The Basics
Mohammad was an Arabian merchant born in the late sixth century. According to tradition, in 610 the angel Gabriel informed him that he was the last messenger of Allah. He began to preach this new message – Islam, which means “submission.”
Although his preaching covered a wide variety of topics, his main concerns were monotheism and the end of idolatry. Arabia was deeply polytheistic at the time, and Mohammad even considered the Christians to be polytheistic for worshiping God as a trinitarian being. Mohammad’s friends began to record his revelations, which would later make up the Quran. The Quran affirmed the teachings of Allah which had come before from the prophets, including the Old Testament and Jesus (a prophet in Islam). It is the central authority of Islam.
Islam is centered around faith in Allah alone, the Quran, prayer, the example of Mohammad, and tradition.
The History
Islam won Mohammad many converts and many enemies. This combination quickly led to armed conflict. In modern-day Saudi Arabia, his military conquests quickly won him Medina and then Mecca. By the end of his life, the whole Arabian peninsula was Muslim.
Soon after Mohammad died, sectarian differences began to develop. There was a disagreement between Muslims about who would be an appropriate successor to Mohammad. The Sunnis believed the successor should be a political leader, elected by the community. The Shia believed the successor should be a blood descendant chosen by Allah, who would protect them from sin and give them spiritual authority.
The Muslim world favored the Sunni from early on. After an early Shia defeat, they elected Abu Bakr, a close friend of Mohammad, as the first Caliph. The Sunni Caliph is the leader of Islam, but the role is primarily political, not doctrinal or religious. Sunni do not believe in intercessors – alive or dead – the leaders in Islam are simply well-learned Muslims. Consequently, the Caliph has immense power as the rightful leader of the Muslim world, but is still beholden to the Quran and to the hadiths.
Under the early Caliphates, Islam continued growing and rapidly expanding due to military conquest. Within 80 years, the Muslims had reached Spain. 20 years after that, they reached France. 20 years after that, the Islamic golden age began, marking a period of prosperity, mathematical and scientific progress, ending with the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols. In 1453, the Muslims conquered Constantinople (today Istanbul), ending the Byzantine (eastern Roman) empire. Following this, defeats in Spain, Lepanto, and eventually WWI ended Muslim conquest and the Caliphate itself. Today, there is no Caliph.
Today, the Sunnis make up about 85% of Muslims, populating Saudi Arabia and several other countries, while the Shia are mainly Iraqi.
Big Ideas
Nearly all Muslims agree on the “five pillars,” derived from Quran, Hadith, and tradition.
(1) Profession of faith in Allah.
(2) Prayer facing Mecca, five times per day.
(3) Almsgiving of 2.5% for all who are financially able.
(4) Fasting during the day for the month of Ramadan.
(5) Pilgrimage to Mecca, in imitation of Mohammad.
There are some dissenters, such as “Quranists,” who only use the Quran without any hadith and may not keep to these, but they are negligible in numbers.
Furthermore, the six theological articles of faith are:
(1) The oneness of Allah – again, opposed staunchly to polytheism and even the “polytheism” attributed to Christians.
(2) Belief in angels and jinn. Angels are very similar to the other Abrahamic religions. However, jinn are not demons. Allah created them from fire (Quran 55:15). They can be believing or unbelieving and they are accountable for their actions. They “hide” from humans by morphing into animals are other aspects and keep to themselves. Like angels, their general purpose is to help humans, but unlike the sinless angels, they are imperfect. There are no demons in Islam.
(3) Belief in the holy books. That is, the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran are all the word of Allah. Modern Muslims argue that the Bible is corrupt beyond recognition, with the original message of Islam obfuscated through human changes and errors.
(4) Belief in the prophets. This includes the prophets of old – the Quran tells the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Lot, and several other prophets mentioned and not mentioned in the Torah. It also teaches that Jesus was a sinless prophet, born of the virgin Mary, who preached Islam and taught that the prophet Mohammad was to come.
(5) Belief in judgment and the afterlife. On judgment day, Allah will bodily resurrect all men and jinn for judgment. Generally, Muslims believe that Muslims and those who never heard Islam but were faithful to Allah go to Heaven. Heaven is described as, “having whatever you wish, forever” (Quran 25:16). It is a garden full of pleasure, full-bosomed young virgins, and the love of Allah (Quran 44:51-54, 9:72, 38:52, 52:17-20, 55:56, 56:22, 56:35, 78:33). Hell is the opposite – it is eternal physical and psychological torment. Punishments include your skin being melted off and replaced perpetually, being bound with chains, and beatings with maces and hooks (4:56, 40:72, 22:21-22). They do have a concept of Purgatory, a realm in-between these states for those who are not yet pure enough for Heaven.
(6) The Sunnis believe in predestination – a mysterious cooperation between Allah and man to work out man’s salvation. The Shia reject this notion, claiming it unjust to judge predestined men. Generally, the Sunnis tend to resort to explanations of how foreknowledge does not necessitate compulsion, but this misses the real issue of predestination: if Allah is omnipotent, how can man act without compulsion? The mysterious answer is that Allah omnipotently compels man to be free, while simultaneously determining man’s actions. But a full exegesis on that topic would be too much for this page.
Conclusion
Islam is an Abrahamic religion with a focus on strict, definable monotheism. The sense of the faithful, scholarly consensus, example of Mohammad, and early tradition has guided Islam through time. Today, roughly 26% of the world is Muslim.
My analysis of Islam will be focused on the Quran contradicting settled history and even contradicting itself.
You can follow the hyperlink here or navigate to the critiques using the menu.