Muslim culture

What traditions do Muslims follow?

The culture of Islam is a term denoting the modern and classical culture of peoples who profess Islam.

The territory of their residence includes the Near and Middle East, South-Western Europe, Central Asia and Western India, North Africa.

The Importance of the Religion Islam is one of the three greatest religions in the world. The number of its adherents exceeds 1.5 billion.

The founder of Islam is considered the prophet Muhammad, who in the 7th century proclaimed Allah the only great God, the creator of all things, the supreme judge.

The supreme law of a Muslim is to obey his will. Portrait of Mohammed The list of the main ideas and beliefs of Mohammed is set out in the holy book of Muslims – the Koran. Like the Bible in Christianity, it is a kind of divine encyclopedia, a “book of books”, the center of a universal body of knowledge about life.

On the Mutual Influence of Cultures The development of the culture of Islam took place in the conditions of close contacts between Muslims and representatives of other peoples of the East.

Arabia is considered the cradle of Islamic civilization. The culture of the Arab people, an adherent of the ideas of Abraham, was formed before the birth of the Prophet Muhammad and his acceptance of his historical mission. He made only minor changes to the existing pre-Islamic customs and traditions.

One of the most important factors in the spread of the culture of Islam was Arabization, which took place both voluntarily and in the process of conquest, during which the Arabic language became stronger as a religious and state language.

The unification of Islam

The unification of Islam and the artistic traditions of different peoples in a common cultural space led to their mutual enrichment: Syrian culture gave the Islamic world translations of the philosophical and scientific ancient heritage; elements of administration were borrowed from Byzantine culture; Persian and Indian cultures influenced the development of law, literature, and poetry.

Interaction with the culture of Islam had a beneficial effect on the level of development of the peoples who accepted it (improvement of trade, economy, social thought, etc.).

From the peoples who underwent Islamization, Europe received many translations and original works of the great ancient thinkers. We also recommend: Religions of Europe – a map of distribution and the essence of religion.

About the fusion of the state and religion Islam developed in the conditions of a closer fusion of religion and state policy than Christianity.

This was reflected in his culture. The Prophet, emirs, caliphs, representatives of local authorities throughout history were both political and religious leaders of the people.

The duty of any official was to coordinate his actions with the norms of the Koran, that is, to submit to the leading role of the clergy.

For many centuries, the influence of Islam on culture has been immeasurable. It was a factor that determined the stagnant nature of public life in Islamic countries, their lagging behind in the scientific and technical sphere. Grammar, astronomy, mathematics and other branches of knowledge developed as applied sciences to religious disciplines.

For many Muslims today, the word of Allah is more important than any of the scientific truths. All aspects of the life of a Muslim for many centuries were subject to religious traditions, largely related to the sphere of everyday life and family.

The main requirement, which, according to custom, the faithful are obliged to adhere to, was the need to be obedient to Allah, to keep their spirit, body, and home clean.

The main features of Islamic culture The cultures of peoples who profess Islam are distinguished by the presence of the following common features: God-centeredness; equality, tolerance, fraternity; orientation to morality, human dignity; dynamism, progressiveness, orientation to the world, denial of asceticism; tolerance for foreign faith, culture.

The development of sciences The scientific view of the structure of the Universe nevertheless made its way into the culture of Islam. However, his path, in comparison with Western European countries, turned out to be longer and more difficult.

The factor hindering

The factor hindering the development of the science and culture of Islam was the aspiration of theologians to rigidly define the boundaries of the cognizability of the universe.

But even despite the difficulties of relations between the clergy and researchers, the latter created discoveries that were in many ways ahead of their time.

The official authorities provided scientists with their patronage. In large cities (Cairo, Baghdad, Cordoba), higher schools (madrasas) functioned, similar to universities in Europe.

Large libraries were established in the capitals of many caliphates. The scientists of Samarkand, Baghdad, Damascus, in which large observatories were built, discovered many celestial bodies.

The achievements and successes of the Arab (Islamic) culture had a powerful impact on the level of development of many countries, including the cultural centers of Europe.

In the Middle Ages, exact sciences and philosophy were highly developed in the countries of Islam, the level of representatives of science significantly exceeded the level of their European counterparts.

Medieval Arab scholars gave the world: decimal calculus; alchemy; algebra. Arabs and Byzantines studied and translated the works of ancient Greek, ancient Indian classics, scientists from other countries.

Thanks to Latin translations from Arabic, Europeans got acquainted with the works of Aristotle, Hippocrates, Euclid, Ptolemy.