Portal:Islam

All you want to know about Portal:Islam

edit  

ISLAM PORTAL

The Qur'an
The Qur'an

Islam (help·info) (Arabic: الإسلام al- islām) "the submission to God" is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the world's second largest religion.

Followers of Islam, known as Muslims (from the Arabic word, muslimeen, meaning "those who submit to God's will"), believe that God (or, in Arabic, Allāh; also in Aramaic Alaha) revealed his direct word for mankind to the prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632 CE). Revelation and Dawa started when he was at age 40.

These revelations are recorded in the Torah (Old Testament), the Injeel (Gospel) [as revealed to Isa (Jesus)], the Zabur (Psalms) and the Qur'an ("Recitation") which Muslims believe to be the final revelation from God to humanity.

Muslims believe that Muhammad is the last or the seal of the prophets and that his preachings for humankind will last until qiyamah ("The Day of Resurrection", also known as "The Day of Judgement"). Five Pillars of Islam (Arabic: أركان الإسلام) is the term given to the five duties incumbent on every Muslim. Shirk (Islam) is considered to be the Unpardonable Sin.

edit  

Selected Article

A mosque in Afghanistan

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. Muslims all over the world often refer to the mosque by its name in Arabic, masjid (pl. masajid) (Arabic: مسجد — pronounced: /mas.ˈɡʲid/ or /mas.ˈʤid/). The Arabic word masjid means temple or place of worship and comes from the Arabic root sajada (root "s-j-d," meaning to bow or kneel) which means he worshipped in reference to the prostrations performed during Islamic prayers. The word mosque in English is used to represent all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately-owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque (masjid jami) (Arabic: جامع), which has more community and social amenities.

The primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place where Muslims can come together for prayer. Nevertheless, mosques are known around the world nowadays for their general importance to the Muslim community as well as their demonstration of Islamic architecture. They have evolved significantly from the open-air spaces that were the Quba Mosque and Masjid al-Nabawi in the seventh century. Today, most mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls. Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but now one can find mosques on all six inhabited continents where Muslim communities exist. For Muslims, they are not only places to worship and pray; they are also places to learn about Islam and meet other Muslims. On many occasions, places of worship of other faiths such as synagogues or churches were converted into mosques.

edit  

Selected Picture

The Masjid al-Haram in Mecca
The Masjid al-Haram in Mecca

Masjid al-Haram (المسجد الحرام "The Sacred Mosque", is a large mosque in the city of Mecca, and the largest in Islam, and the largest religious building on Earth. It surrounds the Kaaba, the place which all Muslims turn towards each day in prayer and consider to be the holiest place on Earth. The mosque is also commonly known as the Haram or Haram Sharif.[1]

The current structure covers an area of 356,800 square meters including the outdoor and indoor praying spaces and can accommodate up to 820,000 worshippers during the Hajj period.

References

  1. ^ Orientation
edit  

Did you know...

  • ... It is estimated that the world population of Muslims today ranges between 1.2 billion and 1.5 billion people, and that only 18% of them live in Arab countries?
  • ... that the Qur'an has been completely memorized by a percentage of Muslims (hafiz) all around the world for nearly 14 centuries?
edit  

Selected Location

Al-Aqsa Mosque congregation building in the southern part of the Noble Sanctuary
Al-Aqsa Mosque congregation building in the southern part of the Noble Sanctuary

Al-Aqsa Mosque (The Farthest Mosque) (Arabic: المسجد الاقصى, [IPA /'ælmæsʤıd ælæqəsɒː/, Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa (help·info)), commonly refers to the southern congregational mosque that is part of the complex of religious buildings in Jerusalem known as Al-Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) to Arabs and Muslims, although the whole area of the Noble Sanctuary is considered Al-Aqsa Mosque according to Islamic law. It is known as Har ha-Bayit (the Temple Mount) to Jews and Christians. It is located in East Jerusalem, a disputed territory governed as part of Israel since its annexation in 1967 but claimed by the Palestinian Authority as part of a future State of Palestine. The largest and most ancient mosque in Palestine, its congregation building can accommodate about 5,000 people worshipping inside it, while the whole Al-Aqsa Mosque compound area may accommodate hundreds of thousands. The government of Israel has granted a Muslim Council, Waqf, full administration of the site. Since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, non-Muslims are barred from entering the site.

The congregation building of Al-Aqsa Mosque is referred to as Jami al-Masjid al-Aqsa or al-Masjid al-Qibli. The term al-Masjid Al-Aqsa proper is the general and oldest name for the precinct of al-Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif. The name al-Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif was coined later by the Mamluks.

The historical significance of Al-Aqsa Mosque is further emphasised by the fact that Muslims used to turn towards Al-Haram al-Sharif when they prayed. As it was the place at which Muhammad performed the first commanded prayer after Isra and Mi'raj, it became the qibla (direction) that Muslims faced during prayer and continued to be so for sixteen or seventeen months. After a revelation recorded in the Qur'an the qibla was then turned towards Mecca.

edit  

Selected Muslim

Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (Arabic: صلاح الدين يوسف ابن أيوب‎), known in English as Saladin, was a 12th century Kurd who became Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and a major Muslim political and military leader. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid dynasty, which he founded, ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, The Hejaz and Yemen.

Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn was born in the castle of Tikrit, Iraq in 532 AH (1137—1138 AD) and died just after dawn on 27 Safar 589 AH (4 March 1193 AD) in Damascus.[1] He received his initial military education from his uncle, Shirkuh, Nūr ad-Dīn's lieutenant who was representing him on campaigns against a faction of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt in the 1160s. Saladin eventually defeated the Fatimid faction and succeeded his uncle as vizier in 1169. Saladin revitalized the economy of Egypt, reorganized the military forces and, following his father's advice, stayed away from any conflicts with Nur ad-Din, his formal lord, after he had become the real ruler of Egypt. He waited until Nūr ad-Dīn's death before starting serious military actions: at first against smaller Muslim states, then directing them against the Crusaders. He is best-known for uniting and also leading the Muslim armies during the Crusades and recapturing Jerusalem.

While Saladin was consolidating his power in Syria, he usually left the Crusader kingdom alone, although he was generally victorious whenever he did meet the Crusaders in battle. One exception was the Battle of Montgisard on November 25, 1177. He was defeated by the combined forces of Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, Raynald of Chatillon and the Knights Templar. Only one tenth of his army made it back to Egypt.

In July 1187, Saladin captured most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On July 4, 1187, he faced at the Battle of Hattin the combined forces Guy of Lusignan, King Consort of Jerusalem and Raymond III of Tripoli. In this battle alone the Crusader army was largely annihilated by the motivated army of Saladin in what was a major disaster for the Crusaders and a turning point in the history of the Crusades. Saladin captured Raynald de Chatillon and was personally responsible for his execution in retaliation for previously attacking Muslim pilgrim caravans.[2] Guy of Lusignan was also captured but his life was spared.

Saladin had almost captured every Crusader city. Jerusalem capitulated to his forces on October 2, 1187 after a siege. Before the siege, Saladin had offered generous terms of surrender, which were rejected. After the siege had started, he was unwilling to promise terms of quarter to the European occupants of Jerusalem until Balian of Ibelin threatened to kill every Muslim in the city, estimated between 3000 to 5000, and to destroy Islam’s holy shrines of the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque if quarter was not given. Saladin consulted his council and these terms were accepted. Ransom was to be paid for each Frank in the city whether man, woman or child. Saladin allowed many to leave without having the required amount for ransom for others.

Saladin signed an agreement with Richard the Lionheart in the Treaty of Ramla in 1192, whereby the city would remain in Muslim hands but would be open to Christian pilgrimages; the treaty reduced the Latin Kingdom to a strip along the coast from Tyre to Jaffa. This treaty was supposed to last 3 years. Muslims and Christians now were living in harmony in the Holy Land, the place which matters in both religions.

Despite his fierce struggle against the crusades, Saladin achieved a great reputation in Europe as a chivalrous knight, so much so that there existed by the fourteenth century an epic poem about his exploits, and Dante included him among the virtuous pagan souls in Limbo. Saladin appears in a sympathetic light in Sir Walter Scott's The Talisman (1825). Despite the Crusaders' slaughter when they originally conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Saladin granted amnesty and free passage to all common Catholics and even to the defeated Christian army, as long as they were able to pay the aforementioned ransom (the Greek Orthodox Christians were treated even better, because they often opposed the western Crusaders). An interesting view of Saladin and the world in which he lived is provided by Tariq Ali's novel The Book of Saladin.[3]

edit  

Categories

edit  

WikiProjects

edit  

Things you can do

edit  

Islam Topics

edit  

Associated Wikimedia

Islam on  Wikinews  Islam on  Wikiquote  Islam on  Wikibooks  Islam on  Wikisource  Islam on  Wiktionary  Islam on  Wikiversity  Islam on Wikimedia Commons
News Quotations Manuals & Texts Texts Definitions Learning resources Images & Media
Purge cache
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Islam"

No comments have been added.



Your name:

City:

Country:

Your comments:

Security check *
(Please enter the number into adjoining box)

 

  • Ads

           
eXTReMe Tracker