The holy book of Islam is the Qur’an (‘Koran’), and the centre for Muslim worship is the ‘House of Prayer’ in Mecca. During the 6th century, Arabia had two powerful neighbours: the Byzantine empire and the Sassanian empire. The Byzantine empire was Christian and its capital was Constantinople which is now the city of Istanbul in Turkey. The people of the Sassanian empire worshipped the sun-god, Ahura Mazda, and followed the teachings of an ancient philosopher, Zoroaster. Islam grew and spread rapidly east and west from Arabia to become a powerful rival to Christendon.
Islam is one of the world’s largest religions. Muhammad founded the religion of Islam in the 7th century AD and is considered the chief prophet of the faith. Muhammad wrote the holly Islamic book call the Quran, which Muslims believe was told to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. Muhammad’s vision was to bring people back to the one true God. Islam affected the Arabian Peninsula in many ways.
Is Shari’a Law divine or man made? Islam is not only a religion, but it is a theocracy and a culture. Islam does not separate state and religion, with the exception of Turkey, countries such as Pakistan which have Islam as their state religion use what is known as the Shari’a Law to govern themselves. Watton(1993)”…with Muhammed being both a statesmen and a prophet means that from the beginning Islam was concerned with rules and regulations on how to live”. And therefore Islam becomes not only a religion but an ideology.
Islamic civilization was the second eastern civilization and the last great civilization before our western civilization. Islam was a new seventh century religion which was popular among Arabs. Its founder was Muhammad, which later became known as the Prophet. He began to preach, when God (Allah), granted him a revelation through the angel Gabriel, who appeared in Muhammad’s dream. He was invited, with his group of followers, to the town of Medina to lead people to convert to Islam.
When Islam first started to spread over the Arabian Penninsula, the original ideology put forth by Muhammad stayed intact because he was very involved in the initial empire building. However, once he passed away and the empire grew much larger than before, these ideas started to change to fit the regional identities of conquered natives. For example, as Islam spread into India, Anatolia, Spain, and West Africa, the inhabitants kept their original beliefs, but added Muslim elements, such as parts of their language and cultural habits. In sum, Islam went from being adopted wholly by the people it conquered, to eventually only being partially adopted and integrated into other belief
Most forms of coastal art in East Africa are characterized by geometric patterns and bold, vibrant lively designs (an influence from the Islamic cultural faith and arts) This was brought upon by the trade in Africa, whereby some of the fist settlers in the coastal regions were Arabs, bringing with them their Islamic influences in terms of architecture and design. Parts of Mombasa, a coastal town in Kenya are now referred to as ‘Old Town’, and are host to many ruins of the Muslim world such as ‘Fort Jesus’. The town consists of mosques once heavily adorned in intricate designs, but now old and un-kept remain as reminders of what they once were. After the defeat of the Portuguese, the Omani Arabs controlled the coast of East Africa (1697-1888), and it is this Arabic influence that can be traced around Mombasa town. Old town for example is renowned for its impressive carved doors.
The most sacred place in Islam is the Ka'ba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Ka'ba is a mosque (built by Abraham according to Muslim tradition) built around a black stone. The Prophet Muhammad designated Mecca as the holy city of Islam and the direction (qibla) in which all Muslims should offer their prayers. The Ka'ba is believed to be the first place that was created on earth {2} and the place at which heavenly bliss and power touches the earth directly. {3} Mecca is located in the Hijaz region of western Saudi Arabia.
These words most embody the Muslim world that Obama set out to describe. The tone of President Obama’s voice was apologetic when speaking of historical injustices perpetrated against Muslims and Muslim majority countries at the hands of the United States or the “West”; the content was both conciliatory and laudatory as Obama highlighted the accomplishments of early Muslim civilizations. Personal narrative indicated respect and admiration for Islam; from beginning to end Qur’anic text and Arabic words which, regardless of mispronunciation or verlan, were presented and sought to nurture a sense of common values and supplanted old paradigms. In presaging the journey toward the new beginning envisioned, Obama sought
What is a monotheistic religion? A monotheistic religion is the belief in one god There is 3 main monotheistic religions Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Today I am going to be talking about only one of the monotheistic religions Islam and comparing it to one of the polytheistic religions Hinduism I will be talking about all the differences between Islam and Hinduism. In Islam god transcends beyond the limits of space, time and gender. Revelation god revealed his will and law to humanity through the Quran.
Hindu and Muslim conflict is basically cause by the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent. Around 630 A.D, Islam was introduced to India through Arab traders. They are peaceful until the 8th century when a Syrian general named Muhammad bin Qasim desiring control of trade routes to India invaded. Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent mainly took place from the 12th to the 16th centuries, though earlier Muslim conquests made limited inroads into modern Afghanistan and Pakistan as early as the time of the Rajput kingdoms in the 8th century. With the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate, Islam spread across large parts of the subcontinent.