Download Islam -primarily located in the Middle East/North Africa

Islam
-primarily located in the Middle East/North Africa
-established around 600 A.D.
-founded on the teachings of Mohammed who believed “Allah” (God) came and spoke to him
-he wrote this down in the Qur’an which is the holiest book of Islam
-Mohammed is greatly revered by Muslims and he is the main prophet of Islam
-Muslim- person that practices Islam
-monotheistic- Allah- god of Islam
-Mosque- is a muslims place of worship (like a church)
-they believe you get to heaven by followings the teachings of Islam
5 PILLARS OF ISLAM
-5 Pillars of Islam are the main duties for Muslims that they must follow
1- declaration of Faith- There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet
2- Prayer-pray 5 times a day facing Mecca(more specifically, they face the kaaba)
3- Charity-help the poor
4- Fasting- won’t eat or drink during holy month of Ramadan when the sun is up
5- “Hajj or Pilgrimage to Mecca-all Muslims expected to go there once in their life
-Kaaba-is located in the city of Mecca and is believed to be the first house of worship
constructed by Adam and later rebuilt by Abraham
--Mecca- the holiest city to Muslims and non-muslims are not allowed to enter the city
-not all muslims are violent and want the United States destroyed!!!
-heaven-
DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF ISLAM
-There are two main branches or sects of Islam: Sunni and Shia (a Shiite is someone who
practices the Shia branch of Islam
-the creation of these two branches goes back hundreds of years and was over who should take
over and rule the Muslim nation after Mohammed’s death
-Sunni- believed the next leader should be elected from people who were capable of leading
the nation (which is what happened)
-Shia- believed someone from Mohammed’s family should take over
-majority of Muslims in the world are Sunni (about 80%)
-Iran and Iraq are primary shiite
-over the years more differences have grown such as interpreting the Qur’an differently
-there is a lot of conflict in the middle east between the two sects and it is primarily
political
TERRORISM
-most muslims peaceful
-radical muslims/Muslim extremists- ones who hate U.S.
-not all muslims hate US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-reasons they hate the U.S.
1-we go to war and invade countries like Iraq, Afghanistan etc
-they see this as an intrusion in their land and is because of our greed (oil)
-2-we support Israel
-they HATE the country of Israel and want it completely destroyed
3-our immorality/freedom we give women
-we have a high divorce rate, sexual immorality (look at all the sex in movies,
women wearing almost nothing), drug use etc.
-they are very sexist and view and treat women as inferior
4- they interpret the Qur’an differently than most other muslims
-they interpret it to say that they must destroy and kill non-believers which is
anyone that does not believe what they believe. This is called a Jihad
-Al-Qaeda-radicalMuslim terrorist group led by Osama Bin Laden, responsible for 9/11
-boston marathon bombing- on april 15, 2013 two brothers set off two bombs which killed
three people and injured 264 others
-Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev
-jihad- to radical muslims this is a holy war against non believers
-to other muslims it is referring to the struggle within oneself
-Sharia law-harsh laws from the Qur’an that most countries in the middle east use to some
degree rule their country. Some examples of sharia laws:
-cutting off the hand for stealing
-100 lashes or stoning to death for adultery