46 • 4 WHAT IS ISLAM?Muslims recognize and venerate many others, including Adam, Noah,
Abraham, Moses, Jonah, and Job. Biblical personages (such as King Solo¬
mon) reappear in the Quran as prophets. Christians may be astonished
that Muslims count Jesus as one of God's messengers. The Quran affirms
that he was born of the Virgin Mary, that he is a "word" of God, and that
he will some day return, but it denies that he was crucified or that he was
the son of God. All prophets must be revered; no one prophet, not even
Muhammad, may be exalted above the others. Prophets cannot predict
what will happen or perform miracles unless God enables them to do so;
they are just good people chosen to bring God's message to other men and
women. No more prophets will come before the Judgment Day.Judgment Day
Among Islam's basic tenets, none was preached more fervently by
Muhammad than belief in a final Judgment Day, from which no one can
escape. On this day of doom all living people will die, joining those who
have gone before them. All will be summoned before the heavenly throne
to be judged for the good and the bad things they have done. Later Mus¬
lims built up the imagery: A tightrope will stretch across the fires of Hell,
and only the righteous will cross over safely into Heaven. The Quran de¬
picts Paradise as a shaded garden with cooling fountains, abundant food
and drink, and beautiful maidens for the eternal bliss of righteous men.
Righteous women, too, will enter Heaven, but the Quran is less specific on
what they will find. Popular Islam teaches that they will go back to the age
at which they were most beautiful. Both men and women will know peace,
live in harmony, and see God. Hell is everything that is horrible in the
Arab mind: fearsome beasts, fiery tortures, noxious vapors, foul-tasting
food to eat, and boiling water to drink. There will be no peace and no har¬
mony. God will not be present, and for the worst sinners the torments will
never end.
THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAMHow can the believer obey God? What are the divine commands? The
Quran and Muhammad's teachings are full of dos and don'ts, for Islam
(like Judaism) is a religion of right actions, rules, and laws. We cannot
cover all of the Islamic rules, but they are symbolized by five obligatory
acts: the five pillars of Islam.