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RELIGIONS
Eternal India
encyclopedia
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Simple, powerful and appealing doctrine of the unity
of God.
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Islam means submission or acceptance of the will of
God".
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Does not permit the division of believers into worldly
and religious men - laity and clergy.
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India has the fourth largest Muslim population.
ISLAM
La ilaha illatah Muhammadar rasulullah
There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is
the messenger of Allah
Origin
:7th Century Place : Arabia
Propounder
: PROPHET MUHAMMAD
Global Following
: 1,014,372,000(18.2%)
Global Spread
: All Continents (184 countries)
Predominant
: Asia/Africa
Nos. in (000)
Africa
Asia
Europe
South
North Oceania Eurasia
America
America
284,884
668,298
13,633
1,400
3,332
104 42,761
CHRONOLOGY
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Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, born in Makkah (570 A.D.).
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Full Name:
Muhammad ibn Abdulla ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn
Hashim).
brought up by his grandfather and uncle, Muhammad grew up,
worked for a rich widow, Khadijah and married her later at
her behest.
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Makkah was a prosperous mercantile centre in the later 6th
century, but there were many Arabian tribes, worshipping dif-
ferent gods and tribal solidarity was breaking up.
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About 610 A.D. reflecting on such matters, Muhammad had
a vision of a majestic being later identified as Archangel
Gabriel and heard a voice saying "You are the messenger of
God", marking the beginning of his career as a messenger (or
apostle) of God (Rasul Allah), or prophet (Nabi).
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These messages, at intervals, continued till Muhammad's death
in 632 A.D.
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Quran (or Koran, the sacred scripture of Islam), contains the
collection of the messages received by Muhammad.
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Islam means (surrender to the will of God) And its adherents
are called Muslims (those who have surrendered).
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He did not claim divine origin for himself. He was a religious
leader. Muhammad was called al-Amin(the trustworthy man).
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The simplicity of his teachings brought the Arabs together
leading to the establishment of an Empire.
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Islam spread far and wide except Europe due to the Muslim
defeat by Charles Martel at Tours in 732.
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During the course of his teachings, Muhammad had to migrate
from Makkah to Madina. This is the start of the Islamic Era
which begins on the first day of the Arabic year in which the
Hijra, emigration, took place - July 622 in the Gregoman Cal-
endar.
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Muhammad duely recognised Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus
and other Biblical prophets and claimed himself to be their
successor.
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Muhammad is accepted as the last Prophet and the greatest.
SCRIPTURES
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Quran or Koran (the sacred scriptures of Islam) is the Holy
Book which has guided, and continues to guide, the Muslims.
Quran's revelations are contained in 114 suras(chapters). All
but one begin with "In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the
Compassionate".
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Hadith, the second most important source of the teachings of
Islam - is the collection of sayings of Muhammad.
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Kalimah (profession of faith).
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Sunnah (the acts and sayings of the Prophet, in fulfillment,
interpretation or elucidation of Quran).
SECTS
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The death of the Prophet posed the problem of succession.
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The Shias (one group) wanted a member from the Prophet's
family as the successor.
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The Sunnis (other group) wanted the successor to be elected.
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The Sunnis were successful and this division exists to this day.
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The Ismailis, the Nusayris, the Yazidis and the Druzes are the
other sects originating from the Shia sect. The Bahai faith
(19th C) - an independent religion outside Islam - broke away
from the Druzes sect.
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Other groups are: the Ahmadiyah founded by Mirza Ghulam
Ahmed in Qadian (Punjab, India) and the Black Muslims.
The teaching of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed (1839-1908) combined
elements of Islam, Christianity and Hinduism. He rejected the doc-
trine that Muhammad was the last of the prophets and claimed to
be the Mehdi and promised Messiah. He taught that Jesus died a
natural death and was buried in Srinagar. In 1914 after the death
of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed there was a schism. One group that was
headed by a son of the founder disowned the prophetic claims of
the founder, regarded him only as a reformer and established their
centre in Lahore, Pakistan. The larger group which regarded Ghu-
lam Ahmed as a prophet moved their headquarters to Rabwah in
West Pakistan, after the partition of India in 1947. Outside Paki-
stan, the main body is known as the Qadiani group after the
birthplace of the founder and first centre of the sect.
The Black Muslims were part of a separatist and social pro-
test Islamic movement that arose among blacks in the U.S. after
World War II. Their leader was Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm broke
with Elijah Muhammad and adopted more orthodox Muslim views.
He was assasinated in 1965. After the death of Elijah Muhammad
in 1975 the group was renamed World Community of Islam in the
West and abandoned its separatist aims.
CODE OF CONDUCT
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The Quran and the Hadith provide elaborate instructions to
Muslims on how to conduct themselves in their day-to-day life.
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God is one and unique; he has no partner and no equal.
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God created two apparently parallel species of creatures, man
and Jinn, the one from clay and the other from fire. Declares
man to be the noblest of all creations. Human nature, however,
is frail and faltering.
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True faith (Irman) consists of belief in the immaculate divine
unity of Islam and submission to the Divine will.
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Genuine repentance has the effect of removing all sins and
restoring a person to the state of sinlessness.
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Islam speaks of life after death and of the day of Judgment
when the dead will be resurrected and all men shall receive the
reward or punishment for their actions.