The following is what (most) of the Islamic world calls Islam ,I do not profess that it is the truth ! That is for you to check out and deside for yourself ! As with all information presented to you ! I will provide some links to other sites with further information for you to compare facts. That should help you determine the facts from the lies ! (and I assure you there are some lies !
One of the biggest for Nubians is that Islam is a African religion ! That myth is dispelled in the first paragraph below ! I'm sure if you looked and studied you will find many more !
Islam, a major world religion, founded in Arabia and based on the teachings of Muhammad, who is called the Prophet. The Arabic word islam literally means “to surrender,” but as a religious term in the Koran, it means “to surrender to the will or law of God.” One who practices Islam is a Muslim. According to the Koran, Islam is the primordial and universal religion, and even nature itself is Muslim, because it automatically obeys the laws God has ingrained in it. For human beings, who possess free will, practicing Islam does not involve automatically obeying but rather freely accepting God's commandments.
A Muslim is a follower of the revelation (the Koran) brought by Muhammad and thus is a member of the Islamic community. Because the name Muslim is given in the Koran itself to the followers of Muhammad (Koran 22:78), Muslims resent being called Muhammadans, which implies a personal cult of Muhammad, forbidden in Islam. They also object to the spelling Moslem as a distortion of Muslim.
Although exact statistics are not available, the Muslim world population is estimated at more than 1 billion. Islam has flourished in diverse climatic, cultural, and ethnic regions. It has begun to grow rapidly in the United States. The major groups comprising the world community of Islam include the Arabs (North Africa and the Middle East); sub-Saharan Africans (from Senegal to Somalia); Turks and Turkic peoples (Turkey, Central Asia); Iranians; Afghans; the Indo-Muslims (Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh); Southeast Asians (Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines); and a small percentage of Chinese. In Europe, Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity.
Islamic Doctrine
The two fundamental sources of Islamic doctrine and practice are the Koran and the Sunna, or the exemplary conduct of the Prophet Muhammad.
The Koran
Muslims regard the Koran as the speech of God to Muhammad, mediated by Gabriel, the angel of revelation; they believe that God himself, not Muhammad, is the author and therefore that the Koran is infallible. The document called the Koran is the collection of the passages revealed to Muhammad during the approximately 22 years of his prophetic life (610-32). It is divided into 114 chapters of unequal length, the shortest containing only 3 short verses, the longest containing 306 long verses. Both Islamic and non-Islamic scholars agree on the essential integrity of the text of the Koran throughout its history.
The Sunna
The second substantive source of Islam, the Sunna, or example of the Prophet, is known through Hadith, the body of traditions based on what the Prophet said or did regarding various issues. Unlike the Koran, which was memorized—either in whole or in part—by many followers of Muhammad during their lifetime and which was compiled in written form quite early, the transmission of Hadith was largely verbal, and the present authoritative collections date from the 9th century.
Unlike the Koran, Hadith is not considered infallible. In the early Islamic period, whether or not the Prophet himself was infallible (apart from the revelations in the Koran) was a point of controversy. Later, however, the consensus of the Islamic community was that both he and the earlier prophets were infallible. Because Hadith was mainly transmitted orally, however, it was conceded that error could enter into the human transmission. Hadith, therefore, is a source secondary to the Koran, although it is almost equally fundamental for most Muslims.
Recent research, not yet accepted by the large body of Muslims, has demonstrated that much of Hadith was not derived from the Prophet but represents the opinions of the early generations of Muslims, opinions that were subsequently attributed to the Prophet. In some cases a genuine statement of the Prophet was preserved, but additions to it were later made by Muslims who wanted to advance certain theological or legal opinions.
God
Monotheism is central to Islam—a belief in only one God, unitary and omnipotent. Belief in a plurality of gods or in the extension of God's divinity to any person is emphatically rejected. God created nature through a primordial act of mercy; otherwise there would be pure nothingness. God provided each element of his creation with its own proper nature, or laws governing its conduct, so that it follows a characteristic pattern. The result is a well-ordered, harmonious whole, a cosmos in which everything has its proper place and limitations. No gaps, dislocations, or ruptures, therefore, are found in nature. God presides over and governs the universe, which, with its orderly functioning, is the primary sign and proof of God and his unity. Violations of the natural order in the form of miracles occurred in the past, but although the Koran accepts the miracles of earlier prophets (Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others), it declares them outdated; Muhammad's miracle is the Koran, the like of which no human can produce.
According to Islam, God has four fundamental functions with respect to the universe and to humanity in particular: creation, sustenance, guidance, and judgment. God, who created the universe out of sheer mercy, is bound to sustain it as well. All nature has been made subservient to humanity, which may exploit it and benefit from it. The ultimate purpose of humanity, however, is to be in the “service of God,” that is, to worship him alone and to construct an ethical social order free from “corruptions.”
Ethics
The Koran declares that “reforming the earth” is the ideal of human endeavor. The basic criticism of humanity in the Koran is that it is too proud and too petty, narrow-minded, and selfish. “Man is by nature timid,” says the Koran. “When evil befalls him, he panics, but when good things come to him he prevents them from reaching others.” This pettiness causes individuals to become so submerged in nature that they lose sight of its Creator—only when nature fails them do they, in their utter frustration, turn to God. Because of their shortsightedness, people fear that charity and sacrificing for others will result in their own impoverishment. This, however, is Satan's influence, for God promises prosperity in return for generosity to the poor. The Koran insists, therefore, that individuals transcend their pettiness and enlarge themselves. By doing so, they will develop the inner moral quality that the Koran calls taqwa (usually translated “fear of God,” but actually meaning “to guard against danger”). By this quality humans can discern right from wrong and, above all, can evaluate their own actions properly, escaping self-deception, a danger to which they are always exposed. Often people think they have done something consequential, but the deed has no importance in the long run. The real worth of a person's deeds can be judged only through taqwa, and an individual's aim should be the ultimate benefit of humanity, not the immediate pleasures or ambitions of the self.
Prophets
Because of humanity's moral weakness, God has sent prophets to teach both individuals and nations correct moral and spiritual behavior. After creation and sustenance, God's mercy is consummated in these acts of divine guidance. Although right and wrong are inscribed in the human heart, the inability or refusal of many people to decipher that inscription has made prophetic guidance necessary. This guidance is universal; no one on earth has been left without it. Adam was the first prophet; after his expulsion from the Garden of Eden, God forgave him his lapse (for this reason Islam does not accept the doctrine of original sin). The messages of all prophets emanate from the same divine source, which in the Koran is called “The Preserved Tablets,” “The Hidden Book,” or “The Mother of All Divine Books.” Religions are, therefore, basically one, even though their institutionalized forms may differ. Prophets are one indivisible unity, and one must believe in all of them, for to accept some and reject others amounts to a denial of the divine truth. All prophets are human; they have no share in divinity, but they are the most perfect exemplars for humanity. Some prophets are superior to others, however, particularly in steadfastness under trial. Thus, the Koran describes Muhammad as the “Seal of all Prophets.” From this arises the Islamic belief that prophethood was consummated and finished with him and that the Koran is the final and most nearly perfect revelation of God, consummating and superseding all earlier ones.
The Day of Judgment
The divine activities of creation, sustenance, and guidance end with the final act of judgment. On the Day of Judgment, all humanity will be gathered, and individuals will be judged solely according to their deeds. The “successful ones” will go to the Garden (heaven), and the “losers,” or the evil, will go to hell, although God is merciful and will forgive those who deserve forgiveness. Besides the Last Judgment, which will be on individuals, the Koran recognizes another kind of divine judgment, which is meted out in history to nations, peoples, and communities. Nations, like individuals, may be corrupted by wealth, power, and pride, and, unless they reform, these nations are punished by being destroyed or subjugated by more virtuous nations.
Almsgiving
The third cardinal duty of a Muslim is to pay zakat. This was originally the tax levied by Muhammad (and later by Muslim states) on the wealthy members of the community, primarily to help the poor. It was also used for winning converts to Islam; for the ransom of war captives; for the relief of people in chronic debt; for jihad (the struggle for the cause of Islam, or holy war), which, according to the Koran commentators, includes health and education; and for facilitating travel and communications. Only when zakat has been paid is the rest of a Muslim's property considered purified and legitimate. In most Muslim states zakat is no longer collected by the government and instead has become a voluntary charity, but it is still recognized as an essential duty by all Muslims. In a number of countries strong demands have been made to reinstate it as a tax, but this would entail a complete revision of its rates and structure to conform with the needs of a modern state.
Sufism
The mystical movement called Sufism originated in the 8th century, when small circles of pious Muslims, reacting against the growing worldliness of the Islamic community, began to emphasize the inner life of the spirit and moral purification. During the 9th century Sufism developed into a mystical doctrine, with direct communion or even ecstatic union with God as its ideal. This aspiration to mystical union with God violated the orthodox Islamic commitment to monotheism, and in 922 al-Hallaj, who was accused of having asserted his identity with God, was executed in Baghdad. Prominent Sufis subsequently attempted to achieve a synthesis between moderate Sufism and orthodoxy, and in the 11th century al-Ghazali largely succeeded in bringing Sufism within the orthodox framework.
In the 12th century Sufism ceased to be the pursuit of an educated elite and developed into a complex popular movement. The Sufi emphasis on intuitive knowledge and the love of God increased the appeal of Islam to the masses and largely made possible its extension beyond the Middle East into Africa and East Asia. Sufi brotherhoods multiplied rapidly from the Atlantic to Indonesia; some spanned the entire Islamic world; others were regional or local. The tremendous success of these fraternities was due primarily to the abilities and humanitarianism of their founders and leaders, who not only ministered to the spiritual needs of their followers but also helped the poor of all faiths and frequently served as intermediaries between the people and the government.
The Shiites
The Shiites are the only surviving major sectarian movement in Islam. They emerged out of a dispute over political succession to Muhammad, the Shiites claiming that rule over the community is a divine right of the Prophet's descendants through his daughter Fatima and her husband Ali. The Shiites believe in a series of 12 infallible leaders beginning with Iman Ali and are thus also known as the “Twelvers.” The 12th and last imam disappeared in 880, and Shiites await his return, at which time the world will be filled with justice. Until that time even the best ruler is only half legitimate. The Shiites, in contrast to the orthodox Sunnites, emphasize esoteric knowledge rather than the consensus of the community.
Other Sects
Several small sects have developed out of Shia Islam, the most important of which is the Ismailis. The theological ideas of the Ismailis are more radical than those of the Shiites and are largely derived from Gnosticism and Neoplatonism. Ismailis are found mainly in India and Pakistan; others have recently emigrated from East Africa to Canada. An offshoot of Ismailism is the Druze sect, which arose after the mysterious disappearance in Cairo of the Ismaili Fatimid caliph al-Hakim. Many Druze believe al-Hakim to have been an incarnation of God.
In 1844 a young Shiite, Mirza Ali Muhammad of Shěraz, in Iran, proclaimed himself the Bab (“gateway” to God) and assumed a messianic role. His followers, called the Babis, were severely persecuted by the Shiite clergy, and he was executed in 1850. Under the leadership of his disciple Mirza Hoseyn Ali Nuri, known as Bahaullah, the Bahais (as the group came to be called) developed a universalist pacifist doctrine, declared Bahai to be a religion independent of Islam, and won many converts in the United States.
Islam in the Modern World
The stagnation of Islamic culture after the medieval period led to a reemphasis on original thinking (ijtihad) and to religious reform movements. Unlike the primarily doctrinal and philosophical movements of the Middle Ages, the modern movements were chiefly concerned with social and moral reform. The first such movement was the Wahhabi, named after its founder, Ibn Abd al-Wahhabi, which emerged in Arabia in the 18th century and became a vast revivalist movement with offshoots throughout the Muslim world (see Wahhabis). The Wahhabi movement aimed at reviving Islam by purifying it of un-Islamic influences, particularly those that had compromised its original monotheism, and by stressing the responsibility of Muslims to think independently rather than blindly accepting tradition.
Other Islamic reformers have been influenced by Western ideas. The most influential reformist of the 19th century was the Egyptian Muhammad Abduh, who believed that reason and modern Western thought would confirm the truth of Islam rather than undermine it, and that Islamic doctrine could be reformulated in modern terms. Sir Muhammad Iqbal is the most important modern philosopher to have attempted the reinterpretation of Islamic doctrines. Other intellectuals in Egypt, Turkey, and India attempted to reconcile with the teachings of the Koran such ideas as those raised by constitutional democracy, science, and the emancipation of women. The Koran teaches the principle of “rule by consultation,” which in modern times, they argued, can best be realized by representative government rather than monarchy. They pointed out that the Koran encourages the study and exploitation of nature, but Muslims, after a few centuries of brilliant scientific work, had passed it on to Europe and abandoned it. They argued that the Koran had given women equal rights, but these had been usurped by men, who had grossly abused polygamy.
Although the modernist ideas were based on plausible interpretations of the Koran, they were bitterly opposed by Islamic fundamentalists, especially after the 1930s. The reaction against modernism has been gathering momentum since that time for several reasons. The fundamentalists do not oppose modern education, science, and technology per se, but they accuse the modernists of being purveyors of Western morality. They believe that the emancipation of women, as conceived by the West, is responsible for the disintegration of the family and for permissive sexual morality. Some fundamentalists are suspicious of democracy because they do not trust the moral sense of the masses. Moreover, modernist leaders and officials in some Muslim countries have failed to improve significantly the condition of the mostly poor and rapidly increasing populations of those countries. Finally, and perhaps most important, the bitter resentment Muslims feel toward Western colonialism has made many of them regard everything Western as evil.
During the modern period Islam has continued to win new converts, especially among black Africans and some black Americans, to whom its fundamental egalitarianism appeals.
Islam and Other Religions
Convinced of the absolute truth of Islam, Muslims traditionally have not sought dialogue with representatives of other religions, although medieval Islamic scholars wrote fairly objective works about them. Recently, however, Muslims have engaged in dialogues with representatives of Christianity and Judaism, recognized in Islam as the two other “religions of the book” (based on revelation). Nonetheless, memories of Western colonialism have generated suspicion and impeded ecumenical efforts.
Spread of Islam
During the period of the great Sudanic empires, the lives of most farmers and fishers remained virtually unchanged. Imported goods or luxuries were enjoyed only by the ruling classes; the farmers lived in subsistence economies, subject to periodic tax gathering and occasional slave raids. Islam was associated with the great urban centers and was the religion of some of the ruling classes and of the foreign residents. By the late 15th century, however, the nomadic Kunta Arabs began to preach, and during the mid-16th century the Qadiriyya brotherhood, to which they belonged, began to spread Islam throughout the western Sudan. At about the same time, the Fulani, a nomadic pastoral people, were moving slowly eastward from the Fouta Toro region in Senegal, gaining converts for Islam. During this period, Islam became a personal religion rather than merely a religion of state. Indeed, Islam appears to have declined among the ruling classes, and non-Muslim dynasties ruled in old Muslim strongholds until the 18th century. Islamic reform and revival movements then began among the Fulani, Mandingo, Susu, and Tukolor.
Old dynasties were overthrown, and theocratic states were founded that spread Islam to new areas. In the Hausa states, Shehu Usuman dan Fodio, a Muslim teacher, led a revolt among the Fulani who between 1804 and 1810 overthrew the Hausa rulers and established new dynasties. An attempt to sweep into Bornu, however, was successfully resisted by the religious leader al-Kanemi. The new Fulani Empire was initially divided between the shehu's brother Abdullahi and his son, Muhammad Bello, but after 1817 Muhammad and his successors were the sole overlords.
Another theocratic state was formed in Macina in 1818 by Seku Ahmadu, a Fulani Muslim. During his rule an empire embracing the whole of the Niger River region from Jenne to Timbuktu was created. Upon his death in 1844 his son took power, but in 1862 Macina fell to another Muslim reformer, al-Hajj Umar, who created the vast Tukolor Empire in the Senegambia region before his death in 1864.
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The youngest of the three great monotheistic world religions (the others being JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY), Islam is the dominant religion throughout large portions of Asia and Africa, especially North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia (the world's largest Muslim country).
In 1990 there were some 935 million Muslims worldwide, less than one fifth of whom were Arab; there are an estimated 6 million Muslims in the U.S. Its salient feature is its devotion to the Koran, or Qur'an, a book believed to be the revelation of God to Muhammad. Since the Koran is in Arabic, this language is used in Islam all over the world; hence the custom of referring to God as Allah, His name in Arabic. The ethos of Islam is its attitude toward God: to Him Muslims submit; Him they praise and glorify; and in Him alone they hope. He is awesome, transcendent, almighty, just, loving, merciful, and good. No creature may be compared to Him, and to Him alone do Muslims pray. Muhammad is the last and greatest of God's prophets, who also include ADAM, NOAH, ABRAHAM, MOSES, and JESUS.
According to the Muslim eschatology, there will be a judgment at the end of the world; heaven awaits the believers and hell the nonbelievers. The ordinary pious Muslim does not distinguish faith from works; both are indispensable and mutually supplementary. There are five essential duties in Islam. (1) A Muslim must affirm that “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” (2) Five times daily he must pray facing MECCA: at dawn, at noon, in midafternoon, at dusk, and after dark.
(3) A Muslim must give alms generously. (4) A Muslim must keep the fast of RAMADAN, which is the ninth month of the Muslim year. (5) Once in his life a Muslim must, if he can, make the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. There are also a prohibition of alcohol and pork and injunctions against gambling, usury, fraud, slander, and the making of images. The Sunna, the way or example of the Prophet, supplements the Koran. It consists of the collected sayings and anecdotes of Muhammad.
The Ijma, or the agreement of Islam, is expressed in Muhammad's saying “My community will never agree in an error” and is the principle that has enabled Islam to resolve apparent contradictions and maintain both a flexibility and its unity with the past. The Koran, the Sunna, and the Ijma are the three foundations of Islam. Islam does not recognize a priestly class, but religious and legal officers have acquired an authority similar to that of the clergy in Christian and Jewish communities. The fundamental division of Islam into SUNNI and SHIITES dates from disputes over the succession to the CALIPHATE in the first centuries of the Muslim era.
The WAHHABIS are the only important modern separatist Sunni sect. The Shiites, by contrast, have fathered countless sects, including the Assassins, DRUZE, FATIMIDS, Ismailis, and Karmathians. However, there is a remarkable community of feeling in Islam even today, when Muslims are divided politically into many groups. Historically, Muslim thought shows three major tendencies: legalism, rationalism, and mysticism; philosophy has never been distinct from theology. The greatest period of Muslim thought and culture was the 9th to 11th cent. In recent years Islam has seen a resurgence of FUNDAMENTALISM among both Sunni and Shiites, most notably in Iran, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, and Eygpt.
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On 11/1/98
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