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The Story of Islam Islam in Canada Islam is one of the fastest-growing religious groups in Canada Much of this growth is due to immigration Canadian Muslims come from all over the world – India, Pakistan, the Middle East (a total of over 50 nations) Most Muslims in Canada live in big cities Muslims have been portrayed negatively in the media and some find discrimination to be a challenge for them History of Islam Islam is the 2nd largest religion in the world Muslims come from many different cultures Only about 15-20% of Muslims are Arab Over 22 million people in China are Muslim Indonesia has the largest Muslim population (over half of the world’s Muslim population live in SE Asia) The greatest prophet of Islam was Muhammad, although many earlier prophets are shared with Judaism and Christianity Muslims trace their ancestry to the prophet Abraham Abraham According to both the Qur’an and the Old Testament, Abraham had a son with Hagar before Isaac. This son, Ishmael, returned to Arabia with his mother The House of God (Kaaba) in Mecca is said to have been built by Abraham Muhammad Born in 570 CE in Mecca The Kaaba had been taken over by polytheists and filled with idols Muhammad never accepted polytheism Had a revelation from God starting in 610 CE These words were written down as the Qur’an Muhammad, cont’d His revelations were not well received in Mecca Business in Mecca relied on visitors to the Kaaba Muhammad’s experiences included his Night Journey when he visited heaven and met God Ascended to heaven from the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (connect to Judaism and Christianity) He eventually fled to Medina (622 CE, “hijra”) He assembled an army of supporters, who marched on Mecca in 628 CE Mecca accepted Islam and Muhammad reclaimed the Kaaba for the one God Before his death, Muhammad instituted the hajj (pilgrimage) and emphasized Muslim equality Islam after Muhammad After Muhammad’s death, Islam spread quickly – for 2 main reasons: The message was simple and easy to teach At times, it was spread through conquest Within the first 100 years, it spread as far west as Spain and east to India and SE Asia People could not agree on who should spread Islam (descendants of Muhammad?) This led to the development of 2 groups Sunni and Shi’a Sunni Muslims make up the vast majority of Muslims in the world (almost 90%) Shi’ite Muslims believe that the leaders should be blood relatives of Muhammad Today the main differences between the two groups are: Sunnis believe that individuals have a direct relationship with God (no need for a leader or mediator) Shi’ites put a much greater emphasis on human leadership