Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/other/islam/islam2.txt

Text File | 1993-01-19 | 30KB | 552 lines

                           BELIEFS AND WORSHIP

               The starting point for all Muslims is the statement,
          "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of
          God." From this expression of belief in the oneness and
          uniqueness of God, and the messengership of Muhammad stem
          all of Islam's concepts, attributes, moral values and
          guidelines for human behavior and relationships.

               A Muslim worships Allah, the same God of Christians
          and Jews.  Allah is Arabic for God.  Muslims believe that
          Allah revealed His will to Muhammad of Mecca beginning
          about 610 A.D. through the Archangel Gabriel.  Those
          revelations are recorded in the Quran, the holy book of
          Islam.  Muslims believe that Allah has no physical
          attributes or human characteristics.  They believe that God
          is omnipotent, omnipresent, the beginning and the end.  God
          is the Presence who knows every need. Muslims believe that
          they must follow all of God's commands.  This includes the
          acceptance Muhammad's message of the oneness of God,
          justice for all, honesty, respect for others, self control
          and devotion to Allah.

               Muslims are not to worship the Prophet Muhammad and it
          is anathema for then to be called "Muhammadens."  They are
          to worship only God.  Tho corollary of this is that any
          association of another being with God is the unforgivable
          sin of polytheism, thus ruling out any veneration of minor
          gods, idols, human saints, or divine consort or son.  A
          difficulty orthodox Muslims have with the Shiites, is their
          veneration of saints and their burial places.

               Muslims believe that even though God is absent of
          human characteristics, He is as near "as the veins in one's
          neck." Most Muslims believe that they do not need anyone to
          act as an intermediary such as a priest, minister or saint.
          Every man can have a relationship with God if he submits,
          is truthful, and believes there is no god but God, and
          Muhammad is the Messenger of God.

          Angels, Jinn, and Devils

               The Quran mentions three types of creatures other than
          mankind.  The first are angels, the messengers and slaves
          of God.  They were formed from the light and appear in
          various forms.  They are commanded by four archangels,
          Jibril (Gabriel), Mikail (Michael), Izrail and Isiafil.

               The second species of intelligent beings are jinn who
          were created from smokeless fire.  They possess freedom of
          choice; some of them are good and others are evil.  The
          English word for genie cones from the word, jinn.  Some
          jinn are friendly to mankind, and others hostile; some are
          beautiful, and others, the ifrit and ghue (from which the
          word ghoul derives), are hideous.  The jinn are mysterious
          creatures, invisible to man.  They take on visible form
          when they work on a visible substance that responds to
          them.  For example, magnetic fields are only visible when
          they work upon a substance that responds to them, and in
          the same vein if angels appear, they must do so in an
          "ethereal" form.

               The third type of creatures are devils.  The Quran
          speaks of Shaitan (Satan) in the singular and also in the
          plural (Shayatiyn).  Originally, Satan was one of the
          angels who was disobedient to God, who cast him out of
          heaven.  He was not annihilated or cast into hell, that
          will happen on the day of judgement.  The devil tempted
          Adam and Eve in the Garden Of Eden to eat from the
          forbidden tree, which in the Old Testament is called the
          "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." In Islamic
          belief, the guilt for this sin lies not with mankind as an
          "original sin" from which man has to be redeemed, but with
          the devil.  Satan is the power in man's heart that is
          opposed to God.  Muslims believe that one of the weapons
          the devil uses against mankind is disease, especially
          plagues.

          The Hereafter

               Muslims believe in an afterlife, which human beings
          are rewarded or punished according to their conduct.  They
          believe in a bodily resurrection.  On Judgement Day men
          will be given new bodies for eternal bliss or damnation.
          Men are judged on the last day -- the Day of Judgement when
          God decides whom He wills to Heaven or to Hell.  The souls
          of the dead remain in the grave until Judgement Day.  Islam
          stresses an individual's accountability to God.  Man
          prepares himself for good or ill for the next life which
          lasts forever.  The garden is the most frequent Quranic
          symbol of Paradise (al-Jannah).

               The Quran contains two versions of Paradise: one flows
          with rivers of sweet water, milk, wine and honey, and
          planted with shade trees.  The imagination of both East and
          West has made much of the beautiful women of Paradise, and
          there are several passages in the Quran describing the
          maidens who are to be companions of the believers.  The
          Quran promises believers that Paradise is a place where
          there are "rivers of flowing water, rivers of milk
          unchanging in flavor and rivers of wine -- a delight to the
          drinkers, rivers, too, of honey purified; and therein for
          them is every fruit, and forgiveness from their Lord."

               The second version, described in the latter part of
          the Quran, is a more austere description of Paradise.  It
          is described as a pyramid of eight levels, its top shaded
          by a lotus tree, and its wall guarded by angels.  Those who
          are accepted in Paradise are lodged in rising order
          according to their merit.

               Reconciling the two descriptions need not be important
          because man's capacity to describe the hereafter is
          probably beyond his comprehension.  The fundamental message
          is that Paradise holds the means to satisfy man's deepest
          relationships and most profound spiritual needs.

          Hell

               Hell is the place of torment where the damned undergo
          perpetual suffering.  The most common names for Hell in the
          Quran describe fire, burning, scorching fire and crushing
          pressure.

          The Prophets of Islam

               Adam

               The people of the Arabian Peninsula trace their
          beginnings to Adam who they believe was the first prophet
          and the builder of the original Kaaba.  The Kaaba is a
          large stone structure, covered with a black cloth located
          in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca.  The Kaaba
          contains the Black Stone which is thought to be a meteorite
          and is believed to be a part of the original structure.
          The Kaaba is the most sacred place for Muslims.  it
          represents a sanctuary consecrated to God since time
          immemorial. The Kaaba is the direction toward which all
          Muslims must face when they pray.

               Like Christians and Jews, Muslims believe that Adam
          was the first man and father of mankind, who was created in
          the image of God.  Adam lived in the Garden of Eden with
          his wife, Eve who was taken from his left side.  They
          disobeyed God and ate from the tree of knowledge of good
          and evil.  In Islam the responsibility of Adam's
          disobedience lies not with him but with the Devil who
          tempted him.

               Other Prophets

               Islam teaches that the prophets were divinely sent
          with a message of warning and guidance to a particular
          nation or people.  Noah, Abraham, Lot, Ishmail, Isaac,
          Jacob, Moses, Jethro and Jesus were some of them.  Muslims
          believe that Abraham and Ishmail rebuilt the Kaaba, the
          sacred shrine in Mecca which is the object of the annual
          pilgrimage called the hajj.

               Islam is part of the monotheistic tradition of Judaism
          and Christianity, and its ethical code is similar to that
          of Old Testament Judaism.  Muslims believe that Jesus was a
          prophet sent to the Children of Israel.  Although they
          believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mother by the
          power of God, they do not believe in the Resurrection or
          that he had a divine nature.

          Muhammad

               Islam teaches that Muhammad is the last messenger of
          God.  His name means "the purified one" or "he who is
          glorified," and the name Ahmed, by which the Prophet is
          also known, is a superlative form meaning "the most
          laudable";  both from the verb hamada ("to praise, laud,
          glorify").

               Muhammad was born about 570 A.D. in the city of Mecca
          near the west coast of Arabia.  Mecca was a commercial
          center for caravan trade.  It had been a religious center
          of pilgrims for centuries before the advent of Islam.  The
          Kaaba had been there long before the birth of Muhammad and
          was dedicated to many gods and goddesses under a chief
          deity called Allah.

               Muhammad was brought up by his grandfather, an uncle
          and was later sent to live with a Bedouin family.

               He worked for many years as a caravan foreman for a
          wealthy widow, fifteen years his senior, named Khadija.  He
          married her when he was 29 years old.  Muhammad's marriage
          to Khadjia was apparently happy.  Though polygamy was a
          common practice, he did not take any other wives while she
          lived.  He would later have nine other wives.

               Muhammad had two sons and four daughters by Khadija.
          His sons died in infancy, leaving him without sons in a
          society that prized male offspring.  This subsequently
          caused disruption over the succession to Muhammad's
          temporal authority.  All of his daughters married, but it
          is important to note that his daughter Ruqayya married
          'Uthman who became the third caliph and Fatima, Muhammad's
          only child to survive him, married Ali.  The Shiites look
          upon the descendants of Ali and Fatima as true heirs of the
          caliphate.  That issue continues to divide the Sunnites and
          Shiites to this day.

               Muhammad had always been a spiritual man who spent a
          lot of time in meditation and prayer.  One night when he
          was in his early forties, he related that the Archangel
          Gabriel appeared to him while he was in a mountain cave,
          and gave him the first part of his divine message.  He was
          told by Gabriel to proclaim the message of God.  At first
          he told only his wife, Khadija, but later the Angel
          commanded him to proclaim publicly what had been revealed
          to him.  He told men to believe in one God, Allah, seek
          God's forgiveness for their sins, live better lives, help
          those in need, and accept him as the "Messenger of God."

               His wife, Khadija, was Muhammad's first convert, the
          first to believe that he had a divine mission.  Others
          followed as Muhammad began to preach publicly to his own
          clan, the Hashemites.

               His early converts were among the poor, the young and
          the enslaved.  Among his earliest followers were Abu Bakr,
          a friend and his future father-in-law; Ali, a cousin and
          future son-in- law, and Bilal, an Abyssinian slave, whom
          Muhammad made his first muezzin, or caller to prayer.

               As a result of the teachings of Muhammad, Islam grew
          but resistance to it increased because the merchants and
          the keepers of the Kaaba, who were of the Quraysh tribe,
          were threatened by Muhammad's message which condemned
          worship of idols causing them, to fear loss of control of
          the lucrative pilgrimage trade to the Kaaba in Mecca which
          they controlled.  Muhammad refused to compromise.  The
          Quraysh put a ban on Muhammad's Hashimite clan and
          attempted to discredit Muhammad by accusing him of fraud
          and borrowing religious ideas from the Christians and Jews.
          They persecuted him and his followers.

               They were oppressed so severely that he sent some of
          them to Abyssinia, where they were given tolerance and
          hospitality by the Christian inhabitants.  As a result of
          their experiences there, the early adherents of Islam had
          great affection and respect for Christianity.

               Islam continued to grow and the number of Muslims
          increased.  In spite of his success, there were difficult
          times for Muhammad.  His uncle and his wife, Khadija, died.
          He, and his followers, continued to be persecuted.

               He married another widow, Sa'uda.  He also became
          engaged, and later married Aisha, a young daughter of Abu
          Bakr.  She was the Prophet's favorite wife in his later
          years.

          The Night Journey

               In 520 A.D. Muhammad made what Muslims call his Night
          Journey, in which he was transported to Jerusalem and
          ascended from there into the heavens.  In Arabic the
          journey is called al-Mi'raj.  This may have been a mystical
          vision, but many Muslims believe that Muhammad made the
          journey miraculously in bodily form.  On his arrival to
          Jerusalem, he met and prayed with the prophets of the past,
          including Abraham, and Moses.  He also conversed with Jesus
          at the place where the Dome of the Rock now stands.  From
          the Dome of the Rock, he ascended to Heaven where he met
          and talked with angels and other heavenly beings after
          which he returned to Jerusalem and finally back home to
          Mecca.  The Night Journey confirmed the prophethood of
          Muhammad and also established Jerusalem as one the three
          holy cities of Islam.

          The Hegira

               The hegira was the emigration of the Prophet from
          Mecca to Yathrib, later called Medina, at the end of
          September, 622 A.D.  The lives of the Prophet and his
          followers were in danger in Mecca.  They were offered
          sanctuary in Medina by a group of warring Arabs who
          believed Muhammad to be a wise man.  They felt that their
          factionalism might result in their being taken over by the
          Jews in the area.  They offered to let Muhammad come to
          Medina to serve as an intermediary.

               He sent about seventy of his followers out of Mecca in
          small groups so as not to arouse suspicions.  He and Abu
          Bakr escaped from Mecca on camel with a flock of sheep
          driven behind them to cover their tracks.  They arrived in
          Medina in about fourteen days and were given an
          enthusiastic welcome.  That journey is called the hegira.

               Following the hegira, Islam grew rapidly, but Muhammad
          still had the desire to convert the Meccans.  He eventually
          returned to Mecca and was involved in a series of battles.
          He was successful and a truce was signed.  He took control
          of the Kaaba and ordered his men to destroy the images of
          the pagan gods.  He proclaimed the Kaaba as the central
          shrine of Islam.  Muhammad returned to Medina where he died
          on June 8, 632 A.D.

               Sixteen years later, the Caliph 'Ulmar formalized the
          Prophet's custom of dating events from the hegira, the
          moment of the establishment of the first Islamic state.
          The Islamic calendar today is called the Hegirian calendar
          because it dates from the journey of the Prophet to Medina.
          Thus the year of the hegira became the first year of the
          Islamic era. The years following the hegira are known as
          Anno Hegira or A.H.

          The Divine Decree

               Islam believes that everything is under the direction
          and control of Allah and that He is continuously active in
          all of His creation.  The divine decree is a form of
          predestination. Muslims believe God alone is the source of
          benefit or harm, and turning to anyone or anything other
          than Him for protection and help when everything is
          dependent on His will, is not only utterly futile but
          wrongfully attributes to others, powers which God alone
          possesses.

               Muslims believe that belief in the divine decree is a
          statement of belief in His sense of total trust, dependence
          and submission to his creator.

          The Five Pillars of Islam

               Obligatory acts of worship set forth in the Quran and
          Hadith are often referred to as the Five Pillars of Islam.
          All are specific actions which a Muslim must perform in
          order to be a practicing Muslim.  They are obligations
          placed upon all Muslims no matter where they happen to
          live, whether in a Muslim society or living away from any
          Muslim community.

               These are testimony to faith (shahada), prayer
          (salah), almsgiving (zakah), fasting during the month of
          Ramadan and the pilgrimage to Mecca.

               The First Pillar: The Declaration of Faith

               The first and most important of the Five Pillars of
          Islam is the declaration of faith or testimony, in Arabic
          called shahada.  The declaration of faith is "There is no
          god but God, Muhammad is the Messenger of God."  The
          statement contains the essence of Islam: the unity and
          uniqueness of God and the role of Muhammad in bringing the
          message of God to mankind.

               Islam has no provision for becoming a member or
          follower as does Christianity with its catechism,
          probationary period or membership requirements.  For one to
          become a Muslim, it is only necessary to sincerely recite
          and believe the shahada.  Reciting the shahada in public is
          supposedly enough to gain recognition by the Muslim
          community. The shahada is recited daily by devout Muslims
          throughout the world.  The one condition of salvation for
          Muslims is the complete acceptance of the shahada.

               The Second Pillar: Prayer

               The second pillar is prayer, salah in Arabic.  The
          practice of regular salah is a fundamental requirement in
          Islam.  Salah is the canonical, or ritual prayer, as
          opposed to the spontaneous petitioning of God, which is
          called dua.  Salah is not spontaneous in the sense that one
          can do it anytime.  The Quran enjoins Muslims to pray daily
          and at set intervals.  The times of salah have been set by
          tradition.  Every adult Muslim, male and female, is
          required to pray five tines a day -- before sunrise, at
          noon when the sun is at its peak, in mid-afternoon, at
          sunset and at night.  The order of salah given above is
          from the western perspective of time. The beginning of the
          Islamic day, like Judaism, begins at sunset.  So the Muslim
          would tell you that prayer or salah is required at sunset,
          in the evening, before dawn, at noon and in the mid-
          afternoon.  The practice of salah is the most fundamental
          requirement in Islam.  It may be done in private, in a
          mosque (established place for congregational worship), at
          home, at work, outdoors, or in any clean place. It may be
          done individually, but it is preferably done in
          congregation.

               Whenever Muslims pray they are obligated to face in
          the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca.  Worshippers must be
          in a state of ritual purity before performing salah.
          Muslims put themselves in a state of purity by washing the
          face, the hands and arms up to the elbow, rubbing water on
          the head, and washing the feet.  Running water is provided
          at mosques for such cleansing.  If water is not available,
          then clean sand may be used.  Shoes are removed and salah
          is done on a small rug, except when other conditions exist
          such as traveling.

               Women, as well as men, may pray in the mosque if they
          desire, but it is preferable and customary that women pray
          in the privacy of their homes, especially since leaving the
          home and children to go to the mosque five times a day is
          neither practical nor possible for many women.  Many
          mosques have separate sections for women in order that they
          may pray in complete privacy and there may be no
          distraction caused by physical proximity of men and women.

               Muslims believe that salah should be done devoutly and
          with solemnity.  Worshippers in prayer should not be
          interrupted, stared at or photographed.

               The ritual of salah follows a set form throughout the
          world and must be recited in Arabic.

               Islam provides for weekly congregational worship on
          Friday.  The weekly congregational worship is called Salat
          al-Jumah and is observed around noon, when the sun is at
          its zenith.  Attendance is obligatory for all Muslim men to
          the extent that if one misses three consecutive Fridays
          without a valid reason, one is considered to be out of
          Islam.  Women may worship at home.  In addition to Salat
          al-Jumah, special salahs are held on the great feast days
          of Islam.

               Although in most Muslin countries Friday is a holiday
          rather than Sunday, Friday has not been preserved as a day
          of rest in the Judeo-Christian sense.  Friday is the day of
          obligatory worship; work and business transactions are
          permitted as usual before and after the time of the Friday
          prayer.

               The Third Pillar: Almsgiving

               The third pillar of Islam is almsgiving or zakah.  It
          is the obligatory tax for the needy.  The obligation for
          the faithful to share with the less fortunate is stressed
          throughout the Quran.  Muslims are encouraged to charitably
          support widows, travelers, orphans and the poor.  In some
          Muslin countries, the zakah is voluntary, in others it is
          enforced by the government.  Islamic legal tradition has
          produced a set of technical regulations about how much
          zakah is due and upon which property it is to be taxed.
          Simply put, it can be generally stated that the most common
          calculation is 2.5 percent of the amount of cash an
          individual holds in savings or investments for a year.

               Zakah can be paid directly to deserving Muslims in
          one's own community or it can be sent to Islamic
          organizations for distribution to the needy.

               The Fourth Pillar: Fasting During the Month of Ramadan

               The fourth pillar is sawm, the fast during the month
          of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar which
          commemorates when the Prophet received the first
          revelation.  The fast begins when the new moon is sighted.
          Since a physical sighting of the new moon must be observed,
          the fast during Ramadan varies in length from twenty-eight
          to thirty days.

               The Quran commands that for the entire lunar month of
          Ramadan, Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink,
          tobacco and sexual relations during the hours of daylight.
          Ramadan is reckoned according to the lunar calendar and
          therefore it occurs on different dates in each year of the
          Gregorian calendar.  It is observed during the long days of
          the summer as well as the short days of winter as it moves
          through the year because it is tied to lunar months rather
          than the solar calendar.  During the long days of the
          extremely hot summer months Ramadan can be a severe
          hardship.

               The fast is a test of self-discipline and scrupulous
          obedience to God.  It also permits the rich to experience
          the deprivation of the poor.  All Muslims, men and women,
          boys and girls, keep the fast.  Very young children, aged
          travellers, pregnant and nursing women, the sick and the
          elderly are exempted from the fast.  The fast must be
          broken at sunset each day.  A heavy late evening meal is
          served in many homes during Ramadan as well as a pre-dawn
          meal before resuming the fast.

               In some Muslim countries the fast during Ramadan is
          enforced by law.  Restaurants are closed, hours of grocery
          stores are restricted and smoking is prohibited.  People
          are encouraged to go to the mosques to pray.

               Ramadan is also a time of jubilation.  During the
          evenings children stay up later and are allowed to play.
          Shops, cafes and places of amusement are opened.  Just
          before dawn men parade through the streets beating drums to
          awaken everyone for a final meal before the day's fasting
          begins.

               At the conclusion of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate one of
          the two major festivals of Islam, 'Eid al-Fitr, the
          Festival of Fast- Breaking.  'Eid al-Fitr lasts three days
          or more.  Children receive presents, family and friends
          share gifts, and alms are given to the poor.

               In strict Muslim countries it is bad manners for
          foreigners to eat, drink, or even smoke in public during
          Ramadan.

               The Fifth Pillar: Pilgrimage to Mecca

               The fifth pillar of Islam is the pilgrimage, or hajj,
          to the Kaaba, the holy shrine in Mecca.  The Quran requires
          that every adult Muslim who can afford it, and is of sound
          body and mind is to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least
          once in his or her lifetime.

               There are two kinds of pilgrimages.  The lesser
          pilgrimage call, umrah may be made at any time of the year.
          It is a voluntary pilgrimage.  The required pilgrimage
          called hajj must be made during the twelfth month of the
          Lunar calendar.

               Muslims perform the hajj with enthusiasm, not only for
          its religious meaning but as an opportunity to travel.  It
          gives them an opportunity to meet Muslims from all over the
          world.  Muslims who make the hajj are held in high esteem
          and are called hajji.  Many believe that a hajji is
          guaranteed a place in Paradise.

               Special dress is prescribed for men and women who make
          the hajj.  Hajjis must be in a state of ritual purity.  Men
          wear two sheets of seamless white cloth, one wrapped around
          the hip and the other draped over the shoulders.  Women
          wear a simple white robe and a simple covering for the
          head.  Uniformity in dress is meant to remove all
          distinction of class, wealth, and origin among those making
          the hajj.  The ultimate destination for all of the pilgrims
          is the Sacred Mosque in Mecca where the Kaaba is located.
          When pilgrims arrive in Mecca and get a glimpse of the
          Kaaba, they perform a brief salat of greeting to the
          Mosque.  The pilgrims circle the Kaaba seven times, or what
          Muslims call performing seven circumambulations.  Most
          attempt to touch or kiss the sacred black stone.  After the
          circumambulations, the pilgrims pray personal prayers (dua)
          and ritual prayers (salat).  Other acts and rituals
          associated with the pilgrimage are also performed.

               During the hajj, many pilgrims visit Medina to pay
          their respects to Muhammad's tomb and the tombs of his
          family and companions.  The prophet forbade access to Mecca
          for unbelievers and that has generally been held to apply
          to Medina also.