The "Angelic" World of Islam: What It Means To Be A Muslim!

Angels, angels everywhere.

Catholics... believe in saints.

Hindus... believe in gods.

Muslims... believe in angels (malak).

That’s a great start for me!

The second largest religion in the world, with more than 1 billion followers, is rooted in a belief that angels play a very important part in our lives. According to the teachings of Islam, angels, described as “messengers with wings," communicate revelations from God to people and also intercede on man’s behalf when necessary.



Every person’s actions are recorded during his or her lifetime, and the angels take a person’s soul at the time of death.

But do not be misled: Muslims, so named for those who follow Islam, only believe in worshipping ONE God, Allah! This is the Arabic term for God.

Muslims DO believe that God is the creator of all things, and that God is all-powerful and all-knowing.

Muslims also believe that God has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.

Muslims believe Muhammad, like Jesus, Noah, Abraham and Moses, is God's prophet. Today, the worldwide community of Muslims embraces the people of many races and cultures throughout the world. But Saudi Arabia, with the most sacred shrine, the Ka'abah, located in the Holy Mosque there, is the heart of Islam. It is to this shrine and towards Makkah that Muslims throughout the world turn devoutly in prayer five times a day.


There are four major sects in Islam:
1. Sunni Muslims, often referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h or Ahl as-Sunnah, are the largest denomination of Islam. The word Sunni comes from the word Sunnah, which means the teachings and actions or examples of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Therefore, the term Sunni refers to those who follow or maintain the Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad.

2. Shia Islam is the second largest sect in the Muslim world. Shi`a Muslims believe that, similar to the appointment of prophets, Imams, after Muhammad, are also chosen by God.

3. Kharijite (lit. "those who seceded") is a general term embracing a variety of Muslim sects which, while originally supporting the Caliphate of Ali, eventually rejected his legitimacy after he negotiated with Mu'awiya during the 7th Century Islamic civil war (First Fitna).

4. Sufism is a mystical-ascetic form of Islam practiced by many Sunni Muslims. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use.

The Qur’an


The religious text of Islam is called Qur’an, which means recitation. Muslims consider this to be the literal word of God, believing that the verses were revealed to Muhammad by God through the angel Gabriel. The Qur'an was reportedly written down by Muhammad's companions (sahabah) while he was alive, although the prime method of transmission was oral.

According to Islamic legal theory, law has four fundamental roots, given precedence in this order: the Qur'an, the Sunnah (actions and sayings of Muhammad), the consensus of the Muslim jurists (ijma), and analogical reasoning (qiyas).


The Qur'an is divided into 114 suras, or chapters, which combined, contain 6,236 āyāt, or verses. The Qur'an offers moral guidance and is considered the "sourcebook of Islamic principles and values." Muslim jurists consult the hadith, or the written record of Muhammad's life, to both supplement the Qur'an and assist with its interpretation.

The Qur'an spells out punishments for five specific crimes: unlawful intercourse, false accusation of unlawful intercourse, consumption of alcohol, theft, and highway robbery. The Qur'an and Sunnah also contain laws of inheritance, marriage, and restitution for injuries and murder, as well as rules for fasting, charity, and prayer. But, these prescriptions and prohibitions may be broad, so their application in practice varies. Islamic scholars (ulema) have elaborated systems of law on the basis of these rules and their interpretations.

The Qur'an lists several sins that can condemn a person to hell, such as disbelief, usury and dishonesty.

Fiqh, or "jurisprudence", is defined as the knowledge of the practical rules of the religion. The method Islamic jurists use to derive rulings is known as usul al-fiqh ("legal theory", or "principles of jurisprudence").

Muhammad

Muhammad, who lived from c. 570 to June 8, 632, was an Arab religious, political, and military leader. Beginning at age 40 and continuing for 23 years, Muhammad reported receiving revelations from God. He founded the religion of Islam as a historical phenomenon. Muslims view him not as the creator of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original, uncorrupted monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham and others. In Muslim tradition, Muhammad is viewed as the last and the greatest in a series of prophets, i.e. as the man closest to perfection, the possessor of all virtues.


During his time, Muhammad preached to the people of Mecca, imploring them to abandon polytheism. Although some converted to Islam, Muhammad and his followers were persecuted by the leading Meccan authorities. After 13 years of preaching, Muhammad and the Muslims emigrated to Medina, where Muhammad established his political and religious authority.


Within a century of Muhammad's first recitations of the Qur'an, an Islamic empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to Central Asia in the east.

This new polity soon broke into civil war, and successor states fought each other and outside forces. However, Islam continued to spread into regions like Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia.

The Islamic civilization was one of the most advanced in the world during the Middle Ages, but was surpassed by Europe with the economic and military growth of the West. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Islamic dynasties such as the Ottomans and Mughals fell under the sway of European imperial powers.


In the 20th century new religious and political movements and newfound wealth in the Islamic world led to both rebirth and conflict.

Predestination

Muslims believe that God has full knowledge and control over all that occurs. For Muslims, everything in the world that occurs, i.e. good and evil, has been preordained by God. Often, you may hear Muslims quote from the Qur’an “Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector.'"

According to Muslim theologians, although events are pre-ordained, man does have free will to choose between right and wrong, thus is responsible for his actions.

They also believe that any evil that occurs will result in future benefits men may not be able to see. In Islamic tradition, all that has been decreed by God is written in al-Lawh al-Mahfūz, the "Preserved Tablet".

Muslim describe themselves as Sunni Muslims or Shi’a Muslims. The Shi'a understanding of predestination is called "divine justice" (Adalah).

Five Pillars of Islam

The Five Pillars of Islam (Arabic: اركان الدين) are five practices essential to Sunni Islam. Shi'a Muslims subscribe to eight ritual practices which substantially overlap with the Five Pillars:


The shahadah is the basic creed or tenet of Islam: "'ašhadu 'al-lā ilāha illā-llāhu wa 'ašhadu 'anna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh", or "I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God." This testament is a foundation for all other beliefs and practices in Islam.(Technically, though, the Shi'a do not consider the shahadah to be a separate pillar, just a belief).

Muslims must repeat the shahadah in prayer, and non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the creed.

Salah, or ritual prayer, must be performed five times a day. (The Shi'a allow the noon and afternoon prayer to run together and the evening and night prayers as well).

Each salah is done facing towards the Kaaba in Mecca. Salah is intended to focus the mind on God, and is seen as a personal communication with him that expresses gratitude and worship. Salah is compulsory but there is some flexibility, depending on circumstances.

In many Muslim countries, reminders called Adhan, i.e. call to prayer, are broadcast publicly from local mosques at the appropriate times. The prayers are recited in the Arabic language, and consist of verses from the Qur'an.


Zakat, or alms-giving. This is the practice of giving based on accumulated wealth and is obligatory for all Muslims who can afford it.

A fixed portion is spent to help the poor or needy, it is also used to assist the spread of Islam. The zakat is considered a religious obligation that the well-off owe to the needy, because their wealth is seen as a "trust from God's bounty."

The Qur'an and the hadith also suggest a Muslim give even more as an act of voluntary alms-giving (sadaqah). Many Shi'ites are expected to pay an additional amount in the form of a khums tax, considered to be a separate ritual practice.

Sawm, or fasting during the month of Ramadan. Muslims must not eat or drink, as well as refrain from other pleasure, from dawn to dusk during this month and must be mindful of other sins. The fast is to foster a closeness to God, and during the fast Muslims should express their gratitude for and dependence on him, atone for their past sins, and think of the needy.

Several groups are excluded from participating in Sawm because doing so would constitute an undue burden. For others, flexibility is also allowed, depending on circumstances. Missed fasts usually must be made up quickly.


The Hajj is the pilgrimage during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the city of Mecca.

Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it must make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his or her lifetime. When the pilgrim is about 10 kilometers from Mecca, he must dress in Ihram clothing, which consists of two white seamless sheets. Rituals of the Hajj include walking seven times around the Kaaba, touching the Black Stone, running seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah, and symbolically stoning the Devil in Mina.


The pilgrim, or the hajji, is honored in his or her community, although teachers impress the importance of the Hajj as an expression of devotion to God, instead of a means to gain social standing.

In addition to the khums tax, Shi'a Muslims consider three additional practices essential to the religion of Islam.

The first is jihad, which is also important to the Sunni, but not considered a pillar. The second is Amr-Bil-Ma'rūf, the "Enjoining to Do Good", calling for every Muslim to live a virtuous life and to encourage others to do the same. The third is Nahi-Anil-Munkar, the "Exhortation to Desist from Evil", which tells Muslims to refrain from vice and from evil actions and to also encourage others to do the same.

Jihad

Jihad means "to strive or struggle" (in the way of God) and is considered the "sixth pillar of Islam" by a minority of Muslim authorities. Jihad, in its broadest sense, is classically defined as "exerting one's utmost power, efforts, endeavors, or ability in contending with an object of disapprobation."

Different categories of Jihad are defined, depending on whether the object is a visible enemy, the devil or an aspects of one's own self.

Jihad when used without any qualifier is understood in its military aspect. Jihad also refers to one's striving to attain religious and moral perfection. Some Muslim authorities, especially among the Shi'a and Sufis, distinguish between the "greater jihad," which pertains to spiritual self-perfection, and the "lesser jihad," defined as warfare.



Within Islamic jurisprudence, jihad is usually taken to mean military exertion against non-Muslim combatants in the defense or expansion of the Islamic state. The ultimate purpose here is to make Islam universal. Jihad, the only form of warfare permissible in Islamic law, may be declared against apostates, rebels, highway robbers, violent groups, non-Islamic leaders or states which refuse to submit to the authority of Islam. Most Muslims today interpret Jihad as only a defensive form of warfare: the external Jihad includes a struggle to make the Islamic societies conform to the Islamic norms of justice.

Under most circumstances and for most Muslims, jihad is a collective duty (fard kifaya): its performance by some individuals exempts the others. Only for those vested with authority, especially the sovereign (imam), does jihad become an individual duty. For the rest of the populace, this happens only in the case of a general mobilization.

For most Shias, offensive jihad can only be declared by a divinely appointed leader of the Muslim community, and as such is suspended since Muhammad al-Mahdi's occultation in 868 AD.

Religion and State

Islamic law does not distinguish between "matters of church" and "matters of state."

In practice, Islamic rulers frequently bypassed the Sharia courts with a parallel system of so-called "grievance courts" over which they had sole control. As the Muslim world came into contact with Western secular ideals, Muslim societies responded in different ways.

Turkey has been governed as a secular state ever since the reforms of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In contrast, the 1979 Iranian Revolution replaced a mostly secular regime with an Islamic republic led by the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini.

Etiquette and Diet

Dietary practices fall in the category of adab, or Islamic etiquette. This includes greeting others with "as-salamu `alaykum" ("peace be unto you"), saying bismillah ("in the name of God") before meals, and using only the right hand for eating and drinking.

Islamic hygienic practices mainly fall into the category of personal cleanliness and health, such as the circumcision of male offspring. Islamic burial rituals include saying the Salat al-Janazah ("funeral prayer") over the bathed and enshrouded dead body and burying it in a grave.

Muslims, like Jews, are restricted in their diet, and prohibited foods include pig products, blood, carrion, and from drinking alcohol. All meat must come from a herbivorous animal slaughtered in the name of God by a Muslim, Jew, or Christian, with the exception of game that one has hunted or fished for oneself. Food permissible for Muslims is known as halal food.

Nation of Islam: Black Muslims

The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious/political organization founded in Detroit, Michigan, by Wallace Fard Muhammad in July 1930 and with a goal of resurrecting the spiritual, mental, social, and economic condition of the black men and women of America. NOI also promotes the belief that God will bring about a universal government of peace.

From 1978 to the present, Louis Farrakhan has been the leader of a reconstituted Nation of Islam, the original organization having been renamed and dissolved by Warith Deen Muhammad. The Nation of Islam's National Center and headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois, and is also home to its flagship Mosque No. 2, Mosque Maryam.




The Nation of Islam preaches adherence to the Five Pillars of the Islamic Faith and that every Muslim who is physically and financially able must make Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in his or her lifetime.

The NOI also teaches morality and personal decorum, emphasizing modesty, mutual respect, and discipline in dress and comportment. NOI adherents do not consume pork, stress a healthy diet and physical fitness, and the consumption of alcohol, drugs, and tobacco is frowned upon.

The State of Relations with Islam and the West

There was a detailed study reported in January 2008 on the state of the relationship between the West and Islam. This can be accessed at: http://www.weforum.org

God is ALL in ALL!

I have a fundamental believe in spirituality vs. religion. This belief transcends any quarrels I may have with any religion and its teachings. In truth, there is more similarity than differences in all that religious teach. The differences, however, are what we most often hear about and see emphasized.

I believe we can learn from each other, if we have an open mind. That's what I try to do. I'm learning even more, as I do research on various religions for this blog.

I truly feel blessed with these new insights.



The start of my appreciation of Islam began with the knowledge of its teaching about “angels,” bearing only benign offerings, and also because of close friendships I had with two Muslims in my childhood: Mezaun Kayum and Mayharool Ali.

More than anything, my relationship with these two people, “angels” in their own right, taught me all I needed to know then...and care to know now...about Muslims!

Namaste’,

Che’
NOTE: For more information on Islam, please go to: http://www.islamreligion.com. In October, we'll take a look at the
Rosicrucian teachings!