Born in the Arabian Peninsula, Islam is often considered to be intrinsically linked to the Arab people. However, Arabs existed long before the birth of Muhammad. In Antiquity, they were mostly polytheists, but sometimes also Jewish or Christian, as in Yemen or in the city of Medina. The Mecca sanctuary was already an important pilgrimage center, around which were placed "idols" whose exact nature is difficult to define.
Currently, polytheism has disappeared, surviving only in a few superstitious practices. But Jews and Christians still live in the Arab world, even if for a few decades there has been a movement of exodus from them. Eastern Christians, present in Egypt and the Near East, are characterized by a great diversity of Churches: Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite, Chaldean ... each with slight differences in dogma.
Nowadays, Islam is the majority religion in the Arab world, but Arabs represent only a small minority of Muslims in the world: barely 20%! The largest Muslim countries in terms of population are Indonesia, Pakistan and India. Why, then, associate Islam with the Arabs? The reasons are essentially historical.
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Birth of Islam Indeed, it is in the west of the Arabian Peninsula emerge at the beginning of VII th century a new religion. According to Tradition, Muhammad, a merchant from the city of Mecca, from the tribe that runs the city, begins to preach in public places. He was then in his forties. Practicing spiritual retreats for some time, he says that he received the visit of the Archangel Gabriel, who would have revealed to him words of God, and would have encouraged him to assume a prophetic mission.
Muhammad then gradually gathers around him a community, the umma . He calls his followers Muslims , literally, "those who submit to the will of God". But it upsets the life of the city; after ten years, Muhammad and his companions are forced to leave Mecca to take refuge in the oasis of Yathrib, the future Medina. This event, the Hegira , is fundamental for all of Islamic history: it marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar, which corresponds to the year 622 of the Christian era.
Muhammad therefore acts both as a religious leader and as a political and military leader. He organized the community and created a proto-state, developing the "constitution of Medina", a set of texts difficult to date precisely. He also led Muslim fighters in raids against the tribe which ruled Mecca, until taking the city in 630. He also extended his influence over a large part of the Arabian peninsula, before dying in 632.
The currents of Islam A few decades after his death, the Muslim community is torn apart on the question of the legitimate people to take over from the Prophet, the Caliphs , literally his "successors". Of the first four, three are murdered. The division becomes stronger around the fourth caliph, Ali, son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet. Two clans clash in a civil war: those who take the side (shia) of Ali, the future Shiites and Kharijites , and those who promote a close friend of the third caliph, the Sunnis . It is ultimately the latter who take power, and remain largely in the majority among Muslims until today.
If the division between these three main currents of Islam has a political origin, religious considerations are gradually added to it. The Shiites give great importance to the descendants of the Prophet and Ali, the imams , considered as the only legitimate successors because only capable of deciphering the hidden meaning of the Koran. These historical figures are the source of many religious prescriptions. The last imam, who disappeared during the "occultation", must return at the end of time. According to the branches of Shiism, it can be the fifth, the seventh or the twelfth of the line.
Among the Sunnis, the term imam simply designates the person who directs prayer at the mosque, venerable by age or by knowledge. The esoteric dimension of the Koran is much less present there than in Shiism. The Sunnis are more attached to the letter of the revealed text, and to several fundamental principles: God is unique and omnipotent, there is a predetermination in each human act and the Muslim must avoid fitna , dissension at all costs .
Sacred texts of Islam According to Muslim traditions, the Prophet received revelations until the end of his life, revelations which, transcribed, form the Koran. Its 114 suras, or chapters, repeat the divine words received by Muhammad in Mecca and Medina. They do not follow a chronological order, but are classified, roughly, from the longest to the shortest. The oldest, often consisting of only a few verses, are therefore found at the end of the book.
The Arabic language is fundamental in Islam, because the Koran was revealed in this idiom, as the text mentions several times: "It is a Revelation in clear Arabic language" (Koran, sura 26, verse 195). This gives the language its sacred character; Muslims also consider that it is not possible to translate the Koran without altering its meaning. The text is imbued with a certain musicality, a rhythm which has parallels in Arabic poetry.
In addition to the Koran, another set of texts is respected by Muslims: the hadiths , or traditions, grouped in the Sunnah . These are the various words and gestures attributed to the Prophet during his existence, reported by his relatives. Without having the same sacred character as the Qur'an, the hadiths serve as an example. There are different collections, corresponding to different currents of Islam. For Sunnism, the most important are those identified by al-Boukhari and Mouslim. These two scholars collected these words and gestures more than two centuries after the death of the Prophet; even if they pay great attention to the value of the "chain of transmission", isnad ("Such and such reported that such and such had seen that the Prophet had done ..."), their selection is marked by the stakes of their time, different from those of the first times of Islam.
ay the right The Koran and hadith have a religious function, but also a legal and social one. Indeed, in the Islamic world, jurists rely on these two sources to say the law, the fiqh . In doing so, they try to get as close as possible to the divine Law, the sharia. Muslim law covers all areas of the life of believers: religion strictly speaking, but also social relations, daily life, the political system. When the Koran and the sunnahare not clear enough to rule on a case, Sunni jurists appeal to two other principles: the consensus already established and the principle of analogy, defined by al-Shafii. For example, if the wine is condemned because it is the cause of intoxication, any alcoholic drink must be considered in the same way.
Jurists and judges, cadi , do not always agree on the place to be given to each source of law. Hence the existence of several "legal schools", the madhhabs , which represent as many different ways of interpreting the Koran and the hadiths .
Among the Sunnis, the four main ones are Hanafism, Malikism, Shafiism and Hanbalism. But there existed or there are still other tendencies: mutazilism, or rationalism, or Wahhabism, very rigorous.
Finally, it should be noted that there is a rich mystical tradition, born in the first centuries of Islam: Sufism . This word, which perhaps refers to the simple woolen robe ( souf ) worn by the adepts, indicates a set of practices which all aim at establishing a direct link between the believer and God, outside any religious science. Followers generally practice asceticism and meditation, but can also find a way to God through music and dance. They often live in brotherhoods, the relationship with a spiritual master being fundamental.
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