30 Fast Facts About Islam
2. Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Nigeria, China, and Algeria.
3. In both India and China, Muslims are large minorities among other religions.
4. Like Christianity and Judaism, Islam was founded in the Middle East.
5. Islam’s message was preached by the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century as a continuation of the monotheistic tradition taught by Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Muslims worship the same god that Christians and Jews worship. According to Islamic belief, Muhammad was God’s last prophet and messenger to humanity.
6. A central principle of the Islamic faith is respect for all religions, based on the belief that humankind universally worships the same God.
7. The word “Allah” is Arabic for God. The word Islam comes from “salaam,” which literally means “peace,” Islam encourages Muslims to live a life guided by equity, kindness, honesty, charity, reflection, respect and humility.
8. A Muslim (pronounced muhs-lim) is a person who submits to God and follows the teachings of Islam as found in the Holy Qur’an, which Muslims consider to be the book of divine revelation of “the Word of God.”
9. Many people confuse the terms “Muslim” and “Arab,” although they have different meanings. A Muslim refers to someone who follows the teachings of Islam. An Arab refers to a person of Arab heritage who speaks Arabic. Approximately 10% of the Arab world is not Muslim, and the majority of Muslims are not Arab. In fact, Arabs make up less that 20% of the world’s Muslim Population.
10. According to the Qur’an, there are five pillars, or central guiding principles, of Islam that Muslims must uphold. Briefly, they are:Shahada(Declaration) ,Salat(Prayer),Zakat( Giving to the Poor),Siyam( Fasting ) and Hajj(Pilgrimage) .
11. The concept of Ramadan is similar to Christianity’s Lent and Judaism’s Day of Atonement.
12. The two main branches of Islam are Sunni and Shia.
13. Both Sunni and Shia Muslims follow the Qur’an and the reported sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, referred to as the Hadith.
14. Like Catholics and Protestants, Shia and Sunni Muslims share common core beliefs, but differ on key points of interpretation.
15. The main difference between the Sunni and the Shia dates to the beginning of Islam, when a dispute over the succession to the Prophet Muhammad split the religion into two sects.
16. Followers of Islam, called Muslims, commit their lives to truthfulness, good works, charity, harmony, neighborliness, almsgiving, acceptance of religious pluralism, and diversity.
17. Muslims believe the Qur’an is God’s word as revealed through the Prophet Muhammad.
18. Arabic is a language spoken throughout the world. Not every speaker of Arabic is an Arab,just like not every speaker of English is an Englishman.
19. What are the articles of faith (Islamic values)?
a. sanctity of life
b. sanctity of religious freedom
c. sanctity of mind and intellect
d. sanctity of property and wealth
e. sanctity of personal honor
20. One of the most characteristic- and stirringly evocative- symbols of Islam is the adhan, the Arabic call to prayer, dramatically intoned by a muezzin from high atop a lofty minaret.
21. Islam’s first muezzin was Bilal Ibn Rabah, an Ethiopian, who also was one of the first to accept the religion. He was a slave by Ummayya Ibn Khalaf who treated him cruelly. Bilal was bought and freed by Abu Bakr, later the most distinguished of the Prophet’s Companions and the first Caliph after Muhammad’s death.
23. The holidays of Laylat Al-Isra wa Al-Miraj (The night journey and ascension) and Laylat Al-Qadr (the night of power) are celebrated in various ways throughout the Muslim world, while the Prophet’s birthday, Mawlud Al-Nabi is celebrated according to local custom in some regions and not in others. Many Muslims would respond: ”We do not celebrate the Prophet’s birthday. He was after all, just a man.”
24. Of the Muslim year, Ramadan, the ninth month, is the holiest, for it is the month in which the Quran was revealed for the guidance of mankind.“ The month of Ramadan is not only a month of”moral abstinence,“ it also has the social virtue of creating new bonds of understanding between all classes of people.
25. The fast, practiced by the rich and the poor alike, reminds the more fortunate members of society of the pangs of hunger which the poor suffer. It is a month of seclusion, generosity and charity. Ramadan is also a joyful month. The daily fast is broken at sunset with a meal called iftar. Two hours before sunrise, Muslims have an early light meal called suhur.
26. The Muslim year is a sequence of 12 lunar months totaling 354 days, so that 33 Muslim years equal about 32 solar years. Consequently, the month of Ramadan sometimes falls in the heat of the summer months, making the burden of the fast heavier and perhaps the sense of fulfillment greater.
28. In the five daily prayers, Muslims face the Kaaba in Mecca, Arabia. It is a cube-shaped stone structure that was originally built by Prophet Adam and later rebuilt by Prophet Abraham. Muslims believe that the Kaaba was the first house of worship on Earth dedicated to the worship of one god. Muslims do not worship the Kaaba. It serves as a central focal point for Muslims around the world, unifying them in worship and symbolizing their common belief, spiritual focus and direction. Interestingly, the inside of the Kaaba is empty.
29. The hajj is a simultaneous pilgrimage to the Kaaba made by millions of Muslims each year. It is performed to commemorate the struggles of Abraham, Ishmael and Hagar in submitting their wills to God.
30. Islam is a complete way of life that governs all facets of life: moral, spiritual, social, political, economical, intellectual, etc.
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