ISLAM FOR BEGINNERS BRS 107.pdf - CUEA

Lesson 1INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONSExploring Islam, as the title indicates, is not just an introduction but an overview of someaspects that make us understand Islam not as it appears to the person on the street but asit is observed by a person whose interest is to learn. It demands docility; that is toincrease our readiness to be trained for a better appreciation of Islam and the Muslims.This exploration begins with a detailed introduction that creates the conditions of possibilityof a fruitful encounter with Islam. This the first stage of our enquiry.1. What could be an Introduction to Islam?An introduction to Islam, particularly at the university level is more than a preliminarysection of a text; it is a specific course that defines the basic elements of the religionfounded or renewed by Muhammad. It also guides the student in Religious Studies as heor she familiarizes with the history, the beliefs, the doctrine, the law, the ethics, thephilosophy and the theology of Islam.Islam is first and foremost a religion. A thorough study of any religion reveals that areligion is more than just set of beliefs; religion ought to be a way of life, for it defines ourbeing and our relations with the world around us. There are as many types of religion asthere are kinds of people: we have revealed religions, natural religions, missionaryreligions and monotheistic or polytheistic religions. Islam is a one of the revealed religions,for it has a prophet and a book. These are the two major characteristics of a revealedreligion and Islam falls into this category.However, we think that it is important to be aware of the major attitudes of believerstowards other believers in order to justify this study because this will certainly work for anew way of looking at people of different religions. Since, here, we concentrate solely onIslam, we generally inquire on the non- Muslim views about Islam.Frederic N. Mvumbi,OP Page 2 of 85