What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam

226 Pages·2002·0.58 MB·English

by  John L. Esposito

What Everyone Needs to
Know About Islam
JOHN L. ESPOSITO
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Contents i
WHAT EVERYONE
NEEDS TO KNOW
ABOUT ISLAM
This page intentionally left blank
Contents iii
(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:11)(cid:7)
W
(cid:12)(cid:7)(cid:7)(cid:13)(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:3)(cid:10)(cid:4)(cid:15)(cid:11)(cid:10)(cid:16)
(cid:17)(cid:18)(cid:10)
Islaumt
JOHN L. ESPOSITO
2002
iv Contents
Oxford New York
Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai
Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi
São Paulo Shanghai Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto
Copyright © 2002 by John L. Esposito
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York, 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Esposito, John L.
What everyone needs to know about Islam / John L. Esposito.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-19-515713-3
1. Islam—Essence, genius, nature. I. Title
BP163.E85 2002
297—dc21 2002008397
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Contents v
For Jean,
Who Makes All Things Possible
This page intentionally left blank
Contents vii
CONTENTS
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
General Information
Why do we need to know about Islam? 1
Are all Muslims the same? 1
Where do most Muslims live? 2
Faith and Practice
What do Muslims believe? 4
Why do Muslims say they are descended
from Abraham? 5
How did Islam originate? 6
What is the Muslim scripture? 8
Why is Arabic so important in Islam? 9
What role does Muhammad play in Muslim life? 10
Was Muhammad a prophet like the prophets
in the Bible? 12
Why is so much known about Muhammad’s life? 12
vii
viii Contents
Did Muhammad have multiple wives? 14
What do Muslims believe about a worldwide
Muslim community (ummah)? 15
What are the core beliefs that unite all Muslims? 17
What do Muslims do on the pilgrimage to Mecca? 22
What is the Kaaba? 23
What is the significance of Mecca? 24
How do Muslims pray? 24
Do Muslims believe in angels? 27
Do Muslims believe in heaven and hell? 28
Do Muslims believe in saints? 30
What do Muslims believe about Mary and Jesus? 31
Do Muslims have a Sabbath like Jews and Christians? 32
Do Muslims have a weekly worship service? 33
Do Muslims have religious holidays or holy days? 34
Does Islam have a clergy? 35
What is a mosque? 36
What is an Islamic center? 38
Are there any divisions in Islam? 39
What is the difference between Sunni and
Shii Muslims? 45
What are the divisions among Shii Muslims? 48
What is Wahhabi Islam? 49
Is there a difference between Muslims and
Black Muslims? 52
Are Sufis Muslims? 56