Islam

TThose that follow Islam are called Muslims. MMuslims believe that God (Allah) revealed their faith to humanity through various prophets at various times, but that the final and complete revelation was given to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the 7 th century C.E. Allah written in Arabic

TThe word Islam means both 'peace' and 'submission'. IIt is the second largest religion in the world with over 1 billion followers, and over 1.6 million in the UK. Declaration of Faith "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah". Daily Prayer - 5 times each day

The Five Pillars of Islam  Shahadah: reciting the Muslim profession of faith.  Salat: praying five times each day.  Zakat: paying a charity tax to benefit the poor and the needy.  Sawm: fasting during the month of Ramadan.  Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca. Arabic English

 Pillar # 1 Shahadah Declaration of Faith "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah".

Pillar # 2 Salat

 Pillar # 3 Zakat is the compulsory giving of a percentage of a Muslim's wealth Zakat

 Pillar # 4 Evening meals during Ramadan are occasions for family get-togethers Sawm

 Pillar # 5 Hajj The Great Mosque in Mecca with the Kaaba in the middle The Kaaba in the center of the Great Mosque in Mecca

The Kaaba is a large masonry structure roughly the shape of a cube. The four corners of the Kaaba roughly face the four points of the compass. It is covered by a black silk curtain decorated with gold-embroidered calligraphy. This cloth is known as the kiswah; it is replaced yearly. The Shahada is outlined in the weave of the fabric. About two-thirds of the way up runs a gold embroidered band covered with Qur'anic text. Entrance to the inside of the Kaaba is gained through a door set 7 feet (2 m) above the ground on the north-eastern wall of the Kaaba, which acts as the façade. It is accessed by a wooden staircase on wheels, usually stored between the arch-shaped gate of Banu Shaybah and the well of Zamzam. Inside the Kaaba, there is a marble floor. The interior walls are clad with marble half-way to the roof; tablets with Qur'anic inscriptions are inset in the marble. The top part of the walls are covered with a green cloth decorated with gold embroidered Qur'anic verses. The building is believed to be otherwise empty. Caretakers perfume the marble cladding with scented oil, the same oil used to anoint the Black Stone outside.

Mecca - Hajj

Mina

Plain of Arafat

Muhammad MMuhammad was born in 570 C.E. Muhammad died in 632 C.E. MMuhammad was 62 years old when he died. The mountain of Hira where, according to Muslim tradition, Muhammad received his first revelation. Muhammad often retreated to Mount Hira near Mecca. Islamic tradition holds that the angel Gabriel began communicating with him here in the year 610 and commanded Muhammad to recite the following verses: Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created- Created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful,- He Who taught (the use of) the pen,- Taught man that which he knew not.

Belief in Islam means  Belief in One God  Belief in all of God's messengers  Belief in all the books sent down to the prophets of God. These books include the Torah and Gospel. Only the Holy Qur’an exists in its original form, however.  Belief in the existence of angels  Belief in the Day of Judgment, Life after Death, Heaven and “the bad place”.  Belief in the Divine Decree or Predestination, its good and its bad.

A few more facts…  Two main groups of Muslims are the Sunnis and the Shiites  The name for the head person of the Muslim faith is called a caliph  During the Golden Age of Islam Caliph’s built libraries and schools.  Muslim traders brought Zero and the Indian numeral system from India.  Humans and animals were two things Muhammad did not want artists to include in art because he felt it was disrespectful.

 Abraham is called Ibrahim by Muslims. They see him as the father of the Arab people as well as the Jewish people through his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael (Isma'il in Arabic). The Muslim story of Ibrahim  Abraham is a very interesting figure because he is depicted in the Qur'an as somebody who, from a very early age, had problems trying to understand God and trying to discover God and being restless knowing that perhaps the pagan environment which he was in did not have the answers. That, ultimately, God was not the star or the sun or the wind or the moon - all these forces that he saw - God was in something else.  And so from that perspective, Abraham is considered to be neither a Jewish person, nor a Christian person nor a Muslim, but somebody who is a hernif - somebody who essentially and intrinsically knows that there is really only one God. And he is praised for this essential and innate yearning to discover the unity of God.  There have been thousands of prophets and numbers of messengers but there are only four or five that have been designated a specific title according to Islam: Jesus is one, Moses is one and the Prophet Muhammad is one but also Abraham, who is known as a friend of God.  Abraham had a specific allocation given to him by God, which is that from his progeny will be all the prophets and from them - for Muslims - comes Muhammad. But he does have a relationship with God: first of all he is baffled as to how he has a son at such a late stage through Hagar and then through Sarah.  The tradition of God testing Abraham's devotion to him by asking him to sacrifice Ishmael is the heart of the Abrahamic tradition and the Abrahamic stories. Abraham was the first Prophet who was asked for the ultimate sacrifice: "I want you to sacrifice your own flesh and blood for me". And he passed the test because he was prepared to do it, in his submission and devotion to God.

What are the stories told about Abraham in the Qur'an?  Many of the stories that relate to Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael are about their flights from Sarah and also about Abraham trying to set up another dwelling, another place with Hagar and his son Ishmael.  Much of what Islamic tradition is about - and even some of the rituals such as the Hajj - stem from the pre-Islamic era and are translated into Islamic rituals through Abraham. Hagar looked for water and ran between two hills which is enacted in the Hajj ceremony as a symbolic gesture of what Hagar was doing - looking for water - and pilgrims do that.  God says to Abraham, "I'd like you to build my house for me..." - that is a Kaaba - "...here on this mound of earth, in this sacred place and I'd like you to erect the walls and I want you to purify this place." Part of this purification is what we see today in the Kaaba. The Islamic tradition has restricted this purity ritual to Muslims only. However the second ambulation that pilgrims do in praise of God is actually a legacy left from pre-Islamic days when pilgrims also came to the Kaaba - not to worship the one God, but to worship idols.  There are various things that are part of the Abrahamic story, culminating in the ultimate sacrifice which is carried out on the last day of Hajj. As a symbolic gesture, Muslims re- enact what Abraham was going to do with Ishmael by sacrificing a lamb or sheep. AbrahamMoses