Islam: Encyclopedia II - Islam - Organization

Islam - Organization

Islam - Religious authority

There is no official authority who decides whether a person is accepted into, or dismissed from, the community of believers, known as the Ummah ("family" or "nation"). Islam is open to all, regardless of race, age, gender, or previous beliefs. It is enough to believe in the central beliefs of Islam. This is formally done by reciting the shahada, which should be made sincerely from the heart, the statement of belief of Islam, without which a person cannot be classed a Muslim. It is enough to believe and say that one is a Muslim, and behave in a manner befitting a Muslim to be accepted into the community of Islam.

Islam - Islamic law

The Sharia is Islamic law, as elaborated by Islamic scholarship. The Qur'an is the foremost source of Islamic jurisprudence. The second is the sunnah of Muhammad and the early Muslim community. The sunnah is not itself a text like the Qur'an, but is extracted by analysis of the hadith (Arabic for "report"), or recorded oral traditions, which contain narrations of the Muhammad's sayings, deeds, and actions. Ijma (consensus of the community of Muslims) and qiyas (analogical reasoning) are the third and fourth sources of Sharia.

Islamic law covers all aspects of life, from the broad topics of governance and foreign relations all the way down to issues of daily living. Islamic laws which were covered expressly in the Quran were referred to as hudud laws. This covered the prohibition of murder, extra-marital sex, drinking of alcohol and gambling. The Quran also details laws of inheritance, marriage, restitution for injuries and murder, as wells as rules for fasting, charity, and prayer. However, the prescriptions and prohibitions may be broad, so how they are applied in practice varies. Islamic scholars, the ulema, have elaborated systems of law on the basis of these broad rules, supplemented by the hadith reports of how Muhammad and his companions interpreted them.

In current times, not all Muslims understand the Qur'an in its original Arabic. Thus, when Muslims are divided in how to handle situations, they seek the assistance of a mufti (Islamic judge) who can advise them based on Islamic Sharia and hadith.

Islamic communities, like other religious communities, often exclude those they regard as apostates and blasphemers from their community of believers. In a few Muslim-majority states, apostasy and blasphemy are considered crimes against the state and punished as such.

Islam - Islamic calendar

Islam dates from the Hijra, or migration from Mecca to Medina. This is year 1, AH (Anno Hegira)—which corresponds to AD 622 or 622 CE, depending on the notation preferred (see Common era). It is a lunar calendar, but differs from other such calendars (e.g. the Celtic calendar) in that it omits intercalary months, being synchronized only with lunation s, but not with the solar year, resulting in years of either 354 or 355 days. This omission was introduced by Muhammad because the right to announce intercalary months had led to political power struggles.^{[citation needed]} Therefore, Islamic dates cannot be converted to the usual CE/AD dates simply by adding 622 years. Islamic holy days fall on fixed dates of the lunar calendar, which means that they occur in different seasons in different years in the Gregorian calendar.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Organization", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki