The Origin and Meaning of Islam - Essay Example

Islam: Origin and Branches Introduction Islam, as it is today, is one of the main ical religions in the world with atotal population of 1.6 billion followers. As a religion, Islam began in the Middle East. Its origin is closely associated to the efforts of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) who died in the year 632 AD. However, it is today practiced in all the continents across the globe, thus, becoming one of the main religions along side Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. Despite its expansive history, Islam has also suffered a series of schism that has made it to be split along the Shia and Sunni groups. This paper presents an in-depth and critical analysis of the history of Islam and the major differences between the Shia and Sunni sects (Esposito 97). It does this by focusing on the origin and meaning of the religion and goes ahead to look at the differences between the beliefs hold by the Shia and Sunni and how they have impacted on their relationships. The Origin and Meaning of Islam Islam is a religion that was coined from an Arabic word ‘salema’ which can be interpreted to mean ‘submission, peace or obedience.’ As a monotheistic religion, all Muslims (believers of Islamic faith) are required to submit to the Allah and worship Him as the only God. Meaning, they should submit to His will and always accept to obey His laws because it is the best thing to do by a believer as it can provide peace and fulfillment. Just like any other religion, Islam has a set of doctrines that are contained in a Quran-its main holy book. These were passed through Prophet Mohamed (PBUH). In terms of teachings, Islam has its unique set of doctrines that all its believers are expected to practice. These fundamental teachings can be summarized into five main pillars: shahadah; sawm; salat; zakat; and hajj. Each of these stipulates requirements that each and every Muslim needs to fulfill as part of their spiritual pursuit. For instance, according to shahadah, each and every believer should not believe in the existence of any other god rather than Allah and His prophet Mohamed (PBUH). On the other hand salat requires believers to say prayers to Allah five times per day. Meanwhile, zakat advocates for the contribution of alms by each and every believer so as to help the poor people who can not afford daily bread. Nonetheless, sawm requires every Muslim believer to perform the ritualistic annual fasting during the holy month of Ramadan (Esposito 91). Last, but not least, hajj, all able Muslim believers need to pay pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their life time because it is the holy city of Islam. In terms of origin, Islam also has a very expansive history. Even though the non-Muslims attribute its origin to the time of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), Muslims hold the view that the religion had been in existence long before that because its presence was even witnessed during the time of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Moses and Isa (Jesus) who are all believed to be Allah’s prophets. They are also venerated in the Quran as God’s prophets. This refutes the claim that the religion might have originated in Medina and Mecca during Prophet Mohamed’s time. It is because of this reason that Mohamed himself is believed to be the Allah’s last prophet. It was mainly after his death in 632 AD that the spread of Islamic faith gained momentum and expanded beyond the Middle East to other territories including Spain, Safavid, India, Somalia and Ottoman empires. According to Islamic historians, Islamic faith was born in 610 when Mohamed, at the age of 40, in Mecca, was approached by Angel Gabriel, got a revelation of the Quran and informed of Allah’s choice to make him His chosen prophet. This is believed to have been a major turning point in the history of this religion because, Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), upon receiving instructions, started mobilizing his people to worship Allah, an occurrence that led to massive persecutions that lasted for a very long time. Later in 622, he was compelled to relocate to Medina in which the new faith was warmly received. Here, Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) took the opportunity to establish the first ever Islamic state using the laws that had been revealed to him in the Holy Quran (Robinson 648). After returning to Mecca in 630, Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) was accepted by his people who eventually embraced Islam. In simple terms, the history of the origin of Islam can be categorized into periods: the city state period (lasted between 620s-630s); the imperial period (lasted between 630s-750); universal period (lasted between 750s-900s); and the decentralization period (lasted between 900s-1500s). Each of these marks a very important period in the history of the religion especially after the death of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) in 632 when his successors had to continue with the work of spreading the Islamic faith across the world. It is through the continued activities of the Muslim conquests that led to the expansion of Islamic faith to other territories including North Arabia (638 CE); Egypt (641 CE); North Africa (655CE): Spain (711 CE); Nigeria (1,000 CE); and Malaysia (1,120 CE). These were not simple tasks since they involved military conquests that were at times lost as it was wedged against other religious faiths such as Christianity. Differences between Shia and Sunni Sects As a religion, Islam is mainly divided into Shia and Sunni. These are two main sects that have been in existence in the religion for a very long time. Sunni is a sect whose name was derived from an Arabic word which simply means ‘following the traditions of the prophet.’ This implies that it is a sect which abides by Prophet Mohamed’s sunnah. It constitutes 85% of the Muslim community globally. On the other hand, Shia is the short form of "Shia-t-Ali" which simply means Ali’s party. Unlike their sunni counterparts, Shiites are mainly the followers of Ahl-al-Bayt because they ‘belong to the household of the prophet.’ It constitutes around 15% of the Muslim population and mainly found in Syria, Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and Bahrain. Although these sects believe in Allah, Mohamed (PBU) and the holy Quran, they have a lot of differences which have torn them apart. First, the Sunnis and the Shiites differ about the belief on the successor of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH). To the Sunnis, the prophet’s rightful successor had to be elected from amongst his closest companions. They held the view that the Muslim world would be ruled by a leader who was to be elected on the basis that he qualified for the job. Since Sunni advocates for the upholding of the prophet’s traditions, it was the elevation of Abu Bakr, prophet’s advisor as a Caliph that would be considered as a rightful thing to do in order to continue with the prophet’s traditions. However, the Shia sect believed that the prophet’s successor could not be elected. Instead, Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) was to be succeeded by his own cousin Ali bin Abu Taib because he was one of the Imams who had been appointed by the prophet and Allah himself. This implies that the Shiites believed that a Muslim leader had to get his legitimacy and authority from Allah and Prophet Mohamed (PBUH). So, the position had to be inherited by none rather than Ali bin Abu Taib himself (Graham and Rend 30). Besides, the Sunnis and Shiites differ on religious practices that define them as true Muslims. Whereas the Sunnis believe in the observation of 5 pillars, Shiites observe 7 pillars of Islam. On their part, the Sunnis stick to the doctrine of hajj, shahadah, sawn, zakat and salat. As a sect, a Muslim is only allowed to observe these pillars without adding or omitting any of them. Contrarily, the Shiites decided to add two more pillars- Hadhrat Muhammad (s.a.w.), Hadhrat Ali (r.a.) and jihad. They hold the view that the prophet’s family should form part of the fundamental practices of Islamic religion. Also, the Shiites believe that a true Muslim should take part in a jihadist war so as to help in defending Islamic faith from any non-believers who might act in a violation of the ways of Allah and His prophet. However, jihad is regarded as haram by the Sunnis (Lapidus 36). This justifies why Shiites have been accused of extremism because they are often associated with outfits that advocate for the use of jihad in the name of protecting the religion. Lastly, the Sunnis and the Shiites hold different practices. For the Shiites, temporary marriage is an accepted activity that believers are allowed to engage in. however, this is forbidden amongst the Sunnis who hold the view that temporary marriage should be forbidden because it is haram. So, to them, true believers should be identified with permanent marriage system. Despite accepting Quran as the holy book in the religion, it is n the Sunnis who believe in the inclusion of hadith as a religious text because it contains narrations of some of the imams whom they consider as enemies of Islam. Indeed, Shiites reject the hadith since it contains narrations of people such as Umar ibn Khatta, Abu Bakr and Aisha that can not be accepted as part of Islamic traditions and doctrines (Graham and Rend 67). It is because of such differences that these groups hold differing views regarding religious practices touching on pilgrimage, fasting and prayer. Obviously, these differences have greatly impacted on the relationship between these sects. Although they are all Muslims, they have been involved in lots of animosities because they have not actually agreed on exactly who between them is a true Muslim. The violence that erupted between these sects can be traced to the year 680 CE shortly after the murder of Hussein Ali by the Sunni caliphs has persisted up to the present times because these sects are still engaged in antagonism over who exactly is the real and true Muslim. This justifies why the Sunni and Shia governments fight in Iran, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. However, unlike it was earlier, the Shiites and Sunnis no longer fight because of the controversies surrounding Prophet Mohamed’s succession. Instead, their wars have been propelled by political and religious differences between them (Merrick and Sengupta 1). For instance, for a long time, the Iranian Shia government has been engaging in a fierce battle with the Sunni governments of Saudi Arabia and other gulf regions. According to a research conducted in 2014 by the Pew Research Centre, 40% of the Iranian Sunnis still believe that Shiites are not true Muslims. While the Shiites accuse the Sunnis of being a heresy merely because of their veneration of the ayatollahs, the Shiites are perceived as being dogmatic and extremists (Merrick and Sengupta 1). This is what has led to the establishment of extremist outfits such as the Wahhabis. Such disagreements made the former Iraqi dictator Sadam Hussein, a jingoistic Sunni, to persecute the Shiites whom he contemptuously referred to as ‘the people of temporary marriage’ who deserved to be eliminated from the midst of true Muslims. All in all, the Sunni-Shia disagreements have culminated into antagonism in different countries in the world in which Islam is practiced as a religion (Lapidus 29). In conclusion, Islam has had a very long history. Although it founded many years after Judaism and Christianity, it has emerged to be the fastest growing religion in the world. Since it considers Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) as its founder, his death in 632 CE marked a great moment in its history because it led to the outbreak of succession wars that resulted into the creation of sectarian groups-Sunni and Shia. Whereas the Shiites believed that Muslim leadership was hereditary and needed to be passed to the prophet’s own family, the Sunnis insisted that there was no birthright in Muslim leadership because it would be the mandate of the believers to elect their preferred leader without being imposed on them. As simple at it might appear, the Sunni-Shia disagreement has evolved into a sectarian war in many nations including Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon (Merrick and Sengupta 118). However, this is not necessary because it is not a good idea to discriminate or kill one another merely because of religious differences. All Muslims should acknowledge that they are members of one religion and should be ready to appreciate and tolerate one another as a true believer. Annotated Bibliography Lapidus, Ira. A History of Islamic societes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Print. In this book, Lapidus, discusses about the history of Islamic religion in selected communities. This can be of much value to this research because it provides background information about the religion. Graham E. Fuller and Rend, Rahim Francke. The Arab Shia: The Forgotten Muslims. New York: Saint Martins Press, 1999. Print. In this book, the authors present an in-depth discussion on the shia sect. according to their research, this is a sect in Islam which has lots of challenges that need to be addressed. It can also be an invaluable resource for this research because it contains well-researched, relevant and detailed information about the shia. Esposito, John (2000). Oxford History of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press. In this book, Esposito discusses about the history of Islam. As per his research, Ismlam, just like any other religion, has an expansive history that needs to be properly comprehended. The book is very useful to the research as it covers an important period in the history of Islam. This needs to be included in the research. Robinson, Chase F. The New Cambridge History of Islam. Volume 1: The Formation of the Islamic World, Sixth to Eleventh Centuries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print. In this book, the writer presents a detailed and comprehensive report on the research conducted about the history of Islam. It is very important to be included in the research as it presents a history that covers a very long period of time (from the 6th century up to the 11th century). Merrick, Jane; Sengupta, Kim (20 September 2009). "Yemen: The land with more guns than people". London: The Independent. Merrick and Sengupta wrote this article to provide an insightful story of the conflict in Yemen. This article, if properly used, can help in availing a lot of information about the longtime antagonism between the Shiites and sunnis in countries like Yemen in which there are majority Muslims. Read More