There are numerous types of religions in the world and each one has different characteristics. Many people don't know what is islam and what are its characteristics. Islam is a monotheistic religion that emerged on the Arabian Peninsula in the early XNUMXth century, when the Arab prophet Muhammad began to preach obedience to a god called Allah.
If you want what Islam, its characteristics and history, here we make a brief introduction.
What are the characteristics of Islam
Islam is one of the largest monotheistic religions in the world along with Judaism and Christianity. As such, it is considered an update to the belief in one God, heaven, and hell that already existed in earlier monotheistic religions.
Those who practice Islam are called Muslims, a word that means "obey the will of Allah". Islam is currently the second largest religion in the world after Christianity. has approximately 1.800 millions of followers, or about 25 percent of the world's population. They make up the majority of the population in 50 countries. Among them, the largest number of Muslims is Indonesia in Southeast Asia.
Islam is divided into two main branches: Sunni and Shia. Of the total Muslim population, around 87% are Sunni and 13% are Shia. The majority of Shiites (68% to 80%) live in Asian countries such as Iran, Iraq, Bahrain and Azerbaijan.
Origin of Islam
The founder of Islam, Muhammad, was born in the city of Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula in the year 570 AD As a teenager he dedicated himself to the caravan trade. At the age of 40, he was living in seclusion in a cave on the outskirts of the city. According to tradition, he is visited by Jibril (Archangel Gabriel), who announces that he has been chosen as the prophet of the new religion.. Muhammad returned to Mecca and began to preach Islam.
At that time, the inhabitants of Mecca were polytheists because they worshiped a large number of gods, whose images were in the Kaaba in the center of the city. Ministries that make use of the gods worshiped in the Kaaba were threatened by Muhammad's sermons and he was sentenced to death. To escape that sentence, Muhammad fled to the city of Medina in 622. This exile, known as Hijra, marked the beginning of Muslim chronology. Namely, Muslims start counting the years from this fact.
In Medina, Muhammad's power and prestige increased and soon most of the inhabitants embraced the new religion. With their help, Muhammad returned to Mecca in 630, occupied Mecca, and made the Kaaba a holy site of Islam. After the conquest of Mecca, Islam began to spread rapidly throughout the Arabian Peninsula, becoming a unifying element of the different tribes of Arabia.
When Muhammad died in 632, the caliph succeeded as spiritual and secular ruler of all Muslims. The first caliphs were Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali. They facilitated the spread of Islam in Palestine, Syria, Armenia, Asian Mesopotamia, Persia, and North Africa.
In 661, Muawiyah of the Umayyad family deposed Ali and established a caliphate in Syria. Under his rule, Muslims spread to India, North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. The Umayyad seizure of power marked a turning point in the history of Islam, as the Shiites saw them as usurpers and instead recognized Ali's descendants as the rightful heirs.
How is it?
All the main features of Islam are as follows:
Es monotheistic and worship only Allah.
His holy book is Koran. The Koran means "recite" because, for Muslims, it is the word dictated by God to the Prophet. Muhammad related these revelations to his family, friends and disciples, who compiled the words of his teacher after his death, thus shaping the Qur'an. The central message of the Qur'an is that human beings must accept Allah as the only God and live according to his commandments. It is imperative that every Muslim accept every word of the Qur'an as the literal meaning of God and learn it from childhood. According to the Koran, all Muslims must believe in destiny, the resurrection of the dead, and life after death.
The most important holy and pilgrimage site is the Kaaba in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Devotees from all over the world go there to pray five times a day.
Apart from being a religion, Islam is also considered a way of life that leads its followers to peace and enjoyment of mind.
The place used for prayer and worship is the mosque, which is considered the house of Allah. In mosques, artistic representations of Allah and Muhammad are prohibited because they are believed to lead to idolatry. In all mosques, water fountains are installed for worshipers to purify themselves with water before entering the prayer hall.
Believers can communicate directly with God without the need for an intermediary. This means that among Muslims there are no priests, but spiritual guides called magnets, which are usually ordered by the community itself.
There are two main branches of Islam: Sunni or Shia, who recognize the legitimacy of the first four caliphs, and the Shiites, supporters of Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, since he married his daughter Fatima. The main difference between the two is the nature of the magnet. Shias believe that these spiritual leaders are infallible in all things, actions, principles and beliefs. For Sunnis, on the other hand, the imam can be anyone familiar with Islamic prayer rituals. Another difference is that, in addition to the Koran, Sunnis are also followers of Sunna, which is a collection of Muhammad's teachings, sayings, and endorsements.
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