Islam

= ** Muhammad ** = ** Early Life ** Muhammad was born into Quranish tribe at Mecca 570 CE. The name Muhammad means 'highly praised'. He was orphaned at a young age and raised by his grandfather. Uncle then adopted him after his grandfathers death. Muhammad went into business and worked for a wealthy widow, Khadijah, whom eventually married and had 6 children with. Muhammad is described as a deep and reflective character and as he grew up he would often seek time to be alone.

** Prophet's Practice ** Muhammad often visited a cave on Mount Hira which is located outside Mecca. He would stay all night and meditate. IN 610 CE, about the age of 40, he received his first religious experience.

** Revelations ** The archangel Gabriel visited him and announced that he would be the messanger of Allah. He spoke to close family about unity and supremacy of Allah, fear of hell, inequity of idolatry and he reward of faith in paradise. Visions Continued of the next 23 years until his death in 632. The verses were later written down by the prophet's followers and eventually collected to form the sacred scripture of Islam known as the Qur'an.

** Preaching ** When he began preaching he spoke out about ideas. these included rejecting tribal ideas, show charity to the poor, free the slaves and faked equality and justice for all.

** Eventually ** At his significance grew and people started following him, he also found opposition and resistance from those who were committed to their ancestral beliefs and tribal rights as well as merchants and commercial interest groups. Authorities perceived him as a threat and he and his friends suffered violent persecutions. they were smeared with filth, stoned, beaten, tortured and even killed. Khadijah saved his life. =The Qur'an = === The Qur'an is the principal scripture of Islam, it accounts for the word's spoken by Allah written down by the Prophet Muhammad. The Qur'an exposes the will of Allah to all, and is meant to be read allowed and from this the word "Qur'an" meaning recitation has come about. The Qur'an teaches that their is only one God and people should believe in Absolute supremacy of God. ===

=== The Qur'an consists of 114 chapters called the suras, which are organised in sequence of decreasing length, therefore the longest Suras are at the front and the shortest at the back, although their is an exception of the first one. The shorter suras are revelations to Muhammed in Mecca and longer ones in the city of Medina. The Qur'an can be difficult to decifer especially for an ordinary person. ===

The Hadith:
=== The hadith is the traditional accounts of the saying's and deeds of the prophet Muhammed and are presented in a special Islamic literary style. The two major aspects of a hadith. are the text of the report, which contains the actual narrative, and the chain of narrators, which documents the route by which the report has been transmitted. The //isnad// consists of a chronological list of the narrators, each mentioning the one from whom they heard the hadith, until mentioning the originator of the //matn// along with the //matn// itself. ===

The sunna:
===the Sunna is the second most authoritative text in Islam. It is the 'traditions' that are based on the Hadith ('statements'). It covers the traditions and practices of Muhammad the Muslims should emulate. ===

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
 * PRINCIPAL BELIEFS.**
 * 1) <span style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 3.2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Belief in God (Allah), the one and only one worthy of all worship (Tahwid)
 * 2) <span style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 3.2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Belief in the Angels
 * 3) <span style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 3.2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Belief in the Books (kutub) sent by Allah (including the Qurʾān).
 * 4) <span style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 3.2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Belief in all the Messengers (//Rusul)// sent by Allah
 * 5) <span style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 3.2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Belief in the Day of Judgment (//Qiyama//) and in the Resurrection (life after death).
 * 6) <span style="line-height: 1.5em; list-style-image: none; margin-bottom: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 3.2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Belief in Destiny (Fate) (//Qadar).//