Islam, one of the three major
monotheistic faiths, was founded, in Arabia by Muhammad (PBUH)
between 610 and 632. There are an estimated 5.5 million Muslims in North
America and I billion Muslims worldwide.
Muhammad (PBUH) was born in A.D. 570 at Makkah and belonged to the Quraish
tribe, which was active in the caravan trade. At the age of 25 he joined the
trade from Makkah to Syria in the employment of a rich widow, Khadija, whom he
later man-fed. Critical of the lax moral standards and polytheistic practices
of the inhabitants of Makkah, he began to lead a contemplative life in the
desert. In a dramatic religious vision, the angel Gabriel announced to Muhammad (PBUH)
that he was to be a prophet. Encouraged by Khadija, he devoted himself to the
reform of religion and society. Polytheism was to be abandoned. But leaders of
the Quraish generally rejected his teaching, and Muhammad (PBUH)
gained only a small following and suffered persecution. He eventually fled Makkah.
The Hegira (Hijra, meaning "emigration") of Muhammad (PBUH)
from Makkah where he was not honored, to Medina, where he was well received,
occurred in 622 and marks the beginning of the Muslim era. After a number of
military conflicts with Makkah 630 he marched on Makkah and conquered it. Muhammad (PBUH)
died at Medina in 632.
Muhammad's (PBUH) followers, called Muslims, revered him as the prophet of
Allah (Allah), the only Allah. Muslims consider Muhammad (PBUH)
to be the last in the line of prophets that included Abraham and Jesus. Islam spread quickly, stretching from
Spain in the west to India in the east within a century after the Prophet's
death. Sources of the Islamic faith
are the Qur'an (Koran), regarded as the uncreated, eternal Word of Allah and tradition
(hadith) regarding sayings and deeds of the prophet.
Islam means "surrender to the will
of Allah;" the all-powerful which determines humanity's fate. Good .deeds
will be rewarded at the Las Judgment in paradise, and evil deeds wit) be
punished in hell.
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