Islam Religion in the Present World - Essay Example

Islam is the second most widespread religion in the world. It is a monotheistic faith, and its followers are called Muslims. The very word Islam in Arabic denotes submission, in this particular case to God called Allah. In general terms, Muslims believe that Allah was bringing his holy word to mankind through numerous prophets, Adam, Moses, and Jesus among them, and that Mohammed (c. 570-632 AD) was the last prophet. Therefore, his teaching is viewed as valid for humanity until the final days of the world. Muslims claim that the principal record of the divine message to people is contained in the Quran, which therefore is perceived as the perfect and unchangeable revelation of God. At the same time, Islam asserts that while in the Gospels and in Torah there originally were correct messages, with time they were misinterpreted and wrongly edited by people. Thus, Koran corrects all those wrongs. Speaking about the other essential characteristics of Islam Sharia should be mentioned, which is the Arabic term for Islamic law interpreted by Islamic scholars, and it is also called the law of Allah. One of the main features of law in Islam is that there is no separation between religious and secular aspects of life. Indeed, Sharia regulates not only religious practices, but as well different aspects of life, like business, economics, general matters of political governance and international relations, social matters, and daily goings-on of people. Again, the Quran is the main source of law in Islam. The second such source is the sunnah, which is the compilation of words and deeds of Mohammed and the early community of Muslims. As the third source of law serves consensus of the Muslim community called Ijma, and the fourth source is the principle of reasoning by analogy, also termed Qiyas. Islamic laws that are explicitly formulated in the Quran are known as hudud laws. Among other things, they ban homicide, non-marital sex, consumption of alcohol, and engagement in gambling. The Quran also spells out laws of marriage, principles of inheritance and compensation for inflicted harm, and of course rules of immediate religious application like prayer, fasting, and charity. At the same time, it should be noted that the mentioned regulations often leave quite a lot of room for interpretation, so their practical realizations may differ. To help with practical utilization of postulates of Islamic law, Muslim scholars, also named the ulema, explicate systems of Muslim law that stem from these general rules, and to exemplify them often refer to the ways in which Mohammed and other religious authorities interpreted the principles of Islamic law. Taking into consideration the fact that today not all Muslims can read the original Arabic Quran, the need in such interpreters is increased (Schimmel 1992). On the basis of what we have discussed, we can see that Islamic law is absolute, because it covers almost every aspect of life of a Muslim, and requires a strict observance of its regulations and instructions. While what we have generally outlined is the common religious ground for all the Muslims, there are still different denominations within the Islamic religion. The largest Islamic denomination is the group professing what is known as the Sunni Islam. In fact, approximately 85% of all the Muslims in the world are of the Sunni denomination, and are called Sunnis. At the same time, a significant portion of followers of Islam, known as Shiites, belong to the denomination of Shia Islam. Actually, around 15% of the wolrds Muslims are of this denomination, and in some countries they constitute the Muslim majority, such as for instance in Iran with its 90% of Shia population and in Yemen, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Iraq, where Shiites form a less prominent majority (Esposito 1998, ch.5). Let us concentrate on the exploration of the differences between Shia and Sunni denominations, including the initial divide between them, with the aim to obtain a better understanding of the less numerous Shia group. In order to comprehend the roots of the differences between Shia and Sunni denominations of Islam, it is necessary to go back in history up to the time immediately following the death of Prophet Mohammed, after which tensions arouse as to who would inherit the right of authority (Armstrong 2002, pp.45-49). The main figure in the imminent split between Sunni and Shia was Ali, a cousin of Mohammed, his daughters Fatima husband, and the father of Hussein and Hassan, who would play important roles in the early development of Islam. Besides, Ali was the second person of all to adopt Islam. Running a few steps forward, it should be pointed out that the very word Shia was formed from the shortened 'Shiat Ali', which can be translated as Alis partisans. So, one of the groups was insisting that Ali was to become the first caliph, which is the Muslim term for the leader of the community that serves as Gods vice-regent, and that the caliphate would have to be passed only to the immediate descendants of Prophet Mohammed stemming from Ali and Fatima, who were collectively known as Ahl al-Bayt, or 'people of the house of the Prophet' (Schimmel 1992. pp.91-97). In their turn, a competing group that would lay ground for the Sunni denomination viewed Ali only as the fourth and final of the caliphs rightly guided by Mohammeds teachings. These other caliphs were Abu Bakr (ruled 632-634), Umar (ruled 634-644), and Uthman (ruled 644-656). It was only after Uthman was killed that Ali became the caliph, but the time of his ruling was not an easy one as he initially had to confront the opposition from the side of Abu Bakrs daughter Aisha, which also had been the wife of Mohammed, and later from the side of the cousin of Uthman Muawiya Ummayad. This opposition eventually led to Alis demise in 661, after which Ummayad became the caliph. When in 680 Ummayad died, his son Yazid overtook the power, and the son of Ali Hussein, pretending to the caliphate as well, undertook a military attempt in the battle of Karbala to return the title of the caliph. After his defeat by Ummayad, his little son Ali continued the line of Ahl al-Bayt, while Yazid institutionalized the dynasty of Ummayad. Thus, the division between the Sunni and the Shia, which would last until today despite the disappearance of the line of Mohammed in 873, was finally formed (Armstrong 2002, pp.41-44). As time was passing, the differences were accumulating between the two groups within the Islam religion. For one, the figure of Imam, the religious authority and a national leader, obtained in the Shia Islam an infallible status not unlike that of the Catholic Pope, while Sunni Islam took the course of development that was leading to forms similar to numerous independent religious organizations of the Protestantism. For example, in Sunni Islam no formal clergy was separated, and its functions were performed in a non-binding way by jurists and scholars. On the contrary, for Shia the supreme Imam is the heir of the inspiration of Mohammed, and therefore is a full-fledged spiritual guide and the infallible interpreter of the traditions and the law. Not surprisingly, the glorification by Shia of Ali and his suffering and death, as well as related stories about other significant figures in his line, with time constituted one of their prominent differences from Sunni. At the same time, both Shiites and Sunnis recognize the principal postulates of Islam, known among Sunnis as the Five Pillars and among Shiites as the Roots of Religion, and, due to this fact, acknowledge each other as Muslims. Indeed, the Five Pillars of Islam are important because from the variety of regulations in Islamic religion they highlight the most fundamental rules for every Muslim. In order of their priority those acts are: The confession of faith in Allah that presupposes the acknowledgement that there is no other thing to be worshiped but Allah, and that Mohammed was his harbinger. Prayer, or, more exactly, five daily prayers. Paying of charity with the allocation of fixed percentages for different social groups (for example, for alms should be given 2.5% of the savings of a well-off person involved in industry or trade, and from 10% to 20% of the yearly yield in agricultural sector. Those alms in the form of money or products should be divided among the poor. Similar approaches are used for other forms of income. Fasting that demands strict abstinence from certain types of food and from sexual behavior for the period of the month of Ramadan, which is the ninth month of the lunar calendar of Islam. The pilgrimage to Mecca during the month called Zul Hijjah. Such a pilgrimage must be performed at least once in a lifetime of a Muslim who is not burdened by bad health or debts. By the way, it should also be pointed out that some Muslims, mostly from yet another Khawarij denomination, claim that there is also the sixth pillar of Islam faith represented by jihad, which can be directly translated as 'combat' or 'struggle'. However, the understanding of this term as suggesting the holy war could be misleading, because this term also refers to spiritual realm instead of a literal war. But in any case, while many Muslims may view spiritual jihad as their duty, that jihad belongs to the pillars of Islam is rejected by the majority of Shiites and Sunnis theologians (Schimmel 1992, pp.54-58). Shiites also adhere to the ten practices known as the Branches of Religion, and their women similarly to other Muslims wear hijab, a scarf on the head. Speaking about alternative approaches of Shiites to interpretation the outlined pillars, it should be noted that they have a dissimilar prayer call, they prepare for the regular prayer and conduct the prayer in a different way, for instance as they put the forehead not on the mat but onto a piece of hard clay, and combine prayers, which may lead to just three prayers a day. The Shiites also have different versions of narratives about the sayings and deeds of Mohammed, called ahadith, and the ones attributed to Ali or Fatima are more preferred in contrast to those ascribed to Alis opponents such as Aisha. Nevertheless, in 1959 a legal opinion in relation to the Islamic Law, called fatwa, was officially issued by a Sunni authority from Al Azhar university located in Cairo, which is the important center of Sunni Islam, that stated that the Jafari School of Law that underlies traditions of most Shiities is legitimate and valid (Armstrong 2002, p.177). Still, even in light of the general similarity of doctrines of Sunnis and Shiites, many of Sunni would claim that Shiites do not pay due attention to the fundamental prescriptions of Islam as they, according to their opponents, overemphasize the martyrdom of Ali, spend much energy hating Sunnis and converting other Muslims to their views, and ignore the much needed missionary work with non-Muslims (The Economist 2004). Indeed, in Shia Islam there is a period of ten days called Ashore when the battle of Karbala is commemorated in a very dramatic way - with crying and chest beating. Importantly, the Shia Islam also allows for the so-called mutate, or temporal marriage, for a predetermined time. This practice is currently forbidden in the Sunni denomination, even though it was allowable in the time of Mohammed, whose twelve out of thirteen wives were already not virgins. Also, Shiites more extensively use the practice of dissimulation of their faith in face of the danger for their lives and for lives of their close relatives. The Shia denomination of Islam is itself not completely homogeneous as there are various sects in its frames. The majority of Shiites belong to the group known as 'Twelvers', due to their recognition of twelve imams, starting with Ali ibn Abu Talib al-Murtadha, also called the Sacrificed One, and up to Mohammed al Mahdi, who was born in 862 and is considered to be still alive, being in an occultation state, and waiting for the moment dictated by Allah when he will have to return in order to bring justice into the world. There are as well the groups of 'Seveners' and 'Fivers' who recognize only seven and five first imams respectively. Finally, some misconceptions about the Shia Islam are widespread that are refuted by its representatives. For example, the main one is to say that Shiites deify and worship Ali, which is not so as Ali himself killed his contemporaries who formed the group that viewed him as the incarnation of God, and today only a relatively small group known as Alawites takes Ali for a Godly incarnation, while the mainstream Shia Islam proclaims these beliefs to be a heresy. As we can see, the Shia and Sunni denominations of the Islam religion share a lot of points in common, and for an external observer may seem to be indistinguishable in many respects. Still, there are sufficient differences between these trends of Islam to cause conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis (Nasr 2006, pp.51-62), as has often been the case in Pakistan and Iraq (Farivar 2006). At the same time, there are numerous examples of successful cooperation between both groups (Eickelman 2004, pp.162-164), and this process along with the dynamic developments within the Shia communities constitutes an important trend in the modern Islamic world. References: Armstrong, Karen. Islam: A Short History. Modern Library, 2002. Eickelman, Dale F., and Piscatori, James. Muslim Politics. Princeton University Press, 2004. Esposito, John L. Islam: The Straight Path. Oxford University Press, 1998. Farivar, Masood. "A Faith Divided" Islam: Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition). New York: Aug 22, 2006. p. D.6. Nasr, Vali. The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future. W. W. Norton, 2006. Schimmel, Annemarie. Islam: An Introduction. State University of New York Press, 1992. "The history of Shia Muslims. Why the aggravation" The Economist. Mar 4, 2004, Retrieved on November 28, 2006, from http://www.economist.com/research/ backgrounders/displaystory.cfmstory_id=2482152 Read More