Encyclopedia of Islam

Introduction

  

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and community identity; 4) a linear view of his-

tory from creation to Judgment Day, overlapped 

by cyclical celebrations of weekly and seasonal 

holy days; 4) claims to possession of a holy land 

connected with stories about the origins of each 

of the religions and the performance of pilgrim-

ages (religious journeys); and 5) belief in human 

mortality, followed by resurrection, judgment, and 

reward or punishment in the afterlife.

Identifying the family resemblances shared by 

the three Abrahamic religions does not mean that 

they are therefore identical, nor that they have 

remained unchanged in history. Rather, it draws 

our attention to their relative degrees of similarity 

and difference and begs further inquiry concern-

ing how to account for resemblances and degrees 

of difference, as well as the changes these religions 

have undergone through time as a result of the 

mutual interactions. Seen in this light, Islam can 

be understood relationally, rather than isolated 

from other religious traditions and communi-

ties. Muslims themselves understand their reli-

gion relationally, although in many respects their 

understandings differ from those of non-Muslim 

students of religion, as defined within modern 

humanities and social science frameworks.

Who Are the Muslims?

Discussing what Islam is entails additional discus-

sion about who the Muslims are. As is the case with 

Islam, there are different ways in which this ques-

tion can be answered too. One way to answer this 

question is to note that from a basic Islamic point of 

view, a Muslim is a person who submits to a single, 

almighty, and merciful God, as delineated in the 

Quran and sunna (precedent based on the hadith). 

Collectively, Muslims understand themselves ide-

ally to be members of a single community of believ-

ers, known as the umma. The original basis for the 

universal Muslim community was the community 

founded by Muhammad in Medina after his emigra-

tion, or Hijra, from Mecca (about 260 miles south 

of Medina) with a small group of mostly Arab fol-

lowers in 622. Muslims have come to see this event 

as being so momentous that they use it to mark the 

year one on their lunar calendar. The community in 

Medina became exemplary for succeeding genera-

tions of Muslims, especially with regard to matters 

of piety, worship, and law. The embodiment of the 

umma as a territorial entity ruled by Muslims and 

following the sharia, or sacred law, was expressed by 

the concept of the dar al-Islam, or “house of Islam.” 

This territorial understanding was superseded by 

modern nation-states created in Muslim lands dur-

ing the 19th and 20th centuries. 

In addition to viewing themselves as a commu-

nity united in their belief in God and his prophet, 

Muslims also identify themselves with different 

strands of Islamic tradition. The main ones are 

Sunnism, Shiism, and Sufism. Sunni Muslims are 

the majority and today make up about 85 percent 

of the total Muslim population (estimated to be 

1.4 million in mid-2007, according to the Ency-

clopaedia Britannica). Their name comes from an 

Arabic phrase meaning “the people of the sunna 

and the community of believers” (ahl al-sunna 

wa’l-jamaa). Their Quran commentaries, hadith 

collections, legal schools (the Hanafi, Maliki, 

Shafii, and Hanbali schools), and theological tra-

ditions are the ones most widely circulated and 

respected. It is from their ranks that most Muslim 

rulers and dynasties have arisen. Leading coun-

tries with Sunni majorities include Indonesia, 

Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, 

and Nigeria.

The most prominent alternative, or sectarian, 

form of Islam is that of the Shia, who today con-

stitute up to 15 percent of all Muslims, between 

156 and 195 million. Known as the faction of Ali 

(shiat Ali), Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law 

(d. 661), they are found in many parts of the 

world, but they constitute majorities in the mod-

ern countries of Iran (89 percent of its popula-

tion), Iraq (60 percent), Bahrain (70 percent), and 

Azerbaijan (85 percent). Shii Muslims maintain 

that the most legitimate authorities in all matters 

are the Imams—select members of Muhammad’s 

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