MODULE 8
we exert an effort to understand such things.
Introduction
In the previous module, we talked about one of
the three major Abrahamic religions, which is
Judaism. We have said that Abrahamic religions
trace their origin from the story of Abraham.
Now, let us move forward and talk about another
member of the Abrahamic religions, which is
Islam. Perhaps, out of all the religions we have
discussed so far, this particular faith community
rings a bell the most. More or less, all of us
encounter this religion frequently. However,
despite its popularity, most of us still know very
little about this religion.
Since Islam is one of the most common
religions we know, it is also unavoidable that
prejudices and assumptions are unconsciously
formed. What is unfortunate is that most of our
ideas about Islam are negative, like terrorism.
Nearly all of our perceptions and fears about this
religion are shaped by the way modern history
has portrayed Muslims. However, we should
always keep in mind that "history is always
written by the victors." No losing party ever
gets to dictate what happened in a specific
period. We can say that Muslims were the
defeated party in several major historical events.
Also, we are easily swayed into believing that
something is like this or something is like that
when we know little to nothing about that
specific matter. Ignorance can be very
dangerous and misleading. We always fear the
things that we do not understand. This is what
we call the fear of the unknown. This is our
primal instinct as human beings. We put our
guards up to things that are different and
unfamiliar to us. We do this to protect and
preserve ourselves from danger. So, to remove
these fears and prejudices about Islam, we
should first be able to understand what it is. I
hope that at the end of this module, we shall all
be able to realize that differences and
unfamiliarity should never be the cause of our
division and that we can only bridge the gap if
Islam: Did You Know?
The exaggerated fear that a person feels when he
or she encounters a Muslim is called
“Islamophobia.” According to researchers,
there are multiple reasons why some people
have this fear. The primary cause of
Islamophobia is the negative stereotypes
resulting in bias, discrimination, and
marginalization of Muslims from social,
political, and civic life. This exaggerated fear
began more than 20 years ago, but it became
worse after the terrorist attacked the World
Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the
different wars happening in Islamic countries. In
the Philippines, Islamophobia also manifests in
people who fear local Muslims residing in
Mindanao. The only way to solve this problem
is to stop creating stereotypes in this religious
group.
Discussion on Prophet Muhammad
and Islam Today
Origin and History
One misconception about the history of Islam is
that it began when Allah made a revelation to
the prophet Muhammad. However, if we are
going to follow the Muslim teaching, Islam's
story does not begin with the prophet
Muhammad. According to their teachings, their
religion began during the times of Adam and
Noah and then went on to all people and
nations. Further, its followers believe that it is
an ancient religion – one that has existed as
God's intended religion. Nevertheless, the
prophet Muhammad remains crucial in the
story of Islam because he is considered as its
last prophet and the final revelation of Allah.
During the 7th century CE in early Arabia,
the Islam that we know today was not yet
established as it is. Yet, there was already a
religious practice that was exercised during
this time which is considered as the religion
which Islam evolved from. People still
embraced polytheism and worshipped idols.
They believed in the idea that there is no single
god.
Moreover, the cube or the kaaba – the large
and black cube that sits at the heart of
Mecca's Grand Mosque where Muslims make
the pilgrimage – was already existing during
this time and groups of pilgrims made
pilgrimages to the kaaba. Lastly, during this
time, other monotheistic religions like Judaism
and Christianity were already present in the
caravans in Arabia.
Prophet Muhammad
The religion of Islam took a drastic change
during the time of Muhammad. The story of
Islam is inseparable from the life of this man.
Muhammad was born between 570 to 571 CE.
He was orphaned at birth and did not get any
formal education. His rise to becoming the
revered prophet of Islam that he is today was
pure because of his spirituality, generosity,
and intellect. He believed in a singular God
and hated the worship of idols.
Muhammad married a widow named Khadija
who was 15 years older than him. We can say
that Khadija was wealthy, which enabled
Muhammad to focus on spiritual discipline
and reflection on the reality of the world. The
focus of his meditations was the worship of
idols and the oppression happening in society.
He also contemplated the way Judaism and
Christianity described the end of days.
Furthermore, the first revelation to Muhammad
occurred when he was meditating on Mt. Hira
during the month of Ramadan. The angel
Gabriel, Djibril in Arabic, appeared to
Muhammad and ordered him to "read or recite
in the name of the Lord." After receiving the
first revelation from angel Gabriel, Muhammad
began preaching Islam or the submission to
the One God, Allah, the hatred of idol-
worship, the necessity of repentance, and the
impending final judgment.
The first revelation was followed by more
people over the next 23 years of
Muhammad's life. Muhammad's words were
transcribed by his followers after his death.
The Quran, which is the Muslim sacred text, is
the product of the revelations of Allah to
Muhammad.
When Muhammad started preaching about the
message of Allah, the people in his hometown
did not receive it well. Muhammad preached
the opposite of the common practice during
his time. He wanted people to acknowledge
only Allah and abolish all their idols. The
people resisted his teachings because of the huge
benefits they get from having several gods.
Pilgrims used to visit several shrines of
different gods and the kaaba, which provided
a livelihood to many people.
Nevertheless, Muhammad continued with his
mission and converted his first follower, his
wife Khadija. After this, several conversions
happened. Slowly, Muhammad's group
expanded with members coming from the lower
ranks of Meccan society. When the tension and
opposition against Muhammad grew, in 615
CE, he sent some of his followers to Abyssinia,
which is today known as Ethiopia to escape
persecution.
After seven years, Muhammad migrated to
Yathrib, which is today known as Medina.
This migration is now known as hegira that
marks the start of the Muslim calendar called
THE HIJRI. There are two reasons why
Muhammad left Arabia and went to Medina.
The first one is because he was asked to
mediate between a property dispute, while the
second and more important one is because
Muhammad's life was threatened in Mecca.
In Medina, he managed to convert numerous
faithful followers.
Moreover, the story of Muhammad does not end
in Medina. After a year, his enemies in Mecca
organized what was initially a caravan raid
which escalated into a full-blown war.
However, after seven years, it was already
difficult to bring Muhammad down because he
was able to gather a massive and strong
following in Medina. Later on, he brought his
followers to Mecca for a pilgrimage. After this
first pilgrimage, Muhammad decided to
conquer and take over Mecca. As a result of
his victory, all idols and false gods in the
kaaba were demolished.
Only the black meteoric stone was spared from
the demolition because he believed that Mecca
and the meteoric stone were built by
Abraham and his son, Ishmael. This is the
story of how Islam evolved under the rule of the
prophet Muhammad.
Muhammad was not just a religious leader but
also served as a political leader in Arabia.
Even the leaders of smaller tribes also promised
loyalty to him. Under his leadership, Islam
witnessed steady growth and continued to
expand to other nations. However, in 632 CE,
at the age of 63, Muhammad died and left no
child to succeed him. Because of this, his
father-in-law, Abu Bakr, became the first
caliph or khalif, the successor to the Islamic
state or the caliphate or khalifah. Note that the
position of caliph was very important to the
Islamic state before because of the way they
view the relationship of the state and religion.
Our common understanding is that a state is
divided into different religions. However, this is
not the case for the Islamic states. They believed
that Islam is a religion divided into states.
Therefore, the caliphate means so much to their
religion.
Discussion on Islam Today
Islam Today
Islam today is experiencing a crisis because of
several terrorist groups that claim to fight for
the name of Allah. In short, the terrorist
groups qualify the terrors and wars they wage
as a form of a holy war known as jihad for the
Muslims. However, the Muslim community
denies this accusation because Islam does not
teach terrorism to its followers. The terrorist
groups, who are today branded under Islamism,
have misunderstood and taken out the context
of the teachings of the Quran regarding the
concept of holy wars. One person that could be
blamed for this contemporary issue about Islam
is Osama bin Laden who claimed that the
terrors they caused were for the sake of their
religion. However, President Bush, the former
president of the United States of America who
focused on fighting terrorism, made it very
clear that the war they were fighting for was
not against the Muslims, but a war against
terrorism.
To prove to you that Islam is not a religion that
promotes terrorism, we must talk about their
concept of holy war or jihad. The term came
from an Arabic word j-h-d which means
striving or effort. All Muslims have to strive
for the path of God. Jihad has two important
meanings.
The first meaning of jihad is moral striving.
Every Muslim has to strive to be good and do
good in ways that are prescribed in the holy
book, the Quran. This first meaning of jihad is
considered as the higher meaning of the term.
From this, we can say that the jihad as a holy
war does not refer to fight the people who are
against Islam, but more of a personal battle
against one's demons. The most common and
higher form of war that Muslims have to win is a
war against sins that prevent them from
attaining salvation.
The second meaning of jihad is an armed
struggle or the war that may involve physical
killing. A Muslim who dies fighting for the
path of Allah is guaranteed to reach paradise.
There are two types of war that are considered as
jihad in the sense of an armed struggle. The first
one is the war against infidels and apostates or
heretics. If the interpretation of the concepts
stops from here, the result will surely be chaotic.
Luckily, the Quran provides more laws that
govern the idea of jihad to make sure that it is
executed properly. Some of the laws state that
no women and children must be killed unless
they attack first, torture and mutilation of
prisoners are prohibited and agreements must
be honored.
In fact, during the Medieval period, missile and
chemical warfare – the use of catapults and
poison-tipped arrows – were prohibited.
Further, suicides are not also prescribed in the
Quran because killing oneself and dying at the
hands of the enemy are two different things.
Suicide will lead the spirit to hell while dying
at the hands of the enemy will result in going
to heaven. Therefore, all of the techniques of
the terrorist groups such as kidnapping, suicide
bombing, using chemical weapons, etc.,
invalidate their claim that they are fighting for
the name of Allah. At no point that the basic
texts of Islam encourage terrorism and random
slaughter of uninvolved bystanders. This
meaning of jihad is a lower form of the concept.
If we want to end the stigma on Muslims, it
should always start with us. We can help them
by just simply educating ourselves about their
religion – by knowing and understanding what
Islam is and what it is not. Terrorism masks
itself in the form of holy wars to justify its
unholy terrors. All different extremist groups
sanctify their actions through pious references to
Islamic texts. Nevertheless, all of the terrorist
groups that associate themselves with Islam
are selective in their choice and interpretation
of the sacred texts. This is something we
should always keep in mind to avoid
stereotyping the religion of Islam.
Discussion on the Quran
Traditions
The Quran
If the Christians have the Holy Bible, the
Muslims have the Quran. The term Quran
means "recitation." The revelations contained
in this scripture serves as guiding principles to
their individual and communal life. According
to Islam, the revelations that the Quran contains
are definitive and final. This means that
Muslims consider the teachings of the Quran as
true, irrevocable, and ultimate. Muslims treat
the Quran with much respect because they
believe that it is Allah who is speaking directly
and unadulteratedly to them. Because of this,
trying to translate the Quran in different
languages apart from Arabic is to risk
distorting or even losing its meaning.
Therefore, all Muslims are encouraged to
memorize the Quran in Arabic regardless of
their native language. However, it is not easy to
memorize it because it contains 114 surrahs or
chapters, although some commit to memorizing
it.
The Quran has various contents. Some of which
are hymns of praises for Allah, signs of Allah
in the world forecasting the end of the world,
exhortations to pious living, guidelines for
personal and social morality, and others. The
chapters or surrahs in Quran are arranged
according to their length from longest to
shortest, which means that it is not
chronologically arranged. The surrahs are
labeled with a title instead of numbers.
Usually, the title given to each chapter are
words original to the surrahs.
Muslims do not dismiss the sacred texts of
other religions. They even recognize their
validity. However, for them, the Quran is still
the final and definitive word of God. Further,
they believe that the Quran corrects the
teachings and revelation of earlier prophets
such as Jesus Christ, known as Isa, the 24th
and last prophet before Muhammad.
More than just religious scripture, the Quran
also has several functions in the lives of
Muslims, which makes it the foundation of all
Islam. It sets the grammatical rules and
teaches children how to read Arabic. Also, it
is the basis for laws in Muslim societies.
Discussion on Dar-al-Islam
Religious Experience
Dar al-Islam
Islam is also an eschatological religion, just
like its closest relative, Judaism and
Christianity. This means that it believes in the
idea of death, the final judgment, and the
final destiny of the soul and humankind.
They have an idea that the world will come to an
end in times we do not expect. The Quran has a
concept CALLED AL-QIYAMA, which is
their idea of the day of reckoning. If you can
still remember our discussion on Judaism, we
have mentioned about the Day of the Lord. This
is similar to that. The Quran teaches that when
this day comes, all faithful will be judged
based on their earthly life and will be led
either in heaven or hell. Also, Muslims believe
that salvation can be attained if one faithfully
follows the teachings of the Quran since it is
the word of Allah. This is a motivation why
Muslims want to convert other people – to
enlighten them.
In addition, Dar al-Islam can be considered as a
religious experience of the Muslims. The phrase
means "house of Islam." This pertains to all
territory in which the law of Islam prevails.
All Islamic states are considered as dar al-
Islam because their communal life is based on
the revelations of Allah. For them, the ideal
society is a community that follows the
examples of the early Islamic centers such as
Medina and the whole of Arabia. They have a
goal to make Islam a universal religion. This
is the reason why the conquest and conversion
of different nations happened – to make them
dar al-Islam.
Every nation that is a threat to Islam is
considered as DAR AL-HARB or land of war.
This implies that a holy war can be waged
against a dar al-harb.
Some nations tolerate and respect the religion
of Islam but do not make it as their official
religion. These nations are called dar al-sulh or
land of peace. To better understand these terms
look at the table below.
If we are going to look at the history of the
world, it is apparent that the Muslims tried to
expand the house of Islam. They tried to
share the revelations of Allah and convert as
many nations as they can. Most of the people
they have successfully converted were the
polytheists and idolaters – people who were
primarily found in Asia and Africa. This is
similar to the mission of evangelization of
Christians. During the medieval period or
more popularly known as MISNOMERED –
THE DARK AGES, these two major religions
were primary rivals in the struggle for world
domination. Both religions aspired to enlighten
other people about the existence of the One
God.
In summary, Islam and Christianity both share
the idea that there is only one God. According
to the British-American historian named
Bernard Lewis, Christianity and Islam are
two defined religions that were brought into
conflict, not by their differences, but by their
resemblances.
Discussion on the Five Pillars of Islam:
Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, Sawm and Hajj
The Muslim tradition of worship does not make
use of a priest to stand as intermediaries
between them and Allah. The individual and
society are responsible for their worship. A
person who lives a rational life will conclude
that the only way to live one's life is to submit
oneself to Allah. This is the reason why Islam is
the way of submission.
Five Pillars of Islam
Islam teaches its followers that the most
genuine form of joy is by remembering Allah.
Remembering does not only imply recalling
the name of Allah but goes far beyond that.
To remember Allah is also to respect and obey
the revelations that were communicated to
prophets like Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.
To sum up the teachings of Islam, it just simply
encourages a person to live a righteous life.
There are five pillars of Islam that Muslims
should recognize as their obligations. These are
the foundations of Muslim life.
1. Shahadah
Shahadah is the first pillar of Islam, and this is
where the four other pillars of Islam begin. This
term means "bearing witness." This requires
repeatedly reciting the Muslim creed "LA
ILAHA ILLA ALLAH; WA-
MUHAMMADUM RASULU ALLAH,"
which means "There is no God but Allah, and
Muhammad is His prophet." Muslims recite
this in Arabic daily and ideally. It is also the
last words of a dying Muslim. Once a Muslim
starts to recite this creed, he is already
accepting the other four pillars as his
obligations.
This shows their conviction that Allah is their
only God and Muhammad is the ultimate
prophet. However, they do not consider
Muhammad as divine. They simply believe
that the revelations that he received from Allah
were final and infallible. They do not also
invalidate the legitimacy of other prophets
before Muhammad like Noah, Abraham,
Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus. They
believe that these prophets were also sent by
Allah, but the revelations to Muhammad are
the most correct.
2. Salat
Salat is the daily prayer of the Muslim and it is
their second pillar. Each Muslim is required to
pray five times a day: early morning, noon,
mid-afternoon, sunset, and evening. By doing
this, Muslims strive to be pure physically and
spiritually. They attain physical purification
by cleansing their hands, mouth, face, nose,
teeth, and feet.
While spiritual purification is resolved by
being kind, concern for others, gratefulness,
openness to Allah, and sensitivity to moral
issues are also observed.
In the Muslim communities, there is a crier
called MUADHIN OR MUAZZIN to call the
faithful into salat. This muadhin is like their
alarm-clock that notifies them that it is
already time to pray. The muadhin does this by
climbing the tower, a minaret of a mosque –
the place of worship of Muslims – and
announces the adhan or the call to prayer.
Furthermore, Muslims do not just enter their
mosques the way they want to. They observe
proper ways and discipline before coming in.
They should
first take off their shoes before they could enter
the place. Also, when they recite the salat, they
face the direction of Mecca accompanied by
bending, bowing, and prostrating on the
knees, the head, and the hands on the ground.
All these symbolize their submission to Allah.
Summary and Conclusion 8
n this module, we have discussed one of the
most misunderstood religions in our time, which
is Islam. We learned that Muslims believe that
their religion existed since the beginning of
time. We have also discussed the life of the
prophet Muhammad and how they understood
him. Just like the other religions that we have
discussed, Islam is also a well-defined religion
in terms of its belief and laws.
What we can probably take away from our
discussion of Islam is that this religion is rich in
terms of its history, teachings, and laws. There
are so many things that we can learn from it.
Unfortunately, Islam is always reduced to
negative stereotypes because of a lack of
information and knowledge about this religion. I
hope that after we discuss Islam, we will be able
to change our perspective about this religion.