Get to know about Islamic Religion and their Believe

Question: What is Islam and what do the followers of Islam believe in?

Answer: Islam is a religious system that started in the seventh century by Muhammad. The followers of Islamic religion is known as Muslims, and they follow the teachings of Quran and strives to keep the five pillars of Islam.

Evolution of Islamic Religion

In the seventh century, Muhammad declared that angel Gabriel came to him. Meanwhile, at this angelic visitation which continued for 23 years until Muhammad’s death the angel confessed to Muhammad the words of Allah which is the name of ‘God’ usually taken by Muslims. The word Muslim means “One who submits themselves to Allah” and the word Islam means “submission” and is derived from the root which means “peace.”

Five Pillars of Islam

Five faith pillars compose the base of the obedience to Islamic religion:

• The testimony of faith (Shahada): “la ilaha illa allah. Muhammad rasul Allah.”This quotation means “There is no diety but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” The Shahada shows that a Muslim believes that Allah alone as the diety and relies on Muhammad reveals Allah.
• Prayer (Salat): Five constant prayers must be offered on a daily basis.
• Giving (Zakat): This is the charity where a certain percentage of the salary is donated annually.
• Fasting (Sawm): Muslims keeps fast in Ramadan month which is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. In this month, they should not eat or drink from dawn till dusk.
• Pilgrimage (Hajj): If it is possible financially or physically, Muslim must make the pilgrimage to Mecca which is located in Saudi Arabia at least once in their lifetime. Along with this, Hajj should be performed in the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar.

Doctrine of Islam

Muslims outlines the principles of faith in six articles:

• Belief in one Allah: In the Islamic religion, Muslims believes that Allah is one, eternal, creator and sovereign.
• Belief in Angels.
• Belief in the prophets: The prophets include the biblical prophets, but it closes with the Muhammad as Allah’s final prophet.
• Belief in the discovery of Allah: The followers of Islamic religion accepts substantial portions of Bible such as Torah and Gospels. They also admit that Quran is pre-existence, perfect word of Allah.
• Should have faith in the last day of judgment and hereafter: Every Islamic follower will be revived for the judgment day and will be sent to paradise or hell.
• Belief in predestination: Muslims believe Allah has imposed everything that will happen in the future. Muslims testifies the sovereignty of Allah with a frequently used phrase “Inshallah” which means “If God Wills.”

Muslims also believes that after death paradise is earned through keeping the five pillars of Islam. The Bible, in contrast, discovers the sinful man can never calculate up to the holy God. Only by God’s grace may sinners be saved through the faith in Jesus.

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Five Pillars of Islam in Relation with Spiritual and Physical Health of A Muslim

The word Islam comes from the root word “sa-la-ma” and the word “Muslim” means the one follows the message of Islam and “salaam” means peace. The root word “Sa-la-ma” means peace, security and safety and submission to almighty god. When a person submits himself to god, he will encounter a sense of security and peacefulness. The five pillars of Islamic religion have been analyzed with health perspective that also helps in spiritual and physical health. Now let’s get to know how these pillars work in relation to spiritual and physical health in the light is Islam.

Faith: The first pillar of Islam is faith which can be expressed in the authority of Allah Almighty which means the worshiper submits himself to his creator of the universe. When any follower has such kind of belief then no disaster or difficulty can touch you. This is the major reason why Muslims should never be pessimistic in worst conditions just because of his trust and belief on Allah Almighty.

Prayer: The second and the most important pillar of Islamic religion is Prayer. Apart from being Prayer as religious compulsion it also elevates you’re sacred health. Doing prayer also increases the physical health of Muslims. Three attributes that are associated with prayer are as under:

Ablution: Performing Wudu (Ablution) is an obligation before the prayer. Performing Ablution involves the cleaning of all the exposed parts of the body like mouth, face, feet, hands and ears. Hence, performing ablution improves the health and hygiene and ultimately it adds to the physical health.

Quran Recitation: For any Muslim, ultimate source of guidance is Quran which also gives them the appropriate code of conduct for life. Quran is recited during prayers as it enhances the physical and mental health of any person. Therefore, reciting Quran is more emphasized amongst children so that they can grow mentally and spiritually healthy.

Physical Exercise: There are certain types of body postures that are made during prayer time. These postures are taken in respect of all the physical exercise on all the major muscles of the body. Therefore, performing prayer 5 times a day is a physical activity and also keeps the body and mind healthy.

Charity: In Islamic religion there s the concept of Zakat (charity) which means to purify or cleanse. Although it means to cleanse the wealth of person and also it cleanses the deeper soul with wide heart and being greedy is one of the biggest curses.

Fasting: The fourth pillar of Islamic religion is fasting and for maintaining the physical health, it is considered to be the best way to lose weight. Apart from being it a religious compulsion, fasting helps in cleaning the impurities of body.  Muslims observes the fasting during the month of Ramadan keeps themselves away from eating or drinking from dusk to dawn. Fasting helps in enhancing the health conditions physically.

Hajj: The fifth pillar of Islamic religion is Hajj and the activities comprises of all the physical and spiritual activities that improves the health of the person. The universal gathering during Hajj, elevates the spiritual and physical health of any Muslim.

In a nutshell, Islam is not just doing prayer or being moral obligation but it’s following complete code of conduct which empowers the Muslims to enjoy life, may it be spiritual or physical.

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Overview of Islamic Calendar

Talking traditionally, Muslims do not “celebrate” the New Year beginning but here we accept the fact that the time can be utilized for reflecting your own morality. In the Islamic religion, the passage of time is measured by the calendar. This Islamic calendar has 12 lunar months, the beginning and ending are determined with sighting the crescent moon. In this calendar, years are counted since Hijrah, which means when Prophet Muhammad migrated from Makkah to Madinah (approx in July 622 AD).

Origin of Islamic Calendar:

The Islamic calendar was first introduced by a very close associate of Prophet Muhammad, Umar ibn Al-Khattab. In approx 638 A.D, during the leadership of Prophet Muhammad, he consulted with his experts regarding the dating systems which were used in this time. As it was decided by the whole Muslim community that suitable reference point is Hijrah and it has become the turning point for all the people in a Muslim community. After Muslims got emigrated to Madinah they can easily recognize the first ever “Muslim Community” with economic and political independence. Life in Madinah, Muslim community started to get more mature and strengthened and the entire community was formed as per the Islamic principles.  

Islamic Months

The Islamic months starts at sunset of the first day, means the day when first-time lunar crescent is sighted visually. The lunar year is counted as 364 days long, so the months rotate backward through the seasons and it is not fixed to the Gregorian calendar. The months of Islamic years are as under:

·       Muharram – Which means “forbidden” – It is a month in which it is forbidden to fight or doing any war.

·       Safar – Which means “Empty” or “Yellow”

·       Rabia Awal – Means “First Spring”

·       Rabia Thani – Means “Second Spring”

·       Jumaada Awal – Means “ First Freeze”

·       Jumaada Thani – Means “Second Freeze”

·       Rajab – Means “To Respect” – it is another holy month when fighting is prohibited.

·       Sha’ban – Means to “Spread”

·       Ramadan – Means “Parched Thirst” – it is the month of daytime fasting

·       Shawwal – To be light and vigorous

·       Dhul- Qi’dah – the month of Rest – Another holy month when war or fighting is allowed.

·       Dhul- Hijjaj – The month of Hajj – in this month annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Hence, no fighting or war is allowed.  

Islamic Prayers

In Islam, Muslims prays directly to Allah and believes that it should be done with clean heart, mind, and body. Muslims performs the prayers in the state of purity and free from physical impurities. In this respect, ritual ablutions is performed which is called as wudu and is necessary before each Islamic prayer time. In this process, they wash the parts of the body which are generally exposed to dirt. Ablution (wudu) helps the devotee to take a break from normal running life to prepare to enter the state of worship.

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