1. The Story of Islam

2. 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

3. History of Islam  Islam is the 2 nd 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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