6^th Sabbath after Pentecost

July 6/8, 2007

Victor H. Nixon

ISLAM

Genesis 21:9-20

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The Qur’an, the holy scripture of Islam, begins:(1)

"In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Praise be to God, the Lord of the Universe,

Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

King of the Day of Judgment.

You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.

Guide us to the straight way;

The way of those whom You have blessed,

Not of those who have deserved anger, nor of those who

stray.

This first chapter has been called the Lord’s Prayer of Islam and the essence of the Qur’an.(2) It is an essential part of all Muslim worship public and private.

The Qur’an, which literally means "recitation," was written originally in Arabic and contains 114 chapters called "suras." All chapters but one begin with the sentence, "In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful!"—a blessing which Muslims frequently use before important actions or decisions. Both Arab Muslims and Arab Christians refer to God as "Allah" (God).

Muslims believe the Qur’an was revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel over some two decades. Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was born around 570 A.D. in the city of Mecca in Arabia. He was orphaned at a young age and raised by an uncle, worked as a merchant and married by the age of 26. Discontent with his life, he retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains for meditation and reflection where, according to Islamic tradition, at the age of 40, in the month of Ramadan, he received his first revelation from God.

Three years later, Muhammad began preaching these revelations, proclaiming "God is One," complete surrender to God as the true human religion, and that he was a prophet and messenger of God as were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and other prophets. At first, Muhammad gained few followers and largely met hostility from the tribes of Mecca.

To escape persecution, Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina in 622. This historic event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, which is lunar with 354 days in a year. Currently, the Islamic year is 1428. In Medina, Muhammad managed to unite the conflicting tribes, and fought the tribes in Mecca for eight years before conquering them. By the time of his death in 632 most of Arabia had converted to Islam.

The revelations of Muhammad were recorded by followers on "scraps of parchment and leather, tablets of stone, ribs of palm branches, camels’ shoulder blades and ribs, pieces of board and the breasts of men."(3) These fragments were collected and formed into the Qur’an, considered to be the word of God. In addition to the Qur’an, Muhammad’s life (Sira) and traditions (Sunnah) are also authoritative for Islamic faith and life.

Muslims regard Muhammad as the last messenger and prophet of God, the "perfect human being." They do not believe he was the creator of a new religion, but the restorer of the original, uncorrupted monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and others. Islamic theology says that all of God’s messengers since Adam preached the message of Islam—submission to the will of the one God. The Qur’an states that the proper name Muslim, "one who submits to the will of God," was given by Abraham.

Along with Judaism and Christianity, Islam traces its roots to Abraham, however, not through Sarah’s son Isaac but through Ishmael, Abraham’s oldest son by Hagar an Egyptian slave, whom God also promised to make a great nation. (Gen. 16:10; 22:18) Abraham is considered one of the prophets of Islam and the father of monotheism. He is mentioned in 25 chapters of the Qur’an, second only to Moses. The Qur’an calls Jews and Christians "People of the Book" and distinguishes them from polytheists.

In traditional Islamic theology, Allah is the one and only God who is beyond all comprehension; Muslims are not expected to visualize God but to worship and adore Allah as a protector. Muslims affirm the ministry of Jesus and consider him one of God’s greatest prophets. When referring to him, Muslims add the phrase "upon him be peace." The Qur’an considers his mother Mary the purest woman in all creation and confirms his virgin birth. Muslims, however, reject the Christian doctrine of the Trinity as polytheistic and deny the divinity of Jesus.

There are more than 1 billion Muslims throughout the world today, second only to Christians. Almost all Muslims belong to one of two major denominations, Sunni and Shi’a. Roughly 85 percent are Sunni and 15 percent are Shi’a with a minority in different sects, including the mystical Sufis. Islam is the predominant religion in the Middle East, parts of Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. Large communities are also found in China, Western Europe, the Balkan Peninsula, and Russia. Only about 20 percent of Muslims come from Arab countries. The Council on Islamic Relations estimates that there are 6 million Muslims and more than 1,200 mosques or places of worship in the U.S.

According to the Qur’an all Muslims must believe in God, God’s revelations, God’s angels, God’s messengers, and in the Day of Judgment or Resurrection. Also there are other beliefs, such as predestination, heaven and hell that may differ between particular sects. Like all world religions, Islam has extremes in matters of faith and practice, from fundamentalism to moderate, each claiming to be the true path.

The Five Pillars of Islam are essential to Sunni Islam:

The Shahadah is the basic creed of Islam: "I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God." This creed is foundational for all other beliefs and practices and must be recited by converts and repeated in prayer.

Salah, or ritual prayer, is performed five times daily. Each salah is done facing towards Mecca and is intended to focus the mind on God in gratitude and praise. The prayer is in Arabic and consists of verses from the Qur’an. Kneeling and prostration during prayer indicate Islam’s basic tenet of submission to God.

Zakat, or alms-giving, is the practice of giving based upon the principle that everything belongs to God and that wealth is held by human beings in trust. Zakat is obligatory for all who can afford it and amounts to two and a half percent of one’s capital to help the poor or needy and assist the spread of Islam.

Sawm, or fasting during the month of Ramadan, is done to encourage a feeling of nearness to God, atone for past sins, and express gratitude for and dependence on God, and consideration for the needy. Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations during the Ramadan, unless health or other circumstances constitute an undue burden.

The Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca, for those who can afford it, at least once in a lifetime. The Hajj consists of walking seven times around the Ka’ba, the holiest place in Islam, running seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah, and symbolically stoning the Devil. Muslims believe that the Ka’ba was originally built by Abraham and Ishmael and later liberated from tribal worship by Muhammad.

Shi’a Muslims consider three additional practices essential. The first is Jihad, which means "struggle" or "striving." Jihad has two meanings: War as a last resort to defend Islam, and the inner personal struggle for moral and spiritual development. "Holy war" is not a correct understanding of Jihad.(4) The other two Shi’a practices are doing good and desisting from evil.

Muslims are also bound by Islamic law called Sharia, literally, "the path leading to the watering place." Formed by traditional Islamic scholarship and considered divine will, Sharia covers all aspects of life, from matters of state to issues of daily living, marriage, diet, dress, criminal justice, human equality, etc., all based upon interpretation of the Qur’an and Islamic tradition.

I have learned from my study of Islam the importance of being called to pray several times daily and the posture of submission to God in prayer. Also, faith as pilgrimage and assembly in a holy place is a significant practice. I admire Muslim zeal for learning, for converts and for care of those in need and in prison. Most importantly, I have learned that most devout Muslims are not murderous terrorists, but peace-loving, compassionate people who love God and their families.

While there are major differences, Islam and Christianity share many similar beliefs and common history. Together we constitute more than half the world’s population, a considerable force. I believe that it is very important in these days for us to understand those differences and commonalities so that we might work together in the interest of faith in God, world peace and the common good of humanity.

In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Amen.

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