Islam & its Cultural Interpretation





Islam & its Cultural Interpretation

Introduction

Islam is the second largest religion of the world, followed by more than one billion people. Quran is the foundation and scripture of Islam. Nearly, 20% of the total population is in Middle East, and more than 4 million living in United States. Literal meaning of Arabic word Islam means, “Submission”: submission to the will of Allah. Muslims worship one God, without any equal or partner, and Allah has sent many messengers, including Moses, Noah, Jesus, and his last and final Prophet was Muhammad (PBUH) (Esposito, p. 4). Following is a brief description of Islam as a religion (Esposito et.al, 2002). There are many misconceptions about Islam; it includes a discussion about the misconception and contrast among Islam and Christianity.

Articles of Faith

In Islam, there are six articles of faith, denying any of them makes a person, nonbeliever. These articles of faith are as follows.

Belief in Allah: Muslims believe in one and only God, i-e Allah. Without having faith in Allah, a person will not be considered a Muslim.

Belief in His Angels: it is the belief that there are hundreds and thousands of angels, and they have submitted their will to the will of God, entirely. They are assigned to perform certain duties.

Belief in his Revelations: A Muslim must believe in revelations by Allah. Every Muslim believes that Allah has revealed several guiding texts for humans. These include; Gospel, Torah, and final and ultimate revelation, the Quran. Islam teaches that revelation of the final book, the Quran, dismisses the earlier revelations.

Belief in his Prophets and Messengers: Every Muslim must believe that Allah has sent many Prophets and Messengers for human guidance. A few of them include; Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Adam, Noah, David, and Muhammad.

Belief in the Day of Judgment: Muslims must believe in the Day of Judgment. Islam teaches that there is a world after this world, where every person is held accountable of their deeds in this world. In the Day of Judgment, the people will be judged, and if their good deeds include their bad ones, they are awarded heaven if not, they go to hell. Moreover, Islam teaches that nonbelievers do not go to heaven (Allen, 2011).

Belief in Divine Predestination: According to this article, the Muslims must believe that God knows everything; everything that has ever happened and everything that will happen. Whatever God wills to happen, happens and whatever God does not will to happen, does not happen, and God is the Creator of Everything (Allen & Toorawa, p. 8).

Five Pillars of Islam

Five pillars of Islam, on which a Muslim must base his or her life, are;

Faith in one God (Allah): The testimony of faith that, there is one God and Muhammad is the Prophet of God makes a person Muslim.

Daily Prayers: Every Muslim is bound to pray five times a day. The times for prayers are defined with little flexibility. These prayers are called, “Fajr”, “Zuhr”, “Asar”, ...