Religious Customs

Hello everyone!
Hopefully, you’ve a learnt a little from the 3 religions in Singapore! Today, I’m going to talk about Islam.

Muslims praying outside of Jerusalem outside the Dome of Rock

According to dictionary.com, Islam is the religion of the Muslims, a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through Muhammad, as the Prophet of Allah.

Monotheistic is determined as belief in the existence of one god, or in the oneness of God.

However, IslamiCity.com defines Islam being not a new religion, but the same truth that God revealed through all His prophets to every people.

They have also mentioned that Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy and forgiveness, and the majority have nothing to do with the extremely grave events which have come to be associated with their faith.

The Arabic word, “Islam” simply means “submission”, deriving from a word meaning “peace”. Putting into religious context, this means to submit completely to the will of God. “Allah” is the Arabic name for God, which is used by Arab Muslims and Christians alike.

Many have the misconception that Islam is associated with the countries of the Middle East or North Africa. However, this is not so. Nearly 2/3 of the 1.6 billion lives in the Asia-Pacific region. Statistics have shown that in 2012, there are an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims around the world..

1.6 billion people amount for 23% of the world’s population, making Islam the second largest religion.

There is no ritual go through to consider yourself as a Muslim, however there is the Six Articles of Faith and core belief that one must adhere to. The Muslim doctrine is often summarized in the Six Articles of Faith, which follows:

1. One God;
2. The angels of God;
3. The books of God, especially the Qur’an;
4. The prophets of God, especially Muhammad;
5. The Day of Judgment (or the afterlife); and
6. The supremacy of God’s will (or predestination).
Muslims believe in Prophets, who are humans assigned a special mission by God to guide the human race. They are Noah, Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Joseph, John the Baptist and Jesus, peace be upon them, to name a few.

This is all for the background knowledge on Islam! It is a little brief but I wouldn’t want you to fall asleep!

Stay tuned for the updates on other religions and their rituals!

- Han Yi
Citations

Hello everyone!
Hopefully, you’ve a learnt a little from the 3 religions in Singapore! Today, I’m going to talk about Islam.