RELIGIOUS BOOKS OF ISLAM

The religion of Islam has two sacred books or texts- Qur'an (the eternal words of God or Allah) and the Hadith that is the key source for Islamic law. Islam, founded by Muhammad, the Prophet of Mecca is one of the three main world religions that practices Monotheism- the belief in one God. The other two religions are Christianity and Judaism. In Arabic terminology, the word Islam means – ‘submission' or ‘surrender'- that is submitting to God's will.

Islam rose to prominence in the 7 th century and after a couple of centuries, it spread from Arabia to Syria, North America, Syria, Spain, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and so on. Muhammad preached the existence of one single God, the supreme power who had sent several codes for living through his messengers and prophets. All these laws were compiled in the holy book of Islam- Qur'an (Koran).

The Quaran is said to have a divine authorship and it is believed that the words of Qur'an are such that no human can produce them. The Qur'an consists of 114 chapters which are known as suras and every chapter is divided into ayat meaning verses. These suras begin with the lengthiest chapters and end with the smallest chapters. The first chapter is known as al-Fatiha (meaning the Opening).

The second most important religious book of Islam after Qur'an is the Hadith .

Hadith was compiled after 250 years of Muhammad's death forms the basis and the main source for Islamic authority. The Hadith is a compendium of various compilations and among them, Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim (the sound books of Bukhari and Muslim) are regarded as the major authoritative sources of Islam.

The Islamic laws covered by Hadith are dietary laws, inheritance and marriage laws, purity laws, criminal law, laws concerning relationships with non-Muslims, the laws pertaining to the ‘five pillars' and et cetera.