Islam: beliefs and practices

5. With the Day of Resurrection and Judgment, God will hold every individual accountable for his or her actions. Bodies will be resurrected, and individuals will receive their "book of deeds." If put into the right hand, the reward will be the gardens of paradise; if put into the left, the eternal fires of punishment.

According to the Koran, man was created to be God's viceregent on earth and has been given free will and great potential. His mission is to create a moral and egalitarian social order.

Human experience is a test in which each individual is constantly called upon to choose between right and wrong.

There is no original sin, but Satan attempts to seduce human beings from the straight path. Yet God is with every individual who makes the necessary effort (jihad), and salvation lies in keeping to the right path.

The family is foundational to Islamic society and is seen as essential for its members' spiritual growth. Marriage is a legal agreement, not a sacrament, and either partner may include conditions.

Muslims are taught to value many kinds of knowledge, and to travel "even to China" to seek it, but its use must always be tempered with moral perception.

As Islam is a way of life, the Koran provides guidance on what constitutes a just society and places particlar emphasis on equitable economic relationships.

When Muhammad and his followers fled persecution in Mecca for Medina in 622, he became the political as well as religious leader for the first Muslim community (umma), which serves as a model for Muslims. Some Muslim scholars, for example, point out that women participated fully in the life of that community.

Within a century of the prophet's death in 632, Islam had spread through conquest and conversion into Asia and Africa, and as far west as Spain. The need for a unified system of law became apparent. The sharia developed out of the work of religious scholars and judges on the basis of the Koran, the other words and practices of the Prophet (the sunnah), analogical deduction, and community consensus. It was originally an attempt to counter what had become the aristocratic and sometimes corrupt rule of the caliphs.

Since the end of the Ottoman Empire after World War I and colonization by the West, various movements have developed for a return to Islamic law as the basis for society in the Muslim world. There are strict schools of interpretation and others seeking to reinterpret Islamic law to meet the needs of the 21st century.

A prime aim of the Koran is the establishment of a just, ethically based social order on earth, and Muslims are to strive to bring this about. A high value is thus placed on the community of the faithful and on propagating the faith (da'wa). Some political and religious groups active in many countries are working to bring nonobservant Muslims back to active practice and to make conversions. Other Muslims see da'wa as their responsibility simply to lead moral and exemplary lives.

On the various religious communities, the Koran says, "If God had so willed, He would have made all of you one community, but [He has not done so] that He may test you in what He has given you; so compete in goodness. To God shall you all return and He will tell you [the Truth] about what you have been disputing."

Pluralism is a challenging issue within Islam today. In some historical periods, people of other faiths lived harmoniously under Islamic rule, but today the status of religious minorities is threatened in some countries. Some Muslims preach a strict division between "believers," and "nonbelievers" while others are actively involved in interfaith relations.

Sources: "Discover Islam," Transcom International; "Major Themes of the Koran," Fazlur Rahman; "Islam in America," Jane I. Smith, Columbia University Press.

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