Islam

Islam

Introduction

Islam is the name for the faith and the community of Muslims around the world who are adherents of the teachings of the Qur'an as revealed to Prophet Muhammad. It is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity. The majority of Muslims are Sunni, and the second largest portion of adherents belongs to the Shi'a branch of the tradition. While history dates Islam as originating in Arabia in 610 CE at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an to Prophet Muhammad, Muslims believe their religion to be the completed and universal version of a primordial and monotheistic faith revealed many times before—from the first person to be created, Adam, who is also regarded as a Prophet, to Muhammad, considered by Muslims to be the Last of the Prophets. Muslims believe that previously revealed scriptures, including the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian New Testament, became distorted in text or interpretation (Barkati, n.d.). There are 25 prophets mentioned in the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, including Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, and Jesus, although Muslims believe that a messenger was sent for every nation at various times.

Discussion

Historical Overview

Globally, there are an estimated 1.5 billion Muslims, making up about one fourth of the entire world population. Even though some people may associate the Middle East and North Africa with Islam, only 20% of the world's Muslims live there. The two distinct identities of Muslim and Arab are sometimes conflated because the majority of the population in the Middle East and North Africa is becoming increasingly Muslim, most of whom speak Arabic and regional dialects. The most populous Muslim country in the world is Indonesia, with more than 203 million Muslims. The countries with the largest Muslim populations after Indonesia are Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. There are smaller but growing communities of Muslims in Central Asia, Europe, and the Americas (Khan, 2012).

Roots of Islam

The word Islam is based on the Arabic root s-l-m. These consonants form the verbal noun Islam connoting both peace and submission. One of the Islamic names of Heaven is Dar al-Salaam, meaning “House of Peace.” The word Muslim, an active participle using the same root consonants, means “one who surrenders or submits” and “one who enters a state of peace.” Islam describes the relationship between humans and one all-knowing God as well as the relationship between God and Creation.

Alternate Conceptions of Islamism

While the discussion of Islamism as a force existing solely within the political sphere dominates its discussion within the social scientific realm, some recent work in feminism and anthropology explores Islamism as an arena of agency and resistance where women are able to use Islamic doctrine to expand their mobility and acquire status, influence, and authority within the mosque structure. These discussions suggest an alternate conception of Islamism as a pietist movement centered around mosques and the expansion of feminine autonomy within it (Patheos, 2013). In consciously engaging with the insufficiency of binary categories, such as agency and action, liberation and oppression, in ...