Founded in the early 7th century CE by the Prophet Muhammad, Islam—like Judaism and Christianity—is a monotheistic tradition. Followers of the Islamic faith, known as Muslims, believe in one God (Allah) and regard Muhammad as the last prophet. Their sacred scripture is the Qu'ran, which outlines God's revelations to Muhammad (Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.). Islamic tradition is built upon the Five Pillars: shahadah (declaration of faith), salah (prayer), zakah (annual giving ), sawm (fasting during Ramadan), and hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) (Helicon, 2018).
Browse the "Islamic Artifacts In the Display" box on this page to learn more about the items and the Islamic traditions they represent.
References
Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). Islam. In Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.
Helicon. (2018). The five pillars of Islam. In The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide.
The Qur’an (al-Qur'ān, or ٱلْقُرْآن in Arabic script) is the sacred text of the religion of Islam, which worldwide has 1.9 billion adherents. The word “qur’an” literally means, “recitation,” as it is believed by Muslims to be recited in the 7th century CE to their prophet, Muhammed, by the angel Gabriel.
The Qu’ran contains 114 suwar (a single one is called a surah), which is similar to chapters. The pages of a Qur’an like this one, made for personal study, contain not only the original text, but also tafsir, or commentary, on the text. What sort of tafsir is available depends on the sect and fiqh, or school of interpretation, is represented by the particular edition of the Qur’an. The original text, however, remains unaltered from its original Arabic.
Muslims—like Christians with rosaries and Hindus with japamalas—will use strings of beads to help count recitations during personal prayers. Commonly recited prayers can include the 99 names of God attested-- in both the Qur’an and in the hadith, or stories of the prophet Muhammed’s life—or the phrase “la ilaha illa allah” (Arabic for, “there is no god, but God”). The number of beads on a string will vary, but can include 11, 33, or 99.
The short video below explains how prayer beads are used for the practice of dhikr, the repetition of prayer for the purposes of remembering Allah.
This golden bookmark is inscribed with the basmala, or the phrase “bi-smillah ir-rahman ir-rahim,” which translates to “in the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful.” The basmala is the first line in the Qu’ran, and due to that significance, is also sometimes used by Muslims when beginning an undertaking.
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