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Islam: What you need to know. Introduction: 1. The Founder of the Arab nation. Genesis 21:9-13; 17-18 Ishmael, the son of an Egyptian, is the Father of the Palestinians while Isaac carries on the linage of the Jewish people. Isaac and Ishmael are step brothers. The conflict in the Middle East is between the people of these two brothers. 2. Fast Forward. While Christianity was spreading in the early middle ages in Europe and other parts of the world, another religion was arising out of the lands of Arabia known as Islam. The people who followed this religion were known as Muslims. For thousands of years, most Arabs believe in Pantheism, belief in many gods, and often prayers too many gods and goddesses daily. This all changed at the coming a man who would change this religion forever. His name was Muhammad Muhammad was a trader who traveled throughout the Territory of Arabia with caravans of merchandise on the back of camels. Along the way he met many people with many different religious beliefs even Christians who told him of their belief in the cross and Christ. 3. The beginning of Islam: As the story goes (their story) - Muhammad used the solitude of caves to contemplate all the ideas of the different religions. One day in one of these caves, the angel Gabriel appeared to him about the one God who created everything. As it was told by Muhammad to his followers, Gabriel told him that he, Muhammad, was the last of the line of all the great prophets and that God was assigning him the mission to take the word of God to the people of the world – “you Muhammad are the messenger of the one God, Allah.” Muhammad left the cave with a mission to tell all he came into connect with the news of his calling. Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula. After receiving the message his began preaching in the streets of Mecca about this one god call Allah and that the people should stop worshipping many gods and worship Allah. Although many believe and accepted Muhammad’s message, many became angry with him. They began to attack his followers and him. The rulers of the city feared this movement and made plans to kill Muhammad. Muhammad get word of the plot and moves to another Arabian city called Median where he continue to teach his new religion. As the story goes, soldiers were sent to Medina to kill Muhammad but he hid in a cave where God sent a spider to weave a web over the opening of the cave so the soldiers could not find him. Muhammad returns to Mecca with soldiers of his own and for six years fought the soldiers of Mecca. As the story goes, Muhammad was wounded but prevailed to capture Mecca. Mecca continues to be the religious center of Islam to which every Muslim is obligated to pray five times a day facing Mecca and to make at least one trip there in a life time. The symbol of Islam is the crescent moon with a star. Muslims believes that Islam guides them just as the moon and stars did Muhammad in his travels. Muhammad followers read, study and memorize the Quran, which is the collections of written messages from Muhammad, and considered the holiest book of Islam. Muhammad followers do not worship him because he was only a prophet. Muhammad taught them to worship only the one true god, Allah. 4. The five pillars of Islam. Confession that Allah is the one and only true god. Prayer is performed five times a day. Fasting occurs during the month of Ramadan, usually includes no drinking or sexual relations. Travel to Mecca at least once in a life time. 5. The different branches of Islam. Sunni Muslims – account for 80-90% of Islam. Sunni Muslims are considered traditionalists who believe in the Quran and the six main Hadith books. They also believe that the rightful ruler of Islam should be elected through vote by a government system known as the Caliphate. They do not believe in having hereditary successors. Shi’ite Muslims – second largest group of Muslims. They were founded in 661 A.D. after the assassination of the fourth Caliph. They follow larger collections of books including the Quran, more than 20 Hadith books, Kalam, Tasfier, and a prayer book. Unlike the Sunni, they believe that the rulers of Islam should be through hereditary lineage starting with Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law. Sufi Muslims – began as early as the 7th century. They believe in the Quran as well as a lot of their own books. They are much different than Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims in that they follow a dualist pantheism view. This means that they believe Allah and the universe are one, while man is composed both physical and spiritual components. Their goal is to obtain knowledge of Allah through mediation, deprivation, abstinence, and poverty. 6. Summary: The religion of Islam does not have a lot of good morals and Muhammad has no witnesses to back up his claim that Gabriel appeared to him in any cave.. The Quran, their main text, is full of contradictions. Also, the Hadith, is so extensive, that most Muslims cannot even agree on it. In addition, they deny the crucifixion of Christ without any basis. Many have found Islam like Catholicism in that they both have a lot of followers but their followers do not really understand what their religion is all about. An average Muslim believes in a god that created the universe and having good morals but beyond that religion is not important to them. They don’t care about historical events, witnesses, or how religion impacts their daily lives. Religions should be studied so that the truth may be revealed. But determining what is the truth of Islam has proved to be a difficult task.