171-410: — Events — — Figures — — Events and terms — — Events — In Islam , Jesus ( Arabic : عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ , romanized : ʿĪsā ibn Maryam , lit. 'Jesus, son of Mary ') is believed to be the penultimate prophet and messenger of God and the Messiah sent to guide the Children of Israel ( Banī Isra'īl ) with
342-710: A book called the Injīl (Evangel or Gospel). In the Quran , Jesus is described as the Messiah ( al-Masīḥ ), born of a virgin , performing miracles, accompanied by his disciples, and rejected by the Jewish religious establishment; in contrast to the traditional Christian narrative, however, he is stated to have not been crucified, died on the cross, nor resurrected , rather, he is depicted as having been miraculously saved by God and ascending into heaven. The Quran places Jesus among
513-690: A primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets and messengers , including Adam , Noah , Abraham , Moses , and Jesus . Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God and the unaltered, final revelation. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations , such as the Tawrat (the Torah ), the Zabur ( Psalms ), and the Injil ( Gospel ). They believe that Muhammad
684-555: A Hen') (Cairo: Dar al-Maarif, 1943; 2nd ed. 1967). In Christ in the Quran and Modern Arabic Literature (1960), Al-Husayni said it is noteworthy Muhammad attributes no miracles to himself. These six miracles in the Quran are without detail unlike the Gospel and their non-canonical Gnostic sources, which include details and mention other attributed miracles. Over the centuries, these six miracle narratives have been elaborated through Hadith and poetry, with religious writings including some of
855-592: A Roman soldier named Pantera or Pandera, whose name is likely a pun on parthenos , virgin. The story was still current in the Middle Ages in satirical parody of the Christian gospels called the Toledot Yeshu . The Toledot Yeshu contains little historical material, and was probably created as a tool for warding off conversions to Christianity. According to Kärkkäinen, the virgin birth in relation to
1026-438: A biological understanding with the idea of "theological truth," and some evangelical theologians hold it to be marginal rather than indispensable to the Christian faith. Today, the traditional doctrine of the virgin birth is still defended by conservative theologians. Some Christians celebrate the conception of Jesus on 25 March and his birth on 25 December. ( These dates are traditional; no one knows for certain when Jesus
1197-478: A carpenter named George. Secluded in a church, she is joined by a young man named Joseph, and they help one another fetching water and other tasks. The account of the birth of Jesus follows the Quran's narrative, adding that the birth occurred in Bethlehem beside a palm tree with a manger. The 10th-century Persian scholar al-Tabari (839–923) mentions envoys arriving from the king of Persia with gifts (similar to
1368-472: A child despite her lack of sexual experience, and informs the reader that this pregnancy is to be effected through God's Holy Spirit . There is a serious debate as to whether Luke's nativity story is an original part of his gospel. Chapters 1 and 2 are written in a style quite different from the rest of the gospel, and the dependence of the birth narrative on the Greek Septuagint is absent from
1539-669: A crime against humanity by the UN and Amnesty International, while the OHCHR Fact-Finding Mission identified genocide , ethnic cleansing, and other crimes against humanity. Virgin birth of Jesus The virgin birth of Jesus is the Christian and Islamic teaching that Jesus was conceived by his mother, Mary , through the power of the Holy Spirit and without sexual intercourse . Christians regard
1710-400: A fetus; instead they thought that the male contribution in reproduction consisted of some sort of formative or generative principle, while Mary's bodily fluids would provide all the matter that was needed for Jesus's bodily form, including his male sex. This cultural milieu was conducive to miraculous birth stories – they were common in biblical tradition going back to Abraham and Sarah (and
1881-476: A figurehead monarchy. The Sunni Seljuk dynasty campaigned to reassert Sunni Islam by promulgating the scholarly opinions of the time, notably with the construction of educational institutions known as Nezamiyeh , which are associated with Al-Ghazali and Saadi Shirazi . The expansion of the Muslim world continued with religious missions converting Volga Bulgaria to Islam. The Delhi Sultanate reached deep into
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#17327758297912052-454: A god himself on his death in AD 14; this remained the pattern for later emperors. Imperial divinity was accompanied by suitable miraculous birth stories, with Augustus being fathered by the god Apollo while his human mother slept, and her human husband being granted a dream in which he saw the sun rise from her womb, and inscriptions even described the news of the divine imperial birth as evangelia ,
2223-437: A longer text more like our own, genealogies and birth narratives are also absent from Mark and John. Matthew 1:18 says that Mary was betrothed to Joseph. She would have been twelve years old or a little less at the time of events described in the gospels, as under Jewish law betrothal was only possible for minors, which for girls meant aged under twelve or prior to the first menses , whichever came first. According to custom
2394-402: A man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28: And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." 29: But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30: The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31: And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear
2565-556: A movement that would evolve into tasawwuf or Sufism . At this time, theological problems, notably on free will, were prominently tackled, with Hasan al Basri holding that although God knows people's actions, good and evil come from abuse of free will and the devil . Greek rationalist philosophy influenced a speculative school of thought known as Muʿtazila , who famously advocated the notion of free-will originated by Wasil ibn Ata . Caliph Mamun al Rashid made it an official creed and unsuccessfully attempted to force this position on
2736-459: A natural death. A third and distinctive image is of Jesus representing an ascetic figure – a prophet of the heart. Although the Quran refers to the 'gospel' of Jesus, those specific teachings of his are not mentioned in the Quran or later religious texts. They are largely absent. The Sufi tradition is where Jesus became revered, acknowledged as a spiritual teacher with a distinctive voice from other prophets, including Muhammad. Sufism tends to explore
2907-504: A person to hell . However, the Quran makes it clear that God will forgive the sins of those who repent if he wishes. Good deeds, like charity, prayer, and compassion towards animals will be rewarded with entry to heaven. Muslims view heaven as a place of joy and blessings, with Quranic references describing its features. Mystical traditions in Islam place these heavenly delights in the context of an ecstatic awareness of God. Yawm al-Qiyāmah
3078-507: A person's soul at the time of death. They are described as being created variously from 'light' ( nūr ) or 'fire' ( nār ). Islamic angels are often represented in anthropomorphic forms combined with supernatural images, such as wings, being of great size or wearing heavenly articles. Common characteristics for angels include a lack of bodily needs and desires, such as eating and drinking. Some of them, such as Gabriel ( Jibrīl ) and Michael ( Mika'il ), are mentioned by name in
3249-581: A place of prayer, it is also an important social center for the Muslim community . For example, the Masjid an-Nabawi ("Prophetic Mosque") in Medina, Saudi Arabia , used to also serve as a shelter for the poor. Minarets are towers used to call the adhan , a vocal call to signal the prayer time. Zakat ( Arabic : زكاة , zakāh ), also spelled Zakāt or Zakah , is a type of almsgiving characterized by
3420-465: A religious context, it refers to the total surrender to the will of God . A Muslim ( مُسْلِم ), the word for a follower of Islam, is the active participle of the same verb form, and means "submitter (to God)" or "one who surrenders (to God)". In the Hadith of Gabriel , Islam is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān (faith), and ihsān (excellence). Islam itself
3591-667: A religious group. This has been undertaken by communist forces like the Khmer Rouge , who viewed them as their primary enemy to be exterminated since their religious practice made them stand out from the rest of the population, the Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang and by nationalist forces such as during the Bosnian genocide . Myanmar military's Tatmadaw targeting of Rohingya Muslims has been labeled as
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#17327758297913762-531: A result of Islamic missionary activities ( dawah ), as well as through conquests . The two main Islamic branches are Sunni Islam (85–90%) and Shia Islam (10–15%). While the Shia–Sunni divide initially arose from disagreements over the succession to Muhammad , they grew to cover a broader dimension, both theologically and juridically . The Sunni canonical hadith collection consists of six books , while
3933-728: A root that means "to measure" or "calculating". Muslims often express this belief in divine destiny with the phrase "In-sha-Allah" ( Arabic : إن شاء الله ) meaning "if God wills" when speaking on future events. There are five acts of worship that are considered duties –the Shahada (declaration of faith), the five daily prayers, Zakat (almsgiving), fasting during Ramadan , and the Hajj pilgrimage–collectively known as "The Pillars of Islam" ( Arkān al-Islām ). In addition, Muslims also perform other optional supererogatory acts that are encouraged but not considered to be duties. The shahadah
4104-507: A son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." 24: When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25: but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. 26: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27: to a virgin engaged to
4275-569: A son, and you will name him Jesus. 32: He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33: He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34: Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 35: The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and
4446-573: A son... ' ", is a reference to Isaiah 7:14 , "...the Lord himself shall give you a sign: the maiden is with child and she will bear a son..." The Book of Isaiah had been translated into Greek , and from this translation, Matthew uses the Greek word παρθένος ( parthenos ), which does mean virgin, for the Hebrew עַלְמָה ( almah ), which scholars agree signifies a girl of childbearing age without reference to virginity. This mistranslation gave
4617-583: A table spread with food as a feast for us—the first and last of us—and as a sign from You. Provide for us! You are indeed the Best Provider.” 5:115 Allah answered, “I am sending it down to you. But whoever among you denies afterwards will be subjected to a torment I have never inflicted on anyone of My creation.” In a record by the Sunni exegete Tabari , before the last supper, the threat of death made him anxious. Therefore, Jesus invited his disciples for
4788-535: A trust from God's bounty, and is seen as a purification of one's excess wealth. The total annual value contributed due to zakat is 15 times greater than global humanitarian aid donations, using conservative estimates. Sadaqah , as opposed to Zakat, is a much-encouraged optional charity. A waqf is a perpetual charitable trust , which finances hospitals and schools in Muslim societies. In Islam, fasting ( Arabic : صوم , ṣawm ) precludes food and drink, as well as other forms of consumption, such as smoking , and
4959-543: Is tawḥīd (Arabic: توحيد ), the oneness of God. It is usually thought of as a precise monotheism , but is also panentheistic in Islamic mystical teachings. God is seen as incomparable and without multiplicity of persons such as in the Christian Trinity , and associating multiplicity to God or attributing God's attributes to others is seen as idolatory , called shirk . God is described as Al Ghayb so
5130-627: Is God. He creates [i.e., causes to pass] what he wills" ( Quran 3:47 ). The Quran does not include the tradition of the Flight into Egypt , though sūrah 23:50 could conceivably allude to it: "And we made the son of Maryam and his mother a sign; and we made them abide in an elevated place, full of quiet and watered with springs." However, narratives similar to the narrative found in the Gospels and non-canonical sources circulated in later Islamic tradition, with some details and elaborations added over
5301-596: Is Jesus knew what people had just eaten, as well as what they had stored in their homes. In the fifth chapter of the Quran, Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:112-115 , a narration mentions the disciples of Jesus requesting a table laden with food, and for it to be a special day of commemoration for them in the future. This may be a possible reference to the Eucharist according to professor of Islamic and Arabic studies W. Montgomery Watt ( d. 2006). According to professor of comparative religions Geoffrey Parrinder ( d. 2005), it
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5472-477: Is a standard plot from the Jewish scriptures, as for example in the annunciation scenes for Isaac and for Samson , in which an angel appears and causes apprehension, the angel gives reassurance and announces the coming birth, the mother raises an objection, and the angel gives a sign. Nevertheless, "plausible sources that tell of virgin birth in areas convincingly close to the gospels' own probable origins have proven extremely hard to demonstrate". Similarly, while it
5643-407: Is almost certain that neither was the work of an eyewitness. In view of the many inconsistencies between them neither is likely to derive from the other, nor did they share a common source. Raymond E. Brown suggested in 1973 that Joseph was the source of Matthew's account and Mary of Luke's, but modern scholars consider this "highly unlikely" given that the stories emerged so late. It follows that
5814-456: Is also identified in the Quran as Yawm ad-Dīn ( يوم الدين "Day of Religion"); as-Sāʿah ( الساعة "the Last Hour"); and al-Qāriʿah ( القارعة "The Clatterer"). The concept of divine predestination in Islam ( Arabic : القضاء والقدر , al-qadāʾ wa l-qadar ) means that every matter, good or bad, is believed to have been decreed by God. Al-qadar , meaning "power", derives from
5985-431: Is also used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews in reference to God, whereas ʾilāh ( إله ) is a term used for a deity or a god in general. Angels (Arabic: ملك , malak ) are beings described in the Quran and hadith. They are described as created to worship God and also to serve in other specific duties such as communicating revelations from God, recording every person's actions, and taking
6156-478: Is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centered on the Quran and the teachings of the Islamic Prophet and messenger Muhammad , the religion's founder. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims , who are estimated to number approximately 1.9 billion worldwide and are the world's second-largest religious population after Christians . Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of
6327-403: Is an oath declaring belief in Islam. The expanded statement is " ʾašhadu ʾal-lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāhu wa ʾašhadu ʾanna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh " ( أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمداً رسول الله ), or, "I testify that there is no deity except God and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God." Islam is sometimes argued to have a very simple creed with the shahada being the premise for
6498-526: Is an end-time figure. This concept arises mostly from the Hadith. Muslim tradition constructs a narrative similarly found in Christian theology, seeing Jesus arriving at the end of time and descending upon earth to fight the Antichrist. This narrative is understood to champion the cause of Islam, with some traditions narrating Jesus pointing to the primacy of Muhammad. Most traditions state Jesus will then die
6669-670: Is believed to have originated in Kufa , Iraq, under the Rashidun Caliphate where the earliest writers of Muslim tradition and scholarship was formulated. The concepts of Jesus and his preaching ministry developed in Kufa was adopted from the early ascetic Christians of Egypt who opposed official church bishopric appointments from Rome. The earliest stories, numbering about 85, are found in two major collections of ascetic literature entitled Kitab al-Zuhd wa'l Raqa'iq ('The Book of
6840-553: Is believed to have raised people from the dead, as mentioned in al-Imran 3:49 . Although no detail is given as to who was raised or the circumstance, at least three people are mentioned in detail in the Christian Gospel (a daughter of Jairus , a widow's son at Nain, and Lazarus ). Jesus was able to predict , or had foreknowledge , of what was hidden or unknown to others. One example is Jesus would answer correctly any and every question anyone asked him. Another example
7011-401: Is beyond comprehension. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules and do not attribute forms to God. God is instead described and referred to by several names or attributes , the most common being Ar-Rahmān ( الرحمان ) meaning "The Entirely Merciful", and Ar-Rahīm ( الرحيم ) meaning "The Especially Merciful" which are invoked at the beginning of most chapters of the Quran. Islam teaches that
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7182-599: Is one of the most frequently depicted scenes in Western art. Annunciation scenes also amount to the most frequent appearances of Gabriel in medieval art. The depiction of Joseph turning away in some Nativity scenes is a discreet reference to the fatherhood of the Holy Spirit and the virgin birth. The Quran follows the apocryphal gospels , and especially in the Protoevangelium of James , in its accounts of
7353-407: Is optional and can be undertaken at any time of the year. Other sites of Islamic pilgrimage are Medina , where Muhammad died, as well as Jerusalem , a city of many Islamic prophets and the site of Al-Aqsa , which was the direction of prayer before Mecca. Muslims recite and memorize the whole or parts of the Quran as acts of virtue. Tajwid refers to the set of rules for the proper elocution of
7524-470: Is performed from dawn to sunset. During the month of Ramadan , it is considered a duty for Muslims to fast. The fast is to encourage a feeling of nearness to God by restraining oneself for God's sake from what is otherwise permissible and to think of the needy. In addition, there are other days, such as the Day of Arafah , when fasting is optional. The Islamic pilgrimage , called the " ḥajj " (Arabic: حج ),
7695-620: Is the main and final Islamic prophet , through whom the religion was completed. The teachings and normative examples of Muhammad, called the Sunnah , documented in accounts called the hadith , provide a constitutional model for Muslims. Islam is based on the belief in oneness and uniqueness of the God ( tawhid ), and belief in an afterlife ( akhirah ) with the Last Judgment —wherein the righteous will be rewarded in paradise ( jannah ) and
7866-528: Is to be done at least once a lifetime by every Muslim with the means to do so during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah . Rituals of the Hajj mostly imitate the story of the family of Abraham . In Mecca , pilgrims walk seven times around the Kaaba , which Muslims believe Abraham built as a place of worship, and they walk seven times between Mount Safa and Marwa , recounting the steps of Abraham's wife, Hagar , who
8037-642: Is unclear if this story parallels the Gospel's Last Supper or the feeding the multitude , but may be tied to the Arabic word ʿīd (Muslim festival): 5:112 ˹Remember˺ when the disciples asked, “O Jesus, son of Mary! Would your Lord be willing to send down to us a table spread with food from heaven?” Jesus answered, “Fear Allah if you are ˹truly˺ believers.” 5:113 They said, “We ˹only˺ wish to eat from it to reassure our hearts, to verify you are indeed truthful to us, and to become its witnesses.” 5:114 Jesus, son of Mary, prayed, “O Allah, our Lord! Send us from heaven
8208-625: Is widely accepted that there is a connection with Zoroastrian sources underlying Matthew's story of the Magi (the wise men from the East) and the Star of Bethlehem , a wider claim that Zoroastrianism formed the background to the infancy narratives has not achieved acceptance. The modern scholarly consensus is that the doctrine of the virgin birth rests on very slender historical foundations. Both Matthew and Luke are late and anonymous compositions dating from
8379-516: Is without precedent either in Jewish or pagan literature. Matthew and Luke use the virgin birth (or more accurately the divine conception that precedes it) to mark the moment when Jesus becomes the Son of God . This was a notable development over Mark, for whom the Sonship dates from Jesus's baptism , Mark 1:9–13 and the earlier Christianity of Paul and the pre-Pauline Christians for whom Jesus becomes
8550-803: The Hijra ("emigration") in 622 to the city of Yathrib (current-day Medina). There, with the Medinan converts (the Ansar ) and the Meccan migrants (the Muhajirun ), Muhammad in Medina established his political and religious authority . The Constitution of Medina was signed by all the tribes of Medina. This established religious freedoms and freedom to use their own laws among the Muslim and non-Muslim communities as well as an agreement to defend Medina from external threats. Meccan forces and their allies lost against
8721-541: The Qisas al-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets). Muslims believe that God sent Muhammad as the final prophet (" Seal of the prophets ") to convey the completed message of Islam. In Islam, the "normative" example of Muhammad's life is called the sunnah (literally "trodden path"). Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's moral behaviors in their daily lives, and the sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of
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#17327758297918892-707: The Arab Spring , Jamaat-e-Islami in South Asia and the AK Party , which has democratically been in power in Turkey for decades. In Iran , revolution replaced a secular monarchy with an Islamic state . Others such as Sayyid Rashid Rida broke away from Islamic modernists and pushed against embracing what he saw as Western influence. The group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant would even attempt to recreate
9063-593: The Battle of Nahrawan but a Kharijite assassin later killed Ali. Ali's son, Hasan ibn Ali, was elected Caliph and signed a peace treaty to avoid further fighting, abdicating to Mu'awiya in return for Mu'awiya not appointing a successor. Mu'awiya began the Umayyad dynasty with the appointment of his son Yazid I as successor, sparking the Second Civil War . During the Battle of Karbala , Husayn ibn Ali
9234-684: The Deobandi movement. In response to the Deobandi movement, the Barelwi movement was founded as a mass movement, defending popular Sufism and reforming its practices. The Muslim world was generally in political decline starting the 1800s, especially compared to non-Muslim European powers. Earlier, in the 15th century, the Reconquista succeeded in ending the Muslim presence in Iberia . By
9405-788: The House of Wisdom employed Christian and Persian scholars to both translate works into Arabic and to develop new knowledge. Soldiers broke away from the Abbasid empire and established their own dynasties, such as the Tulunids in 868 in Egypt and the Ghaznavid dynasty in 977 in Central Asia. In this fragmentation came the Shi'a Century , roughly between 945 and 1055, which saw the rise of
9576-672: The Indian Subcontinent and many converted to Islam, in particular low-caste Hindus whose descendants make up the vast majority of Indian Muslims. Trade brought many Muslims to China , where they virtually dominated the import and export industry of the Song dynasty . Muslims were recruited as a governing minority class in the Yuan dynasty . Through Muslim trade networks and the activity of Sufi orders, Islam spread into new areas and Muslims assimilated into new cultures. Under
9747-510: The Maghreb , the Iberian Peninsula , Narbonnese Gaul and Sindh . The Umayyads struggled with a lack of legitimacy and relied on a heavily patronized military. Since the jizya tax was a tax paid by non-Muslims which exempted them from military service, the Umayyads denied recognizing the conversion of non-Arabs, as it reduced revenue. While the Rashidun Caliphate emphasized austerity, with Umar even requiring an inventory of each official's possessions, Umayyad luxury bred dissatisfaction among
9918-408: The Magi from the east ) for the Messiah; the command to a man called Joseph (not specifically Mary's husband) to take her and the child to Egypt and later return to Nazareth . The Fatimid Ismaili jurist Qadi al-Nu'man also contributed to the narrative, explaining that the virgin birth of Jesus is meant to be interpreted symbolically. In his interpretation, Mary was the follower ( lāḥiq ), of
10089-432: The Muslim population in Latin America . The resulting urbanization and increase in trade in sub-Saharan Africa brought Muslims to settle in new areas and spread their faith, likely doubling its Muslim population between 1869 and 1914. Forerunners of Islamic modernism influenced Islamist political movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and related parties in the Arab world, which performed well in elections following
10260-540: The Ottoman Empire , Islam spread to Southeast Europe . Conversion to Islam often involved a degree of syncretism , as illustrated by Muhammad's appearance in Hindu folklore. Muslim Turks incorporated elements of Turkish Shamanism beliefs to Islam. Muslims in Ming Dynasty China who were descended from earlier immigrants were assimilated, sometimes through laws mandating assimilation, by adopting Chinese names and culture while Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study. Cultural shifts were evident with
10431-459: The Psalms and found "traced in characters of light": You are my son and my beloved; I have chosen you for myself with Jesus then claiming: Today the word of God is fulfilled in the son of man. Several narratives show some disparity and similarity in Islamic writings about Jesus' early childhood, specifically his time in Egypt with regard to duration and events. Most of the narratives are found in non-canonical Christian sources like, for example,
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#173277582979110602-432: The Rashidun Caliphate and the subsequent Umayyad Caliphate ruled from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indus Valley . In the Islamic Golden Age , specifically during the reign of the Abbasid Caliphate , most of the Muslim world experienced a scientific , economic and cultural flourishing . The expansion of the Muslim world involved various states and caliphates as well as extensive trade and religious conversion as
10773-485: The Ridda wars . Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and heretics and taxed heavily, often helped Muslims take over their lands, resulting in rapid expansion of the caliphate into the Persian and Byzantine empires. Uthman was elected in 644 and his assassination by rebels led to Ali being elected the next Caliph. In the First Civil War , Muhammad's widow, Aisha , raised an army against Ali, attempting to avenge
10944-420: The Second Coming to kill the Al-Masih ad-Dajjal ('The False Messiah'), after which with the ancient tribes Gog and Magog ( Yaʾjūj Maʾjūj ) would disperse. After God gets rid of them, Jesus would rule the world, establish peace and justice, die a natural death and then be buried alongside Muhammad at the fourth reserved tomb of the Green Dome in Medina . The place where Jesus is believed to return,
11115-430: The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus , is highly esteemed by Muslims as the fourth holiest site of Islam . Jesus Christ is widely venerated in Sufism , with numerous ascetic and mystic literature written and recited about the most important historical Jewish Christian-Islamic prophet-messenger to these Abrahamic faiths. Islam's account of Jesus begins with a prologue narrated several times in the Quran which first describes
11286-421: The doctrine as an explanation of the mixture of the human and divine natures of Jesus . The Eastern Orthodox Churches accept the doctrine as authoritative by reason of its inclusion in the Nicene Creed , and the Catholic Church holds it authoritative for faith through the Apostles' Creed as well as the Nicene. Nevertheless, there are many contemporary churches in which it is considered orthodox to accept
11457-480: The environment . The two main religious festivals are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha . The three holiest sites in Islam are Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Prophet's Mosque in Medina , and al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem . The religion of Islam originated in Mecca in 610 CE . Muslims believe this is when Muhammad received his first revelation . By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam . Muslim rule expanded outside Arabia under
11628-402: The mathematical model that was later argued to be adopted by Copernicus unrevised in his heliocentric model, and Jamshīd al-Kāshī 's estimate of pi would not be surpassed for 180 years. After the introduction of gunpowder weapons, large and centralized Muslim states consolidated around gunpowder empires , these had been previously splintered amongst various territories. The caliphate
11799-400: The millennialist Isma'ili Shi'a missionary movement. One Isma'ili group, the Fatimid dynasty , took control of North Africa in the 10th century and another Isma'ili group, the Qarmatians , sacked Mecca and stole the Black Stone , a rock placed within the Kaaba, in their unsuccessful rebellion. Yet another Isma'ili group, the Buyid dynasty , conquered Baghdad and turned the Abbasids into
11970-483: The world's fastest-growing major religious group, due primarily to a higher fertility rate and younger age structure compared to other major religions. In Arabic, Islam ( Arabic : إسلام , lit. 'submission [to God]') is the verbal noun of Form IV originating from the verb سلم ( salama ), from the triliteral root س-ل-م ( S-L-M ), which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of submission, safeness, and peace. In
12141-476: The " Night of Power " ( Laylat al-Qadr ) and is considered a significant event in Islamic history. During the next 22 years of his life, from age 40 onwards, Muhammad continued to receive revelations from God, becoming the last or seal of the prophets sent to mankind. During this time, while in Mecca, Muhammad preached first in secret and then in public, imploring his listeners to abandon polytheism and worship one God. Many early converts to Islam were women,
12312-471: The "world's first true scientist", in particular regarding his work in optics . In engineering, the Banū Mūsā brothers' automatic flute player is considered to have been the first programmable machine . In mathematics , the concept of the algorithm is named after Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi , who is considered a founder of algebra , which is named after his book al-jabr , while others developed
12483-583: The 19th century such as Sailaifengye in China after returning from Mecca but were eventually persecuted and forced into hiding by Sufi groups. Other groups sought to reform Sufism rather than reject it, with the Senusiyya and Muhammad Ahmad both waging war and establishing states in Libya and Sudan respectively. In India, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi attempted a more conciliatory style against Sufism and influenced
12654-747: The 19th century, the British East India Company had formally annexed the Mughal dynasty in India. As a response to Western Imperialism , many intellectuals sought to reform Islam . Islamic modernism , initially labelled by Western scholars as Salafiyya , embraced modern values and institutions such as democracy while being scripture oriented. Notable forerunners in the movement include Muhammad 'Abduh and Jamal al-Din al-Afghani . Abul A'la Maududi helped influence modern political Islam . Similar to contemporary codification , sharia
12825-402: The Arabic language and performed in the direction of the Kaaba . The act also requires a state of ritual purity achieved by means of either a routine wudu ritual wash or, in certain circumstances, a ghusl full body ritual wash. A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims, who often refer to it by its Arabic name masjid . Although the primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as
12996-479: The Asceticism and Tender Mercies') by Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak ( d. 797), and Kitab al-Zuhd ('The Book of Asceticism') by Ibn Hanbal ( d. 855). These sayings fall into four basic groups: The first group of sayings expands Jesus' archetype as portrayed in the Quran. The second group of stories, although containing a Gospel core, are expanded with a "distinctly Islamic stamp". The third group, being
13167-560: The Christian Gospel of Luke . The Annunciation to Mary is mentioned twice in the Quran, and in both instances Mary/Maryam is told that she was chosen by God to deliver a son. In the first instance, the bearer of the news (who is believed by most Muslims to be the archangel Gabriel), delivered the news in ( 3:42-47 ) as he takes the form of a man ( 19:16-22 ). The details of the conception according to 66:12 and 21:89 , Mary conceives Jesus by being blown into her womb through
13338-570: The Imam Joachim ('Imran). However, when Joachim realized that she was not suited for the Imamah , he passed it to Zechariah, who then passed it to John the Baptist. Meanwhile, Mary received spiritual inspiration ( mādda ) from God, revealing that he would invite a man (to the faith) who would become an exalted Speaker ( nāṭiq ) of a revealed religion ( sharīʿa ). According to al-Nu'man,
13509-726: The Jewish Toledot Yeshu , with few variant details between the Quran and these two sources. Similar to the New Testament , the Quran mentions Jesus healing the blind and the lepers in 3:49 . Muslim scholar and judge al-Baydawi ( d. 1286) wrote how it was recorded that many thousands of people came to Jesus to be healed and that Jesus healed these diseases through prayer only. Medieval scholar al-Tha'labi wrote about how these two particular diseases were beyond medical help, and Jesus' miracles were meant to be witnessed by others as clear signs of his message. Jesus
13680-403: The Lord in some other Messianic Christian traditions. The Quran attributes at least six miracles to Jesus, with many more being added over the centuries by writers and historians. Miracles were attributed to Jesus as signs of his prophethood and his authority, according to educator and professor Ishaq Musa Al-Husayni ( d. 1990), an author most known for Mudhakkirat Dajaja ('Memoirs of
13851-411: The Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21: She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22: All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear
14022-407: The Muslim creed fundamentals to a schoolmaster, revealing who the thieves were to a wealthy chief, filling empty jars of something to drink, providing food and wine for a tyrannical king while also proving to this king his power in raising a man from the dead, raising a child accidentally killed, and causing the garments from a single-colored vat to come out with various colors. Islam Islam
14193-583: The Muslims at the Battle of Badr in 624 and then fought an inconclusive battle in the Battle of Uhud before unsuccessfully besieging Medina in the Battle of the Trench (March–April 627). In 628, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was signed between Mecca and the Muslims, but it was broken by Mecca two years later. As more tribes converted to Islam, Meccan trade routes were cut off by the Muslims. By 629 Muhammad
14364-785: The Ottomans from the beginning. The Mevlevi Order and Bektashi Order had a close relation to the sultans, as Sufi-mystical as well as heterodox and syncretic approaches to Islam flourished. The often forceful Safavid conversion of Iran to the Twelver Shia Islam of the Safavid Empire ensured the final dominance of the Twelver sect within Shia Islam. Persian migrants to South Asia, as influential bureaucrats and landholders, helped spread Shia Islam, forming some of
14535-417: The Quran (lit. 'Recitation') is viewed as the final, verbatim and unaltered word of God. Prophets (Arabic: أنبياء , anbiyāʾ ) are believed to have been chosen by God to preach a divine message. Some of these prophets additionally deliver a new book and are called "messengers" ( رسول , rasūl ). Muslims believe prophets are human and not divine. All of the prophets are said to have preached
14706-425: The Quran regarding Jesus. Some of these narratives are similar in nature to the New Testament , while some portray Jesus in a very human manner. Besides some detailed summaries of miracles of Jesus mentioned by Muslim writers over the centuries, from adulthood (like walking on water – also found in the Gospel – and causing loaves of bread to come from the ground), some other miracles from childhood include: explaining
14877-430: The Quran. This example is preserved in traditions known as hadith , which are accounts of his words, actions, and personal characteristics. Hadith Qudsi is a sub-category of hadith, regarded as God's verbatim words quoted by Muhammad that are not part of the Quran. A hadith involves two elements: a chain of narrators, called sanad , and the actual wording, called matn . There are various methodologies to classify
15048-420: The Quran. Another well-known source of hadiths is known as The Four Books , which Shias consider as the most authentic hadith reference. Belief in the "Day of Resurrection" or Yawm al-Qiyāmah (Arabic: يوم القيامة ) is also crucial for Muslims. It is believed that the time of Qiyāmah is preordained by God, but unknown to man. The Quran and the hadith, as well as the commentaries of scholars , describe
15219-733: The Quran. Many Muslims recite the whole Quran during the month of Ramadan. One who has memorized the whole Quran is called a hafiz ("memorizer"), and hadiths mention that these individuals will be able to intercede for others on Judgment Day. Supplication to God, called in Arabic duʿāʾ ( Arabic : دعاء IPA: [dʊˈʕæːʔ] ) has its own etiquette such as raising hands as if begging. Remembrance of God ( ذكر , Dhikr' ) refers to phrases repeated referencing God. Commonly, this includes Tahmid, declaring praise be due to God ( الحمد لله , al-Ḥamdu lillāh ) during prayer or when feeling thankful, Tasbih , declaring glory to God during prayer or when in awe of something and saying ' in
15390-518: The Quran. Angels play a significant role in literature about the Mi'raj , where Muhammad encounters several angels during his journey through the heavens. Further angels have often been featured in Islamic eschatology , theology and philosophy . The pre-eminent holy text of Islam is the Quran . Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by God, through the archangel Gabriel, on multiple occasions between 610 CE and 632,
15561-658: The Shia canonical hadith collection consists of four books . Muslims make up a majority of the population in 49 countries. Approximately 12% of the world's Muslims live in Indonesia , the most populous Muslim-majority country; 31% live in South Asia ; 20% live in the Middle East–North Africa ; and 15% live in sub-Saharan Africa . Muslim communities are also present in the Americas , China , and Europe . Muslims are
15732-596: The Son at the Resurrection or even the Second Coming . The Ebionites , a Jewish Christian sect, saw Jesus as fully human, rejected the virgin birth, and preferred to translate almah as "young woman". The 2nd century gnostic theologian Marcion likewise rejected the virgin birth, but regarded Jesus as descended fully formed from heaven and having only the appearance of humanity. By about AD 180 Jews were telling how Jesus had been illegitimately conceived by
15903-543: The Son of God, the Word , and affirming what the angel Gabriel had previously announced to Mary as detailed in the Gospel. The miracle story of creating birds from clay and breathing life into them when a child is mentioned in 3:43-49 , 5:109-110 . Although this miracle is also not mentioned in the canonical Gospels, the same narrative is found in at least two pre-Islamic sources: the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and
16074-536: The Son of God. Islam teaches that Jesus' original message was altered ( taḥrīf ) after his being raised alive. The monotheism ( tawḥīd ) of Jesus is emphasized in the Quran. Like all prophets in Islam , Jesus is also called a Muslim ( lit. submitter [to God ] ), as he preached that his followers should adopt the ' straight path ' ( Ṣirāṭ al-Mustaqīm ). Jesus is attributed with a vast number of miracles in Islamic tradition. In their views of Islamic eschatology , mainstream Muslims believe Jesus will return in
16245-407: The Son only at the Resurrection or even the Second Coming . Tales of virgin birth and the impregnation of mortal women by deities were well known in the 1st-century Greco-Roman world, and Second Temple Jewish works were also capable of producing accounts of the appearances of angels and miraculous births for ancient heroes such as Melchizedek , Noah , and Moses . Luke's virgin birth story
16416-461: The angel Gabriel while Mary is being raised in the Temple after having been pledged to God by her mother. Gabriel states she is honored over all women of all nations and has brought her glad tidings of a pure son. Gabriel declares the son is to be named Jesus, the Messiah, proclaiming he will be called a great prophet. Mary, asking how she could conceive and have a child when no man had touched her,
16587-678: The angel departed from her. In the entire Christian corpus, the virgin birth is found only in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke . The two agree that Mary's husband was named Joseph, that he was of the Davidic line , and that he played no role in Jesus's divine conception, but beyond this they are very different. Matthew has no census , shepherds, or presentation in the temple , and implies that Joseph and Mary are living in Bethlehem at
16758-484: The annunciation: Jesus proclaims he is a servant of God, has been given a book, is a prophet, is blessed wherever he will go, blesses the day he was born, the day he will die, and the day he is raised alive. Although this particular narrative is not found in the Bible , the theme of speaking from the cradle is found in the non-canonical pre-Islamic Syriac Infancy Gospel . The Syriac Infancy Gospel has Jesus declaring himself
16929-491: The authenticity of hadiths, with the commonly used grading grading scale being "authentic" or "correct" ( صحيح , ṣaḥīḥ ); "good" ( حسن , ḥasan ); or "weak" ( ضعيف , ḍaʻīf ), among others. The Kutub al-Sittah are a collection of six books, regarded as the most authentic reports in Sunni Islam . Among them is Sahih al-Bukhari , often considered by Sunnis to be one of the most authentic sources after
17100-452: The author of Matthew the opportunity to interpret Jesus as the prophesied Immanuel , "God is with us", the divine representative on earth. According to R. T. France , the inclusion of Isaiah 7:14 was an explanatory addition to Matthew's birth narrative, albeit not the inspiration for it. According to Mark Goodacre , the Gospel of Matthew did not base the virgin birth on a mistranslation of Isaiah. Conservative scholars argue that despite
17271-838: The beginning of the compilation of the Quran. The Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz set up the committee, The Seven Fuqaha of Medina , and Malik ibn Anas wrote one of the earliest books on Islamic jurisprudence, the Muwatta , as a consensus of the opinion of those jurists. The Kharijites believed there was no compromised middle ground between good and evil, and any Muslim who committed a grave sin would become an unbeliever. The term "kharijites" would also be used to refer to later groups such as ISIS . The Murji'ah taught that people's righteousness could be judged by God alone. Therefore, wrongdoers might be considered misguided, but not denounced as unbelievers. This attitude came to prevail into mainstream Islamic beliefs. The Umayyad dynasty conquered
17442-455: The birth of his mother, Mary, and her service in the Jerusalem temple while under the care of the prophet Zechariah , who would become the father of Yahya ( John the Baptist ). The Quran's birth narrative of Jesus begins at Quran 19:16-34 and 3:45-53 . This birth narrative has been recounted with certain variations and detailed additions by Islamic historians over the centuries. In
17613-505: The centuries by Islamic writers and historians. Some narratives have Jesus and family staying in Egypt up to 12 years. Many moral stories and miraculous events of Jesus' youth are mentioned in Qisas al-anbiya ('Stories of the Prophets'), books composed over the centuries about pre-Islamic prophets and heroes. Al-Masudi wrote that Jesus as a boy studied the Jewish religion reading from
17784-465: The concept of a function . The government paid scientists the equivalent salary of professional athletes today. Guinness World Records recognizes the University of Al Karaouine , founded in 859, as the world's oldest degree-granting university. Many non-Muslims, such as Christians , Jews and Sabians , contributed to the Islamic civilization in various fields, and the institution known as
17955-458: The conception of Isaac ). Such stories are less frequent in Judaism, but there too was a widespread belief in angels and divine intervention in births. Theologically, the two accounts mark the moment when Jesus becomes the Son of God , i.e., at his birth, in distinction to Mark, for whom the Sonship dates from Jesus's baptism , and Paul and the pre-Pauline Christians for whom Jesus becomes
18126-425: The creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God's command as expressed by the wording, " Be, and it is ," and that the purpose of existence is to worship God. He is viewed as a personal god and there are no intermediaries, such as clergy , to contact God. Consciousness and awareness of God is referred to as Taqwa . Allāh is a term with no plural or gender being ascribed to it and
18297-484: The day I was born, the day I die, and the day I will be raised back to life!” Jesus speaking from the cradle is one of six miracles attributed to him in the Quran, an account which is also found in the Syriac Infancy Gospel , a sixth-century work. According to various hadiths , Jesus and Mary did not cry at birth. The Islamic faith echoed some strands within the Christian tradition that Mary (or Maryam)
18468-526: The death of Uthman, but was defeated at the Battle of the Camel . Ali attempted to remove the governor of Syria, Mu'awiya , who was seen as corrupt. Mu'awiya then declared war on Ali and was defeated in the Battle of Siffin . Ali's decision to arbitrate angered the Kharijites , an extremist sect, who felt that by not fighting a sinner, Ali became a sinner as well. The Kharijites rebelled and were defeated in
18639-751: The decrease in Arab influence after the Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Muslim Mongol Khanates in Iran and Central Asia benefited from increased cross-cultural access to East Asia under Mongol rule and thus flourished and developed more distinctively from Arab influence, such as the Timurid Renaissance under the Timurid dynasty . Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274) proposed
18810-445: The dimensions of union with God through many approaches, including asceticism, poetry, philosophy, speculative suggestion, and mystical methods. Although Sufism to the Western mind may seem to share similar origins or elements of Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, and Buddhism, the ideology is distinctly Islamic since they adhere to the words of the Quran and pursue imitation of Muhammad as the perfect man. The Islamic concepts of Jesus' preaching
18981-415: The disciples in his teachings, Jesus foretells that one of them would deny him and another betray him. However, in accordance with Islamic views on Jesus' death , just a corpse in semblance of Jesus was crucified and Jesus himself was raised to God. Many stories and narratives have been developed over the years about Jesus, containing certain inherent lessons or providing meaning due to the lack of detail in
19152-470: The early Abbasid era, scholars such as Muhammad al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj compiled the major Sunni hadith collections while scholars like Al-Kulayni and Ibn Babawayh compiled major Shia hadith collections. The four Sunni Madh'habs , the Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi'i, were established around the teachings of Abū Ḥanīfa , Ahmad ibn Hanbal , Malik ibn Anas and al-Shafi'i . In contrast,
19323-581: The finest work in Arabic literature , and has influenced art and the Arabic language. Islam also holds that God has sent revelations, called wahy , to different prophets numerous times throughout history. However, Islam teaches that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, such as the Tawrat ( Torah ) and the Injil ( Gospel ), have become distorted —either in interpretation, in text, or both, while
19494-511: The gates of itjihad rather than blind imitation of scholars. He called for a jihad against those he deemed heretics, but his writings only played a marginal role during his lifetime. During the 18th century in Arabia, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab , influenced by the works of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim , founded a movement called Wahhabi to return to what he saw as unadultered Islam. He condemned many local Islamic customs, such as visiting
19665-399: The giving of a fixed portion (2.5% annually) of accumulated wealth by those who can afford it to help the poor or needy, such as for freeing captives, those in debt , or for (stranded) travellers, and for those employed to collect zakat. It acts as a form of welfare in Muslim societies. It is considered a religious obligation that the well-off owe the needy because their wealth is seen as
19836-494: The gospel. The virgin birth of Jesus was thus a direct challenge to a central claim of Roman imperial theology, namely the divine conception and descent of the emperors. Matthew's genealogy, tracing Jesus's Davidic descent, was intended for Jews, while his virgin birth story was intended for a Greco-Roman audience familiar with virgin birth stories and stories of women impregnated by gods. The ancient world had no understanding that male semen and female ovum were both needed to form
20007-476: The grave of Muhammad or saints, as later innovations and sinful and destroyed sacred rocks and trees, Sufi shrines, the tombs of Muhammad and his companions and the tomb of Husayn at Karbala, a major Shia pilgrimage site. He formed an alliance with the Saud family , which, by the 1920s, completed their conquest of the area that would become Saudi Arabia . Ma Wanfu and Ma Debao promoted salafist movements in
20178-501: The greatest prophets and mentions him with various titles . The prophethood of Jesus is preceded by that of Yahya (John) and succeeded by Muhammad , the latter of whom Jesus is reported in the Quran to have prophesied by using the name Ahmad . Christians view Jesus Christ as God incarnate , the Son of God in human flesh, but the Quran denies the divinity of Jesus and his status as Son of God in several verses, and also insinuates that Jesus Christ did not claim to be personally God nor
20349-537: The incarnation was seen as proof of the divinity of Christ but that the Age of Enlightenment offered a full-scale rebuttal of the doctrine, and that the only way for classical liberals to continue believing the virgin birth was to resort to the notion of myth, though this elicited a vigorous reaction from conservatives. This division remains in place, although some national synods of the Catholic Church have replaced
20520-512: The largest Shia populations outside Iran. Nader Shah , who overthrew the Safavids, attempted to improve relations with Sunnis by propagating the integration of Twelverism into Sunni Islam as a fifth madhhab , called Ja'farism, which failed to gain recognition from the Ottomans. Earlier in the 14th century, Ibn Taymiyya promoted a puritanical form of Islam, rejecting philosophical approaches in favor of simpler theology, and called to open
20691-456: The largest of the four, portrays Jesus as a patron saint of Muslim asceticism. The last group builds upon the Islamic archetype and Muslim-centric definition of Jesus and his attributes, furthering esoteric ideas regarding terms such as "Spirit of God" and "Word of God" describing Jesus Christ, attributes given to the Islamic view of Jesus Christ as a holy angelic messenger divinely sent from heaven by God to his fleshly incarnation, like an Angel of
20862-483: The last supper. After the meal, he washed their hands and performed their ablutions to wipe their hands on his clothing. Afterwards Jesus replied to them: "As for that I have done to you tonight, in that I served you the meal and washed your hands in person, let it be an example for you. Since you indeed consider me to be better than you, do not be haughty in relation to each other but rather expand yourselves for each other as I have expanded myself for you." After instructing
21033-406: The later Medinan chapters discuss more social and legal issues relevant to the Muslim community. Muslim jurists consult the hadith ('accounts'), or the written record of Muhammad's life, to both supplement the Quran and assist with its interpretation. The science of Quranic commentary and exegesis is known as tafsir . In addition to its religious significance, the Quran is widely regarded as
21204-513: The lens of Muslim identity, Jesus is considered no more than repeating a message of the ages. The miracles of Jesus and the Quranic titles attributed to him demonstrate the power of God rather than the divinity of Jesus – the same power behind the message of all prophets. Some Islamic traditions believe Jesus' mission was only to the children of Israel and his status as a prophet being confirmed by numerous miracles. A second early high image of Jesus
21375-652: The majority. Caliph Al-Mu'tasim carried out inquisitions , with the traditionalist Ahmad ibn Hanbal notably refusing to conform to the Muʿtazila idea that the Quran was created rather than being eternal , which resulted in him being tortured and kept in an unlit prison cell for nearly thirty months. However, other schools of speculative theology – Māturīdism founded by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi and Ash'ari founded by Al-Ash'ari – were more successful in being widely adopted. Philosophers such as Al-Farabi , Avicenna and Averroes sought to harmonize Aristotle's ideas with
21546-402: The matter of the virgin birth of Jesus , while Islamic theology affirms Mary as a pure vessel, it does not follow the concept of Immaculate Conception as related to Mary's birth in some Christian traditions. Islamic exegesis affirms the virginal birth of Jesus – similarly to the Gospel account and occurring in Bethlehem . The narrative of the virgin birth opens with an announcement to Mary by
21717-679: The miraculous births of both Mary and her son Jesus, but while it affirms the virgin birth of Jesus it denies the Trinitarian implications of the gospel story (Jesus is a messenger of God but also a human being and not the second person of the Christian Trinity). Surah Al Imran 3:35-36 , for example, follows the Protoevangelium closely when describing how the pregnant "wife of Imran" (that is, Mary's mother) dedicates her unborn child to God, Mary's secluded upbringing within
21888-484: The modern gold dinar as their monetary system. While some of those who broke away were quietist , others believed in violence against those opposing them, even against other Muslims. In opposition to Islamic political movements, in 20th century Turkey, the military carried out coups to oust Islamist governments, and headscarves were legally restricted, as also happened in Tunisia. In other places, religious authority
22059-554: The moral decline and idolatry prevalent in Mecca and seeking seclusion and spiritual contemplation, Muhammad retreated to the Cave of Hira in the mountain Jabal al-Nour , near Mecca. It was during his time in the cave that he is said to have received the first revelation of the Quran from the angel Gabriel . The event of Muhammad's retreat to the cave and subsequent revelation is known as
22230-469: The name of God ' ( بسملة , basmalah ) before starting an act such as eating. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 CE and was orphaned early in life. Growing up as a trader, he became known as the " trusted one " ( Arabic : الامين ) and was sought after as an impartial arbitrator. He later married his employer, the businesswoman Khadija . In the year 610 CE, troubled by
22401-483: The other miracles mentioned in the Gospel, non-canonical sources, and from lore. Speaking from the cradle is mentioned in three places in the Quran: 3:46 , 5:109-110 and 19:29-30 . Part of the narrative has the infant Jesus defending his mother Mary from the accusation of having given birth without a known husband. Early Islam was unclear about Joseph and his role. Jesus speaks as the angel Gabriel had mentioned at
22572-660: The period AD 80–100. Marcus Borg stated plainly, "I (and most mainline scholars) do not see these stories as historically factual." The earliest Christian writings, the Pauline epistles , do not contain any mention of a virgin birth and assume Jesus's full humanity, stating that he was "born of a woman" like any other human being and "born under the law" like any Jew. In the Gospel of Mark , dating from around AD 70, we read of Jesus saying that "prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house" – Mark 6:4 , which suggests that Mark
22743-711: The pious. The Kharijites led the Berber Revolt , leading to the first Muslim states independent of the Caliphate. In the Abbasid Revolution , non-Arab converts ( mawali ), Arab clans pushed aside by the Umayyad clan, and some Shi'a rallied and overthrew the Umayyads, inaugurating the more cosmopolitan Abbasid dynasty in 750. Al-Shafi'i codified a method to determine the reliability of hadith. During
22914-570: The poor, foreigners, and slaves like the first muezzin Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi . The Meccan elite felt Muhammad was destabilizing their social order by preaching about one God and giving questionable ideas to the poor and slaves because they profited from the pilgrimages to the idols of the Kaaba. After 12 years of the persecution of Muslims by the Meccans , Muhammad and his companions performed
23085-420: The power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36: And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37: For nothing will be impossible with God." 38: Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then
23256-403: The pre-Islamic Gospel of Thomas. One such disparity is from al-Athir in his The Perfection of History which contains a birth narrative stating Jesus was born in Egypt instead of Bethlehem. Some other narratives of Jesus' childhood are popular Middle Eastern lore as highlighted by professor of interfaith studies Mahmoud M. Ayoub . Many miracles are attributed to a young Jesus while in Egypt (see
23427-467: The remainder. There are strong Lukan motifs in Luke 1–2, but differences are equally striking—Jesus's identity as "son of David", for example, is a prominent theme of the birth narrative, but not in the rest of the gospel. In the early part of the 2nd century, the gnostic theologian Marcion produced a version of Luke lacking these two chapters, and although he is generally accused of having cut them out of
23598-429: The rest of the religion. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the shahada in front of witnesses. Prayer in Islam, called as-salah or aṣ-ṣalāt (Arabic: الصلاة ), is seen as a personal communication with God and consists of repeating units called rakat that include bowing and prostrating to God. There are five timed prayers each day that are considered duties. The prayers are recited in
23769-418: The same basic message of Islam – submission to the will of God – to various nations in the past, and this is said to account for many similarities among religions. The Quran recounts the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam , including Adam , Noah , Abraham , Moses and Jesus , among others. The stories associated with the prophets beyond the Quranic accounts are collected and explored in
23940-483: The second from the unbelieving Jews ("Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose mother and father we know?" – John 6:42 ). These quotations, incidentally, are in direct opposition to the suggestion that Jesus was, or was believed to be, illegitimate: Philip and the Jews knew that Jesus had a human father, and that father was Joseph. This raises the question of where the authors of Matthew and Luke found their stories. It
24111-464: The sections Miracles and Other miracles ). It is generally agreed that Jesus spoke Galilean Aramaic , a dialect of the common language of Judea in the first century and the region at-large. The first and earliest view of Jesus formulated in Islamic thought is that of a prophet – a human being chosen by God to present both a judgment upon humanity and challenge to turn to the one true God. From this basis, reflected upon all previous prophets through
24282-481: The spirit (i.e. archangel Gabriel), Mary asks how she can bear a son in view of her chastity, she is told that God creates what he wills and that these things are easy for God. The 8th-century Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq (704–767), wrote the account entitled Kitab al-Mubtada ('In the Beginning'), reporting that Zechariah is Mary's guardian briefly, and after being incapable of maintaining her, he entrusts her to
24453-605: The teachings of Ja'far al-Sadiq formed the Ja'fari jurisprudence . In the 9th century, Al-Tabari completed the first commentary of the Quran, the Tafsir al-Tabari , which became one of the most cited commentaries in Sunni Islam. Some Muslims began questioning the piety of indulgence in worldly life and emphasized poverty, humility, and avoidance of sin based on renunciation of bodily desires. Ascetics such as Hasan al-Basri inspired
24624-611: The teachings of Islam, similar to later scholasticism within Christianity in Europe and Maimonides ' work within Judaism, while others like Al-Ghazali argued against such syncretism and ultimately prevailed. This era is sometimes called the " Islamic Golden Age ". Islamic scientific achievements spanned a wide range of subject areas including medicine , mathematics , astronomy , and agriculture as well as physics , economics , engineering and optics . Avicenna
24795-553: The temple and is asked by the temple elders about the child. Having been commanded by Gabriel to a vow of silence, she points to the infant Jesus and the infant proclaims: ˹Jesus˺ declared, “I am truly a servant of Allah. He has destined me to be given the Scripture and to be a prophet. He has made me a blessing wherever I go, and bid me to establish prayer and give alms-tax as long as I live, and to be kind to my mother. He has not made me arrogant or defiant. Peace be upon me
24966-515: The time of the birth, while Luke has no magi , flight into Egypt or massacre of the infants , and states that Joseph lives in Nazareth. Matthew underlines the virginity of Mary by references to the Book of Isaiah and by his narrative statement that Joseph had no sexual relations with her until after the birth. Luke introduces Mary as a virgin, describes her puzzlement at being told she will bear
25137-649: The title "Ever Virgin Mary" as a key element of its Marian veneration, and as part of the Akathists hymns to Mary which are an integral part of its liturgy. The doctrine is often represented in Christian art in terms of the annunciation to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God, and in Nativity scenes that include the figure of Salome . The Annunciation
25308-645: The trials and tribulations preceding and during the Qiyāmah . The Quran emphasizes bodily resurrection , a break from the pre-Islamic Arabian understanding of death. On Yawm al-Qiyāmah, Muslims believe all humankind will be judged by their good and bad deeds and consigned to Jannah (paradise) or Jahannam (hell). The Quran in Surat al-Zalzalah describes this as: "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it." The Quran lists several sins that can condemn
25479-428: The two narratives were created by the two writers, drawing on ideas in circulation at least a decade before the gospels were composed, to perhaps 65-75 or even earlier. Matthew presents the ministry of Jesus as largely the fulfilment of prophecies from the Book of Isaiah , and Matthew 1:22-23, "All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 'Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear
25650-496: The uncertainty of the details, the gospel birth narratives trace back to historical, or at least much earlier pre-gospel traditions. For instance, according to Ben Witherington : What we find in Matthew and Luke is not the story of… a [god] descending to earth and, in the guise of a man, mating with a human woman, but rather the story of a miraculous conception without the aid of any man, divine or otherwise. As such, this story
25821-460: The unrighteous will be punished in hell ( jahannam ). The Five Pillars —considered obligatory acts of worship—are the Islamic oath and creed ( shahada ), daily prayers ( salah ), almsgiving ( zakat ), fasting ( sawm ) in the month of Ramadan , and a pilgrimage ( hajj ) to Mecca . Islamic law, sharia , touches on virtually every aspect of life, from banking and finance and welfare to men's and women's roles and
25992-401: The verses "She said: Lord! How can I have a child when no man has touched me?" ( 3:47 ) and "neither have I been unchaste" ( 19:20 ) are symbolic of Mary's saying, "How can I conduct the invitation ( daʿwa ) when the Imam of the Time has not given me permission to do so?" and "Nor shall I be unfaithful by acting against his command", respectively. To this, a celestial hierarch replies "Such
26163-399: The virgin birth but not heretical to deny it . In the New Testament , the narrative appears only in Matthew 1:18–25 and Luke 1:26–38 , and the modern scholarly consensus is that it rests on slender historical foundations. The ancient world did not possess a thoroughly modern understanding that male semen and female ovum were both needed to form an embryo ; this cultural milieu
26334-424: The wedding would take place twelve months later, after which the groom would take his bride from her father's house to his own. A betrothed girl who had sex with a man other than her husband-to-be was considered an adulteress. If tried before a tribunal, both she and the young man would be stoned to death, but it was possible for her betrothed husband to issue a document of repudiation, and this, according to Matthew,
26505-400: The year Muhammad died. While Muhammad was alive, these revelations were written down by his companions , although the primary method of transmission was orally through memorization . The Quran is divided into 114 chapters ( sūrah ) which contain a combined 6,236 verses ( āyāt ). The chronologically earlier chapters, revealed at Mecca , are concerned primarily with spiritual topics, while
26676-436: Was a human messenger of God rather than divine. 18: Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19: Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20: But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of
26847-416: Was a literal virgin when Jesus was conceived. The most detailed account of the annunciation and birth of Jesus is provided in Surah 3 ( Al Imran ) and 19 ( Maryam ) of the Quran, where the story is narrated that God (Allah) sent an angel to announce that Maryam could shortly expect to bear a son, despite being a virgin. Some academics have noted that the account in Surah 19 is particularly close to that in
27018-428: Was a pioneer in experimental medicine , and his The Canon of Medicine was used as a standard medicinal text in the Islamic world and Europe for centuries. Rhazes was the first to identify the diseases smallpox and measles . Public hospitals of the time issued the first medical diplomas to license doctors. Ibn al-Haytham is regarded as the father of the modern scientific method and often referred to as
27189-402: Was answered by the angel that God can decree what he wills, and that it shall come to pass. The narrative from the Quran continues with Mary, overcome by the pains of childbirth, being provided with a stream of water under her feet from which she could drink, and with a palm tree which she could shake so ripe dates would fall and be enjoyed. After giving birth, Mary carries the baby Jesus back to
27360-503: Was born.) The Magnificat , based on Luke 1:46-55 is one of four well known Gospel canticles : the Benedictus and the Magnificat in the first chapter, and the Gloria in Excelsis and the Nunc dimittis in the second chapter of Luke, which are now an integral part of the Christian liturgical tradition. The Annunciation became an element of Marian devotions in medieval times, and by the 13th century direct references to it were widespread in French lyrics. The Eastern Orthodox Church uses
27531-515: Was claimed by the Ottoman dynasty of the Ottoman Empire and its claims were strengthened in 1517 as Selim I became the ruler of Mecca and Medina . The Shia Safavid dynasty rose to power in 1501 and later conquered all of Iran. In South Asia, Babur founded the Mughal Empire . The religion of the centralized states of the gunpowder empires influenced the religious practice of their constituent populations. A symbiosis between Ottoman rulers and Sufism strongly influenced Islamic reign by
27702-484: Was co-opted and is now often seen as puppets of the state. For example, in Saudi Arabia, the state monopolized religious scholarship and, in Egypt, the state nationalized Al-Azhar University , previously an independent voice checking state power. Salafism was funded in the Middle East for its quietism. Saudi Arabia campaigned against revolutionary Islamist movements in the Middle East, in opposition to Iran. Muslim minorities of various ethnicities have been persecuted as
27873-429: Was conducive to miraculous birth stories, and tales of virgin birth and the impregnation of mortal women by deities were well known in the 1st-century Greco-Roman world and Second Temple Jewish works. The Quran asserts the virgin birth of Jesus , deriving its narrative from the 2nd-century AD Protoevangelium of James , but rejects the Trinitarian interpretation of the Christian account, emphasising that Jesus
28044-404: Was established in 1969 after the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem . Contact with industrialized nations brought Muslim populations to new areas through economic migration. Many Muslims migrated as indentured servants (mostly from India and Indonesia) to the Caribbean, forming the largest Muslim populations by percentage in the Americas. Migration from Syria and Lebanon contributed to
28215-511: Was for the first time partially codified into law in 1869 in the Ottoman Empire's Mecelle code. The Ottoman Empire dissolved after World War I , the Ottoman Caliphate was abolished in 1924 and the subsequent Sharifian Caliphate fell quickly, thus leaving Islam without a Caliph . Pan-Islamists attempted to unify Muslims and competed with growing nationalist forces, such as pan-Arabism . The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), consisting of Muslim-majority countries ,
28386-430: Was historically called Mohammedanism in the English-speaking world . This term has fallen out of use and is sometimes said to be offensive , as it suggests that a human being, rather than God, is central to Muslims' religion. The Islamic creed ( aqidah ) requires belief in six articles : God, angels , revelation, prophets, the Day of Resurrection , and the divine predestination. The central concept of Islam
28557-412: Was killed by Yazid's forces; the event has been annually commemorated by Shias ever since. Sunnis, led by Ibn al-Zubayr and opposed to a dynastic caliphate, were defeated in the siege of Mecca . These disputes over leadership would give rise to the Sunni - Shia schism, with the Shia believing leadership belongs to Muhammad's family through Ali, called the ahl al-bayt . Abu Bakr's leadership oversaw
28728-476: Was looking for water for her baby Ishmael in the desert before Mecca developed into a settlement. The pilgrimage also involves spending a day praying and worshipping in the plain of Mount Arafat as well as symbolically stoning the Devil . All Muslim men wear only two simple white unstitched pieces of cloth called ihram , intended to bring continuity through generations and uniformity among pilgrims despite class or origin. Another form of pilgrimage, Umrah ,
28899-470: Was not aware of any tradition of special circumstances surrounding Jesus' birth, and while the author of the Gospel of John is confident that Jesus is more than human he makes no reference to a virgin birth to prove his point. John in fact refers twice to Jesus as the "son of Joseph," the first time from the lips of the disciple Philip ("We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus, son of Joseph from Nazareth" – John 1:45 ),
29070-405: Was the course Joseph wished to take prior to the visitation by the angel. The most likely cultural context for both Matthew and Luke is Jewish Christian or mixed Gentile /Jewish-Christian circles rooted in Jewish tradition. These readers would have known that the Roman Senate had declared Julius Caesar a god and his successor Augustus to be divi filius , the Son of God before he became
29241-548: Was victorious in the nearly bloodless conquest of Mecca , and by the time of his death in 632 (at age 62) he had united the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity . Muhammad died in 632 and the first successors, called Caliphs – Abu Bakr , Umar , Uthman ibn al-Affan , Ali ibn Abi Talib and sometimes Hasan ibn Ali – are known in Sunni Islam as al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn (" Rightly Guided Caliphs "). Some tribes left Islam and rebelled under leaders who declared themselves new prophets but were crushed by Abu Bakr in
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