Belief System = Islam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wRrP_YOKx0 start at 1:00 6 misconceptions about Islam

Founder/Where & When

• Founder: Muhammad

•Where: Arabia

•When: 622 A.D.

He became a caravan merchant, married, and had children.

Background Information• According to tradition, the angel Gabriel commanded

Muhammad to spread the message of Islam.

• Muhammad obeyed.

• Soon Meccan merchants sought to kill him.

• In A.D 622, Muhammad and his followers left Meccafor Yathrib (later named Medina) on a journey known as the hijra

• Muslim converts in Medina welcomed Muhammad and the religion grew.

The Five Pillars of Islam1. There is one God, Muhammad is God’s messenger

2. Pray five times a day

3. fasting during the month of Ramadan

4. 2.5% of one’s savings to the poor

5. pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hW3hH9_7pI cartoon 5 pillars of Islam

Shrine at Mecca

Basic Beliefs

• Body of laws called the Sharia. It covers all aspects of life.

• This system of laws act as a means to unite Muslims of different backgrounds.

Sacred Text• Sacred text: Quran (Koran).• The Quran is the final authority on all matters and provides a

guide to life for Muslims.

Afterlife

• lslam believes in the transformation of the soul after death.

• Belief in a day of judgment when all humans will be divided between eternal destinations of Paradise & Hell.Paradise, = enjoy spiritual and physical pleasures forever, or condemned to Hell to suffer spiritual and

physical torment for eternity. The day of judgment is described as passing over Hell on a narrow bridge

in order to enter Paradise. Those who fall, weighted by their bad deeds, will remain in Hell forever.

Expansion• Arab fighters spread Islam through military

conquest.

• Muslims also built vast trading empires.

• Merchants spread Islam to Africa, China, and India.