Religion: Islam
Islam
Need to Know? Islam by Essential overview for everyone who wants to understand what Islam is and what it means today.
The Qur'anThe Koran, the holy scripture of Islam, is the record of Muhammad's oral teaching delivered between the years immediately preceding the Hegira in AD 622 and the Prophet's death in AD 632.
Reformist Voices of Islam: Mediating Islam and ModernityThis compelling volume introduces the current generation of moderate reformist thinkers and activists within Islam, the intellectual traditions they carry on, and the reasons why reformist movements have been overshadowed by fundamentalist, revolutionary, and jihadist movements in the Islamic world today.
Islam - People and Places
- Muhammad: Topic Pagec.570-632 Arab prophet and religious leader who founded Islam . He was born in Mecca.
- AliFrom The Columbia Encyclopedia
Husband of Fatima (daughter of Muhammad) and 4th caliph (656-61). The debate over his right to the caliphate caused a major split in Islam into Sunni and Shiite branches. - Abraham (Biblical Patriarch): Topic PageIn the Qur'an, ancestor of the Arabs through his son Ishmael. Abraham is further regarded as an ancestor of Muhammad.
- Caliphate: Topic PageCaliphate: the rulership of Islam. Caliph: the spiritual head and temporal ruler of the Islamic state.
- Imam: Topic PageIn Islam, a recognized leader or a religious teacher.
- Mosque: Topic PageBuilding for worship used by members of the Islamic faith.
- Mecca: Topic PageCity in Saudi Arabia and, as birthplace of Muhammad, the holiest city of the Islamic world and a place of annual pilgrimage.
- Medina: Topic PageMedina is the second holiest city in the Islamic world after Mecca, and contains the tomb of Muhammad, a focus for Muslim pilgrims during the hajj (annual pilgrimage).
- Fakir: Topic PageIn Islam, usually an initiate in a Sufi order.
- Dome of the Rock (or Mosque of Omar; Arabic Qubbat as-Sakhrah)From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Islamic shrine in Jerusalem dating from the 7th century AD that surrounds a great rock altar (an outcrop of rock) that was part of Solomon's Temple of Jerusalem. The place from which, in Muslim tradition, Muhammad ascended to heaven on his Night Journey.
Islam - Scripture
- Qur'an: Topic Page
This chapter explains the origin, format, purpose and presentation of the scriptures of Islam. The Qur'an is the Holy Book of Islam. - Sharia (Islamic law): Topic PageSharia is the religious law of Islam. As Islam makes no distinction between religion and life, Islamic law covers not only ritual but many aspects of life.
- Sunna: Topic PageMuslim code of practice; a body of traditional law based on the sayings, actions, and guidance of the prophet Muhammad, as detailed in the Hadith and the Sirah (a biography of the prophet's life).
- HadithFrom The Columbia Encyclopedia
A tradition or the collection of the traditions of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, including his sayings and deeds, and his tacit approval of what was said or done in his presence.
Islam - Divisions
- Shi'ite: Topic PageMember of a sect of Islam that believes that Ali, a cousin of the prophet Muhammad, was his first true successor.
- Sufism: Topic PageAn umbrella term for the ascetic and mystical movements within Islam.
- SunniFrom The Columbia Encyclopedia
The largest division of Islam. Sunni Islam is the heir to the early central Islamic state, in its ackowledgement of the legitimacy of the order of succession of the first four caliphs.
- WahhabismFrom Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Political Thought
A form of radical Islamism known after its founder, Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792), from the Najd area of Arabia, ruled by local sheikhs of the house of Saud. - Babism: Topic PageA system of doctrines proclaimed in Persia in 1844 by Ali Muhammad of Shiraz, who proclaimed himself the Bab, the living door to the twelth Imam and the knowledge of God, and sent missionaries throughout Persia.
- Baha'iFrom The Columbia Encyclopedia
The Baha'i faith holds that God can be made known to humankind through manifestations that have come at various stages of human progress; prophets include Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, the Bab, and Baha Ullah. - Ismailis: Topic PageA Muslim Shiite sect that holds Ismail, the son of Jafar as-Sadiq, as its imam.
Islam - Holidays and Events
- AshuraFrom Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary
On the 10th of Muharram in the year 680, Muhammad’s grandson Hussein was killed in a skirmish between Sunnis and the small group of Shi’ite supporters with whom he was travelling to Iraq. - Hajj: Topic PageThe pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, one of the five basic requirements (arkan or "pillars") of Islam.
- RamadanFrom The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
In the Muslim calendar, the ninth month of the year. Ramadan follows a lunar year and occurs 11 days earlier each solar year. Throughout Ramadan a strict fast (sawm) is observed during the hours of daylight. - Eid ul-Fitr: Topic PageAlso known as the Feast of Fast-Breaking, or the Lesser Feast, Id al-Fitr marks the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan and the beginning of a three-day feast.
- Eid (Id Al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice)From Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary
This most important feast of the Muslim calendar is the concluding rite of those performing the Hajj or Pilgrimage to Mecca. It is also known as Id al-Kabir, the Great Feast. - HegiraFrom The Columbia Encyclopedia
The departure of the prophet Muhammad from Mecca in 622. The year of the Hegira marks the beginning of the Muslim era.