Drum – 08 August 2019

A 1 .ru .co.a

Khadijah. Muhammadbecamea well-respected

manandheandKhadijahhadsixchildren.

AMESSAGEFROMABOVE

Muhammadwasadeeplyspiritual

personandwouldoftensecludehimself

tomeditateina cavecalledHirainthemountain

Jabalan-NournearMecca.Muslimsbelievethat

intheyear 610 whenMuhammadwas 40 years

old,hewasvisitedinthecavebythearchangel

Jibril(Gabriel),whotaughthimtheopeningverse

oftheQuran.

Muhammadwasshakenbythisencounterand

wenthometotellKhadijahaboutit.Sheandher

cousin,WaraqahibnNawfal, aChristian,com-

fortedandreassuredhim.Aftermorerevelations,

MuhammadcametobelieveAllahwantedhimto

sharethemessageswithothers.

Butwhenhefirststartedpreaching,manyof

Mecca’sresidentsdidn’tlikewhathehadtosay.

Atthetimetheydidn’tbelieveinonegod– they

werepolytheists,whichmeanstheyworshipped

manydifferentgods.Butsomedidbelievehim

andbecamehisfollowers– thesewerethefirst

Muslims,followersofIslam.

MOVE TO MEDINA

Muhammad’s growing popularity was

seen as a threat by some of the leaders

in Mecca, so he and his followers left for the city

of Yathrib, later renamed by him to Medina. The

journey to Medina is known as the Hegira (Hijra

in Arabic).

After the Hegira, Muhammad tried to unite the

many different Arab tribes under Islam.

W

ITH 1,8 billion followers,

Islam is the second-larg-

est religion in the world

after Christianity.

In South Africa, Islam

has been practised since the 1600s.
Although it’s the fastest-growing religion
worldwide, it’s still a minority religion in

SA – fewer than 2% of South Africans
identify as Muslim. Let’s find out more
abouttheoriginsofIslam.

WHAT IS ISLAM?

It is a monotheistic religion based on the

teachingthatthere’sonlyoneGodand

In the second part of

our series on religion

we learn about Islam,

the world’s second-

largest religion

that Muhammad is his messenger.

Followers of Islam are called Muslims. Like

Jews and Christians, they believe in one God,

whom they call Allah, and they see their faith as

an act of surrender to the will of Allah.

The word Islam is of Arabic origin and means

“tosubmit”. Muslimmeans“onewhosubmits”.

ThewillofAllahismadeknownthroughthe

Quran, a book containing sacred scriptures that

Allah revealed to the prophet Muhammad.

Muslims believe that Islam has always existed

and that it was gradually revealed to humans

throughaseriesofprophets, includingAdam,

Ibrahim(AbrahaminEnglish),Musa(Moses)and

Isa(Jesus, whom Muslims believe was a mortal

man, while Christians believe he’s the son of God).

The final and complete message was received

Muhammad.

Muslims show their obedience to Allah

rough daily religious practise and adher-

cetotraditions.

THE PROPHET

Muhammad (about 570-632 AD)

wasborninMeccainwhat’snow

audiArabia.Hisfather,Abdullah,died

efore his birth and his mother, Amina, died

hen he was six years old.

Muhammad then went to live with his

randfather, Abdul-Muttalib, who also died

wo years later. Muhammad’s uncle Abu

Talib took him in and raised him into adult-

ood.

When Muhammad was 25 years old he

arried a wealthy older woman named

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 loud speakers so the call to prayer (adhan)

can be heard from far away.

The Quran (“the recitation”) is the sacred text of Islam. Calligraphy and geometric patterns are key

aspects of Islamic art, which avoids images of living beings so people don’t start worshipping the

images instead of Allah. Pictures or statues of Muhammad are also forbidden.

Cape Malay people, many of whom live in

the historical Bo-Kaap neighbourhood in

Cape Town, have practised Islam in SA

since the late 1600s. The Jamia Mosque,

established in 1850, is on the horizon.

Religions

Part 2

of 5