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 Muslims,
the followers of Islam,constitute India's largest religious
minority numbering about 106 million, approximately 10.6 percent
of the population. The first contacts of India with the Islamic
world dates back to Arab traders along the western coast in
the7th and 8th centuries. The invasions of Mahmud Ghaznavi
and others, and later, the Mughal empire contributed to the
spread of Islam in India. Islam, which means peace, comprehends
the idea of being at peace with oneself, with one's surroundings
and with Allah, the sole Creator, Sustainer and Restorer of
the universe. Prophet Mohammed, born in 570 AD at Mecca, founded
Islam in the 7th century, after a series of revelations from
Allah, compiled in the Islamic holy text, the Quran. The central
belief in Islam is in the absolute power and goodness of God,
whose messenger is Mohammed.
The concept of Muslims being one community (ummah) is central
to Islam. However, within a generation after the death of
the Prophet Mohammad various schisms appeared in the ummah.
One of the most important divisions among the Muslims was
the formation of the Shia sect who broke away from the mainstream
Sunnis. The Shias believed that Ali, the prophet's cousin
and son-in-law, was the real inheritor of Mohammad's charisma
and hence, was the real Imam of the community after Mohammad.
The Shias believed that there were a series of divinely guided
Imams to guide the community. The largest sect of Shias believes
in twelve Imams, the last having gone into hiding to return
before the end of the world.
 ORIGIN
OF ISLAM
Islam as a religion traces its origins
from the first man, the prophet Adam. A succession of prophets
carried god's message to the world, among them being Noah,
Abraham, Moses and Jesus. God sent prophets to different people
across the world at different times. It was the religion of
every prophet of god who appeared in any part of the world.
From Adam to Mohammad, god's prophets have led mankind to
the truth about him. They have been the agents who carried
his message to humanity. They were receivers of his special
grace and favor.
The prophets are to be revered and obeyed but not worshipped.
Worship of anyone other than Allah is seen as polytheism (shirk)
and infidelity (kufr). The Quran mentions the names of prophets
like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Ismail, Moses, Aaron,
Zarcharia, Yehya, Jesus, Saleh, Shoaib, Yasaa, Yonah, Ilyas,
Hood, Idris, Zalkifl, Zannon, Il-yasin.
THE HOLY QURAN
 The
divine message is contained wholly in the Quran, a volume
of revelations received by the holy prophet Muhammad over
23 years. These revelations do not annul but confirm the divine
message received by other prophets of god.
The Quran is the supreme authority, towards which Muslims
look for guidance and inspiration. It is a volume containing
the revelations sent down to the prophet Muhammad by Allah
through the angel Gabriel.
The Quran revises the Torah and the gospel and adds to their
teachings so as to complete the code of law. It touches all
the spheres of life, spiritual, moral, social, judicial, economic
and political.
Whenever the Prophet received a revelation it got imprinted
on his memory and he recited it to his early followers who
memorized it. Some of these revelations were written in a
very basic script on to papyrii, shoulder blades of camels
and on leather. After the Prophet's death and the deaths of
many who had memorized the revelations, the need was felt
to issue one collection of these verse. This was done during
the Caliphate of the third caliph, Omar. The holy Prophet
appointed four principal teachers of the Quran. They were
Abdullah bin Musad, Salim Manla abi Hudhaifa, Maudh bin Jabal,
and Ubbay ibn Kab. They would memorize all under the supervision
of the holy prophet and then spread the word to others.
LAW OF ISLAM
The law defining the life of a Muslim
is the shariah. The shariah is based on principles encoded
in the Quran, the Sunnah and the Hadith. The Sunnah consists
of the ways of the prophet. A Hadith is a tradition attributed
to the prophet. These traditions were passed down orally,
for many generations before they were recorded. Hence, the
authenticity of a hadith is judged by its isnad, the chain
of authorities who back the tradition.
It was in the second century of hijra that this extremely
varied and scattered material was collected and codified particularly
because of the Muslim jurists. Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh)
used the Hadith as one of the authorities while it defined
the legal discourse of Islam.
Differences over contradictions, validity, authenticity and
interpretation of various Hadiths led to four different schools
of jurisprudence in Islam:
1. Hanafi
2. Hambali
3. Shafali
4. Maliki.
The third century produced the great canonical collections
of the Hadiths, notably those of Al- bukhari and Muslim. These
were accepted by the accredited theologians and lawyers comprising
of all traditions whose authenticity had withstood the searching
text of historical scholarship.
The Hadiths were originally written in Arabic. Eminent theologians,
who specialize in the study of Hadiths and commit a large
number of hadith to memory, are called Muhadith (singular),
Mahaditheen (plural).
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Tradition
of various
