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Saudi Arabia
Tenets of Sunni Islam
The shahada (testimony) succinctly states the central
belief of Islam: "There is no god but God (Allah), and Muhammad
is his Prophet." This simple profession of faith is repeated on
many ritual occasions, and its recital in full and unquestioning
sincerity designates one a Muslim. The God of Muhammad's preaching
was not a new deity; Allah is the Arabic term for God, not a particular
name. Muhammad denied the existence of the many minor gods and
spirits worshiped before his prophecy, and he declared the omnipotence
of the unique creator, God. Islam means submission to God, and
one who submits is a Muslim. Being a Muslim also involves a commitment
to realize the will of God on earth and to obey God's law.
Muhammad is the "seal of the Prophets"; his revelation is said
to complete for all time the series of biblical revelations received
by Jews and Christians. Muslims believe God to have remained the
same throughout time, but that men strayed from his true teaching
until set right by Muhammad. Prophets and sages of the biblical
tradition, such as Abraham (Ibrahim), Moses (Musa), and Jesus
(Isa), are recognized as inspired vehicles of God's will. Islam,
however, reveres as sacred only the message, rejecting Christianity's
deification of Christ. It accepts the concepts of guardian angels,
the Day of Judgment, general resurrection, heaven and hell, and
eternal life of the soul.
The duties of the Muslim--corporate acts of worship--form the
five pillars of Islamic faith. These are shahada, affirmation
of the faith; salat, daily prayer; zakat, almsgiving;
sawm, fasting during the month of Ramadan; and hajj,
pilgrimage to Mecca. These acts of worship must be performed with
a conscious intent, not out of habit. Shahada is uttered
daily by practicing Muslims, affirming their membership in the
faith and expressing an acceptance of the monotheism of Islam
and the divinity of Muhammad's message.
The believer is to pray in a prescribed manner after purification
through ritual ablutions at dawn, midday, midafternoon, sunset,
and nightfall. Prescribed genuflections and prostrations accompany
the prayers, which the worshiper recites facing Mecca. Prayers
imbue daily life with worship, and the day is structured around
an Islamic conception of time. Whenever possible, men pray in
congregation at the mosque under a prayer leader. On Fridays,
the practice is obligatory. Women may attend public worship at
the mosque, where they are segregated from the men, but woman
most frequently pray at home. A special functionary, the muezzin,
intones a call to prayer to the entire community at the appropriate
hours; those out of earshot determine the proper time from the
position of the sun.
In the early days of Islam, the authorities imposed a tax on
personal property proportionate to one's wealth; this tax was
distributed to the mosques and to the needy. In addition, freewill
gifts were made. Although still a duty of the believer, almsgiving
in the twentieth century has become a more private matter. Properties
contributed by pious individuals to support religious activities
are usually administered as a religious foundation, or waqf (see
Glossary).
The ninth month of the Muslim calendar is Ramadan, a period of
obligatory fasting that commemorates Muhammad's receipt of God's
revelation, the Quran. Fasting is an act of self-discipline that
leads to piety and expresses submission and commitment to God.
Fasting underscores the equality of all Muslims, strengthening
sentiments of community. During Ramadan all but the sick, weak,
pregnant or nursing women, soldiers on duty, travelers on necessary
journeys, and young children are enjoined from eating, drinking,
or smoking during the day. Official work hours often are shortened
during this period, and some businesses close for all or part
of the day. Because the lunar calendar is eleven days shorter
than the solar calendar, Ramadan revolves through the seasons
over the years. When Ramadan falls in the summertime, a fast imposes
considerable hardship on those who must do physical work. Each
day's fast ends with a signal that light is insufficient to distinguish
a black thread from a white one. Id al Fitr, a three-day feast
and holiday, ends the month of Ramadan and is the occasion of
much visiting.
Finally, Muslims at least once in their lifetime should, if possible,
make the hajj to the holy city of Mecca to participate in special
rites held during the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. The
Prophet instituted this requirement, modifying preIslamic custom
to emphasize sites associated with Allah and Abraham, father of
the Arabs through his son Ismail (also known as Ishmael). The
pilgrim, dressed in two white, seamless pieces of cloth (ihram)
performs various traditional rites (see Pilgrimage
, this ch.) These rites affirm the Muslim's obedience to God and
express intent to renounce the past and begin a new righteous
life in the path of God. The returning male pilgrim is entitled
to the honorific "hajj" before his name and a woman the honorific
"hajji." Id al Adha, the feast of sacrifice, marks the end of
the hajj month.
The permanent
struggle for the triumph of the word of God on earth, jihad, represents
an additional duty of all Muslims. This concept is often taken
to mean holy war, but most Muslims see it in a broader context
of civil and personal action. Besides regulating relations between
the individual and God, Islam regulates the relations of one individual
to another. Aside from specific duties, Islam imposes a code of
ethical conduct encouraging generosity, fairness, honesty, and
respect. It also explicitly propounds guidance as to what constitutes
proper family relations and it forbids adultery, gambling, usury,
and the consumption of carrion, blood, pork, and alcohol.
A Muslim stands in a personal relationship to God; there is neither
intermediary nor clergy in orthodox Islam. Men who lead prayers,
preach sermons, and interpret the law do so by virtue of their
superior knowledge and scholarship rather than because of any
special powers or prerogatives conferred by ordination. Any adult
male versed in the prayer form is entitled to lead prayers--a
role referred to as imam (see Glossary).
During the formative period of Islamic law, four separate Sunni
schools developed and survived. These schools differ in the extent
to which they admit usage of each of the four sources of law:
the Quran, the sunna or custom of the Prophet, reasoning by analogy,
and the consensus of religious scholars. The Hanafi school, named
after Imam Abu Hanifa, predominates in the territories formerly
under the Ottoman Empire and in Muslim India and Pakistan; it
relies heavily on consensus and analogical reasoning in addition
to the Quran and sunna. The Maliki school, named after Malik ibn
Anas, is dominant in upper Egypt and West Africa; developed in
Medina, it emphasizes use of hadith that were current in the Prophet's
city. The school of Muhammad ibn Idris ash Shafii, prevailing
in Indonesia, stresses reasoning by analogy.
The fourth legal school is that of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855),
which is the school adhered to in Saudi Arabia. The Hanbali school
has attracted the smallest following because it rejects the use
of analogy as well as the consensus of judicial opinion except
as recorded by the jurists of the first three centuries of Islam.
However, an important principle in Hanbali thought is that things
are assumed to be pure or allowable unless first proved otherwise.
Data as of December 1992
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