Islam – 1.5 Billion believers – monotheism (Sunni 83%, Shi’ite 16%, Sufi) – one of the Abrahamic faiths along with Judaism and Christianity.
626 AD – Prophet Muhammad experiences a series of divine revelations about Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus etc…from the Angel Gabriel in the form of night visions.
Belief – That Allah is the one true God and the Qur’an/Koran is the word of God.
Symbol - The “hilal,” star and crescent moon, is the universal symbol of the Islamic religious community. It wasn’t until the Ottoman Empire that the crescent moon and star became affiliated with the Muslim world. When the Turks conquered Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453, they adopted the city’s existing flag and symbol. Legend is that the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Osman, had a dream in which the crescent moon stretched from one end of the earth to the other. Taking this as a good omen, he chose to keep the crescent and make it the symbol of his dynasty.
Sacred Text – The Qur’ān or Koran - literally “the recitation” and it is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur’an to be the book of divine guidance and direction for mankind and consider the text in its original Arabic to be the literal word of God, revealed to Muhammad by the Archangel Gabriel over a period of twenty-three years. The Qur’anic verses were originally memorized by Muhammad’s companions as Muhammad recited them. Some verses were written down on whatever was at hand, from stones to pieces of bark. The text of the Qur’an consists of 114 chapters known as a Sura. Muslims believe that Muhammad, on God’s command, gave the chapters their names. According to one Hadith…“The Qur’an possesses an external appearance and a hidden depth, an exoteric meaning and an esoteric meaning. This esoteric meaning in turn conceals an esoteric meaning (this depth possesses a depth, after the image of the celestial Spheres, which are enclosed within each other). So it goes on for seven esoteric meanings (seven depths of hidden depth).” According to this view, it has also become evident that the inner meaning of the Qur’an does not eradicate or invalidate its outward meaning. Rather, it is like the soul, which gives life to the body.
Hadith - A guide for Muslims in the understanding of the Quran and the practice of their religion. Sunni and Shia Hadith’s differ. Differences in Hadith collections have contributed to differences in sunnah (worship practices) and al-shari’ah (law). Differences among Shia’s and Sunni Hadiths exist as well.
Allah - is the supreme and all-comprehensive divine name in Islam. All other divine names are believed to refer back to Allah. Allah is only God, and omnipotent. He became the Supreme One Lord of the Kaaba also known as ‘Lord of Sirius’. God of the Moon, Sun, Stars, Planets, Animals, wells, trees, stones, caves, springs, and other natural objects. Allah was a God in pre-islamic times, sometimes known as Allat, Uzza and Manat. This combination is also known as Banat Allah.
Islam consists of five pillars:
shahadah - affirmation of faith, witnessing that La ilaha illa ‘Llah (There is no divinity but Allah) Muhammadun rasul Allah (Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah)
al-salat - five daily prayers (Sunni), three daily prayers (Shiite) which Muslims perform facing Mecca
al-sawm - fasting from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan
al-zakat - paying a 2 1/2% tax on one’s capital for the needs of the community.
al-hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime if one’s financial and physical conditions permit it.
Islamic calendar/Hijri calendar - is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries (concurrently with the Gregorian calendar), and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic holy days and festivals. The first year was the year during which the emigration of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra, occurred. Each numbered year is designated either H for Hijra or AH for the Latin anno Hegirae (in the year of the Hijra). A limited number of years before Hijra (BH) are used to date events related to Islam, such as the birth of Muhammad in 53 BH. The current Islamic year is 1431 AH, from approximately 18 December 2009 (evening) to 6 December 2010 (evening). Being a purely lunar calendar, it is not synchronized with the seasons. With an annual drift of 11 or 12 days, the seasonal relation is repeated approximately each 33 Islamic years.
Islamic months begin at sunset of the first day, the day when the lunar crescent is visually sighted. The lunar year is approximately 354 days long, so the months rotate backward through the seasons and are not fixed to the Gregorian calendar.
The months of the Islamic year are:
1. Muharram – “Forbidden” – one of four months forbidden to wage war or fight
2. Safar – “Empty” or “Yellow”
3. Rabia Awal – “First spring”
4. Rabia Thani – “Second spring”
5. Jumaada Awal – “First freeze”
6. Jumaada Thani – “Second freeze”
7. Rajab – “To respect” – holy month when fighting is prohibited
8. Sha’ban – “To spread and distribute”
9. Ramadan – “Parched thirst” – this is the month of daytime fasting
10. Shawwal – “To be light and vigorous”
11. Dhul-Qi’dah – “The month of rest” – no warfare or fighting is allowed
12. Dhul-Hijjah – “The month of Hajj” – annual pilgrimage to Mecca, no warfare/fighting
