Islam

Cultural Diversity in Professions
350N-14746
DeVry University
My paper consists of researching Muslim religion comparing to Christianity. I will discuss the history of Islam, how it began and some of their rules and policies. I will discuss where the most populous locations of Muslims and how the Muslims even are different from location to location.
The word “Islam” is from Arabic language with its meaning “acceptance” “surrender” “submission” or “commitment”. This is closely related to the word for peace (salaam) in Hebrew shalom. Muslim people “surrender” to the will of God. Muhammad, the prophet, gave this religion its name. Muhammad had a “Night of Power” (laylat al-qadar) where he was called to be God’s messenger. Muhammad was born in 570 C.E. and known as rasual Allah which means God’s messenger. His father died before he was born and his mother died when he was six years old. He went to live with his paternal grandfather but his grandfather sent his off with a nomadic tribe. Muhammad was forty years old when he got his calling. Research documents at least seven children and several wives. Muhammad died in 632 at the home of his youngest wife, Aisha. He started his preaching in 613 focusing in on oneness to Allah, punishment to the greedy on judgment day and show goodwill towards one another. He emphasized on the care of poor people, orphans and widows. He married the first time when he was 25 to a widow 15 years his senior. They had four daughters and he did not marry any another woman.
The Islam religion followed a lot of what we as Christians believe in within the beginning. It talks of Adam and Eve and their banishment. It also talks of Abraham of how he was to leave his home and how he and his son, Ishmael build the Kaaba (house of God) which is located in Mecca. Mecca is the center place of Muslim worship. Holy cities of Islam include Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. In Judaism Jerusalem is also a holy city. Muhammad had preached alongside Jewish leaders until the Jewish leaders in Medina rejected Muhammad as a prophet and at this point Muhammad broke away from being together and started his own revelation of religion which became Islam. Muhammad had a dislike for poetry. He stated if you follow poets you will go astray. He having a “belly full of purulent matter is better than a belly full of poetry”.1 The Hadith also condemned artists because they competed with God. Muhammad according to research had fifteen wives. He had several wives at the same time, his youngest wife he married when she was nine years old. He first saw her when she was six years old and her father promised her to Muhammad at this young age. According to the author Warraq, he stated there are three types of Islam; He describes them as Islam 1, Islam 2, and Islam 3. Islam 1 is the prophet’s teachings and these are found within the Koran. Islam 2 is the religion which is interpreted, developed and explained by the studiers of the religion through the traditions (Hadith), which includes the Sharia and Islamic law. Islam 3 is the Islamic civilization what Muslims have accomplished and what they do. Muslims have system which they follow and this has five different parts which according to research are called pillars. These are mandatory for believers and are very important. These consist of:
1. “Shahadah-declaring there is no god except God, and Muhammad is God’s Messenger
2. Salat-ritual prayer five times a day, with this Muslims faces Mecca and repeats the first seven verses of Quran. This praying five times a day is mandatory and must be in Arabic.
3. Sawm-fasting and self-control during the blessed month of Ramadan, this includes smoking, sexual relations.
4. Zakat-giving 2.5% of one’s savings to the poor and needy
5. Hajj- pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime if he/she is able to do2”
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