10 Cwi Final Islam Study Guide

Islam Overview - Islam (Arabic: ‫ ;السلم‬al-'islām (help·info)) is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure - A Muslim is one who follows Islam practices and means, literally, “one who submits to God” - There are 1.61 billion Muslims, making Islam the second-largest religion in the world, after Christianity - Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad, God's final prophet, and regard the Qur'an and the Sunnah (words and deeds of Muhammad) as the fundamental sources of Islam. God(s) -

-

God is Allah Muhammad is God's messenger God is beyond all comprehension; Muslims are not expected to visualize God but to worship and adore him as a protector According to the Qur'an all Muslims have to believe in God, his revelations, his angels, his messengers, and in the "Day of Judgment". The Day of Judgment is the belief in Qiyâmah is part of Aqidah and is a fundamental tenet of faith in Islam Muslims believe that God revealed his final message to humanity through the Islamic prophet Muhammad via the angel Gabriel

Scriptures -

-

Muslims consider the Qur'an to be the literal word of God; it is the central religious text of Islam The Qur'an is divided into 114 suras, or chapters, which combined, contain 6,236 āyāt, or poetic verses To Muslims, the Qur'an is perfect only as revealed in the original Arabic; translations are necessarily deficient because of language differences, the fallibility of translators, and the impossibility of preserving the original's inspired style

Beliefs - In Islam, prophets are men selected by God to be his messengers - Muslims believe that prophets are human and not divine, though some are able to perform miracles to prove their claim - Islamic prophets are considered to be the closest to perfection of all humans - Five Pillars of Islam: - 1. The shahadah, which is the basic creed or tenet of Islam, Muslims must repeat the shahadah in prayer, and non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the creed. - 2. Salah, or ritual prayer, which must be performed five times a day. The prayers are recited in the Arabic language, and consist of verses from the Qur'an

-

-

3. Zakat, or alms-giving. This is the practice of giving based on accumulated wealth, and is obligatory for all Muslims who can afford it. 4. Sawm, or fasting during the month of Ramadan. Muslims must not eat or drink (among other things) from dawn to dusk during this month, and must be mindful of other sins. For others, flexibility is allowed depending on circumstances, but missed fasts usually must be made up quickly The Hajj, which is the pilgrimage during the Islamic month of Dhu alHijjah in the city of Mecca. Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it must make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his or her lifetime. Muslims, like Jews, are restricted in their diet, and prohibited foods include pig products, blood, carrion, and alcohol. All meat must come from a herbivorous animal slaughtered in the name of God by a Muslim, Jew, or Christian, with the exception of game that one has hunted or fished for oneself. Food permissible for Muslims is known as halal food.