Origin

Mohammed was born in 570AD in Mecca. Marriage to a rich widow left him free for religious contemplation. In 610AD, while in a cave, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and commanded 'Recite!'. Then followed the first of many revelations.

Following growing opposition to his preaching in Mecca, he went to Medina in 622AD. He quickly became a leader and set up the Muslim community (umma), centred on the worship of Allah. As the prophet of Allah, he had an important place within the umma.

After a series of military victories, Mohammed took Mecca in 630AD. In 632AD he made his last pilgrimage to Medina where he died later that year. A series of caliphs followed him as leader.

Within eighty years of his death, Islam stretched from India to the Atlantic. Then to central Asia and China, later throughout Southern Asia to Malaya. In Syria alone 10 000 churches were destroyed or became mosques. The church in North Africa was practically obliterated and Muslims developed naval control of the Mediterranean. The Muslim armies crossed the Pyrenees into France in 732AD, and experienced a crushing defeat at the hands of Charles Martel at Poiters, ensuring that the heart of Europe remained Christian.

Islam continued to grow in the east, and at the height of the Turkish Ottoman empire, Constantinople fell to the them in 1453.

Scriptures

The Qur'an as revealed to Mohammed is the final revelation of God to mankind, and corrects all errors in the Bible. Tradition has it that people wrote down the words of the prophet on leather, stones, wood and even the shoulder blades of camels. Soon after Mohammed's death there were no less than five collections of his sayings in use. The third caliph, Uthman, appointed a committee which drew together an authoritative collection. This text was established c.653AD. Early manuscripts were mostly written on animal skin with ink made from soot. It is divided into chapters called suras. The earliest copy dates from 688AD and is in the Egyptian National Library. Because Arabic is regarded as an inspired language, translations are accepted with reluctance, but regarded as necessary if the truth of Allah is to be proclaimed abroad.

Teachings on Faith

Main Doctrines (Sura 2:177)

• Faith in Allah
  'There is no god besides Allah'. Allah is one, and the only true God. He is to be obeyed completely.
• Belief in the Last Day
  People judged according to their works. Allah alone knows when.
• Belief in Angels
• Belief in the books
  Scriptures were given to many previous generations, e.g. Adam and Abraham each received ten books. Only four have survived: the Pentateuch (given to Moses), the Psalms (given to David), the Gospel (given to Jesus), the Qur'an (given to Mohammed). In addition to the Qur'an, the tradition (hadith) consists of stories of what Mohammed did and was collected 300 years after his death, each story carefully investigated. The hadith has almost as much authority as the Qur'an.
• Belief in the prophets
  Including Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, etc. (124 000 in total).
• Belief in predestination
  Added later by theologians about 100 years after the prophet's death.

Teachings on Duty

Five Pillars

1. Confession of faith
   'I testify that there is no god besides Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah'.
2. Ritual daily prayer
   Five times a day facing Mecca.
3. Fast of Ramadan
   Fasting from dawn to dusk for 30 days.
4. Almsgiving (2.5%)
5. Pilgrimage (Hajj)
   To Mecca, if physically and financially possible.

View of Christ

Christ is not God. He is one of the prophets. To say he is God is to blaspheme, since Allah is one, and has no wife. Allah neither begets nor is begotten. To declare otherwise is the one unforgivable sin that an unbeliever may commit. However, Jesus was a great prophet, and had a miraculous virgin birth. He was not crucified (Allah would never allow that) but was translated to heaven without dying and another was crucified in his place. He prophesied the coming of another comforter (Mohammed).

Finally, did you know that...

• In some strict Muslim circles, it is a sentence of death to become a Christian.
• In Ethiopia, it is not uncommon for a large sum to be given to each convert to Islam; this is also known in Egypt.
• Arabs are children of Abraham through Ishmael (whom they claim Abraham nearly sacrificed)

University of South Africa; Science of Religion Study Guide SRA100-5, Chapters 14, 15, 20-22, by Dr G J A Lubba; UNISA, Pretoria 1991; Echoes of Service Factfile; Notes on Islam (2nd ed); Echoes of Service, 1994; Islam at a glance; UK IPC International, undated tract for propagation of Islam; McDowell & Stewart; Concise Guide to Today's Religions; Scripture Press, 1988