Islam

Brief introduction

Revelations made to Mohammad (PBUH) after the year 610 AD, were the starting point of Islamic history. From the year 622, Mohammad (PBUH) and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina for flee the oppression and torture of idol worshipers, thereby initiating the Islamic calendar and creating the first Islamic Government in Medina. The new society developed under the direction and guidance of Mohammad (PBUH); and until his demise in the year 623, most of the Arabs living in the peninsula were converted to Islam, acting as an integrated religious, political and economical society. Mohammad?s message spread quickly to a territory extending from present day Morocco to Pakistan.
By the year 1000 AD, Muslims were in majority in the Middle East and parts of southeast Asia (including Malaysia and Indonesia).
Mohammad (PBUH)?s teachings combine the doctrines of God?s uniqueness and absolutism with the need for kindness and clemency in human relations.

Rites and ceremonies

Muslims worship and show their devotion to God through various rites and religious ceremonies, the details of which are set out in Islamic commandments.
The most important duties of Muslims in life constitute the five pillars of Islam. The first is to bear witness the uniqueness of God by stating ?I witness that there is no deity except God and that Mohammad (PUBH) is the Messenger of God.?
The second, i.e. prayers, is a rite conducted at dawn, midday, afternoon, dusk, and nightfall. Purity is demanded and Muslims cleanse themselves according to a special procedure before praying. Since blood is considered impure, women are not allowed to pray during their menstruations.
The third pillar is charity (ZEKAT). Muslims must hand out a portion of their savings from annual income to the poor and needy.
The fourth, is to keep fast during the entire month of Ramadan. Ramadan is considered the month of God?s banquet, wherein Muslims celebrate Koran?s revelation to their Prophet. During the month, healthy Muslims and women outside their menstrual cycle, refrain from eating, drinking, intercourse and sins from dawn to dusk.
The fifth pillar of Islam is pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). This pilgrimage is undertaken on the twelfth months of Islamic Calendar (ZILHAJJA), and is a must for any Muslim who has the financial means of taking the journey.

Pilgrimage

The fifth pillar consists of pilgrimage to Kaaba in Mecca. Every mature Muslim, who is capable both physically and financially, must undertake the journey at least once in his lifetime. The pilgrimage takes place on the first ten days of the last lunar month of the Islamic Calendar year. The pilgrim must enter the domain of purity and so they wear a white shroud and avoid bloodshed as well as clipping their nails or cutting their hair. Furthermore they must not engage in any violent behaviors or deeds. Among the rites of this long worship is to circle seven timed the Kaaba, walking to and from the Safa and Marva hills seven times at a great pace, run 3 miles towards Mana by moving all limbs, and then walk for a distance of 6 miles to Arafat, where they stay until the afternoon listening to sermons. They walk back to Mecca, where they offer a sacrifice in the memory of Abraham (AS)?s great test in sacrificing his son, after which they circle the Kaaba once again. Air travel has enabled Muslims to travel to Mecca from all around the world for the pilgrimage, and in recent years the number of pilgrim is reported to have reached to 2 million. Throughout the centuries, Kaaba has played a significant role in the encounter and meetings of Islamic scholars and their exchange of views. Over the last two decades, the pilgrimage has provided the opportunity to elevate the status of Islamic societies.

Tenets

Kaaba, located in the largest Mosque in Mecca has a historical and fundamental belief associated with it. It is said that the son of Adam, the ancestor of mankind, built Kaaba in the shape and model of Paradise, but was later on destroyed in a flood. Allah instructed Abraham (AS) to rebuild it once again with the aid of his son Ishmael, and Abraham and Ishmael moved great rocks and cut the stone walls. When they could no long raise the wall, they cut and displaced larger stones using them as ladders to finish the Kaaba. Later on this place became the Holy land for Muslims