You South Africa – 08 August 2019

a well-respectedmanandheandKhadijahhad

sixchildren.

AMESSAGEFROMABOVE

Muhammadwasadeeplyspiritual

personandwouldoftensecludehim-

selftomeditateinacavecalledHirainthe

mountainJabalan-NournearMecca.Muslims

believethatintheyear610,whenMuhammad

was 40 yearsold,hewasvisitedinthecaveby

thearchangelJibril(Gabriel),whotaughthim

theopeningverseoftheQuran.

Muhammadwasshakenbythisencounter

andwenthometotellKhadijahaboutit.She

andhercousin,WaraqahibnNawfal, aChris-

tian,comfortedandreassuredhim.Aftermore

revelations,MuhammadcametobelieveAllah

wantedhimtosharethemessageswithothers.

Butwhenhefirststartedpreaching,manyof

Mecca’sresidentdidn’tlikewhathehadtosay.

Atthetime,theydidn’tbelieveinonegod

• theywerepolytheists,whichmeanstheywor-
  shippedmanygods.Butsomedidbelievehim
  andbecamehisfollowers– thesewerethefirst
  Muslims,followersofIslam.

MOVETOMEDINA

Muhammad’sgrowingpopularitywas

seenasa threatbysomeofthelead-

ersinMecca,soheandhisfollowersleftforthe

cityofYathrib,laterrenamedbyhimtoMedina.

ThejourneytoMedinaisknownastheHegira

(HijrainArabic).

AftertheHegira,Muhammadtriedtounite

themanydifferentArabtribesunderIslam.

W

ITH1,8billionfollowers,

Islam is the second-

largestreligioninthe

worldafterChristianity.

InSouthAfrica,Islam

hasbeenpractisedsincethe1600s.Al-
thoughit’sthefastest-growingreligion
worldwide,it’sstilla minorityreligionin

SA– fewerthan2%ofSouthAfricans
identifyasMuslim.Let’sfindoutmore
abouttheoriginsofIslam.

WHATISISLAM?
Islamisa monotheisticreligionbased
ontheteachingthatthere’sonlyone
GodandthatMuhammadishismessenger.

In the second part

of our series on faith

we learn about Islam,

one oftheworld’s

largestreligions

FollowersofIslamarecalledMuslims. Like

JewsandChristians,theybelieveinoneGod,

whomtheycallAllah, andtheyseetheirfaith

asanactofsurrendertothewillofAllah.

ThewordIslamisofArabicoriginandmeans

“tosubmit”; Muslimmeans“onewhosubmits”.

ThewillofAllahismadeknownthroughthe

Quran, abookcontainingsacredscriptures

thatAllahrevealedtotheprophetMuhammad.

MuslimsbelievethatIslamhasalwaysexisted

andthatitwasgraduallyrevealedtohumans

throughaseriesofprophets, includingAdam,

Ibrahim(Abraham),Musa(Moses)andIsa

(Jesus),whomMuslimsbelievewasamortal

man,whileChristiansbelievehe’stheSonof

God).Thefinalandcompletemessagewas

receivedbyMuhammad.

MuslimsshowtheirobediencetoAllah

roughdailyreligiouspracticeandad-

rencetotraditions.

THEPROPHET

Muhammad(about570-632AD)

wasborninMeccainwhat’snow

audiArabia.Hisfather,Abdullah,died

eforehisbirthandhismother,Amina,

iedwhenhewassixyearsold.

Muhammadthenwenttolivewithhis

randfatherAbdul-Muttalib,whodied

woyearslater.Muhammad’suncleAbu

Talibtookhiminandraisedhiminto

dulthood.

WhenMuhammadwas 25 yearsold,

emarriedawealthyolderwoman

amedKhadijah. Muhammadbecame

Islam

A muezzin is a man who calls Muslims to

prayer five times a day from a minaret, a tall

thin tower that forms part of a mosque. Many

minarets have loudspeakers so the call to

prayer (adhan) can be heard from far away.

TheQuran(“therecitation”)isthesacredtextofIslam.Calligraphyandgeometricpatterns are

keyaspectsofIslamicart,whichavoidsimagesoflivingbeingssopeopledon’tstartworship-

pingtheimagesinsteadofAllah.PicturesorstatuesofMuhammadarealsoforbidden.

CapeMalaypeople,manyofwhomlive

inthehistoricalBo-Kaapneighbourhood

inCapeTown,havepractisedIslaminSA

sincethelate1600s.TheJamiaMosque,

establishedin1850,isonthehorizon.

Religions

Part 2

of 5

74 | 8 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za