Islam

• 1. Origins And Revelation

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  In the year 610 CE, a merchant named Muhammad retreated to the Cave of Hira on Mount Jabal al-Nour near Mecca. He sought seclusion from the moral decline and idolatry that characterized Arabian society at the time. During his retreat, Islamic tradition holds that he received the first revelation of the Quran from the angel Gabriel. This event is known as the Night of Power or Laylat al-Qadr. For the next twenty-two years, Muhammad continued to receive revelations while living in Mecca. Early converts included women, the poor, foreigners, and slaves like Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi who became the first muezzin. The Meccan elite felt threatened by his message because it challenged their social order and disrupted profitable pilgrimages to the idols of the Kaaba. After twelve years of persecution, Muhammad and his companions performed the Hijra emigration in 622 to Yathrib which later became Medina. There he established the first Islamic state with Medinan converts called Ansar and Meccan migrants known as Muhajirun. By the time of his death in 632 at age sixty-two, Muhammad had united the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity.

• 2. Core Beliefs And Practices

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  The central concept of Islam is tawhid which means the oneness of God. Muslims believe there is no deity except God and that associating multiplicity with God constitutes idolatry called shirk. They view heaven as Jannah and hell as Jahannam where people are judged based on their deeds. Five acts of worship form the Pillars of Islam including the Shahada declaration of faith daily prayers Zakat almsgiving fasting during Ramadan and Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Prayer consists of repeating units called rakat that include bowing and prostrating toward the Kaaba. Fasting from dawn to sunset during Ramadan encourages nearness to God and empathy for the needy. The total annual value contributed through Zakat is estimated to be fifteen times greater than global humanitarian aid donations using conservative figures. Pilgrims walk seven times around the Kaaba and between Mount Safa and Marwa while wearing two simple white unstitched pieces of cloth called ihram. Three holiest sites include Masjid al-Haram in Mecca Prophet's Mosque in Medina and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The Quran contains 114 chapters with 6,236 verses revealed over twenty-two years between 610 CE and 632.

• 3. Historical Expansion And Empires

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  After Muhammad died in 632 his successors known as Caliphs led rapid expansion into Persian and Byzantine territories. Abu Bakr crushed rebellions under leaders who claimed prophethood during the Ridda wars. Uthman ibn al-Affan was elected caliph in 644 but was assassinated by rebels leading to Ali ibn Abi Talib becoming the next leader. The First Civil War saw Aisha widow of Muhammad raise an army against Ali which she lost at the Battle of the Camel. Muawiya declared war on Ali and won at the Battle of Siffin though Ali was later killed by a Kharijite assassin. The Umayyad dynasty conquered North Africa Spain Narbonnese Gaul and Sindh before being overthrown in 750 by the Abbasid Revolution. Non-Arab converts mawali Arab clans pushed aside by Umayyads and some Shi'a rallied together to establish the more cosmopolitan Abbasid dynasty. During the Islamic Golden Age scholars like Avicenna developed experimental medicine while Al-Khwarizmi founded algebra. Public hospitals issued medical diplomas and universities like Al Karaouine founded in 859 became degree-granting institutions recognized today as the world's oldest. Gunpowder empires emerged including Ottoman Safavid and Mughal states that consolidated power through centralized rule.

• 4. Branches And Denominations

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  Sunni Islam represents approximately eighty-seven to ninety percent of Muslims worldwide while Shia Islam accounts for ten to thirteen percent. Sunnis believe the first four caliphs were rightful successors to Muhammad and reference six major hadith works for legal matters. They follow one of four traditional schools of jurisprudence: Hanafi Hanbali Maliki or Shafi'i. Shias maintain leadership must come from descendants of Muhammad's family known as Ahl al-Bayt who hold additional spiritual authority called Imams. A significant event occurred at Ghadir Khumm where Muhammad appointed Ali as executor of his last will before dying. Shias recognize this designation but note others selected Abu Bakr instead leading to historical disputes over legitimacy. Twelvers form the largest Shia branch believing in twelve Imams with the final one entering occultation until return. Zaydism rejects infallibility of Imams and sometimes considered a fifth school within Sunni Islam rather than separate Shia denomination. Ibadism represents another branch practiced by 1.45 million people mostly in Oman viewing sinful Muslims not as unbelievers unlike other Kharijite groups. The Ahmadiyya Movement founded in British India in 1889 claims Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as promised Messiah but faces persecution particularly in Pakistan where officially declared non-Muslims.

• 5. Mysticism And Law

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  Sufism developed as a mystical-ascetic approach seeking direct personal experience of God through intuitive emotional faculties trained over time. Early Sufi ascetics like Hasan al-Basri emphasized fear of failing God's expectations while later figures such as Mansur Al-Halljal and Jalaluddin Rumi focused on love toward God. Traditional scholars including Bayazid Bastami Junaid Baghdadi and Al-Ghazali argued Sufism remains inseparable from core Islamic tenets. Sufi congregations form orders called tariqa centered around teachers tracing spiritual chains back to Muhammad. Salafist revivalists have viewed popular devotional practices like veneration of saints as innovations leading to physical attacks against Sufis in some regions. Sharia constitutes the body of Islamic religious law with fiqh developing theories to discover laws consistently. Schools of jurisprudence known as madhhab arose around differing methodologies called Usul al-fiqh. The Quran contains verses regarding banking finance welfare men's roles women's roles environmental stewardship touching virtually every aspect of life. Public hospitals issued medical diplomas during medieval times while universities became centers for legal theological scientific study across centuries.

• 6. Modern Demographics And Growth

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  As of 2020 approximately two billion people identify as Muslims representing twenty-five point six percent of global population making them second-largest religious group after Christians. In 1900 this figure stood at twelve point three percent rising to nineteen point nine percent by 1990 projections suggest reaching twenty-nine point seven percent by 2050. Pew Research estimates eighty-seven to ninety percent are Sunni while ten to thirteen percent belong to Shia communities. Approximately four hundred ninety countries host Muslim-majority populations with sixty-two percent living in Asia alone. Indonesia hosts six hundred eighty-three million adherents followed by Pakistan India Bangladesh collectively forming largest concentrations globally. Arab Muslims constitute largest ethnic group among Muslims worldwide followed by Bengalis and Punjabis. China contains roughly twenty to thirty million Muslims comprising one point five to two percent of its total population. Islam in Europe represents second-largest religion after Christianity accounting for four point nine percent of all European population in 2016 due primarily to immigration higher birth rates. Conversion numbers show net neutrality with about one percent leaving faith annually matching those converting from other religions though modest gains expected through sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2050.