Summary of the History of Islam

Posted by Winnie Melda on November 30th, 2018

Islam is a religion founded and it has its basis in faith in a supreme God also known as Allah.  That religion originated around 600 AD in the Asian Arabian desert from where it spread to the east of Asia, North Africa and Central Europe (Nawwab et al., 2006). Islam started with the doctrines of the Prophet Muhammad, who they consider to be the messenger of the formless, one and only, all-powerful God. The religion began spreading quickly from the Arabian Peninsula within 30 years. The less-equipped and few Muslim armies defeated the Persian and Roam, Empires and that gave the Islam religion the power to spread to the Far East to India and the west of Spain. The traders helped in the spread of the Islam religion to the southeast of Asia, for instance in Indonesia that contains the largest number of Muslims at the moment. The country received the Islam message via the Arab traders.

Islam’s prophet known as Muhammad (pbuh) was born in Mecca that is on the Arabian Peninsula, (now Saudi Arabia) in the year 570 C.E (Nawwab et al., 2006). Muhammad grew up in a trading family and married at the age of 25 and an older widow for whom he was working as a trading agent.  It is at the age of 40 when he was in his meditative retreats in one cave that he began to experience visions and revelations.  He claimed that the angel Gabriel appeared to him with a given book that he commanded him to read.  It was a message of peace that Mohammad received from the age and began to proclaim it to his family and with an increasing g cycle of people (Nawwab et al., 2006). You can find the life of the prophet and the words that he received from the angel in the Quran.  Today people consider Islam as the fasted growing religion in the world.

Importance of the Quran

The Quran is the book that contains the words of the angel Gabriel to Mohammad and it is a study book that helps guide the Muslims in their daily lives. The Muslims believe that the Quran is the only book that is most holy because it remains unaltered unlike other holy books like the Bible. The Muslims believe that by reading the Quran they can achieve the peace and happiness on the Earth and even afterlife. It helps them avoid the influences of Satan and escape hell.  Islam teaches that if their followers read the Quran, they can receive the answers to their prayers.

Importance of the Five Pillars

The five Pillars of Islam help in providing the outward steadiness as well as constancy to a person’s faith and they as well hold Muslims together as a brotherhood (Hussain, 2012).  In other words, they help ten Muslims to connect with each other and also with Allah on a daily basis as they keep their religion as the central focus in their lives.  It helps them strengthen their spirit; understand poverty as they promote unity.  They help in the unification and respect of their tradition as they visit the city of Mecca that they believe oneness and obedience to the rules laid down by Muhammad (Hussain, 2012).

The Importance of Ramadan

The Ramadan is the month of the lunar calendar where they observe it as sacred through fasting.  It is during this month that Muslims believe the revelation of the Quran took place. Fasting helps the Muslims to achieve righteousness as well as piety (Interfaith Detroit Council, 2013).  That implies that they become conscious of their Creator and gain increasing insight of His Majesty.  They glorify His names as well as attributes as they appreciate His greatness in this month of Ramadan.  They can also remember God’s blessings and therefore, feel grateful for His guidance.

Differences and similarities in how the branches of Islam (Sunni, Shiite, and Sufi) practice their traditions

There are minimal differences between the Sunni and Shiite, and the few differences that exist are more of a political nature.  Both of these branches or sects believe in one God (Allah), or Taw hid (In monotheism); they also believe in the scriptures, messengers, angels, prophets and the divine decree, destiny (Sayeed, 2010).  They both share the same scripture known as the Quran. The way they worship is different, but they both pray five times a day, pay the zakah, fast in the Ramadan, and they go to Mecca for a pilgrimage.  The Shiite believe that the successor of the prophet has to come from Muhammad’s family while the Sunnis believe that he has to come from the tribe of Quraish that was the prophet’s tribe (Sayeed, 2010).  The other difference is that there is no person that is infallible after Mohammad while the tenet of the Shiite is that there is infallibility of the twelve Imams that are descendants of Muhammad’s family.  The other sect, the Sufi derives its name from wool because its early saints used to put on very coarse wool. The Sufi branch of Islam has various subgroups that follow certain Sufi leaders with a particular practice that they believe helps them connect to Allah (Sayeed, 2010). The movement offers various paths in which someone can use and enter into an ecstatic union with Allah. The Sufi movement does stay in isolation from Shiite and Sunni but is rather present within both the Shiite and Sunni.

References

Hussain, M. (2012). The Five Pillars of Islam: Laying the Foundations of Divine Love and Service to Humanity. Markfield: Kube Publishing Ltd.

Interfaith Detroit Council (2013). What is Ramadan and why is it important in the Muslim faith? 

Nawwab, I., Speers, P. & Hoye, P. (2006). A brief history of Islam (part 1 of 5): The prophet of Islam.  

Sayeed, M. F. (2010). Fundamental doctrine of Islam and its pragmatism. S.l.: Xlibris Corp.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in college research papers if you need a similar paper you can place your order for order research paper.