Download Islam: What you need to know.

Islam: What you need to know.
Introduction:
1. The Founder of the Arab nation.
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Genesis 21:9-13; 17-18
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Ishmael, the son of an Egyptian, is the Father of the Palestinians while Isaac
carries on the linage of the Jewish people.
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Isaac and Ishmael are step brothers. The conflict in the Middle East is
between the people of these two brothers.
2. Fast Forward.
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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.
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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
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Confession that Allah is the one and only true god.
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Prayer is performed five times a day.
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Fasting occurs during the month of Ramadan, usually includes no drinking
or sexual relations.
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Travel to Mecca at least once in a life time.
5. The different branches of Islam.
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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.
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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.
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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:
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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.