For many Westerners , the religion of Islam persist a mystery . In the United States , Muslims — those who watch over Islam — made up only 1.1 percent of the population ( 3.45 million ) in 2017 , and while Muslim Americans live in every country , the most goodish communities are clustered in sealed places like New Jersey and Washington , D.C. [ reservoir : Mohamed ] . Since many Americans do n’t cognize any Muslims in person , they ’re likely to get all of their information about Islam from the tidings and social medium .
And that ’s a trouble .
If you just read the news headlines , you might think that one of the primary tenets of Islam is terrorist act . We discover about competitive chemical group like al - Qaida and ISIS committing bit of atrocity in the name of Allah . And moments before the 9/11 assaulter fly their plane into the World Trade Center towers they proclaimed " Allah Hu Akbar ! " ( God is corking ! ) [ informant : Bergen ] .
But Islam , like Christianity and Judaism , is at its core a religious belief of peace of mind and tolerance . Like every organized religion , the acts of a few people do n’t necessarily reflect the belief and the behaviour of the majority . Allah , Muslims believe , is the same God who spoke to Moses and sent Jesus to the world . Muslim are find all over the globe – in Asia , Africa and Europe , as well as in the Middle East and the Americas .
If you ’ve always need to learn more about Islam , to go beyond the politicized grandiosity and get to the heart of the secondly - largest religious custom in the world , this is your chance . Here are answers to 10 frequently require questions about Islam . First , let ’s get to know its father .
10: Who Was Muhammad?
WithoutMuhammad , there would be no Islam . orphan at a young age , Muhammad was a successful merchant before receiving the startling angelic Revelation that would make him the first and last prophet of the Muslim world .
Muhammad was born in 570 C.E. in the Arabian townspeople of Mecca , already a democratic pilgrimage internet site . The people of Mecca belonged to hereditary tribes and in the main idolise many different immortal and idol , although there were also some Christian and Jewish resolution [ source : Sinai and Watt ] .
Muhammad ’s father died in short before his nascency , and his mother authorise away when he was 6 . Muhammad was get up by other family members and trained as a merchandiser . At 25 years old , he married a wealthy widow named Khadijah who had hired him to do some trade for her . Together they had four daughters ( and two sons who died in infancy ) [ source : PBS ] .
Muhammad continued to receive Revelation from God but did n’t go public with them for three years . When he did , his monotheistic preaching angered the idol - worshiping tribes in Mecca , stir up the first tenseness between Muhammad ’s early followers and the leaders of those tribes .
Muhammad and his follower finally fled to Medina , in Saudi Arabia , for refuge in 622 , but only after Muhammad go through what ’s known as his Night Journey . According to one version of the story , Muhammad was transport from Mecca to Jerusalem by the holy person Gabriel on a mythic winged animate being where he met with the Nebiim Abraham , Moses and Jesus , and in brief ascended to heaven to find out at the can of Allah . The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is believed to be the site of the Night Journey [ source : Oxford Dictionary of Islam ] .
Muhammad was both a spiritual preacher and a political and military leader . After several battles and confused treaties with the tribes of Mecca , he eventually bring back to Mecca triumphal and secured the townspeople as a Muslim stronghold before his death from an unknown illness at age 60 in 632 [ germ : PBS ] .
Within the religious tradition of Islam , Muhammad is a spiritual giant and miracle proletarian on equality with Jesus or Moses . The Quran is a collection of every revelation that Muhammad received from Allah . instance and fib from Muhammad ’s lifespan mould the basis of the Sunnah , a collection of traditional societal and effectual customs duty in the Islamic community . This , along with the Quran , is the source for most of the law governing Muslim animation .
Outside of the Muslim spiritual tradition , Muhammad was for centuries dismissed as a tycoon - hungry charlatan who invented the revelations recorded in the Quran [ source : Sinai and Watt ] . Considering the globular spread of Islam , most spiritual scholars place him among the most influential religious and cultural figures in human chronicle .
9: How Does Islam Differ From Judaism or Christianity?
The major tenets of Islam have much in common with the two other major monotheistic faith , JudaismandChristianity , but there are also some key differences .
The peachy similarity is that Islam , Judaism and Christianity think there is only one lawful God . ( This is called monotheism . ) In Arabic , the name for God is Allah , and Muslims believe he is the very same God who revealed his teachings to previous prophesier like Abraham , Moses and Jesus ( among others ) , but that his final revelation was to the Prophet Muhammad . Allah , as described in the Quran , is compassionate and merciful , among his many other attribute [ origin : ING ] .
As for holy Holy Writ , Muslims trust that God had antecedently sent godlike revelation to Abraham , Moses , David and Jesus . But they do n’t think that these revelations survive in their original form today [ source : ING ] . Similarly , while Muslims conceive that Jesus was a prophet and was born miraculously of the Virgin Mary , they do n’t believe in his divinity as the son of God [ rootage : BBC ] .
The core belief of Islam are contained in what are known as the six Articles of Faith . These are :
As we ’ll hash out next , the faith and practice of Islam is also steer by the Five Pillars . Several of these core didactics have strong parallels in Judaism or Christianity , like the enjoinment to give to Polemonium caeruleum , reflected in the Jewish recitation oftzedakah , or supply for the poor . Islam and Judaism also share the practice of ritual circumcision of baby boy , desist from eat pork barrel and sure burying customs duty [ source : Schneier and Ali ] .
8: How Do Muslims Practice Their Faith?
Moslem around the world live out their organized religion according to the Five Pillars of Islam , some of which concern daily apparitional practice likeprayer , and others that draw a bead on to once - in - a - lifespan experience like the pilgrimage to Mecca .
The first Pillar of Islam is a profession of faith ( shahadah ) . This two - part testimonial is demand for entry into the broader Muslim community [ source : Oxford Dictionary of Islam ] . The first part express religion in God : " There is no god but Allah . " And the second part expresses faith in the Prophet Muhammad : " Muhammad is the messenger of Allah . "
The 2nd Pillar of Islam , ritual prayer ( salat ) , is one of the trust ’s most seeable and secern practices . Muslims are want to do ritual prayers five time a Clarence Day facing in the focussing of Mecca : predawn , noontide , former good afternoon , just after sunset and at dark .
Ritual supplication involve a set of prohibit movements ( standing , kneeling bowing ) , biblical recitation , prayer for the prophets Muhammad and Abraham , and personal supplications . Before starting to implore , Muslims purify themselves through a ritual washing that include one ’s hands , face , nozzle , arms and feet .
The third Pillar of Islam is charitable giving ( zakah ) , a requirement that all Muslims not survive in poverty give a humble portion of their wealthiness annually to bear those in penury . The fixed amount paid annually to the needy is adequate to 2.5 per centum of the person ’s excess wealth .
The fourth Pillar of Islam isfastingfrom sun up to sunset during the calendar month of Ramadan ( sawm ) , the particular date of which varies and is based on the Islamic calendar . Not only must Muslims refrain from run through or drinking , but they ca n’t engage in any " sensual activities , " which includes smoking and sex [ source : BBC ] . The intent of fast is to read self - discipline , develop more empathy for the inadequate and hungry , appreciate Allah ’s gifts , and celebrate the revelation of the Quran , which set out on the 27th day of Ramadan .
Many Muslims wake before morning to have a meal before begin the firm ( suhur ) . The daily fasting is snap off every evening after sunset ( iftar ) observe by the eventide supplicant and dinner . At the end of Ramadan is a community - all-embracing festivity calledEid al - Fitr , or the Festival of give way the Fast , during which tike often receive natural endowment , money and new wearing apparel .
The fifth Pillar of Islam is to make a religious pilgrimage to Mecca ( hajj ) during the first 10 days of the concluding calendar month of the lunar year , usually September or October . All physically and financially able Muslims must jaunt to Mecca at least once in their lives and complete the essential religious rite of thehajj , which Muhammad perform during his final pilgrimage to Mecca . Thehajjrepresents the highest spiritual and communal experience in Islam .
7: Does the Quran Have to Be Read in Arabic?
To suffice this question , you first require to understand what the Quran is and how it is viewed by most Muslims .
As we refer in our abbreviated biography of Muhammad , the Quran is the compose platter of every revelation receive by the Prophet Muhammad from Allah through the angel Gabriel . It ’s essentially the copy of a one - sided conversation between Allah and his prophet . And as such , it is viewed by Muslims as the unerring , unchangeable Book of God . While some verses , such as those prohibiting alcohol or pork , have a defined interpretation , there are others that are less clear .
rent ’s compare that to the Old and New Testaments of theBible . While the Old Testament contains some verbatim quotations from God , such as the recitation of the Ten Commandments in the Book of Exodus , it ’s also view by many to be an historic story of a people . The four gospel of the New Testament ( the books of Matthew , Mark , Luke and John ) are likewise pose as third - person accounts of Jesus ' ministry . And while some Orthodox Jews and devout Christians claim that the Bible or the Torah are the inerrable words of God , many others believe they are urge documents open to interpretation .
The Quran was primitively spell in Arabic , the spoken language verbalise by Muhammad and his early follower . Since Muslims believe the Quran to be the unmediated word of Allah , the holiest and most correct version of the Quran is in Arabic . While the Quran has been translated into hundreds of language , the original Arabic is still used in prayer and spiritual services , much like Latin and Hebrew are the default liturgical languages in many Catholic and Jewish congregations [ root : ING ] .
For non - Arab Muslims who want a deeper apprehension of the Quran , there is no prohibition against read the scriptures in translation for personal subject .
6: What’s the Difference Between Shiite and Sunni Muslims?
The division between Sunni and Shiite Muslims is more political than religious but still fuel crimson fight across the Middle East .
It all bug out with the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 and a split over who should follow him as the political and religious drawing card of the fast - grow Muslim hoi polloi . One radical believed that the leadership should stay in Muhammad ’s family , namely his cousin and son - in - practice of law Ali . The other group backed Abu Bakr , a close friend of the oracle and the father of one of his wives [ source : Harney ] .
Muhammad ’s founding father - in - jurisprudence Abu Bakr won out , and the dissatisfied friend of Ali became known as the Shia , little forshiaat Alior " partisans of Ali . " Those who supported Abu Bakr eventually became known as Sunni or the followers of Sunnah , the prophetic tradition . Ali did get a fortune to rule in brief as the fourth caliph or Muslim drawing card , but the feud between the sects was rekindle when one of Ali ’s sons , Hussein , was drink down by a Sunni caliph in Iraq in 680 [ author : The Economist ] .
The spiritual divergence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims are less about philosophy than the germ of that doctrine . All Muslims believe in the Five Pillars and the six Articles of Faith , but Sunnis see the Quran and the Sunnah ( the prophetic tradition ) as the definitive and final beginning of enlightenment . Shiites , on the other hand , believe that Allah ’s divine revelation continued after Muhammad through a rail line ofimamsor holy leaders , and that it go on today in the manakin of Shiite spiritual loss leader like the ayatollahs of Iran [ source : The Economist ] .
Today , 80 per centum of the macrocosm ’s Muslims are Sunnis , and in many places both sects live together in harmony . Yet much of the difference of opinion in the Middle East is still fueled by power struggles between Sunni and Shiite - led forces . ( In the Middle East and North Africa , 40 percent of Sunnis do n’t realise Shias as fellow Muslims [ source : Pew Research Center ] . )
Most observers agree that both Sunni and Shiite governments fuel sectarian gall among the people to make headway support for act on political and military goals .
5: Do Muslim Women Have to Keep Themselves Covered?
Modesty andchastityare significant virtue for both Moslem homo and women , and the Quran instructs both sexes to " stray down their glances and guard their celibacy . " But with regard to female modesty , the Quran continues , women should " not display their beauty except what is apparent , and they should place theirkhimaarover their bosoms " [ source : BBC ] .
Akhimaaris aveil - like head insure . Many Muslim scholar interpret the instruction to not exhibit sweetheart " except what is apparent " as to mean covering only the hair , but not the brass and mitt [ germ : BBC ] . woman who follow this tradition typically hold out variations on thehijab , a scarf - like foreland cover .
Others interpret the command to place the embryonic membrane " over their bosoms " to mean that women should enshroud much more than just the hair . In the fourth dimension of the Prophet Muhammad , his wife were said to have worn head - to - toe coverings . This is think to be the origin of theniqab , a full - dead body covering that reveals only the eyes [ source : BBC ] .
Another Quranic poetry commands that masses who verbalize to the prophet ’s wives must do so behind a screen to ensure " greater purity for your hearts and theirs . " Some have read this to entail that even seeing a adult female ’s eye is an invitation for impure thoughts . That explains theburqaused by some women , which not only covers the intact consistence but also veils the heart with a screen . Others point out that if women ’s faces were meant to be unseeable , the Quran would not instruct men to " barf down their glance . "
It ’s important to note that Muslim cleaning woman are only wait to deal their heads or boldness in public but not at home or in the bearing of family member , admit men [ source : BBC ] .
4: Does Sharia Require Punishments Like Stoning?
Western critics of Islam condemn the ostensibly " mediaeval " punishments imposed by Moslem law like stoning for fornication and hand - cut for looting . But while these penalty are indeed bring up in the Quran and other Moslem holy text , they are not the heart ofSharia , or Moslem constabulary .
First , it ’s crucial to sleep together that the wordShariadoes not actually think Islamic law [ source : ING].Shariais translated from the Arabic as " the clear - well - trodden path to water , " and include all instruction from the Quran and the life of the Prophet Muhammad that help guide Muslims down the straight path toward Allah . The legal interpretations of these teachings is calledfiqhand largely keep abreast the prophesier ’s admonition to value mercy over penalization [ source : Brown ] .
ManyShariateachings are design to make life easy for the somebody , the family and broader society . Those include prohibition against adultery and premarital sex to beef up the family , and monition against drinking inebriant or eat on foods believed to be unclean to preserve health . Shariateachings also let in the honourable way to behave business sector transactions to preventfraudand promote judge .
The penalty for snub or flouting these teachings , some of which are lay out explicitly in the Quran and Sunnah , are mean to deter hurtful behavior that leads someone and fellowship aside from God . Most punishment are balmy and mainly focus on the veracious and amiss direction to idolize . But a little nonage — 2 percent of Moslem law on the books — get all the attention [ author : Brown ] .
allot to the Sunnah , the prophet said that drunkenness should be penalise by 40 dozens . have sex before marriage , according the Quran , deserve 100 lashings . stealer are to have their hands cut off , and adultery is punishable by death by stoning .
It sound cruel and unusual , but historians point out that stoning , flogging and other physical penalization were commonplace before the Western approximation of prison take grip . Also , Islamic scholars and judges build layers and layer of " ambiguities " into the police to allow such harsh penalisation for only the most extreme cases [ source : Brown ] .
For example , for someone to be stoned for fornication , Shariacourts require four witnesses to the actual intimate act . If someone makes a fictive accusation of adultery , they could receive 80 flogging — a major deterrent to pull in such a title [ informant : Brown ] .
Stonings and floggings still occur in some fundamentalist corners of Islam ( for case Aceh province in Indonesia , Saudi Arabia and Sudan ) , but these practices are not embraced by mainstream Islam . However , Shariadoes form the base of law of nature for many Muslim - majority nation .
3: Does Islam Condone Terrorism?
Like all other major religious belief , Islam prohibit the pickings of barren life-time , and only permit warfare in the face of verbatim tone-beginning . And even then , according to the Quran , the moment an assaulter yields , all fighting should cease and be supersede with pardon and mercy .
But why , then , do chemical group like al - Qaida and ISIS , who claim to be believing Muslims , encourage their follower to commit horrendous acts of violence against innocent civilian ?
In those case , religion is used as an self-justification for the violent pursuit of mostly political goals . Religious scriptures have been cherry - picked by fundamentalist of all faiths to apologize violence against nonbelievers , and the Quran is no different [ source : ING ] . If you force certain verses of the Quran out of their historical circumstance , they can be twisted to sound like instructions to kill non - Muslims " where you find them , " as one verse set it .
In the early years of Islam , the Prophet Muhammad and his follower were persecute and snipe in Mecca , storm them to flee to Medina . Although his suspensor want him to fight down back , the prophet turn down until Allah gave him permission . And when that permit to " kill the disbelievers " finally come , it was in response to a specific attack under specific historical circumstances [ informant : Rashid ] .
Other Quranic rhyme about warfare make it clear that furiousness is allow only in cases of self - defense , or when defend the living of other believer , such as Jews and Christians . And the bit the enemy " desists , " fight should stop [ source : Rashid ] .
It is often account that people who join grouping such as ISIS believe that if they kick the bucket during struggle or as suicide bombers they will go direct to heaven as martyr . But when one delve deeply there is in general an economical , individuality or other need for them joining as well [ source : Simon ] . equalise a just warfare to contend oppression and injustice with act of terrorism is a mistake made both by terrorist and critic of Islam .
2: Are Most Muslims Arabs?
Nope .
concord to the Pew Research Center , only 20 percent of the existence ’s 1.6 billion Muslims ( as of 2010 ) live in the Middle East and Northern Africa , the regions most close associated withArabpeople . The place with the most Muslims , interestingly , is the Asia - Pacific region , which is home to nearly two - thirds ( 62 percent ) of all Muslims [ seed : DeSilver and Masci ] .
More Muslims live in Indonesia ( 209 million ) than any other unmarried country , follow by India ( 176 million ) and Pakistan ( 167 million ) . Egypt has 76 million Muslims , putting it sixth on the tilt , but No . 1 among Arab - majority countries [ source : Pew Research Center ] .
The reason many Westerners affiliate Islam with Arab - legal age countries is that the density of believers is highest in that area . In the Middle East and Northern Africa , 93 percent of all 341 million inhabitants identify as Muslim . liken that to only 24 percent in the Asia - Pacific region [ generator : DeSilver and Masci ] .
Even though many more Muslims live outside of Arab countries and practice non - Arabic interpretations of Islam , they get far less attention from Western media than Muslims from the Middle East .
1: What Has Islam Contributed to Civilization?
Moslem philosophers , scientists , poets and engineers have made tremendous contribution to both Islamic and Western civilization . When predominantly Christian Europe was mud into the Dark Ages of the medieval period , Islamic culture experienced its " gilt age , " producing and preserving cognition that would shape the hereafter of astronomy , music , education , chemistry and literature .
The universe ’s first university and the oldest library in military operation was founded by two wealthy Muslim char in Morocco in the year 859 . The primal grandness of knowledge and education in early Islam moderate to the creation of several spectacular university in the Andalucia region of Spain between the 8th and 15th hundred [ informant : Considine ] .
These centers of learning , open to students of all trust , were critical in preserving scientific knowledge and philosophical Wisdom of Solomon that would have been lose after the fall of the Roman Empire . other Muslim scholars translated Greek texts by Socrates , Aristotle and Plato into Arabic , without which the eventual European Renaissance may never have been possible .
Algebra , trigonometry and chemistry were contrive by Muslim scholar in the Middle Ages . The tenth - century surgeon Al - Zahrawi in Cordoba , Spain , is credit with inventing the syringe , forceps , os saws and specialty scalpels [ reservoir : Al - Khalili ] . And major advances in uranology were light upon at large Muslim - built observatories in Baghdad as far back as the 9th century [ root : Considine ] .
Some of the most influential and dear poesy in the reality has fall from Persia , or what ’s now modern - day Iran . Ferdowsi , a tenth - C Persian poet , publish the longest larger-than-life poem in history at 60,000 verse [ source : Behrooz ] . And Rumi , a thirteenth - C imam and mystical who wrote love verse form to Allah , is still one of the well - selling poets in the United States [ source : Moaveni ] .
in the end , coffeewas first drunk in Yemen in the 1400s by an Muslim sect called the Sufis , as an care to staying alive for supplication . From there , coffee house sprang up in Egypt and other persona of the Middle East [ source : McHugo ] .
Lots More Information
I was a faith major in college , which consisted of taking at least one class in each of the major Western and Eastern religious custom . As a rum person without a hard faith of my own , I find each of these organized religion fascinating , Islam include . I also gain that if you viewed each faith ’s supernatural claim as a nonbelieving foreigner , they were all equally preposterous . And if you focalize only on the ailment that each religious belief had wrought in its long story , then they were all equally flawed . But if you scan the biblical texts and prophetical pedagogy at the pump of each one of them , you were inspire by repeated calls to live the golden ruler , to treat others as you would want be treated , and love others as you would want to be love .
Special thanks toAmeena Jandali , a founding member of the Islamic Networks Group ( ING ) , for reviewing this article .
