civil code and just treatment of others was made available across the
peninsula. The Arab people were galvanized. By the time of Muh.ammad’s
death much of the tradition was in place, to be interpreted and reinterpreted
for centuries to come.
The basic tenets of Islam are not so much beliefs, as rituals. Known as
the five pillars, they include: 1) A statement of faith (shaha ̄da) consisted in
affirming there was no god but Alla ̄h, and Muh.ammad was his prophet.
Indeed, Muh.ammad is perceived to have provided the final revelation, as
the last of a prophetic tradition that included Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and
others. 2) Prayer (s.ala ̄t) was to be done five times a day, facing Mecca as the
center of the Islamic world. 3) Alms (a portion of one’s income) were to
be given in support of the poor (zaka ̄t). Indeed, Muslims were to avoid usury
(cheating in the lending of money) and were to share wealth that may
accumulate. 4) Fasting (s.aum) was to be done during the month of Ramad.a ̄n
when the faithful Muslim was to remember the hardships of Muh.ammad
in his period of exile from Mecca and enact the solidarity of the Islamic
community by refraining from eating or drinking any thing from sunrise
to sunset. 5) Pilgrimage (the h.ajj) was enjoined as the duty of all faithful
Muslims who were to go to Mecca at least once in their lives; to be sure,
individual Muslims have followed these requirements to varying degrees
throughout the centuries, but the orthoprax try faithfully to follow them.
Sunnı ̄s and Shı ̄‘ı ̄s
Within a few years after Muh.ammad’s death, disputes began to rise over his
succession. These disagreements led eventually to the division between Shı ̄‘ı ̄s
(anglicized as Shı ̄ites) and Sunnı ̄s. The division had both a political and a
religious or legal character. Politically, the dispute centered on whether Abu ̄
Bakr (that early convert) or ‘Alı ̄, the son-in-law of Muh.ammad, should be
the prophet’s successor. Abu ̄ Bakr became the first successor and ‘Alı ̄ the
fourth, but followers of Abu ̄ Bakr (so it is believed) assassinated the son of
‘Alı ̄,H.usain, thereby disrupting that line of succession. Shı ̄ites were the
followers of ‘Ali, bitter to this day at the treatment of H.usain.^2
The other division between Shı ̄ites and Sunnı ̄s rested on matters of
interpretation of the tradition. All Muslims claim two sources of authority.
The first is the Qu‘ra ̄n, believed to be the verbatim revelation given to
Muh.ammad from Alla ̄h himself through the angel Gabriel. Muh.ammad
passed on these revelations orally whence followers wrote them down
within decades of Muh.ammad’s life. The second source of authority is the
h.adı ̄th. These are commentaries (or traditions) on the sunna(the way
of Muh.ammad), that is, the record of his words and actions done in addition
to the Qura ̄nic messages.
124 The Coming of Islam