Muslims

Adherents of the Islamic faith are known as Muslims. 'Islam' means 'surrender to God' and a Muslim is a person who submits to God. The Muslims believe in one supreme God, known in Arabic as Allah; their concept of God is similar to that of Jews and Christians. A Muslim's religious practices are based upon the sacred book called the Koran, which consists of revelations to Muhammad during his lifetime. The Koran indicates the proper manner in which to worship God, the nature of Man and the way in which he should live; it gives a portrait of creation and also instructions to enable the individual, family and community to conduct their affairs.

There are five duties for every Muslim. First, he must fully accept the belief expressed in a prayer: 'There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the Prophet of God'. Secondly, he must pray five times each day facing Mecca. The prayer ritual consists of reciting, bowing and touching the earth with the forehead; daily prayers are said individually but on a Friday the noon prayer should be said in a mosque. Thirdly, he must give a certain proportion of his income for the relief of poverty; payment is made at the end of the month of Ramadan (the month of fasting by day). Fourthly, he must undergo the discipline of fasting during Ramadan, no food or water being consumed from sunrise to sunset. Ramadan is followed by the Feast of the Breaking of the Fast, which lasts for three days. Fifthly, he must take the pilgrimage, or hadj, to Mecca once in a lifetime (if he is able to make the journey); purity and tolerance are emphasized during the pilgrimage.

As well as the Koran, Muslims follow the Sunna, or custom of the Prophet, which records what he said and did. The Prophet's personal sayings and anecdotes are known as hadith, or traditions. These teachings have a dual nature: an individual's rights may also be his duty and thus cannot be ignored; communal rights are protected by the Muslim's being clear about his own rights. Among these are the right to be educated, the right to express an opinion, which involves the duty of speaking out, and the right to work.

As well as Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem are holy cities to the Muslim. Mohammed hoped for cooperation between the Jews, Christian and Muslims but some of his teachings directed towards the pagan non-believer were applied to Jews and Christians. Jews and Christians are known as 'People of the Book' and Mohammed is regarded as being the last in a succession of messengers and prophets, including those in the first five books of the Bible.

The religious life of the Muslim controls his family and social life; over one third of the legal injunctions in the Koran are concerned with family life. The Muslim family is an extended one. Although monogamous marriage is regarded as being permanent, a limited polygamy is permitted according to tradition. Women have a high position in the Muslim family and the wearing of the veil is gradually dying out in Muslim communities. Women are primarily responsible for instructing children in Islamic culture and traditions.

Strict Muslim law requires that a woman conceal her body, but it does not demand that she cover her face. In some Arab countries, however, where veiling is strictly practiced, custom demands that a woman wear a cloth mask over her face through the whole of her waking hours. In major cities of countries like Morocco, where the government encourages modernization, the veil is made of flimsier materials and only covers half the face (1). Many reformists in the Muslim Arab countries regard the veil as both a symbol and a cause of backwardness, but it is generally thought to be a matter too sensitive to approach by legal means. The veil, however, is not only connected with Muslim women's subordination to men but also with ideas of family honor and feminine modesty. One of the chief religious duties of the Muslim is prayer, 'the key to paradise'. Muslims pray (2) five times a day and on Fridays men pray in the mosque; women, although not strictly forbidden, seldom enter the mosque to pray as their presence is regarded as detrimental to true devotion. Different body attitudes - sitting, standing and prostrating - belong to different stages of the prayer, but at all times the face of the worshiper is turned towards the holy city of Mecca.