Sacred Islam Research Paper

Exploring the Roles, Interpretations, and Manipulations of Sacred Islamic Texts

Islam, despite Western misconceptions, is quite a progressive religion. Within Islam, there are separate schools of thought that share many similarities, but also have their differences. These schools include: Sunni, Shia and Sufi. Perhaps one of the main points of disagreement comes from the interpretation of Islamic texts. As with most literature and many religions, in Islam, not all texts are considered equal. Some texts have more merit depending on a number of factors. The three major Islamic texts that will be discussed in this essay are: The Quran, Hadith, and Tafsir. As with all religions, extremists can taint societal views of a religion as a whole.

Muslims are no longer found in only Muslim countries (although there are more than forty-four of them), but in virtually all parts of the world (Esposito 1). Despite Islam’s high number of adherents, and significant Muslim populations globally, Islam is still one of the most villainized religions in the Western world. Islam is commonly thought of as ‘other’, and being vastly different from dominant culture and Western religions. Islamophobia and racism is still prevalent, despite the fact that its roots are heavily connected to Christianity and Judaism As with Christianity and Judaism, Islam believes that there is one God, and that those who follow are Abraham’s children, “since all trace their communities back to him” (Esposito 1). Although this connection between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism links them on a historical level, it has also been a source of conflict throughout history. As with many religions that are broken down into separate schools of thought, there are many areas of agreement, but also areas of opposition. As mentioned above, Islam has more than one school of thought, despite all being part of the Islamic faith. The two most prevalent divisions are the Sunni and Shia. According to John Esposito, 85% of Muslims are Sunni, whereas 15% are Shia (1). Despite the separation, the Quran plays an equally important role in both divisions, and

Prophet Muhammad, Islam’s messenger of God, has a lot to do with the creation of the Quran, and texts to follow. Muslims believe that Allah passed his revelations to Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel (Esposito 6-7). The Quran is thought to have been written over a long period of time – approximately twenty-two years (Esposito 17). The Quran is compiled of 114 chapters, with 6,000 verses (Esposito 17), and is considered to be the Book of God. The Quran is considered a guide for humankind to live by which was revealed by Muhammad. Although it was through the voice of Muhammad that Allah’s words were revealed, Muhammad was not the creator of Islam. According to Esposito, Islam teaches that God can be revealed in many forms, not just scripture (17). Other forms of revelation can be seen in history, and nature, but perhaps the most tangible being in scripture. One important element of Islam, as well as the study of the Quran, falls on language. The Quran was first written in Arabic, therefore it is believed that the only way to achieve a full meaning of the Quran is to read and memorize its verses in the original language (Esposito 19). Although not all Muslims speak or read Quranic Arabic, all Muslims memorize and recite the Quran in Arabic – despite perhaps not understanding what is being read or said (Esposito 19-20). The importance of language is