LESSON

6:
ISLAM
 A.
HISTORICA
L
ISLAM
• the youngest of the Abrahamic
religions, started around 622 C.E.,
considered as the beginning of the
Islamic calendar.
• The word Islam is an Arabic word
which means “submission” or
“surrender” and is also related to
salaam, the Arabic word for “peace.”
• It originated from Mecca,
which is found in the Arabian
Peninsula, with Muhammad,
considered the last
prophet or “Seal of the
Prophet.”
• It was in Mecca where Muhammed
was born and raised by his uncle Abu
Talib, worked as an assistant to a rich
widow Khadija whom he later married,
and meditated on certain social issues
such as unequal distribution of wealth,
leading to a great divide between the
Comparative Analysis of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam .
• It was during one of his visits to a
cave that the angel Gabriel
appeared before him, delivering
the message of Allah that he was
chosen to found a new religion and
preach that Allah is the only God
that should be worshipped.
• At first he thought he was just
having a hallucination, but
later on he was convinced
that he was indeed chosen
by God to spread His words
so he began preaching in
Mecca.
• But his teaching of equality and
brotherhood threatened the
power of the rich Quraysh tribe
so he was forced to escape to
Medina to avoid persecution.
• This happened in 622 C.E. and
was known as Hegira.
 B. CORE
TEACHINGS
OF ISLAM
• Islam, just like Judaism and Christianity,
trace their roots to Patriarch Abraham
who is considered as “Father of many
nations”.
• He was the ideal follower of God for the
three religions, for he followed God’s will
unconditionally, even to the extent of
sacrificing his own son when God ordered
him to do so.
• Islamic concept of morality and
ethics is based on having faith in one
God, which is manifested in
exhibiting righteousness and piety.
• Since Islam is considered not only
as a religion but as a way of life as
well, moral righteousness is expected
of Muslims in their everyday lives.
• Islam values holiness, humility,
and accountability to God, who is
all-knowing.
• Charity is considered important,
and this is reflected in one of the
Five Pillars of Islam, the Zakat, in
which Muslims are obliged to give
alms to the less fortunate.
• Vanity is also discouraged, for it
is a trait that is not pleasing to
God, alongside attachment to
material possessions on Earth.
• Acts that contribute to the
welfare of the individual in
particular and of society in
general are considered morally
good, while acts that harm the
individual and society are
immoral.
THE QUR’AN
• The sacred writing of the
Muslims is called Quran (or
Koran in English) that literally
means “recitation” or
“reading.”
• It is believed to be the literal
word of Allah.
• The Quran is the revelation from
God of his speech (kalam) and
is the foundation of the Islam
religion.
• It is the supreme authority in all
matters of faith, theology, and
law.
• They begin learning it at an early
stage; the Qurán is read to
babies, and toddlers who can
already speak are asked to
memorize and recite Qur’anic
verses .
• They learn to write by copying
verses of the Qur’an by hand.
• Members of Islam who manage
to memorize the book are held
in high regard by the
communities.
• Since the Qur’an is written in
Arabic, the language is
respected by Muslims.
• In 610 C.E., when Muhammad
received the first revelations, he
was commanded by angel
Gabriel to “iqra” or “recite.”
• All Muslims believe that the Quran
is a copy of the eternal scripture
written in heaven but made known
to Muhammad chapter by chapter.
• For about twenty-three years, God
revealed these messages through
Muhammad who initially memorized
these lines because he was illiterate.
• Muhammad relayed these messages to
his companion and secretary Zayd ibn
Thabit who wrote them on leather
scraps, stone pieces, ribs of palm
leaves, shoulder blades of animals, and
parchments.
• Twenty years after the death of
Muhammad, the Quran had
officially come to the form that
was disseminated throughout
the centers of the Islamic world.
• The Quran is arranged based on the
length of the surahin descending order.
• The longest surahhas about 286 ayahs,
the Al Baqarah (“The Heifer”).
• The shortest surahhas only three ayahs,
the AlKawthar (“Abundance”).
• The first of all the surah is called Fatihah
(“The Opening”) that is in the form of a
prayer to God for guidance.
• The Fatihah is the most
frequently recited
segment of the Koran.
THE HADITH
• The hadith is the collection of the
deeds and sayings of
Muhammad and his followers
(“traditional reports or sayings”) and
is the second source of
shari’alaw.
• The hadiths were collected
generations after the death of
Muhammad. The hadiths are
recognized today as second in
authority after the Koran.
• Around the ninth century C.E.,
Muslim scholars undertook a
number of great systematic
collections of hadiths that are
known as Kutub al-Sittah or the
Six Sahih (“Authentic”) Books.
• Imam Bukhari authored the
Sahih al-Bukhari while Imam
Muslim compiled the Sahih
Muslim.
• From the six books, these
hadith records are the two
most authentic collections .
 FIVE
PILLARS
OF ISLAM
• The basic obligations of Muslims
are called the Five Pillars of
Islam or arkan al din.
• All Muslims believe and accept the
entirety of these obligations that
must be strictly observed to avoid
being sent to hell on the “Day of
Judgment.”
• Apart from shahada, the four other
duties that must be performed by all
Muslims are collectively called as
ibadah (“state of submission”).
• The ibadah is composed of praying
five times a day, fasting during the
time of Ramadan, giving of annual
charity, and undertaking a pilgrimage
to Mecca once in a Muslim’s lifetime.
THE CREED
• The basic creed of Islam that “there is no
(SHAHADA)
God but Allah; Muhammad is the
messenger of Allah” is known as
shahada.
• In Arabic, the shahada is recited as “La
ilaha illa Allah; Muhammadon rasul
Allah.” These are the very first words
uttered into an infant’s ear and perhaps
the last words given to a dying Muslim.
OBLIGATORY PRAYER
(SALAT)
• Facing in the direction of Mecca or
qiblah, Muslims must offer prayers or
salat five times each and every day —
before sunrise (as-subh), noon (az-
zuhr), mid-afternoon (al-asr),
immediately after sunset (al-
maghreb), and before midnight (al-
isha) .
• In a mosque or masjid
(“place of prostration”)
where Muslims offer prayers in
congregation, men and women
pray separately.
POOR TAX
(ZAKAT)
• Muslims who live above the
subsistence level must pay
zakator the poor tax to aid the
underprivileged Muslims.
• Affluent Muslims must share their
wealth to the unfortunate ones.
FASTING
(SAWM)
• Fasting or sawm during the entire
30 days of Ramadan, the ninth
month of the Islamic calendar, must
be performed by all Muslims every
year.
• The Ramadan is believed to be the
month when Muhammad received
the first surah of the Quran.
• During this time, a Muslim must refrain
from eating, drinking, smoking, and
engaging in any sexual intimacy from
dusk until dawn.
• By resisting the demands of the body
during sawm, the Muslims strengthen
their will.
• Muslims are reminded that they have the
capacity to ignore the longing of the
body or material gratification.
• The sawm culminates with the “Feast of
Breaking the Fast” (Eid al-Fitr) wherein
Muslims may celebrate and partake in
festivities.
• Unlike the Jews or Catholics who fast for a
brief period of time in observance of holy
days, the Muslims are obligated to fast the
longest and strictest of all.
• Any Muslim who has reached puberty and
is healthy must undertake sawm.
• Muslims who are exempted from performing
sawm include small children, those who are
on a journey, sick persons, and mothers
nursing infants.
• For those who are temporarily unable to
observe sawm, they must perform the
missed fast after Ramadan.
• For those who are permanently unable to
fast, such as the very old or persons those
with long-term illness, they can give charity
to poor Muslims instead.
PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA
(HAJJ)
• All Muslims must attempt to
undertake a pilgrimage to the holy
city of Mecca or hajj (“visitation
of Holy Places”) at least once in
their lifetime during the twelfth
Islamic month.
• The “Grand Mosque” (Al-Masjid al-
Haram) in Mecca houses the most
sacred site of Islam, the Kaaba
(“House of Allah”).
• The Kaaba is a cube-shaped ancient
stone building that dates back to the
time of Adam and Eve according to
Muslim tradition.
• Muslims believe that the Kaaba was
originally built for the worship of God
by Abraham and his son Ishmael.
• Inside the Kaaba is the “Black
Stone,” twelve inches in diameter,
located on the eastern cornerstone
of the building that was set intact
into the wall by Muhammad
himself in 605 C.E.
 C.
PRACTICE
S OF
• Islam practice the essence of
equality.
• Islam treats men and women
equally, for it is stated in the Quran
that men and women are equal in
the eyes of God and are expected to
act in accordance to their teachings
and to fulfill the same duties.
• Prayer for them is a necessity of
being a member of Islam.
• Members of Islam prayed five
times a day, before the dawn
breaks, mid-day, noon break,
midafternoon and late evening.
• They practice fasting most especially
during the Islamic Holy month.
• Fasting on Ramadan is fourth in the
Five Pillars of Islam, it is a mandatory
acts for members of Islam. And Islamic
celebration of Eid al-Fitr which means
“ Feast of Breaking of the Fast” marks
the end of month-long celebration of
Ramadan.
• Pilgrimage to Mecca is also
mandatory for a member of Islam
to do once in their life but have an
exclusion to members of Islam
who are weak or don’t have the
capacity to travel going to Mecca,
the Holy City.
• It is also stated in Islamic law that
women should be given dowry
or property given by the
husband upon marriage, and that
they have the right of inheritance
and property ownership.
• POLYGYNY refers to a partnership
wherein a man has many wives.
• This Islamic practice originated from
Muhammad who decided that men
should be allowed to have more than
one wife to accommodate the widows
and orphans of those who died in the
wars participated by the Muslims, slavery,
and concubinage, or the practice of
having mistresses.
• In Islam, men are allowed to have up
to four wives as long as they can
support them financially and guarantee
that they be treated equally.
• Meanwhile, women are allowed only
one husband and if they are caught
with another man, in some societies the
punishment is public execution by
stoning to death.
• It is also a practice in some Islamic
societies that when a woman is
raped, she must produce four
witnesses to prove that she was
indeed raped, and failure to do so
would invalidate her case and
penalize her by lashing in public.
• Strict veiling is also an issue
raised by feminists against Islam —
some societies require only the
hijab or head covering worn in
public by Muslim women.
• Some require the burka, or a long,
loose garment covering the whole
body from head to feet.
• The practice of purdahor strict
veiling of women in Islam is
symbolic of their subordination
and literally inhibits their social
mobility.
D.
SUBDIVISIO
NS
Sunni
Muslims (The
• Majority of Muslims, around 87% to 90% of the
Sunnis)
entirety of Islam believers, belong to the
Sunni denomination.
• The Sunnis (“Followers of the Smooth Path”)
are traditionalists and are considered the
orthodox of Islam as they endeavor to follow
the original religion established by
Muhammad and guided by the first four
righteous caliphs.
• These Muslims follow the sunnah
(“customary practice”) of
Muhammad from which their name
originated.
• Sunnah pertains to the orally
transmitted record of wisdom, conduct,
and sayings attributed to Muhammad
and his earliest companions as
recorded in hadith mobility.
• The Sunnis believe that any
Muslim can be a ruler and he
does not need to prove his
lineage to Muhammad as long
as he gets the approval and
confidence of the ummahor
community.
 Shi’a (The
•Shi’ites)
The Shi’ite Muslims are the largest
faction within the Islam religion that
separated from the rest of the
community.
• Historically speaking, three close
associates of Muhammad became
successive leaders or caliphs of Islam
with the death of the founder in 632 C.E.
• Some Muslims believed that
Muhammad should have been
immediately succeeded by his
direct relative, Ali ibn Abi Talib,
who was his cousin.
• Ali became the fourth caliph or
successive leader.
• Known as rashiduns (“rightly-
guided caliphs”), the Sunnis
accepted the legitimacy of the first
four successors of Muhammad: Abu
Bakr (632-634 C.E.), Umar ibn al-
Khattab (634-644 C.E.), Uthman ibn
Affan (644-656 C.E.), and Ali ibn
Abi Talib (656-661 C.E.).
• These Muslims were called
“Alids” that became known as
“Shia Ali” or “the party of
Ali.”
• In time, they came to be called
“Shi’ites”.
• The main Shi’ite sects are the Seveners,
Twelvers¸ and ‘Ibadis.
• The Seveners believe that there were seven
imams. They are mostly found in India, Yemen,
and parts of Africa.
• Meanwhile, the Twelvers claim that there are
twelve imams with most believers located in
Iran.
• Finally, the ‘Ibadis believe that the community
may elect any appropriate Muslim as imam.
They are mostly found in Oman.
Sufi
• Muslims whose concern mainly dwell
for a mystical union with God are
collectively called Sufis.
• Their name originates from the word
suf that means “woolen” since they
wore coarse wool garments or robes
to symbolize poverty and
denunciation of worldly pleasures.
The Holy War
(Jihad)
• Jihad means “effort” or
“struggle” to convince
unbelievers to pursue the
Muslim way of life.
1. Muslim’s place of worship
2. sacred text of Muslims
3. Father of Ishmael
4. Sarah’s lady in waiting
5. Father of the Arab people
6. It means Prayer
7. Muslim’s Holy place
8. The creed for Muslims
9. English term for Zakat
10. Fasting on Ramadan
 THANK
YOU! ♡