Islam

Islam’s essential creed is summarised in the shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. This states that ‘there is no god but Allah (God) and Muhammad is the Messenger of God’.

While Islam exhibits great continuity with its monotheistic cousins - Judaism and Christianity - in terms of its salvation history, and belief in prophets like Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus, it also claims to be God’s final revelation to humankind and that Muhammad is ‘the seal of the prophets’. This revelation is recorded in Muslim scripture, the Qur’an, and supplemented by the hadith literature, a collection of the sayings and customary practices of the Prophet. Hadith is a major source of Islamic law which divides human action into five different categories: obligatory; recommended; permissible; disapproved; forbidden. For example, Muslims are forbidden alcohol and the meat of swine, and permitted meat must be slaughtered in a special way, which is then termed halal. The essence of the law is given expression in the five pillars of Islam. These are: the shahada (see above), salat (obligatory prayers said five times a day); saum (fasting during the hours of daylight in the lunar month of Ramadan and culminating in the festival of ‘id al fitr); zakat (almsgiving); and hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca culminating in Islam’s other great festival, ‘id al-adha). There is a strong expectation that Friday mid-day prayers will be attended by male Muslims at the mosque, where a sermon is delivered by the Imam leading the prayers; some mosques have facilities for women to pray separately, others do not, and there is not the same compunction for women to attend prayers at the mosque. Ritual washing is important before prayers are said.

The majority of Muslims (around 85-90%) are ‘Sunnis’, followers of one of four schools of law (Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki and Shafi’i). The other major grouping in Islam are the ‘Shia’ (10-15%%) who have their own interpretations of Islamic theology, law and ritual, and are themselves divided into a number of factions. The origin of this division between Sunni and Shia rests on the question of succession after the Prophet Muhammad’s death. The major beliefs, however, are the same.

Sufism represents the mystical dimension of Islam and various Sufi orders were important in the spread of the faith world-wide. In the UK the majority of Muslims are of South Asian heritage and, of around 1000 mosques, the majority are associated with two movements of Islamic revival in the Hanafi school that emerged in British India, the Barelwis and Deobandis. Mosques are often independently run by a committee, but there are also local councils of mosques in places like Bradford. There are over 150 mosques in Yorkshire and Humber.

In Yorkshire and the Humber 189,089 people identified as ‘Muslim’ at the 2001 Census. Bradford (75,188 / 16.1% of population) was by far the largest centre, followed by Kirklees (39,312 / 10.1%). Sheffield and Leeds were home to over 20,000 Muslims each, Calderdale 10,000, with 5000 to 1000 living in Rotherham, Wakefield, North Lincolnshire, Hull, Doncaster and York respectively. At the other end of the scale, 24 Muslims lived in Richmondshire.

• More information on Islam from the BBC website

Essential Facts

Origins

Seventh Century CE, Arabia.

Present Spread

Gulf States, Africa, Bangladesh, Pakistan, USA, Europe.

Founder/prophets

Muhammad (Peace be upon him*)

Major beliefs

Shahadah, Tawhid, Angels, Prophets, Day of Judgement.

Sacred writings

The Qur’an, Hadith.

Special places of worship

Masjid (Mosque).

Special times

Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha, Ramadan, Muharram, Day of Arafat, Muhammad’s (pbuh) birthday.

Religious teachers

Imam who lead the communal prayers, but there are no priests as such.

Places of pilgrimage

Makkah (Mecca).

Holy day

Friday.

Forms of worship

Prayers five times a day, reading the Qur’an, Sawm (fasting during Ramadan), Hajj (Pilgrimage) and Zakah (Almsgiving).

Groups

Sunni, Shi’ite, Kharijites, Sufis.

* ‘Peace be upon him’ is what a devout Muslim would normally say