The Muslim Faith

In Islam, there is one God, that God going by "Allah" in the religion's tongue. The Word of God has been presented to man by a succession of prophets, the greatest of whom are Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammed. A Muslim's declaration of faith states, "There is no god but God, and Muhammed is his prophet."Islam translates to submission and peace, and a Muslim is one who submits to the will of God. Only those who submit to the will of God by living according to the precepts set forth in the Koran are true Muslims. The Koran is the Word of God as revealed to the prophet Muhammed. Muhammed was the last prophet and final source of God's word. In Islam, that which is forbidden is a sin, but there are other reasons for not doing it as well. A Muslim must conduct himself with dignity and honor, so as not to bring dishonor on the religion of God. Muslims are thought of as being Puritanical, since they abhor sin on several levels. They pray five times a day. Every person is a brother or a sister and is loved by God. Sex outside marriage is forbidden, as well as stealing. Alcohol and drugs are considered unclean. Pork is forbidden because it is a dirty animal that eats filth. A Muslim values learning and scholarship, and studies the Word of God all his life. They encourage their children to learn as much as they can and to do well in school. Race and ethnic origin are unimportant. They, as Muslims, have five obligations towards their religion, also know as the Five Pillars of Islam:1)Saying the creed several times every day. "There is no god by Allah, and Muhammed is the messenger of Allah." 2)Daily Prayer-Prayers must say tis at five specified times of each day (dawn, midday, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall). Before this, Muslims must cleanse themselves and then face towards Mecca to offer their prayers. 3) Giving of Alms. To give money as gifts to the poor of the community. 4) Fasting during the month of Ramadan during daylight hours. 5)Pilgrimage- Travel to Mecca once in a Muslim's lifetime to be performed during a special month. There are a number of practices expected during the pilgrimage, in which the pilgrim venerates the sacred shrines of Islam. Some other aspects Muslim's have faith in is the Unity of God, Angels, prophets, books of revelation, afterlife and destiny.

The Islam religion was founded by Muhammed in the seventh century. In 622 he founded the first Islamic state, a theocracy in Medina, a city in western Saudi Arabia located north of Mecca. There are two branches of the religion he founded, the Sunnis and Shi'ites. Both types of Muslims share the basic Islamic beliefs and articles of faith. The real difference is when they are asked where Islam originally stemmed from. After Muhammad the Prophet died, the Muslims were left in confusion about who would precede him. One group (Sunnis) believed that the new Muslim leader should be elected from a pool of capable conservatives. As a result of this, one of Muhamad's close friends was chosen and thus became the first caliph of the Muslim territory, Abu Bakr. The Sunni branch believes that the first four of Muhammed's successors rightfully took his place as the leaders of Muslims. They recognize the heirs of the four caliphs as legitimate religious leaders. These heirs ruled continuously in the Arab world until the break-up of the Ottoman Empire following the end of WWI. 

The other group that differed in this stance of appointment was outraged, the Shi'ites. They believed that the torch should have been handed down by blood to someone in Muhammad's family and today, their heritage can be traced back to Muhammad's daughter, Fatima.

In 931, the Twelfth Imam disappeared. This was a seminal event in the history of Shi'ite Muslims. Shi'ites, who are concentrated in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, had suffered the loss of divinely guided political leadership at the time of the Imam's disappearance. Not until the ascendancy of Ayatollah Rudollah Khomeini in 1978 did they believe that they had once again begun to live under the authority of a legitimate religious figure. Another difference has to do with the Mahdi, "the rightly-guided one" whose role is to bring a just global caliphate into being. The major difference is that for the Shi'ites, he has already been here, and will return from hiding; for Sunnis he has yet to emerge into history. The Sunnis believed in capability and the Shi'ites believed in blood when handing down political power and is still used today in Muslim nations.

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was born in Arabia in 1703 and died in 1792. He was an Islamic theologian and founder of the Wahhabi movement. Educated in Medina, he spent several years teaching in Iraq and Iran. He reacted against what he perceived as the extremism of various sects of Sufism, setting out his ideas in the Book of Unity (1736). He stressed a conservative observation of Islam, rejecting polytheism and condemning reverence of saints and the decoration of mosques. He views were controversial; eventually he settled in Nejd, where in alliance with Ibn Sa'ud, his teachings found favor and grew dominant.