Overview of The History And Teachings of Islam (1/2)

Islam is the third of the major monotheistic faiths, meaning those based on belief in One God. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam trace their origins to the teachings of prophets - messengers who received Holy Scriptures. Their adherents believe that their holy scriptures are the word of God, or were inspired by God.

Based on the teachings of their holy book, the Qur’an, Muslims trace the origins of Islam to the first prophet, Adam. The Qur’an teaches that God sent many prophets to humankind with the same basic message to believe in One God, to worship and to act according to moral standards. Muslims also honor as prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, as well as others known and unknown. Islam teaches that the earlier scriptures were sometimes lost or altered, and that a final prophet, Muhammad, completed God’s message to humankind and the religion of Islam.

The word Islam means “peace through submission to God” and a Muslim is a follower of Islam, “one who seeks peace through submission to God.” The Qur’an teaches that all prophets were Muslim in the sense that they were models of submission to God and seekers of truth.

Muslim practice is defined by the Qur’an (Holy Scripture) and the Sunnah (example set by Prophet Muhammad), transmitted through the Hadith (recorded words and deeds). The Islamic requirements of worship are called the Five Pillars, which are:

(1) Shahadah -- to state belief in One God and the prophethood of Muhammad,

(2) Salat -- to pray the five obligatory prayers each day,

(3) Siyam -- to fast from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan each year,

(4) Zakat – to pay a percentage of goods or money as obligatory charity each year,

(5) Hajj -- to make the pilgrimage to Makkah once in a lifetime.

Islamic teachings lay out a way of life based on moral values and just relations among people in the family, community, and the world. Islamic law, or Shari’ah, is a system of interpretation of the Qur’an and Sunnah based on scholars’ study of the Islamic sources and related disciplines, including logic and Arabic grammar.

Historically, the origin of Islam is the revelation received by Prophet Muhammad, who was born on the Arabian Peninsula in about 570 CE, in the city of Makkah, a caravan stop inland from the Red Sea on a trade route between Yemen and the Mediterranean. Makkah was also the site of an important house of worship called the Ka’bah, which the Arabs associated with the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) and his son Ishmael (Ismail).

The revelations he reported receiving at Makkah and Madinah came over 23 years, between about 610 and 622 CE. The revelations were transmitted by Muhammad to his followers in Arabic, and they were memorized and written down during his lifetime. These words were known as the Qur’an, literally, “the recitation.” Muslims believe it to be the direct word of God, Whose name in Arabic is Allah. Both the names Islam and Muslim were given in the Qur’an.

After thirteen years of teaching and persecution at Makkah, the Muslims migrated to Madinah; an event called the Hijrah, and marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, in 622 CE (Common Era). The years following the Hijrah were marked by conflict between Quraysh and the Muslims, including several major battles and a treaty. Muhammad lived for ten more years, during which the Muslim community grew from a few hundred to many thousands, developed a stable community with a system of beliefs, practices and leadership, and secured a bloodless victory over Makkah. During the ten years at Madinah, Islam attracted followers throughout Arabia, and came to the attention of major regional powers, the Byzantine and Persian Empires.

At the time of Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, the Muslim community already represented a growing political, military and religious force in the region. Four successors to Muhammad’s political power, called the “Rightly Guided Caliphs,” carried on the legacy of Muhammad’s leadership, but not his prophethood or revelation. During the century after his death, Muslim armies conquered a huge territory extending from North Africa to Central Asia.

The Persian Empire fell, and the Byzantine Empire lost much territory. The early state of the “Rightly-Guided Caliphs” gave way to a civil war over the succession in 660 CE, resulting in the founding of the Umayyad dynasty, with its capital at Damascus, Syria. The end of unified rule over all Muslim lands ended in 750 CE. A revolution against the Umayyads resulted in founding a new Abbasid dynasty, with its capital at Baghdad. It lasted until 1258 CE, but other states also broke away to form separate Muslim states - a few at first, then many. Muslim Spain was one of the most important of these states.

During the centuries following the rise of Islam and the expansion of the Muslim state, Islam spread among the population of Muslim- ruled territory in parts of Africa, Europe and Asia.

The growth of cities was both a cause and effect of the spread of Islam and economic growth in Muslim-ruled areas. Cultural developments in literature, arts and sciences, manufacturing and trade accompanied the spread of Islam and its influence on religious, intellectual, economic and political life in those regions. Although unified Muslim rule lasted only about a century, both Islam kept spreading and Muslim culture and society flourished. By 1500, Islam had spread to West and East Africa, to western and coastal China, and to India and parts of Southeast Asia, and was moving into southeastern Europe. Only in the Iberian Peninsula did Muslims experience permanent loss of territory. The Reconquista by the Spanish and Portuguese was the cause of this loss. After a long period of multi-religious life under Muslim rule, the new Christian rulers converted or expelled Muslims and Jews.

Between 1500 and 1800 CE, Islam continued to spread in several regions, notably Eastern Europe, Central Asia, West Africa and Southeast Asia. Successor states to the short-lived Mongol empire formed Muslim states, which were marked by military conquest, encouragement of trade, and patronage of learning, arts and architecture. Three major states and a number of smaller regional powers were important political, economic and military forces during this time.

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