AN INTRODUCTIONTo ISLAM

by Mnry

Islam is ., very olu religion. it can spccif'ic;illy he traceJ bad, to the life of the prnphct Mohammed in the !..ixth century. and shares roots with the Chri~tiuns and Jews. that gn bncf..even l\1rthe,·!

lt i~ a rel iginn bnscd c,n the f'undarnentul lwltcf that then~ i~ nnly one God (Allah). who i-; powerful and wonderful. und humans should to submit themselves to him. Islam literally means "to submit" and a Muslim is simply "one who submits". Humnns arc said to have been created equal, und uu1,;htto juin together in their purpose, which is to submission to Alluh. The Kuran is the perfect word of God and thus, it is a dirc~t ~unne~tion to Allah himself. The Holy s~riptures were written by the great prophet Mohammed, whi~h is why he has remained a very irnponnnt religious figure in lslnm. There arc five "pillars of faith" in !slum. Each pillar reflects submission to Allah in a separate area of one's life.

The five centrul beliefs or "Pillars of Faith" us they are called are: foith (the Sha/ah), prayer (Sa/ah), Concern for the needy and charity (Zokat). fasting (self-purification), and pilgrimage to Mecca (/ /aaj). The five pillars have been described as the pillars that support the tarp of Islam.

The first pi liar. "faith", can be summed up in the Islamic declnration of Sita/al, "there is nn god hut Allah anti Mohammed is his messenger". Sha/ah, is the both the first pillar and is also the crock-pot of the religion, it holds the religion together by giving it definition. In declaring the Shalah, a Muslim is submitting their entire being to the atlrnission that there is ONE god, Allah. Also. in rccognii.ing Mohammed us Allah's messengerone is accepting the Koran as the word of God.

Prayer. the second pi liar. is practiced five times a day, in the formal prayers of Sa/ah. Periodically throughout the day from dawn to dusk, Muslims around the world arc called to put down their work. turn in the direction of the holy city of Mecca, and join together in prayer. These daily prayers take a great deal of discipline. From the mosques in Islamic nations, Muslims are called out to in the streets as a reminder to pray at the prescribed times. In non-lslamic nations however, even remembering when the times to pray can be a challenge. Sa/ah requires a submission of mind, time and discipline.

The third pillur, "Zakat" is a form of lax or tithing whereby Muslims give 2.5% of their annual incomes to people in need. In hlamic nations, it has been suggested that the Zakat may be formully rnkcn off of paychecks and put towards welfare type programs. In Canada though, shuring one·~ wealth is a personal responsibility. The money need nut be given spccifically to the mosque. but there art· programs for orphans and others in need set up through Mu~lim organi1atiC1nsthat Musli,ns cun gi"c to. Muslims will point out thnt Zakat is a way of rceogni1ing that all mnh;riul wcullh is provided by God. and that nl I persons arc equal to God. Releasing n1oney out of her pocket, is how n Muslim submits her bank account 10 God.

As soon us the sun rises until the sun disappears in the Western skies during the month Clf Rn111nrl"h,Muslims nbsltlin from eating, drinking, and Sex! Because Ramadah is based on the Muslim calendar. which is lunar. the fast changes by two weeks every year. Winter fasting is thus, considerably shorter than the long. hot days of summer. The purpose of the fast is for self-purification and to increase compassion for the needy (the zakat. is given m the end of this time.) Both before and after the fnsts, there arc special meals with friends nnd family throughout the month, und a major festival is celebrated at the very end of the fast. Purposely denying the body's physical demands is a very simple form of pulling Allah ahead of the body's physical desires and sharing in the suffering of others.

Lastly, Muslims are required to make a spc• cinl pilgrimage to the grand mosque of Ka 'lwl, it1 the holy city of Mecca. Huge crowds of Muslims from around the world jnin togdhcr at the Ka 'bah. They wear the ~ame white heamlessgarment so dothes do not make on persnn to be more important thun another does. The final pillar is unique to the others in that Haaj is not an absolute requirement to the faith. Muslims are released of rhis obligation if finances or physical henlih inhibit their journey. A delc- gatt: may be sent in place of n person who does hot m11keit to the Ka'/Jah himself. The j0t1rney or Haaj allows u Muslim to bury his ego while joining all of the other Muslims in the ancient rituals in Mecca.

Mohammed was the lust prophet in the Islamic line of prophetic leaders, which includes Adam, Noah, Moses, und even Jesus. Muslims share lliost of the same stories of Jews and Christian from the Torah and the Bible. One major difference however, being that Jews anti Christians trace their heritage hack to lsnac. the son of Abraham, however Muslims follow their history back to lsuac 's older brother Ishmael. Jesus is also an important figure in Islam, but he is not the Son of God, as He is in Christianity.

Mohammed wrote the sacr~d scriptures of tht: Koran. Muslims explain that the Koran is the exact wmd of Allah, delivered by an angelic messenger to Mohammed, who then recorded the holy messagesover a period of over twenty year

Mohammed is remembered today for his compassion for his integrity in business, and his concern for the poo,· anti needy. He was born towards the end or the sixth century and raise<l as an orphan in the city of Mecca by his Uncle Abu Talib. The prophet joined his uncle's caravan business and proved to be a resre~tcd and successful businessman; people admired his honest and trustworthy way of bui.iness. MohammeJ wa~ married at the age or twenly-five tn an t1lder widow, who hat! been attracted by Mohammed's strong eharucter Jnu proposetl marriage. One day when Moham111edwent lo prny and metlitatt: in the peace anti quid outside the i:ity, he met an angel. The angel gave him the first words of what was to be the Koran:

Rccite 1 In the name of your Lord, who created, Createtl humankind out of a clot. Recite! Anu your Lord is Most Generous, He who taught (the use of) the pen, Taught humankind whnt it knew not. (Kornn96: 1-5)

The first of many messagesthat commanded Mohammed to ''recite!" outlined the importance of the Koran. Today, in the weekly Islamic gatherings each Friday. the service consists of members of the cunununity reading from the Kornn.

./011rnalist~·1101e:Expla11a1ionsof religions from people 11•itltouIreal faith in tlte .11utcifir religion are Rl!nerally as rlry as pm11e(which I l1a1•<'di.,·co"ered are actually I•ery tas(v, 111/tirh111i1:h1make tltis a had rn111pariso11) and lacking in per.rnnal d1 1p1h al/d 1111dersw11di11g.Thus. I do 1101 e'<pect this article to give. in any way, the cr1111ple1epicture of /s/c1111. I r1111 1101a Musli111 and did 1101eve11 raali:,e 11111il l'<'C<'ntly1h01 !sla111is .rn closely tied to J11dais111and Christit111i1y.the tll'O re/ig/011s I w11111ostfamiliar with. Hm,wwn; with the t,:rowing 1111111bers of Muslims a11dthe l'io{('11111plteowtls caused in the 11a111eof "/\//ah", I tltought Cl glance ar a Jew bones of what 011ls/0111/cX-ray might look like, could be useful for clarifi.cation.

use now I can't GAP

Submitted by Aly Murphy

Amnesty lntemarlonal - UCFV

Over the past few weeks I have had the privilege to meet with Don Wright, the Regional Development Coordinator for BC/Yukon. Don is presenting two workshops at UCFV on Nov. 16th , focusing on Amnesty International (Al) and Human Rights Defenders in Columbia.

Don took some time to answer a few questions for us and here is what he had to say about himself. employment with AI, and the road ahead for BC and Yukon groups.

How long have you been a member of Al?