Calendar in Islam

The formal beginning of the Muslim era was chosen to be the Hijra in 622 CE, which was an important turning point in the  Muhammad's fortunes.


 The assignment of this year as the year 1 AH (Anno Hejirae) in the Islamic calendar was reportedly made by Caliph Umar.


 It is a lunar calendar with days lasting from sunset to sunset.

 Islamic holy days fall on fixed dates of the lunar calendar, which means that they occur in different seasons in different years in the Gregorian calendar. 


The most important Islamic festivals being celebrated are Eid al-Fitr  on the 1st of Shawwal, marking the end of the fasting month Ramadan, and Eid al adha on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah, coinciding with the pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Art of Islam

The Art of Islam

Islamic art encompasses the visual arts produced from the seventh century onward by people (not necessarily Muslim) who lived within the territory that was inhabited by Muslim populations.


 It includes fields as varied as architecture, calligraphy, painting, and ceramics, among others.

Making images of human beings and animals is frowned on in many Islamic cultures and connected with laws against idolatry common to all Abrahamic religions, as 'Abdullaah ibn Mas'ood reported that Muhammad said, "Those who will be most severely punished by Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be the image-makers.


 Futhermore, this rule has been interpreted in different ways by different scholars and in different historical periods, and there are examples of paintings of both animals and humans in Maughal, Persian and Turkish art.


 The existence of this aversion to creating images of animate beings has been used to explain the prevalence of calligraphy, tessellation and pattern as key aspects of Islamic artistic culture.

Architecture

Islamic architecture and designs


Perhaps the most important expression of Islamic art is architecture, particularly that of the mosque (four-iwan and hypostyle).

Through the edifices, the effect of varying cultures within Islamic civilization can be illustrated.

 The North African and Spanish Islamic architecture, for example, has Roman-Byzantine elements, as seen in the Great Mosque of Kairouan which contains marble and porphyry columns from Roman and Byzantine buildings, in the Al hambra palace at Granada, or in the an amazing Mosque of Cordoba.

The Muslim world and Ummah

The Muslim world and Ummah



The World Muslim population by percentage (Pew Research Center, 2009).
A comprehensive 2009 demographic study of two hundred and thirty two countries and territories reported that twenty three percent of the global population, or 1.57 billion people, are Muslims.


Furthermore Of those, it's estimated over 75–90% are Sunni and 10–20% are Shi'a, with a small minority belonging to other sects.

 Approximately 50 countries are Muslim-majority, and Arabs account for around 20% of all Muslims worldwide. Between 1900 and 1970 the global Muslim community grew from 200 million to 551 million; between 1970 and 2009 Muslim population increased more than three times to 1.57 billion.


The majority of Muslims live in Asia and in Afric


 Approximately 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million adherents in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.

In the Middle East, non-Arab countries such as Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries; in Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have the most populous Muslim communities.


Most estimates indicate that the People's Republic of China has approximately 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population).

However, data provided by the San Diego State University's International Population Center to U.S. News & World Report suggests that China has 65.3 million Muslims.

 Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in many European countries,and is slowly catching up to that status in the Americas, with between 2,454,000, according to Pew Forum, and approximately 7 million Muslims, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in the United States.

Sufism

  Sufism

Sufi whirling dervishes in Istanbul, Turkey
Sufism is a mystical-ascetic approach to Islam that seeks to find divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of Allah.


 Moreover,by focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of Allah by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use.


 However, Sufism has been criticized by the Salafi sect for what they see as an unjustified religious innovation.


 Many Sufi orders, or tariqas, can be classified as either Sunni or Shi'a, but others classify themselves simply as 'Sufi'.


Furthermore,Other denominations
Ahmadiyya is a Messianic movement founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad that began in India in the late 19th century and is practiced by millions of people around the world.

 Most mainstream Muslims consider both Ahmadi movements to be non-Muslim and heretical, while some consider them Muslim but misguided.


 This is for a number of reasons, chief among them being the question of finality of prophethood, as members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community do not regard the Islamic prophet Muhammad as the last prophet.


The Ibadi is a sect that dates back to the early days of Islam and is a branch of kharijite.

 Unlike most Kharijite groups, Ibadism does not regard sinful Muslims as unbelievers.

The Quranists are Muslims who generally reject the Hadith.


Yazdânism is seen as a blend of local Kurdish beliefs and Islamic Sufi doctrine introduced to Kurdistan by Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir in the 12th century.

Nation of Islam (NOI) is a primarily African-American new religious movement founded in Detroit during the 20th century.

Karaite-Karaism not to be confused with antithetical 

Karaite Judaism, is a religion with its origins among the Sabians of the Bosporan Kingdom.

 In the seventh century they adopted belief in the Quran and it was the main religion of the kingdom of Khazaria.


 Many Khazars were converted to Judaism during the Austro-Hungarian Empire but there are still a few thousand in existence around the world, mainly in former Soviet countries.

Shia

 Shia Islam
The Shi'a constitute 10–20% of Islam and are its second-largest branch.

 While Sunnis believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor, Shias believe that during The Farewell Pilgrimage the prophet appointed his son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, as his successor as shown by the Hadith of the pond of Khumm.

 As a result, they believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib was the first Imam (leader), rejecting the legitimacy of the previous Muslim caliphs since they were not appointed by the prophet.

Futhermore. Shias have faith that the political and religious leadership of Imams come from the direct descendants of Muhammad and Ali, also known as the Ahl al-Bayt.

 To most Shias, an Imam rules by right of divine appointment and holds "absolute spiritual authority" among Muslims, having final say in matters of doctrine and revelation. However, the Imams are not allowed to introduce new laws or eradicate old ones;eventually, they are simply required to interpret and reflect the will of Allah and the prophet.


Shia religion in Islam has several branches, the largest of which is the Twelvers, followed by Zaidis and Ismailis.

 Moreover the Twelvers believe that there were twelve Imams or caliphs after the Prophet.

 They often cite the Hadith of the Twelve Successors as evidence. 

Although the Shias share many core practices with the Sunni, the two branches disagree over the proper importance and validity of specific collections of hadith.

 The Twelver Shia follow a legal tradition called fikka Jafari jurisprudence.On the Other hand, smaller groups, include the Bohra, and Druze, as well as the Alawites and Alevi.

 Branches of Shia Islam which deviate from mainstream Shia doctrine are described by orthodox Shias as Ghulat.

Four recognised mazhabs

There are four recognised mazhabs which is know as schools of thought.


 1-Hanafi


2- Maliki

 3-Shafii

 and 

4-Hanbali.

 All four accept the validity of the others and a Muslim may choose any one of that he or she finds agreeable or suitabble.

 The Salafi (also known as Ahl al-Hadith, or Wahhabi by its adversaries) is an ultra-orthodox Islamic movement which takes the very  first generation of Muslims as exemplary models.

Islamic view of angels

eventually,Belief in angels is fundamental to the faith of Islam.

 The Arabic word for angel (in arabic language we use  malak for angels) means "messenger", like its counterparts in Hebrew (malakh) and Greek (angelos).

 According to the Qur'an, angels do not possess free will, and worship Allah in total obedience.

 Angels' duties include communicating revelations from Allah Subhana ho tala, glorifying Allah subhana ho tala, recording every person's actions, and taking a person's soul at the time of death.

 Beside this,they are also thought to intercede on man's behalf.

 The Qur'an describes angels as "messengers with wings—two, or three, or four (pairs): He adds to Creation as He pleases..."

importance of learning Quran

try to read Quran with proper pronunciation. If you don't know how to read properly then must lean it from any institute or any teacher who can teach you very well .

If you will fail to perform its pronunciation properly you might change the meaning of ayyat .

Sunnah literally means

 Some organizations began using the media to promote Islam such as the 24-hour TV channel such as Peace television.

 Perhaps as a result of these efforts, most experts agree that luckily Islam is growing faster than any other faith in East and West Africa.



The largest denomination in Islam is Sunni Islam, which makes up over 75% to 90% of all Muslims.Sunni Muslims also go by the name Ahl as-Sunnah which means "people of the tradition [of Muhammad]".

 In Arabic language, as- "tradition" or "path".

 The Qur'an and the Sunnah (the example of Muhammad's life) as recorded in hadis are the primary foundations of Sunni doctrine.

According to Sunni Islam, the "normative" example of Muhammad's life is called the Sunnah (literally "trodden path").

                   This example is preserved in traditions known as Al-Kutub Al-Sittah (six major books) which are hadis, recounting his words, his actions, and his personal characteristics.

 The classical Muslim jurist ash-Shafi'i (d. 820) emphasized the importance of the Sunnah in Islamic law, and Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's actions in their daily lives.

 The Sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Qur'an.

Two major hadis collections are Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.
 Sunnis trust that the first four caliphs were the rightful successors to Muhammad; since God did not specify any particular leaders to succeed him, those leaders had to be elected.

 Sunnis believe that a caliph should be chosen by the whole community.

An alliance of European Christian kingdoms mobilized to launch a series of wars

 An alliance of European Christian kingdoms mobilized to launch a series of wars, known as the Crusades, aimed at recapturing the Holy Land, though it got success at initial stage, was reversed by subsequent Muslim generals such as Saladin, who recaptured Jerusalem in 1187.

 In Europe, the Crimean Khanate was one of the strongest regional powers in Europe until the end of the 17th century.

 In the 13th and 14th centuries the Ottoman Empire conquered the Balkans, parts of Greece, Constantinople and reached as far as the gates of Vienna in 1529.

 Under the rule of Ottoman , many people in the Balkans became Muslim.



National Mosque of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.


Completed in the year of 1984, the Abu ja mosque is the national mosque of Nigeria.


A mosque in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.


New Muslim intellectuals are beginning to arise, and are increasingly separating perennial Islamic beliefs from the archaic cultural traditions. Liberal Islam is a movement that attempts to reconcile religious tradition with modern norms of secular governance and the  rights of human.


 Its supporters say that there are much more ways to read Islam's sacred texts, and stress the need to leave room for "independent thought on religious matters".

 Women's issues receive a significant weight in the modern discourse on Islam because the family structure remains central to Muslim identity.

 Also of issue is the assimilation of Muslim communities and Islamophobia in host countries.

 Andrew Rippin states that while Muslims believe that Islam stands for both men and women, the social reality suggests otherwise.

Christopher Hitchens states that Islam is "dogmatic," and "the reality remains that Islam's core claim – to be unimprovable and final – is at once absurd.

 Such claims have been challenged by many Muslim scholars and writers including Fazlur Rahman Malik, Syed Ameer Ali, Ahmed Deedat, Yusuf Estes and Tariq Ramadan.


Secular powers such as Chinese Red Guards closed many mosques and destroyed Qurans and Communist Albania became the first country to ban the practice of every religion.

 In Turkey, the military carried out coups to oust Islamist governments and headscarves were, as well as in Tunisia, banned in official buildings.

About half a million Muslims were killed in Cambodia by communists whom, it is argued, viewed them as their primary enemy and wished to exterminate them since they stood out and worshipped their own god.

 However, Islamist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood advocate Islam as a comprehensive political solution, often in spite of being banned.

 Jamal-al-Din al-Afghani, with the help of his acolyte Muhammad Abduh, have been credited as forerunners of the Islamic revival.

 In Iran, revolution replaced secular regime with an Islamic state.

 In Turkey, the Islamist AK Party has democratically been in power for about a decade, while Islamist parties are doing their best in elections following the Arab spring.

 The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation , consisting of Muslim countries, was came into being in 1969 after the burning of the Al-Aqsaa Mosque in Jerusalem.


Piety appears to be deepening worldwide,groups are sometimes well funded and are growing at the expense of traditional groups. In many places, the prevalence of the Islamic veil is growing increasingly very common and the percentage of Muslims favoring Sharia laws has increased, With religious guidance increasingly available electronically, Muslims are able to access views that are strict enough for them rather than rely on state clerics who are often seen as stooges.

The Arab

While cultural styles used to radiate from Baghdad, the Mongol destruction of Baghdad led Egypt to become the Arab heartland while Central Asia went its own way and was experiencing another golden age.

 Beside this the Safavid dynasty of Persia made ties with India and Persian poetry rose to new heights while Arabic poetry was in state of decline.

 The Muslims in China who were descended from earlier immigration began to assimilate by adopting Chinese names and culture while Nanjing became an important center for Islamic study.

The Muslim world was generally in political decline, especially relative to the non-Islamic European powers.

 Large areas of Islamic in Central Asia were seriously depopulated largely as a result of Mongol destruction.

 The Black Death ravaged much of the Islamic world in the mid-14th century.

This decline was evident culturally; while Taqi al-Din founded an observatory in Istanbul and the Jai Singh Observatory was built in the 18th century, there was not a single Muslim country with a major observatory by the twentieth century.

 The Reconquista, launched against Muslim principalities in Iberia, succeeded in 1492 and Muslim Italian states were lost to the Normans.

 By the 19th century the British Empire had formally ended the last Mughal dynasty.


 The Ottoman period ended after World War one and the Caliphate was abolished in the year of 1924.

Reform and revival movements during this period include an 18th century Salafi movement led by Ibn e Abd al-Wahhab in today's Saudi Arabia.

 Referred to as Wahhabi, their self designation is Muwahiddun (unitarians).

 Building upon earlier efforts such as those from the logician Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn e al-Qayyim, the movement seeks to uphold monotheism and purify Islam of later innovations.

 Their zeal against idolatrous shrines led to the destruction of sacred tombs in Mecca and Medina, including those of the Prophet and his Companions.

 In the 19th century, the Deobandi and Barelwi movements were initiated from here.


 Iranian revolution and Islamic revival


The Kul Sharif Mosque in Kazan the city of Russia

Contact with industrialized nations brought Muslim populations to new areas through the economic migration.

Eventualy, most Muslims migrated as indentured servants, from mostly India and Indonesia, to the Caribbean, forming the largest Muslim populations by percentage in the Americas.

The resulting urbanization and increase in trade in sub-Saharan Africa brought Muslims to settle in new areas and spread their faith, likely doubling the Muslims population between 1869 and 1914.


 Muslim immigrants, many as guest workers, began arriving, largely from former colonies, into several European nations in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly France and the UK.

independent powers

 The government paid scientists the equivalent salary of professional athletes these days.


 Discoveries include gathering the data used by Copernicus for his heliocentric conclusions and Al-Jahiz’s proposal of the theory of natural selection.

 Rumi wrote some of the finest impressive Persian poetry and is still one of the best selling poets in America. Legal institutions introduced include the trust and charitable trust (Waqf).



The first Muslims states independent of a unified Muslim state emerged from Berber Revolt (739/740-743). 

In 836, the capital was moved toward Samarra by Caliph Al-Mu'tasim and it was returned to Baghdad in 892.


 In 930, the Ismaili group known as the Qarmatians unsuccessfully rebelled against the Abbassids, sacked Mecca and stole the Black Stone.

 By 1055 the Seljuq Turks had an eliminated the Abbasids as a military power but eventually continued with the caliph's titular authority.

 The Mongol Empire evenually come to an end to the Abbassid dynasty, killing its last Caliph at the Battle of Baghdad in 1258.


Fall of Abbasids to end of caliphate (1258–1924)


A Mughal miniature from Padshahnama depicting the surrender of the Shia Safavid garrison of Kandahar in 1638 to the Mughal army.


Expansion continued with independent powers moving into new areas.

Islamic Golden Age

 Islamic Golden Age
Expansion of the Muslim world continued by both conquest and proselytism as both Islam and Muslim trade networks were extending into sub-Saharan West Africa, Central Asia, Volga Bulgaria and the Malay archipelago.



The Ghaznavids and Ghurids conquered much of the Indian subcontinent. Many Muslims went to China to trade, virtually dominating the import and export industry of the Song Dynasty.


The major hadith collections were compiled. The Ja'fari jurisprudence was formed from the teaching of Ja'far al-Sadiq while the four Sunni Madh'habs, the Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi, were established around the teachings of Abu hanifa, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Malik ibn Anas and al-Shafi respectively.


Al-Shafi also codified a method to establish the reliability of hadith.Al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir completed the most commonly cited commentaries on the Quran, the Tafsir al-Tabari in the 9th century and the Tafsir ibn Kathir in the 14th century, respectively.



Philosophers AlFarabi and Ibn e Sina (Avicenna) sought to incorporate Greek principles into Islamic theology, while others like Al-Ghazzali argued against them and ultimately prevailed.



Caliphs such as Mamun-al-Rashid and Al-Mutasim made the mutazilite philosophy an official creed and imposed it upon Muslims to follow.

 Mutazila was a Greek influenced school of speculative theology called kalam, which refers to dialectic.

Many orthodox Muslims rejected mutazilite doctrines and condemned their idea of the creation of the Quran. In inquisitions, Imam Hanbal refused to conform and was tortured and sent to an unlit Baghdad prison for nearly thirty months.


The other branch of kalam was the Ashari school founded by Al-Ashari. Some Muslims began to question the piety of indulgence in a worldly life and emphasized poverty, humility and avoidance of sin based on renunciation of bodily desires.



Ascetics such as Hasan al-Basri would inspire a movement that would evolve into Sufism.
Beginning in the 13th century, Sufism underwent a transformation,greatly because of efforts to legitimize and reorganize the movement by Al-Ghazali, who developed the model of the Sufi order—a community of spiritual teachers and students.