This week in class we started learning about Islam. We only had one class this week, but in that class, we had an introduction to Islam and looked at Mohammed’s last sermon.

The word Islam means “surrender to God,” and the word Muslim means “one who surrenders.” The holy book of Islam is called the Koran (also spelled Qur’an). Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam is a monotheistic religion. Muslims worship one God named Allah. Muslims also believe that Mohammed was the greatest prophet as well as the last prophet.

Mohammed’s last sermon was a message of Mohammed’s teachings and instructions to spread those teachings to others. We spent time learning about the Five Pillars of Islam that are in Mohammed’s last sermon. The Five Pillars of Islam are (1) worship Allah, (2) pray five times each day, (3) fast during Ramadan, (4) give 8% of earnings to charity, and (5) perform Hajj if affordable. These are the things that are essential for Muslims to do.

We also discussed how Muslims are not allowed to charge interest. Charging interest is a sin in Islam. The thought process behind this is that God creates time, so people should not charge for and profit off of time that they did not create. This means that banking in Muslim countries is significantly different than the banks we are familiar with in the United States. That is an interesting concept that I might take a look at later.

Also interesting is the Hajj, the Muslim religious journey to the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Mecca is the holiest site in Islam, and every Muslim who can afford to travel to Mecca is supposed to go there at least once. Only Muslims are allowed to enter Mecca. When Muslims pray, they pray in the direction of Mecca. In this way, Mecca seems to be the spiritual center of Islam. From what I can tell, the journey of Hajj is for Muslims to connect with this Islamic spiritual center. The fact that only Muslims can visit Mecca shows how sacred it is to Islam. It makes it clear that Mecca is the holiest place in Islam, not a tourist attraction.

Here are other things that stood out to me from Mohammed’s last sermon:

The text says “All mankind is from Adam and Eve,” something that Jews and Christians also believe. This shows some relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Race and ethnicity do not give one person superiority over another person. The examples given are Arabs to non-Arabs and white people to black people.

“Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood.” This line is about how all Muslims are to view and treat each other as family. This also speaks to how Muslims are supposed to be unified. There may be disagreements, but based on this, Muslims are not supposed to let disagreements divide and weaken each other.

Mohammed’s last sermon covers a lot of things. I look forward to comparing and contrasting Islam with Judaism, Christianity, and other religions that we have already studied.