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	What is Islam? by Rebecca Brents
Astrology, Tarot, and Self Improvement for the New Age.

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What is Islam?
by Rebecca Brents

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Christianity is currently the most popular religion in the world. Nearly one out of three people the world over classifies himself (or herself) as a Christian. Second only to that is the religion of Islam whose followers are called Muslims. About 20% of the world's people follow Islam. The number of Muslims worldwide totals between seven hundred million and 1.2 billion. Of these, an estimated three to six million live in the United States.

The Islamic religion is in a period of rapid growth in the number of its followers. It is projected that if the current trends continue, in the next 50 years, Islam will surpass Christianity as the world's largest religion. Followers of Islam are currently concentrated from Africa to the Philippines. In Africa especially, their numbers are increasing ... largely at the expense of Christianity.

Islam is also said to be the most recent of the world's major religions. Religious historians mark the founding of Islam at 622 A.D. by the prophet Mohammed (570 - 632 A.D.), but the followers of Islam themselves are uncomfortable with even the idea that Islam was "founded" by anyone. They believe Islam, like God, has existed from the beginning of time.

Many Muslims, perhaps the majority, believe:

• Islam existed long before Mohammed was born.
• The origins of Islam date back to the creation of the world.
• Mohammed was the most recent, perhaps the last, in a series of prophets.
• Jesus of Nazareth was also a major prophet.
• Neither Jesus nor Mohammed were divine.

There are those who do not look upon Islam as a new religion at all, but see it as the same faith taught by the prophets Abraham, David, Moses, and Jesus. According to this view, Mohammed's role as the last in this line of prophets was to clarify and purify the philosophy by removing foreign ideas that had been introduced in error.

Muslim is an Arabic word that indicates someone who submits himself to the Will of God. Allah is the Arabic word meaning "the One True God." Followers of Islam reject out of hand the term Mohammedism as a designation, believing it erroneously implies a cult of personality centering around one man positioned somehow at the core of their religion. To them, this is a grave misunderstanding of the whole idea of Islam.

And yet Mohammed the man, the events of his life, and his philosophical teachings are today closely interwoven with Islam and its concepts, much as those same things are interwoven with contemporary Christianity and its central figure, Jesus of Nazareth. A full understanding of both religions must include certain knowledge about the human beings at their center.

As with Jesus of Nazareth, the birth and early childhood of Mohammed are said to have been marked by miraculous and unusual events, including a light that reportedly issued from his mother's vagina at the time of his birth, and a supernatural healing of the young child himself from a heart ailment -- supposedly performed by the Angel Gabriel.

Mohammed was orphaned at the age of six, and was raised by relatives and foster parents. As a child, he worked as a shepherd. As a young man, he worked as a camel driver and manager of merchant caravans on the trade routes between Arabia and Syria.

At the age of forty, while in Mecca, it is believed Mohammed was visited again by the Angel Gabriel who delivered the first in a series of religious revelations to him. From this experience, Mohammed came to believe he had been ordained a prophet ... with the mission of converting his countrymen from what he saw as paganism, moral corruption, idolatry, hedonism, and materialism. His countrymen, however, weren't terribly welcoming of this.

Twelve years later, he moved north to Medina in response to increasing persecution and substantial opposition to his teachings. This journey is now known as the hegira. Here he found the Jews no more responsive to his message than his fellow Arabs had been, but in time, through religious discussion, persuasion, military activity, and political negotiation, Mohammed established himself as the virtual King of Arabia ... and Islam was established as the religious structure of the region.

Originally in Islamic countries, civil law and religious law were one and the same. The secular laws of the land were the laws of the Islamic religious teaching. The idea of a separation between church and state was incomprehensible and illogical.

During this century, this establishment of distinct governmental authorities apart from the structures of Islamic doctrine has occurred in Turkey and some other Arab countries, a controversial move among the followers of Islam themselves.

There are two main texts considered fundamental to the Islamic faith. One is the Qur'an, often spelled Koran in English, a practice some Muslims find offensive. The Qur'an is believed to contain the words of God ... and is somewhat analogous to the Christian Bible. The Qur'an was originally a scattered conglomerate of oral and written philosophies later consolidated into a single book.

The second text is the Hadith, a collection of Mohammed's sayings and teachings, lacking much in the way of formal structure and whose elements sometimes contradict one another. They are regarded as a series of wise thoughts to be used as a guide for living. Relatives and close followers of Mohammed may have contributed material in the Hadith. Thus these writings are not held in the same reverential regard as the Qur'an, which, again, is considered the word of God.

There are also The Five Pillars of Islam which describe a Muslim's duties:

• To recite the shahadah at least once in a lifetime. The shahadah is the short, familiar Islamic creed, "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet." Most Muslims repeat this simple statement of their faith daily.

• To perform the salat ... the Islamic practice of prayer five times a day, performed while facing Mecca. This is done in the morning, at noon, in mid-afternoon, following sunset, and just prior to sleeping.

• To donate regularly to charity ... a practice similar to tithing ... through zakat, a 2.5% "charity tax" on income ... and through additional donations to the needy as dictated by the conscience of the individual believer.

• To fast between sunrise and sunset during Ramadan ... the month in the Muslim's lunar calendar (which rotates backwards through the traditional Western year according to our standard calendar) when it is thought Mohammed received the first revelation of the Qur'an.

• To make at least one hajj, a religious pilgrimage to Mecca, during his lifetime ... if he is economically and physically able to do so.

The word jihad has been politicized and corrupted in recent decades. By itself, it means "struggle" ... and has come to be synonymous with the idea of "holy war" ... mobilizing Muslims against non-Muslims in defense of Islam.

The majority of Muslims however view the concept of jihad as a personal, inner struggle with one's self to achieve some worthy goal ... such as the attainment of professional stature, self-purification, or the subjugation of baser and dishonorable impulses.

Although splintered into factions within the greater structure of Islam, the followers of this faith do hold certain beliefs in common with one another.

• There is one God, the creator, who is just, omnipotent, and merciful.
• The earlier prophets Abraham, Moses, and Jesus and their teachings are respected.
• Mohammed is considered the last in this line of prophets.
• Satan exists ... and prompts people to sin.
• Muslims who repent their sins and submit to the will of God are restored to a state of purity.
• Hell exists ... where infidels and sinners spend eternity.
• Paradise exists ... where the sinless go after death to exist in a place of physical and spiritual pleasure.
• Racism is rejected.
• The use of alcohol, other drugs, and the consuming of pork flesh is prohibited.
• Gambling is denounced.
• There is a strict prohibition against suicide.
• Jesus, while regarded as a major prophet, is not considered divine. To do so is blasphemy.
• Jesus was not executed by crucifixion.

The followers of Islam hold these tenets in common with most traditional Christians:

• The birth of Jesus was miraculous.
• Jesus was the Messiah.
• Jesus cured people of illness.
• Jesus restored dead people to life.

Muslims differ with Christians on the following points, however:

• They reject the concept of Original Sin.
• They believe that Jesus escaped execution ... and that his later appearances to his disciples were of the actual human being who had not died.
• They reject the idea that Jesus resurrected himself after death.
• They reject the idea that salvation depends upon belief in the Resurrection or that Jesus was the Son of God.

There are several major divisions within Islam:

• Sunni Muslims comprise a huge 90% of Islam's believers. They are considered mainstream traditionalists and, as they are comfortable pursuing their faith inside the structures of secular societies, they have been able to maintain their religious identity while adapting to a variety of national cultures.

• Shi'ite Muslims are a small but highly visible and militant minority faction within Islam. They split from the Sunnis over a dispute regarding the rightful successor to Mohammed. Shi'ite leaders promote a strict interpretation of the Qur'an and its teachings ... and believe that 12 heavenly Imams (perfect teachers) led their sect in succession. They further believe that the 12th Imam never died, but is in hiding waiting for the right moment to reappear and lead humans to a more perfect world of peace and justice.

• The Sufis follow a mystic tradition in which practitioners of the faith seek inner knowledge of truth directly from God through meditation, ritual, and stylized movement -- such as dancing. They emphasize personal union with the Divine. Their ascetic perspective developed in the late 10th century as a reaction to the formalism and laws of the Qur'an Both Sunni and Shi'ite groups contain Sufis ... although some Sunnis do not consider Sufism a valid practice of Islam, noting the incorporation of Neoplatonism, Buddhism, and Christianity in its philosophical doctrines Some in the Middle East consider Sufism to be a separate sect of Islam while in Africa it is regarded as more of a style, an approach, than its own distinct division.

Followers of Islam worship in mosques, but make no denominational distinction. Practitioners of the faith are welcome to attend any mosque in any land.

As with many faiths, the behavior of its followers often bears only the most superficial resemblance to the actual teachings of the philosophy. Islam has been criticized and perhaps misunderstood because of the social attitudes of those who espouse it publicly, including harsh postures of militancy, fanaticism, intolerance of outsiders, and especially for the treatment of women within Islamic cultures. Such issues are not exclusive to Islam, however, by any means.

More on this important and increasingly influential religion can be found at a number of internet information portals. One of the best is here:

Religious Tolerance

Another that I found in my travels, that has since closed, in the days after September 11, 2001, contained this message:

IslamAwareness.com, condemns in the strongest possible way the heinous and horrific acts of terrorism that occurred in New York City and Washington, D.C., on 9/11/01. The American Muslim community is united in its support to the law enforcement agencies in bringing the culprits to justice. We join our fellow citizens in this moment of grief and sorrow. We urge all to donate blood for the victims at their local blood centers.

Our hearts are with those who have lost loved ones in this terrible tragedy and our prayers are with the departed souls.

~*~

And there are some people who say:
We believe in Allah and the last day; and they are not at all believers.
The Qur'an

Rebecca Brents writes on a wide variety of spiritual and occult subjects, including astrology, tarot, metaphysics, and self-improvement. She publishes the extensive online new age Ezine, The Enchanted Sprite on her website: Enchanted Spirit. Rebecca is also available for personal astrology and tarot readings and consultations.

If you do not express your own original ideas,
if you do not listen to your own being,
you will have betrayed yourself.
Also, you will have betrayed your community
in failing to make your contribution.
~ Rollo May ~
The Courage to Create
Man's Search for Himself
Born April 21, 1909

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Enchanted Spirit is a non-denominational spiritual center of healing, support, self-improvement, personal guidance, education and writing. We publish multi-media works of New Age thought and information to encourage serenity and growth in individual life choices, advance the universal search for life's meaning, and promote tolerance for positive ideas from all philosophies and religious traditions, believing as we do that truth is where you find it.

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Last updated September 11th, 2004

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Astrology is for Believers.

With an open mind and a knowledge of Astrology you can watch your life unfold in ways that make sense.

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