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Basic Facts of Islam
Islam is the third in succession
of the three great monotheistic
faiths born in the Middle East (Judaism,
Christianity, Islam)
 Islam is the second largest religion in world
(1.2 billion adherents)
 There is an estimated 650 000 Muslims living
in Canada
 Islam is the fastest growing religion in the
world
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Islam Terms
Islam: an Arabic word that means
“submitting to God” and “peace”
 Muslim: a person who follows the teachings of
Islam and “submits to God and finds peace in
Him”. All creation is Muslim.
 Shahadah: “There is no god but God and
Muhammad is the Messenger of God”.
 Allah: Arabic name for God. It is preferred
over other names because it has no gender
affiliation and does not have plurality
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Understanding Islam
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Islam is a rational religion:
“The vilest of creatures are those
who choose to be deaf and dumb
and do not use their reason.”
(Qur’an 8:2)
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Muhammad reminded his
followers that “The first thing
God created was reason”.
Therefore, believers must take
personal responsibility for one’s
actions and faith.
Freedom of Conscience
“There is no compulsion in religion. Truth
stands out clearly from falsehood;
whoever rejects evil and believes in God
has grasped the strongest rope that never
breaks. And God is All Hearing and All
Knowing”
Qur’an 2:256
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Beliefs
1. Belief in only One God. He is defined as Eternal, Absolute,
Infinite, Compassionate and Merciful, the sole Creator and
Provider.
2. Engage only in Righteous Actions in all areas: spiritual,
intellectual and physical activity.
3. All God’s creation is “Muslim”. Only humans are given
CHOICE to submit (be Muslim) or reject submission to God’s will.
4. All children are born without sin and are Muslim. As they
grow older, they make their religious CHOICE.
5. God created human beings with a body and soul. The
body is a temporal host for this life, whereas the soul is eternal. It
is the soul that will survive beyond death.
6. Universality of the call. All Muslims are brothers and equals
without any distinction of class, race or tongue. Superiority is only
based on the greater fear of God and greater piety.
Practices
Prayer
 worshippers line up in rows and
enact ritual in unison (prostration)
 Friday midday prayers at mosque
Fasting
 month of Ramadan (ninth month of lunar
year) to test the spirit, discipline the will
and remind of the hungry and poor
 Numerous important events took place
during Ramadan (first revelation in 610 CE,
flight to Mecca in 622 CE, victory in 624
CE)
 Ramadan ends with Eid al-Fitr (period of
spiritual and moral renewal)
Symbols
The star and crescent moon.
 The crescent moon is a new moon=
Muslim calendar follows the changes of
the moon
 The crescent points to Makkah (Mecca,
the Holy City where Muhammad was born)
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Mosque
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Muslim place of worship Muslims come
together in a mosque for prayers at
midday on Friday (Muslim Holy Day)
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MIHRAB= small arch or hole in wall
indicates the direction of the Ka’bah in
Mecca
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MINARET= high tower or dome from
which a muezzin calls the faithful to
prayer
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WUDU= cleansing process before
prayer (water)
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IMAM= chief officer in the mosque
who leads prayers
PROPHET’S MOSQUE in Madinah: the first mosque in Islam
Ka’bah
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Ka’bah- cube shaped
building that was built by
Abraham to honour God
Viewed as Adam’s
original place of worship
Was filled with idols as
people in Arabia followed
polytheism
Muhammad- received
revelations that led to
Islam and monotheism
(and removal of idols)
Site of hajj- pilgrimage to
Mecca
Qur’an
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Holy book of Islam which means “recitation”
Records the revealed word of God that came
through Angel Gabriel to Muhammad over 23 years
Muhammad dictated revelations to scribes and
companions who memorized passages
It is the only revealed book that has remained intact
and unchanged since its revelation (oral tradition)
Principle source of Muslim faith and practice
Children learn to memorize the Qur’an as a child
Divided into 114 suras (chapters); longest chapter
has 286 verses, the shortest has 3 verses;
approximately 78 000 words in length
Hadith
another important collection of teachings
 sayings of Muhammad
 used to guide decisions and actions
Muslim Calendar
Muslim year only 354 days
 Based on the moon’s cycles
 Has 12 months that are each only 29 or 30 days long
 This means that Muslim holidays do not occur on the
same day every year
(They happen about half a month earlier each year than in
the previous year)
- There are many religious holidays in the Muslim calendar,
some observed by one sect, some by another. However,
all Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha (which
comes two months and ten days later than Eid al-Fitr).
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The Life of Muhammad (pbuh)
Born: Makkah (Saudi Arabia), 570 CE
Life: Hard Knocks
 Father dies before he was born
 Mother dies when he is 6
 Raised by his Grandfather and Uncle
Career: Businessman (trader)
 Worked for a wealthy woman named Khadijah
 $, was wealthy and respected
The Life of Muhammad (pbuh)
Relationship Status:
 Married Khadijah
Social Conscience: Muhammad saw people
behaving badly
 Rich merchants cheating the poor
 Gambling, drinking and fighting
 Worshiping idols, sacrifices
 Muhammad went to meditate in the mountains
The Life of Muhammad (pbuh)
Revelation:
 Meditating on mount Hira had a vision
 Vision: angel came to him carrying a cloth and was
commanded to read, Muhammad was able to read it
despite he was illiterate
 The Angel said, “Muhammad you are Allah’s messenger”
 He preached in Makkah, but was driven out
The Hijrah (departure)
 Muhammad moved to Madinah ( a near by town)
 Beginning of the success of Islam
The Life of Muhammad (pbuh)
Battle between Makkah and Madinah
 Madinah defeated Makkah and
Muhammad returned, and Islam became
there religion
Died in 632 and was buried in Madinah
Muhammad
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SEAL of the Prophets (last in a line of 28
Prophets who all preached the religion of Islam)
Each succeeding Prophet added or improved upon
the cumulative message of Islam
Through Muhammand (PBUH), the message of
Islam was completed and is preserved intact in the
Qur’an
In 622 CE, hijrah (migration) where Muhammad
moved from Mecca to Madinah (marks the
beginning of the Muslim calendar)
Islam spread to Arabia, Spain and as far East as
China
Other Prophets
These Prophets are regarded as
most significant: Muhammad,
Moses, Abraham and Noah
 Jesus is highly respected and
considered as a great prophet by
Muslims
 Qur’an re-affirms the miraculous
birth and abilities of Jesus
 Muslims believe in the Second
Coming of Jesus before the end
of time
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Human Equality
“O humankind! You were created from a
single soul, male and female, and made
you into peoples and tribes. So that you
may know one another. Truly, the most
honoured of you in God’s sight is the
greatest of you in piety. God is All
Knowing, All Aware”
(Qur’an 49:13)
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Islam and War
Like Christianity, Islam permits
fighting in self defense, in defense
of religion, or on the part of those who have been
expelled forcibly from their homes
 Strict rules for combat, which includes prohibitions
against harming civilians and against destroying
crops, trees and livestock
 “Fight in the cause of God against those who fight
you, but do not transgress limits. God does not
love transgressors” (Qur’an 2:190)
 “And fight them unitl persecution is no more, and
religion is for God. But if they desist, then let there
be no hosility excpet against wrongdoers” (Qur’an
2:193)
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Jihad
Jihad does not mean “holy war”
 Literally, jihad means to strive, struggle and
exert effort.
 Concept includes struggle against evil
inclinations within oneself, struggle to improve
quality of life in society, struggle in the
battlefield for self defense or fighting against
tyranny or oppression
 There is no such thing as “holy war” in Islam,
but it is the frequent repetition in the West that
many people accept it as if it were a fact
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Day of Judgment
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All humans will be bodily
resurrected and assembled
for final accounting of deeds
Soul will move on to afterlife
Upon the Final Judgment = world will end and
we will stand before God to confront our own
life and actions
Desire for purified soul= heaven (eternal abode
of beauty and majesty)
Disbelievers and unpure soul= hell (abode of
great torment and anguish)
Women’s Rights
According to Qur’an, men and women are equal
before God
 Under Islamic law, women have the right to own
property, receive an education and take part in
community life
 Islamic rules for simple, modest and dignified
dress applies to women and men equally
 In many Muslim countries there are cultural
practices that are inconsistent and contrary to
the authentic teachings of Islam
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Islam: Controversial Issues
Polygamy
 Jihad vs. Holy War
 Hijab :liberation or suppression
 Muhammad Cartoons:freedom of speech
vs freedom of religion
 Appeal of Suicide Bombers
 Afghanistan's Taliban
 War on Islam
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Bet you didn’t know
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People often think of Muhammad, who
lived in the 7th century C.E., as the
founder of Islam. This is not what Muslims
believe. Although Muhammad is known
within the Islamic tradition as God’s final
prophet, he is not considered by Muslims
to have “invented” the Islamic faith, nor
do Muslims worship him.
Bet you didn’t know
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Islam regards the Hebrew scriptures and the
New Testament as deriving from early divine
revelations. (Muslims believe, however, that
these texts have been compromised over time.)
The Qur’an, Islam’s holy scripture, is regarded
by Muslims as the definitive word of God.
Similarly, practitioners of the faith view
Muhammad, a merchant born in Mecca around
570 C.E., as the final prophet of God, the last in
a long series of prophets that includes Moses
and Jesus.
Bet you didn’t know
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Although Muslims deny the divinity of
Jesus, they honour him as a major
prophet. They also recognize the angels
Gabriel and Michael, familiar to both Jews
and Christians. The Islamic conception of
devils, involves the jinn, creatures
possessing free will who are, like human
beings, destined to be judged by God for
their deeds.
Bet you didn’t know
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Five major articles of faith are contained
within the Muslim creed. They are: 1)
belief in a single God; 2) belief in angels;
3) belief in the revealed books; 4) belief in
the prophets; 5) belief in the Day of
Judgment
Bet you didn’t know
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Muhammad’s ban on idolatry forms one of
the cornerstones of Muslim belief. Within
the Islamic community, artistic
representation of the image of Allah is
forbidden.
Bet you didn’t know
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The Qur’an, which is held by Muslims to
consolidate and fulfill all past revelations
from God, sets out a rigorous
monotheism. For Muslims, it is the Word
of God, whose instrument was the Prophet
Muhammad. A surah is a chapter within
the Qur’an.
Bet you didn’t know
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In the Hebrew Book of Genesis, God made an
everlasting covenant with Abraham. According
to this book, Abraham’s first child, Ishmael,
whose mother was not Abraham’s wife Sarah
but Sarah’s maid Hagar, was ordered out of the
tribe after Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Muslims
believe that Ishmael then came to Mecca and
settled there. The descendants of Abraham’s son
Isaac, according to both the Islamic tradition
and the Hebrew Bible, formed the tribes of
Israel.
Bet you didn’t know
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In addition to carrying out the
commitments outlined in the Five Pillars,
Muslims observe a general obligation to
“commend good and reprimand evil.”
They also forswear gambling, usury, and
the consumption of alcohol and pork.