Cliff Notes
- Islam is considered to be created by the prophet Muhammad when the angel Gabriel came to him and spoke the first revelations to him around 622CE.
- Some of the most important people in Islam history would be the prophet Muhammad, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid who was Muhammad’s first wife and the first person to accept his prophet hood, Imam Ali Abi Talib who was Muhammad’s successor and the first male to accept Islam, and Fatimah bint Muhammad’s daughter who is one of the
“Four Women of Paradise”.
- The most important religious text in Islam is the Quran. The Quran means “The recitation”. The Quran was made into book shortly after the Prophet Muhammad’s death. The Quran is believed to be the word of God by Muslims. The Quran is composed of 114 chapters (also called suras).
- The Five Pillars of Islam are basically the principles of Islam. The Five pillars are as followed Shahada or witnessing that Allah is one and Muhammad is his messenger, Salah which means Prayer, Zakah which is obligatory charity, Sawm which is fasting, and Hajj which is the pilgrimage.
- Islam is considered to begin in Arabia in the Middle East (now known as Saudi Arabia). Arabia is where Muhammad spent all of his life trying to spread the word of the Quran. Islam did not spread rapidly until Muhammad’s death.
- According to numerous historical sources, women played a major role in the early days of Islam as they supposedly helped Muhammad in the spreading of Islam. Certain parts of the Quran specify that a woman is to be a servant to men and that their job is in a sense to please the man.
- Islamic architecture derives originally from Iranian or Persian architecture from its ancient times. Typically Islamic architecture can be seen primarily through mosques, tombs, palaces, forts, or other Islamic government facilities.
- Islamic art is typically seen through calligraphy, this is because most Muslims think it is not appropriate to have images of sacred prophets, so people are not typically portrayed in Islamic art.
- Mecca was considered a strong city used for trade in which numerous people came in and left taking the Islamic culture with them. The most significant aspect of Islamic spread was how the Muslims conquered much land using quick and violent methods, forcing everyone to convert. However, they gave the people the option to not convert, but those who did not convert had to pay a tax.
- Islam and Judaism are the same in the sense that they are both monotheistic as well as Abrahamic religions. However, Islam has about 1.4 billion adherents whereas Judaism only has about 15 million. Islam is the 2nd largest religious belief in the world, and Judaism falls in at 12th place.
- The religion has billions of adherents composing about 1/6 of the world's population. It is also because of the Holy Wars or Crusades in which the Christians attempted to take the Holy Land back from the Muslims. This is regarded as one of the most violent times in history resulting in numerous wars based off religion, primarily through the Catholic Church and Islam. Throughout the course of our modern history, the largest impact Islam has left on the world is arguably the conflict that has arose, not from Islam alone, but how religions have interacted with it as well as others. Conflicts in which we still see today by nations across the globe caused by disagreement which have led to wars, government issues, and even acts of terror from all sides.