Islam, Religion, History and Civilization

The accurate understanding of Islam and Muslim traditions in our contemporary world is vital. The events of November 11th, 2001, the ongoing conflict in Palestine, and the United States war against global terrorism, especially in Afghanistan, convey a great attention to the Muslim World. My own perception of Islam was limited to what has been portrayed in main stream media with the latest developments of these conflicts. I. was confused about the Islamic religion for many years due to my unfamiliarity with its doctrines. I have also generalized all Muslims to the beliefs of extremist Islamic groups and their engagement in the jihad (holy war) against the West civilization. Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s “Islam, Religion, History and Civilization”, was a fascinating reading that changed my whole view on Islam. I became aware of the true meaning the Muslim faith and appreciated its peaceful message of Unity (Ummah) of all God’s creation. I now value the richness of its doctrines and in particular their people’s love of God.
Islam is not only a religion of the Muslim world, but a way of living. Islamic religion is intertwined with every aspect of Muslim’s daily lives. Islam is the fastest growing and second most practiced religion in the world today with approximately 1.2 billion followers spread in all the continents. In Islam, God is called Allah (Arabic). Allah is The Only One Eternal and Absolute God. Muslims profess their faith (Shahadah) by stating that “there is no God but God” in their daily prayers. This negative statement is very particular to Islam. It recognizes God as the One who is the Being beyond beings, surpassing all of our human comprehension. He is given ninety nine names or attributes, which are also the ninety nine beads in the Muslim rosary. The faithful community believe that by saying these names of God (God the All Merciful, The Giver of life, The All Powerful) will bring their hearts closer to their Creator. Allah created the world and all human beings and Muslims are to surrender their lives to Him. Being completely submitted to God’s will is their main desire.
The second most important belief is that The Prophet Muhammad received the Word of God (Quran) through revelation. The Quran is God’s final message to His creation. The Prophet received his first revelation by the Archangel Gabriel when he was forty years old. The Prophet is not divine (like Jesus is understood in Christianity) but is viewed as the perfect human, the last prophet chosen by God to bring the news of salvation. Thus, Muslims see the Prophet as their human model and all people must strive, following the Prophets teachings, to find God’s straight path. Muslims will be judged by Allah (The Just Judge) on the Day of Judgment when the existence of the world will come to end. Besides the sacred text Quran, Muslims also follow the Sunnah, which is an account of the Prophet’s deeds and also the Hadith which are his sayings. Both were recorded by the Prophets’ companions. Hadith are the major source of the shariah law.
Muslims are to follow the five pillars of faith (shahadah, salat, zakat, sawm, and hajj). Shahadah is the profession of faith where they acknowledge the existence of God and the revelation of the Word of God to the Prophet Muhammad. Salat is the daily prayer. Muslims are to pray five times daily in a ritual meditation (before sunrise, midday prayer, afternoon, evening, and night). To me, this is most interesting of the pillars. I was raised Roman Catholic and was encouraged to always pray to God, but not in such a disciplined manner. In this away, Muslims really demonstrate their engagement with their religion and their commitment to establish a close relationship with their Creator. Friday congregational prayer is also required and has a significant social impact. I was disappointed not to find in the readings any mention of women’s participation in this communal prayer service, but I will further investigate. The third pillar is the zakat. Muslims are called to give money to the poor, needy and to different institutions for the propagation of the faith. Swan is another pillar of Islam. Adult Muslims in good health must fast during the lunar month of Ramadan from dawn to dusk. In my opinion, Muslim sawn is a “harder” sacrifice than the Catholic fasting. In Roman Catholicism, we are also called to fast on Fridays of lent but we can consume water and bread. Muslims are prohibited to have anything to eat or drink until evening. The last Islam pillar is the Hajj. Muslims are to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca (South Arabia) once in their lifetime if they have the financial means to do so. According to images from the documentary “Inside Mecca”, every year thousands of Muslims travel to Mecca to do their pilgrimage as the Prophet Muhammad himself did. The pilgrimage dates back to Father Abraham and is not only a physical voyage to the holy city but also an inward voyage towards finding the realization of God. Pilgrims enter a state of purity and are encouraged to keep a sense of peace. Hajj unity Muslims from all over the world where they meet to perform the different rituals, to praise, worship and pray in thanksgiving to Allah.
Islam was give to humanity by God in the revelation to the Prophet in the 7th century CE. The Prophet was born in Mecca in 570. He was regarded a very just and honorable person from a very early age. Prophet Muhammad was always faithful to the One God. People would consult him and he was called “the Trusted one”. Khadijah was his first wife and they had many children. While retreated in the desert for prayer, he received his 1st revelation from Archangel Gabriel and began his mission proclaiming the belief in One God. Mecca did not accept His message since people adored many gods and the Prophet migrated to Medina to escape persecution in 622. This event called Hijrah marks the beginning of Islamic calendar. Medina became then the first Islamic State. Prophet was himself the ruler of the community. After ten years in Medina, Prophet Muhammad had gained many followers from all over Arabia and was able to return and conquer Mecca. His revelations continued until he passed away in 632. His ability to unite tribes from all ethnicity and people that spoke different languages with various religious beliefs was remarkable. After his death, Abu Bakr, was chosen the first Caliph and two years later Umar Ibn Ul Khattab was appointed his successor. His caliphate lasted for ten years and Islamic faith spread throughout the world, preaching the message of love, unity and peace. Muslims were being converted in Mesopotamia, Persia, North Africa and Palestine and East Asia. Uthman was the third Caliph and during his leadership the Quran was finalized and distributed to the Muslim world. His successor was Ali, who was the Prophets’ son in law (married to his daughter Fatima). There was then a great division among Muslims in the acceptance of Ali. He was assassinated together with his two sons. This event was mourned by Shi’ites (Muslims in Iran and Iraq) and Islam was the divided. Up to today Sunnis and Shi’ites have not been able to agree on many issues, but it is very interesting to read in Seyyed’s book that even though Shi’ites and Sunnis belong to a different sect, they still consider themselves as one people, all brothers and sisters united in the name of Allah.
In the Middle Ages, Muslims played a leading role in many spectrum of science. This period in Islamic history is called The Gold Age. Muslim intellectuals expanded Greek philosophy and Sufism was born and has influenced the world philosophy in a very profound way. Muslims were pioneers in Mathematics, art, architecture, ethics, astronomy, and medicine to name few. It was very new to me how much Islamic thought influenced the West and European schools of thought and all in my years of studying, professors never transmitted this important part of our history.
Another very interesting fact learned from the readings was the fundamental importance that Muslim people attribute to the interconnection of religion and state. It is very difficult for me to even perceive such a combination. However, with the readings I understood why Muslims insist that God should not be put aside in any aspect of life, especially in regards to norms and regulations dictating their daily activities. For Islam, the Shariah is as essential to them as the constitution is essential to us. Thus, what we believe in the west will never be applied to them precisely because of what they believe. It is clear now that even if we think that a secular judicial system is the best and fairest way of governing a society, to Muslims this goes against obeying God and following his commends at all times. It would be discriminating to assume and try to impose on them our Western way of thinking. It is no wonder why some Muslims hate us and want us far from their territory.
It is also important in the context of contemporary conflicts to understand the meaning of Jihad. Prophet Mohammad talked about the biggest Jihad, or the Jihad of the soul, which is the “struggle” that humans face to walk straight in God’s path. Jihad is an important duty of the Islamic faith. However, some extremist Islamic groups which constitute a minimal fraction of the entire Islamic civilization have used Jihad to validate their war against the West using violence. The use of violence, especially with the death of innocent people is fundamentally against the teachings of the Quran and Hadith.
Achieving global peace will depend on our ability as human beings to understand and mutually respect different traditions and different beliefs. All sides will have to cooperate and develop a plan of acceptance. Before then, there will be a continuous conflict between traditionalism and modernism, east and west, Muslims and Christians, secular and spiritual.