Islam

Islam (/ˈɪslɑːm/;[a] Arabic: الاسلام, romanized: al-’Islām, [ɪsˈlaːm] (listen)) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion whose central text, the Quran, is considered by followers, known as Muslims,[1] to be the word of God. [2][3] It is the world's second-largest religion with more than two billion followers or 24.9% of the world's population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful and unique,[6] and has guided humanity through prophets, revealed scriptures and natural signs, with the Quran as the final, universal revelation and Muhammad as the seal of the prophets, while the teachings and practices of Muhammad documented in traditional accounts provide a secondary constitutional model for Muslims to follow. [8]

Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed many times before through prophets such as Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. [9] Muslims consider the Quran, in Arabic, to be the unaltered and final revelation of God. [10] Like other Abrahamic religions, Islam also teaches a final judgment with the righteous rewarded in paradise and the unrighteous punished in hell. [11] Religious concepts and practices include the Five Pillars of Islam, which are obligatory acts of worship, as well as following Islamic law (sharia), which touches on virtually every aspect of life and society, from banking and welfare to women and the environment. [12][13] The cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem are home to the three holiest sites in Islam.

From a historical point of view, Islam originated in the early 7th century CE in the Arabian Peninsula, in Mecca. And by the 8th century, the Umayyad Caliphate extended from the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Indus River in the east. The Islamic Golden Age refers to the period traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th century, during the Abbasid Caliphate, when much of the historically Muslim world was experiencing a scientific, economic, and cultural flourishing. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various states and caliphates such as the Ottoman Empire, trade, and conversion to Islam by missionary activities (dawah).

Most Muslims are of one of two denominations: Sunni (85–90%)[20] or Shia (10–15%), and they make up a majority of the population in 49 countries. Sunni and Shia differences arose from a disagreement over the succession to Muhammad and acquired broader political significance, as well as theological and juridical dimensions. [ About 12% of Muslims live in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country;[27] 31% live in South Asia;[28] 20% in the Middle East–North Africa and 15% in sub-Saharan Africa. Sizable Muslim communities can also be found in the Americas, China, and Europe. Islam is the fastest-growing major religion in the world. 

 

The central concept of Islam is tawḥīd (Arabic:توحيد), the oneness of God. Usually thought of as a precise monotheism, but also panentheistic in Islamic mystical teachings... [41], God is seen as incomparable and without partners, such as in the Christian Trinity,[42] and associating partners to God or attributing God's attributes to others is seen as idolatry, called shirk. God is seen as transcendent of creation and so is beyond comprehension. Thus, therefore Muslims are not iconodules and do not attribute forms to God. God is instead described and referred to by several names or attributes, the most common being Ar-Rahmān (الرحمان), meaning "The Entirely Merciful," and Ar-Rahīm ( الرحيم), meaning "The Especially Merciful" which are invoked at the beginning of most chapters of the Quran. [43][44]

Islam teaches that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God's command as expressed by the wording, "Be, and it is," [iii][45] and that the purpose of existence is to worship God. [iv][46][47] He is viewed as a personal god[v][45]. There are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God. Consciousness and awareness of God are referred to as Taqwa. Allāh is a term with no plural or gender being ascribed to it and is also used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians, and Jews about God, whereas ʾilāh (Arabic: إله) is a term used for a deity or a god in general. Other non-Arab Muslims might use different names as much as Allah, for instance, "Tanrı" in Turkish or "Khodā" in Persian.

Angels (Arabic:ملك Malak) are beings described in the Quran[49] and hadith. [50]. They are described as created to worship God and also to serve other specific duties such as communicating revelations from God, recording every person's actions, and taking a person's soul at the time of death. They are described as being created variously from 'light' (nūr)[51] or 'fire' (nār)[52]. Islamic angels are often represented in anthropomorphic forms combined with supernatural images, such as wings, being of great size, or wearing heavenly articles. [53][vi][54]. Common characteristics of angels are their missing needs for bodily desires, such as eating and drinking. [55]. Some of them, such as Gabriel and Michael, are mentioned by name in the Quran. Angels play a significant role in the literature about the Mi'raj, where Muhammad encounters several angels during his journey through the heavens. [50]. Further, angels have often been featured in Islamic eschatology, theology, and philosophy. [56]

The Islamic holy books are the records that Muslims believe various prophets received from God through revelations, called wahy. Muslims believe that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, such as the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospel), had become distorted—either in interpretation, in text, or both [57]. At the same time, the Quran (lit. "Recitation")[58][59] is viewed as the final, verbatim, and unaltered word of God.

Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by God, through the archangel Gabriel (Jibrīl), on multiple occasions between 610 CE and 632, the year Muhammad died. [60]. While Muhammad was alive, these revelations were written down by his companions. However, the prime method of transmission was orally through memorization. [61]. The Quran is divided into 114 chapters (suras) which combined contain 6,236 verses (āyāt). The chronologically earlier chapters, revealed at Mecca, are concerned primarily with spiritual topics. In contrast, the later Medinan chapters discuss more social and legal issues relevant to the Muslim community. [45][58] Muslim jurists consult the hadith ('accounts'), or the written record of Prophet Muhammad's life, to both supplement the Quran and assist with its interpretation. The science of Quranic commentary and exegesis is tafsir [62][63]. The set of rules governing proper elocution of recitation is called tajwid. In addition to its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature [64][65] and has influenced art and the Arabic language. [66]

Prophets (Arabic: أنبياء, anbiyāʾ) are believed to have been chosen by God to receive and preach a divine message. Additionally, a prophet delivering a new book to a nation is called a rasul (Arabic: رسول‎, rasūl), meaning "messenger." [67] Muslims believe prophets are human and not divine. All of the prophets are said to have preached the same basic message of Islam – submission to the will of God – to various nations in the past, and this accounts for many similarities among religions. The Quran recounts the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, among others. [45]

Muslims believe that God sent Muhammad as the final prophet ("Seal of the prophets") to convey the completed message of Islam. In Islam, the "normative" example of Muhammad's life is called the Sunnah (literally "trodden path"). Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's moral behaviors in their daily lives. The Sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Quran. [68]. This example is preserved in traditions known as hadith, which are accounts of his words, actions, and personal characteristics. Hadith Qudsi is a sub-category of hadith, regarded as God's verbatim words quoted by Muhammad that are not part of the Quran. A hadith involves two elements: a chain of narrators, called sanad, and the actual wording, called man. There are various methodologies to classify the authenticity of hadiths, with the commonly used grading being: "authentic" or "correct" (صحيح, ṣaḥīḥ); "good," Hasan (حسن, ḥasan); or "weak" (ضعيف, ḍaʻīf), among others. The Kutub al-Sittah is a collection of six books regarded as the most authentic reports on Sunnism. Among them is Sahih al-Bukhari, often considered by Sunnis to be one of the most authentic sources after the Quran. Another famous source of hadiths is known as The Four Books, which Shias believe as the most authentic hadith reference. [71][72][73]

The concept of divine decree and destiny in Islam (Arabic: القضاء والقدر, al-qadāʾ was l-qadar) means that every matter, good or bad, is believed to have been decreed by God. Al-qadar, meaning "power," derives from a root that means "to measure" or "calculating." [78][79] Muslims often express this belief in divine destiny with the phrase "Insha-Allah," meaning "if God wills," when speaking about future events. [80][81]. In addition to loss, the gain is also seen as a test of believers – whether they would still recognize that the gain originates only from God. [82]

There are five obligatory acts of worship – the Shahada, the five daily prayers, the Zakat alms-giving, fasting during Ramadan, and the Hajj pilgrimage – collectively known as "The Pillars of Islam" (Arkān al-Islām). [83] Apart from these, Muslims also perform other supplemental religious acts.

The shahadah [84] is an oath declaring belief in Islam. The expanded statement is "ʾašhadu ʾal-lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāhu was ʾašhadu ʾanna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh" (أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمداً رسول الله), or, "I testify that there is no deity except God and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God." [85] Islam is sometimes argued to have a very simple creed, with the Shahada being the premise for the rest of the religion. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam must recite the Shahada in front of witnesses.

Prayer in Islam, called as-salah or aṣ-ṣalāt (Arabic: الصلاة), is seen as a personal communication with God and consists of repeating units called Rakat that include bowing and prostrating to God. Performing prayers five times a day is compulsory. The prayers are recited in the Arabic language and consist of verses from the Quran. [89]. The prayers are done in the direction of the Kaaba. Salat requires ritual purity, which involves wudu (ritual wash) or ghusl (full-body ritual wash) for new converts. The means used to signal the prayer time is a vocal call.

A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims, who often refer to it by its Arabic name, masjid. Although the primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place of prayer, it is also essential to the Muslim community as a place to meet and study with the Masjid an-Nabawi ("Prophetic Mosque") in Medina, Saudi Arabia, has also served as a shelter for the poor. [90] Minarets are towers used to call the Adhan

Zakāt (Arabic: زكاة, zakāh) is a means of welfare in a Muslim society, characterized by the giving of a fixed portion (2.5% annually) of accumulated wealth by those who can afford it to help the poor or needy, such as for freeing captives, those in debt, or for (stranded) travelers, and for those employed to collect zakat. It is considered a religious obligation that the well-off owe to the needy because their wealth is seen as a "trust from God's bounty" and is seen as a "purification" of one's excess wealth. Conservative estimates of annual zakat are that it amounts to 15 times global humanitarian aid contributions. [94] Sadaqah, as opposed to zakat, is a much encouraged supererogatory charity. [95][96] A waqf is a perpetual charitable trust which finances hospitals and schools in Muslim societies

During the month of Ramadan, Muslims must fast. The Ramadan fast (Arabic: صوم, ṣawm) precludes food and drink, as well as other forms of consumption, such as smoking, and is performed from dawn to sunset. The fast encourages a feeling of nearness to God by restraining oneself from what is otherwise permissible and thinking of the needy. Certain groups are exempt, including pregnant women. [99][better source needed]. In addition, there are other days when fasting is supererogatory.

The obligatory Islamic pilgrimage, called the "ḥajj" (Arabic: حج), is to be done at least once a lifetime by every Muslim with the means to do so during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Rituals of the Hajj mostly imitate the story of the family of Abraham. Pilgrims spend a day and a night on the plains of Mina, then a day praying and worshipping on the table of Mount Arafat, then spending a night on the plateau of Muzdalifah; then moving to Jamarat, symbolically stoning the Devil,[100] than going to the city of Mecca and walking seven times around the Kaaba, which Muslims believe Abraham built as a place of worship, then walking seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah recounting the steps of Abraham's wife, Hagar, while she was looking for water for her baby Ishmael in the desert before Mecca developed into a settlement. [101] All Muslim men should wear only two simple white unstitched pieces of cloth called ihram, intended to bring continuity through generations and uniformity among pilgrims despite class or origin. [102][103] Another form of pilgrimage, umrah, is supererogatory and can be undertaken at any time of the year. Medina is also a site of Islamic pilgrimage. Jerusalem, the city of many Islamic prophets, contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which used to be the direction of prayer before Mecca.

Muslims recite and memorize the whole or parts of the Quran as acts of virtue. Reciting the Quran with elocution (tajwid) has been described as an excellent act of worship. [104]. Pious Muslims recite the whole Quran during the month of Ramadan. [105]. In Muslim societies, any social program generally begins with the recitation of the Quran. [105] One who has memorized the whole Quran is called a hafiz ("memorizer") who, it is said, will be able to intercede for ten people on the Last Judgment Day. [104] Apart from this, almost every Muslim memorizes some portion of the Quran because they need to recite it during their prayers

Born in Mecca in 571, Muhammad was orphaned early in life. New trade routes rapidly transformed Meccan society from a semi-bedouin society to a commercial urban community, leaving weaker segments of society without protection. He acquired the nickname "trustworthy" (Arabic: الامين) [106] and was sought after as a bank to safeguard valuables and an impartial arbitrator. Affected by society's ills and after becoming financially secure through marrying his employer, the businesswoman Khadija, he began retreating to a cave to contemplate. During the last 22 years of his life, beginning at age 40 in 610 CE, Muhammad reported receiving revelations from God, conveyed to him through the archangel Gabriel,[107][108] thus becoming the seal of the prophets sent to the humanity according to Islamic tradition. [109][107]

While in Mecca, Muhammad preached first in secret and then in public, imploring them to abandon polytheism and worship one God. Many early converts to Islam were women, the poor, foreigners, and enslaved people like the first muezzin Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi. The Meccan elite profited from the pilgrimages to the idols of the Kaaba. It felt Muhammad was destabilizing their social order by preaching about one God and that, in the process, he gave ideas to the poor. Enslaved people. [110][111] Muhammad was accused of being a poet, a madman, or possessed, presented the challenge of the Quran to imitate the like of the Quran to disprove him. The Meccan authorities persecuted Muhammad and his followers, including a boycott and banishment of Muhammad and his clan to starve them into withdrawing their protection of him. This resulted in the Migration to Abyssinia of some Muslims (to the Aksumite Empire).

After 12 years of the persecution of Muslims by the Meccans, Muhammad and his companions performed the Hijra ("emigration") in AD 622 to the city of Yathrib (current-day Medina). Muhammad established Medina's political and religious authority with the Medinan converts (the Ansar) and the Meccan migrants (the Muhajirun). The Constitution of Medina was signed [b] by all the tribes of Medina, agreeing to defend Medina from external threats and establishing among the Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and pagan communities religious freedoms and freedom to use their laws, security of women and the role of Medina as a sacred place barred of weapons and violence. [117] Within a few years, two battles took place against the Meccan forces: first, the Battle of Badr in 624—a Muslim victory—and then a year later, when the Meccans returned to Medina, the Battle of Uhud, which ended inconclusively.[citation needed] The Arab tribes in the rest of Arabia then formed a confederation and, during the Battle of the Trench (March–April 627), besieged Medina, intent on finishing off Islam. In 628, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was signed between Mecca and the Muslims and was broken by Mecca two years later. After signing the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, many more people converted to Islam. At the same time, Meccan trade routes were cut off as Muhammad brought surrounding desert tribes under his control. [118]. By 629, Muhammad was victorious in the nearly bloodless conquest of Mecca, and by the time of his death in 632 (at age 62) he had united the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity. [119]

The earliest three generations of Muslims are known as the Salaf, with the companions of Muhammad being known as the Sahaba. Many of them, such as the most significant narrator of hadith Abu Hurayrah, recorded and compiled what would constitute the Sunnah.

Following Muhammad's death in 632, Muslims disagreed over who would succeed him as the leader. The first successors – Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman ibn al-Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib and sometimes Hasan ibn Ali[120] – are known in Sunni Islam as al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn ("Rightly Guided Caliphs"). [121] Some tribes left Islam and rebelled under leaders who declared themselves new prophets but were crushed by Abu Bakr in the Ridda wars. [122] Under Umar, the caliphate expanded rapidly as Muslims scored significant victories over the Persian and Byzantine empires. [123] Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and heretics and taxed heavily, often helped Muslims take over their lands from the Byzantines and Persians, resulting in exceptionally speedy conquests. [124] Uthman was elected in 644. Ali reluctantly accepted being elected the next Caliph after Uthman, whose assassination by rebels in 656 led to the First Civil War. Muhammad's widow, Aisha, raised an army against Ali, asking to avenge the death of Uthman but was defeated at the Battle of the Camel. Ali attempted to remove the governor of Syria, Mu'awiya, who was seen as corrupt. Mu'awiya then declared war on Ali after accusing Ali of being behind Uthman's death. Ali defeated him in the Battle of Siffin and then decided to arbitrate with him, which angered the Kharijites, an extremist sect who felt Mu'awiya should be fought. They felt that by not fighting a sinner, Ali became a sinner, and they rebelled against him and were defeated in the Battle of Nahrawan. Still, a Kharijite assassin later killed Ali, and Ali's son Hasan ibn Ali was elected Caliph. To avoid further fighting, Hasan signed a peace treaty abdicating to Mu'awiyah in return for him not appointing a successor. [125] Mu'awiyah began the Umayyad dynasty with the appointment of his son Yazid I, and this sparked the Second Civil War. During the Battle of Karbala, Husayn ibn Ali and other descendants of Muhammad were massacred by Yazid; the event has been annually commemorated by Shia ever since. Sunnis, led by Ibn al-Zubayr, who opposed the caliphate turning into a dynasty, were defeated in the Siege of Mecca. These disputes over leadership would give rise to the Sunni-Shia schism,[126] with the Shia believing leadership belonged to Ali and the family of Muhammad called the Ahl al-bayt[127]. At the same time, the Kharijites disagreed with Uthman and Ali, and quietist forms led to the emergence of the third-largest denomination in Islam, Ibadiyya.

Abu Bakr's leadership oversaw the beginning of the compilation of the Qur'an. The Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz set up the influential committee, The Seven Fuqaha of Medina,[128][129] headed by Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. [130] Malik ibn Anas wrote one of the earliest books on Islamic jurisprudence, the Muwatta, as a consensus of the opinion of those jurists. The Kharijites believed there is no compromised middle ground between good and evil and any Muslim committing a grave sin becomes an unbeliever, with the term also used to refer to later groups such as Isis. [135] Conversely, an early sect, the Murji'ah taught that people's righteousness could be judged by God alone and that wrongdoers might be considered misguided but not denounced as unbelievers[136] and this attitude came to prevail into the mainstream. [137]

The Umayyad dynasty conquered the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Narbonnese Gaul, and Sindh. The Umayyads struggled with a lack of legitimacy and relied on a heavily patronized military. Since the jizya tax was a tax paid by non-Muslims that exempted them from military service, the Umayyads denied recognizing the conversion of non-Arabs as it reduced revenue, While the Rashidun Caliphate emphasized austerity, with Umar even requiring an inventory of each official's possessions, Umayyad luxury bred dissatisfaction among the pious. The Kharijites led the Berber Revolt leading to the first Muslim states independent of the caliphate. In the Abbasid revolution, non-Arab converts (mawali), Arabs clans were pushed aside by the Umayyad clan, and some Shi'a rallied and overthrew the Umayyads, inaugurating the more cosmopolitan Abbasid dynasty in 750.

Al-Shafi'i codified a method to determine the reliability of hadith. [143]. During the early Abbasid era, scholars such as Bukhari and Muslim compiled the significant Sunni hadith collections. In contrast, scholars like Al-Kulayni and Ibn Babawayh assembled important Shia hadith collections. The four Sunni Madhhabs, the Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi'i, were established around the teachings of Abū Ḥanīfa, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Malik ibn Anas, and al-Shafi'i. In contrast, the teachings of Ja'far al-Sadiq formed the Ja'fari jurisprudence. In the 9th century, Al-Tabari completed the first commentary of the Quran, which became one of the most cited commentaries in Sunni Islam, the Tafsir al-Tabari. Some Muslims began questioning the piety of indulgence in worldly life and emphasized poverty, humility, and avoidance of sin based on renunciation of bodily desires. Ascetics such as Hasan al-Basri would inspire a movement that would evolve into Tasawwuf or Sufism. 

At this time, theological problems, notably on free will, were prominently tackled, with Hasan al Basri holding that although God knows people's actions, good and evil come from abuse of free will and the Devil. [146][c] Greek rationalist philosophy influenced a speculative school of thought known as Muʿtazila, first originated by Wasil ibn Ata. [148] Caliphs such as Mamun al Rashid and Al-Mu'tasim made it an official creed and unsuccessfully attempted to force their position on the majority. [149] They carried out inquisitions with the traditionalist Ahmad ibn Hanbal notably refusing to conform to the Mutazila idea of the creation of the Quran and was tortured and kept in an unlit prison cell for nearly thirty months. [150] However, other schools of speculative theology – Māturīdism founded by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi and Ash'ari based by Al-Ash'ari – were more successful in being widely adopted. Philosophers such as Al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes sought to harmonize Aristotle's metaphysics within Islam, similar to later scholasticism within Christianity in Europe. In contrast, others like Al-Ghazali argued against such syncretism and ultimately prevailed.

This era is sometimes called the "Islamic Golden Age." Avicenna pioneered the science of experimental medicine and was the first physician to conduct clinical trials. His most notable works, The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, were used as standard medicinal texts in the Islamic world and later Europe. Amongst his contributions are the discovery of the contagious nature of infectious diseases and the introduction of clinical pharmacology. [155]. In mathematics, the mathematician Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi gave his name to the concept of the algorithm. At the same time, the term algebra is derived from al-jabr. [156]. Public hospitals established during this time (called Bimaristan hospitals) are considered "the first hospitals" in the modern sense of the word [157][158] and issued the first medical diplomas to license doctors. [159][160] The Guinness World Records recognizes the University of Al Karaouine, founded in 859, as the world's oldest degree-granting university. [161] The doctorate is argued to date back to the licenses to teach in Islamic law schools. [162] Standards of experimental and quantification techniques, as well as the tradition of citation,[163] were introduced. An important pioneer in this, Ibn al-Haytham (c. 965 – c. 040), is regarded as the father of the modern scientific method and is often referred to as the "world's first true scientist." [164][165][166][167] The government paid scientists the equivalent salary of professional athletes today. [163] It is argued that Al-Jahiz (776–868/869) proposed a theory of natural selection. [168][169] The Persian poet Ferdowsi (940–1019/1025) wrote his epic poem Shahnameh.

The vast Abbasid empire proved impossible to hold together. [170] Soldiers established their dynasties, such as the Tulunids, Samanid, and Ghaznavid dynasty,[171] and the millennialist Isma'ili Shi'a missionary movement took advantage of the situation [172] with the Fatimid dynasty taking control of North Africa and the Qarmatians sacking Mecca and stealing the Black Stone in their unsuccessful rebellion. In what is called the Shi'a Century, another Ismaili group, the Buyid dynasty conquered Baghdad and turned the Abbasids into a figurehead monarchy. The Alawites and the Druze, offshoots of Shi'a Islam, date to this time. The Sunni Seljuk dynasty campaigned to reassert Sunnism, notably with the construction of educational institutions known as Nezamiyeh, associated with Al-Ghazali and Saadi Shirazi.

Religious missions converted Volga Bulgaria to Islam. In the Indian Subcontinent, during the Delhi Sultanate, the Indian Islamic missionaries achieved their most tremendous success in terms of dawah and the number of converts to Islam. The Delhi Sultanate is known for enthroning one of the few female rulers in Islamic history, Razia Sultana. Many Muslims also went to China to trade, virtually dominating the import and export industry of the Song dynasty.

Through Muslim trade networks and the activity of Sufi orders, Islam spread into new areas. Under the Ottoman Empire, Islam spread to Southeast Europe. However, conversion to Islam was not a sudden abandonment of old religious practices; instead, it was typically a matter of "assimilating Islamic rituals, cosmologies, and literature into... local religious systems", as illustrated by Muhammad's appearance in Hindu folklore. The Turks probably found similarities between Sufi rituals and Shaman practices. Muslim Turks incorporated elements of Turkish Shamanism beliefs into Islam. [d][183] Muslims in China, descended from earlier immigrants, were assimilated, sometimes by force, by adopting Chinese names and culture. At the same time, Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study.

While cultural influence used to radiate outward from Baghdad, after the Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate, Arab influence decreased. Iran and Central Asia, benefiting from increased cross-cultural access to East Asia under Mongol rule, flourished and developed more distinctively from Arab influence, such as the Timurid Renaissance under the Timurid dynasty. [188] Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274) proposed the mathematical model that was later adopted by Copernicus unrevised in his heliocentric model and Jamshīd al-Kāshī's estimate of pi would not be surpassed for 180 years. [189] Many Muslim dynasties in India chose Persian as their court language.

The introduction of gunpowder weapons led to the rise of large centralized states, and the Muslim Gunpowder empires consolidated much of the previously splintered territories. The caliphate was claimed by the Ottoman dynasty of the Ottoman Empire since Murad I's conquest of Edirne in 1362,[190] and its claims were strengthened in 1517 as Selim I became the ruler of Mecca and Medina. [191] The Shia Safavid dynasty rose to power in 1501 and later conquered all of Iran. [192] In South Asia, Babur founded the Mughal Empire. The Mughals made significant contributions to Islamic architecture, including the Taj Mahal and Badshahi mosque, and compiled the Fatwa Alamgiri. Mughal India surpassed Qing China to become the world's largest economy, worth 25% of world GDP,[193][194][195] with the Bengal Subah signaling the proto-industrialization and showing signs of the Industrial revolution. 

The religion of the centralized states of the Gunpowder empires impacted their constituent populations. A symbiosis between Ottoman rulers and Sufism strongly influenced the Islamic reign of the Ottomans from the beginning. According to Ottoman historiography, the legitimation of a ruler is attributed to Sheikh Edebali, who interpreted a dream of Osman Gazi as God's legitimation of his reign. The Mevlevi Order and Bektashi Order were closely related to the sultans as Sufi-mystical, and heterodox and syncretic approaches to Islam flourished. The often forceful Safavid conversion of Iran to the Twelver Shia Islam of the Safavid dynasty ensured the final dominance of the Twelver sect within Shiism over the Ismaili sects and the Zaidi,[201] which had previously been the majority and oldest group among the Shia. Nader Shah, who overthrew the Safavids, attempted to improve relations with Sunnis by propagating the integration of Twelverism into Sunni Islam as a fifth madhhab, called Ja'farism,[205] which failed to gain recognition from the Ottomans

Earlier in the 14th century, Ibn Taymiyya promoted a puritanical form of Islam,[207] rejecting philosophical approaches in favor of more straightforward theology[207] and called to open the gates of itjihad rather than blind imitation of scholars.[170] He called for a jihad against those he deemed heretics[208] but his writings only played a marginal role during his lifetime.[209] During the 18th century in Arabia, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, influenced by the works of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim, founded a movement, called Wahhabi with their self-designation as Muwahiddun, to return to what he saw as unadultered Islam.[210][211] He condemned many local Islamic customs, such as visiting the grave of Muhammad or saints, as later innovations and sinful[211] and destroyed sacred rocks and trees, Sufi shrines, the tombs of Muhammad and his companions and the grave of Husayn at Karbala, a prominent Shiite pilgrimage site.[212][213] He formed an alliance with the Saud family, which, by the 1920s, completed their conquest of the area that would become Saudi Arabia.[214] Ma Wanfu and Ma Debao promoted salafist movements in the nineteenth century such as Sailaifengye in China after returning from Mecca but were eventually persecuted and forced into hiding by Sufi groups.[215] Other groups sought to reform Sufism rather than reject it, with the Senusiyya and Muhammad Ahmad both waging war and establishing states in Libya and Sudan respectively.[216] In India, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi attempted a more conciliatory style against Sufism and influenced the Deobandi movement.[217] In response to the Deobandi movement, the Barelwi movement was founded as a mass movement, defending popular Sufism and reforming its practices.[218][219] The movement is famous for the celebration of the Muhammad's birthday and today, is spread across the globe.

The Muslim world was generally in political decline starting the 1800s, especially regarding non-Muslim European powers. Earlier, in the fifteenth century, the Reconquista ended the Muslim presence in Iberia. By the 19th century, the British East India Company had formally annexed the Mughal dynasty in India. As a response to Western Imperialism, many intellectuals sought to reform Islam. Islamic modernism, initially labeled by Western scholars as Salafiyya, embraced modern values and institutions such as democracy while being scripture-oriented. Notable forerunners include Muhammad' Abduh and Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. [225]. Abul A'la Maududi helped influence modern political Islam. [226]. Similar to contemporary codification, ShariahShariah was for the first time partially codified into law in 1869 in the Ottoman Empire's Mechelle code. [227]

The Ottoman Empire disintegrated after World War I, and the caliphate was abolished in 1924[228] by the first President of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as part of his secular reforms. [229][230] Pan-Islamists attempted to unify Muslims and competed with growing nationalist forces, such as pan-Arabism. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), consisting of Muslim-majority countries, was established in 1969 after burning the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. 

Contact with industrialized nations brought Muslim populations to new areas through economic migration. Many Muslims migrated as indentured servants (mainly from India and Indonesia) to the Caribbean, forming the most prominent Muslim people by percentage in the Americas. [232] Migration from Syria and Lebanon was the most significant contributor to the Muslim population Latin America. The resulting urbanization and increase in trade in sub-Saharan Africa brought Muslims to settle in new areas and spread their faith, likely doubling its Muslim population between 1869 and 1914. [233] Muslim immigrants began arriving mainly from former colonies in several Western European nations the 1960s, many as guest workers.

Forerunners of Islamic modernism influenced Islamist political movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and related parties in the Arab world,[234][235] which performed well in elections following the Arab Spring,[236] Jamaat-e-Islami in South Asia, and the AK Party, which has democratically been in power in Turkey for decades. In Iran, the revolution replaced a secular monarchy with an Islamic state. Others, such as Sayyid Rashid Rida, broke away from Islamic modernists[237] and pushed against embracing what he saw as a Western influence. [238]. While some were quietist, others believed in violence against those opposing them, even other Muslims, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. They would even attempt to recreate the modern gold dinar as their monetary system.[citation needed]

In opposition to Islamic political movements, in 20th century Turkey, the military carried out coups to oust Islamist governments. Headscarves were legally restricted, as also happened in Tunisia. In other places, religious power was co-opted, such as in Saudi Arabia, where the state monopolized religious scholarship and is often seen as puppets of the form [241]. At the same time, Egypt nationalized Al-Azhar University, previously an independent voice checking state power. [242] Salafism was funded for its quietism. [243] Saudi Arabia campaigned against revolutionary Islamist movements in the Middle East in opposition to Iran,[244] Turkey[245] and Qatar.

Muslim minorities of various ethnicities have been persecuted as a religious group. [246]. This has been undertaken by communist forces like the Khmer Rouge, who viewed them as their primary enemy to be exterminated since they stood out and worshiped their own God [247] and the Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang[248] and by nationalist forces such as during the Bosnian genocide.

The globalization of communication has increased the dissemination of religious information. The adoption of the hijab has grown more common[249], and some Muslim intellectuals are increasingly striving to separate scriptural Islamic beliefs from cultural traditions. [250]. Among other groups, this access to information has led to the rise of popular "televangelist" preachers, such as Amr Khaled, who compete with the traditional ulema in their reach and have decentralized religious authority. [251][252] More "individualized" interpretations of Islam[253] notably include Liberal Muslims who attempt to reconcile religious traditions with current secular governance[254] and women's issues

A 2015 demographic study reported that 24.1% of the global population, or 1.8 billion people, are Muslims. [256] In 1900, this estimate was 12.3%,[257] in 1990, it was 19.9%[29], and projections suggest the proportion will be 29.7% by 2050. [258] It has been estimated that 87–90% of Muslims are Sunni and 10–13% are Shia,[23] with a minority belonging to other sects. Approximately 49 countries are Muslim-majority,[259][260] with 62% of the world's Muslims living in Asia, and 683 million adherents in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh alone. [261][262]. Most estimates indicate China has approximately 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population). Islam in Europe is the second-largest religion after Christianity in many countries, with growth rates due primarily to immigration and higher birth rates of Muslims in 2005. [265] Religious conversion has no net impact on the Muslim population growth as "the number of people who become Muslims through conversion seems to be roughly equal to the number of Muslims who leave the faith." [ It is estimated that, by 2050, the number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world "due to the young age and high fertility rate of Muslims relative to other religious groups

Sunni Islam or Sunnism is the name for the largest denomination in Islam. The term is a contraction of the phrase "ahl as-sunna we'll-jamaat," which means "people of the sunna (the traditions of the prophet Muhammad) and the community." [268] Sunnis believe that the first four caliphs were the rightful successors to Muhammad and primarily reference six major hadith works for legal matters while following one of the four traditional schools of jurisprudence: Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, or Shafi'i. [13][269]

Sunni schools of theology encompass Asharism founded by Al-Ashʿarī (c. 874–936), Maturidi by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (853–944 CE), and traditionalist theology under the leadership of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855 CE). Traditionalist theology is characterized by its adherence to a literal understanding of the Quran and the Sunnah, the belief that the Quran is uncreated and eternal, and opposition to reason (kalam) in religious and ethical matters. [270]. On the other hand, Maturidism asserts, scripture is not needed for basic ethics, and that good and evil can be understood by reason alone,[271]. Still, people rely on revelation for matters beyond human comprehension. Asharism holds that ethics can derive just from divine revelation but not from human reason. However, Asharism accepts explanations regarding exegetical issues and combines Muʿtazila approaches with traditionalist ideas. [272]

In the 18th century, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab led a Salafi movement, referred to by outsiders as Wahhabism, in modern-day Saudi Arabia. [273]. A similar movement called Ahl al-Hadith also de-emphasized the centuries-old Sunni legal tradition, preferring to follow the Quran and Hadith directly. The Nuru Sunni movement was by Said Nursi (1877–1960);[274] it incorporates elements of Sufism and science,[274][275] and has given rise to the Gülen movement.

Shia Islam or Shi'ism, the second-largest Muslim denomination, split with Sunnis over Muhammad's successor as leader, who the Shia believed must be from certain descendants of Muhammad's family known as the Ahl al-Bayt and those leaders, referred to as Imams, have additional spiritual authority. [276Some of the first Imams are revered by all Shia groups and Sunnis, such as Ali. Zaidi, the oldest branch, rejects the extraordinary powers of Imams and is sometimes considered a 'fifth school' of Sunni Islam rather than a Shia sect. The Twelvers, the most prominent Shiite branch, believe in twelve Imams, the last of whom went into occultation to return one day. The Ismailis split with the Twelvers over who was the seventh Imam and have divided into more groups over the status of Imams, with the largest being the Nizaris.

Ibadi Islam or Ibadism is practiced by 1.45 million Muslims worldwide (~ 0.08% of all Muslims), most in Oman. Ibadism is often associated with and viewed as a moderate variation of the Khawarij movement. However, Ibadis themselves object to this classification. Unlike most Kharijite groups, Ibadism does not regard sinful Muslims as unbelievers. Ibadi hadiths, such as the Jami Sahih collection, use chains of narrators from early Islamic history they considered trustworthy, but most Ibadi hadiths are also found in standard Sunni groups, and contemporary Ibadis often approve of the standard Sunni collecti 

Sufism (Arabic: تصوف, tasawwuf) is a mystical-ascetic approach to Islam that seeks to find a direct personal experience of God. Classical Sufi scholars defined Tasawwuf as "a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God" through "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use. [299][300]. It is not a sect of Islam. Its adherents belong to the various Muslim denominations. Ismaili Shias, whose teachings root in Gnosticism and Neo-Platonism,[301] as well as the Illuminations and Isfahan schools of Islamic philosophy, have developed mystical interpretations of Islam. [302] Hasan al-Basri, the early Sufi ascetic often portrayed as one of the earliest Sufis,[303] emphasized fear of failing God's expectations of obedience. In contrast, later prominent Sufis, such as Mansur Al-Hallaj and Jalaluddin Rumi, emphasized religiosity based on love towards God. Such devotion would also have an impact on the arts, with Jalaluddin Rumi (1207–1273); still one of the best selling poets in America,[304][305] writing his Persian poem Masnawi and the works of Hafez (1315–1390) is often considered the pinnacle of Persian poetry.

Sufis see tasawwuf as an inseparable part of Islam, just like the sharia. [306]. Traditional Sufis, such as Bayazid Bastami, Jalaluddin Rumi, Haji Bektash Veli, Junaid Baghdadi, and Al-Ghazali, argued for Sufism as being based upon the tenets of Islam and the teachings of the prophet. [307][308][306] Historian Nile Green argued that Islam in the Medieval period, was more or less Sufism. [184](p77)(p24) Popular devotional practices such as the veneration of Sufi saints have been viewed as innovations from the original religion from followers of Salafism, who have sometimes physically attacked Sufis, leading to a deterioration in Sufi–Salafi relations.

Sufi congregations form orders (tariqa) centered around a teacher (wali) who traces a spiritual chain back to Muhammad. [309]. Sufis played an essential role in the formation of Muslim societies through their missionary and educational activities. [144][310][311] Sufi influenced Ahle Sunnat movement, or Barelvi movement defends Sufi practices and beliefs with over 200 million followers in south Asia. Sufism is prominent in Central Asia,[315][316] as well as in African countries like Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Senegal, Chad, and Niger

Sharia is the religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition. [13]. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. In Arabic, the term sharīʿah refers to God's divine law and is contrasted with fiqh, which refers to its scholarly interpretations. The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between Muslim traditionalists and reformists.

The traditional theory of Islamic jurisprudence recognizes four sources of sharia: the Quran, Sunnah (Hadith and Sira), qiyas (analogical reasoning), and ijma (juridical consensus). Different legal schools developed methodologies for deriving sharia rulings from scriptural sources using a process known as ijtihad. [318] Traditional jurisprudence distinguishes two principal branches of law,ʿibādāt (rituals) and muʿāmalāt (social relations), which together comprise a wide range of topics. [318] Its rulings assign actions to one of five categories called ahkam: mandatory (fard), recommended (mustahabb), permitted (mubah), abhorred (makruh), and prohibited (haram). Forgiveness is much celebrated in Islam[321] and, in criminal law, while imposing a penalty on an offender in proportion to their offense is permissible, forgiving the offender is better. To go one step further by offering a favor to the offender is regarded as the peak of excellence. [322][xi]. Some areas of sharia overlap with the Western notion of law, while others correspond more broadly to living life by God's will.

Historically, sharia was interpreted by independent jurists (muftis). Their legal opinions (fatwa) were taken into account by ruler-appointed judges who presided over qāḍī's courts and by maẓālim courts, which were controlled by the ruler's council and administered criminal law. [318][319]. In the modern era, sharia-based criminal laws were widely replaced by statutes inspired by European models. The Ottoman Empire's 19th-century Tanzimat reforms led to the Mecelle civil code and represented the first attempt to codify sharia. [323] While the constitutions of most Muslim-majority states contain references to sharia, its classical rules were largely retained only in personal status (family) laws. [319] Legislative bodies which codified these laws sought to modernize them without abandoning their foundations in traditional jurisprudence. [319][324] The Islamic revival of the late 20th century brought along calls by Islamist movements for complete implementation of sharia. [319][324] The role of sharia has become a contested topic around the world. There are ongoing debates about whether sharia is compatible with secular forms of government, human rights, freedom of thought, and women's rights.

A school of jurisprudence is referred to as a madhhab (Arabic: مذهب). The four primary Sunni schools are the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali mad haha, while the three primary Shia schools are the Ja'fari, Zaidi, and Isma'ili madhahib. Each differs in its methodology, called Usul al-fiqh ("principles of jurisprudence"). The following decisions by a religious expert without necessarily examining the decision's reasoning are reached taqlid. The term ghair muqallid refers to those who do not use taqlid and, by extension, do not have a madhab. [328]. The practice of an individual interpreting law with independent reasoning is called ijtihad

Mainstream Islamic law does not distinguish between "matters of church" and "matters of state"; the scholars function as jurists and theologians. Therefore, various forms of Islamic jurisprudence rule on matters that might be considered the preserve of the state in other societal contexts. Terms traditionally used to refer to Muslim leaders include Caliph and Sultan, and terms associated with traditionally Muslim states include Caliphate, Emirate, Imamate, and Khanate.

In Islamic economic jurisprudence, hoarding of wealth is reviled, and thus monopolistic behavior is frowned upon. Attempts to comply with ShariahShariah have led to the development of Islamic banking. Islam prohibits riba, usually translated as usury, which refers to any unfair gain in trade and is most commonly used to mean interest. [331]. Instead, Islamic banks partner with the borrower, and both share the profits and any losses from the venture. Another feature is the avoidance of uncertainty, which is seen as gambling[332]. Islamic banks traditionally avoid derivative instruments such as futures or options, which substantially protected them from the 2008 financial crisis. . The state used to distribute charity from the treasury, known as Bayt al-mal, before it became a primarily individual pursuit. The first Caliph, Abu Bakr, distributed zakat as one of the first examples of a guaranteed minimum income, with each man, woman, and child getting 10 to 20 dirhams annually. [334]. During the reign of the second Caliph Umar, child support was introduced, and the old and disabled were entitled to stipends,[335][336][337] while the Umayyad Caliph Umar II assigned a servant for each blind person and every two chronically ill, persons. 

Jihad means "to strive or struggle [in the way of God]" and, in its broadest sense, is "exerting one's utmost power, efforts, endeavors, or ability in contending with an object of disapprobation." This could refer to one's striving to attain religious and moral perfection with the Shia and Sufis, distinguishing between the "greater jihad," which pertains to spiritual self-perfection, and the "lesser jihad," defined as warfare. When used without a qualifier, jihad is often understood in its military form. Jihad is the only form of action permissible in Islamic law and may be declared against illegal works, terrorists, criminal groups, rebels, apostates, and leaders or states who oppress Muslims. Most Muslims today interpret jihad as only a defensive form of warfare. Jihad only becomes an individual duty for those vested with authority. For the rest of the populace, this happens only in the case of a general mobilization. [343]. For most Twelver Shias, offensive jihad can only be declared by a divinely appointed leader of the Muslim community and, as such, is suspended since Muhammad al-Mahdi's occultation is 868 AD

Islam, like Judaism, has no clergy in the sacerdotal sense, such as priests who mediate between God and people. Imam (إمام) is the religious title used for the individual who leads an Islamic worship service.

Religious interpretation is presided over by the 'ulama (Arabic: علماء), a term used to describe the body of Muslim scholars who have received training in Islamic studies. A scholar of the hadith is called a muhaddith, a scholar of jurisprudence is called a faqih (فقيه), a jurist who is qualified to issue legal opinions or fatwas is called a mufti, and a qadi is an Islamic judge. Honorific titles given to scholars include sheik, mullah, and Malawi.

Some Muslims also venerate saints associated with miracles (Arabic:كرامات, karāmāt). Visiting the tombs of prophets and saints is known as ziyarat. Unlike saints in Christianity, Muslim saints are usually acknowledged informally by the consensus of ordinary people, not by scholars.

Many daily practices fall in the category of adab, or Islamic etiquette. As a religion, Islam emphasizes the idea of having a good character as Muhammad said: "The best among you are those who have the best manners and character." [xii] This includes greeting others with "as-salami 'Alaykum" ("peace be unto you"), saying bismillah ("in the name of God") before meals, and using only the right hand for eating and drinking.

Expressly prohibited foods include pork products, blood, and carrion. Health is viewed as a trust from God, and intoxicants, such as alcoholic drinks, are not permitted. [347] All meat must come from a herbivorous animal slaughtered in the name of God by a Muslim, Jew, or Christian, except for game that one has hunted or fished for themself. [348] Beards are often encouraged among men as something natural[349][350] and body modifications, such as permanent tattoos, are usually forbidden as violating the creation. [f][352] Gold and silk for men are prohibited and are seen as extravagant. Haya, often translated as "shame" or "modesty," is sometimes described as the innate character of Islam[354] and informs much of Muslim daily life. For example, clothing in Islam emphasizes a standard of modesty, including the hijab for women. Similarly, personal hygiene is encouraged with specific requirements.

In Islamic marriage, the groom is required to pay a bridal gift (mahr). [355]. Most families in the Islamic world are monogamous. [356][357]. However, Muslim men are allowed to practice polygyny. They can have up to four wives at the same time. There are also cultural variations in weddings. [358]. Polyandry, a practice wherein a woman takes on two or more husbands, is prohibited in Islam. [359]

After the birth of a child, the Adhan is pronounced in the right ear. [360]. On the seventh day, the aqiqah ceremony is performed, in which an animal is sacrificed. Its meat is distributed among the poor. [361]. The child's head is shaved, and an amount of money equaling the weight of its hair is donated to the poor. [361]. Male circumcision is practiced. Respecting and obeying one's parents and taking care of them, especially in their old age, is a religious obligation.

A dying Muslim is encouraged to pronounce the Shahada as their last words. Paying respects to the dead and attending funerals in the community are considered virtuous acts. In Islamic burial rituals, burial is encouraged as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours. The body is washed, except for martyrs, by members of the same gender and enshrouded in a garment that must not be elaborate called kaftan. [364]. A "funeral prayer" called Salat al-Janazah is performed. Wailing is discouraged. Coffins are often not preferred, and graves are often unmarked, even for kings. [365] Regarding inheritance, a son's share is double that of a daughter's

The term "Islamic culture" can mean aspects of culture that pertain to the religion, such as festivals and dress codes. It is also controversially used to denote the cultural aspects of traditionally Muslim people. [366]. Finally, "Islamic civilization" may also refer to the aspects of the synthesized culture of the early Caliphates, including that of non-Muslims,[367] sometimes referred to as "Islamicate."

Islamic art encompasses the visual arts, including fields as varied as architecture, calligraphy, painting, and ceramics, among others. While the making of images of animate beings has often been frowned upon in connection with laws against idolatry, this rule has been interpreted in different ways by different scholars and in different historical periods. This stricture has been used to explain the prevalence of calligraphy, tessellation, and pattern as key aspects of Islamic artistic culture. In Islamic architecture, varying cultures show influence, such as North African and Spanish Islamic architecture, such as the Great Mosque of Kairouan containing marble and porphyry columns from Roman and Byzantine buildings [370]. At the same time, mosques in Indonesia often have multi-tiered roofs from local Javanese styles.

The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar that begins with the Hijra of 622 CE, a date that was reportedly chosen by Caliph Umar as it was a significant turning point in Muhammad's fortunes. [371] Islamic holy days fall on fixed dates of the lunar calendar, meaning they occur in different seasons in different years in the Gregorian calendar. The most important Islamic festivals are Eid al-Fitr (Arabic|عيد الف) on the 1st of Shawwal, marking the end of the fasting month Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha (Arabic|عيد الأضحى) on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah, coinciding with the end of the Hajj (pilgrimage)

Arabic (اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ, al-ʿarabiyyah [al ʕaraˈbijːa] (listen) or عَرَبِيّ, ʿarabīy [ˈʕarabiː] (listen) or [ʕaraˈbij]) is a Semitic language that first emerged in the 1st to 4th centuries CE.[3] It is the lingua franca of the Arab world and the liturgical language of Islam. [4] It is named after the Arabs, a term initially used to describe peoples living in the Arabian Peninsula bounded by eastern Egypt in the west, Mesopotamia in the east, and the Anti-Lebanon mountains and northern Syria in the north, as perceived by ancient Greek geographers. [5] The ISO assigns language codes to 32 varieties of Arabic, including its standard form, Modern Standard Arabic,[6] also referred to as Literary Arabic, which is modernized Classical Arabic. This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic but instead, refer to both as al-ʿarabiyyatu l-fuṣḥā (اَلعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ[7] "the eloquent Arabic") or simply al-fuṣḥā (اَلْفُصْحَىٰ).

Arabic is widely taught in schools and universities around the world and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, governments, and the media. [8] Arabic, in its Modern Standard Arabic form, is an official language of 26 states and one disputed territory, the third most after English and French;[9] it is also the liturgical language of the religion of Islam since the Quran and the Hadiths were written in Classical Arabic. [10]

During the early Middle Ages, Arabic was a primary vehicle of culture in the Mediterranean region, especially in science, mathematics, and philosophy. As a result, many European languages have also borrowed many words from it. Arabic influence, mainly in vocabulary, is seen in European languages—particularly Spanish and, to a lesser extent, Portuguese, Catalan, and Sicilian—owing to both the proximity of Christian European and Muslim Arabized civilizations and the long-lasting Muslim culture and Arabic language presence, mainly in Southern Iberia, during the Al-Andalus era. The Maltese language is a Semitic language developed from a dialect of Arabic and written in the Latin alphabet. [11] The Balkan languages, including Greek and Bulgarian, have also acquired a significant number of words of Arabic origin through contact with Ottoman Turkish.

Arabic has influenced many other languages around the globe throughout its history, especially languages of Muslim cultures and countries that were conquered by Muslims. Some of the most controlled vocabularies are Persian, Turkish, Hindustani (Hindi and Urdu),[12] Kashmiri, Kurdish, Bosnian, Kazakh, Bengali, Malay (Indonesian and Malaysian), Maldivian, Pashto, Punjabi, Albanian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Sicilian, Spanish, Greek, Bulgarian, Tagalog, Sindhi, Odia[13] Hebrew and Hausa and some languages in parts of Africa (e.g., Swahili, Somali). Conversely, Arabic has borrowed words from other languages, including Aramaic as well as Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Persian, and to a lesser extent, Turkish (due to the Ottoman Empire), English, and French (due to their colonization of the Levant) and other Semitic languages such as Abyssinian.

Arabic is the liturgical language of 1.9 billion Muslims, and Arabic[14] is one of six official languages of the United Nations. All varieties of Arabic combined are spoken by perhaps as many as 422 million speakers (native and non-native) in the Arab world,[19] making it the fifth most spoken language in the world [20] and the fourth most used language on the internet in terms of users. [21][22] In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Arabic the fourth most useful language for business, after English, Standard Mandarin Chinese, and French. [23] Arabic is written with the Arabic alphabet, which is an abjad script and is written from right to left. However, the spoken varieties are sometimes written in ASCII Latin from left to right with no standardized orthography.

Arabic is usually, but not universally, classified as a Central Semitic language. It is related to languages in other subgroups of the Semitic language group (Northwest Semitic, South Semitic, East Semitic, West Semitic), such as Aramaic, Syriac, Hebrew, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Canaanite, Amorite, Ammonite, Eblaite, epigraphic Ancient North Arabian, epigraphic Ancient South Arabian, Ethiopic, Modern South Arabian, and numerous other dead and modern languages. Linguists still differ in the best classification of Semitic language sub-groups. The Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the emergence of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Arabic boasted a wide variety of Semitic languages in antiquity. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family (e.g., Southern Thamudic) were spoken. It is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages (non-Central Semitic languages) were also spoken in southern Arabia. To the north, in the oases of northern Hejaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages. In Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested. In eastern Arabia, inscriptions in a script derived from ASA attest to a language known as Hasaitic. Finally, on the northwestern frontier of Arabia, various languages known to scholars as Thamudic B, Thamudic D, Safaitic, and Hismaic are attested. The last two share important isoglosses with later forms of Arabic, leading scholars to theorize that Safaitic and Hismaic are, in fact, early forms of Arabic and that they should be considered Old Arabic.

Linguists generally believe that "Old Arabic" (a collection of related dialects that constitute the precursor of Arabic) first emerged around the 1st century CE. Previously, the earliest attestation of Old Arabic was thought to be a single 1st century CE inscription in Sabaic script at Qaryat Al-Faw, in southern present-day Saudi Arabia. However, this inscription does not participate in several of the critical innovations of the Arabic language group, such as the conversion of Semitic mimation to nunation in the singular. It is best reassessed as a different language on the Central Semitic dialect continuum. 

It was also thought that Old Arabic coexisted alongside—and then gradually displaced--epigraphic Ancient North Arabian (ANA), which was theorized to have been the regional tongue for many centuries. ANA, despite its name, was considered a very distinct language and mutually unintelligible from "Arabic ."Scholars named its variant dialects after the towns where the inscriptions were discovered (Dadanitic, Taymanitic, Hismaic, Safaitic). [3] However, most arguments for a single ANA language or language family were based on the shape of the definite article, a prefixed h-. It has been argued that the h- is an archaism and not a shared innovation, and thus unsuitable for language classification, rendering the hypothesis of an ANA language family untenable.  Safaitic and Hismaic, previously considered ANA, should be regarded as Old Arabic because they participate in the innovations common to all forms of Arabic.

The earliest attestation of continuous Arabic text in an ancestor of the modern Arabic script are three lines of poetry by a man named Garm(')allāhe found in En Avdat, Israel, and dated to around 125 CE. This is followed by the Namara inscription, an epitaph of the Lakhmid king Imru' al-Qays bar 'Amro, dating to 328 CE, found at Namaraa, Syria. From the 4th to the 6th centuries, the Nabataean script evolves into the Arabic script recognizable from the early Islamic era. There are inscriptions in an undotted, 17-letter Arabic script dating to the 6th century CE, found at four locations in Syria (Zabad, Jabal' Essays, Harran, Umm al-Jamaal). The oldest surviving papyrus in Arabic dates to 643 CE, and it uses dots to produce the modern 28-letter Arabic alphabet. The language of that papyrus and the Qur'an are referred to by linguists as "Quranic Arabic," as distinct from its codification soon after that into "Classical Arabic."

In late pre-Islamic times, a transdialectal and transcommunal variety of Arabic emerged in the Hejaz, which continued living its parallel life after literary Arabic had been institutionally standardized in the 2nd and 3rd century of the Hijra, most strongly in Judeo-Christian texts, keeping alive ancient features eliminated from the "learned" tradition (Classical Arabic). This variety and its classicizing and "lay" iterations have been termed Middle Arabic in the past, but they are thought to continue an Old Higazi register. It is clear that the orthography of the Qur'an was not developed for the standardized form of Classical Arabic; instead, it shows the attempt on the part of writers to record an archaic form of Old Higazi.

 

The Qur'an has served and continues to serve as an essential reference for Arabic. (Maghrebi Kufic script, Blue Qur'an, 9th-10th century)

In the late 6th century AD, a relatively uniform intertribal "poetic koine" distinct from the spoken vernaculars developed based on the Bedouin dialects of Najd, probably in connection with the court of al-Ḥīra. Most Arabic poets and Arabic-writing persons spoke Arabic as their mother tongue during the first Islamic century. Their texts, although mainly preserved in far later manuscripts, contain traces of non-standardized Classical Arabic elements in morphology and syntax.

 

 

Jerusalem is considered Judaism's holiest city. Its origins can be dated to 1004 BCE when according to Biblical tradition, David established it as the capital of the United Kingdom of Israel, and Solomon built the First Temple on Mount Moriah. Since the Hebrew Bible relates that Isaac's sacrifice took place there, Mount Moriah's importance for Jews predates these prominent events. Jews thrice daily pray in its direction, including in their prayers pleas for the restoration and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple (the Third Temple) on mount Moriah, close the Passover service with the wistful statement "Next year inbuilt Jerusalem," and recall the city in the blessing at the end of each meal. Jerusalem has served as the only capital for the five Jewish states in Israel since 1400 BCE (the United Kingdom of Israel, the Kingdom of Judah, Yehud Medinata, the Hasmonean Kingdom, and modern Israel). It has been majority Jewish since about 1852 and continues through today.

Jerusalem was an early center of Christianity. There has been a continuous Christian presence there since. William R. Kenan, Jr., professor of the history of Christianity at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, writes that from the middle of the 4th century to the Islamic conquest in the middle of the 7th century, the Roman province of Palestine was a Christian nation with Jerusalem its principal city. According to the New Testament, Jerusalem was the city Jesus was brought to as a child to be presented at the Temple [Luke 2:22]. For the feast of the Passover. [Luke 2:41], He preached and healed in Jerusalem, unceremoniously drove the money changers in disarray from the Temple there, held the Last Supper in an "upper room" (traditionally the Cenacle) there the night before he was crucified on the cross and was arrested in Gethsemane. The six parts of Jesus' trial—three stages in a religious court and three stages before a Roman court—were all held in Jerusalem. His crucifixion at Golgotha, his burial nearby (traditionally the Church of the Holy Sepulchre), and his resurrection and ascension and prophecy to return all are said to have occurred or occurred there.

Jerusalem became holy to Muslims, third after Mecca and Medina. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, which translates to "farthest mosque" in sura Al-Isra in the Quran, and its surroundings are addressed in the Quran as "the holy land." As recorded in the ahadith, Muslim tradition identifies al-Aqsa with a mosque in Jerusalem. The first Muslims did not pray toward Kaaba but toward Jerusalem (this was the qibla for 13 years): the qibla was switched to Kaaba later on to fulfill the order of Allah of praying in the direction of Kaaba (Quran, Al-Baqarah 2:144–150). Another reason for its significance is its connection with the Miʿrāj,[73] where, according to traditional Muslims, Muhammad ascended through the seven heavens on a winged mule named Burqa, guided by the Archangel Gabriel, beginning from the Foundation Stone on the Temple Mount, in modern times under the Dome of the Rock

Even though members of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not all claim Abraham as an ancestor, some members of these religions have tried to claim him as exclusively theirs.

For Jews, Abraham is the founding patriarch of the children of Israel. God promised Abraham: "I will make you a great nation and bless you." [Gen. 12:2] With Abraham, God entered into "an everlasting covenant throughout the ages to be God to you and to your offspring to come." [Gen. 17:7] This covenant makes Abraham and his descendants children of the covenant. Similarly, converts, who join the covenant, are all identified as sons and daughters of Abraham.[citation needed]

Abraham is primarily a revered ancestor or patriarch (referred to as Avraham Avinu (אברהם אבינו in Hebrew) "Abraham our father") to whom God made several promises: chiefly, that he would have numberless descendants, who would receive the land of Canaan (the "Promised Land"). According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was the first post-Flood prophet to reject idolatry through rational analysis, although Shem and Eber carried on the tradition from Noah.

Christians view Abraham as a vital exemplar of faith and a spiritual and physical ancestor of Jesus. For Christians, Abraham is a spiritual forebear as well as/rather than a direct ancestor depending on the individual's interpretation of Paul the Apostle,[Rom. 4:9–12] with the Abrahamic covenant "reinterpreted to be defined by faith in Christ rather than biological descent" or both by faith as well as a direct ancestor; in any case, the emphasis is placed on faith being the only requirement for the Abrahamic Covenant to apply (see also New Covenant and supersessionism). In Christian belief, Abraham is a role model of faith,[Heb. 11:8–10][non-primary source needed], and his obedience to God by offering Isaac is seen as a foreshadowing of God's offering of his SonSon Jesus. [Rom. 8:32]

Christian commentators have a tendency to interpret God's promises to Abraham as applying to Christianity after, and sometimes rather than (as in supersessionism), being used to Judaism, whose adherents rejected Jesus. They argue this on the basis that just as Abraham as a Gentile (before he was circumcised) "believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness" [Gen. 15:6] (cf. Rom. 4:3, James 2:23), "those who have faith are children of Abraham" [Gal. 3:7] (see also John 8:39). This is most fully developed in Paul's theology, where all who believe in God are spiritual descendants of Abraham. [Rom. 4:20] [Gal. 4:9][80]. However, with regards to Rom. 4:20[81] and Gal. 4:9[82], in both cases, he refers to these spiritual descendants as the "sons of God" [Gal. 4:26] rather than "children of Abraham."

For Muslims, Abraham is a prophet, the "messenger of God" who stands in the line from Adam to Muhammad, to whom God gave revelations,[Quran 4:163], who "raised the foundations of the House" (i.e., the Kaaba)[Quran 2:127] with his first SonSon, Isma'il, a symbol of which is every mosque. Ibrahim (Abraham) is the first in the genealogy of Muhammad. Islam considers Abraham to be "one of the first Muslims" (Surah 3)—the first monotheist in a world where monotheism was lost, and the community of those faithful to God, thus being referred to as ابونا ابراهيم or "Our Father Abraham," as well as Ibrahim al-Hanif or "Abraham the Monotheist." Also, the same as Judaism, Islam believes that Abraham rejected idolatry through logical reasoning. Abraham is also recalled in specific details of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Further information: Yahweh, Tetragrammaton, El (deity), Elohim, Names of God in Judaism, Names of God in Christianity, and Names of God in Islam

The Abrahamic God is the conception of God that remains a common feature of all Abrahamic religions. The Abrahamic God is conceived as eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, and the universe's creator. God is further held to have the properties of holiness, justice, omnibenevolence, and omnipresence. Proponents of Abrahamic faiths believe that God is also transcendent, but at the same time personal and involved, listening to prayer and reacting to the actions of his creatures. God in Abrahamic religions is always referred to as masculine only. In Jewish theology, God is strictly monotheistic. God is an absolute, indivisible, and incomparable being, the ultimate cause of all existence. Jewish tradition teaches that the fundamental aspect of God is incomprehensible and unknowable and that it is only God's revealed aspect that brought the universe into existence and interacted with humanity and the world. In Judaism, the one, God of Israel, is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who is the guide of the world, delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt and gave them the 613 Mitzvot at Mount Sinai as described in the Torah.

The national God of the Israelites has a proper name, written YHWH (Hebrew: יְהֹוָה‎, Modern: Yehovah, Tiberian: Yəhōwāh) in the Hebrew Bible. The name YHWH is a combination of the future, present, and past tense of the verb "howa" (Hebrew: הוה), meaning "to be" and translated means "The self-existent One." A further explanation of the name was given to Moses when YHWH stated Eheye Asher Eheye (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה) "I will be that I will be." The name relates to God as God truly is, God's revealed essence, which transcends the universe. It also represents God's compassion towards the world. In Jewish tradition, another name of God is Elohim, relating to the interaction between God and the universe, God as manifest in the physical world, designates the justice of God, and means "the One who is the totality of powers, forces, and causes in the universe" In Christian theology, God is the eternal being who created and preserved the world. Christians believe God to be both transcendent and immanent (involved in the world). Early Christian views of God were expressed in the Pauline Epistles and the early[h] creeds, which proclaimed one God and the divinity of Jesus.

Around the year 200, Tertullian formulated a version of the doctrine of the Trinity, which clearly affirmed the divinity of Jesus and came close to the later definitive form produced by the Ecumenical Council of 381. Trinitarians, who form the majority of Christians, hold it as a core tenet of their faith. Nontrinitarian denominations define the Father, the SonSon, and the Holy Spirit differently.

The theology of the attributes and nature of God has been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity, with Irenaeus writing in the 2nd century: "His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things." In the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes that remain widely accepted. As time passed, theologians developed systematic lists of these attributes, some based on statements in the Bible (e.g., the Lord's Prayer, stating that the Father is in Heaven), others based on theological reasoning.

 

The word God written in Arabic

In Islamic theology, God (Arabic: الله Allāh) is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of everything in existence. Islam emphasizes that God is strictly singular (tawḥīd), unique (wāḥid), and inherently one (aḥad), all-merciful and omnipotent. According to Islamic teachings, God exists without a place, and according to the Quran, "No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things." God, as referenced in the Quran, is the only God. Islamic tradition also describes the 99 names of God. These 99 names describe attributes of God, including Most Merciful, The Just, The Peace and Blessing, and the Guardian. All these religions rely on a body of scriptures, some of which are considered to be the word of God—hence sacred and unquestionable—and some the work of religious men, revered mainly by tradition and to the extent that they are considered to have been divinely inspired, if not dictated, by the divine being.

The sacred scriptures of Judaism are the Tanakh, a Hebrew acronym standing for Torah (Law or Teachings), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). These are complemented by and supplemented with various (originally oral) traditions: Midrash, the Mishnah, the Talmud, and collected rabbinical writings. The Tanakh (or Hebrew Bible) was composed between 1,400 BCE and 400 BCE by Jewish prophets, kings, and priests.

The Hebrew text of the Tanakh and the Torah, in particular, is considered holy, down to the last letter: transcribing is done with meticulous care. An error in a single letter, ornamentation, or symbol of the 300,000+ stylized letters that make up the Hebrew Torah text renders a Torah scroll unfit for use; hence the skills of a Torah scribe are specialist skills, and a scroll takes considerable time to write and check. The sacred scriptures of most Christian groups are the Old Testament and the New Testament. Latin Bibles originally contained 73 books; however, seven books, collectively called the Apocrypha or Deuterocanon depending on one's opinion, were removed by Martin Luther due to a lack of original Hebrew sources and now vary in their inclusiin between denominations. Greek Bibles contain additional materials.

The New Testament comprises four accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus (the Four Gospels) and several other writings (the epistles), and the Book of Revelation. They are usually considered divinely inspired and comprise the Christian Bible.

The vast majority of Christian faiths (including Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and most forms of Protestantism) recognize that the Gospels were passed on by oral tradition and were not set to paper until decades after the resurrection of Jesus. The extant versions are copies of those originals. The performance of the Bible considered to be most valid (in the sense of best conveying the true meaning of the word of God) has varied considerably: the Greek Septuagint, the Syriac Peshitta, the Latin Vulgate, the English King James Version, and the Russian Synodal Bible have been authoritative to different communities at different times.

A large body of writings complements the sacred scriptures of the Christian Bible by individual Christians and councils of Christian leaders (see canon law). Some Christian churches and denominations consider certain additional writings to be binding; other Christian groups think only the Bible to be binding (sola scriptura).In the major Abrahamic religions, there exists the expectation of an individual who will herald the time of the end or bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth; in other words, the Messianic prophecy. Judaism awaits the coming of the Jewish Messiah; the Jewish concept of Messiah differs from the Christian concept in several significant ways, despite the same term being applied to both. The Jewish Messiah is not seen as a "god" but as a mortal man who, by his holiness, is worthy of that description. His appearance is not the end of history; instead, it signals the world's coming.

Christianity awaits the Second Coming of Christ, though Full Preterists believe this has already happened. Islam awaits both the second coming of Jesus (to complete his life and die) and the appearance of Mahdi (Sunnis in his first incarnation, Twelver Shia as the return of Muhammad al-Mahdi).

Most Abrahamic religions agree that a human being comprises the body, which dies, and the soul, capable of remaining alive beyond human death and carrying the person's essence. God will judge each person's life accordingly on the Day of Judgement. The importance of this, its focus, the precise criteria, and the result differ between religions.

Judaism's views on the afterlife ("the Next World") are diverse. This can be attributed to an almost non-existent tradition of souls/spirits in the Hebrew Bible (a possible exception being the Witch of Endor), focusing on the present life rather than future reward.

Christians have more diverse and definite teachings on the end times and what constitutes the afterlife. Most Christian approaches either include different abodes for the dead (Heaven, Hell, Limbo, Purgatory) or universal reconciliation because all souls are made in the image of God. A small minority teaches annihilationism, the doctrine that those persons who are not reconciled to God cease to exist.

In Islam, God is said to be "Most Compassionate and Most Merciful" (Quran 1:2, as well as the start of all Suras but one). However, God is also "Most Just"; Islam prescribes a literal Hell for those who disobey God and commit gross sin. Those who obey God and submit to God will be rewarded with their place in Paradise. While sinners are punished with fire, many other forms of punishment are described, depending on the sin committed; Hell is divided into numerous levels.

Those who worship and remember God are promised eternal abode in a physical and spiritual Paradise. Heaven is divided into eight levels, with the highest level of Paradise being the reward of those who have been most virtuous, the prophets, and those killed while fighting for Allah (martyrs).

Upon repentance to God, many sins can be forgiven, on the condition they are not repeated, as God is supremely merciful. Additionally, those who believe in God, but have led sinful lives, may be punished for a time and then eventually released into Paradise. If anyone dies in a state of Shirk (i.e., associating God in any way, such as claiming that He is equal with anything or denying Him), this is not pardonable—they will stay forever in Hell.

Once a person is admitted to Paradise, this person will abide there for eternityWorship, ceremonies, and religion-related customs differ substantially among the Abrahamic religions. Among the few similarities is a seven-day cycle in which one day is nominally reserved for worship, prayer, or other religious activities—Shabbat, Sabbath, or Jumu'ah; this custom is related to the biblical story of Genesis, where God created the universe in six days and rested in the seventh.

The Torah and the Talmud interpretation guide Orthodox Judaism practice. Before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jewish priests offered sacrifices there two times daily; since then, the course has been replaced, until the Temple was rebuilt, by Jewish men being required to pray three times daily, including the chanting of the Torah, and facing in the direction of Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Other practices include circumcision, dietary laws, Shabbat, Passover, Torah study, Tefillin, purity, etc. Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, and the Reconstructionist movement all move away, to different degrees, from the strict tradition of the law.

Jewish women's prayer obligations vary by denomination; in contemporary Orthodox practice, women do not read from the Torah and are only required to say certain parts of these daily services.

All versions of Judaism share a standard, specialized calendar containing many festivals. The calendar is lunisolar, with lunar months and a solar year (an extra month is added every second or third year to allow the shorter lunar year to "catch up" to the solar year). All streams observe the same festivals, but some emphasize them differently. As is usual with its extensive law system, the Orthodox have the most complex manner of keeping the celebrations. At the same time, the Reform pays more attention to the simple symbolism of each one.

Christian worship varies from denomination to denomination. Individual prayer is usually not ritualized, while group prayer may be ritual or non-ritual according to the occasion. During church services, some form of liturgy is frequently followed. Routines are performed during sacraments, which also vary from denomination to denomination and usually include Baptism and Communion, and may also include Confirmation, Confession, Last Rites, and Holy Orders.

Catholic worship practice is governed by documents, including (in the largest, Western, Latin Church) the Roman Missal. Individuals, churches, and denominations emphasize ritual—some denominations consider most ritual activity optional (see Adiaphora), particularly since the Protestant Reformation.

The followers of Islam (Muslims) are to observe the Five Pillars of Islam. The first pillar is the belief in the oneness of Allah and Muhammad as his final and most perfect prophet. The second is to pray five times daily (salat) towards the direction (qibla) of the Kaaba in Mecca. The third pillar is almsgiving (Zakah), a portion of one's wealth given to the poor or to other specified causes, which means the giving of a specific share of one's wealth and savings to persons or grounds, as is commanded in the Quran and elucidated as to exact percentages for different kinds of income and wealth in the hadith. The ordinary share to be paid is two and a half percent of one's earnings: this increases if labor was not required, and increases further if only capital or possessions alone were needed (i.e., proceeds from renting space), and increases to 50% on "unearned wealth" such as treasure-finding, and to 100% on wealth that is considered haram, as part of attempting to make atonement for the sin, such as that gained through financial interest (riba).

Fasting (sawm) during the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar, Ramadan, is the fourth pillar of Islam, to which all Muslims after the age of puberty in good health (as judged by a Muslim doctor to be able fast without incurring grave danger to health: even in seemingly obvious situations, a "competent and upright Muslim physician" is required to agree), that are not menstruating are bound to observe—missed days of the fast for any reason must be made up unless there be a permanent illness, such as diabetes, that prevents a person from ever fasting. In such a case, restitution must be made by feeding one poor person for each day missed.

Finally, if physically able, Muslims are also required to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one's life: it is strongly recommended to do it as often as possible, preferably once a year. Only individuals whose financial position and health are severely insufficient are exempt from making hajjhajj (e.g., if making hajjhajj would stress one's financial situation but would not end up in homelessness or starvation, it is still required). During this pilgrimage, the Muslims spend three to seven days worshiping, performing several strictly defined rituals, notably circumambulating the Kaaba among millions of other Muslims and the "Stoning of the Devil" at Mina.

At the end of the hajjhajj, the heads of men are shaved. Sheep and other halal animals, notable camels, are slaughtered as a ritual sacrifice by bleeding out at the neck according to a strictly prescribed ritual slaughter method similar to the Jewish kashrut, to commemorate the moment when, according to Islamic tradition, Allah replaced Abraham's Son Ishmael (contrasted with the Judaeo-Christian practice that Isaac was the intended sacrifice) with a sheep, thereby preventing human sacrifice. The meat from these animals is then distributed locally to needy Muslims, neighbors, and relatives. Finally, the hajji puts off ihram, and the hajjhajj is completeJudaism commands that males be circumcised when they are eight days old, as does the Sunnah in Islam.

Western Christianity replaced the custom of male circumcision with baptism[110], a ceremony that varies according to the denomination's doctrine. Still, it generally includes immersion, aspersion, or anointment with water. The Early Church (Acts 15, the Council of Jerusalem) decided that Gentile Christians were not required to undergo circumcision. The Council of Florence in the 15th century[111] prohibited it. Paragraph #2297 of the Catholic Catechism calls non-medical amputation or mutilation immoral. By the 21st century, the Catholic Church had adopted a neutral position on the practice, as long as it is not practiced as an initiation ritual. Catholic scholars make various arguments that this policy does not contradict the previous mandates. The New Testament chapter, Acts 15, records Christianity did not require circumcision. The Catholic Church currently maintains a neutral position on non-religious circumcision, and in 1442 it banned the practice of religious circumcision in the 11th Council of Florence. Coptic Christians practice circumcision as a rite of passage. The Eritrean Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church call for circumcision, with near-universal prevalence among Orthodox men in Ethiopia.

Many countries with majorities of Christian adherents have low circumcision rates, while both religious and non-religious circumcision is common in many predominantly Christian countries such as the United States, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya, and many other African Christian countries, circumcision is near-universal in the Christian nations of Oceania. Coptic Christianity and Ethiopian Orthodoxy, and Eritrean Orthodoxy still observe male circumcision and practice circumcision as a rite of passage. Male circumcision is also widely practiced among Christians from South Korea, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and North Africa. (See also aposthia.)

Male circumcision is among the rites of Islam and is part of the fitrah, or the innate disposition and natural character and instinct of the human creation.

Judaism and Islam have strict dietary laws, with permitted food known as kosher in Judaism and halal in Islam. These two religions prohibit pork consumption; Islam prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages of any kind. Halal restrictions can be seen as a modification of the dietary kashrut laws, so many kosher foods are considered halal, especially in the case of meat, which Islam prescribes must be slaughtered in the name of God. Hence, in many places, Muslims used to consume kosher food. However, some foods not considered kosher are considered halal in Islam.

With rare exceptions, Christians do not consider the Old Testament's strict food laws as relevant for today's church; see also Biblical law in Christianity. Most Protestants have no set food laws, but there are minority exceptions.

The Roman Catholic Church believes in observing abstinence and penance. For example, all Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days. The law of abstinence requires a Catholic from 14 years of age until death to abstain from eating meat on Fridays in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops obtained the permission of the Holy See for Catholics in the U.S. to substitute a penitential, or even a charitable, practice of their choosing. Eastern Rite Catholics have their penitential practices as specified by the Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) embraces numerous Old Testament rules and regulations, such as tithing, Sabbath observance, and Jewish food laws. Therefore, they do not eat pork, shellfish, or other foods considered unclean under the Old Covenant. The "Fundamental Beliefs" of the SDA state that their members "are to adopt the most healthful diet possible and abstain from the unclean foods identified in the Scriptures." [Leviticus 11:1–47], among others

In the Christian Bible, the consumption of strangled animals and blood was forbidden by Apostolic Decree[Acts 15:19–21] and is still prohibited in the Greek Orthodox Church, according to German theologian Karl Josef von Hefele, who, in his Commentary on Canon II of the Second Ecumenical Council held in the 4th century at Gangra, notes: "We further see that, at the time of the Synod of Gangra, the rule of the Apostolic Synod [the Council of Jerusalem of Acts 15] about blood and things strangled was still in force. With the Greeks, indeed, it continued always in force as their Euchologies still show." He also writes that "as late as the eighth century, Pope Gregory the Third, in 731, forbade the eating of blood or things strangled under threat of a penance of forty days." ֿ

Jehovah's Witnesses abstain from eating blood and blood transfusions based on Acts 15:19–21.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prohibits the consumption of alcohol, coffee, and non-herbal tea. While there is not a set of forbidden food, the church encourages members to refrain from eating excessive amounts of red meat.

Judaism accepts converts but has had no explicit missionaries since the end of the Second Temple era. Judaism states that non-Jews can achieve righteousness by following Noahide Laws, a set of moral imperatives that, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a binding set of laws for the "children of Noah"—that is, all of humanity. It is believed that as much as ten percent of the Roman Empire followed Judaism either as fully ritually obligated Jews or the more simple rituals required of non-Jewish members of that faith.

One of the significant Jewish teachers, Moses Maimonides, commented: "Quoting from our sages, the righteous people from other nations have a place in the world to come if they have acquired what they should learn about the Creator." Because the commandments applicable to the Jews are much more detailed and onerous than Noahide laws, Jewish scholars have traditionally maintained that it is better to be a good non-Jew than a bad Jew, thus discouraging conversion. In the U.S., as of 2003, 28% of married Jews were married to non-Jews. See also Conversion to Judaism.

Christianity encourages evangelism. Many Christian organizations, especially Protestant churches, send missionaries to non-Christian communities worldwide. See also Great Commission. Forced conversions to Catholicism have been alleged at various points throughout history. The most prominently cited allegations are the conversions of the pagans after Constantine; of Muslims, Jews, and Eastern Orthodox during the Crusades; of Jews and Muslims during the time of the Spanish Inquisition, where they were offered the choice of exile, conversion, or death; and of the Aztecs by Hernán Cortés. Forced conversions to Protestantism may have occurred as well, notably during the Reformation, especially in England and Ireland (see recusancy and Popish plot).

Forced conversions are condemned as sinful by major denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church, which officially states that forced conversions pollute the Christian religion and offend human dignity, so that past or present offenses are regarded as a scandal (a cause of unbelief). According to Pope Paul VI, "It is one of the major tenets of Catholic doctrine that man's response to God in faith must be free: no one is to be forced to embrace the Christian faith against his own will." The Roman Catholic Church has declared that Catholics should fight anti-Semitism.

Dawah is an important Islamic concept that denotes the preaching of Islam. Da'wah means "issuing a summons" or "making an invitation." A Muslim who practices da'wah as a religious worker or in a volunteer community effort is called a dā‘ī, plural du‘āt. A dā‘ī is, thus, a person who invites people to understand Islam through a dialogical process and may be categorized in some cases as the Islamic equivalent of a missionary, as one who invites people to the faith, the prayer, or Islamic life.

Da'wah activities can take many forms. Some pursue Islamic studies specifically to perform Da'wah. Mosques and other Islamic centers sometimes spread Da'wah actively, similar to evangelical churches. Others consider being open to the public and answering questions to be Da'wah. Recalling Muslims to the faith and expanding their knowledge can also be regarded as Da'wah.

In Islamic theology, the purpose of Da'wah is to invite people, both Muslims, and non-Muslims, to understand the commandments of God as expressed in the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet and inform them about Muhammad. Da'wah produces converts to Islam, which grows the size of the Muslim Ummah, or community of Muslims.

Muḥammad ibn Abd Allah (Arabic: مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ ٱللهِ; c.570 – 8 June 632 CE) is believed to be the seal of the messengers and prophets of God in all the main branches of Islam. Muslims believe that the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, was revealed to Muhammad by God and that Muhammad was sent to restore Islam, which they believe did not originate with Muhammad but is the true unaltered original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. The religious, social, and political tenets that Muhammad established with the Quran became the foundation of Islam and the Muslim world.

Born about the year 53 BH (570 CE) into a respected Qurayshi family of Mecca, Muhammad earned the title "al-Amin" (اَلْأَمِينُ, meaning "the Trustworthy"). At the age of 40 in 11 BH (610 CE), Muhammad received his first verbal revelation in the cave called Hira, the beginning of the descent of the Quran that continued up to the end of his life. Muslims hold that God asked Muhammad to preach the oneness of God to stamp out idolatry, a practice overtly present in pre-Islamic Arabia. Because of persecution of the newly converted Muslims, upon the invitation of a delegation from Medina (then known as Yathrib), Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina in 1 AH (622 CE), an event is known as the Hijrah. A turning point in Muhammad's life, this Hegira also marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. In Medina, Muhammad sketched out the Constitution of Medina specifying the rights of and relations among the various existing communities there, formed an independent community, and managed to establish the first Islamic state. Despite the ongoing hostility of the Meccans, Muhammad, along with his followers, took control of Mecca in 630 and ordered the destruction of all pagan idols. In his later years in Medina, Muhammad unified the different tribes of Arabia under Islam and carried out social and religious reforms. By the time he died in about 11 AH (632 CE), almost all the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam.

Muslims often refer to Muhammad as Prophet Muhammad, or just "The Prophet" or "The Messenger," and regard him as the greatest of all Prophets. The Muslims see him as a possessor of all virtues. As an act of respect, Muslims follow the name of Muhammad by the Arabic benediction Sallallahu' Alayhi wa Sallam (meaning peace to be upon him), sometimes abbreviated as "SAW" or "PBUH."

The Quran enumerates little about Muhammad's early life or other biographic details, but it talks about his prophetic mission, his moral excellence, and theological issues regarding Muhammad. According to the Quran, Muhammad is the last in a chain of prophets sent by God (33:40). Throughout the Quran, Muhammad is referred to as "Messenger," "Messenger of God," and "Prophet." Some of such verses are 2:101, 2:143, 2:151, 3:32, 3:81, 3:144, 3:164, 4:79-80, 5:15, 5:41, 7:157, 8:01, 9:3, 33:40, 48:29, and 66:09. Other terms are used, including "Warner," "bearer of glad tidings," and the "one who invites people to a Single God" (Quran 12:108, and 33:45-46). The Quran asserts that Muhammad was a man who possessed the highest moral excellence and that God made him a good example of a "goodly model" for Muslims to follow (Quran 68:4 and 33:21). The Quran disclaims any superhuman characteristics for Muhammad but describes him in terms of positive human qualities. In several verses, the Quran crystallizes Muhammad's relation to humanity. According to the Quran, God sent Muhammad with truth (God's message to humanity) and a blessing to the world (Quran 39:33 and 21:107). In Islamic tradition, God sent Muhammad with his message to humanity, the following of which will give people salvation in the afterlife. Muhammad's teachings and the purity of his personal life alone keep alive the worship of God in this world.

According to the Quran, the coming of Muhammad was predicted by Jesus: "And remember, Jesus, the Son of Mary, said: 'O Children of Israel! I am God's messenger to you, confirming the law (which came) before me, and giving glad tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad'" (Quran 61:6). Through this verse, early Arab Muslims claimed legitimacy for their new faith in the existing religious traditions and the alleged predictions of Jesus.

Muhammad, the SonSon of 'Abdullah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim and his wife Aminah, was born in 570 CE, approximately [28][n 1] in the city of Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula. He was a member of the family of Banu Hashim, a respected branch of the prestigious and influential Quraysh tribe. It is generally said that 'Abd al-Muttalib named the child "Muhammad" (Arabic: مُحَمَّد). Muhammad was orphaned when young. Some months before the birth of Muhammad, his Father died near Medina on a mercantile expedition to Syria (Arabic: اَلشَّام, "Ash-Shām"). When Muhammad was six, he accompanied his mother Amina on her visit to Medina, probably to visit her late husband's tomb. While returning to Mecca, Amina died at a lonely place called Abwa, about halfway to Mecca, and was buried there. Muhammad was now taken in by his paternal grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, who himself died when Muhammad was eight, leaving him in the care of his uncle Abu Talib. In Islamic tradition, Muhammad's being orphaned at an early age has been seen as a part of the divine plan to enable him to "develop early the qualities of self-reliance, reflection, and steadfastness." Muslim scholar Muhammad Ali sees the tale of Muhammad as a spiritual parallel to the life of Moses, considering many aspects of their lives to be shared. The Quran said about Moses: "I cast (the garment of love) over thee from Me, so that thou might be reared under My eye. ... We saved thee from all grief, although We tried thee with various trials. ... O Moses, I have chosen thee for my service" (20:39-41). Considering the idea of this spiritual parallelism, together with other aspects of Muhammad's early life, it has been suggested that it was God under Whose direct care Muhammad was raised and prepared for the responsibility that was to be conferred upon him. Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan argued that Muhammad's orphan state made him dependent on God and close to the needy – an "initiatory state for the future Messenger of God."

According to Arab custom, after his birth, infant Muhammad was sent to the Banu Sa'ad clan, a neighboring Bedouin tribe, to acquire the pure speech and free manners of the desert. There, Muhammad spent the first five years of his life with his foster-mother Halima. Islamic tradition holds that God sent two angels who opened his chest during this period, took out the heart, and removed a blood clot from it. It was then washed with Zamzam water. In Islamic tradition, this incident signifies the idea that God purified his prophet and protected him from sin.

Islamic belief holds that God protected Muhammad from getting involved in any disrespectful and coarse practice. Even when he verged on any such activity, God intervened. Prophetic tradition narrates one such incident in which it is said on the authority of Ibn Al-Atheer that while working as a herdsman at an early period of his life, young Muhammad once told his fellow shepherd to take care of his sheep so that the former could go to the town for some recreation as the other youths used to do. But on the way, his attention was diverted to a wedding party, and he sat down to listen to the sound of music only to fall asleep soon. He was awakened by the heat of the sun. Muhammad reported that he never tried such things again.

Around the age of twelve, Muhammad accompanied his uncle Abu Talib on a mercantile journey to Syria and gained experience in commercial enterprise. On this journey, Muhammad is said to have been recognized by a Christian monk, Bahira, who prophesied about Muhammad's future as a prophet of God.

Around the age of twenty-five, Muhammad was employed as the caretaker of the mercantile activities of Khadijah, a distinguished Qurayshi lady.

Attracted by his noble ethics, honesty, and trustworthiness, she sent a marriage proposal to Muhammad through her maid-servant Meisara. As Muhammad gave his consent, the marriage was solemnized in the presence of his uncle.

Social welfare

Between 580 CE and 590 CE, Mecca experienced a bloody feud between Quraysh and Bani Hawazin that lasted for four years before a truce was reached. After the ceasefire, an alliance named Hilf al-Fudul (The Pact of the Virtuous) was formed to check further violence and injustice; and stand on the oppressed's side. An oath was taken by the descendants of Hashim and the kindred families, where Muhammad was also a member. In the latter days of his life, Muhammad is reported to have said about this pact, "I witnessed a confederacy in the house of 'Abdullah bin Jada'an. It was more appealing to me than herds of cattle. In the period of Islam, I would respond positively to attending such a meeting if I were invited."

Islamic tradition credits Muhammad with settling a dispute peacefully regarding setting the sacred Black Stone on the wall of Kaaba, where the clan leaders could not decide on which clan should have the honor of doing that. The Black Stone was removed to facilitate the rebuilding of Kaaba because of its dilapidated condition. The disagreement grew tense, and bloodshed became likely. The clan leaders agreed to wait for the next man to come through the gate of Kaaba and ask him to choose. The 35-year-old Muhammad entered through that gate first, asked for a mantle he spread on the ground and placed the stone at its center. Muhammad had the clan leaders lift a corner of it until the blanket reached the appropriate height and put the stone in the proper place. Thus, ensuing bloodshed was averted by the wisdom of Muhammad.

 

 Muhammad's first revelation

Muslims believe that Muhammad is the last and final messenger and prophet of God who began receiving direct verbal revelations in 610 CE. The first revealed verses were the first five suras Al-Alaq that the archangel Jibril brought from God to Muhammad in Mount Hira's cave.

After his marriage to Khadijah and during his career as a merchant, although engaged in commercial activities and family affairs, Muhammad gradually became preoccupied with contemplation and reflection. And began to withdraw periodically to a cave named Mount Hira, three miles north of Mecca. According to Islamic tradition, in 610 CE, during one such occasion, while he was in contemplation, Jibril appeared before him and said 'Recite,' upon which Muhammad replied: 'I am unable to recite.' Thereupon the angel caught hold of him and embraced him heavily. This happened two more times, after which the angel commanded Muhammad to recite the following verses:

Proclaim! (or read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created-

Created man out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood:

Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful-

He Who taught (the use of) the pen-

Oriented man that which he knew not.

— Quran, chapter 96 (Al-Alaq), verses 1-5

This was the first verbal revelation. Perplexed by this new experience, Muhammad made his way home, where he was consoled by his wife Khadijah, who also took him to her Christian cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal. Waraqah was familiar with scriptures of the Torah and Gospel. Islamic tradition holds that Waraka, upon hearing the description, testified to Muhammad's prophethood. Aisha also reports that Waraqah ibn Nawfal later told Muhammad that Muhammad's people would turn him out, to which Muhammad inquired, "Will they drive me out?" Waraka replied in the affirmative and said, "Anyone who came with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility, and if I should be alive till that day, then I would support you strongly." Some Islamic scholars argue that Muhammad was foretold in the Bible.

In Islamic belief, revelations are God's word delivered by his chosen individuals – known as Messengers—to humanity. According to Islamic scholar Muhammad Shafi Usmani, God created three media through which humans receive knowledge: men's senses, the faculty of reason, and divine revelation; and it is the third one that addresses the liturgical and eschatological issues, answers the questions regarding God's purpose behind creating humanity, and acts as a guidance for humankind in choosing the correct way. In Islamic belief, the sequence of divine revelation came to an end with Muhammad. Muslims believe these revelations to be the verbatim word of God, which were later collected together, and came to be known as the Quran, the central religious text of Islam.

During the first three years of his ministry, Muhammad preached Islam privately, mainly among his close relatives and acquaintances. The first to believe him was his wife Khadijah, followed by Ali, his cousin, and Zayd ibn Harithah. The early converts were Abu Bakr, Uthman ibn Affan, Hamza ibn Abdul Muttalib, Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas, Abdullah ibn Masud, Arqam, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, Ammar ibn Yasir and Bilal ibn Rabah. In the fourth year of his prophethood, according to Islamic belief, God ordered him to make public his propagation of this monotheistic faith (Quran 15:94).

Muhammad's earliest teachings were marked by his insistence on the oneness of God (Quran 112:1), the denunciation of polytheism (Quran 6:19), belief in the Last judgment, and its recompense (Quran 84:1–15), and social and economic justice (Quran 89:17–20). In a broader sense, Muhammad preached that he had been sent as God's messenger; that God is all-powerful, creator and controller of this universe (Quran 85:8–9, Quran 6:2), and merciful towards his creations (Quran 85:14); that worship should be made only to God; that ascribing partnership to God is a major sin (Quran 4:48); that men would be accountable, for their deeds, to God on last judgment day, and would be assigned to Heaven or hell (Quran 85:10–13); and that God expects man to be generous with their wealth and not miserly

Muhammad's early teachings invited vehement opposition from the wealthy and leading clans of Mecca, who feared the loss of their ancestral paganism and the lucrative pilgrimage business. At first, the opposition was confined to ridicule and sarcasm, which proved insufficient to arrest Muhammad's faith from flourishing, and soon they resorted to active persecution. These included verbal attacks, ostracism, unsuccessful boycott, and physical persecution. Biographers have presented accounts of diverse forms of persecution of the newly converted Muslims by the Quraysh. The converted enslaved people who had no protection were imprisoned and often exposed to the scorching sun—alarmed by the mounting persecution of the new converts, Muhammad, in 615 CE, directed some of his followers to migrate to neighboring Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia), a land ruled by king Aṣḥama ibn Abjar famous for his justice, and intelligence. Accordingly, eleven men and four women made their flight and were followed by more at a later time.

In Mecca, Muhammad was gaining new followers, including notable figures like Umar ibn Al-Khattāb. Their acceptance of Islam significantly strengthened Muhammad's position, and the Quraysh became much perturbed. Upset by the fear of losing the top job and shocked by the continuous condemnation of idol worship in the Quran, the merchants and clan leaders tried to agree with Muhammad. They offered Muhammad the prospect of higher social status and an advantageous marriage proposal in exchange for forsaking his preaching. Muhammad rejected both offers, asserting his nomination as a messenger by God. Unable to deal with this status quo, the Quraysh then proposed to adopt a common form of worship, which the Quran denounced: 'Say: O ye the disbelievers, I worship not that which ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I adore. And I will not honor that which ye have been wont to worship, Nor will ye worship that I cherish. To you be your way and to me mine.

Thus frustrated from all sides, the leaders of various Quraysh clans, in 617 CE, enacted a complete boycott of the Banu Hashim family to mount pressure to lift its protection on Muhammad. The Hashemites were made to retire in a quarter of Abu Talib and were cut off from outside activities. The Hashemites suffered from various scarcities during this period, and Muhammad's preaching was confined to only the pilgrimage season. The boycott ended after three years as it failed to serve its end. This incident was shortly followed by the death of Muhammad's uncle and protector, Abu Talib, and his wife, Khadijah. This has primarily been attributed to the plight to which the Hashemites were exposed during the boycott. The death of his uncle Abu Talib left Muhammad unprotected and told him to some mischief of Quraysh, which he endured with an extraordinary steadfastness. An uncle and a bitter enemy of Muhammad, Abu Lahab succeeded Abu Talib as clan chief and soon withdrew the clan's protection from Muhammad. Around this time, Muhammad visited Ta'if, a city some sixty kilometers east of Mecca, to preach Islam. Still, he met with severe hostility from its inhabitants, who pelted him with stones causing bleeding. It is said that God sent angels of the mountain to Muhammad, who asked Muhammad's permission to crush the people of Ta'if in between the hills. Still, Muhammad said 'No.' During the pilgrimage season of 620, Muhammad met six men of the Khazraj tribe from Yathrib (later named Medina), propounded to them the doctrines of Islam, and recited portions of the Quran. Impressed by this, the six embraced Islam, and at the pilgrimage of 621, five of them brought seven others with them. These twelve informed Muhammad of the beginning of the gradual development of Islam in Medina. They took a formal pledge of allegiance at Muhammad's hand, promising to accept him as a prophet, worship none but one God, and renounce certain sins like theft, adultery, murder, and the like. This is known as the "First Pledge of al-Aqaba." At their request, Muhammad sent with them Mus'ab ibn 'Umair to teach them the instructions of Islam. Biographers have recorded the success of Mus'ab ibn 'Umair in preaching the message of Islam and bringing people under the umbrella of Islam in Medina.

The following year, at the pilgrimage of June 622, a delegation of around 75 converted Muslims of Aws and Khazraj tribes from Yathrib came. They invited him to come to Medina as an arbitrator to reconcile the hostile tribes. This is known as the "Second Pledge of al-'Aqabah" and was a 'politico-religious' success that paved the way for his and his followers' emigration to Medina. Following the pledges, Muhammad ordered his followers to migrate to Yathrib in small groups, and within a short period, most of the Muslims of Mecca migrated there.

Because of assassination attempts from the Quraysh and the prospect of success in Yathrib, a city 320 km (200 mi) north of Mecca, Muhammad emigrated there in 622 CE. According to Muslim tradition, after receiving divine direction to depart Mecca, Muhammad began taking preparation and informed Abu Bakr of his plan. On the night of his departure, Muhammad's house was besieged by men of the Quraysh who planned to kill him in the morning. At the time, Muhammad possessed various properties of the Quraysh given to him in trust, so he handed them over to 'Ali and directed him to return them to their owners. It is said that when Muhammad emerged from his house, he recited the ninth verse of surah Ya Sin of the Quran and threw a handful of dust in the direction of the besiegers, rendering the besiegers unable to see him. After eight days' journey, Muhammad entered the outskirts of Medina on 28 June 622 but did not enter the city directly. He stopped at a Quba place some miles from the central city and established a mosque. On 2 July 622, he entered the city. Yathrib was soon renamed Madinat an-Nabi (Arabic: مَدينة النّبي, literally "City of the Prophet"), but an-Nabi was soon dropped, so its name is "Medina," meaning "the city "n Medina, Muhammad's first focus was on the construction of a mosque, which, when completed, was austere. Apart from being the center of prayer service, the mosque also served as a headquarters of administrative activities. Adjacent to the mosque was built the quarters for Muhammad's family. As there was no definite arrangement for calling people to prayer, Bilal ibn Ribah was appointed to reach people in a loud voice at each prayer time. A system later replaced by Adhan was believed to be informed to Abdullah ibn Zayd in his dream and liked and introduced by Muhammad.

The Emigrants of Mecca, known as Muhajirun, had left almost everything and came to Medina empty-handed. They were warmly welcomed and helped by the Muslims of Medina, known as Ansar (the helpers). Muhammad made a formal bond of fraternity among them that went a long way in eliminating long-established enmity among various tribes, particularly Aws and Khazra

before the arrival of Muhammad, the clans of Medina had suffered a lot from internal feuds and had planned to nominate Abd-Allah ibn Ubaiy as their typical leader to restore peace. The arrival of Muhammad rendered this design unlikely, and from then, Abd-Allah ibn Ubaiy began entertaining hostility towards Muhammad. Soon after Muhammad's settlement in Medina, Abd-Allah ibn Ubaiy received a request from the Quraysh directing him to fight or expel the Muslims from Medina but was convinced by Muhammad not to do that. Around this time, Sa'ad ibn Mua'dh, chief of Aws, went to Mecca to perform Umrah. Because of mutual friendship, he was hosted and escorted by a Meccan leader, Umayyah ibn Khalaf. Still, the two could not escape the notice of Abu Jahl, an archenemy of Islam. At the sight of Sa'ad, Abu Jahl became angry and threatened to stop their visit to Kaaba as his clan had sheltered the Muhammad. Sa'ad ibn Mua'dh also threatened to hinder their trading caravans.

Thus, there remained a persistent enmity between the Muslims and the Quraysh tribe. The Muslims were still few and without substantial resources and fearful of attacks.

The history of Islam concerns the political, social, economic, and cultural developments of the Islamic civilization. Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina in the 7th century CE. Muslims regard Islam as a return to the original faith of the Abrahamic prophets, such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, and Jesus, with the submission (Islām) to the will of God.

According to the traditional account, the Islamic prophet Muhammad began receiving what Muslims consider divine revelations in 610 CE, calling for submission to the one God, the expectation of the imminent Last Judgement, and caring for the poor and needy. Muhammad's message won over a handful of followers (the ṣaḥāba) and was met with increasing opposition from Meccan notables. In 622 CE, a few years after losing protection with the death of his influential uncle ʾAbū Ṭālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, Muhammad migrated to the city of Yathrib (now known as Medina). With the end of Muhammad in 632 CE, disagreement broke out over who would succeed him as leader of the Muslim community during the Rāshidūn Caliphate.

By the 8th century CE, the Umayyad Caliphate extended from Muslim Iberia in the west to the Indus River in the east. Polities such as those ruled by the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates (in the Middle East and later in Spain and Southern Italy), the Fatimids, Seljuks, Ayyubids, and Mamluks were among the most influential powers in the world. Highly Persianized empires built by the Samanids, Ghaznavids, and Ghurids significantly contributed to technological and administrative developments. The Islamic Golden Age gave rise to many centers of culture and science and produced notable polymaths, astronomers, mathematicians, physicians, and philosophers during the Middle Ages.

By the early 13th century, the Delhi Sultanate conquered the northern Indian subcontinent. In contrast, Turkic dynasties like the Sultanate of Rum and Artuqids conquered much of Anatolia from the Byzantine Empire throughout the 11th and 12th centuries. In the 13th and 14th centuries, destructive Mongol invasions and those of Tamerlane (Timur) from the east, along with the loss of population due to the Black Death, significantly weakened the traditional centers of the Muslim world, stretching from Persia to Egypt, but saw the emergence of the Timurid Renaissance and significant global economic powers such as the Mali Empire in West Africa and the Bengal Sultanate in South Asia. Following the deportation and enslavement of the Muslim Moors from the Emirate of Sicily and other Italian territories, the Islamic Iberia was gradually conquered by Christian forces during the Reconquista. Nonetheless, in the early modern period, the states of the Age of the Islamic Gunpowders—Ottoman Turkey, Mughal India, and Safavid Iran—emerged as world powers.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, most of the Muslim world fell under the influence or direct control of the European Great Powers. Their efforts to win independence and build modern nation-states over the last two centuries continue to reverberate to the present day and fuel conflict zones in Palestine, Kashmir, Xinjiang, Chechnya, Central Africa Bosnia, and Myanmar. The oil boom stabilized the Arab States of the Gulf Cooperation Council, making them the world's largest oil producers and exporters, which focus on capitalism, free trade, and tourism.

Early Islam arose within Late Antiquity's historical, social, political, economic, and religious context in the Middle East. The second half of the 6th century CE saw political disorder in the pre-Islamic Arabian peninsula, and communication routes were no longer secure. Religious divisions played an essential role in the crisis. Judaism became the dominant religion of the Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen after about 380 CE, while Christianity took root in the Persian Gulf. There was also a yearning for a more "spiritual form of religion," and "the choice of religion increasingly became an individual rather than a collective issue." While some Arabs were reluctant to convert to a foreign faith, those Abrahamic religions provided "the principal intellectual and spiritual reference points," and Jewish and Christian loanwords from Aramaic began to replace the old pagan vocabulary of Arabic throughout the peninsula. The Hanif ("seekers"), a group of monotheists that sought to separate themselves both from the foreign Abrahamic religions and the traditional Arab polytheism, were looking for a new religious worldview to replace the pre-Islamic Arabian faiths, focusing on "the all-encompassing father god Allah whom they freely equated with the Jewish Yahweh and the Christian Jehovah." In their view, Mecca has initially been dedicated to this monotheistic faith that they considered the one true religion established by the patriarch Abraham.

According to the traditional account, the Islamic prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca around the year 570 CE.vHis family belonged to the Arab clan of Quraysh, the chief tribe of Mecca and a dominant force in western Arabia. To counter the effects of anarchy, they upheld the institution of "sacred months" when all violence was forbidden, and travel was safe. The polytheistic Kaaba shrine in Mecca and the surrounding area was a popular pilgrimage destination, which had significant economic consequences for the city

ost likely Muhammad was "intimately aware of Jewish belief and practices" and acquainted with the Hanif. Like the Hanif, Muhammad practiced Taḥannuth, spending time in seclusion at Mount Hira and "turning away from paganism." When he was about 40 years old, he began receiving at mount Hira what Muslims regard as divine revelations delivered through the angel Gabriel, which would later form the Quran. These inspirations urged him to proclaim a strictly monotheistic faith, as the final expression of the prophetic tradition earlier codified in Judaism and Christianity; to warn his compatriots of the impending Judgement Day, and criticize the social injustices of his city. Muhammad's message won over a handful of followers (the ṣaḥāba) and was met with increasing opposition from Meccan notables. In 622 CE, a few years after losing protection with the death of his influential uncle ʾAbū Ṭālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, Muhammad migrated to the city of Yathrib (subsequently called Medina), where his followers joined him. Later generations would count this event, known as the hijra, as the start of the Islamic era.

In Yathrib, where he was accepted as an arbitrator among the city's different communities under the terms of the Constitution of Medina, Muhammad began to lay the foundations of the new Islamic society with the help of new Quranic verses guided on matters of law and religious observance. The surahs of this period emphasized his place among the long line of Biblical prophets and differentiated the Quran's message from Christianity and Judaism. Armed conflict with the Arab Meccans and Jewish tribes of the Yathrib area soon broke out. After a series of military confrontations and political maneuvers, Muhammad secured control of Mecca and allegiance to the Quraysh in 629 CE. In the time remaining until his death in 632 CE, tribal chiefs across the Arabian peninsula entered into various agreements with him, some under terms of the alliance, others acknowledging his claims of prophethood and agreeing to follow Islamic practices, including paying the alms levy to his government, which consisted of several deputies, an army of believers, and a public treasury.

The real intentions of Muhammad regarding the spread of Islam, its political undertone, and his missionary activity (da'wah) during his lifetime are a contentious matter of debate, which has been extensively discussed both among Muslim scholars and Non-Muslim scholars within the academic field of Islamic studies. Various authors, Islamic activists, and historians of Islam have proposed several understandings of Muhammad's intent and ambitions regarding his religiopolitical mission in the context of the pre-Islamic Arabian society and the founding of his religion: