Islam

Islam is the name of the religion practiced by Muslims. Muslims make up the largest religious minority group in the UK. Over half of religious people in the UK who are not Christian are Muslim: that’s over 1.5 million people.

Observing Islam

Adherence to Islam is centred on the Five Pillars of Islam. They can be explained as follows:

• Belief in one God Allah and belief in Muhammad as Allah’s messenger.

• Prayer. Muslims must pray five times a day. Some prayers can be led by a congregation. For more details on prayer rituals see here. Most involves recitation from the Qur’an, the holy book.

• Charity (zakat). Anonymously giving to help the poor and needy at least 2.5% of total earnings (if it can be afforded). Unlike a tithe tax it is not enforced by any authority, and is down to the individual’s conscience.

• Going, if possible, on the hajj, the pilgrimage to Makkah (sometimes called Mecca)

• Observing Ramadan fasting (sawm). During Ramadan, a festival approximately one month long, Muslims must not eat or drink during the daylight hours, although it is allowed after dark. Ramadan commemorates the time Muhammad first started receiving revelations, and is intended as a time for physical deprivation, but spiritual enrichment. People who are unable to forgo sustenance due to weakness or similar are not required to harm themselves trying to observe sawm.

Life

Like many religions, the mysteries of life and death are accorded to the ultimate and divine wisdom of God. Life can be given or taken away, and so Muslims must be grateful to Allah for all the time they are alive. Similarly, as death comes to all, we should not hasten it or prolong it for ourselves or others.

Because of this, euthanasia and abortion are both prohibited. However, unlike in Catholicism, which has a similar belief about the sanctity of life above the sanctity of choice, contraception is permitted, as long as it does not involve conception taking place. So a condom would be ok, but a coil not. Furthermore the actual life of the mother takes priority over the potential life of the child, so an abortion could be permitted to protect the mother. These rules are consistent with the notion that all life is sacred.

Free Will

Because Allah is omniscient – he knows everything – does he not also know what we are going to do? The question of free-will plagues theological study in all monotheistic religions. In Islam the common interpretation is that Allah, while he may know what we could do, doesn’t know what we will choose. Humans make choices about their own actions. However, he does know what will happen in the world – indeed everything is the will of Allah. Accordingly life is seen as a series of tests. Allah is testing mankind, giving Muslims the opportunity to prove their worth and goodness by overcoming the obstacles set by Allah for them.

Sex and Drugs

All drugs, including tobacco and alcohol, strictly speaking are forbidden. The reasons for this fall into two parts. Firstly it is not possible to worship with any sincerity in an intoxicated state. Secondly, Islam is devoted to creating a safe and peaceful society: “Islam” is derived from salaam, meaning “peace”. We know now as well as when the Qur’an was dictated the extent to which drink and drugs contribute to crime. In a modern context however, many Muslims make choices about their practices rather than relying on a strict interpretation. See the box for more details.

Most of the information about sex appears in the hadith, the teachings of Muhammad as a spiritual leader collected by his followers, not in the Qur’an itself. While sex cannot take place outside of marriage, out of respect, dignity and social cohesion, the Prophet was not a prudish man:

“A Muslim man should not satisfy his need of her until he has satisfied her need of him”

[al-Ghazzali]

Because sex is a gift of Allah and represents a small replication of the potential gifts offered by Paradise, within marriage it is to be wholly encouraged and fostered. Celibacy is a form of ingratitude for this gift, even if done for religious reasons, and is not approved of. However, nor is promiscuity, co-habitation, and homosexuality, which is considered another test that Muslims must overcome.

Crime and Forgiveness

Because it is also a book devoted to creating a peaceful compassionate society, the Qur’an is specific about law. Islamic law is called Sharia.

The idea of repentance is enshrined in Sharia. To commit any crime in Islam is to commit two crimes. One against the wronged and one against Allah, who is everywhere and everything. Both must be appeased. Allah’s judgement will come on the Day of Judgement, but the other party must also find justice. Like Jewish law, Sharia demands ‘an eye for an eye’. As in Chrisitanity, Muslims are always able to repent and be forgiven. The Qur’an states that

“The reward for an injury is an equal injury back; but if a person forgives instead and is reconciled, that will earn reward from Allah” [42:40]

So ‘an eye for an eye’ is only given if the sinner does not repent, or his repentance is not accepted. To accept someone’s repentance will bring Allah’s blessing. However, ‘an eye for an eye’ is not wholly accurate – along with murder, adultery is punishable by execution, drunkenness by flogging and theft by amputation of the left hand. All of these punishments are to be meted out in cases beyond doubt, requiring 4 witnesses (now DNA matching), by an Islamic judge, and only in situations in which the sinner does not repent and did not act from need. If someone repents he should not be punished. If something is stolen which the thief needed – food, water or money - the society should be punished, not the individual. However, as with many religions’ laws, the reality of the application of such rules can be rough to say the least, and are frequently adapted or exploited to fit certain regions, traditions or ideologies.

Texts and Holy Men

In Islam all texts referring to God are holy texts. This includes the Bible (Christian) and the Tanakh (Jewish). However, because these other texts involve hearsay, multiple translation and reported events, they are not considered as complete, or as accurate as the Qur’an, which is the actual word of God. Hence these three faiths have the same God, but draw the line after different prophet’s teachings. Judaism is concerned with the worship of God as practiced by Abraham and his descendants, Christians by Jesus, and finally Muslims by Muhammad in the sixth century. As the ‘Jewish’ prophets Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon and others appear in the Bible as ancient wise leaders, so too do they appear in the Qur’an, alongside Jesus, as ancient spiritual leaders, prophets and doers of God’s work. Jesus is even a miracle worker, appearing healing lepers and the blind and bringing a clay bird to life in Surah 5:110.

Muslims believe therefore in Jesus and Moses as prophets, and their teachings, but find that the most accurate, most clear scriptures of God were given to Muhammad, and so use the Qur’an as their template.

Allah

Allah is the Arabic word for God, and is the same God worshipped in Judaism and Christianity, the other major monotheistic religions derived from Abraham.

The fundamental concept in Islam is the oneness of Allah. Since Allah is the creator of the universe, there can only be one Allah, as there cannot be more than one ‘first cause’. Allah is also omniscient and omnipresent and the ultimate owner of everything in the universe. Allah says He is “nearer to him [a man] than his jugular vein.”

Unlike the English word “God”, Allah is not gender (or quantity) specific – there is no equivalent word such as ‘gods’ or ‘goddess’, and therefore no question of plurality or gender. In translations of the Qur’an “We” is frequently used. In Arabic there are many words for Allah like al-Badi (the One who creates out of nothing), al-Muqit (the One who controls), but never “He” or “Father”.

The Prophet Muhammad

Muhammad was a man born in 570 in Makkah (sometimes still known as Mecca) in present day Saudi Arabia. From 610 until his death in 632 Muhammad had revelations, sometimes in the delivered by the angel Jibril (Gabriel), sometimes simply as a voice, the word of Allah telling mankind how to live and worship.

Muhammad’s honesty and piety converted many people to worship Allah in the ways he described. Many people were already worshipping Allah (Alaha in Aramaic, Yahweh in Hebrew) as Jews or Christians, but like many Prophets and religious leaders before and since Muhammad was ridiculed and expelled from his home to Madinah (Medina). His return to Makkah in 628 is the origin of the hajj pilgrimage, according to which, all Muslims, if they are able, should return to Makkah at least once in their lives. Muhammad is buried in Madinah in the Masjid al-Nabawi Mosque, pictured.

The Qur’an

The Qur’an is the holy scripture of Islam. It is the actual word of Allah as it was directly delivered to the Prophet Muhammad. The Qur’an is split into 114 surah, or chapters. The surah are themselves are split into ayat, or verses. The surah were revealed to Muhammad over a period of more than 20 years through many different revelations.

According to Islamic tradition, around the time of Muhammad’s death these revelations, which had been taught and learnt by heart, are believed to have been written down under the supervision of the first Caliph Abu Bakr and Muhammad’s closest companion Zayn ibn Thabit. This was then copied and verified and sent to the chief Islamic centres, while other copies were destroyed. This remains the Qur’an we have today. To alter it would be to alter the word of Allah. Many of the world’s Muslims do not speak or understand Arabic or the more old-fashioned Arabic of the Qur’an, and so rely on translations or interpretations offered by the holy leaders, called imam.

Because each copy of the book is the actual word of God, each copy is itself considered extremely sacred. Copies should be kept clean and only put in clean spaces and not stacked below other books. One should act in a reverent way when in the same room as a Qur’an.

Festivals

The Arabic word for festival is Eid. The purpose of Eid is an opportunity for people to celebrate Allah, their belief, and the blessings and good things Allah has given them, but also to promote unity, or ummah. Ummah could mean brotherhood or family, and refers to all the world’s Muslims.

Because Islam follows a lunar calendar rather than a solar calendar, each year is 354 or 355 days long, rather than 365 or 366 days, (in neither system does a day, month or a year divide exactly by 24 hours) the date of the festivals moves through the Gregorian calendar.

 

Festivals in 2008

20th December 2007	Eid-Ul-Adha	This is the ‘major’ celebration of the Islamic year. It takes place at the time of the hajj to Makkah, although it should be celebrated by all Muslims, on the pilgrimage or not.
10th January	Muharram - New Year’s Day	The first day of the New Year may see an exchange of cards or gifts, although this is a modern development.
2nd September - 2nd October	Ramadan	The sawm, which makes up one of the 5 pillars of Islam, involves abstaining from food, drink and sex during the daylight hours to encourage a spiritual and peaceful attitude of prayer and reflection.
28th September	Lailat-Ul-Qadr	‘The Night of Power’ is the night on which the Angel Jibril first appeared to Muhammad. Its exact date is not known and there are some regional variations, but it always occurs during Ramadan and may involve additional or all-night prayer.
2nd October	Eid-Ul-Fitr	Despite being the ‘minor’ festival, this is often the largest Islamic celebration and most resembles a party. The feast and celebration at this Eid mark the completion of the Ramadan fast. Decorations are put up and friends and family invited to join a feast that has been in preparation for several days. Additional zakat charity is often given, and people may wish each other Eid Mubarrak (Happy Eid).

 

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