Islam

Greetings!
As-Salam Alaykum
 What is Islam?
 “The religion of Islam is the
acceptance of and obedience
to the teachings of God
which He revealed to His
last prophet, Muhammad.”
 Is named after an action:
(1) Islam means submission to God

(2) Muslim is the person that submits to God

TWO MAIN BRANCHES OF ISLAM

• Sunni recognize the male heirs of the first 4 elected (according to Muhammad's instruction) caliphs
(or spiritual heads) after Muhammad’s death. Believes that Abu Bakr was the first correct first
caliph

• Shiite recognize the decedents of only the 4th caliphs—Ali Ibn Abi Talib (Muhammad's son-in-law
& cousin), the only true descendent of Muhammad. Beliefs that Ali should have been the first caliph

HISTORY
• Established around 7th century C.E.

• 1.8 billion followers or 24 percent of earth's population

• Islam is the second largest religion on the planet and therefore the universe Muslims make up the
majority of the population in 49 countries as diverse as Yemen, Nigeria, Albania, Kazakhstan, and
Malaysia this 1400 year old religion started in modern day Saudi Arabia but today only 20 percent
of Muslims are Arabs

• Indonesia is actually the country with the most Muslims holding around 13 of the world's total

MUHAMMAD
• Muhammad was born in 570CE in the city of Mecca Arabia (A city of western
Saudi Arabia)
• Quraish were the guardians of this building, the Kabba in mecca and these tribes
all worshiped many different gods (polytheistic)
• instead of attending religious festivals every year Muhammad would just go and
pray alone in a cave
 • 622 ACE - Muhammad fled 200 miles north with his supporters in Yathrib
(Medina; madina “City of Prophets”)
• This migration is known as Hijrah
• Muhammad's life was cut short by his sudden death on June 8, 632 at about 60
years old
SACRED SCRIPTURES
Koran (or the Qur'an)
o Holy book of islam
o Quran is the holy book of Islam
o The word Quran simply means to recite or to say out loud
o Muslims consider the Quran to be the direct word of god spoken through the mouth of
Muhammad
o In Arabic, the Quran is about 600 pages long and is divided into 114 surahs or chapters,
each surah is divided into numbered verses or Ayat

The Hadith (Traditional statements)

o The collection of the deeds and sayings of Muhammad and his followers.

o This is the second source of shari’a law (the Islamic legal system)

o It is recognized as the second authority after Qur’an.

o A systematic collection of hadiths are known as Kutub al- Sittah or the Six Sahih

THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

Shahada (Faith)

 To believed in one God Allah and to believed that Muhammad was Allah’s messenger
(Prophet).

Salah (Prayer)

 To pray (bless God) 5 times a day

 Pray towards Mecca

Sawm (Fasting)

 To give up food and drink during the daylight hours or Ramadan.

 Ramadan is 9th month in Islamic calendar.

Zakah (Almsgiving)
  To give to the poor to help Muslim community
 Believe in sharing with the needy.

Hajj (Pilgrimage)

 To travel to Mecca at least once in lifetime

 To visit the Kaaba and pray.

 Kaaba is a square shrine sanctuary, a place of worship for angels before the creation of
men.

 The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to six days, extending from the 8th to the
12th or 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar.

lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāh, muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh

- There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.

WORSHIPS AND OBSERVANCE

Month 1: • The Islamic years starts at the end hijra, Muhammad's journey from
MUHARR Mecca to Medina in 622 CE
AM
• Ashura: The assassination of Imam Husayn at Karbala’ in 680 CE, is
(The sacred commemorated on the 10th of Shi’ite Muslims.
month)

Month 3: • Birth of the prophet: Muhammad’s birthday is celebrated on the 112th.

RABI AL-
AWAI

(The
spring)

Month 9: • Muslims do not drink or eat during daylight hours throughout the
RAMADA month
N
• Laylat al-Qadr: The commemoration of the first revelation to the
(The month of prophet is often celebrated on 27t
great heat)

Month 10: • ‘Id al-Fitr: The festival of breaking the fast at the beginning of
SHAWWA
 L Shawwal concludes the fasting season

(The month
of hunting)

Month 12: • Month of Pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca.

DHU AL-
HIJJA • Yawn Arafat: On the 9th, fasting pilgrims perform the wuquf, standing
before God at Mount Arafat.
(The month
of hajj) • ‘Id al-Adha: The festival of sacrifice on the 10 th recalls the sacrificial
ram God gave to

Abraham in place of his son and coincides with the end of hajj.

HINDUISM
Hinduism is the world's third
largest religion with around
15% of the entire population
practicing the Hindu faith.
Hindu followers in India
comprise the major bulk with
almost 80% of the country's population adhering to the religion. Other Asian countries with
considerable Hindufaithful include Nepal (23 million), Bangladesh (15 million), and
Indonesia (3.9 million in Bali). There are also substantial number of Hindus in Mauritius,
Guyana, Fiji, Bhutan, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and Sri Lanka (Jose and Ong,
2016).Hinduism was never a missionary religion unlike Christianity or Islam. With the
changing times, however, there have been proselytizing activities by Hindu missionaries in
some Western cities.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

According to Jose and Ong (2016),

Hinduism is oftentimes considered
as the oldest and most complex of
all world
religions. While the most active
religions of the modern times may
have started around the sixth
century B.C.E. onward, elements
and themes of Hindu belief may
have begun around the third
millennium B.C.E. In addition,
unlike other major religions,
Hinduism
had no one identifiable founder
According to Jose and Ong (2016), Hinduism is oftentimes considered as the oldest and
most complex of all world religions. While the most active religions of the modern times
may have started around the sixth century B.C.E. onward, elements and themes of Hindu
belief may have begun around the third millennium B.C.E. In addition, unlike other major
religions, Hinduism had no one identifiable founder.
The term Hindu originated from the Persian word hindu (in Sanskrit sindhu) which means
"river." It also refers to the people of the Indus Valley the Indians (Bowker 1997). The
name Hinduism was given in the nineteenth century to describe the widearray of belief
systems in India. Hinduism was originally known as "Arya Dharma" or the Aryan Way.
Vedas
The four basic Vedic books, which are sacrificial hymns compiled from an earlier oral
tradition, are composed of Rig-veda, Sama-veda, Yajur-veda, and Atharva-veda. The word
Veda means "knowledge" or "'sacred lore."The Vedas are the earliest known Sanskrit
literature from the Brahmanic period and oldest scriptures of Hinduism.Rig-Veda is the
most important and oldest book that dates back to around 1500 B.C.E. to 1200 B.O.E.
Apart from being the oldest work of literature in an Indo-European language, it is also the
oldest living religious literature of the world. The book is a collection of over a thousand
hymns and more than thousand verses dedicated to the Aryan pantheon of gods
For all Hindus, there are four desirable goals or areas of life or purushartha. These are:
1. dharma (appropriate behavior)
2. artha (the pursuit of legitimate worldly success)
3. kama (the pursuit of legitimate pleasure); and
4. moksha (release from rebirth).The terminal stage involves the liberation from the bonds
of flesh and the limitations of death-bound life.
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES OF HINDUISM
Hindu scriptures state that there are 330 million gods or devas (Kolanad 1994). These
include manifestations of natural phenomena, evil forces, and even illnesses. Others are
venerated humans or town deities. Hindu worship or pujainvolves images (murtis), prayers
(mantras), and diagrams of the universe (yantras) (Bowker 1997).*****PujaThe most
common way to express worship for deities is the puja. It consists of offering mostly
material goods and ritual acts to the altar of a god or goddess. Pujas may be made in home
altars or in temples. When it is done at home the essence of the puja rituals is to welcome
the deity as a guest.When pujas are done in temples, worshippers follow stricter rules to
ascertain the purity of one’s offering to the deity.The puja is an important dimension of the
religious life of the most Hindus. It is their way of communicating with the Divine. The
goal of the puja is darshan, where the devotee “exchange glances” with the god or goddess.
The darshan is an intimate encounter between the two, and the deity responds by
sanctifying food ritually offered by a devotee, which becomes prasad, a sanctified food that
the devotee receives as a gift from the god or goddess.Integral to Hindu worship are the
sacred images and temples believed to house and represent the deities. These images can
be revered or valued in homes or temples with a host of intermediary priests, holy men,
and religious teachers (Jose and Ong, 2016). The rise of Islam in the seventh century
brought about changes in political landscape of the area, which saw the increasing
influence of Islamic empires. The most significant of this is the Mughal Empire, which
ruled India from 1526 to 1858. The Mughals changed the Indian landscape with their
beautiful and unsurpassed architectural landmarks.