100-614: Bilafond La (meaning "Pass of the Butterflies" in Balti language , also known as the Saltoro Pass , is a mountain pass situated on Saltoro Ridge , sitting immediately west of the vast Siachen Glacier , some 40 km (25 mi) directly north of map point NJ 980420 which defined the end of the 1972 Line of Control between Pakistan and India as part of the Simla Agreement . Bilafond La
200-583: A scientific , economic and cultural flourishing . The expansion of the Muslim world involved various states and caliphates as well as extensive trade and religious conversion as a result of Islamic missionary activities ( dawah ), as well as through conquests . The two main Islamic branches are Sunni Islam (85–90%) and Shia Islam (10–15%). While the Shia–Sunni divide initially arose from disagreements over
300-501: A combined 6,236 verses ( āyāt ). The chronologically earlier chapters, revealed at Mecca , are concerned primarily with spiritual topics, while the later Medinan chapters discuss more social and legal issues relevant to the Muslim community. Muslim jurists consult the hadith ('accounts'), or the written record of Muhammad's life, to both supplement the Quran and assist with its interpretation. The science of Quranic commentary and exegesis
400-595: A complex and distinct pitch system that includes tone contour . Due to effects of dominant languages in Pakistani media like Urdu, Punjabi and English and religious impact of Arabic and Persian languages, Balti, like other regional languages of Pakistan, is continuously expanding its vocabulary base with loanwords . Balti is spoken in most parts of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan and Kargil and Nubra Ladakh in India . According to
500-519: A few examples: Other than proverb collections, no prose literature has been found written in Balti. Some epics and sagas appear in oral literature such as the Epic of King Gesar and the stories of rgya lu cho lo bzang and rgya lu sras bu . All other literature is in verse. Balti literature has adopted numerous Persian styles of verse and vocables which amplify the beauty and melody of its poetry. Nearly all
600-423: A figurehead monarchy. The Sunni Seljuk dynasty campaigned to reassert Sunni Islam by promulgating the scholarly opinions of the time, notably with the construction of educational institutions known as Nezamiyeh , which are associated with Al-Ghazali and Saadi Shirazi . The expansion of the Muslim world continued with religious missions converting Volga Bulgaria to Islam. The Delhi Sultanate reached deep into
700-631: A god in general. Angels (Arabic: ملك , malak ) are beings described in the Quran and hadith. They are described as created to worship God and also to serve in other specific duties such as communicating revelations from God, recording every person's actions, and taking a person's soul at the time of death. They are described as being created variously from 'light' ( nūr ) or 'fire' ( nār ). Islamic angels are often represented in anthropomorphic forms combined with supernatural images, such as wings, being of great size or wearing heavenly articles. Common characteristics for angels include
800-529: A human being, rather than God, is central to Muslims' religion. The Islamic creed ( aqidah ) requires belief in six articles : God, angels , revelation, prophets, the Day of Resurrection , and the divine predestination. The central concept of Islam is tawḥīd (Arabic: توحيد ), the oneness of God. It is usually thought of as a precise monotheism , but is also panentheistic in Islamic mystical teachings. God
900-495: A lack of bodily needs and desires, such as eating and drinking. Some of them, such as Gabriel ( Jibrīl ) and Michael ( Mika'il ), are mentioned by name in the Quran. Angels play a significant role in literature about the Mi'raj , where Muhammad encounters several angels during his journey through the heavens. Further angels have often been featured in Islamic eschatology , theology and philosophy . The pre-eminent holy text of Islam
1000-556: A movement that would evolve into tasawwuf or Sufism . At this time, theological problems, notably on free will, were prominently tackled, with Hasan al Basri holding that although God knows people's actions, good and evil come from abuse of free will and the devil . Greek rationalist philosophy influenced a speculative school of thought known as Muʿtazila , who famously advocated the notion of free-will originated by Wasil ibn Ata . Caliph Mamun al Rashid made it an official creed and unsuccessfully attempted to force this position on
1100-500: A person to hell . However, the Quran makes it clear that God will forgive the sins of those who repent if he wishes. Good deeds, like charity, prayer, and compassion towards animals will be rewarded with entry to heaven. Muslims view heaven as a place of joy and blessings, with Quranic references describing its features. Mystical traditions in Islam place these heavenly delights in the context of an ecstatic awareness of God. Yawm al-Qiyāmah
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#17330849971011200-569: A place of prayer, it is also an important social center for the Muslim community . For example, the Masjid an-Nabawi ("Prophetic Mosque") in Medina, Saudi Arabia , used to also serve as a shelter for the poor. Minarets are towers used to call the adhan , a vocal call to signal the prayer time. Zakat ( Arabic : زكاة , zakāh ), also spelled Zakāt or Zakah , is a type of almsgiving characterized by
1300-641: A religious group. This has been undertaken by communist forces like the Khmer Rouge , who viewed them as their primary enemy to be exterminated since their religious practice made them stand out from the rest of the population, the Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang and by nationalist forces such as during the Bosnian genocide . Myanmar military's Tatmadaw targeting of Rohingya Muslims has been labeled as
1400-904: A request from this community, the September 2006 Tokyo meeting of ISO/IEC 10646 WG2 agreed to encode two characters invented by Abadi (U+0F6B TIBETAN LETTER KKA and TIBETAN U+0F6C LETTER RRA) in the ISO 10646 and Unicode standards in order to support rendering Urdu loanwords present in modern Balti using the Yige alphabet. Since Pakistan gained control of the region in 1948, Urdu words have been introduced into local dialects and languages, including Balti. In modern times, Balti has no native names or vocabulary for dozens of newly invented and introduced things; instead, Urdu and English words are being used in Balti. Balti has retained many honorific words that are characteristic of Tibetan dialects and many other languages. Below are
1500-719: A root that means "to measure" or "calculating". Muslims often express this belief in divine destiny with the phrase "In-sha-Allah" ( Arabic : إن شاء الله ) meaning "if God wills" when speaking on future events. There are five acts of worship that are considered duties –the Shahada (declaration of faith), the five daily prayers, Zakat (almsgiving), fasting during Ramadan , and the Hajj pilgrimage–collectively known as "The Pillars of Islam" ( Arkān al-Islām ). In addition, Muslims also perform other optional supererogatory acts that are encouraged but not considered to be duties. The shahadah
1600-535: A trust from God's bounty, and is seen as a purification of one's excess wealth. The total annual value contributed due to zakat is 15 times greater than global humanitarian aid donations, using conservative estimates. Sadaqah , as opposed to Zakat, is a much-encouraged optional charity. A waqf is a perpetual charitable trust , which finances hospitals and schools in Muslim societies. In Islam, fasting ( Arabic : صوم , ṣawm ) precludes food and drink, as well as other forms of consumption, such as smoking , and
1700-398: Is Sahih al-Bukhari , often considered by Sunnis to be one of the most authentic sources after the Quran. Another well-known source of hadiths is known as The Four Books , which Shias consider as the most authentic hadith reference. Belief in the "Day of Resurrection" or Yawm al-Qiyāmah (Arabic: يوم القيامة ) is also crucial for Muslims. It is believed that the time of Qiyāmah
1800-514: Is yuq in other varieties, but juq in the southern dialect of Kharmang and Kargil. Similarly, milk is oma in the eastern Chorbat-Nubra, the central Khaplu, and the southern Kharmang-Kargil varieties, but ona in the western dialect of Skardu, Shigar, and Rondu valley. The four variants or dialects of Balti are: The predominant writing system currently in use for Balti is the Perso-Arabic script , although there have been attempts to revive
1900-655: Is a Tibetic language natively spoken by the ethnic Balti people in the Baltistan region of Gilgit-Baltistan , Nubra Valley of the Leh district and in the Kargil district of Ladakh , India . The language differs from Standard Tibetan ; many sounds of Old Tibetan that were lost in Standard Tibetan are retained in the Balti language. It also has a simple pitch accent system only in multi-syllabic words while Standard Tibetan has
2000-451: Is also identified in the Quran as Yawm ad-Dīn ( يوم الدين "Day of Religion"); as-Sāʿah ( الساعة "the Last Hour"); and al-Qāriʿah ( القارعة "The Clatterer"). The concept of divine predestination in Islam ( Arabic : القضاء والقدر , al-qadāʾ wa l-qadar ) means that every matter, good or bad, is believed to have been decreed by God. Al-qadar , meaning "power", derives from
2100-769: Is also spoken by immigrants in Karachi , Lahore , Peshawar , Islamabad , Quetta , and other cities of Pakistan. In India, it is found in Dehradun , Nainital , Ambari, Shimla, Vikasnagar , and other northern cities among speakers who migrated from Baltistan, Kargil, and Nubra before the partition of India and Pakistan. Historically, Buddhists in Leh have referred to all Muslims in Ladakh as Balti. The Balti language has four variants or dialects. Despite differences in pronunciation of vocabulary, they are mutually intelligible . For example, to keep
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#17330849971012200-403: Is an oath declaring belief in Islam. The expanded statement is " ʾašhadu ʾal-lā ʾilāha ʾillā-llāhu wa ʾašhadu ʾanna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh " ( أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمداً رسول الله ), or, "I testify that there is no deity except God and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of God." Islam is sometimes argued to have a very simple creed with the shahada being the premise for
2300-404: Is its centuries-long isolation from Tibet and even from its immediate neighbor, Ladakh, due to political divisions and strong religious differences. Separated from its linguistic kin, Balti is under pressure from more dominant languages such as Urdu . This is compounded by the lack of a suitable means of transcription following the abandonment of its original Tibetan script. The Baltis do not have
2400-569: Is known as tafsir . In addition to its religious significance, the Quran is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature , and has influenced art and the Arabic language. Islam also holds that God has sent revelations, called wahy , to different prophets numerous times throughout history. However, Islam teaches that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, such as the Tawrat ( Torah ) and
2500-662: Is on the ancient Silk Route linking the Indian Subcontinent and China. Bilafond La was a prominent feature during the 1984 start of military action in the Siachen Conflict between India and Pakistan. The Indian Army captured the pass in 1984 along with Sia La to the north and, in 1987, Gyong La to the south. India currently maintains a fortified military base at Bilafond La. Bilafond Pass, as well as nearby passes Sia La and Gyong La , were scenes of military activity starting in 1984 during Operation Meghdoot , part of
2600-407: Is optional and can be undertaken at any time of the year. Other sites of Islamic pilgrimage are Medina , where Muhammad died, as well as Jerusalem , a city of many Islamic prophets and the site of Al-Aqsa , which was the direction of prayer before Mecca. Muslims recite and memorize the whole or parts of the Quran as acts of virtue. Tajwid refers to the set of rules for the proper elocution of
2700-422: Is performed from dawn to sunset. During the month of Ramadan , it is considered a duty for Muslims to fast. The fast is to encourage a feeling of nearness to God by restraining oneself for God's sake from what is otherwise permissible and to think of the needy. In addition, there are other days, such as the Day of Arafah , when fasting is optional. The Islamic pilgrimage , called the " ḥajj " (Arabic: حج ),
2800-762: Is preordained by God, but unknown to man. The Quran and the hadith, as well as the commentaries of scholars , describe the trials and tribulations preceding and during the Qiyāmah . The Quran emphasizes bodily resurrection , a break from the pre-Islamic Arabian understanding of death. On Yawm al-Qiyāmah, Muslims believe all humankind will be judged by their good and bad deeds and consigned to Jannah (paradise) or Jahannam (hell). The Quran in Surat al-Zalzalah describes this as: "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it." The Quran lists several sins that can condemn
2900-480: Is seen as incomparable and without multiplicity of persons such as in the Christian Trinity , and associating multiplicity to God or attributing God's attributes to others is seen as idolatory , called shirk . God is described as Al Ghayb so is beyond comprehension. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules and do not attribute forms to God. God is instead described and referred to by several names or attributes ,
3000-480: Is the Quran . Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by God, through the archangel Gabriel, on multiple occasions between 610 CE and 632, the year Muhammad died. While Muhammad was alive, these revelations were written down by his companions , although the primary method of transmission was orally through memorization . The Quran is divided into 114 chapters ( sūrah ) which contain
3100-403: Is the verbal noun of Form IV originating from the verb سلم ( salama ), from the triliteral root س-ل-م ( S-L-M ), which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of submission, safeness, and peace. In a religious context, it refers to the total surrender to the will of God . A Muslim ( مُسْلِم ), the word for a follower of Islam, is the active participle of
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3200-520: Is to be done at least once a lifetime by every Muslim with the means to do so during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah . Rituals of the Hajj mostly imitate the story of the family of Abraham . In Mecca , pilgrims walk seven times around the Kaaba , which Muslims believe Abraham built as a place of worship, and they walk seven times between Mount Safa and Marwa , recounting the steps of Abraham's wife, Hagar , who
3300-401: Is to worship God. He is viewed as a personal god and there are no intermediaries, such as clergy , to contact God. Consciousness and awareness of God is referred to as Taqwa . Allāh is a term with no plural or gender being ascribed to it and is also used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews in reference to God, whereas ʾilāh ( إله ) is a term used for a deity or
3400-772: Is when Muhammad received his first revelation . By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam . Muslim rule expanded outside Arabia under the Rashidun Caliphate and the subsequent Umayyad Caliphate ruled from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indus Valley . In the Islamic Golden Age , specifically during the reign of the Abbasid Caliphate , most of the Muslim world experienced
3500-781: The Hijra ("emigration") in 622 to the city of Yathrib (current-day Medina). There, with the Medinan converts (the Ansar ) and the Meccan migrants (the Muhajirun ), Muhammad in Medina established his political and religious authority . The Constitution of Medina was signed by all the tribes of Medina. This established religious freedoms and freedom to use their own laws among the Muslim and non-Muslim communities as well as an agreement to defend Medina from external threats. Meccan forces and their allies lost against
3600-528: The Injil ( Gospel ), have become distorted —either in interpretation, in text, or both, while the Quran (lit. 'Recitation') is viewed as the final, verbatim and unaltered word of God. Prophets (Arabic: أنبياء , anbiyāʾ ) are believed to have been chosen by God to preach a divine message. Some of these prophets additionally deliver a new book and are called "messengers" ( رسول , rasūl ). Muslims believe prophets are human and not divine. All of
3700-682: The Arab Spring , Jamaat-e-Islami in South Asia and the AK Party , which has democratically been in power in Turkey for decades. In Iran , revolution replaced a secular monarchy with an Islamic state . Others such as Sayyid Rashid Rida broke away from Islamic modernists and pushed against embracing what he saw as Western influence. The group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant would even attempt to recreate
3800-576: The Battle of Nahrawan but a Kharijite assassin later killed Ali. Ali's son, Hasan ibn Ali, was elected Caliph and signed a peace treaty to avoid further fighting, abdicating to Mu'awiya in return for Mu'awiya not appointing a successor. Mu'awiya began the Umayyad dynasty with the appointment of his son Yazid I as successor, sparking the Second Civil War . During the Battle of Karbala , Husayn ibn Ali
3900-659: The Deobandi movement. In response to the Deobandi movement, the Barelwi movement was founded as a mass movement, defending popular Sufism and reforming its practices. The Muslim world was generally in political decline starting the 1800s, especially compared to non-Muslim European powers. Earlier, in the 15th century, the Reconquista succeeded in ending the Muslim presence in Iberia . By
4000-572: The Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts , the language is mostly found in the Skardu, Shigar, Ghanche, Roundu, and Kharmang parts of Gilgit-Baltistan. In the twin districts of Ladakh region ( Kargil and Leh ), it is spoken in Kargil city and its surrounding villages like Hardass, Lato, Karkitchhoo, and Balti Bazar, as well as in Turtuk , Bogdang , and Tyakshi , including Leh city and nearby villages. Balti
4100-756: The House of Wisdom employed Christian and Persian scholars to both translate works into Arabic and to develop new knowledge. Soldiers broke away from the Abbasid empire and established their own dynasties, such as the Tulunids in 868 in Egypt and the Ghaznavid dynasty in 977 in Central Asia. In this fragmentation came the Shi'a Century , roughly between 945 and 1055, which saw the rise of
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4200-655: The Indian Subcontinent and many converted to Islam, in particular low-caste Hindus whose descendants make up the vast majority of Indian Muslims. Trade brought many Muslims to China , where they virtually dominated the import and export industry of the Song dynasty . Muslims were recruited as a governing minority class in the Yuan dynasty . Through Muslim trade networks and the activity of Sufi orders, Islam spread into new areas and Muslims assimilated into new cultures. Under
4300-671: The Maghreb , the Iberian Peninsula , Narbonnese Gaul and Sindh . The Umayyads struggled with a lack of legitimacy and relied on a heavily patronized military. Since the jizya tax was a tax paid by non-Muslims which exempted them from military service, the Umayyads denied recognizing the conversion of non-Arabs, as it reduced revenue. While the Rashidun Caliphate emphasized austerity, with Umar even requiring an inventory of each official's possessions, Umayyad luxury bred dissatisfaction among
4400-567: The Muhammad , the religion's founder, who it views as the last prophet and messenger . Adherents of Islam are called Muslims , who are estimated to number approximately 1.9 billion worldwide and are the world's second-largest religious population after Christians . Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets and messengers , including Adam , Noah , Abraham , Moses , and Jesus . Muslims consider
4500-595: The Muslim population in Latin America . The resulting urbanization and increase in trade in sub-Saharan Africa brought Muslims to settle in new areas and spread their faith, likely doubling its Muslim population between 1869 and 1914. Forerunners of Islamic modernism influenced Islamist political movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and related parties in the Arab world, which performed well in elections following
4600-704: The Ottoman Empire , Islam spread to Southeast Europe . Conversion to Islam often involved a degree of syncretism , as illustrated by Muhammad's appearance in Hindu folklore. Muslim Turks incorporated elements of Turkish Shamanism beliefs to Islam. Muslims in Ming Dynasty China who were descended from earlier immigrants were assimilated, sometimes through laws mandating assimilation, by adopting Chinese names and culture while Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study. Cultural shifts were evident with
4700-638: The Ridda wars . Local populations of Jews and indigenous Christians, persecuted as religious minorities and heretics and taxed heavily, often helped Muslims take over their lands, resulting in rapid expansion of the caliphate into the Persian and Byzantine empires. Uthman was elected in 644 and his assassination by rebels led to Ali being elected the next Caliph. In the First Civil War , Muhammad's widow, Aisha , raised an army against Ali, attempting to avenge
4800-405: The Siachen Conflict , itself being part of the larger Kashmir conflict . Due to the strategic location of the pass west of the Siachen Glacier and near the current Actual Ground Position Line between India and Pakistan, the Indian Army maintains a presence to defend their position. Balti language Balti ( Perso-Arabic script : بلتی , Tibetan script : སྦལ་ཏི།, Wylie : sbal ti )
4900-441: The Sunnah , documented in accounts called the hadith , provide a constitutional model for Muslims. Islam is based on the belief in oneness and uniqueness of the God ( tawhid ), and belief in an afterlife ( akhirah ) with the Last Judgment —wherein the righteous will be rewarded in paradise ( jannah ) and the unrighteous will be punished in hell ( jahannam ). The Five Pillars —considered obligatory acts of worship—are
5000-429: The Tibetan script , which was used between the 8th and the 16th centuries. Additionally, there are two, nowadays possibly extinct, indigenous writing systems and there have been proposals for the adoption of Latin script - as well as Devanagari -based orthographies that were adjusted for writing Balti by the Central Institute of Indian Languages in the 1970s. In 1985, Yusuf Hussain Abadi added four new letters to
5100-402: The mathematical model that was later argued to be adopted by Copernicus unrevised in his heliocentric model, and Jamshīd al-Kāshī 's estimate of pi would not be surpassed for 180 years. After the introduction of gunpowder weapons, large and centralized Muslim states consolidated around gunpowder empires , these had been previously splintered amongst various territories. The caliphate
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#17330849971015200-400: The millennialist Isma'ili Shi'a missionary movement. One Isma'ili group, the Fatimid dynasty , took control of North Africa in the 10th century and another Isma'ili group, the Qarmatians , sacked Mecca and stole the Black Stone , a rock placed within the Kaaba, in their unsuccessful rebellion. Yet another Isma'ili group, the Buyid dynasty , conquered Baghdad and turned the Abbasids into
5300-447: The succession to Muhammad , they grew to cover a broader dimension, both theologically and juridically . The Sunni canonical hadith collection consists of six books , while the Shia canonical hadith collection consists of four books . Muslims make up a majority of the population in 49 countries. Approximately 12% of the world's Muslims live in Indonesia , the most populous Muslim-majority country; 31% live in South Asia ; 20% live in
5400-476: The " Night of Power " ( Laylat al-Qadr ) and is considered a significant event in Islamic history. During the next 22 years of his life, from age 40 onwards, Muhammad continued to receive revelations from God, becoming the last or seal of the prophets sent to mankind. During this time, while in Mecca, Muhammad preached first in secret and then in public, imploring his listeners to abandon polytheism and worship one God. Many early converts to Islam were women,
5500-421: The "world's first true scientist", in particular regarding his work in optics . In engineering, the Banū Mūsā brothers' automatic flute player is considered to have been the first programmable machine . In mathematics , the concept of the algorithm is named after Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi , who is considered a founder of algebra , which is named after his book al-jabr , while others developed
5600-423: The 19th century such as Sailaifengye in China after returning from Mecca but were eventually persecuted and forced into hiding by Sufi groups. Other groups sought to reform Sufism rather than reject it, with the Senusiyya and Muhammad Ahmad both waging war and establishing states in Libya and Sudan respectively. In India, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi attempted a more conciliatory style against Sufism and influenced
5700-563: The 19th century, the British East India Company had formally annexed the Mughal dynasty in India. As a response to Western Imperialism , many intellectuals sought to reform Islam . Islamic modernism , initially labelled by Western scholars as Salafiyya , embraced modern values and institutions such as democracy while being scripture oriented. Notable forerunners in the movement include Muhammad 'Abduh and Jamal al-Din al-Afghani . Abul A'la Maududi helped influence modern political Islam . Similar to contemporary codification , sharia
5800-402: The Arabic language and performed in the direction of the Kaaba . The act also requires a state of ritual purity achieved by means of either a routine wudu ritual wash or, in certain circumstances, a ghusl full body ritual wash. A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims, who often refer to it by its Arabic name masjid . Although the primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as
5900-642: The Islamic oath and creed ( shahada ), daily prayers ( salah ), almsgiving ( zakat ), fasting ( sawm ) in the month of Ramadan , and a pilgrimage ( hajj ) to Mecca . Islamic law, sharia , touches on virtually every aspect of life, from banking and finance and welfare to men's and women's roles and the environment . The two main religious festivals are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha . The three holiest sites in Islam are Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Prophet's Mosque in Medina , and al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem . The religion of Islam originated in Mecca in 610 CE . Muslims believe this
6000-404: The Middle East–North Africa ; and 15% live in sub-Saharan Africa . Muslim communities are also present in the Americas , China , and Europe . Muslims are the world's fastest-growing major religious group, due primarily to a higher fertility rate and younger age structure compared to other major religions. In Arabic, Islam ( Arabic : إسلام , lit. 'submission [to God]')
6100-423: The Muslims at the Battle of Badr in 624 and then fought an inconclusive battle in the Battle of Uhud before unsuccessfully besieging Medina in the Battle of the Trench (March–April 627). In 628, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was signed between Mecca and the Muslims, but it was broken by Mecca two years later. As more tribes converted to Islam, Meccan trade routes were cut off by the Muslims. By 629 Muhammad
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#17330849971016200-483: The Ottomans from the beginning. The Mevlevi Order and Bektashi Order had a close relation to the sultans, as Sufi-mystical as well as heterodox and syncretic approaches to Islam flourished. The often forceful Safavid conversion of Iran to the Twelver Shia Islam of the Safavid Empire ensured the final dominance of the Twelver sect within Shia Islam. Persian migrants to South Asia, as influential bureaucrats and landholders, helped spread Shia Islam, forming some of
6300-460: The Perso-Arabic script replaced the Tibetan script, but the former had no letters for seven Balti sounds and was in vogue despite being defective. Adding the seven new letters has now made it a complete script for Balti. Recently, a number of Balti scholars and social activists have attempted to promote the use of the Tibetan Balti or "Yige" alphabet with the aim of helping to preserve indigenous Balti and Ladakhi culture and ethnic identity. Following
6400-404: The Quran to be the verbatim word of God and the unaltered, final revelation. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations , such as the Tawrat (the Torah ), the Zabur ( Psalms ), and the Injil ( Gospel ). They believe that Muhammad is the main and final Islamic prophet , through whom the religion was completed. The teachings and normative examples of Muhammad, called
6500-733: The Quran. Many Muslims recite the whole Quran during the month of Ramadan. One who has memorized the whole Quran is called a hafiz ("memorizer"), and hadiths mention that these individuals will be able to intercede for others on Judgment Day. Supplication to God, called in Arabic duʿāʾ ( Arabic : دعاء IPA: [dʊˈʕæːʔ] ) has its own etiquette such as raising hands as if begging. Remembrance of God ( ذكر , Dhikr' ) refers to phrases repeated referencing God. Commonly, this includes Tahmid, declaring praise be due to God ( الحمد لله , al-Ḥamdu lillāh ) during prayer or when feeling thankful, Tasbih , declaring glory to God during prayer or when in awe of something and saying ' in
6600-427: The Quranic accounts are collected and explored in the Qisas al-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets). Muslims believe that God sent Muhammad as the final prophet (" Seal of the prophets ") to convey the completed message of Islam. In Islam, the "normative" example of Muhammad's life is called the sunnah (literally "trodden path"). Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's moral behaviors in their daily lives, and
6700-411: The Tibetan script and seven new letters to the Perso-Arabic script to adapt both of them to the needs of the Balti language. Two of the four added letters now stand included in the Tibetan Unicode block. Balti was written with a version of the Tibetan script from 727 AD, when Baltistan was conquered by Tibetans, until the last quarter of the 14th century, when the Baltis converted to Islam. Subsequently,
6800-413: The actual wording, called matn . There are various methodologies to classify the authenticity of hadiths, with the commonly used grading grading scale being "authentic" or "correct" ( صحيح , ṣaḥīḥ ); "good" ( حسن , ḥasan ); or "weak" ( ضعيف , ḍaʻīf ), among others. The Kutub al-Sittah are a collection of six books, regarded as the most authentic reports in Sunni Islam . Among them
6900-415: The awareness to revive their original script and there is no institution that could restore it and persuade the people to use it again. Even if the script were revived, it would need modification to express certain Urdu phonemes that occur in common loanwords within Balti. Example of poetry: Islam Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centered on the Quran and the teachings of
7000-785: The beginning of the compilation of the Quran. The Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz set up the committee, The Seven Fuqaha of Medina , and Malik ibn Anas wrote one of the earliest books on Islamic jurisprudence, the Muwatta , as a consensus of the opinion of those jurists. The Kharijites believed there was no compromised middle ground between good and evil, and any Muslim who committed a grave sin would become an unbeliever. The term "kharijites" would also be used to refer to later groups such as ISIS . The Murji'ah taught that people's righteousness could be judged by God alone. Therefore, wrongdoers might be considered misguided, but not denounced as unbelievers. This attitude came to prevail into mainstream Islamic beliefs. The Umayyad dynasty conquered
7100-407: The concept of a function . The government paid scientists the equivalent salary of professional athletes today. Guinness World Records recognizes the University of Al Karaouine , founded in 859, as the world's oldest degree-granting university. Many non-Muslims, such as Christians , Jews and Sabians , contributed to the Islamic civilization in various fields, and the institution known as
7200-516: The death of Uthman, but was defeated at the Battle of the Camel . Ali attempted to remove the governor of Syria, Mu'awiya , who was seen as corrupt. Mu'awiya then declared war on Ali and was defeated in the Battle of Siffin . Ali's decision to arbitrate angered the Kharijites , an extremist sect, who felt that by not fighting a sinner, Ali became a sinner as well. The Kharijites rebelled and were defeated in
7300-670: The decrease in Arab influence after the Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Muslim Mongol Khanates in Iran and Central Asia benefited from increased cross-cultural access to East Asia under Mongol rule and thus flourished and developed more distinctively from Arab influence, such as the Timurid Renaissance under the Timurid dynasty . Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201–1274) proposed
7400-466: The early Abbasid era, scholars such as Muhammad al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj compiled the major Sunni hadith collections while scholars like Al-Kulayni and Ibn Babawayh compiled major Shia hadith collections. The four Sunni Madh'habs , the Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, and Shafi'i, were established around the teachings of Abū Ḥanīfa , Ahmad ibn Hanbal , Malik ibn Anas and al-Shafi'i . In contrast,
7500-507: The gates of itjihad rather than blind imitation of scholars. He called for a jihad against those he deemed heretics, but his writings only played a marginal role during his lifetime. During the 18th century in Arabia, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab , influenced by the works of Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim , founded a movement called Wahhabi to return to what he saw as unadultered Islam. He condemned many local Islamic customs, such as visiting
7600-399: The giving of a fixed portion (2.5% annually) of accumulated wealth by those who can afford it to help the poor or needy, such as for freeing captives, those in debt , or for (stranded) travellers, and for those employed to collect zakat. It acts as a form of welfare in Muslim societies. It is considered a religious obligation that the well-off owe the needy because their wealth is seen as
7700-472: The grave of Muhammad or saints, as later innovations and sinful and destroyed sacred rocks and trees, Sufi shrines, the tombs of Muhammad and his companions and the tomb of Husayn at Karbala, a major Shia pilgrimage site. He formed an alliance with the Saud family , which, by the 1920s, completed their conquest of the area that would become Saudi Arabia . Ma Wanfu and Ma Debao promoted salafist movements in
7800-465: The languages and dialects of the mountain region in the north of Pakistan such as Pashto , Khowar and Shina are Indo-Aryan or Iranic languages , but Balti is one of the Sino-Tibetan languages . As such, it has nothing in common with neighboring languages except some loanwords absorbed as a result of linguistic contact. Balti and Ladakhi are closely related. The major issue facing Balti literature
7900-558: The largest Shia populations outside Iran. Nader Shah , who overthrew the Safavids, attempted to improve relations with Sunnis by propagating the integration of Twelverism into Sunni Islam as a fifth madhhab , called Ja'farism, which failed to gain recognition from the Ottomans. Earlier in the 14th century, Ibn Taymiyya promoted a puritanical form of Islam, rejecting philosophical approaches in favor of simpler theology, and called to open
8000-652: The majority. Caliph Al-Mu'tasim carried out inquisitions , with the traditionalist Ahmad ibn Hanbal notably refusing to conform to the Muʿtazila idea that the Quran was created rather than being eternal , which resulted in him being tortured and kept in an unlit prison cell for nearly thirty months. However, other schools of speculative theology – Māturīdism founded by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi and Ash'ari founded by Al-Ash'ari – were more successful in being widely adopted. Philosophers such as Al-Farabi , Avicenna and Averroes sought to harmonize Aristotle's ideas with
8100-479: The modern gold dinar as their monetary system. While some of those who broke away were quietist , others believed in violence against those opposing them, even against other Muslims. In opposition to Islamic political movements, in 20th century Turkey, the military carried out coups to oust Islamist governments, and headscarves were legally restricted, as also happened in Tunisia. In other places, religious authority
8200-542: The moral decline and idolatry prevalent in Mecca and seeking seclusion and spiritual contemplation, Muhammad retreated to the Cave of Hira in the mountain Jabal al-Nour , near Mecca. It was during his time in the cave that he is said to have received the first revelation of the Quran from the angel Gabriel . The event of Muhammad's retreat to the cave and subsequent revelation is known as
8300-399: The most common being Ar-Rahmān ( الرحمان ) meaning "The Entirely Merciful", and Ar-Rahīm ( الرحيم ) meaning "The Especially Merciful" which are invoked at the beginning of most chapters of the Quran. Islam teaches that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God's command as expressed by the wording, " Be, and it is ," and that the purpose of existence
8400-465: The name of God ' ( بسملة , basmalah ) before starting an act such as eating. According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 CE and was orphaned early in life. Growing up as a trader, he became known as the " trusted one " ( Arabic : الامين ) and was sought after as an impartial arbitrator. He later married his employer, the businesswoman Khadija . In the year 610 CE, troubled by
8500-630: The pious. The Kharijites led the Berber Revolt , leading to the first Muslim states independent of the Caliphate. In the Abbasid Revolution , non-Arab converts ( mawali ), Arab clans pushed aside by the Umayyad clan, and some Shi'a rallied and overthrew the Umayyads, inaugurating the more cosmopolitan Abbasid dynasty in 750. Al-Shafi'i codified a method to determine the reliability of hadith. During
8600-557: The poor, foreigners, and slaves like the first muezzin Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi . The Meccan elite felt Muhammad was destabilizing their social order by preaching about one God and giving questionable ideas to the poor and slaves because they profited from the pilgrimages to the idols of the Kaaba. After 12 years of the persecution of Muslims by the Meccans , Muhammad and his companions performed
8700-406: The prophets are said to have preached the same basic message of Islam – submission to the will of God – to various nations in the past, and this is said to account for many similarities among religions. The Quran recounts the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam , including Adam , Noah , Abraham , Moses and Jesus , among others. The stories associated with the prophets beyond
8800-429: The rest of the religion. Non-Muslims wishing to convert to Islam are required to recite the shahada in front of witnesses. Prayer in Islam, called as-salah or aṣ-ṣalāt (Arabic: الصلاة ), is seen as a personal communication with God and consists of repeating units called rakat that include bowing and prostrating to God. There are five timed prayers each day that are considered duties. The prayers are recited in
8900-518: The same verb form, and means "submitter (to God)" or "one who surrenders (to God)". In the Hadith of Gabriel , Islam is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān (faith), and ihsān (excellence). Islam itself was historically called Mohammedanism in the English-speaking world . This term has fallen out of use and is sometimes said to be offensive , as it suggests that
9000-408: The sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Quran. This example is preserved in traditions known as hadith , which are accounts of his words, actions, and personal characteristics. Hadith Qudsi is a sub-category of hadith, regarded as God's verbatim words quoted by Muhammad that are not part of the Quran. A hadith involves two elements: a chain of narrators, called sanad , and
9100-592: The teachings of Ja'far al-Sadiq formed the Ja'fari jurisprudence . In the 9th century, Al-Tabari completed the first commentary of the Quran, the Tafsir al-Tabari , which became one of the most cited commentaries in Sunni Islam. Some Muslims began questioning the piety of indulgence in worldly life and emphasized poverty, humility, and avoidance of sin based on renunciation of bodily desires. Ascetics such as Hasan al-Basri inspired
9200-651: The teachings of Islam, similar to later scholasticism within Christianity in Europe and Maimonides ' work within Judaism, while others like Al-Ghazali argued against such syncretism and ultimately prevailed. This era is sometimes called the " Islamic Golden Age ". Islamic scientific achievements spanned a wide range of subject areas including medicine , mathematics , astronomy , and agriculture as well as physics , economics , engineering and optics . Avicenna
9300-428: Was a pioneer in experimental medicine , and his The Canon of Medicine was used as a standard medicinal text in the Islamic world and Europe for centuries. Rhazes was the first to identify the diseases smallpox and measles . Public hospitals of the time issued the first medical diplomas to license doctors. Ibn al-Haytham is regarded as the father of the modern scientific method and often referred to as
9400-676: Was claimed by the Ottoman dynasty of the Ottoman Empire and its claims were strengthened in 1517 as Selim I became the ruler of Mecca and Medina . The Shia Safavid dynasty rose to power in 1501 and later conquered all of Iran. In South Asia, Babur founded the Mughal Empire . The religion of the centralized states of the gunpowder empires influenced the religious practice of their constituent populations. A symbiosis between Ottoman rulers and Sufism strongly influenced Islamic reign by
9500-593: Was co-opted and is now often seen as puppets of the state. For example, in Saudi Arabia, the state monopolized religious scholarship and, in Egypt, the state nationalized Al-Azhar University , previously an independent voice checking state power. Salafism was funded in the Middle East for its quietism. Saudi Arabia campaigned against revolutionary Islamist movements in the Middle East, in opposition to Iran. Muslim minorities of various ethnicities have been persecuted as
9600-614: Was established in 1969 after the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem . Contact with industrialized nations brought Muslim populations to new areas through economic migration. Many Muslims migrated as indentured servants (mostly from India and Indonesia) to the Caribbean, forming the largest Muslim populations by percentage in the Americas. Migration from Syria and Lebanon contributed to
9700-570: Was for the first time partially codified into law in 1869 in the Ottoman Empire's Mecelle code. The Ottoman Empire dissolved after World War I , the Ottoman Caliphate was abolished in 1924 and the subsequent Sharifian Caliphate fell quickly, thus leaving Islam without a Caliph . Pan-Islamists attempted to unify Muslims and competed with growing nationalist forces, such as pan-Arabism . The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), consisting of Muslim-majority countries ,
9800-506: Was killed by Yazid's forces; the event has been annually commemorated by Shias ever since. Sunnis, led by Ibn al-Zubayr and opposed to a dynastic caliphate, were defeated in the siege of Mecca . These disputes over leadership would give rise to the Sunni - Shia schism, with the Shia believing leadership belongs to Muhammad's family through Ali, called the ahl al-bayt . Abu Bakr's leadership oversaw
9900-524: Was looking for water for her baby Ishmael in the desert before Mecca developed into a settlement. The pilgrimage also involves spending a day praying and worshipping in the plain of Mount Arafat as well as symbolically stoning the Devil . All Muslim men wear only two simple white unstitched pieces of cloth called ihram , intended to bring continuity through generations and uniformity among pilgrims despite class or origin. Another form of pilgrimage, Umrah ,
10000-548: Was victorious in the nearly bloodless conquest of Mecca , and by the time of his death in 632 (at age 62) he had united the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity . Muhammad died in 632 and the first successors, called Caliphs – Abu Bakr , Umar , Uthman ibn al-Affan , Ali ibn Abi Talib and sometimes Hasan ibn Ali – are known in Sunni Islam as al-khulafā' ar-rāshidūn (" Rightly Guided Caliphs "). Some tribes left Islam and rebelled under leaders who declared themselves new prophets but were crushed by Abu Bakr in
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