The Religious World

Beliefs:

Beliefs are very important in the Islamic religion. Muslims belief in God, the universe and humanity is their prime concern. The Quran, the sacred text of Islam states, “Righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day and the Angels and the Scriptures and the Prophets.” Muslims believe in these doctrines, as well as many others, are crucial to Muhammad’s followers, both past and present. The Islamic religion teaches that there is one God in the universe, presenting Muslims with a monotheistic worldview. Muslims have faith that Muhammad was a prophet as well as them believing in after life. The most sacred belief in the Islamic religion and certainly the central theme is that there is only one God. Muhammad, the founder of Islam, is admired as ‘The Seal of the Prophets.” According to the Quran, Allah “created man from a clot of blood” at the same time, he created to jinn from fire. Humans are created with free will for the purpose of obeying and serving God. For a Muslim, the object of life is to live in a way that pleases Allah so that one may gain Paradise. Islam teaches the continued existence of the soul and a transformed physical existence destinations of Heaven and Hell. All that is required from a Muslim is to believe and recite the Shahada which is: “There is no God but God and Muhammad is his Prophet.” 

Myths & Other Stories:

One of the most sacred stories for Islam's is the story of the way Muhammed had become a prophet to Allah. He received his first connection to Allah whilst meditating, at the age of 40. This revelation was done through the Angel, Gabriel. 

Muhammed sheltered himself from the rest of the society after his marriage, hiding in Mount Hira. He went to a mountain to pray and meditate and become closer to Allah, eventually Gabriel came to him, proclaiming that he is known as the Messenger of Allah, whose job it is to teach the knowledge and give service to their Lord. Following this, Gabriel taught Muhammed between 610 AD to 632 AD through the use of the Quran.

Sacred Texts:

There are two main sacred texts in the Islamic religion which are: The Quran and the Hadith. The books teach and emphasize Islamic beliefs, values and practices, as well as them being important historical documents, which expresses stories of the origins of the Islamic faith. Just like the bible, the Quran is believed to be the most important and sacred text as it is considered to contain the literal words of God as revealed to Muhammad.  Unlike the Hadith which is known for being the secondary text that records sayings of Muhammad and his followers. These two texts form the roots for all Islamic theology, tradition and Sharia (Islamic law).

Rituals:

Certain sacred rituals are very crucial to Muslims. They are a momentous way that followers of Islam commemorate history, express conviction and grow devotion. Some rituals are a daily practice while other are practiced annually. The religious rituals of Islam are very few in numbers but very significant in importance. The Five Pillars of Islam are five practices considered by all faith communities of the Islamic religion as essential to the Muslim faith. The most important practices and rituals in the Islamic faith consist of: The Five Pillars which are the five religious duties expected of every Muslim. The Confession of faith (Shahada) which is the first of the Five Pillars as well as being the profession of faith. Ritual Prayer (Salat) which is perhaps the most well known and is performed five time a day and finally, fasting during the month of Ramadan (Sawn) as it commemorated the revelation of the Quran to humanity during that time of the year, the ninth month of the Islamic year.