Islam Religion

Islam is the second most widespread religion in the world. It is a monotheistic faith, and its followers are called Muslims. The very word Islam in Arabic denotes submission, in this particular case to God called Allah. In general terms, Muslims believe that Allah was bringing his holy word to mankind through numerous prophets, Adam, Moses, and Jesus among them, and that Muhammad (c. 570–632) was the last prophet.

Therefore, his teaching is viewed as valid for humanity until the final days of the world. Muslims claim that the principal record of the divine message to people is contained in the Quran, which therefore is perceived as the perfect and unchangeable revelation of God. At the same time, Islam asserts that while in the Gospels and in Torah there originally were correct messages, with time they were misinterpreted and wrongly edited by people. Thus, Koran corrects all those wrongs.

Sharia is the Arabic term for Islamic law interpreted by Islamic scholars, and it is also called the law of Allah. One of the main features of law in Islam is that there is no separation between religious and secular aspects of life. Indeed, Sharia regulates not only religious practices, but as well different aspects of life, like business, economics, general matters of political governance and international relations, social matters, and daily goings-on of people. Again, the Quran is the main source of law in Islam. The second such source is the sunnah, which is the compilation of words and deeds of Muhammad and the early community of Muslims.

As the third source of law serves consensus of the Muslim community called Ijma, and the fourth source is the principle of reasoning by analogy, also termed Qiyas. Islamic laws that are explicitly formulated in the Quran are known as hudud laws. Among other things, they ban homicide, non-marital sex, consumption of alcohol, and engagement in gambling. The Quran also spells out laws of marriage, principles of inheritance and compensation for inflicted harm, and of course rules of immediate religious application like prayer, fasting, and charity.

At the same time, it should be noted that the mentioned regulations often leave quite a lot of room for interpretation, so their practical realizations may differ. To help with practical utilization of postulates of Islamic law, Muslim scholars, also named the ulema, explicate systems of Muslim law that stem from these general rules, and to exemplify them often refer to the ways in which Muhammad and other religious authorities compatriots interpreted the principles of Islamic law. Taking into consideration the fact that today not all Muslims can read the original Arabic Quran, the need in such interpreters is increased. On the basis of what we have discussed, we can see that Islamic law is absolute, because it covers almost every aspect of life of a Muslim, and requires a strict observance of its regulations and instructions.

Another crucial element of the religion of Islam are the Five Pillars of Islam, which is the term used to describe the five most important prescriptions of the largest denomination of Islam named Sunni Islam. This notion is modified in Shiite Islam, which is the second-largest Muslim denomination. Shiites have five similar beliefs which they call the Roots of Religion, and ten practices known as Branches of Religion. The Five Pillars of Islam are important because from the variety of regulations in Islamic religion they highlight the most fundamental rules for every Muslim.

Now, for the Sunni denomination the Five Pillars of Islam represent the five most important acts that Sharia law requires from reverential Muslims as a means to please Allah. In order of their priority those acts are:

• The confession of faith in Allah that presupposes the acknowledgement that there is no other thing to be worshiped but Allah, and that Muhammad was his harbinger.
• Prayer, or, more exactly, five daily prayers.
• Paying of charity with the allocation of fixed percentages for different social groups (for example, for alms should be given 2.5% of the savings of a well-off person involved in industry or trade, and from 10% to 20% of the yearly yield in agricultural sector. Those alms in the form of money or products should be divided among the poor. Similar approaches are used for other forms of income.
• Fasting that demands strict abstinence from certain types of food and from sexual behaviour for the period of the month of Ramadan, which is the ninth month of the lunar calendar of Islam.
• The pilgrimage to Mecca during the month called Zul Hijjah. Such a pilgrimage must be performed at least once in a lifetime of a Muslim who is not burdened by bad health or debts.

It should also be pointed out that some Muslims, mostly from the Khawarij denomination, claim that there is also the sixth pillar of Islam faith represented by jihad, which can be directly translated as ‘combat’ or ‘struggle’. However, the understanding of this term as suggesting the holy war could be misleading, because this term also refers to spiritual realm instead of a literal war. But in any case, while many Muslims may view spiritual jihad as their duty, that jihad belongs to the pillars of Islam is rejected by the majority of theologians.

References:

Earhart, H. Byron, (Ed.). Religious Traditions of the World. HarperSanFrancisco, 1992.