Islam is the name given to the religion preached by the Prophet Muhammad in the A.D. 600's. Islam is an Arabic word that means surrender or submission. God is called Allah. A person who submits to Allah and follows the teachings of Islam is called a Muslim.
Muslims believe that in about 610, Muhammad began to receive revelations from Allah (the God) that were transmitted by the angel Gabriel. These revelations were assembled in a book called the Quran which is the holy book of the Muslims. They believe it contains God's actual words. The Quran and the sunna, the example of the words and practices of Muhammad, make up the foundation of Islamic law.
Islam is the world's second largest religion behind Christianity. Over 1.1 billion people follow Islam. Muslims live in every country in the world, today. Although Islam began in Arabia, more than half of the world's Muslims live in South and Southeast Asia.
source: World Book Encyclopedia
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label History. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
History of Islam
The religion of Islam starts with the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was born around 570 A.D. and eventually rejected polytheism.
This was the beginning of Muhammad's belief in Allah, and also the beginning of his revelations. Around 600 A.D. Muhammad began to have revelations about different beliefs and teachings. He then taught these lessons to his followers and they were recorded into the Qu'ran
After his death around 632 A.D., the issue of who the leader of Islam would be began to separate the people.
Shi'ite and Sunni
The people were separated into two main tribes; the Shi'ite and the Sunni. The Sunni believe that the leaders of Islam would be elected into power. However, the Shi'ite wanted to follow Muhammad's bloodline in determining the next leaders of Islam. While Sunni's are the most common type of muslim; countries such as Iran are still dominated by the Shi'ite.
The Sunni's also are considered to be the followers of the prophet's ways, while the Shi'ite interpret the religion in a drastically different way.
Source: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/islam/history.html
This was the beginning of Muhammad's belief in Allah, and also the beginning of his revelations. Around 600 A.D. Muhammad began to have revelations about different beliefs and teachings. He then taught these lessons to his followers and they were recorded into the Qu'ran
After his death around 632 A.D., the issue of who the leader of Islam would be began to separate the people.
Shi'ite and Sunni
The people were separated into two main tribes; the Shi'ite and the Sunni. The Sunni believe that the leaders of Islam would be elected into power. However, the Shi'ite wanted to follow Muhammad's bloodline in determining the next leaders of Islam. While Sunni's are the most common type of muslim; countries such as Iran are still dominated by the Shi'ite.
The Sunni's also are considered to be the followers of the prophet's ways, while the Shi'ite interpret the religion in a drastically different way.
Source: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/islam/history.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
