frequently asked questions

GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT ISLAM

ISLAM AND MUSLIMS

1. What is the difference between the words “Islam,” “Islamic,” “Muslim,” and “Arab”?

Islam is the name of a religion, as Christianity and Judaism are names of religions. The Arabic word “Islam” is based on the root “slm,” which means peace or surrender to God. Combining both translations results in the combined meaning “the state of peace through following God’s guidance.”

Islamic is an adjective that modifies a non-human noun, as for example, “Islamic art,” “Islamic architecture,” “Islamic beliefs,” etc. This term should not be used to refer to a person.

A follower of Islam is called a Muslim, or “one who is in a state of peace by following God’s guidance.”

While the term Arab has been used in the past to refer to members of a Semitic ethnic group from the Arabian Peninsula, today the word “Arab” refers to people from Arabic-speaking countries, most of which are in the Middle East and North Africa. The term Arabian was historically used to describe an inhabitant of the Arabian Peninsula. Today “Arabian” is used as an adjective to describe a non-human noun (e.g., Arabian coffee); it should not be used to refer to people.

2. What does Islam teach?

Islam’s primary message, as understood by the overwhelming majority of Muslims, is the continuation of the Abrahamic monotheistic tradition’s belief in one God. The three major dimensions of Islam include beliefs, ritual practices, and the effort to improve one’s character and actions. There are six major beliefs in Islam and five central practices that are referred to as the Five Pillars.

The last dimension of Islam focuses on the cultivation of excellent moral character to better oneself and the world around oneself. It teaches a set of values that promote life, liberty, equality and justice. Some of these values include:

• Respect for the earth and all creatures
• Care and compassion for those less fortunate
• The importance of seeking knowledge
• Honesty and truthfulness in word and deed
• Striving continuously to improve oneself and the world

3. What are the major beliefs of Muslims?

The six major beliefs in Islam, as understood by the majority of Sunni Muslims, are:

• belief in God.
• belief in angels.
• belief in God’s prophets/messengers.
• belief in God’s revelations in the form of holy scriptures given to the messengers.
• belief in an afterlife that follows the Day of Judgment on which people will be held accountable for their actions and compensated accordingly in the afterlife; and
• belief in God’s divine will and His knowledge of what happens in the world.

4. How do Muslims practice their faith?

Muslims practice their faith in many different ways, but the major practices for both Sunni and Shi’a Muslims are known as the Five Pillars, which include:

• the profession of faith, namely that there is only one God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.
• the five daily prayers.
• required annual donation to charity in the amount of 2.5% of one’s excess wealth.
• fasting during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan; and
• making a pilgrimage to Mecca once in a lifetime, if one is mentally, physically, and financially able to do so.

5. What are the foundational sources of Islamic beliefs and practices?

The primary sources of knowledge about Islam are the Qur’an, which adherent Muslims believe is the divinely revealed word of God, and the Sunnah, which refers to the example or precedent of the Prophet Muhammad (i.e., what he said, did, approved, disapproved, caused, ordered, or allowed to happen). Much of what is known about the Sunnah is from the collection of sayings or reports known as Hadith, or prophetic tradition. The Hadith describe actions of the Prophet Muhammad or actions that his companions attributed to his teachings. Hadith also elaborate on and provide context to the Qur’an.

Though both Sunnis and Shi’as revere and respect the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, many Shi’a’s consider the rulings of the twelve Imams a primary source having a status like that of the aforementioned sources. Other sources may exist for different Muslim sects.

In addition to these primary sources, Muslims have also traditionally relied on the following additional sources: scholarly consensus: that is, the agreement of knowledgeable scholars upon a particular issue; and analogical reasoning: that is, the application of principles or laws derived from the Qur’an and Sunnah to similar situations not explicitly addressed by them. The lived experience of Islam, which naturally varies widely not only in different cultures but also between different individuals, also impacts and determines a Muslim’s understanding and practice of Islam.

GOD

6. Why do some people suffer so much in this life, especially the innocent, such as children?

This is a challenging issue for all religions that proclaim a belief in a God who is at once omnipotent and beneficent. We believe that God tries people in different ways, through both hardship and ease. While the cause of suffering is not always evident, the way that people respond to difficulty is a test of their moral fiber. Responding to hardship with patience and fortitude is a virtue for which we believe a great reward is promised in this life and the afterlife. Additionally, there may be a silver lining behind every difficulty. For instance, major disasters often bring out the best in people, inspiring them to perform remarkable acts as they respond to their own or another’s hardship with compassion and courage and come to the aid of those in need. Muslims also take comfort in their belief that life does not end after death.

7. God’s love for humanity is a central theme in many religions. Are there similar teachings in Islam?

We believe that God’s love for humanity is indeed central to our faith. The Qur’an mentions God’s compassion and mercy 192 times, as opposed to God’s wrath, which is mentioned only 17 times. Two of God’s main attributes are the “Compassionate” and the “Merciful.” Both names denote God’s love and care for all creation. These are the two most often mentioned names of God, since all but one of the 114 chapters in the Qur’an begin with “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” The Qur’an cites 99 different names or attributes of God, many of which also emphasize these characteristics, including “the Loving,” “the Giving,” “the Forgiving,” and “the Kind.”

ANGELS

8. What do Muslims believe about angels?

Angels are mentioned many times in the Qur’an and Hadith (prophetic sayings). Unlike humans, angels are described as beings who obey God’s commandments without fail, by nature, and are assigned to specific duties. Two of the most prominent angels mentioned by name in the Qur’an are Gabriel (Jibril) and Michael (Mikhail). Gabriel is the angel of revelation and Michael is the angel in charge of rain and earth’s plant life.

SATAN

9. What does Islam say about Satan?

Satan (Shaytan in Arabic) is believed to be a third type of creation, in addition to humans and angels, known as a “jinn.” Humans are said to have been made from clay, angels from light, and jinn from fire. While the Qur’an teaches that some jinn are good and submit to God, it states that others, such as Iblis or Shaytan (Satan), try to tempt people to do evil, similar to the belief about Satan in traditional Christian theology.

PROPHETS

10. How do the stories of the prophets in Islam compare with those in Christianity and Judaism?

That depends on which prophet we are talking about. In many cases, the stories of the prophets in the Qur’an are like the stories in the Bible. Some examples include:

• the story of Noah and his ark.
• the story of Abraham and Sarah and the birth of their son Isaac, who is also considered a prophet in the Qur’an.
• the story of Jacob and his twelve sons, including Joseph, who is also considered a prophet in the Qur’an: and
• the most oft-mentioned prophet in the Qur’an, Moses, and the story of his mission in Egypt to rescue his people.

Some of the major differences between the biblical account of some of these prophets and the Qur’an stem from the fact that the Qur’an holds that all prophets were immune from major sins. The stories of the Prophet Jesus are close to the Bible in their descriptions of his virginal birth and miracles but differ sharply in their account of the divinity of Jesus and his crucifixion; the Qur’an states that Jesus was only a man, not divine, and that before the crucifixion Jesus was taken up to heaven and replaced by a person who looked like him.

11. Were there female prophets?

While most Muslim theologians historically consider all the prophets to have been men, some hold the view that there were female prophets, especially in view of the fact that only two dozen of the 124,000* prophets are identified in the Qur’an. Four of the women regarded by these scholars as prophets are Eve, the first female created by God; the mother of Moses, who is not named in the Qur’an; Asiyah, the wife of Pharaoh who in the Qur’an is the one who adopts Moses as her son, as opposed to the daughter of Pharaoh who does so in the Bible; and Mary, the mother of Jesus, because they all received direct divine revelation. In either case, Muslims revere them as among the many righteous and saintly women mentioned in the Qur’an.

*According to one hadith, there were 124,000 prophets. Muslims believe every group of people was sent a prophet to convey the message of God.

MUHAMMAD

12. Why do Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad is the final prophet?

Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad is the final prophet on the basis of statements in Islamic scripture, including the following Qur’anic verse: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of God, and the Seal of the Prophets and God has full knowledge of all things.” (Qur’an, 33:40) There are also various Hadith (prophetic sayings) which designate Muhammad as “the Seal of the Prophets.” Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad was preceded by a long succession of prophets before him that include Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, and Jesus. Muslims believe that all the prophets were sent by God and that some of them foretold the coming of the Prophet Muhammad.

13. Why can’t you display images of the Prophet Muhammad?

The general consensus among scholars is that physical representations of the Prophet Muhammad are discouraged on the grounds that, since the prophets are exemplars, they should not be presented in a manner that either is disrespectful or might lead to idolatry. However, one can find representations of Muhammad and other prophets in different periods of Islamic history, mainly in the form of manuscript illustrations known as Persian miniatures, in which Muhammad’s face is often obscured by light.

14. Why did some Muslims respond with protest and violence against portrayals of Muhammad in cartoons and film?

This question refers to protests, sometimes erupting into lethal violence, as in the 2015 Paris attacks in response to cartoons published in a French satirical weekly and in the 2012 Benghazi attack against two American government facilities in Benghazi, Libya, purportedly in response to the film The Innocence of Muslims which was derogatory to the Prophet Muhammad.

Muslim leaders and organizations worldwide, even in countries that restrict the publication of such offensive material, vigorously condemned these instances of violence. The great majority of Muslim Americans and many Muslims elsewhere affirm the right to freedom of expression.

In addition, it is important to stress that these violent reactions have generally been fueled by political issues that compounded anger at the offensive images. Investigations into the Benghazi attack found that it was in fact long planned by militants, while the Paris attacks were the work of militants who may have been trying to recruit French Muslims to al-Qaeda by creating an incident that would isolate them from other French people. In both cases, the offensive representations served as a pretext.

At the same time, many Muslims find the lack of respect in many secular societies for sacred symbols, regardless of the religion involved, to be offensive. The Prophet Muhammad respected other religions and their sacred symbols, and the Qur’an prohibits reviling the followers of other religions and that which they hold sacred.

15. Jesus was a non-violent reformer while Muhammad fought in wars. Why is there a difference between Jesus and Muhammad in terms of their approach?

Muhammad’s outlook and actions were initially similar to those of Jesus if one compares Muhammad’s strategy during the first part of his mission in Mecca when he, like Jesus, sought change as a non-violent reformer. However, their tactics diverged due to a change in circumstances once Muhammad and his followers were expelled from Mecca and migrated to Medina. While Jesus and his community of believers remained politically powerless throughout his mission, Muhammad in Medina, as the head of a new political community, was required to serve as a political and even military leader as he finally fought back against the Meccans after years of persecution. As the head of the new community in Medina, he also had to deal with internal conspiracies and rebellions in addition to external threats.

This question, as posed, also assumes that there is only one way of looking at these figures, which is misleading. For instance, while Jesus is commonly viewed today as a “non-violent reformer,” this has not always been the case. In his book Jesus through the Centuries, church historian Jaroslav Pelikan depicts and analyzes the varied views of Jesus at different times and in different cultures and devotes a whole chapter to Jesus as both “Prince of Peace” and instigator of divine warfare—sometimes at one and the same time. The representations of Muhammad are likewise varied. In her book The Lives of Muhammad, Kecia Ali writes, “Far from being uniform or non-changing, both non-Muslim and Muslim views of Muhammad have been diverse, multifaceted, and subject to dramatic changes over the centuries.” However, Muslims uniformly love and respect both men not only as prophets and messengers, descended from noble families, but also as exemplars of the most perfect character. Prophet Jesus is described in the Qur’an as one who is “held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of those nearest to God.” Prophet Muhammad was known even before his prophethood as “al-Ameen,” “the Trustworthy,” and his praiseworthy characteristics and actions are the topic of books (known as Shamail), poems, and songs through the centuries.

Muslim leaders and organizations worldwide, even in countries that restrict the publication of such offensive material, vigorously condemned these instances of violence. The great majority of Muslim Americans and many Muslims elsewhere affirm the right to freedom of expression.

In addition, it is important to stress that these violent reactions have generally been fueled by political issues that compounded anger at the offensive images. Investigations into the Benghazi attack found that it was in fact long planned by militants, while the Paris attacks were the work of militants who may have been trying to recruit French Muslims to al-Qaeda by creating an incident that would isolate them from other French people. In both cases, the offensive representations served as a pretext.

At the same time, many Muslims find the lack of respect in many secular societies for sacred symbols, regardless of the religion involved, to be offensive. The Prophet Muhammad respected other religions and their sacred symbols, and the Qur’an prohibits reviling the followers of other religions and that which they hold sacred.

16. Why did the Prophet Muhammad marry so many women?

Polygamy was common in seventh-century Arabia, as it has been in many other cultures, especially for a political leader; for instance, the patriarchs in the Hebrew Bible are described as having multiple wives, and the kings of Israel are depicted as having harems numbering in some cases into the hundreds. According to Muslim historians, the Prophet Muhammad’s marriages were contracted to assist needy widows and divorcees and to solidify the nascent community of Muslims by forging alliances among the tribes in and around Medina. Considering the time and place, there was nothing unique or unusual about Muhammad marrying several women. It is also noteworthy that he married a woman fifteen years his senior during his young adulthood and remained in a monogamous relationship with her for twenty-five years until her death when he was nearly fifty years old.

17. Why did the Prophet Muhammad marry a nine-year old? If she was not nine, how old was she?

The actual age of Aisha at the time of her marriage to Muhammad is disputed, but the marriage could not have been consummated until she reached puberty. In many cultures, women are or were married years before a marriage is consummated. The custom of early betrothal and marriage continued until the late 19th and early 20th century in much of the world, including Europe and North America, where there are still many states that allow for underage marriage.

JESUS AND MARY

18. What do Muslims believe about Jesus?

Muslims overwhelmingly revere Jesus and believe that he was born to the Virgin Mary through an act of God, without a father, just as Adam is believed to have been created by God without a father or mother. The Qur’an describes his conception and birth and his many miracles such as healings of the sick. The Qur’an also emphasizes that Jesus was a great prophet of God and a messenger who received revelation from God, but that he was, like all other prophets, only a human being. For Muslims, God, in his divine transcendence, is incomparable to His creation in every aspect, and therefore He does not procreate, even metaphorically. Muslims also believe that Jesus was not crucified but instead was taken to heaven and will return to earth to live out the rest of his life, a belief commonly known as the second coming of Jesus.

19. Why does the Qur’an talk about Jesus more often than Muhammad?

Most of the Qur’an depicts itself as a text addressed to Muhammad; it therefore talks less about Muhammad than it does to Muhammad about other subjects, including previous prophets such as Jesus.

20. What do Muslims believe about Mary?

Muslims generally believe that she is the Virgin Mother of the Prophet Jesus who conceived him miraculously without a father. A chapter in the Qur’an named after her (Maryam in Arabic) emphasizes her piety and righteousness and her status as an exemplar for all people. The Qur’an also describes her as the greatest of all women: “God chose and preferred her above all the women of the worlds.” (Qur’an, 3:42)

Muslim leaders and organizations worldwide, even in countries that restrict the publication of such offensive material, vigorously condemned these instances of violence. The great majority of Muslim Americans and many Muslims elsewhere affirm the right to freedom of expression.

In addition, it is important to stress that these violent reactions have generally been fueled by political issues that compounded anger at the offensive images. Investigations into the Benghazi attack found that it was in fact long planned by militants, while the Paris attacks were the work of militants who may have been trying to recruit French Muslims to al-Qaeda by creating an incident that would isolate them from other French people. In both cases, the offensive representations served as a pretext.

At the same time, many Muslims find the lack of respect in many secular societies for sacred symbols, regardless of the religion involved, to be offensive. The Prophet Muhammad respected other religions and their sacred symbols, and the Qur’an prohibits reviling the followers of other religions and that which they hold sacred.

21. Why is it that Muslims do not celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas?

While Muslims greatly revere Jesus, Christmas is generally considered a Christian holiday and not a part of Muslim cultures except where there are Christian minorities. There is even debate among Muslims over the celebration of Muhammad’s birthday. However, some Muslims celebrate Christmas as part of an American cultural observance like Thanksgiving or Independence Day.

QUR’AN

22. Is the Qur’an read only in Arabic?

Since only 15% of all Muslims are Arabs, the Qur’an has been translated into and is read in many other languages, with multiple English translations. However, because Muslims consider the original Arabic text to be the literal word of God, during ritual prayers, the Qur’an is recited in its original Arabic language (just as some Catholic churches still perform mass in Latin or synagogues perform part of their prayer in Hebrew). In order to fully comprehend the Qur’an for instruction and spiritual enrichment, non-Arab Muslims also read the translation in their native language.

KA’BAH

23. What is the Ka’bah?

The Ka’bah is the cube-shaped building covered with a black cloth in Mecca that is believed by Muslims to have been the first house of worship to God. Muslims throughout the world face towards the Ka’bah when they perform each of their daily prayers.

DAY OF JUDGMENT

24. How will God determine who goes to heaven and hell?

We believe that only God knows where a person will end up in the afterlife, since only God knows a person’s intentions, deeds, circumstances, and limitations. We also believe that God will judge human beings according to His complete justice on the Day of Judgment based on both their beliefs and actions, considering the opportunities and abilities that He gave them. In the Qur’an, God’s names include “the Judge” and “the Just.”

25. If a person is a good person throughout his or her life, but does not believe in God, will he/she go to hell?

Though Muslims believe that belief in God is an essential aspect of humanity, they also believe that no one can be forced to believe, and that belief remains an individual choice. How God will judge such people is entirely up to Him, but He will do so in a way that is absolutely just. Muslim scholars contend that people who live morally but do not believe in God for reasons beyond their control (for instance, because they have no access to the messages of the prophets) will not be held accountable for their lack of belief.

FREE WILL

26. What good is “free will” if everything is predestined? If God already knows if we are going to heaven or hell, why doesn’t He just put us there?

This is a topic of debate in all religions. Muslims believe that humans have free will to commit good or evil, but that God’s knowledge and power encompasses all that happens in this life. That means that we will be held accountable for our actions, since God, while knowing what the outcome will be, allows people to act on their own free will to choose good or evil.