The paper deals with one of the most important topics of modern days, i.e. the issue of Islam and its opposition to Western values. Islam is the youngest of the worlds major religions. Muhammad is the founder and the first prophet of Islam. The recordings of his sermons constitute the sacred book of Muslims, namely the Quran. Other main sources of Islam are Sunnah and Sharia. Strict adherence to the rules proclaimed in these sources created contradictions between democratic Western civilization and conservative Muslim civilization. The Islam adherents condemn materialism, consumerism, and many other values of the West. However, a great number of Islamic students study in American and European universities and remain in the host country. At the same time, they do not change their religion but contribute to its prevalence. This fact helped Islam to become a global phenomenon and one of the worlds major religions. However, some modern aspects of Islam contradict the human rights, especially the rights of women. Many Muslim communities in Islamic countries impose a ban on a number of regular things such as education, free will, premarital relations, and others. In conjunction with religious extremism and fanaticism, Islam has become the most controversial religion in the world. It can be assumed that a diversity of religions should not impede world nations in solving problems of global civilization.
In the present days, people can often hear such words as Islam or Islamic. They sound from the TV screen and regularly appear in the internet. Islamic revival and Islamic boom are the expressions that have become common. The past forty years are painted in green, red, and black, which are the traditional Islamic colors. Islam and oil. Islam and the Middle East crisis. Islam and the Palestinian problem. Islam and the Iran-Iraq war. Every word that follows that and contains the secret of Islamic boom. This religion has been a part of the life of millions of people in Asia and Africa for many centuries. For them, it is a way of thinking and action, hope for justice in their lives, and the hope of reward in the afterlife. For other nations, Islam is a factor of instability and constant threat to the peace of the people. The reason for this lies in modern aspects and manifestations of Islam, which are expressed in constant clashes between Muslims and Western civilization.
Characteristics of the Islam Religion
Islam originated in the south-west of the Arabian peninsula at the beginning of the 7th century in Hijaz among the tribes of western Arabia. The founder of Islam is Muhammad, who proclaimed himself a prophet. Currently, nearly half of all Muslims live in North Africa; about 30% live in Pakistan and Bangladesh; more than 10% live in India. Indonesia has a larger Muslim population than any other country in the world.
According to Muslim beliefs, Allah gave the Quran to Muhammad through the angel. The Quran became a holy scripture for Muslims. It consists of 114 chapters or suras. As a rule, the title of each sura does not reflect its content and is associated with the most memorable phrase or topic. The additional source of doctrines is Sunnah, which consists of the stories about the life of Muhammad and his sayings presented in the form of hadiths.
Islam is currently divided into two main streams. Most of the world’s Muslims are the Sunni. In particular, these include about 90% of Muslims in the Middle East. Another major branch of Islam is the Shiites. Sunnis stick to their acceptance of the hadith collection, religious practices, and rules of conduct imposed on Muslims in all situations, which are all included in the Sunnah. In turn, Shiites represent the party, which states that the power of the community should belong to the descendants of Muhammad only but not the elected officials as in the case of the Sunni. They do not accept the Sunnah as a whole and complement it with their own regulations, including the belief in the special mediators between Allah and Muslims, namely imams.
There are the following main subjects of Islamic faith: faith in Allah (Tawhid); faith in Allahs angels (Malaikat); faith in Allah scripture (Kitab); faith in the Prophets and Messengers of Allah (Anbiya); faith in predestination of Allah (Qadr); faith in the life after death. Also, the following five pillars of Islam are obligatory for every Muslim:
1. Shahada recitation;
2. Five obligatory prayers a day (or Salah) in compliance with strictly defined rites;
3. Fasting during the month of Ramadan, when Muslims are required to abstain from all food and drink from sunrise to sunset;
4. Pilgrimage (or Hajj) to Mecca at least once in a lifetime of every Muslim;
5. Donation