Generalities and Details of the History of Islam
An important point to start talking about the History of Islam is that etymologically the word ‘islam’ comes from the verb ‘aslama’, which means to voluntarily and pacifically submit, with which it is very clear that this religion goes beyond an abstract belief and it centers in a concrete and materializable fact, the one of submitting Allah and obeying his commandments and following his will, as well as worshiping him in the way he has set to do it.
The History of Islam and its Pillars
Understanding the History of Islam implies knowing all the pillars of the belif on which this religion is based. Such pillars are:
1) Only one God: Allah has neither parents nor children and He has not been divided into part but He is creator, sovereign and legislator of the creatures He has created, apart from being perfect, reason why He is the only one who has to be worshiped.
2) Angels: every faithful has to have faith in angels and in the fact that they have been created by Allah to serve and obey Him.
3) Prophets: it has to be believed that Allah has entrusted some human beings of being His messengers on Earth so that they could preach His teachings and will. Such prophets or messengers cannot be worshiped but loved and respected as the chosen ones by Allah to spread His message on the Earth. The followers of Islam consider Muhammad as the last prophet on the planet.
4) Messages of God: it is mandatory to have faith in the messages of God written by the messengers. An example of such writings is the Koran, which was revealed to Muhammad.
5) Resurrection and Final Judgement: when the end of times arrives, which wil be decreed by Allah, He Himself will be responsible of resuscitating the death and send them to their final dwelling according the acts they have committed in life. The two possible dwellings are Paradise of Hell.
6) Fate: everything that happened, happens and will happen, not only is known by Allah, but it has also been carefully planned by Him with wisdom. Human beings have to accept and fulfill the destiny that has been assigned to them.
Every muslim faithful has to have blind faith of such pillars of muslim creed.
History of Islam and Identity of Allah
In the History of Islam it appears as the main character Allah, which meaning is ‘The worshiped one’, ‘The Divine’ in Arab. The word has been chosen due to its lack of ambiguity since its meaning is very clear and, not a minor point, it has neither plural, nor masculine, nor feminine, nor capital letters, nor lower cases, as it does happen with the word ‘God’, ‘god’, ‘gods’, ‘godess’ in English.
The Action in the History of Islam
Even though it is compulsory to comply with the six principles of faith told before, the dynamic of the muslim religion does not allow that everything is limited to faith but it requires to act and to put such principles into practice. In order to achive so, Allah points five pillars for the faith to become manifest in each believer beonging to Islam. The five pillars that are part of the History of Islam are:
- faith testimony
- formal prayer
- alms
- Ramadan fast
- Major Pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca
Muhammad: the Last Prophet
When Jesus and John the Baptist enter the scene, Israeli period comes to an end and the Christian era begins, period in which Christianism spreads all over the Roman Empire, at the same time that it starts to be persecuted. Finally, in the year 325 the emperor Constantino makes a deal with the representatives of such religion, allowing them to practise their religion if their leaders supported the Roman emperors. Those Christians who did not support the Roman emperors were persecuted, escaping to different parts of the world, among which they were Middle East and North Africa, where they were given the opportunity to convert to Islam or to continue being Christians.
When the mission of Israel finished, Allah sent a last messenger to Humanity, who was Muhammad and brought the revelation of Koran. Muhammad was born in Mecca and was descendant of Abraham by Ismael, his firstborn. After his parents and grandfather died, being Muhammed very young, he was raised by his paternal uncle.
Muhammad’s arrival had been anticipated and many rabbis were waiting for him even before he was born. When Muhammad was forty years old and he was meditating away from the city noise, he received archangel Gabriel’s visit, who would visit him for twenty-three years to show him the first verses of Koran.
Among the teachings of the Koran, it is observing Nature and appreciating the Divine creation of Allah, which is an invitation to the whole Humanity. Meanwhile, the Arabs are encouraged to abandon their material idols and worship Allah, creator of everything that exists.
That was how Muhammad spent thirteen years of his life persuading his countrymen not to worship images, at the same time that he tried to transmit them the teachings of Koran. He was not successful with the people who sold material religious images and profited with pagan pilgrimages to Mecca. The result was that the greedy Meccan saw their business in danger and planned Muhammad’s murder, who escaped to Medina, where bloody battles between Jewish tribes and pagans were taking place. Muhammed was called to establish peace in that place. His first step was to write a Constitution in which the rights of all citizens were guaranteed, including the participation of Jews and women.
In the History of Islam Muhammad continued receiving Alla’s revelations regarding Koran and the Islamic estate was attacked by pagans, at the same time that it suffered and survived the attacks from the Jews.
Another important point in the History of Islam is that it always tried to conciliate the religion-ciencce binomial, strenghtening the bonds between reason and faith.
Muhammad died in 632, after having accomplished his mission.