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The Middle East is home to some of the world's oldest religions that fall under what we call ‘Abrahimic traditions’. We know these religions as Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Although Islam is the youngest religion of the three, it is the most prevalent within Israel. Islam originated in Mecca around the 7th century CE, roughly about 600 years after the creation of Christianity, but remains the center of the Middle East.
Islam is a monotheistic faith, teaching that there is only one God (Allah) with over 2 billion followers known as Muslims. Islam indoctrinates that God is one, the creator and sustainer of our lives, he has no parents, siblings, sons nor daughters. He is all loving and forgiving. God has never come down and become an idol nor take part in our world, but has sent his revelation. He has deemed certain individuals as prophets or messengers; special human beings meant to deliver the message of Islam. Islam encompasses many traditions and beliefs that remain unchanged through the Quran; the book given to Muhammad, the last and final prophet. The early teachings of Islam begin with the story of Adam and Eve when God granted them life in paradise. He had given them one simple commandment which was to enjoy all that was given but to not approach one certain tree. Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan and went to the tree and ate.
According to Islamic theology Adam and Eve were eventually sent down to earth, and realized they had made a mistake with Allah. With God’s forgiving nature, he had forgiven Adam and Eve for their sins. When Adam was sent to earth God gave him one commandment, “Worship the creator, not the creation.”. As humanity had expanded God had appointed many prophets whom we know as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammad. All prophets God sent to earth were given the same ideology of “worship the Creator not the creation”. Islam revolves around one main creed being absolute submission to one God which each prophet preached to the people, that when we submit to one God we will receive the outcome of submission which is peace. Islam explores many articles of faith. The basic articles of faith are belief in one God, belief in angels, belief in prophets, belief in the divinely revealed books, belief in the day of judgement and lastly the belief in the divine decree. The belief in our one and only God is predominant to Islam, to know he is our creator and we need him to survive.
The belief of angels, knowing they do not act as a mediator between us and God, but a separate creation made from light. The second most important article of faith is our belief in each individual prophet. As a muslim they cannot deny any one of the prohets. Following after the prophets, muslims must accept the story told from the scriptures. Although we do not have those scriptures we have the Quran, the book given to Muhammad which shall not be lost or changed. The belief in the day of judgment is our time that comes at the end of life when we are evaluated by Allah. Muslims believe that every single person will be standing in front of God, and he will judge us based on how we lived our life and the deeds we have committed. Lastly, the sixth basic article of faith is the belief in the divine decree, to know that anything that happens in the universe happens by the will and power of God.
I had decided to visit the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida on Monday, November 25th to go and experience it for myself. The Mosque is a beautiful place with unique architecture for Muslims to go pray and participate in other regions of devotion. I walked in near the end of a prayer session, and afterwards an elderley gentleman had come to speak with me. He started by asking me what I already knew about Islam and we began discucssing the basic articles of faith. The gentleman proceeded to explain that the basic articles define what it means to be a muslim, without or to deny any of the articles forbids one to be a muslim. Furthermore, we look at our responsibilities as a muslim, once you have accepted all articles of faith, the five pillars of Islam. These five pillars include that there may only be one God and Muhammad is his messenger, performing ritual prayers properly five times a day, give to the poor, needy and homeless, fast during the month of Ramadan and lastly a trip to the Mecca. These pillars are what define a muslims day to day and frequent responsibilities.
The first pillar he called ‘Shahada’ which translates as the profession of faith, to correctly recite the Quran. Salat means prayer, muslims pray at dawn, noon, mid afternoon, sunset, and after dark facing Mecca and afterwards many discuss parts of the Quran. The gentleman explained Muslims need to always humble themselves, and in doing so they practice ‘zakat’, charity. Charity is crucial component to Islamic traditions, reminding us of our fortunate lives and to be mindful of those that may not be as privileged. Similar to charity there is fasting, a tradition called “Ramadan” a short term deprivation cycle to renew the gratitude everything our creator (Allah) has provided us with. Lastly, the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Muslims believe that it is important to take a journey to see the Ka’ba, the house that Abraham had built for God. They must visit the Mecca once in their lifetime, but for those who are fortunate enough to go every year, commonly go on the last day of the Islamic calendar. In full, Islam is a religious faith purposed through peace and gratitude from our absolute love for Allah and his beautiful creation of life.
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