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Oman EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAM
Islam is a system of religious beliefs and an allencompassing way of life. Muslims believe that God (Allah)
revealed to the Prophet Muhammad the rules governing
society and
the proper conduct of society's members. It is incumbent
on the
individual, therefore, to live in a manner prescribed by
the
revealed law and incumbent on the community to build the
perfect
human society on earth according to holy injunctions.
Islam
recognizes no distinctions between the religious
institution and
the state. The distinction between religious and secular
law is a
recent development that in part reflects the more
pronounced role
of the state in society and Western economic and cultural
penetration. The impact of religion on daily life in
Muslim
countries is extensive, usually greater than that found in
the
West.
The area that constitutes the present-day Persian Gulf
states
was on the immediate periphery of the rise of Islam. In
A.D. 610,
Muhammad--a merchant of the Hashimite branch of the ruling
Quraysh tribe in the Arabian town of Mecca--began to
preach the
first of a series of revelations that Muslims believe was
granted
him by God, some directly and some through the angel
Gabriel. A
fervent monotheist, Muhammad denounced the polytheism of
his
fellow Meccans. Because the town's economy was based in
part on a
thriving pilgrimage business to the shrine called the
Kaaba and
to numerous other pagan religious sites in the area, his
censure
earned him the enmity of the town's leaders. In 622 he and
a
group of followers accepted an invitation to settle in the
town
of Yathrib, later known as Medina (the city), because it
was the
center of Muhammad's activities. The move, or
hijra (see Glossary),
known in the West as the hegira, marks the
beginning
of the Islamic era and of Islam as a force in history; the
Muslim
calendar begins in 622. In Medina, Muhammad continued to
preach,
and he eventually defeated his detractors in battle. He
consolidated the temporal and the spiritual leadership in
his
person before his death in 632. After Muhammad's death,
his
followers compiled those of his words regarded as coming
directly
from God into the Quran, the holy scripture of Islam.
Others of
his sayings, recalled by those who had known him, became
the
hadith (see Glossary).
The precedent of Muhammad's deeds
is
called the sunna. Together they form a comprehensive guide
to the
spiritual, ethical, and social life of an orthodox Sunni
Muslim.
The major duties of Muslims are found in the five
pillars of
Islam, which set forth the acts necessary to demonstrate
and
reinforce the faith. These are the recitation of the
shahada ("There is no god but God [Allah], and
Muhammad is
his prophet"), daily prayer (salat), almsgiving
(zakat), fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage
(hajj). The
believer is to pray in a prescribed manner after
purification
through ritual ablutions each day at dawn, midday,
midafternoon,
sunset, and nightfall. Prescribed genuflections and
prostrations
accompany the prayers, which the worshiper recites while
facing
toward Mecca. Whenever possible, men pray in congregation
at the
mosque with an
imam (see Glossary),
and on Fridays they
are
required to do so. The Friday noon prayers provide the
occasion
for weekly sermons by religious leaders. Women may also
attend
public worship at the mosque, where they are segregated
from the
men, although most frequently women pray at home. A
special
functionary, the muezzin, intones a call to prayer to the
entire
community at the appropriate hour.
The ninth month of the Muslim calendar is Ramadan, a
period
of obligatory fasting in commemoration of Muhammad's
receipt of
God's revelation. Throughout the month, all but the sick
and the
weak, pregnant or lactating women, soldiers on duty,
travelers on
necessary journeys, and young children are enjoined from
eating,
drinking, smoking, or sexual intercourse during the
daylight
hours. Those adults excused are obliged to endure an
equivalent
fast at their earliest opportunity. A festive meal breaks
the
daily fast and inaugurates a night of feasting and
celebration.
The pious well-to-do usually do little or no work during
this
period, and some businesses close for all or part of the
day.
Because the months of the lunar year revolve through the
solar
year, Ramadan falls earlier in the solar year each
successive
year. A considerable test of discipline at any time of the
year,
a fast that falls in summer imposes severe hardship on
those who
must do physical work.
All Muslims, at least once in their lifetimes and if
circumstances permit, should make the hajj to Mecca to
participate in special rites held there during the twelfth
month
of the lunar calendar. Muhammad instituted this
requirement,
modifying pre-Islamic custom, to emphasize sites
associated with
God and Abraham (Ibrahim), founder of monotheism and
father of
the Arabs through his son, Ismail.
The lesser pillars of the faith, which all Muslims
share, are
jihad, or the permanent struggle for the triumph of the
word of
God on earth, and the requirement to do good works and to
avoid
all evil thoughts, words, and deeds. In addition, Muslims
agree
on certain basic principles of faith based on the
teachings of
the Prophet Muhammad: there is one God, who is a unitary
divine
being in contrast to the trinitarian belief of Christians;
Muhammad, the last of a line of prophets beginning with
Abraham
and including Moses and Jesus, was chosen by God to
present God's
message to humanity; and there is a general resurrection
on the
last, or judgment, day.
During his lifetime, Muhammad held both spiritual and
temporal leadership of the Muslim community. Religious and
secular law merged, and all Muslims have traditionally
been
subject to the sharia, or religious law. A comprehensive
legal
system, the sharia developed gradually through the early
centuries of Islam, primarily through the accretion of
interpretations and precedents set by various judges and
scholars. During the tenth century, legal opinion began to
harden
into authoritative rulings, and the figurative bab al
ijtihad (gate of interpretation) closed. Thereafter,
rather
than encouraging flexibility, Islamic law emphasized
maintenance
of the status quo.
After Muhammad's death, the leaders of the Muslim
community
consensually chose Abu Bakr, the Prophet's father-in-law
and one
of his earliest followers, to succeed him. At that time,
some
persons favored Ali ibn Abu Talib, Muhammad's cousin and
the
husband of his daughter, Fatima, but Ali and his
supporters (the
Shiat Ali, or Party of Ali) eventually recognized the
community's
choice. The next two caliphs (successors)--Umar, who
succeeded in
634, and Uthman, who took power in 644--enjoyed the
recognition
of the entire community. When Ali finally succeeded to the
caliphate in 656, Muawiyah, governor of Syria, rebelled in
the
name of his murdered kinsman, Uthman. After the ensuing
civil
war, Ali moved his capital to Iraq, where he was murdered
shortly
thereafter.
Ali's death ended the last of the so-called four
orthodox
caliphates and the period in which the entire community of
Islam
recognized a single caliph. Muawiyah proclaimed himself
caliph
from Damascus. The Shiat Ali refused to recognize him or
his
line, the Umayyad caliphs, and withdrew in the great
schism of
Islam to establish the dissident sect, known as the Shia,
who
supported the claims of Ali's line to the caliphate based
on
descent from the Prophet. The larger faction, the Sunnis,
adhered
to the position that the caliph must be elected, and over
the
centuries they have represented themselves as the orthodox
branch.
Data as of January 1993
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