Islamic beliefs and practices

Introduction

The simple religion spread by Muhammad changed with the passage of time. Islamic beliefs and practices in different regions altered as Islam drew on influences from the civilisations it encountered. These differences, in fact, make it hard to define the beliefs that Muslims had. Families, tribes, and nations often imposed their own customs on Islam. Further, Islamic sects emerged based on different beliefs as to who would lead Islam after Muhammad. One sect was Shi'a Islam. It claimed that Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, and his descendants were the only rightful rulers of the Muslim community. Another sect was Sunni Islam. It claimed to follow only the example of Muhammad and his companions. These differences were understandable, since many believers were confined to limited areas, and thought that only their doctrines or practices were genuine. All Muslims, however, practise their religion according to:

• The Quran as the word of Allah.
• The tradition (sunna) of Muhammad, the Prophet of Allah.
• The law (sharia) of Allah.

These principles reflect the central position that Allah has in Islamic beliefs and practices. The word Islam means submission to Allah, and a Muslimis someone who submits to Allah's will. Muslims had adopted the Arabic name Allah for God, just as Jews had adopted the name Yahweh, and Christians had adopted the name Jehovah, to mean God.

The words revealed by Allah and the traditions set by the life of Allah's Prophet, Muhammad, form the basis of Islamic law. By following this law, a Muslim is thought to be guaranteed entry into Paradise (Heaven). By defying this law, a Muslim is thought to risk damnation in the fires of Hell. The belief that good Islamic practice is a legal duty to Allah, rather than an ethical duty to society, means that in the opinion of Muslims, human law and Allah's law are the same. The beliefs behind Islamic law and practices can be placed into three broad groups:

• Tawhid: the oneness of Allah, meaning everything on earth was created by Allah.
• Risalah: the work and message of the prophets in Islam, who were those specially chosen by Allah to guide believers.
• Akhirah: life after death that can be enjoyed by believers.

This chapter discusses the role that the Quran, the traditions of Muhammad and the law of Allah have in shaping these Islamic beliefs and practices.

The Quran

The basis of Islamic teachings is the Holy Quran, which is considered to be the literal Word of God. Muslims believe that in AD610, the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel. For over 20 years he continued to receive these versus at irregular but frequent intervals until his death. Allah speaks directly in the first person in the Quran, unlike the Bible in which others relay the message of the Christian God. Allah's message was originally only in Arabic as Muslims thought it impossible to convey exact meaning from one language to another. The Quran was relatively small in size and was arranged in 114 chapters (suras). Muhammad could neither read nor write, so recited the Quran to companions who committed it to memory. 'Uthman, the Third Caliph (AD644-656), commissioned the official written version.

It was believed that readers of the Quran needed to be ritually clean. They were, for example, forbidden from eating or drinking while handling it. Its single major theme is the demand for obedience to Allah, with an emphasis put on correcting wrong behaviour, the temptation of Satan, and the duty of the strong to protect the weak. It refers to existing Christian and Jewish figures and events, including the creation of Adam, Noah and the flood, Abraham and Solomon. It rejects, however, certain Christian concepts, such as souls being tainted at birth with the sins of Adam, and the need for a messiah for redemption. The Quran specifies some of the rules for marriage, divorce, business and contract law, and rules for modesty for women - these were issues of the type that were expected to arise among the Arab communities of early Islam. The Quran shapes the relationships of Muslims with Allah, family, and community. Refer Image 1

The Sunna

The formal laws that governed early Islam were a combination of Islamic principles, Arabic traditions and local customary laws. The basis for these laws would be set by Islamic scholars in the late 8th and early 9th centuries, supplementing the few laws written in the Quran with a legal structure based on the life of Muhammad. It was established that Islamic law would consist not only of the Quran but the hadith, which were accounts by scholars of the sayings or actions of Muhammad that circulated from the time of his death. The entire body of hadith constituted the sunna (tradition) of Islam. The wide spread of Islam over vast areas made it hard to authenticate all of the accounts made of Muhammad's life, so scholars tried to create an isnad, a chain of transmission back to the Prophet, for every hadith.

The Sharia

The body of Islamic law came to be referred to as sharia ('the path'). This was the legal framework in which public and some private aspects of life were regulated for Muslims. Sharia expanded on rules for daily life mentioned in the Quran on politics, economics, banking, business and contract law, sexuality and social issues. It emerged in the mid-9th century in an effort to improve Islamic law by removing hadiths thought to be inaccurate.