Islam

Overview

Islam is a monotheistic religion that — like Christianity and Judaism — traces its roots to the Garden of Eden, Adam, and the prophet Abraham. Islam teaches that Allah is the only God and that Muhammed is his messenger. Islam holds that God spoke to Muhammed through the archangel Gabriel some time around 600 CE, delivering the revelations that would form the Quran. This primary text of the Islamic faith is believed by adherents to contain the exact words of God and therefore provides a full and nonnegotiable blueprint for how to live.

The Quran and the Islamic legal code known as Sharia inform every aspect of life, from ethics and worship to family matters and business dealings. Islam holds that good behavior and adherence will lead to an afterlife in paradise, whereas disregard for Muhammed’s teachings will lead to damnation.

The Islamic faith proliferated rapidly through the Middle East, particularly around the three holiest sites of the faith: Mecca, where an awakened Muhammed made his first pilgrimage; Medina, the center of early Islamic faith under Muhammed’s leadership; and Jerusalem, the spiritual capital of the ancient world. In the centuries to follow, Islam would simultaneously produce countless wars of succession and a growing sense of spiritual unity within the Arab World. This dichotomy between internal conflict and cultural unity remains present in the Islamic faith today. This dichotomy would also give way to a division between the two dominant sects of Islam, Sunni and Shia. Today, Islam is the dominant faith for large swaths of geography, particularly in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and North Africa. With more than 1.6 billion adherents, Islam is the second-largest religion in the world and the chief spiritual identity for more than 24% of the world’s population. (The Best Schools)

House of Worship Visit

You can watch weekly Jumu'ah services which commemorate the holiest day of the week in Islam from Masjid Muhammad (The Nation's Mosque) on Fridays at 1:00 PM: https://thenationsmosque.org/jumah-stream/

Reflection Questions

You may opt to reflect and respond to each of the questions below, or only those that stir a response in you. Make this reflective process your own and feel free to add any additional thoughts or information learned to your journal.

  • Make a note of any interesting facts you learned about Islam. Was this surprising to you?

  • Looking at the 5 Pillars of Islam, what resonates with you? What similarities or differences do you note from your own worldview beliefs?

  • What does learning about the biggest Muslim holidays tell you about this faith tradition? What similarities/differences do you note from holidays that you celebrate?

If you decided to attend a Muslim service, please consider these questions as well...

  • What is something you saw in the service that resonated with you?

  • What questions do you have about the religion/aspects of the service?

  • Did you see your own religious practices reflected at any point in the service?

  • Did you feel connected to your own faith at any point in the service?

  • Is there anything from this experience that you can carry with you as you continue on your own personal faith journey?