵕⴰⵡⵉⵢⵉⵏ; french: Université Al Quaraouiyine), also written Al-Karaouine or Al Quaraouiyine, is a university located in ...
, founded in 859, as the world's oldest degree-granting university.
The vast Abbasid empire proved impossible to hold together. Soldiers established their own dynasties, such as the
Tulunids,
Samanid
The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan origin. The empire was centred in Kho ...
and
Ghaznavid dynasty. Additionally, the
millennialist
Millennialism (from millennium, Latin for "a thousand years") or chiliasm (from the Greek equivalent) is a belief advanced by some religious denominations that a Golden Age or Paradise will occur on Earth prior to the final judgment and future ...
Isma'ili Shi'a missionary movement rose with the
Fatimid dynasty taking control of North Africa and with the
Qarmatians
The Qarmatians ( ar, قرامطة, Qarāmiṭa; ) were a militant Isma'ilism, Isma'ili Shia Islam, Shia movement centred in Al-Ahsa Oasis, al-Hasa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a Utopia#Religious utopias, religious-utopian Socialis ...
sacking Mecca and stealing the Black Stone in their unsuccessful rebellion. In what is called the
Shi'a Century, another Ismaili group, the
Buyid dynasty conquered Baghdad and turned the Abbasids into a figurehead monarchy. The Sunni Seljuk dynasty, campaigned to
reassert Sunni Islam by promulgating the accumulated scholarly opinion of the time notably with the construction of educational institutions known as
Nezamiyeh, which are associated with Al-Ghazali and
Saadi Shirazi. The Ismailis continued splintering over the legitimacy of successive imams with the
Alawites and the
Druze
The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...
, offshoots of Shi'a Islam, dating to this time.
Religious missions converted
Volga Bulgaria to Islam. The
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). reached deep into the
Indian Subcontinent and many converted to Islam, in particular
low-caste Hindus whose descendents make up the vast majority of Indian Muslims. Many Muslims also went to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
to trade, virtually dominating the import and export industry of the
Song dynasty.
Pre-Modern era (1258–18th century)
Through Muslim trade networks and the activity of Sufi orders, Islam spread into new areas. Under the
Ottoman Empire, Islam spread to
Southeast Europe. Conversion to Islam, however, was not a sudden abandonment of old religious practices; rather, it was typically a matter of "assimilating Islamic rituals, cosmologies, and literatures into... local religious systems", as illustrated by Muhammad's appearance in
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
folklore. The Turks probably found similarities between Sufi rituals and Shaman practices. Muslim Turks incorporated elements of
Turkish Shamanism beliefs to Islam.
Muslims in China
Islam has been practiced in China since the 7th century CE.. Muslims are a minority group in China, representing 1.6-2 percent of the total population (21,667,000- 28,210,795) according to various estimates. Though Hui Muslims are the most numerou ...
, who were descended from earlier immigrants, were assimilated, sometimes by force, by adopting Chinese names and
culture while
Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study.
While cultural influence used to radiate outward from Baghdad, after the
Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate, Arab influence decreased. Iran and Central Asia, benefiting from increased cross-cultural access to East Asia under
Mongol rule, flourished and developed more distinctively from Arab influence, such as the
Timurid Renaissance under the
Timurid dynasty.
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Tūsī ( fa, محمد ابن محمد ابن حسن طوسی 18 February 1201 – 26 June 1274), better known as Nasir al-Din al-Tusi ( fa, نصیر الدین طوسی, links=no; or simply Tusi in the West ...
(1201–1274) proposed the
mathematical model
A mathematical model is a description of a system using mathematical concepts and language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed mathematical modeling. Mathematical models are used in the natural sciences (such as physics, ...
that was later adopted by
Copernicus unrevised in his heliocentric model and
Jamshīd al-Kāshī's estimate of
pi would not be surpassed for 180 years. Many Muslim dynasties in India chose Persian as their court language.
The introduction of gunpowder weapons led to the rise of large centralized states and the Muslim
Gunpowder empires consolidated much of the previously splintered territories. The
caliphate was claimed by the
Ottoman dynasty of the Ottoman Empire since
Murad I's
conquest of Edirne in 1362, and its claims were strengthened in 1517 as
Selim I
Selim I ( ota, سليم اول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting ...
became the
ruler of Mecca and Medina. The Shia
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty (; fa, دودمان صفوی, Dudmâne Safavi, ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of th ...
rose to power in 1501 and later conquered all of Iran. In South Asia,
Babur
Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...
founded the
Mughal Empire. The Mughals compiled the Islamic legal text, the
Fatwa Alamgiri.
The religion of the centralized states of the Gunpowder empires influenced the religious practice of their constituent populations. A
symbiosis
Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...
between
Ottoman rulers and Sufism strongly influenced Islamic reign by the Ottomans from the beginning. The
Mevlevi Order and
Bektashi Order
The Bektashi Order; sq, Tarikati Bektashi; tr, Bektaşi or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic movement originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the Anatolian saint Haji Bektash Wali (d. 1271). The community is currently led by ...
had a close relation to the sultans, as Sufi-mystical as well as
heterodox and
syncretic approaches to Islam flourished. The often forceful
Safavid conversion of Iran to the Twelver Shia Islam of the Safavid Empire ensured the final dominance of the
Twelver sect within Shia Islam. Persian migrants to South Asia, as influential bureaucrats and landholders, help spread Shia Islam, forming some of the largest Shia populations outside Iran.
Nader Shah
Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...
, who overthrew the Safavids, attempted to improve relations with Sunnis by propagating the integration of Twelverism into Sunni Islam as a fifth ''madhhab'', called Ja'farism, which failed to gain recognition from the Ottomans.
Modern era (18th – 20th centuries)
Earlier in the 14th century,
Ibn Taymiyya promoted a
puritanical form of Islam,
[Mary Hawkesworth, Maurice Kogan ''Encyclopedia of Government and Politics: 2-volume set'' Routledge 2013 pp. 270–271] rejecting philosophical approaches in favor of simpler theology
and called to open the gates of
itjihad
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of reli ...
rather than blind imitation of scholars. He called for a jihad against those he deemed heretics
[Richard Gauvain ''Salafi Ritual Purity: In the Presence of God'' Routledge 2013 p. 6] but his writings only played a marginal role during his lifetime. During the 18th century in Arabia,
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, influenced by the works of Ibn Taymiyya and
Ibn al-Qayyim, founded a movement, called
Wahhabi with their self-designation as ''Muwahiddun'', to return to what he saw as unadultered Islam.
[Ga ́bor A ́goston, Bruce Alan Masters ''Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire'' ]Infobase Publishing
Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, includin ...
2010 p. 260 He condemned many local Islamic customs, such as visiting the grave of Muhammad or saints, as later
innovations and sinful
and destroyed sacred rocks and trees, Sufi shrines, the
tombs of Muhammad and his companions and the tomb of Husayn at Karbala, a major Shia pilgrimage site. He formed an alliance with the
Saud family, which, by the 1920s, completed their conquest of the area that would become
Saudi Arabia.
Ma Wanfu and Ma Debao promoted salafist movements in the nineteenth century such as
Sailaifengye
Sailaifengye () or Salafiyah refers to the Chinese Salafi Movement.
Overview
Chinese Salafists are not a unified organization but "a patchwork of relatively independent mosque / prayer-congregations" loosely connected through overlapping networ ...
in China after returning from Mecca but were eventually persecuted and forced into hiding by Sufi groups. Other groups sought to reform Sufism rather than reject it, with the
Senusiyya and
Muhammad Ahmad both waging war and establishing states in Libya and Sudan respectively. In India,
Shah Waliullah Dehlawi attempted a more conciliatory style against Sufism and influenced the
Deobandi
Deobandi is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam, adhering to the Hanafi school of law,
formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name derives,
by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, R ...
movement. In response to the Deobandi movement, the
Barelwi movement was founded as a mass movement, defending popular
Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
and reforming its practices.
The
Muslim world was generally in political decline starting the 1800s, especially regarding non-Muslim European powers. Earlier, in the fifteenth century, the
Reconquista succeeded in ending the
Muslim presence in Iberia. By the 19th century; the British
East India Company had formally annexed the
Mughal dynasty in India. As a response to
Western Imperialism, many intellectuals sought to
reform Islam.
Islamic modernism, initially labelled by Western scholars as
''Salafiyya'', embraced modern values and institutions such as democracy while being scripture-oriented.
[Robert Rabil ''Salafism in Lebanon: From Apoliticism to Transnational Jihadism'' ]Georgetown University Press
Georgetown University Press is a university press affiliated with Georgetown University that publishes about forty new books a year. The press's major subject areas include bioethics, international affairs, languages and linguistics, political sc ...
2014 chapter: "Doctrine" Notable forerunners include
Muhammad 'Abduh
; "The Theology of Unity")
, alma_mater = Al-Azhar University
, office1 = Grand Mufti of Egypt
, term1 = 1899 – 1905
, Sufi_order = Shadhiliyya
, disciple_of =
, awards =
, infl ...
and
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani.
[Henri Lauzière ''The Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century'' Columbia University Press 2015 ] Abul A'la Maududi helped influence modern
political Islam. Similar to contemporary
codification, Shariah was for the first time partially codified into law in 1869 in the Ottoman Empire's
Mecelle code.
The
Ottoman Empire disintegrated after
World War I and the
Caliphate was
abolished in 1924 by the first
President of the Turkish Republic,
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
, as part of his
secular reforms.
Pan-Islamists attempted to unify Muslims and competed with growing nationalist forces, such as
pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism ( ar, الوحدة العربية or ) is an ideology that espouses the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is referred to as the Arab world. It is closely c ...
. The
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), consisting of
Muslim-majority countries, was established in 1969 after the burning of the
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque (, ), also known as Jami' Al-Aqsa () or as the Qibli Mosque ( ar, المصلى القبلي, translit=al-Muṣallā al-Qiblī, label=none), and also is a congregational mosque located in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is situa ...
in
Jerusalem.
Contact with industrialized nations brought Muslim populations to new areas through economic migration. Many Muslims migrated as indentured servants (mostly from India and Indonesia) to the Caribbean, forming the largest Muslim populations by percentage in the Americas. Migration from Syria and Lebanon was the biggest contributor to the Muslim population in Latin America. The resulting urbanization and increase in trade in sub-Saharan Africa brought Muslims to settle in new areas and spread their faith, likely doubling its Muslim population between 1869 and 1914. Muslim immigrants began arriving largely from former colonies in several Western European nations since the 1960s, many as
guest workers.
Contemporary era (20th century–present)
Forerunners of Islamic modernism influenced Islamist political movements such as the
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...
and related parties in the Arab world, which performed well in elections following the
Arab Spring,
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...
in South Asia and the
AK Party, which has democratically been in power in Turkey for decades. In
Iran,
revolution replaced a
secular monarchy with an
Islamic state. Others such as
Sayyid Rashid Rida broke away from Islamic modernists and pushed against embracing what he saw as Western influence.
In opposition to Islamic political movements, in 20th century Turkey, the military carried out
coups to oust Islamist governments, and headscarves were legally restricted, as also happened in Tunisia. In other places religious power was co-opted, such as in Saudi Arabia, where the state monopolized religious scholarship and are often seen as puppets of the state
while Egypt nationalized
Al-Azhar University
, image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg
, image_size = 250
, caption = Al-Azhar University portal
, motto =
, established =
*970/972 first foundat ...
, previously an independent voice checking state power. Salafism was funded for its quietism. Saudi Arabia campaigned against revolutionary Islamist movements in the Middle East, in opposition to Iran,
Turkey and Qatar.
Muslim minorities of various ethnicities have been persecuted as a religious group. This has been undertaken by communist forces like the
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge (; ; km, ខ្មែរក្រហម, ; ) is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. ...
, who viewed them as their primary enemy to be exterminated since they stood out and worshiped their own god and the
Chinese Communist Party in
Xinjiang and by nationalist forces such as during the
Bosnian genocide.
The globalization of communication has increased dissemination of religious information. The adoption of the
hijab
In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...
has grown more common and some Muslim intellectuals are increasingly striving to separate scriptural Islamic beliefs from cultural traditions. Among other groups, this access to information has led to the rise of popular "
televangelist" preachers, such as
Amr Khaled, who compete with the traditional
ulema in their reach and have decentralized religious authority. More "individualized" interpretations of Islam notably include
Liberal Muslims
Liberalism and progressivism within Islam involve professed Muslims who have created a considerable body of Progressivism, progressive thought about Islamic understanding and practice. Their work is sometimes characterized as "Progressivism, prog ...
who attempt to reconcile religious traditions with current secular governance and women's issues.
In the 21st century, the rise of
Isil in 2013 presented a new breed of triumphalist extremist Islamist group that seized parts of Iraq and Syria and sought to declare a new medieval caliphate. Rejected as terrorists by the mainstream global Muslim community, the group was forced to resort to insurgency-like tactics in the face of Iranian intervention commanded by
Qasem Soleimani in 2014
and a US-led military intervention in 2017 that by 2019 saw almost all of its territorial gains reversed.
Demographics
About 23.4% of the global population, or about 1.8 billion people, are Muslims.
[Lipka, Michael, and Conrad Hackett. ]015
Fifteen or 15 may refer to:
*15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16
*one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015
Music
*Fifteen (band), a punk rock band
Albums
* ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005
* ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...
6 April 2017.
Why Muslims are the world's fastest-growing religious group
(data analysis). ''Fact Tank''. Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
. In 1900, this estimate was 12.3%, in 1990 it was 19.9%
and projections suggest the proportion will be 29.7% by 2050.
It has been estimated that 87–90% of Muslims are Sunni and 10–13% are Shia, with a minority belonging to other sects. Approximately 49 countries are
Muslim-majority
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...
, with 62% of the world's Muslims living in Asia, and 683 million adherents in
Indonesia,
Pakistan,
India, and
Bangladesh alone.
[ Information provided by the International Population Center, Department of Geography, San Diego State University (2005).] Most estimates indicate
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
has approximately 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population).
Islam in Europe
Islam is the Religion in Europe, second-largest religion in Europe after Christianity. Although the majority of Muslim communities in Western Europe formed recently, there are centuries-old Muslim societies in the Balkans, Caucasus, Crimea, and ...
is the second largest religion after
Christianity in many countries, with growth rates due primarily to immigration and higher birth rates of Muslims in 2005.
Religious conversion has no net impact on the Muslim population growth as "the number of people who
become Muslims through conversion seems to be roughly equal to the number of Muslims who leave the faith".
By both percentage and total numbers, Islam is the world's fastest growing major religious group, and is projected to be the world's largest by the end of the 21st century, surpassing that of
Christianity.
It is estimated that, by 2050, the number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world, "due to the young age and high
fertility-rate of Muslims relative to other religious groups".
[Pew Forum for Religion & Public Life. April 2015.]
The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010–2050
" Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
. p. 7
Article
Schools and branches
Sunni
Sunni Islam or Sunnism is the name for the largest denomination in Islam. The term is a contraction of the phrase "ahl as-sunna wa'l-jamaat", which means "people of the
sunna (the traditions of the prophet Muhammad) and the community". Sunnis, or sometimes Sunnites, believe that the first four caliphs were the rightful successors to Muhammad and primarily reference
six major hadith works for legal matters, while following one of the four traditional schools of jurisprudence: Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki or Shafi'i.
Sunni schools of theology encompass Asharism founded by
Al-Ashʿarī
Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī (; full name: ''Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Ashʿarī''; c. 874–936 CE/260–324 AH), often reverently referred to as Imām al-Ashʿarī by Sunnī Muslims, was an Arab Muslim scholar ...
(c. 874–936), Maturidi by
Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (853–944 CE) and
traditionalist theology under the leadership of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855 CE). Traditionalist theology is characterized by its adherence to a literal understanding of the Quran and the Sunnah, the belief in the Quran is uncreated and eternal, and opposition to reason (kalam) in religious and ethical matters. On the other hand, Maturidism asserts, scripture is not needed for basic ethics and that ''good'' and ''evil'' can be understood by reason alone, but people rely on revelation, for matters beyond human's comprehension. Asharism holds that ethics can derive just from divine revelation but not from human reason. However, Asharism accepts reason regarding exegetical matters and combines Muʿtazila approaches with traditionalist ideas.
In the 18th century, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab led a Salafi movement, referred by outsiders as Wahhabism, in modern-day Saudi Arabia. A similar movement called
Ahl al-Hadith also de-emphasized the centuries' old Sunni legal tradition, preferring to directly follow the Quran and Hadith. The ''
Nurcu'' Sunni movement was by
Said Nursi (1877–1960);
[Svante E. Cornell ''Azerbaijan Since Independence'' ]M.E. Sharpe
M. E. Sharpe, Inc., an academic publisher, was founded by Myron Sharpe in 1958 with the original purpose of publishing translations from Russian in the social sciences and humanities. These translations were published in a series of journals, the ...
p. 283 it incorporates elements of Sufism and science,
and has given rise to the
Gülen movement.
Shia
Shia Islam, or Shi'ism, is the second-largest Muslim denomination. Shias, or Shiites, split with Sunnis over Muhammad's
successor as leader, who the Shia believed must be from certain descendants of Muhammad's family known as the
Ahl al-Bayt
Ahl al-Bayt ( ar, أَهْل ٱلْبَيْت, ) refers to the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but the term has also been extended in Sunni Islam to apply to all descendants of the Banu Hashim (Muhammad's clan) and even to all Muslims. ...
and those leaders, referred to as
Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
s, have additional spiritual authority. Some of the first Imams are revered by all Shia groups and Sunnis, such as
Ali.
Zaidi, the second-oldest branch, reject special powers of Imams and are sometimes considered a 'fifth school' of Sunni Islam rather than a Shia denomination.
The
Twelvers, the first and the largest Shia branch, believe in
twelve Imams, the last of whom went into
occultation to return one day. The
Ismailis
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
split with the Twelvers over who was the seventh Imam and have split into more groups over the status of successive Imams, with the largest group being the
Nizaris.
Ibadi
Ibadi Islam or
Ibadism is practised by 1.45 million Muslims around the world (~ 0.08% of all Muslims), most of them in
Oman. Ibadism is often associated with and viewed as a moderate variation of the
Khawarij movement, though Ibadis themselves object to this classification. Unlike most Kharijite groups, Ibadism does not regard sinful Muslims as unbelievers. Ibadi hadiths, such as the
Jami Sahih
''Jami Sahih'' is, along with '' Tartib al-Musnad'', the most important hadith collection for Ibadi
The Ibadi movement or Ibadism ( ar, الإباضية, al-Ibāḍiyyah) is a school of Islam. The followers of Ibadism are known as the Ibadis.
...
collection, uses chains of narrators from early Islamic history they considered trustworthy but most Ibadi hadiths are also found in standard Sunni collections and contemporary Ibadis often approve of the standard Sunni collections.
Quranism
The
Quranists
Quranism ( ar, القرآنية, translit=al-Qurʾāniyya'';'' also known as Quran-only Islam) Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.38-42 is a movement within Islam. It holds the belief that traditional religious cl ...
are Muslims who generally believe that Islamic law and guidance should only be based on the
Qur'an, rejecting the
Sunnah
In Islam, , also spelled ( ar, سنة), are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed ...
, thus partially or completely doubting the
religious authority, reliability or authenticity of the
Hadith literature, which they claim are fabricated.
There were first critics of the hadith traditions as early as the time of the scholar
Al-Shafi'i; however, their arguments did not find much favor among Muslims. From the 19th century onwards, reformist thinkers like
Sayyid Ahmad Khan
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, he ...
, Abdullah Chakralawi, and later
Ghulam Ahmad Parwez
Ghulam Ahmad Parwez ( pa, ; 1903–1985), widely known as Allama Parwez, was a pioneer of Quranic doctrine from pre-Independence India and later Pakistan. He attempted to rationally interpret Quranic themes, by challenging the established Su ...
in India began to systematically question the hadith and the Islamic tradition. At the same time, there was a long-standing discussion on the sole authority of the Quran in Egypt, initiated by an article by
Muhammad Tawfiq Sidqi
Muhammad Tawfiq Sidqi (1881-1920) was an Egyptian Muslim and physician who argued against the authenticity of hadith (the record of the words, actions, and the silent approval of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) and its application to modern life. He ...
named "Islam is the Quran alone" (''al-Islām huwa l-Qurʾān waḥda-hū)'' in the magazine al-Manār. Quranism also took on a political dimension in the 20th century when
Muammar al-Gaddafi declared the Quran to be the constitution of Libya. In America,
Rashad Khalifa, an Egyptian-American biochemist and discoverer of the
Quran code (Code 19), which is a hypothetical mathematical code in the Quran, founded the organization "United Submitters International".
The rejection of the hadith leads in some cases to differences in the way religion is practiced for example in the ritual prayer. While some Quranists traditionally pray five times a day, others reduce the number to three or even two daily prayers. There are also different views on the details of prayer or other pillars of Islam such as zakāt, fasting, or the Hajj.
Other denominations
*
Bektashi Alevism is a
syncretic and
heterodox local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical (
bāṭenī) teachings of Ali and
Haji Bektash Veli. Alevism incorporates Turkish beliefs present during the 14th century,
[Jorgen S Nielsen Muslim ''Political Participation in Europe'' ]Edinburgh University Press
Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
History
Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...
2013 page 255 such as
Shamanism
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
and
Animism, mixed with Shias and Sufi beliefs, adopted by some Turkish tribes. It has been estimated that there are 10 million to over 20 million (~0.5%–1% of all Muslims) Alevis worldwide.
* The
Ahmadiyya movement was founded by
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in
India in 1889. Ahmad claimed to be the "Promised Messiah" or "Imam Mahdi" of prophecy. Today the group has 10 to 20 million practitioners, but is rejected by most Muslims as heretical, and Ahmadis have been subject to religious persecution and discrimination since the movement's inception.
Non-denominational Muslims
Non-denominational Muslims is an
umbrella term that has been used for and by Muslims who do not belong to or do not self-identify with a specific
Islamic denomination.
Recent surveys report that large proportions of Muslims in some parts of the world self-identify as "just Muslim", although there is little published analysis available regarding the motivations underlying this response. The
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C.
It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the w ...
reports that respondents self-identifying as "just Muslim" make up a majority of Muslims in seven countries (and a plurality in three others), with the highest proportion in
Kazakhstan at 74%. At least one in five Muslims in at least 22 countries self-identify in this way.
Mysticism
Sufism (Arabic: ar, تصوف, translit=tasawwuf, label=none), is a
mystical-
ascetic
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
approach to Islam that seeks to find a direct
personal experience of God. Classical Sufi scholars defined ''Tasawwuf'' as "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God", through "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use.
[ Zarruq, Ahmed, Zaineb Istrabadi, and ]Hamza Yusuf Hanson
Hamza Yusuf (born: Mark Hanson; 1958) is an American Islamic neo-traditionalism, Islamic neo-traditionalist, Islamic scholar, and co-founder of Zaytuna College. He is a proponent of classical learning in Islam and has promoted Islamic sciences a ...
. 2008. ''The Principles of Sufism''. Amal Press. It is not a sect of Islam and its adherents belong to the various Muslim denominations.
Ismaili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
Shias, whose teachings root in
Gnosticism and
Neoplatonism, as well as by the
Illuminationist and
Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
schools of Islamic philosophy have developed mystical interpretations of Islam.
Hasan al-Basri, the early Sufi ascetic often portrayed as one of the earliest Sufis, emphasized fear of failing God's expectations of obedience. In contrast, later prominent Sufis, such as
Mansur Al-Hallaj and
Jalaluddin Rumi, emphasized religiosity based on love towards God. Such devotion would also have an impact on the arts, with Rumi, still one of the best selling poets in America, writing his Persian poem
Masnawi
Urdu poetry ( ur, ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the cultures of South Asia. According to Naseer Turabi there are five major poets of Urdu which are Mir Taqi Mir (d.1810), Mirza Ghalib ...
and the works of
Hafez (1315–1390) are often considered the pinnacle of Persian poetry.
Sufis reject ''materialism'' and ''ego'' and regard everything as if it was sent by god alone, Sufi strongly believes in the oneness of god.
Sufis see ''tasawwuf'' as an inseparable part of Islam, just like the ''sharia''. Traditional Sufis, such as
Bayazid Bastami, Jalaluddin Rumi,
Haji Bektash Veli,
Junaid Baghdadi, and Al-Ghazali, argued for Sufism as being based upon the tenets of Islam and the teachings of the prophet. Historian
Nile Green argued that Islam in the Medieval period, was more or less ''Sufism''.
Popular devotional practices such as the veneration of Sufi saints have been viewed as innovations from the original religion from followers of
salafism
The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islah, reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three g ...
, who have sometimes physically attacked Sufis, leading to a deterioration in
Sufi–Salafi relations
Since the classical era, traditional Islamic religious culture was divided between two main Aqidah, theological schools, Sufi philosophy, Sufi-Ash'arism represented by Al-Ghazali, Ghazzali (1058-1111) and Salafi movement, Salafism represented ...
.
Sufi congregations form orders (''
tariqa'') centered around a teacher (''
wali'') who traces a spiritual chain back to Muhammad. Sufis played an important role in the formation of Muslim societies through their missionary and educational activities.
Sufi influenced Ahle Sunnat movement or
Barelvi movement defends Sufi practices and beliefs with over 200 million followers in south Asia. Sufism is prominent in Central Asia, as well as in African countries like
Tunisia,
Algeria,
Morocco,
Senegal,
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
and
Niger.
Law and jurisprudence
Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
is the
religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition.
It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. In Arabic, the term sharīʿah refers to God's divine law and is contrasted with ''
fiqh'', which refers to its scholarly interpretations.
[Vikør, Knut S. 2014.]
Sharīʿah
" In ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics'', edited by E. Shahin. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Archived from th
original
on 4 June 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2020. The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between Muslim traditionalists and reformists.
Traditional
theory of Islamic jurisprudence recognizes four
sources of sharia: the Quran, sunnah (''Hadith'' and
''Sira''),
qiyas
In Islamic jurisprudence, qiyas ( ar, قياس , "analogy") is the process of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the hadith are compared and contrasted with those of the Quran, in order to apply a known injunction ('' nass'') to a new ...
(analogical reasoning), and ''
ijma'' (juridical consensus).
[ Quote: " .. by the ninth century, the classical theory of law fixed the sources of Islamic law at four: the ''Quran'', the ''Sunnah'' of the Prophet, ''qiyas'' (analogical reasoning), and ''ijma'' (consensus)."] Different
legal schools developed methodologies for deriving sharia rulings from scriptural sources using a process known as ''
ijtihad
''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a le ...
''.
Traditional jurisprudence distinguishes two principal branches of law,''
ʿibādāt'' (rituals) and ''
muʿāmalāt'' (social relations), which together comprise a wide range of topics.
Its rulings assign actions to one of five categories called
ahkam: mandatory (''
fard''), recommended (''
mustahabb''), permitted (''
mubah''), abhorred (''
makruh''), and prohibited (''
haram'').
Forgiveness is much celebrated in Islam and, in criminal law, while imposing a penalty on an offender in proportion to their offense is considered permissible; forgiving the offender is better. To go one step further by offering a favor to the offender is regarded as the peak of excellence. Some areas of sharia overlap with the Western notion of law while others correspond more broadly to living life in accordance with God's will.
Historically, sharia was interpreted by independent jurists (
muftis). Their legal opinions (
fatwa
A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...
) were taken into account by ruler-appointed
judges who presided over
qāḍī's courts, and by ''
maẓālim'' courts, which were controlled by the ruler's council and administered criminal law.
In the modern era, sharia-based criminal laws were widely replaced by statutes inspired by European models.
The
Ottoman Empire's 19th-century
Tanzimat
The Tanzimat (; ota, تنظيمات, translit=Tanzimāt, lit=Reorganization, ''see'' nizām) was a period of reform in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Gülhane Hatt-ı Şerif in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. ...
reforms lead to the
Mecelle civil code and represented the first attempt to
codify sharia. While the constitutions of most Muslim-majority states contain references to sharia, its classical rules were largely retained only in
personal status (family) laws.
Legislative bodies which codified these laws sought to modernize them without abandoning their foundations in traditional jurisprudence.
[Mayer, Ann Elizabeth. 2009.]
Law. Modern Legal Reform
" In ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World'', edited by J. L. Esposito. Oxford: Oxford University Press. The
Islamic revival of the late 20th century brought along calls by
Islamist movements for complete implementation of sharia.
The role of sharia has become a contested topic around the world. There are ongoing debates whether sharia is compatible with secular forms of government, human rights,
freedom of thought, and
women's rights.
Schools of jurisprudence
A school of jurisprudence is referred to as a ''madhhab'' ( ar, مذهب). The four major Sunni schools are the
Hanafi,
Maliki,
Shafi'i,
Hanbali madhahs while the three major Shia schools are the
Ja'fari,
Zaidi and
Isma'ili madhahib. Each differs in their methodology, called ''
Usul al-fiqh'' ("principles of jurisprudence"). The following of decisions by a religious expert without necessarily examining the decision's reasoning is called ''
taqlid''. The term ''
ghair muqallid
Non-denominational Muslims () are Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches.
Non-denominational Muslims are found primarily in Central As ...
'' literally refers to those who do not use taqlid and, by extension, do not have a madhab. The practice of an individual interpreting law with independent reasoning is called ''ijtihad''.
Society
Religious personages
Islam, like Judaism, has no clergy in the
sacerdotal sense, such as priests who mediate between God and people. ''
Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
'' ( ar, إمام, label=none) is the religious title used to refer to an Islamic leadership position, often in the context of conducting an Islamic worship service.
Religious interpretation is presided over by the ''‘ulama'' (Arabic: علماء), a term used describe the body of Muslim scholars who have received training in
Islamic studies. A scholar of the hadith is called a ''
muhaddith'', a scholar of jurisprudence is called a ''
faqih'' ( ar, فقيه, label=none), a jurist who is qualified to issue legal opinions or ''
fatwas'' is called a
mufti, and a ''
qadi'' is an Islamic judge.
Honorific titles given to scholars include
sheikh
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
,
mullah
Mullah (; ) is an honorific title for Shia and Sunni Muslim clergy or a Muslim mosque leader. The term is also sometimes used for a person who has higher education in Islamic theology and sharia law.
The title has also been used in some Miz ...
and ''
mawlawi''.
Some Muslims also venerate
saints
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...
associated with
miracles ( ar, كرامات, translit=karāmāt, label=none). The practice of visiting the tombs of prophets and saints is known as ''
ziyarat''. Unlike saints in Christianity, Muslim saints are usually acknowledged informally by the consensus of common people, not by scholars.
Governance
Mainstream Islamic law does not distinguish between "matters of church" and "matters of state"; the
scholars
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher ...
function as both jurists and theologians. Various forms of Islamic jurisprudence therefore rule on matters than in other societal context might be considered the preserve of the state. Terms traditionally used to refer to Muslim leaders include
Caliph and
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
, and terms associated with traditionally Muslim states include
Caliphate,
Emirate,
Imamate
{{expand Arabic, date=April 2021
The term imamate or ''imamah'' ( ar, إمامة, ''imāmah'') means "leadership" and refers to the office of an ''imam'' or a state ruled by an ''imam''.
Theology
*Imamate, in Sunni doctrine the caliphate
:* Naqshb ...
and
Khanate
A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire.
Mong ...
(
e.g. the
United Arab Emirates).
In
Islamic economic jurisprudence, hoarding of wealth is reviled and thus
monopolistic
A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a spec ...
behavior is frowned upon. Attempts to comply with shariah has led to the development of
Islamic banking
Islamic banking, Islamic finance ( ar, مصرفية إسلامية), or Sharia-compliant finance is banking or financing activity that complies with Sharia (Islamic law) and its practical application through the development of Islamic economic ...
. Islam prohibits ''
riba'', usually translated as
usury, which refers to any unfair gain in trade and is most commonly used to mean interest. Instead, Islamic banks go into partnership with the borrower and both share from the profits and any losses from the venture. Another feature is the avoidance of uncertainty, which is seen as gambling and Islamic banks traditionally avoid derivative instruments such as futures or options which substantially protected them from the
2008 financial crisis
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
. The state used to be involved in distribution of charity from the treasury, known as
Bayt al-mal, before it became a largely individual pursuit. The first
Caliph,
Abu Bakr, distributed zakat as one of the first examples of a
guaranteed minimum income
Guaranteed minimum income (GMI), also called minimum income (or mincome for short), is a social-welfare system that guarantees all citizens or families an income sufficient to live on, provided that certain eligibility conditions are met, typical ...
, with each man, woman and child getting 10 to 20
dirhams annually. During the reign of the second Caliph Umar,
child support was introduced and the old and disabled were entitled to stipends, while the Umayyad Caliph
Umar II assigned a servant for each blind person and for every two chronically ill persons.
Jihad means "to strive or struggle
n the way of God
N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...
and, in its broadest sense, is "exerting one's utmost power, efforts, endeavors, or ability in contending with an object of
disapprobation
Disapproval voting is any electoral system that allows many voters to express formal disapproval simultaneously, in a system where they all share some power. Unlike most electoral systems, it requires that only negative measures or choices be pres ...
". This could refer to one's striving to attain religious and moral perfection
with the Shia and Sufis in particular, distinguishing between the "greater jihad", which pertains to spiritual
self-perfection, and the "lesser jihad", defined as warfare.
[. ] When used without a qualifier, jihad is often understood in its military form.
Jihad is the only form of warfare permissible in Islamic law and may be declared against illegal works, terrorists, criminal groups, rebels,
apostates, and leaders or states who oppress Muslims.
Most Muslims today interpret Jihad as only a defensive form of warfare. Jihad only becomes an individual duty for those vested with authority. For the rest of the populace, this happens only in the case of a
general mobilization.
For most
Twelver Shias,
offensive jihad can only be declared by a
divinely appointed leader of the Muslim community, and as such, is suspended since
Muhammad al-Mahdi
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī ( ar, محمد بن الحسن المهدي) is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the last of the Twelve Imams and the eschatological Mahdi, who will emerge in the end of time to establish peace and justic ...
's
occultation is 868 CE.
Daily and family life
Many daily practices fall in the category of ''adab'', or etiquette and this includes greeting others with "''
as-salamu 'alaykum''" ("peace be unto you"), saying ''
bismillah
''Bismillah'' ( ar, بسم الله, link=no) is a phrase in Arabic meaning "in the name of Allah". It is also the first word in the Qur'an, and refers to the Qur'an's opening phrase, the Basmala. It may also refer to:
People
* Bismillah Khan (1 ...
'' ("in
the name of God") before meals, and using only the right hand for eating and drinking.
Specific prohibited foods include pork products, blood and
carrion
Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh.
Overview
Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, c ...
. Health is viewed as a trust from God and
intoxicants, such as
alcoholic drinks, are prohibited.
All meat must come from a
herbivorous animal slaughtered in the name of God by a Muslim, Jew, or Christian, except for game that one has hunted or fished for themself. Beards are often encouraged among men as something natural and body modifications, such as
permanent tattoos, are usually forbidden as violating the creation. Gold and silk for men are prohibited and are seen as extravagant. ''
Haya
Haya may refer to:
Biology
* ''Haya'' (dinosaur), a genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous from Mongolia
* ''Haya'' (plant), a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae
* Haya de Herguijuela (Spanish: beech ...
'', often translated as "shame" or "modesty", is sometimes described as the innate character of Islam and informs much of Muslim daily life. For example,
clothing in Islam emphasizes a standard of modesty, which has included the
hijab
In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...
for women. Similarly,
personal hygiene is encouraged with certain requirements.
In
Islamic marriage
In Islam, nikah is a contract between two people. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills. A formal, binding contract – verbal or on paper – is considered integral to a religiously valid Islamic ...
, the groom is required to pay a bridal gift (''
mahr'').
Most families in the Islamic world are monogamous. However, Muslim men are allowed to practice
polygyny and can have up to four wives at the same time. There are also cultural variations in weddings.
Polyandry, a practice wherein a woman takes on two or more husbands, is prohibited in Islam.
After the birth of a child, the
Adhan
Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer (salah) in a mos ...
is pronounced in the right ear. On the seventh day, the ''
aqiqah'' ceremony is performed, in which an animal is sacrificed and its meat is distributed among the poor. The child's head is shaved, and an amount of money equaling the weight of its hair is donated to the poor.
Male circumcision is practised. Respecting and obeying one's parents, and taking care of them especially in their old age is a religious obligation.
A
dying Muslim is encouraged to pronounce the ''
Shahada'' as their last words. Paying respects to the dead and attending funerals in the community are considered among the virtuous acts. In
Islamic burial rituals, burial is encouraged as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours. The body is washed, except for martyrs, by members of the same gender and enshrouded in a garment that must not be elaborate called ''kafan''. A "funeral prayer" called ''
Salat al-Janazah'' is performed. Wailing, or loud, mournful outcrying, is discouraged. Coffins are often not preferred and graves are often unmarked, even for kings. Regarding inheritance, a son's share is double that of a daughter's.
[.]
''
Khitan'', the Islamic religious rite of
circumcision, is near-universal in the
Muslim world.
It is seen as obligatory or is highly recommended by all
Islamic schools of jurisprudence.
It is considered a sign of belonging to the wider
Muslim community (''Ummah'').
Arts and culture
The term "
Islamic culture
Islamic culture and Muslim culture refer to cultural practices which are common to historically Islamic people. The early forms of Muslim culture, from the Rashidun Caliphate to the early Umayyad period and the early Abbasid period, were predomi ...
" can be used to mean aspects of culture that pertain to the religion, such as
festivals and dress code. It is also controversially used to denote the cultural aspects of traditionally Muslim people. Finally, "Islamic civilization" may also refer to the aspects of the synthesized culture of the early Caliphates, including that of non-Muslims, sometimes referred to as "
Islamicate".
Islamic art encompasses the
visual arts including fields as varied as architecture,
calligraphy
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
, painting, and
ceramics, among others. While the making of images of animate beings has often been frowned upon in connection with
laws against idolatry, this rule has been interpreted in different ways by different scholars and in different historical periods. This stricture has been used to explain the prevalence of
calligraphy
Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...
,
tessellation, and pattern as key aspects of Islamic artistic culture. In
Islamic architecture, varying cultures show influence such as North African and Spanish Islamic architecture such as the
Great Mosque of Kairouan containing
marble and
porphyry columns from Roman and Byzantine buildings, while
mosques in Indonesia often have multi-tiered roofs from local
Javanese styles.
The
Islamic calendar is a
lunar calendar that begins with the
Hijra of 622 CE, a date that was reportedly chosen by Caliph Umar as it was an important turning point in Muhammad's fortunes. Islamic
holy days
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
fall on fixed dates of the lunar calendar, meaning they occur in
different seasons in different years in the
Gregorian calendar. The most important Islamic festivals are ''
Eid al-Fitr
, nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast
, observedby = Muslims
, type = Islamic
, longtype = Islamic
, significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan
, dat ...
'' ( ar, عيد الف) on the 1st of ''
Shawwal
Shawwal ( ar, شَوَّال, ') is the tenth month of the lunar based Islamic calendar. ''Shawwāl'' stems from the verb ''shāla'' () which means to 'lift or carry', generally to take or move things from one place to another,
Fasting during S ...
'', marking the end of the fasting month ''Ramadan'', and ''
Eid al-Adha'' () on the 10th of ''Dhu al-Hijjah'', coinciding with the end of the
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
(pilgrimage).
File:Sixty Dome Mosque,Bagerhat.jpg, 15th century Sixty Dome Mosque, in Khalifatabad, Bangladesh
File:Djenne great mud mosque.jpg, Great Mosque of Djenné, in the west African country of Mali
File:Closeup of Mir-i-Arab Madrasa.jpg, Dome in Po-i-Kalyan, Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
, Uzbekistan
File:1 great mosque xian 2011.JPG, 14th century Great Mosque of Xi'an in China
File:Masjid Menara Kudus.jpg, 16th century Menara Kudus Mosque
The Menara Kudus Mosque or Al-Aqsha Mosque is located in Kudus, Kudus, Kudus in the Indonesian province of Central Java. Dating from 1549, it is one of the oldest mosques in Indonesia, built at the time of The spread of Islam in Indonesia, Islam' ...
in Indonesia showing Indian influence
File:Basmalah-1wm.svg, The phrase ''Bismillah
''Bismillah'' ( ar, بسم الله, link=no) is a phrase in Arabic meaning "in the name of Allah". It is also the first word in the Qur'an, and refers to the Qur'an's opening phrase, the Basmala. It may also refer to:
People
* Bismillah Khan (1 ...
'' in an 18th-century Islamic calligraphy from the Ottoman region
File:Roof hafez tomb.jpg, Geometric arabesque tiling on the underside of the dome of Hafiz Shirazi's tomb in Shiraz, Iran
Derived religions
Some movements, such as the
Druze
The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...
,
Berghouata and
Ha-Mim
Ha-Mim ( ar, حا میم) is the short form of the name Ha-Mim ibn Mann-Allah ibn Harir ibn Umar ibn Rahfu ibn Azerwal ibn Majkasa, also known as Abu Muhammad; he was a member of the Majkasa sub-tribe of the Ghomara Berbers who proclaimed himse ...
, either emerged from Islam or came to share certain beliefs with Islam, and whether each is a separate religion or a sect of Islam is sometimes controversial.
Yazdânism is seen as a blend of local Kurdish beliefs and Islamic Sufi doctrine introduced to
Kurdistan by
Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir in the 12th century.
Bábism stems from Twelver Shia passed through
Siyyid 'Ali Muhammad i-Shirazi al-Bab while one of his followers Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri
Baha'u'llah founded the
Baháʼí Faith.
Sikhism, founded by
Guru Nanak in late-fifteenth-century
Punjab, primarily incorporates aspects of Hinduism, with some Islamic influences.
Criticism
Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early criticism came from Christian authors, many of whom viewed Islam as a
Christian heresy or a form of
idolatry
Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...
, often explaining it in apocalyptic terms. Later, criticism from the Muslim world itself appeared, as well as from
Jewish writers and from
ecclesiastical Christians.
Christian writers criticized Islamic salvation optimism and its carnality. Islam's sensual descriptions of paradise led many Christians to conclude that Islam was not a spiritual religion. Although sensual pleasure was also present in early Christianity, as seen in the writings of
Irenaeus, the doctrines of the former
Manichaean
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...
,
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
, led to the broad repudiation of bodily pleasure in both life and the afterlife.
Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari defended the Quranic description of paradise by asserting that the Bible also implies such ideas, such as drinking wine in the
Gospel of Matthew.
Defamatory images of
Muhammad, derived from early 7th century depictions of the
Byzantine Church,
[ Reeves, Minou, and P. J. Stewart. 2003. ''Muhammad in Europe: A Thousand Years of Western Myth-Making''. New York University Press, NYU Press. . p. 93–96.] appear in the 14th-century epic poem ''Divine Comedy'' by Dante Alighieri.
[Stone, G. 2006. ''Dante's Pluralism and the Islamic Philosophy of Religion''. Springer Publishing. . p. 132.] Here, Muhammad appears in the eighth circle of hell, along with Ali. Dante does not blame Islam as a whole but accuses Muhammad of schism, by establishing another religion after Christianity.
Other criticisms focus on the question of human rights in modern Muslim-majority countries, and the treatment of women in Islamic law and practice. In the wake of the recent multiculturalism trend, Islam's influence on the ability of Muslim immigrants in the West to assimilate has been criticism of multiculturalism, criticized. Both in his public and personal life, others objected to the morality of Muhammad, therefore also the sunnah as a role model.
See also
* Glossary of Islam
* Index of Islam-related articles
* Islamic mythology
*
Islamic studies
* Major religious groups
* Outline of Islam
References
Footnotes
Qur'an and hadith
Citations
Sources
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* Siljander, Mark D., and John David Mann (2008). ''A Deadly Misunderstanding: a Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide'' (1st ed.). New York: HarperOne.
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Further reading
Encyclopedia of Sahih Al-Bukhariby Arabic Virtual Translation Center (New York 2019, Barnes & Noble ). The foundation of Islam: from revelation to tawhid.
* Abdul-Haqq, Abdiyah Akbar (1980). ''Sharing Your Faith with a Muslim''. Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers. ''N.B''. Presents the genuine doctrines and concepts of Islam and of the Holy Qur'an, and this religion's affinities with Christianity and its Sacred Scriptures, in order to "dialogue" on the basis of what both faiths really teach.
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* Cragg, Kenneth (1975). ''The House of Islam'', in ''The Religious Life of Man Series''. Second ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company 1975. xiii, 145 p. .
* Hourani, Albert (1991). ''Islam in European Thought''. First pbk. ed. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1992, cop. 1991. xi, 199 p. ; alternative ISBN on back cover, 0-521-42120-0.
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* Khanbaghi, A, (2006). ''The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early Modern Iran''. I. B. Tauris.
* Khavari, Farid A. (1990). ''Oil and Islam: the Ticking Bomb''. First ed. Malibu, Calif.: Roundtable Publications. viii, 277 p., ill. with maps and charts. .
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{{Authority control
Islam,
610 establishments
Abrahamic religions
Religious organizations established in the 7th century