Introduction To Islam By Carole Hillenbrand

“Fight in the name of God and in the ‘path of god’. Combat those who disbelieve in God.” The quote above is an excerpt from Matthew Gordon’s book, “The Rise of Islam”. Throughout the course of history, many religions have had a profound effect on western civilization. During the early 5th century a religion arose that had an extremely important impact on western civilization. The Arabic prophet Muhammad founded the religion known today as Islam. Violence, diplomacy, Arabic tradition, and public law played a vital role in the rise and conquest of Islam. These four key elements that fostered the rise of Islam helped establish one of the largest religions in western civilization.

A change that occurred in the political life of Islamic civilization was the shift from the election of a Caliphate to a more dynastical system. Previously, the caliphates were elected by the Islamic community. Capable leaders were preferred over heirs who were not as qualified. Sunni Muslims were firm believers of this concept, while Shia muslims believed that Ali should’ve

Muhammad a prophet for our time is written by Karen Armstrong. This book is like a diary that tells the life of Muhammad and how he played a big role in the Islamic religion. Muhammad was born in the year 570 ce and died in 623 ce. Muhammad was a man who did not have much going for him, he couldn’t read and lived in a cave with his wife at the time. When Muhammad was reached down upon by Allah he did not know what was happening and why it was happening. “ he knew that some people expected the imminent arrival of an Arab prophet, but it never occurred to him that he would be the one entrusted with the mission.” (p.10). Muhammad was 40 years old when this happened and he lived in Mecca. Mecca at the time had many different civilizations and was a big trading center. Arabs at the time did not like this and kept moving from places to place to get something stable. Some of the Arabs even had settled in urban areas around Mecca. Society in Mecca was based on laws and traditions that even though Allah is the main god

The basic tenets of belief in Islam surround the words Allah revealed to the Prophet Muhammad within the holy text the Koran (Qur'an in Arabic). Muslims do not believe that Muhammad was the originator of Islam, but that it was he who brought back the original monotheism of Abraham, Moses, Jesus of Nazareth, and other Prophets from the Christian and Judaic Old Testament. Islam holds that these Prophets were seminal instruments of God's word, but that both the Judaic and Christian traditions have misinterpreted the meaning of the word of God, altered the texts given to man by

One of the most famous religious splits in human history is the well known Sunni-Shia split. The Sunni-Shia split is highly divisive throughout the world, and predominantly in the Middle East. These sects share similarities, such as they all believe that Allah is the one true god, and Muhammad is his messenger. They also believe in the same five religious pillars that Muslims follow. Although these sects are very similar, there is one big schismatic difference that separates the two. This difference lies with the question of: “Who is the rightful successor of the Prophet Muhammad?” Through this 1,400 year conflict Most sunnis believe that Abu Bakr the Prophet 's closest companion is the true successor. In contrast most Shias believe that Ali, who was the prophet 's cousin and son in law is the true successor. Abu bakr was the rightful heir to lead Muslims after the Prophet’s death. Abu Bakr was arguably his closest confidant throughout their lives, and Abu Bakr understood the Messenger teachings the best. It can also be argued that that Ali would be the fourth caliph instead of the first because choosing a successor to the Prophet based on bloodline could be seen as committing idolatry according to Islamic teaching.

Muslims are one of the most marginalized people in the U.S for their beliefs and their religion but after 9/11 discrimination and hate crimes against them had become even worse.Throughout the U.S people have been “Anti-Islam” and believed that the Muslim’s religion is absurd, want muslims to change their beliefs or, leave the country.According to “Anti-Islman Discourse in the United States in the Decade After 9/11:The Role of Social Conservatives and Cultural Politics”by David D.Belt on page 211-212, talks about how a post on Charisma News with an article title “Why I am Absolutely Islamophobic” was urging at the fact that Muslim-Americans needed to be deported as soon as possible ,or go under sterilization.Also Belt talks about one of Bush’s family friend being,Franklin Graham saying that he thinks the muslim’s religion is “very evil “and “wicked”.One last example a man named Gabriel had said Islam is the real enemy of America and that we supposedly “we will be doomed in war if we don’t realize it”. People are so brainwashed it honestly insane and very ignorant at the things people think about Muslims, its barbaric.They believe what Muslims believe in and their religion is wrong and they should switch to “Christianity” because it is the “American way “ or have them deported because the do not belong there and are “terrorist”.

Following the customs of prosperous family’s, Muhammad passed a fraction of his childhood living with a family in the dessert. Because of this occurrence amid these people is what might have impacted the evolution of Islam. Muhammad started working as a distributor and shortly after that married a wealthy women and had kids. Muhammad began to acquire revelations from God, which then he would overtime declaim ahead to the public. This developed religion had integrated features of Christianity and Judaism. Islam was a creed that declared prophets from these two religions and behold that Islam’s shared the same God as the Christians and the Jews, according to Muhammad being the final diviner. Muslims

Ferry terminals in New York normally have cabs that line up to transport arriving passengers to their destinations, but on a website called "snopes.com" rumor had it that in the early hours of September 11, 2001, nearly no cabs were available which suggests that Middle Eastern cab drivers had gotten an advanced notice of the attacks and that they should keep away from the area that morning ("Snopes.com: No Taxis at WTC"). This claim of there not being any taxi cabs around The World Trade Center the morning of the attacks is absolutely false and ridiculous. The individuals saying these things are not only stereotyping cab drivers being Muslims but also assuming that they all have ties to radical Islamic groups such as Al-Qaeda.

A religion that will employ great influence in a civilization of more than one and a half billion people. The Prophets death also had the opportunity to split the religion into two main branches the Sunni and Shi’a. The Sunni who are 80 percent of Muslims, and they believed that, Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s father-in-law, to the successor. As for the Shi’a who only make up 15 percent of the Muslims in the world, believed an imam, in their case Ali, cousin, and son-in-law, should be the successor; due to their blood relations. However, with their differences aside, they shared the common belief that Prophet Muhammad was a messenger of Allah. Both the Sunni and Shi’a also share the belief that there are five pillars of Islam: (1) the harmony of Allah and the prophethood of Muhammad, (2) the five obligatory prayers, (3) fasting, (4) charity, and (5) the pilgrimage to Mecca. Both branches oppose several kinds social change that is done by western ideas, and instead have the primary objective of the establishment of Islamic law as the sole basis of their government. The question still is who should have been the rightful successor of the Prophet Muhammad. Someone who is in blood relations or someone who was a close

The lives of Muhammad by Kecia Ali is a modern book that describes the way the life of the prophet has been told by past authors. It looks at the manner in which he lived his life and some of the decisions that he made. However, many other authors who have written about the life of Prophet Muhammad but Kecia Ali bring out the unspoken perspective that many people hardly notice. She shies away from describing the truth spoken by anti-Muslims and Muslims alike. On the contrary, she analyses both factions of the narrations and tells the story of Muhammad in a new light.

The two largest religions in the world, Christianity and Islam, were implemented by two of religions most powerful leaders, Jesus and Muhammad. Without question, both Jesus and Muhammad have affected humanity powerfully. As religious leaders both men laid down the principles upon which Christianity and Islam are founded yet today. However, while Jesus performed miracles and arose from the dead, thus proving to his followers he was God, Muhammad performed no such feats, and made no such claims. In fact, Muhammad’s only claim was that he was the last prophet sent from God.

Islamic rule spread over major areas of Africa, the Middle East, South, Southeast and Central Asia, Spain, and Southern Italy. Many Christians saw Islam as a religion of the sword. They have been very violent throughout their history. Arabian armies engaged in attacking the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. The First Crusade was launched in order to stop the Arabian invaders.

"Islam" is derived from the Arabic root salaama meaning peace, purity, submission and obedience. Islam stands for making peace by submitting to the will of God and obeying His law. Jews and Christians view Islam as the latest of the world's great religions. However, worldwide Muslims (sometimes written "Moslems") understand their universal religion as the "final religion" and the "primal religion."

Islam is one of the oldest religions in history dating back to about 600 AD. It began when a man named Muhammad heard a voice from the heavens instructing him to proclaim the word of god. Currently there are over 800 million followers of the Muslim religion. The main text of the religion is the Quran which is said to be the word of God, or Allah as called in Muslim. Within the Quran, The five pillars of Islam are proclaimed along with many other concepts very unique to the Muslim religion. Prayer is a very important aspect of Islam as well. Islam has a long history of invention, heritage, and world imperialism that must be understood to completely identify with the concepts of the religion and culture.

Although Islam is the second largest religion in the world with a following of 1.8 billion followers, no other religion has faced more scrutiny and hardship in the past decades. This has been caused by media and governments labeling Islam as a whole with their extremist groups like Al Queda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. I even thought that the principals held by these extremist group were more common in Islam than they are. After studying Islam and gaining more information I came to respect this religion more than any other we studied this semester because of its seriousness and unity. The Quran and Hadith provide concrete details and instructions to follow in the faith of Islam. No texts from any other religion are as upfront with their beliefs than these. Muhammad was and continues to be a powerful and understanding leader that has led it to becoming the world’s fastest growing religion. I enjoyed studying the powerfulness of Muhammad and the direct voice of God in the Quran that is sets Islam apart from Judaism and Christianity.