THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD

Muhammad In Abdullah (570 C.E.) was born in oasis town of Mecca. His father died before he
was born and at the age of 6 his mother die and was adopted by his Grand Father Muhammad
al Muttalib. He belong to the Hashim of the Quarysh tribe that controlled Kaaba. He was taken
into custody by his paternal uncle Abu Talib (Chief of Quaraysh Tribe). Life was difficult for
young Muhammad because of poverty he had no formal schooling and worked as a camel
driver and from his journey he met a lot of people with different religion and learned their
religion and because of this he began to question his people faith which is animistic in nature.
He retreat to Mt. Hira in search of truth of God. Muhammad (23 years old) later married
Khadija (became the first muslim convent) who was that time a 40 years old. In their faith men
is allowed to marry more than one women but Muhammad refuses to which in return Khadija
became one of his staunch supporter. Around 610 C.E., Muhammad experience the voice of
God in the cave of Mt. Hira. God was speaking to Muhammad in Arabic language (Armstrong
2000; Krabel 2007) Mostly auditory but occasionally in visual form, he began to experienced
divine revelations by Angel Gabriel (Renard 2000).
Q'uran
The sacred writing of the Muslims is called Q'uran (Koran in English) that literally
means "recitation or reading" The Q'uran is the revelation from the God of his
speech and the foundation of the Islamic religion. It is the supreme authority in
all matters of faith, theology, and law (Parrinder 1971). In 610 C.E., Muhammad
receives the first revelations, he was commanded by Angel Gabriel to "igra"
or"recite". All Muslim believes that the Q'uran is a eternal scripture written in
heaven but made to known to Muhammad chapter by chapter (Hopfe 1983).
THE HADITH

The hadith is the collection of deed and sayings of Muhammad and

his follower and the second source of the shariah law. It was collected
after the death of Muhammad which is in today the second in
authority after the Koran.
FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM

It was known as the five basic obligations which must be

done by a Muslim. It is also known as arkhan al-din (five
pillars of Islam). The Five pillars
THE CREED(SHAHADA)

The Basic Creed of Islam that "there is no God buy Allah;

Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. It was the first word
which will be heard by an infant and the last word which will
be heard by a dying man.
THE OBLIGATORY PRAYER (SALAT)
Muslim is required to pray five times a day facing in the direction of
Mecca which starts at sunrise (as-subh), noon (az-zuhr), mid afternoon
(al-asr), after sunsest (al-maghreb) and before midnight (al-isha). Each
prayer begins with a strong voice muezzin or called to recite the
prayer (adhan) from the tallest point of the mosque.
POOR TAX (Zakat)
It is mandatory for wealthy Muslim to share his
wealth to the poor, widows and orphans through
an act of charity.
FASTING (SAWM)

Fasting or sawm is done in the entire 30 days of Ramadan, the

ninth month of Islamic calendar. It was done by all Muslim to
express their obedience to Allah and the readiness to
relinquish pleasure in their lives.
PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA (HAJJ)
Once in their lifetime, All Muslim must undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca
or Hajj which is the visitation of the holy city. The Grand Mosque house
the most sacred site which is the Kaaba. Muslim believes that the Kaaba
was originally built by Abraham and his son Ishmael to worship God.
Inside the Kaaba is the black stone, which some Muslim consider it as
prophetic revelation of Muhammad and some as the seal of his
prophethood.
 WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

The Islamic Faith uses Islamic Calendar or Lunar Calendar

which is composed of 354 days. The difference with Solar
Calendar is that Lunar Calendar is adjusted by adding one day
to the last month of the year 11 times each year.
ISLAMIC LAW

The concept of Islamic law and justice is also known as

Shari'a (a road to the watering place) is based upon Quranic
verses revealed by God to Muhammad. The Shari'a is a path
that must be followed by all Muslims.
SUBDIVISIONS
Similar to other religions, Islam has also sects, which vary
primarily as to how these sects interpret some aspects of the
Islamic Faith and of the Quran. Inasmuch as Muslims agree
on the fundamental tenets of the Islamic Religion, variations
may occur in may of their beliefs and practices (Hopfe1993)
SELECTED ISSUES
ISLAM AND WOMEN

The role of women in Islamic Nation is complicated subject

because their rights vary greatly in Islamic nations. In some
Asian countries women is allowed to lead a nation. Women
in Islam mas accept their role in the society.
HOLY WAR (JIHAD)

Jihad means effort or struggle to convince non believers to

pursue the Muslim way of life. Every muslim faith is required
to join the holy war. It could mean going to war do wipe out
the infidels or can be a peaceful one, such as living a pious life
or observing the required obligation to his faith.Islamic laws
opposes the used of all violence.
MIGRATION
The late nineteenth century saw a significant migration of
Muslims from Syria and Lebanon and Jordan to the U.S. After
the Second World War, European countries encourage
migration from former colonies to augment shortages of man
power. The Muslim population in U.S. and Europe continue to
rise in the present century. In America there were around six
millions Muslim which is mostly African American