La ilaha illa Allah Muhammad ur rasul Allah. This is the first pillar of Islam, the Shahada or the declaration of faith. The shahada translates in English to: There is no God other than Allah, and Muhammad is the last messenger of God (Zeno). Every Muslim, regardless of sect, must adhere to these words throughout their life. Islam emerged as one unified religion based upon the teachings of Prophet Muhammad that he received directly from Allah and his angels. During the Prophet's lifetime, he fought and remained driven to spread the message of Allah to the people. Prophet Muhammad's great courage and teachings won over many people resulting in a tremendous number of converts to Islam. In addition, he also brought many different communities together and formed a strong and powerful ummah, or Islamic community. However, the true test for the ummah came to light once the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 (Brown). The question of who would lead the community and succeed the Prophet is what caused the great division in Islam. .
The early history of Islam is agreed upon by all Muslims. Muhammad was an ordinary human being that was chosen to guide the people on the right path. He was visited one day in the cave on Mount Hira, in which he used to go to meditate, by Jibreel, an angel sent down from Allah, in 610. The first revelation was "Read. " He continued to receive more revelations and the only person he confided in was his wife, Kadijah, who supported him along the journey. Three years after the first revelation, Allah commanded Muhammad to spread the message to the public.
The Prophet faced many hardships along the way, which was expected since he was basically completely changing the norm of the community, and trying to teach new ideologies that were foreign to the people at the time. All Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad was the last messenger. They also believe in the teachings of the Torah and Bible, however it is believed that many of those teachings were altered by people (Brown).
Another major difference is the strictness of the Abrahamic faiths in comparison to the Asian faiths. ... Another extreme example of the absolution of monotheism is the Sunni-Shia conflict, which is based off the decision of who would become the rightful ruler after the passing of the prophet Mohammad. ...
Foremost, the ongoing feud between the Sunni, Shia and Kurdish peoples in various regions throughout the country has played a major role in the government's ability to control Iraq. ... A democratic government will need to make political decisions that will satisfy Shia, Sunni, Kurds and Arabs. ... Nor, do the people of Iraq have an understanding of how a democratic government operates in comparison to the authoritarian regime they have lived under for nearly thirty years. ...
