Islam: history, beliefs, and cultural significance

Islam

Attempting to summarize the cultural and societal patterns of the Islamic world is like trying to summarize the culture of the planet Earth. Like Christianity and all other religions, Islamic cultures vary from nation to nation, from sect to sect and from individual to individual. Presented here is a brief overview and generalization of the religion's culture, society, and way of life and approaches to healthcare. By no means is this a comprehensive summary.

Islam is a monotheistic religion based on the teachings of Muhammad, a seventh century Arabic religious and political figure. Currently, there are 1.4 billion Muslims, making it the world's second largest religion. The word Islam actually means "submission" or a "total surrender of one's self to God, or Allah." According to Muslims, God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad, the final of many prophets from God. The Qur'an is the fundamental source for all Islamic beliefs. Muhammad is not seen as the founder of a new religion, but a prophet who restored the original monotheistic faith of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and the other prophets from what Judaism and Christianity had distorted it to.

Islamic followers live by the Five Pillars of Islam and Islamic Law, thus, their cultural and societal practices are also effected by these doctrines as together they touch upon virtually every aspect of life, culture and society. The religion is roughly divided into two major denominations, Sunni and Shi'a, a division that resulted from a disagreement over the leadership of the Muslim community. Today 85% of the world's Muslims are Sunni. Although Islam is most often associated with the Middle East's Arab countries, in actuality only about 20% come from Arab countries.

According to Islamic law and tradition, many of their life practices fall into the category of adab, or Islamic etiquette. When it comes to diet and eating, this includes saying "bismillah," or "in the name of God" before every meal and using only the right hand for eating and drinking. In terms of personal hygiene, this falls under the category of personal cleanliness and health. Basic practices include circumcision of male infants. At death, Islamic burial rituals include the recitation of the "Salat al-Janazah" or funeral prayer over the bathed and enshrouded body before burying it into an earthen grave. Muslims also restrict their diet and refuse to eat any pig product, blood, carrion or alcohol. Further, any meat that is eaten is required to come from a herbivorous animal that is killed in the name of God by a Muslim, Jew, or Christian. An exception to this rule is if the animal is hunted or caught by the individual.

Islamic community life centers around the Mosques, or the Muslim place of worship. The Mosque primarily serves as a place for prayer, it also plays a central role in a location for community members to meet and study.

The basic unit of Islamic society is the family. According to Islamic law, mutual respect and responsibility among family members, along with specific legal rights and obligations, are mandated. For example, according to these principles, the father is responsible for the family's finances and is obligated to dedicate himself to catering to the family's well-being. Inheritance between family members is also controlled by the Qur'an, which states that most of an estate is to pass to the immediate family, with a portion to be set aside for the repayment of debts and making various bequests. In Islamic cultures, marriage is seen as a civil contract based on an offer and an acceptance between two qualified parties and done in the presence of two witnesses. The groom is required to pay a dowry to the bride, as a form of consideration, and the amount is stipulated to within the marital contract.

Interestingly, a man may marry up to four women so long as he can treat them all equally. However, a woman may only marry one man. Divorces are allowed, but are easier for a man to initiate than the female. Popular media portrays Islam as a sexist culture that requires women to such practices as veiling and seclusion. However, there is great debate within the Islamic community on whether the holy texts actually justify these practices. In the twentieth century, social reformers argues against these and other sexist traditions, including polygamy. On the other hand, many individual women are striking a balance between tradition and living an active life within traditional modesty.

Clearly, Islamic traditions play an important part in society, especially when Muslims live in non-Islamic countries. For this reason, it is important to understand these traditions. For example, when giving birth, a Muslim baby must be bathed immediately after birth and before it is handed to the mother. After this the father or mother will whisper the call to prayer into the child's ears so that the first sound it is to hear is about the Islamic faith.

At the end of life, death is traditionally defined as the stopping of the functioning of the heart and lungs. Some sects accept brain death as a valid definition of death. This being the case, the use of artificial means to preserve life may be used long enough to remove the viable organs that are to be donated.

Further, it is acceptable to use life support measures to save or extend a life. However, such equipment may not be disconnected after it has started as this is viewed as being the cause of death. Yet, there is no requirement that these interventions be continued on for the sole purpose of prolonging an imminent death. The purpose of aggressive medical intervention is to maintain life, not to postpone or avoid death. Physicians must understand that it is forbidden to cause harm to a patient with either equipment or drugs when the futility of such a procedure is established by a medical team.