Perhaps you could write a post explaining the basic tenets of the faith?
Christine -
I would be more than honored to do so.
Islam is a major world religion today with 1.3-1.5 billion followers that worship one God. Many western sources claim the religion to be founded by Mohammad, however all Muslims believe the religion was created by God and that only the message was given to Mohammad to disseminate to the rest of the world.
Muslims believe that God Almighty sent each nation throughout history its prophet. So every nation was warned and told about the Mighty Creator. As a last revelation, Muslims believe that God sent his last message (which was the same as prior messages but now only complete) to Mohammad. They believe the major difference is that Mohammad was sent for all humankind and not just one nation as all previous prophets had been.
The Muslims have a Holy Book known as "The Qur'an." This book contains 114 chapters. Muslims believe that the speaker of the Qur'an in the first person is God. So in other words, we don't have writers writing about God but God actually speaking to humans.
Muslims carry many similar attributes to Christians and Jews. It's surprising since the news on TV seems to never mention how much the religions have in common. Since Muslims believe that God gave Moses the same message as Jesus as well as all prophets in the past, it's only expected that the final revelation would be very similar.
Here are some things Muslims believe that you might not have expected:
- Muslims believe that Jesus is from God's Spirit.
- That Jesus will return (the second coming) before Judgement Day
- in all miracles performed by God's previous prophets
- in Adam, Abraham, Noah, etc.
The Five Pillars of Islam are:
1. First and Foremost, Believe in One and Only one God (Sound similar to Hear O Israel, Our Lord is One?)
2. To Pray 5 times a day (the prayer consists of small chapters read from the Qur'an as well as prostrating on the floor......just as Jesus used to prostrate while praying to God).
3. To Fast one month of the year (the month is known as "Ramadan")
4. To perform Zakat: You probably don't know what "Zakat" means. Many translate it as giving money or food to needy people. While this certainly is one aspect of it, Zakat encompasses much more such as greeting a brother/sister with "Peace be Unto You," being courteous of all people, etc. It is mandatory that Muslims give 2.5% of their wealth to the needy.
5. If a person is Mentally, Physically, and financially able, it is required that a Pilgrimage is performed. Some people misunderstand what the Pilgrimage is all about. To Muslims, every second of the Pilgrimage is devoted to glorifying and praising God. People pray, read, etc. while at Pilgrimage. It's performed with millions of others that share a common thread in belief. And even though you don't know everyone, they're all your brothers and sisters.
So why do they wear those white sheets during Pilgrimage? Well, it's not because they're hot <g>. Islam requires those garments because in the sight of God, we are all equal and the only thing that differs between people is their faith: their devotion to God. So everyone wears the same clothing and no one can tell who is rich or who is poor, who is famous or who is not, who is from Africa and who is from Europe. It's meant to hide things that are irrelevant in the eyes of God.
Well I could go on and on but don't want to take too much of your time.........a few more things: Muslims cannot drink alcohol, eat swine, or eat blood among other things. But Jesus drank wine, right? Well Muslims believe that the wine of Jesus's time is not the same as the wine of today. They believe that wine in that era was more or less grape juice. Over time, alcohol was an added component.
Please ask anything else you might have. I did not touch upon why Muslims believe anything that the Qur'an says since this in itself is a deep subject. Thank you for giving me the opportunity....
Ray |
