Text 11. Principles of islam

Assignment. Texts 11-13 are dedicated to Turkey. Read the texts 11 and 12 and compare the basic principles of Islam with those of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Turkish population is 99% Muslin, mostly of the Sunni creed; there are groups of Shiites in the east and south-east. As non-Muslim groups make up less than 1% of the population, to talk about Turkish religion is to talk about Islam.

The basic beliefs of Islam are these: God (Allah) created the world and everything in it pretty much according to the biblical account. In fact, the Bible is a sacred book to Muslims. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus were prophets. Their teachings and revelations are accepted by Muslims, except for Jesus’ divinity and his status as saviour. Jews and Christians are called ‘People of the Book’, meaning those with a revealed religion that preceded Islam. The Quran prohibits enslavement of any People of the Book. Jewish prophets and wise men, and Christian saints and martyrs, are all accepted as holy in Islam.

However, Islam is the ‘perfection’ of this earlier tradition. Though Moses and Jesus were great prophets, Mohammed was the greatest and last, the Prophet. To him, God communicated his final revelation, and entrusted him to communicate it to the world. Mohammed is not a saviour, nor is he divine. He is God’s messenger, deliverer of the final, definitive message.

Muslims do not worship Mohammed, only God. In fact, Muslim in Arabic means, ‘one who has submitted to God’s will’; Islam is ‘submission to God’s will’. It’s all summed up in the Ezan, the phrase called out from the minaret five times a day and said at the beginning of Muslim prayers: ‘God is great! There is no god but God, and Mohammed is His Prophet’.

The Quran

God’s revelations to Mohammed are confined in the Kur’an-i Kerim, the Quran. Mohammed recited the suras (verses or chapters) of the Quran in an inspired state. They were written down by followers, and still regarded as the most beautiful, melodic and poetic work in Arabic literature. The Quran, being sacred, exists in its true form in Arabic only.

The Islamic faith is expressed by observance of the five so-called pillars of Islam. Muslims must:

• Say, understand and believe, ‘There is no god but God, and Mohammed is his Prophet’.

• Pray five times daily: at dawn, at noon, at mid-afternoon, at dusk and after dark.

• Give alms to the poor.

• Keep the fast of Ramazan, if capable of doing so.

• Make a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Muslim prayers are set rituals. Before praying, Muslims must wash hands and arms, feet and ankles, head and neck in running water; if no water is available, in clean sand; if there’s no sand, the motions will suffice. Then they must cover their head, face Mecca and perform a precise series of gestures and genuflections. If they deviate from the pattern, they must begin again.

In daily life, a Muslim must not touch or eat pork, nor drink wine (interpreted as any alcoholic beverage), and must refrain from fraud, usury, slander and gambling. No sort of image of any being with an immortal soul (i.e. human or animal) can be revered or worshipped in any way.

Islam has been split into many factions and sects since the time of Mohammed. Islamic theology has become very elaborate and complex. These tenets, however, are still the basic ones shared by all Muslims.