islam

Culture

2022

We explain what Islam is, what its branches are, its history and main beliefs. Also, the place of the woman and what is the Koran.

Followers of Islam are called Muslims.

What is the Islam?

Islam is one of the great religions monotheists of the world, the second in importance after Christianity. It has around 1.8 billion faithful worldwide (25% of the population global).

It is an Abrahamic religion, like Judaism and Christianity, their sister religions, identified with the tradition spiritual inaugurated by the first Jewish patriarch, Abraham (Ibrahim), who would have been born around 1813 a. C.

However, Islam differs from the other two in the choice of its prophet, Muhammad (Muhammed), and his holy book, the Qur'an, although he also accepts as texts sacred to the Jewish Torah (the Christian Pentateuch), the Biblical Psalms, and the Gospel.

Islam exclusively reveres Allah (Allah), whose name comes from the Semitic voice The, also used in the Bible. Their god is unique and his representations are not tolerated, judged as idolatry. Followers of Islam are called "Muslims" (from Arabic muslim, "Who submits"), and are divided into four religious branches, which are:

  • Sunnism. The majority branch worldwide, are devotees of both the Koran and the Sunna (hence its name), the collection of sayings and deeds attributed to the prophet Muhammad. According to his interpretation, the prophet should happen as Leader from Islam an Arab of the tribe of Quraish, from which he himself came.
  • Shiism. Although it represents between 10 and 15% of the world Muslim population, it is the second most important branch of Islam, and its followers understand that the Prophet Muhammad was succeeded by the Caliph Ali ibn Abi Tálib, so "Shiite" would mean "supporter of Ali ”(in Arabic chíat-u-Ali).
  • Jariyism.The third in importance, his name means "the one who comes out" (jariyí), since its origins come from a division within Shiism, in the year 657. Unlike the Shiites and Sunnis, who had conservative ideas of who should be the leader of the Muslims, the Kharijites considered that this should be a free decision of the community. His doctrine Part of the fact that no Muslim can have faith and do wrong at the same time, even if it is the caliph, who should in that case be removed by the people themselves.
  • Sufism. Name used for different orthodox or heterodox esoteric groups linked to Islam, which is why in its beginnings it was not recognized as part of the official body of religion. According to the followers of Sufism, Muhammad would have inaugurated “the way” (tariq), of which there are antecedents in the Qur'an: a set of methods, forms and rites of purification of the soul, mystical interpretation and of the relationship of God with the cosmos. Thus, it differs from the rest of Islam in that it pursues proximity to God through holiness (walaya).

History of islam

The history of Islam is vast and complex. As is often the case with great religions, it had a huge impact on the politics and the society from his region of origin and in the whole world.

Its origins date back to the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century, with the arrival of the Prophet Muhammad to what was populated by various nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes and communities, such as the Bedouin, and small populations of farmers who occupied the northern oases or areas more fertile and dense in the south (today Yemen and Oman).

These settlers followed their own polytheistic religions, or were Jews, Christians, or followers of Zoroastrianism. Their holy city was Mecca, where the holy wall of Zamzam and the temple of the Kaaba were.

On the outskirts of the city, Muhammad had a religious revelation in his 40s, and he dedicated himself to preaching what he claimed was the ancient and true religion, which Jews and Christians had degraded. Thus he unified the region and began the Condition Muslim. With his death in 632, that State was left in the hands of their successors, the caliphs, who were in charge of taking religion further.

Between the 6th and 7th centuries, the newborn Islamic Empire conquered northern India from Africa Y Asia central, to the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean, during three successive dynasties: the Orthodox caliphs, the Umayyad caliphs and the Abbasid caliphs.

In the year 945, the Seljuk or Muslim Turks seized the empire, thus initiating its decline, characterized by political decentralization and the loss of territories. After defeating the Byzantines in 1071, the Muslims faced the Christian kingdoms of the West in a series of conflicts known as the Crusades.

At its end, Saladino (1138-1193) emerged, who unified the Caliphate and recovered the traditions Orthodox, promoting the Golden Age of Islam. This culminated in the invasion of the Mongols from the east, who ended the Abbasid caliphate but eventually converted to Islam, spreading the religion to new reaches of Eurasia.

The rise of powerful European empires in the 18th and 19th centuries sentenced the end point of Islam as world power. The last of its political representatives was the Ottoman Empire, dissolved after the First World War and segmented into a series of European protectorates.

Islam enters the 21st century in a state of dispersion, with varied practices in nations more or less orthodox, and even a considerable presence in western nations. In addition, it suffers the bad reputation of the terrorist radicalism that arose with the confrontation of the United States with fundamentalist groups such as al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (Daesh).

The quran

In the Koran is contained the word of Allah, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

The holy book of the Muslims is the Koran, also called the Koran or Qurán, where the word of Allah would be contained, revealed to the prophet Muhammad by the Archangel Gabriel (Gibril).

While the prophet was alive, his teachings they were transmitted orally, or transcribed on supports of leather, palm, bone, etc., until they were compiled on paper during the caliphate of Utman ibn Affan, when they were formulated in its 14 modern chapters, divided into verses.

In the Koran they make a presence characters mythical of the Christian and Hebrew tradition, such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses or even Jesus of Nazareth, who are considered as prophets of God, that is, Islamic prophets. However, it is Muhammad in the Islamic tradition who has, so to speak, the last word.

The Quran was written in classical Arabic, the language in which it is usually recited during the liturgy, although today it has been translated into countless languages. The translations are considered versions of the original, never equivalent to it, with a purely didactic, educational value.

Islam beliefs

Islam believes in existence of a single god, Allah, creator, sustainer and sovereign of the Universe, which has been revealed to different prophets since the beginning of time, one of them even being Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, the qualities that Muslims attribute to God are not very different from those that Jews and Christians propose, although with considerable differences.

For example, the God of Islam is unique and indivisible, unlike the dogma of the Christian trinity. It is also unrepresentable, so it does not allow the worship of images or representations, as Christianity does (at least the Catholic, with its saints). Furthermore, its sacred text, the Qur'an, is the only one not misrepresented over the years.

On the other hand, Islam believes in the existence of angels, which are divine creatures that serve as an intermediary between the humanity and the creator, and that they never disobey his commands.

He also believes in predestination, and that the will of Allah is behind everything that happens, harmful or beneficial, since what he does not want to happen, could not happen.

Ultimately, Islam believes in a life after death, as well as in a judgment before Allah, in which each person will be given a book by the angels with their earthly works or their sins. This will occur on the Day of Resurrection or yawn-al Qiyämah.

Islam symbol

The symbol of Islam dates back to the Byzantine Empire and is on many flags.

Just as Christianity is identified with the cross, the symbol with which Islam is traditionally associated is the crescent, or even more so the crescent and star: a crescent with a star on its concave side, sometimes with eight rays at its points. .

Its origin dates back to the Byzantine Empire, where it was associated with the Romanized version of Artemis, Diana the huntress, and it was drawn with the tips of the moon up, as if they were horns.

This symbol passed to the Ottoman Empire, conquerors of Byzantium, and became so associated with Islam that today it appears on many flags of nations Islamic, such as Algeria, Turkey, Tunisia, Libya, Pakistan, Mauritania, Malaysia, North Cyprus, Azerbaijan, etc.

In other flags and representations, more affiliated with the Shiite current, the saber of Ali can also be found.

Islamic rites

Islamic rites are summarized in the "pillars" of Islam, as follows (according to Sunni doctrine, the majority):

  • The Shahada or testimony. That dictates that "There are no gods, only God, and Muhammad is his prophet."
  • The salat or prayer. Which should be done five times a day: at dawn, at noon, at mid-afternoon, at twilight and at night, always directing the body towards Mecca. Every Friday there should be a communal prayer in the mosque.
  • The azaque or obligatory alms. That leads the faithful to give part of their money to the less favored (usually 2.5%), at a certain time.
  • The sawn or fasting. That must be done every ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, the month of Ramadan. Muslims should refrain from eating or sexual contact until the fall of the Sun, except in cases of ailments of Health, pregnancy or age, but in those cases it must be compensated with help from third parties or fasts at other times of the year.
  • The hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. Which you must do at least once in your life, as long as the resources exist for it.

On the other hand, there is an Islamic law: Sharia. It is considered divine Law or incarnation of the will of Allah, and that every Muslim should follow both in public and in private. It contains the guidelines for each situation of ordinary life, among which the prohibition of homicide, adultery, the consumption of alcohol and gambling.

Depending on the degree of commitment religion of a nation, this law can be practiced to the letter, or it can be the inspiration of the laws modern of it.

Women in Islam

The role of women in an Islamic nation depends on the degree of fundamentalism.

Much has been said about the role that women occupy within the order of things proposed by Islam, according to the Arab traditions and the sacred texts of this religion. But the truth is that Islamic law speaks of "complementation" between men and women, and nowhere does it establish that they must occupy a specific role, such as housewives.

Still, the Qur'an makes clear the mandate of man over his wife, just as the Old Testament of the Bible does. Therefore, the role of women in an Islamic nation will depend on the degree of fundamentalism of the Islamic nation. culture and the degree of separation that exists between State and religion.

Thus, there are very strict nations regarding the female role, marriage and divorce, in which women are required to cover their hair, torso or even their entire body when they are away from home or in the presence of strangers, with a burqa.

On the other hand, the polygamy it is allowed in some nations, if the man has the resources to give his wives a decent life. In return, he is the absolute responsible for them, having to grant his permission to leave, study or perform certain tasks. In contrast, female genital mutilation, common elsewhere, is not a typical Islamic custom.

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