History and Islamic Studies - Essay Example

Name Tutor Course Date Islamic Culture Introduction Islam is a global and comprehensive religion. It covers all aspects of life. Islam’s greatest beauty is in its culture. The culture of the people includes their rules of behavior, beliefs, rituals, arts, styles of dressing, and technology ways of cooking and producing food, economic and political systems. According to Siddiqi, the culture of Islam is distinct. The culture in Islam is not eastern or Middle Eastern or Arabic (6). The culture is also not monolithic but has richness in diversity and varieties. Some elements in Islamic culture are constant and universally recognized by all Muslims. There are however some elements that are different and diverse from people to people and country to country in Islamic culture (Siddiqi 6). Belief in Sunnah and Qur’an The universals have their basis on the Sunnah and Qur’an while the variables have their basis on local customs of various people. There is thus, an Arabic Islamic culture, African Islamic culture, indo-Pakistani Islamic culture, Chinese culture of Islam and so there can be a Western Islamic culture or America Islamic culture. Siddiqi argues that anywhere Muslims live they are supposed to develop an Islamic culture that is distinct and they should also interact and collaborate with people from diverse cultures (7). Their culture is based on Sunnah and Quran together with great human learning and experience. Muslims argue that they have gained from everyone’s knowledge and that they should hence be open to every knowledge in order to keep their culture dynamic and strong (Siddiqi 7). Devine Guidance Islamic culture has got several characteristics and the main one being that the culture is theocentric or God-centered. According to Guillain, Muslims uphold strict monotheism (Tawhid) (10). They believe in divine guidance brought by the many messengers and prophets of God and the Last Prophet Muhammad. They believe that there is life after death and in the Day of Judgment. Muslims emphasize devotion and worship: fasting, prayers Hajji and Zakat. They also uphold that certain things are allowed, and certain things forbidden by Allah and they, therefore, avoid the Haram and emphasis on Halal (Guillain 4). The culture also emphasizes on egalitarianism, tolerance and fraternity. The Islamic culture emphasizes that people are equal, and racism or any color bias is not accepted. It believes in the value and worth of every human being all creation of God. Muslims believe in religious freedom and do not accept compulsion in religious matters (Siddiqi 8). Dignity and Morality The Islamic culture places a lot of emphasis on human beings dignity and their morality. Muslims emphasize truthfulness, modesty, honesty and cleanliness. The culture is against extremists, show off and extravagance and instead emphasizes on generosity and charity. Islamic culture is family-oriented emphasizing greatly on good spouse relations, extended families, and good care of children, respect and love for the elders. Islam abhors fornication, adultery, use of intoxicants, homosexuality, or gambling. The Islam culture demands of the Muslims to uphold those values wherever they live among any people and at any time. The Muslims cannot be true if their culture compromises on those principles. Islamic culture is said to be to be word affirming, progressive, dynamic and not ascetic or world-denying: the culture emphasizes change, struggle, social justice, removal, evil and oppression. Islam encourages education, learning and seeking of knowledge and it does not also make bifurcation between secular and religious education. Islamic culture believes that every kind of knowledge is paramount and hence emphasizes open willingness and mindedness to gain wisdom from any source. The culture promotes architecture, good art, health, esthetics, clean entertainment and healthy environment. Islamic culture is non-exclusivist optimistic and Da’ wah-oriented. The culture insists on promotion of good things with patience and wisdom. Muslims uphold that their culture is not colonizing or dominating neither is it exclusivist and isolationist. They believe in inviting everyone to Islam willingly without coercion. The culture teaches dialogue and listens to others and believes that the human nature is awesome. It also belies that if people are given a chance to learn and know Islam the way it is, they will find it fulfilling and satisfying. Muslims strongly believe that falsehood will vanish and the truth will prevail and emphasize on patience and remind each other that they should keep working steadfastly putting their trust in their creator, Allah who is the Lord and sustainer of the worlds (Siddiqi 9). Shariah Law The Islamic Shariah refers to code of practice that is divine and guides all the affairs of a Muslim. It is divided into Muamalat (system of dealing) and Ebadat (system of worship). The Muslims also believe in Allah, who has two main sources (the Quran and the Sunnah) of governing all the laws of Islam. The Quran is the book of Allah while Sunnah refers to the authentic recording of sayings, Prophet Traditions and whatever his companion did or sail to which he did not show any objection. Belief in Jihad The Islamic culture encourages the Jihad. In Islam, Jihad doesn’t mean “Holy war” and isn’t a war declaration against other religions, specifically not against Jews and Christians. Literary, Jihad means exerting more efforts or struggling. It means striving than usual to better one’s self and the entire community. It has a societal, combative and internal dimension. Jihad’s internal dimension encompasses the struggle against the self’s evil inclinations; it encompasses every Muslim’s moral struggles to resist every external or internal inclination towards all kinds of sin. The struggles include overcoming difficulties, problems, tasks and temptations (Guillain 12). The social dimension involves struggling against the social injustices and creating a charity based communal identity, equality and respect. Jihad’s combative aspect is in the form of a war that is just, and it is to be used to fight forces of evil oppression and tyranny or against aggression and observe the limits of conduct established by Islam. The limits preserve innocent people’s lives and the sanctity of the environment. Islam rejects every form of fundamentalism, terrorism, fanatism, and extremism. Islam as a religion guarantees life’s sanctity (non-Muslim’s life is considered as sacred as Muslim’s), property, honor and freedom to practice and embrace any religion they choose freely. Terrorizing people or spreading fear in societies or hurting others; all are vied as major sins in Islam; severe punishment has been prescribed by Allah for whoever gets involved in such actions (The Islamic Bulletin). Marriage and Relationships Culturally Islam views women as capable, equal and mature partner of a man without whom families cannot exist. Islam teaches that women and men are all Allah’s creation, existing in equal value and worth. Some societies treat women according to tribal tradition and ancestral customs. However, Islam treats them with honor and full respect. Islam preserves the dignity and honor of a woman and requires her honorable and respectful treatment. Her femininity shouldn’t be exploited in whichever way; rather a woman should be treated and regarded as a human individual whose sex does not enter into the relationship she has with any person a part from her husband. Marriage can, therefore, not take place until the female freely agrees and she is given dowry. Islam prioritizes the husband the wife and it the husband’s responsibility to provide for the family while raising children is the wife’s responsibility. Those are the main priorities however cooperation between the wife and her husband is highly recommended and required (The Islamic Bulletin). Dress Code For both females and males, Islam requires that they are dressed decently, properly, modestly, and clean clothes. The Muslim women are to wear Hijab, which is the head covering as instructed in the Quran by Allah. A Muslim woman may undress her outer garments and be free to make herself beautiful as she needs when she is at home with immediate family such as the husband, brothers, children, uncles, and grandfathers and with other women. Unlawful adornment and clothing: transparent clothing, tight clothes, clothes exposing those body parts which are attractive sexually, swim suits, extravagant clothes, perfume or makeup in public, hairpieces and wigs, silk and gold are prohibited to only men, but unlawful to women. Precisely, in Islam, the sexual attributes and beauty of women aren’t for public display (Guillain Charlotte. 6). Adherence to Islam The adherence to Islam, as compared to other religions, varies with the strength of the people’s beliefs. Traditions and culture sometimes shadow or even interfere with religion. The beliefs and practices of Muslims should not be judged based on laws and beliefs of other religions because one religion’s lawful practices can be portrayed as wrong or even unlawful by another religion. Certain peoples conduct sometimes can be offensive could offend others and vise versa despite the fact that the conduct is not meant to offend. For instance, Muslims are commanded by Islam to lower their eyes while talking to others out of honor and respect for others. However, to other cultures, this could be offending where eye contact, during communication, is very important (Guillain 6 ). Architecture and Art Islamic architecture and art often reflect religious beliefs. For instance, Muslims avoid showing animals and people in their artwork. Powerful Islamic rulers, traditionally, employed craftsmen, architects and artists to create buildings and objects that are beautiful. Their work’s results can be seen in the Islamic world. Mosques, where Muslims worship, are among the stunning Islamic buildings. Other Islamic architectures include fortresses, homes and palaces. Mosques are built as Muslims places of meeting and praying together. Features like central porches and courtyard in south and north walls were the features in the first mosques. Several mosques and other monuments contain vast domes, like the Jerusalem Dome of the Rock. Inside, decoration can include beautiful calligraphy and colorful painted tiles (Guillain 6). The garden culture of Islam developed in the hot and desert countries of the North Africa, Turkey, Middle East and India. Cooling gardens were built from 900s CE onwards. Gardens are fundamental in the culture of Islam because they offer a peaceful, cool refuge from the bustle and heat of city life. Persons can use them to think and reflect about Paradise as described in the Quran (Guillain Charlotte. 6). Praying five times in a day It is required of the Muslims to pray five times each day where men are encouraged to conduct their prayers from the mosques rather than home so as to strengthen community bonds. Women are given a special concession that is if they wish to pray from home because of their family responsibilities. Many Muslims, depending on work schedule and lifestyle, pray in workplaces, at home or during travel in the car whenever the prayer time for either each of the five prayer approaches daily. It is usual for Muslims to keep prayer mats in their cars and simply at any place at the time of prayer spreading out on the ground and offering their prayers towards Ka’aba’s direction, in Mecca, which is the starting point and center of Islam. Full of meditative concentration is needed while reciting the prayer. Paying attention to the environment or talking is not allowed except in emergencies. Sick and old people are allowed to recite the prayers while lying on bed or while seated. The special day of prayer is Friday and most Muslims opt to go to the mosques. Since Muslims pray on prostrate and rugs before God inside the Mosque, stepping on a prayer mat with shoes is disrespectful. In Western cultures, when non-Muslim visitors get invited for interfaith gatherings, complete wall to wall rugs are spread over the mats such that the visitors do not take off their shoes. Prayer mats are spread in any room in the homes (Guillain Charlotte. 6). The Right to Live Islam upholds the right to live. It considers human life extremely valuable and sacred. It is also deeply concerned with the liberation of humans from all kinds of bondages; it fought and is still fighting it. An Imam’s role, traditionally, is to guide in the matters of worship, lead prayers for a group, and perform services like funeral and marriage rite. They also provide guidance and support spiritually. Muslim has no clergy and an Imam comes from the Muslim community and has to be good standing, selected or hired for this purpose. A Muslim believes in direct spiritual connections with God hence Imams aren’t considered intercessors. When a designated Imam is absent, any member, especially an elderly, present during prayer steps up and fills the Imam’s position (Sharon Pluralism Network) Belief in God Muslims believe in infinite, one unique merciful, all-powerful God, Allah, is the Sustainer and Creator of the universe. Everything is contingent on God, including nature. There is nothing, yet, like Him- unqualified differences exist between the human and the divine. Man is a creature of God, created from clay and orthodox Muslims criticize Islamic mystics for the affirmation of their experience of oneness with God. 99 names have been given to God by the Koran however, His essence is unknowable. The revelations of God have been sent to humans through messengers and prophets. He has spoken to all persons in history through prophets but messengers such as Moses, Abraham, Muhammad and Jesus have universal significance. Before Muhammad, Jesus is revered the greatest of all however, he isn’t the son of God. Muhammad didn’t preach any unique faith, but collected all previous revelations, and is therefore the Last prophet for humanity (Lampman Jane p 4) Pilgrimage The Islam culture provides for Pilgrimage, which is the hajj. The pilgrimage to Mecca should be done by every Muslim able to so; it’s a once in a lifetime obligation. Pilgrims worldwide don simple garments to do away with distinctions of culture and class, showing that everyone is equal before God. Major festivals celebrated by Muslims like the Eid al-Adha mark the close of the hajj.Muslims believe that it was during Ramadan when Prophet Muhammad received his first revelations from God, which were written, latter, in the Koran. The Koran calls on the Muslim faithful to fast for a whole month so as to gain spiritual guidance and learn self-restraint. Ramadan also, is a time traditionally to extend charitable acts and forgiveness. If someone engages in acts like slander and lying, they could lose the good gained while fasting (Lampman Jane p 5) Conclusion A lot of people view Islamic culture as traditional, naïve, primitive and backwards because they believe that the culture inculcates radicalism in their young ones. The Muslims however hold that Islam rejects all forms of fundamentalism, terrorism, and extremism. Islam as a religion guarantees life’s sanctity, where the life of a non-Muslim is considered as sacred as that of a Muslim. Islam also honors property and offers freedom to its believers to practice and embrace any religion they choose freely, and any other conduct so long as the conducts don’t hurt others Works Cited Siddiqi, Muzammil, 5 Features of Islamic Culture. Retrieved on 19th November 2014 from (2014). The Islamic Bulletin, Islamic Beliefs and Practices, Retrieved on 18th November 2014 from Guillain, Charlotte, Islamic Culture. Chicago: Raintree 2013. Sharon Pluralism Network, Partners in a diverse community, Muslim Culture. Retrieved on 18th November 2014 from (2014) Lampman, Jane. The Christian Science Monitor, Islam: beliefs and practices, Retrieved on 18th November 2014 from (2001). Read More