Islam: Foundations and Scriptures

Islam is the world's second-largest religion, with approximately 2 billion adherents (about 25% of the global population). It emerged in the Arabian Peninsula in the early 7th century CE through the prophetic mission of Muhammad ibn Abdullah (570-632 CE), who Muslims hold to be the final prophet in a line that includes Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus.

This lesson presents Islam from the comparative-religions perspective appropriate to this paper — the historical foundations, the scriptural sources, the Five Pillars, and the central doctrines, with attention to the comparative position relative to Judaism and Christianity.

The historical context

Islam emerged in the Hijaz region of the Arabian Peninsula in the early 7th century. Pre-Islamic Arabia was characterised by:

• A polytheistic tribal religion centred on the worship of various deities, with the Ka'bah in Mecca as a major pilgrimage site housing many tribal idols.
• Significant Jewish and Christian communities (in Medina, Yemen, Najran and elsewhere).
• Tribal social organisation under a code of honour and revenge.
• An oral poetic tradition of remarkable sophistication.

The two great empires of the time — the Byzantine and Sasanian — were exhausted by decades of warfare. Into this environment, the Islamic message of strict monotheism, social ethics and prophetic continuity spread with extraordinary speed.

The life of the Prophet Muhammad (570-632 CE)

The traditional Islamic biography (sirah) of Muhammad is conventionally divided into pre-prophetic, Meccan and Medinan periods.

Pre-prophetic period (570-610)

Muhammad was born in Mecca to Abdullah (who died before Muhammad's birth) and Aminah (who died when he was six). Raised by his grandfather Abdul-Muttalib and then his uncle Abu Talib, he became known as al-Amin ("the trustworthy") for his honesty in commercial dealings.

He married Khadijah, a wealthy widow some fifteen years his senior, when he was twenty-five. The marriage was monogamous and lasting (until Khadijah's death after about twenty-five years), producing four daughters who survived to adulthood — including Fatima, who would marry Muhammad's cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib.

The prophetic call (610)

At about the age of forty, while meditating in a cave on Mount Hira outside Mecca, Muhammad received the first revelation through the angel Gabriel (Jibra'il). The opening verses are preserved in the Qur'an's chapter 96:

Read! In the name of your Lord who created — created man from a clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous — who taught by the pen — taught man what he did not know.

Muhammad initially confided in Khadijah and a small group of close family. Khadijah's cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, a Christian, identified the experience as prophetic in the line of Moses.

The Meccan period (610-622)

For thirteen years, Muhammad preached in Mecca, calling its inhabitants to abandon idolatry and submit to the one God (Allah). The early message emphasised:

• The oneness of God (tawhid).
• The inevitability of the final judgement.
• The moral accountability of every individual.
• Compassion for the orphan, the poor and the slave.
• Continuity with earlier prophets (Abraham, Moses, Jesus).

The Meccan elite, whose tribal authority and economic interests (the pilgrimage trade) were tied to the established polytheism, opposed the message. Persecution of Muhammad's followers led to a small early migration to Christian Abyssinia. The years before 622 included a period of social and economic boycott against the Prophet's clan, and the deaths of both Khadijah and the Prophet's protective uncle Abu Talib.

The Hijrah (622)

In 622, the Prophet and his followers migrated to Yathrib (renamed Medina, "the City") at the invitation of its leading clans. This Hijrah ("migration") marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar (Anno Hijrae, AH).

In Medina, Muhammad established the first Muslim political community. The Constitution of Medina — a foundational document — established Muslims, Jews and other groups as a unified political community while preserving each community's religious autonomy.

The Medinan period (622-632)

Over the next decade, the new community:

• Survived a series of military confrontations with Mecca (the Battles of Badr, Uhud, the Trench).
• Concluded the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (628) with Mecca, opening a period of peace.
• Took Mecca peacefully in 630, removing the idols from the Ka'bah and reconsecrating it as a centre of monotheistic worship.
• Saw the Prophet deliver the Farewell Sermon at Mount Arafat during the Pilgrimage of 632, articulating the final principles of the message.

The Prophet died in Medina in 632 at the age of 63, leaving behind a community that controlled the Arabian Peninsula and would, within a century, build an empire stretching from Spain to Central Asia.

The Qur'an

The Qur'an is the central scripture of Islam, considered by Muslims to be the verbatim word of God revealed to Muhammad through Gabriel over twenty-three years.

Distinctive features of the Qur'anic conception of scripture:

• The Qur'an was orally transmitted from the Prophet to his companions, memorised in full by many during his lifetime.
• It was compiled into its standard written form during the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan (644-656 CE), with copies sent to major centres of the early Muslim world.
• The Arabic text has remained essentially unchanged since the Uthmanic codification.
• Translation into other languages is permissible for understanding but the translation is not considered the Qur'an itself; the Arabic original is held to be inimitable (ijaz).

The Qur'an's content includes:

• Theological teaching about God, the prophets, the angels, the final judgement.
• Narrative passages about earlier prophets (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, others).
• Ethical and social teaching.
• Legal injunctions on prayer, fasting, alms, pilgrimage, family law, criminal law, commercial law.
• Calls to reflection on creation, nature and history.

The Sunnah

Alongside the Qur'an, Islamic religious authority is anchored in the Sunnah — the example and practice of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Sunnah is preserved in the Hadith — reports of the Prophet's sayings, actions and tacit approvals. The principal Sunni Hadith collections (the Kutub al-Sittah — "the six books"):

Collection	Compiler	Approximate dates
Sahih al-Bukhari	Imam Bukhari	d. 870 CE
Sahih Muslim	Imam Muslim	d. 875 CE
Sunan Abu Dawud	Abu Dawud	d. 889 CE
Sunan al-Tirmidhi	al-Tirmidhi	d. 892 CE
Sunan al-Nasa'i	al-Nasa'i	d. 915 CE
Sunan Ibn Majah	Ibn Majah	d. 887 CE

Each hadith is transmitted with an isnad (chain of transmission) and a matn (text). The science of Hadith criticism — rigorous evaluation of the chain and the text — was developed across centuries.

Shia Islam recognises a different but parallel set of Hadith collections, including the Four Books (al-Kafi, Man la Yahduruhu al-Faqih, Tahdhib al-Ahkam, al-Istibsar).

The Five Pillars (Arkan al-Islam)

Islamic religious practice is structured around five fundamental obligations.

The Five Pillars structure the temporal and spiritual life of the Muslim community.

The Six Articles of Faith (Iman)

Alongside the Five Pillars, Islamic theology articulates six fundamental articles of belief:

1. Tawhid — the absolute unity of God.
2. Belief in the angels as servants of God.
3. Belief in the revealed scriptures — the Qur'an and the earlier scriptures (Torah, Psalms, Gospel) in their original form.
4. Belief in the prophets — Muhammad as the final, with the long line of earlier prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus.
5. Belief in the Day of Judgement — the resurrection, accountability and the eternal destiny of every person.
6. Belief in divine destiny (qadr) — God's foreknowledge and ordination.

Islam in comparative perspective

For the comparative-religions paper, three comparative observations are particularly important.

Continuity with Judaism and Christianity

Islam presents itself as the completion of the Abrahamic tradition. It accepts:

• Abraham as the founding father of monotheism.
• Moses as a major prophet.
• Jesus as a major prophet (Muslims call him Isa) — though not as the Son of God or as crucified.
• The Torah, Psalms and Gospel as originally divine revelations.

The Qur'an names approximately twenty-five prophets, most of them shared with the Jewish and Christian traditions.

Distinctive features

Islam's distinctive doctrinal claims include:

• Strict monotheism — the rejection of any divine plurality (shirk — associating partners with God — is the gravest theological error).
• The denial of the divinity of Christ and of the doctrine of the Trinity, while honouring Jesus as a prophet.
• The Qur'an as a verbatim revelation — a stronger claim than most Jewish or Christian conceptions of scriptural inspiration.
• The continuation of prophecy through Muhammad, with him as the Khatam al-Nabiyyin (Seal of the Prophets) — no further prophets after him.

The unity of religion and law

Islam, like classical Judaism, articulates a comprehensive religious-legal system (Sharia) covering ritual, ethical, family, commercial and criminal life. This is a closer parallel to Jewish halakhah than to most forms of Christianity.

What CSS questions on this topic typically demand

Three exam shapes:

1. Foundational — "Discuss the foundations of Islam — the life of the Prophet, the Qur'an and the Sunnah."
2. Doctrinal — "Discuss the Five Pillars and the Six Articles of Faith in Islam."
3. Comparative — "Compare the conceptions of God in Judaism, Christianity and Islam."

A strong comparative-religions answer presents Islam in continuity with the Abrahamic tradition while acknowledging the distinctive doctrinal commitments.

What you take from this lesson

Islam emerged in 7th-century Arabia through Muhammad's prophetic mission, anchored in the Qur'an and Sunnah, and structured around the Five Pillars and Six Articles of Faith. The next lesson examines the major sects, contemporary movements and current state of the Muslim world.