Religion and Theology

Thesis
Islam is one of the biggest religions in the world and it is considered to be spreading faster than any other religion. Muslim as a religion has various believes and values that its followers are expected to observe like any other world religion. This paper is going to look into the origin and fundamental believes of Islam.

Introduction
Islam in an Arabic religion that is coherent with the Quran. The Quran is considered to be containing the exact words of God and Mohameds expressions together with his real life experiences that were acquired through recitations from his friends in Hadith collections. In literal terms, Islam means total submission to God. Muslims consider Islam as the accomplished and worldwide version of the ancient monotheistic religion that was revealed to both the prophets and Jesus. They believe that past messages and revelations have been distorted and changed over time. They use Sheria Law that covers virtually on every aspect of life from welfare, banking and also environment.

There are two major Muslim denominations in which most Muslims belong the Shia and the Sunni. It is mostly common in the Middle East, parts of Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa. A good number of communities in China, Balkans and also Russia are Muslims. 13 of all Muslims in the world reside in Indonesia which is the largest Muslim country, 20 reside in the Arab countries with 31 residing in the Indian Sub-continent. Islam has a following of 1.57 billion followers with converts scattered all over the word. It is the second largest and fastest growing religion universally (Esposito, 1999).

Muslims believe that the final message to mankind from God was revealed to their prophet Muhammad who according to them was the final prophet. They believe in the Quran as the holy book which according to them was given two decades ago. According to the Islamic religion, prophets are men who had been chosen by God to be his messengers. Although they are human and not divine, some can be able to do miracles to justify their claim.
Articles of faith
God
Muslims believe in one God who Muhammad was his messenger. This concept is called tawhid. This is the first believe among the five pillars of Islam. This is expressed in shahadah. Traditionally, Islamic theology declares God to be beyond comprehension and requires Muslims to worship and respect Him as their guardian. Although they acknowledge that Jesus was a prophet, they do not believe in the Christians teaching about the divinity and Trinity of Jesus. To them, the Christians teaching is the same as polytheism. They believe that Jesus was a man but not the son of God (Moussalli, 1999).

Quran     
According to Hara (2002), the Quran is considered by Muslims to contain the exact words of God. It is the main religious text. The verses in the Quran are believed to have been revealed to Prophet Muhammad through Angel Gabriel by God in a number of occasions between 610 and 632 when he died. It was reportedly written by Muhammads friends although oral transmission was the main method of transmission. It is believed that Abu Bakr who was the first caliph compiled it after which it was standardized under Uthmans administration. Since then, it has never been changed until today.

The Quran contains 114 chapters which when combined have 6,236 verses. The earlier chapters that are believed to have been revealed in Mecca deal primarily with ethical together with spiritual matters. Later, Median chapters are concerned with social and ethical issues that affect Muslims. The Quran is mostly concerned with moral assistance than legal teaching. It is supplemented and interpreted together with the assistance of Hadith and the written testimony of the life of Muhammad (Melchert, 2004).

Hadith
Hadith are narrations about the words and actions of Prophet Muhammad. They help in the understanding of the Quran together with jurisprudence matters. They were analyzed and put together in large collections during the 8th and 9th centuries when Umar bin Abdul Aziz ruled. These collections are used in matters of Islamic law and history to date. Hadith collections differ among the main Islamic denominations although they both help Muslims to acquire the usual habits and practices of Prophet Muhammad (Hunter, 2002).

Angels (malak)
Believe in angels is one of the crucial doctrines in Islam. According to Quran teachings, angels do not have a free will they adore God in absolute obedience. Angels reveal to man what God wants known, keep a record of all the deeds of each individual, glorify God and also in the event of death, they take the soul of the deceased. They also intercede on behalf of men.

Muhammad
Muhammad lived between the years 570-632. He was a trader who later became a religious, military, and political head. He is viewed among the Muslims as the restorer of the originally existing monotheistic faith. He was the last among the great prophets and he is considered to be almost perfect possessing all virtues. During his last 22 years, He is reported to have been receiving revelations which were compiled to form the Quran by his close friends (Moussalli, 1999).

During these years when He was receiving revelations, He used to preach to people in Mecca urging them to ditch polytheism. Some of the people converted to Islam but he and his followers faced persecution from Mecca authorities. After preaching for 12 years, Muhammad and his followers migrated to a city called Medina. It is in Medina where Muhammad together with Median converts and Mecca immigrants formed a political and religious power. Within few years, two battles had been staged against Meccan forces Battle of Badr in which Muslims won and the Battle of Uhud that ended inconclusively. Median Jewish clan that was in conflict with the Muslims was forced to exile, enslaved and some of its people killed. Trade routes were closed and the neighboring desert tribes were captured and put under Muhammads control. By the year 629, Muhammad had emerged with victory in an almost bloodless invasion of Mecca and by the time he died, he was the ruler of the Arabian Peninsula (Vogel, 2000).

Resurrection and judgment
 Muslims believe in the resurrection day which they also refer to yawm ad-din. It is believed that the time of judgment has been predetermined by God but Men do not know the day. The activities that will happen before and after the day are recorded in the Quran, Islamic commentaries and hadith. The Quran has put an emphasis on bodily resurrection which is different from the previous Arabic understanding about death. It shows how resurrection will be followed by gathering of people who will at the end be judged. There are sins that are listed that will make an individual go to hell like doubt and deceitfulness. Muslims consider paradise as a place full of joy and pleasures with the Quran giving an account of its features (Moussalli, 1999).

Predestination
According to Khoury (2003), Muslims believe that God knows and controls all things that happen. Everything that happens regardless of its nature good or evil, is predetermined by God and nothing can happen without Gods permission. Muslim theologians think that even if events have been predetermined, individuals have a free will and therefore are responsible for the actions they do. Islam believes that all that God commanded is written in a preserved tablet called al-Lawh al-Mahfuz.
The five pillars of Islam.

These are practices that are important to Sunni Muslims. Shia Muslims have their own sets of pillars that govern them which overlap with those of Sunni Muslims. These pillars include
Shahadah  this is the fundamental believe of Islam that should be spoken under an oath with a specific statement saying I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. The statement forms the basis of all other believes together with practices carried out by Muslims. Muslims are supposed to repeat the shahadah during prayers and it is a requirement for non-Muslims who become converted to Islam to enumerate the creed (Trumbull, 2006).

Salah this is a ritual prayer which has to be carried out five times in a day. It is done with an individual facing Kabba. Its purposed to bring the mind nearer to God. It is considered as a means of showing appreciation and devotion to God. It is compulsory although it can be flexible in some instances. In some places, reminders broadcast from mosques reminding people when an appropriate time to undertake salah reaches (Rippin, 2000).

Zakat this is a practice whereby Muslims give depending on the amount of wealth they have accumulated. It is compulsory to all Muslims who are well off. A portion of it is directed towards helping the needy in society and the other is used in spreading Islam. Its a religious responsibility where the rich owe the needy as their wealth is considered a trust from Gods reward (Iqbal, 2003).

Sawm this is a practice in which each and every Muslim is expected to fast from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan. During the period, they are also expected to be watchful of other transgressions. It is meant to bring them near to God and therefore all Muslims should express during this time their appreciation to God, repent sins from their past and put the needy into consideration. It is not obligatory to groups that it could burden them by allowing flexibility based on circumstances after which they are expected to make up the soonest time possible. Other Muslim groups have their own times of the year when they do the fasting and therefore do not participate in the exercise during this month (Gil, 2004).

The Hajj it is usually done on the last month of Dhu al-hijjahI . It requires that each able-bodied believer who is in a position to visit Mecca to ensure that heshe does so at least once in hisher life time. The pilgrim is required to wear Ihram clothing when heshe is 10 kilometers away from Mecca. Rituals that one is required to undertake during this important event include walking around Kaaba seven times, touching if possible the black stone, running between Mt. Safa and Mt. Marwah seven times and also stone the devil in Mina.

The law that is used in Islam is called Sharia. Sharia is made by customary Islamic scholarship that majority of Muslims observe. The normal Islamic law does not discriminate between matters relating to church and the state.

Conclusion
It is clear that various denominations in Islam have various values and believed that govern them although this does not separate them from one another. Regardless of the differences that exist, Islam still remains to be the second largest religion in the world with a huge number of followers. And with the rate at which it is expanding, it might end up being the largest religion in the world but only time will tell.