The Islam

A man and a message

Islam is the religion based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, who lived in Arabia about 1,400 years ago. Followers of Islam are called Muslims. Islam is the predominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa and countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria. Muslims have traveled extensively and have settled in many countries around the world and have since formed their communities, as in the Netherlands.

A man and a message

Mohammed

child, but grew into a successful merchant. Muhammad could have had an easy life, but he was worried by the evil he saw around him. Muhammad was a sensible man, and he often went into the mountains to think and pray. When he was forty years old, he received a revelation, a mission from God to tell them how they should live the people of Mecca. Such revelations Muhammad his life was getting through. They were the words of the Koran. God gave him the assignment message of the Qur'an to tell all people. Muhammad taught that there was only one God, and that worship was wrong idols. He told the people that they had to be kind and generous to the poor and the weak. They could not gamble or drink.

The faith of Islam

Islam is especially close to two other great religions: Judaism and Christianity. All three religions are based on the belief in one God and reverence for sacred books where God's word is. All three carry their believers to act justly and kindly, and special care to have weak and poor people. Muslims consider Abraham as a prophet and see Jerusalem as a holy city. Muslims call Jesus 'Isa' and honor him as a true prophet and a great teacher. But unlike the Christians, they do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died when he was crucified, instead, Muslims believe that God removed Jesus from the cross, straight to heaven. Muslims believe that God since Adam, the first man on earth, has sent many prophets to teach people to live well. For Muslims, Muhammad was the "seal of the prophets, the last, whose words summarize the main teachings of the prophets who lived before him.

The Five Pillars

Many Muslims propose Islam as a strong building that rests on five pillars. The five pillars are: faith, prayer, alms, fasting and pilgrimage.

daily prayer

Of Muslims are expected to pray five times a day with their face toward the Kaaba in the holy city of Mecca, where in the world they are. The first prayer is early morning before the sun rises said. The other prayers in the early afternoon, late afternoon, after sunset and said before dark.

How do you pray?

Before prayer, Muslims must wash their hands, arms, feet and face. This is wudu said. When Muslims pray, kneel and bow to show that they are humble before God. The prayers consist of parts of the Koran and it is said in Arabic. In the prayers praise and thank the Muslim God and ask Him for forgiveness and favors. Muslims are allowed to add any personal prayers. These prayers they say in their own language.

Where should you pray?

Prayers can be said anywhere where clean and preferably quiet. On Friday, Muslims go for afternoon prayers at the mosque. In many Muslim countries, Friday is a day off, which only a few shops early morning and at its late opening. The prayer of the faithful is led by an imam . He is an expert on the Koran and the rules of Islam. On Friday, keeps the imam usually a sermon in which he explains what Islam has to say about a particular topic or event. Muslims living in non-Muslim countries, like the Netherlands, it is sometimes difficult to keep strictly to the rules of their religion. Muslims, for example, work on the assembly line in a factory, can not simply abandon their work for prayer or there might not find a quiet and clean place. Yet many Muslims try to go on Friday to the mosque.

Pilgrimage to Mecca

If he can, every Muslim must make once in his life a pilgrimage to Mecca, the Koran says. Many of them also go to Medina to visit the tomb of Mohammed and other leaders of the former Islamic. Muslims can only go on pilgrimage as they are healthy, and their journey will not create problems for their families. The pilgrimage to Mecca hajj called. Anyone who has made the trip, the word may hajji add to his name. Every year more than two million pilgrims to Mecca in Dhu'l Hijjah , the twelfth month of the Muslim calendar, the month of the pilgrimage.

fast

The ninth month of the Muslim calendar is called Ramadan. In that month, Muhammad received his first revelation from God. Muslims recall this important event by fasting as long as it is light. That is to say, nothing to eat or drink. Fasting good would anyone even allowed to drink a drop of water. That would be very difficult in hot countries where Muslims live. In non-Muslim countries can fast indeed be much more difficult. Muslim Children in school in non-Muslim countries living example of what to probably difficult to fast when all their friends around them anything to eat. Muslims break their fast after sunset. Then the family gathers to eat. A second is eaten right comes the sun.

Celebrate

Two major festivals - Id al-Fitr and Id al-Adha - be celebrated with a feast, family visits and gifts. Id al-Fitr means "feast at the end of the fasting, and falls at the end of Ramadan. Id al-Adha means "Feast of Sacrifice". It is celebrated when Muslims go on pilgrimage to Mecca.

Halal and Haram

Muslims living in various countries in the world, and so eat all kinds of food. But it is all Muslims forbidden to eat certain things. The Koran prohibited food is haram said. Authorized and regular cooked food is called halal. Forbidden include everything from a pig, meat with blood in it, meat and fat of an animal that has not been slaughtered according to the rules and flesh of a carnivorous animal or an animal is sacrificed to idols to eat. Pork products are not only pork, ham and bacon, as well as other foods containing lard, such as cookies, ice cream and soup. Muslims should also not drink alcohol (beer, wine or gin) to drink. To make meat halal, an animal must be slaughtered by cutting the carotid artery with a sharp knife while the butcher pronounce the name of God. This is to indicate that the life of one of God's creatures are not removed carelessly. In an emergency, if there really is no other food available, Muslims may even haram foods to eat not of starvation.

The Quran

When Muhammad proclaimed Islam, he spoke in rhyming sentences (nearly poetry). His teachings sounded so beautiful that many people felt that it could only come from God. It convinced them that they had become Muslims. During the life of Muhammad were the words of the Koran, the holy book of Islam, gathered. Qur'an is the Arabic word for recitation. The Koran gives the words that God through the angel Gabriel spoke to Muhammad to teach people what to believe and how to live. Muslims believe that the Quran is indeed the word of God. There were made many copies of the book, and sent to various parts of the Muslim world.

The Muslim family

The family is important for Islam. The Koran pays special attention to caring for widows and orphans, whose family through death has disintegrated. The health and happiness of a family depends to a large extent on the mother. Her work at home is as important as the work found father. Its main task is to offer the family money and protection. Both parents have a role in teaching their children in Islam. Children must learn to pray and fast by the time they are seven years old. Muslim children are expected to have respect for their parents and they take care of them when they grow old.

Customs and ceremonies

The habits at birth, marriage and death vary in different parts of the Muslim world. But the general rules are widely used.