Islam

Table of Contents

Introduction
The foundations of Islam
- The legacy of Muhammad
- Sources of Islamic doctrinal and social views
- Doctrines of the Qurʾān
  - God
  - The universe
  - Humanity
  - Satan, sin, and repentance
  - Prophecy
  - Eschatology (doctrine of last things)
  - Social service
- Fundamental practices and institutions of Islam
  - The five pillars
    - The shahādah, or profession of faith
    - Prayer
    - The zakāt
    - Fasting
    - The hajj
  - Sacred places and days
    - Shrines of Sufi saints
    - The mosque
    - Holy days
Islamic thought
- Origins, nature, and significance of Islamic theology
  - Early developments
  - The Hellenistic legacy
- Theology and sectarianism
  - The Khārijites
  - The Muʿtazilah
  - Sunnism
    - The way of the majority
    - Tolerance of diversity
    - Influence of al-Ashʿarī and al-Māturīdī
  - Shiʿism
    - Ismāʿīlīs
    - Related sects
  - Other groups
    - Sufism
    - The Aḥmadiyyah
- Islamic philosophy
  - The Eastern philosophers
    - Background and scope of philosophical interest in Islam
    - Relation to the Muʿtazilah and interpretation of theological issues
      The teachings of al-Kindī
      The teachings of Abū Bakr al-Rāzī
    - The teachings of al-Fārābī
      Political philosophy and the study of religion
      Interpretation of Plato and Aristotle
      The analogy of religion and philosophy
      Impact on Ismāʿīlī theology
    - The teachings of Avicenna
      The “Oriental Philosophy”
      Distinction between essence and existence and the doctrine of creation
      The immortality of individual souls
      Philosophy, religion, and mysticism
  - The Western philosophers
    - Background and characteristics of the Western Muslim philosophical tradition
    - The teachings of Ibn Bājjah
      Theoretical science and intuitive knowledge
      Unconcern of philosophy with reform
    - The teachings of Ibn Ṭufayl
      The philosopher as a solitary individual
      Concern for reform
      The hidden secret of Avicenna’s “Oriental Philosophy”
    - The teachings of Averroës
      Philosophy
      The divine law
      Theology
- The new wisdom: synthesis of philosophy and mysticism
  - Philosophy, traditionalism, and the new wisdom
    - Philosophy
    - Traditionalism and the new wisdom
    - Characteristic features of the new wisdom
    - Critiques of Aristotle in Islamic theology
    - Synthesis of philosophy and mysticism
  - Primary teachers of the new wisdom
    - The teachings of al-Suhrawardī
    - The teachings of Ibn al-ʿArabī
    - The teachings of Twelver Shiʿism and the school of Eṣfahān
      The teachings of Mīr Dāmād
      The teachings of Mullā Ṣadrā
  - Impact of modernism
- Social and ethical principles
  - Family life
  - The state
  - Education
  - Cultural diversity
- Religion and the arts
  - The visual arts
  - Music
  - Literature
  - Architecture
- Islamic myth and legend
  - Sources and variations
    - The Qurʾān and non-Islamic influences
    - The mystics
  - Types of myth and legend
    - Cosmogony and eschatology
    - Tales and legends concerning religious figures
      Muhammad
      Other Qurʾānic figures
      Mystics and other later figures
    - Mythologization of secular tales
    - Tales and beliefs about numbers and letters
  - Illustration of myth and legend
  - Significance and modern interpretations

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Islam: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	Al-Islām

Did You Know?

Islam is the second most practiced religion globally.
One year in the Islamic calendar is based on lunar cycles and lasts around 355 days.
Consumption of alcohol and pork is forbidden in Islamic tradition.

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Topics

Islamic arts Islamic world Sufism sharia Shiʿi qawwali Khārijite Sunni riddah kharāj Christianity Judaism Hinduism Buddhism Taoism Sikhism Confucianism Roman religion Jainism Zoroastrianism

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Key People

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Muhammad

prophet of Islam

Ibn Taymiyyah

Muslim theologian

Muḥammad I Askia

Songhai ruler

Aurangzeb

Aurangzeb

Mughal emperor

Maḥmūd Ghāzān

Maḥmūd Ghāzān

Mongol ruler of Persia

Ibn Ḥazm

Spanish Muslim scholar

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan

Muslim scholar

Ruhollah Khomeini

Ruhollah Khomeini

Iranian religious leader

Muḥammad ʿAbduh

Muḥammad ʿAbduh

Egyptian scholar and jurist

Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī

Persian scholar

Kabir

Indian mystic and poet

Theōdūrus Abū Qurrah

Syrian bishop

Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th earl of Minto

British official

Aḥmad Grāñ

Aḥmad Grāñ

Somalian Muslim leader

Shirdi Sai Baba temple

Shirdi Sai Baba

spiritual leader

Aga Khan III

Nizārī imam

Nesimi, Seyid Imadeddin

Seyid İmadeddin Nesimi

poet

Iskandar Muda

sultan of Aceh

Sayyid Amir Ali

Indian political leader

Leo Africanus

Islamic scholar

Quiz

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Islam

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