Annotated Bibliography: Understanding Islam

Understanding Islam
Tony Blaile
REL/134
March 16, 2015
John Warnshuis
History of Islam
There are many different religions in this world but Islam has be in the spot light of the world the last twelve years or so. If you turn on the news it is most likely that you will see a story that talks about Islam in some way shape or form. Unfortunately Islam has gotten a very bad persona from small groups of extremists that use Islam as a reason for war. But, Islam is not meant to be this way.
To give a little history behind Islam let’s look at the meaning of the word Islam. Islam means surrender or submission which was meant to surrender to God. This is what a Muslim is and does, submit to God or Allah as Muslims call him. This is a religion that
These pillars provide an outward steadiness and evenness to a person’s faith and hold Muslims together in a brotherhood fashion. These Five Pillars are the Declaration of Faith or Shadada, which is the most important pillar because it is an agreement between the believer and Allah. This agreement means that you believe in only Allah as the one true god. The next pillar is Prayer or Salah, which is important because this is the communication between the follower and Allah. The third pillar is the Obligatory Charity or Zakah. This pillar is about helping others that may be in need. Pillar four is fasting or Sawm this is done every year in a tradition called Ramadan. This means they fast from food, drink, and marital relations for the sake of Allah. And the last pillar is pilgrimage or Hajj. This is the where a Muslim travels to Makkah obligatory at least once in their life, only if the person is debt free and can afford to. Ramadan is the ninth month in the year when every Muslim fasts from food, drink, ND marital relations in the name of Allah. This is commanded by Allah in order to seek His pleasure and raise the believer’s spirituality. In this month of Ramadan the Qur’an was introduced. Fasting is also a way for believers to pray and hope to be rewarded by being forgiven of their sins. This month is also the month that Allah opens up the gates of paradise and closes the gate of hell while chaining up the devil
Sunni, Shiite, and Sufi are three branches of Islam. The Shiite and Sunni’s were the first really major division of the Islamic religion. This division was the result of a political argument over who should precede Muhammed. Sunni’s name means tradition and they believed the legitimacy of the Orthodox caliphates, and based everything off those beliefs. Sunni’s believe that Muhammad did not designate a successor. Now Shiite’s get their name from the word Shia, which means faction. They believe that Muhammad did leave a successor and it was the son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad named, Ali. They do not believe the same thing as Sunnis and disagree and do not get along with them. Now Sufi’s are” a contemplative school of Islam that aims to develop an individual 's consciousness of God though chanting, recitation of litanies, music and physical movement (SCRUGGS, 2010, para. )” Sufis find the importance by approaching the inner meaning of god through mysticism. They want to find the hidden meanings of the world they do not read or follow the Qur’an as strictly and as a result have closer relationships to other religions (SCRUGGS,