Islam

An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim.

Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable and the purpose of existence is to worship God.

Muslims also believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed before many times throughout the world, including notably through Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, whom they consider prophets.

They maintain that the previous messages and revelations have been partially misinterpreted or altered over time, but consider the Arabic Qur'an to be both the unaltered and the final revelation of God.

Religious concepts and practices include the five pillars of Islam, which are basic concepts and obligatory acts of worship, and following Islamic law, which touches on virtually every aspect of life and society, providing guidance on multifarious topics from banking and welfare, to warfare and the environment.

Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, safeness and peace.

In a religious context it means "voluntary submission to God".

Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the same verb of which Islām is the infinitive. Believers demonstrate submission to God by serving God, following his commands, and rejecting polytheism.

Iman (Faith)

In the Arabic language, Iman denotes faith or certitude to the unseen.

Iman-e-Mujmal (Summary declaration of faith)

I have faith in Allah as He is known by His Names and attributes and I accept all His commands.

Iman-e-Mufassil (Detailed declaration of faith)

I have faith in Allah and His Angels, His Books and His Messengers, and the Day of Judgment and that all good and evil and fate is from Allah and it is sure that there will be resurrection after death.

The 6 Articles of Faith (Pillars of Islam)

Iman is generally outlined using the 6 articles of faith:

1. Belief in God

2. Belief in the Angels

3. Belief in the Prophets

4. Belief in Divine Books

5. Belief in the Day of Judgment

6. Decree of Allah or Fate

Of these, the first five are mentioned together in the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad, while including a corollary of belief in Allah – the good and evil of fate ordained by God – has referred to all 6 together in the following manner in the Hadith of Gabriel:

"Iman is that you believe in God and His Angels and His Books and His Messengers and the Hereafter and the good and evil fate [ordained by your God]."

Another similar narration ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad is:

Ibn Abbas narrates that the Angel Jibril once asked the Prophet:

"Tell me what is Iman?"

The Prophet replied: "Iman is to believe in Allah, the Day of Judgment, His (Allah's) Angels, Books and Prophets and to believe in life after death; and to believe in Paradise and the Fire, and the setting up of the Mizan (scales) to weigh the deeds; and to believe in the Divine Decree, the good and the bad of it (all)."

Jibril then asked him: "If I do all this will I be with Iman?"

The Prophet said: "When you have done all of this, you will be having Iman."

[

It is also assumed that the essential Iman consists of the first 3 items:

1) Belief in God

2) Prophets

3) Hereafter

]

1. Belief in God

Islam's most fundamental concept is a rigorous monotheism, called tawhīd.

God is described in chapter 112 of the Qur'an as:

"Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."

God is described and referred to by certain names or attributes, the most common being:

Al-Rahmān, meaning "The Compassionate" and

Al-Rahīm, meaning "The Merciful"

Muslims believe that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God’s sheer command, “‘Be’ and so it is,” and that the purpose of existence is to worship God.

He is viewed as a personal god who responds whenever a person in need or distress calls him. There are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God who states:

"I am nearer to him than (his) jugular vein."

The reciprocal nature is mentioned in the hadith qudsi:

"I am as My servant thinks (expects) I am."

2. Belief in the Angels

Belief in angels is fundamental to the faith of Islam. The Arabic word for angel (Arabic: malak) means "messenger", like its counterparts in Hebrew (malakh) and Greek (angelos).

According to the Qur'an, angels do not possess free will, and therefore worship and obey God in total obedience.

Angels' duties include communicating revelations from God, glorifying God, recording every person's actions, and taking a person's soul at the time of death.

3. Belief in the Prophets

Muslims identify the prophets of Islam (Arabic: anbiyāʾ ) as those humans chosen by God to be his messengers.

According to the Qurʼan, the prophets were instructed by God to bring the "will of God" to the peoples of the nations.

Muslims believe that prophets are human and not divine, though some are able to perform miracles to prove their claim.

The Qurʼan mentions the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam, including:

Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, among others.

Muslims believe that God finally sent Muhammad as the last prophet (Seal of the Prophets) to convey the divine message to the whole world (to sum up and to finalize the word of God).

4. Belief in Divine Books

The Islamic holy books are the records which most Muslims believe were dictated by God to various prophets.

Following are Divine Books:

1. The Tawrat (Torah)

2. The Zabur

3. The Injil (Gospels)

4. The Qur’an

The Qur'an (literally, “Reading” or “Recitation”) is viewed by Muslims as the final revelation and literal word of God.

5. Belief in the Day of Judgment

Belief in the "Day of Resurrection", Yawm al-Qiyāmah is also crucial for Muslims. They believe the time of Qiyāmah is preordained by God but unknown to man.

On Yawm al-Qiyāmah, Muslims believe all mankind will be judged on their good and bad deeds.

The Qurʼan in Surat al-Zalzalah describes this as, "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it (99:7) and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it (99:8)."

Yawm al-Qiyāmah is also identified in the Qur'an as Yawm ad-Dīn, "Day of Religion"; as-Sāʿah, "the Last Hour"; and al-Qāriʿah, "The Clatterer".

6. Decree of Allah or Fate (Predestination)

In accordance with the Islamic belief in predestination, or divine preordainment (al-qadā wa'l-qadar), God has full knowledge and control over all that occurs.

This is explained in Qur'anic verses such as:

"Say: 'Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector'..."

For Muslims, everything in the world that occurs, good or bad, has been preordained and nothing can happen unless permitted by God.

Law and Jurisprudence

The Shariʻah (literally "the path leading to the watering place") is Islamic law formed by traditional Islamic scholarship, which most Muslim groups adhere to.

Shariʻah "constitutes a system of duties that are incumbent upon a Muslim by virtue of his or her religious belief".

The Quran set the rights, the responsibilities and the rules for people and for societies to adhere to.

Muhammad provided an example, which is recorded in the hadith books, showing how he practically implemented those rules in a society.

After the passing of Muhammad, the early scholars of Islam including, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik Ibn Anas and Imam Jafar Al-Sadiq (the great grand son of Abu Bakr and Ali ibn Abi Talib) worked together in Al-Masjid An-Nabawi in Medina along with over 70 other leading jurists and scholars.

Fiqh (Jurisprudence) is defined as the knowledge of the practical rules of the religion.

Much of it has evolved to prevent innovation or alteration in the original religion, known as bid'ah.

The method Islamic jurists use to derive rulings is known as usul al-fiqh ("legal theory", or "principles of jurisprudence").

To reduce the divergence, in the 9th century, a student of Malik ibn Anas, the jurist ash-Shafi'i provided a theoretical basis for Islamic law by codifying the principles of jurisprudence (including the four fundamental roots) in his book Ar-Risālah.

According to ash-Shafi'i, law has four fundamental roots, which are given precedence in this order:

1. The Qur'an

2. The Hadith (the practice of Muhammad)

3. The consensus of the Muslim jurists (ijma)

4. Analogical reasoning (qiyas)

Al-Shafi'i also codified a method to establish the reliability of hadith.

Muhammad Al-Bukhari then travelled around and collected over 300,000 hadith, but only included 2,602 distinct hadith in his book Sahih al-Bukhari, that passed these tests and he codified as authentic and correct. Sahih al-Bukhari is therefore considered by many to be the most authentic book after the Quran.

The Arabic word sahih translates as authentic or correct.

Islamic law covers all aspects of life, from matters of state, like governance and foreign relations, to issues of daily living.

The Qur'an defines hudud as the punishments for 5 specific crimes:

1) Unlawful intercourse

2) False accusation of unlawful intercourse

3) Consumption of Alcohol

4) Theft

5) Highway Robbery

The Qur'an and Sunnah also contain laws of inheritance, marriage, and restitution for injuries and murder, as well as rules for fasting, charity, and prayer.

Jurists

There are many terms in Islam to refer to religiously sanctioned positions of Islam, but "jurist" generally refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in several fields of Islamic studies.

In a broader sense, the term ulema is used to describe the body of Muslim clergy who have completed several years of training and study of Islamic sciences, such as a mufti, qadi, faqih, or muhaddith.

Etiquette and Diet

Many practices fall in the category of adab, or Islamic etiquette.

This includes:

Greeting others with "As-Salamu `Alaykum" ("Peace be unto You")

Saying Bismillah ("In the name of God") before meals, and using only the right hand for eating and drinking.

Islamic hygienic practices mainly fall into the category of personal cleanliness and health.

Circumcision of male offspring is also practiced in Islam.

Islamic burial rituals include saying the Salat al-Janazah ("funeral prayer") over the bathed and enshrouded dead body, and burying it in a grave.

Muslims are restricted in their diet. Prohibited foods include pork products, blood, carrion, and alcohol.

All meat must come from a herbivorous animal slaughtered in the name of God by a Muslim, Jew, or Christian, with the exception of game that one has hunted or fished for oneself.

Food permissible for Muslims is known as Halal food.

Family Life

The basic unit of Islamic society is the family, and Islam defines the obligations and legal rights of family members. The father is seen as financially responsible for his family, and is obliged to cater for their well-being.

The division of inheritance is specified in the Qur'an, which states that most of it is to pass to the immediate family, while a portion is set aside for the payment of debts and the making of bequests. With some exceptions, the woman's share of inheritance is generally half of that of a man with the same rights of succession.

Marriage in Islam is a civil contract which consists of an offer and acceptance between two qualified parties in the presence of two witnesses. The groom is required to pay a bridal gift (mahr) to the bride, as stipulated in the contract.

Economy

To reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, Islamic economic jurisprudence encourages trade, discourages the hoarding of wealth and outlaws interest-bearing loans (usury; the term is Riba in Arabic).

Therefore wealth is taxed through Zakat, but trade is not taxed. Usury, which allows the rich to get richer without sharing in the risk, is forbidden in Islam. Profit sharing and venture capital where the lender is also exposed to risk is acceptable.

Grabbing other people's land is also prohibited. The prohibition of usury has resulted in the development of Islamic banking. During the time of Muhammad, any money that went to the state, was immediately used to help the poor. Then in 634, Umar formally established the welfare state Bayt al-mal. The Bayt al-mal or the welfare state was for the Muslim and Non-Muslim poor, needy, elderly, orphans, widows, and the disabled.

Jihad

Jihad means "to strive or struggle" (in the way of God).

Jihad, in its broadest sense, is "exerting one's utmost power, efforts, endeavors, or ability in contending with an object of disapprobation". Depending on the object being a visible enemy, the devil, and aspects of one's own self (such as sinful desires), different categories of jihad are defined.

Jihad also refers to one's striving to attain religious and moral perfection.

Culture

The term "Islamic Culture" could be used to mean aspects of culture that pertain to the religion, such as festivals and dress code. It is also controversially used to mean the cultural products of traditionally Muslim people.

Finally, "Islamic civilization" may also refer to the aspects of the synthesized culture of the early Caliphates, including that of non-Muslims, sometimes referred to as 'Islamicate'.