Abrahamic Traditions
Judaism, Christianity, Islam — the three monotheistic religions tracing covenantal heritage to Abraham (Avraham + Abraam + Ibrahim, ~2nd millennium BCE patriarch of Genesis 12-25). Together ~4.4 billion adherents (~55% of humanity). Shared: ethical monotheism, one God who creates, reveals, judges; prophecy as primary mode of revelation; sacred scripture; messianic/eschatological orientation; Genesis 1-11 mythology (creation + Eden + flood + Babel) as common substrate; Abraham + Moses + (qualifiedly) Jesus as venerated figures interpreted differently in each.
Differences are substantive: Judaism centers covenant + Torah + ongoing rabbinic interpretation; Christianity centers Christ’s incarnation, death, resurrection + Trinitarian theology; Islam centers final, uncorrupted revelation through Muhammad + Quran + Sharia. Each defines itself partly against the others.
Judaism
The covenantal religion of the Jewish people, originating in the ancient Near East, formed through Israelite history, Babylonian exile, Second Temple Judaism, rabbinic transformation post-70 CE, medieval diaspora, modernity, and the State of Israel (1948).
Scripture + foundational texts
Tanakh (acronym Torah + Nevi’im + Ketuvim) — Hebrew Bible, ~5th c BCE final form for Torah, later for prophets + writings.
- Torah / Pentateuch / Chumash — Bereshit (Genesis) + Shemot (Exodus) + Vayikra (Leviticus) + Bamidbar (Numbers) + Devarim (Deuteronomy). Traditionally Mosaic authorship.
- Documentary Hypothesis — Julius Wellhausen Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels 1878 — Torah composed from four sources J (Yahwist) + E (Elohist) + D (Deuteronomist) + P (Priestly) redacted ~5th c BCE. Modern variants — Documentary, Supplementary, Fragmentary, Neo-Documentary (Joel Baden); Friedman Who Wrote the Bible? 1987.
- Nevi’im — Former Prophets (Joshua + Judges + Samuel + Kings) + Latter (Isaiah + Jeremiah + Ezekiel + 12 minor)
- Ketuvim — Psalms + Proverbs + Job + 5 Megillot (Song of Songs + Ruth + Lamentations + Ecclesiastes + Esther) + Daniel + Ezra-Nehemiah + Chronicles
- 24 books in Jewish counting; 39 in Protestant Christian (different divisions)
Talmud — rabbinic compendium of law + discussion.
- Mishnah compiled by Rabbi Judah HaNasi (Rabbi/Judah the Prince) ~200 CE — 6 orders (sedarim) — Zeraim (agricultural) + Moed (festivals) + Nashim (women/family) + Nezikin (damages/civil law) + Kodashim (Temple/sacrifices) + Tohorot (purity)
- Gemara — rabbinic commentary on Mishnah
- Babylonian Talmud (Bavli) ~500 CE — more comprehensive + authoritative (~2.5M words); Jerusalem Talmud (Yerushalmi) ~400 CE — shorter
- Standard Vilna edition pagination universal since 1880s
Midrash — homiletical + exegetical commentary (Midrash Rabbah on Torah books; Midrash Tanchuma; Pesikta collections); aggadah (narrative) + halakhah (legal)
Mishneh Torah Moses Maimonides (Rambam, Egypt) 1180 — 14-book systematic codification of Jewish law
Shulchan Aruch Joseph Karo Safed 1565 — standard halakhic code with Ashkenazi glosses (Mappah) by Moses Isserles (Rema) — authoritative for Orthodox practice
Zohar attributed to Shimon bar Yochai 2nd c CE but historically composed by Moses de León ~1280 Spain — foundational Kabbalistic mystical text; sefirot + Ein Sof + tikkun
History
Biblical period — Patriarchs (Abraham + Isaac + Jacob — ~2nd millennium BCE traditionally; debated archaeologically); Exodus from Egypt under Moses (~13th c BCE traditionally; not directly attested); conquest of Canaan (Joshua); Judges; United Monarchy Saul + David ~1000 BCE + Solomon ~970-931 BCE
First Temple — Solomon built ~957 BCE; destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II 586 BCE; Kingdom divided 931 BCE Israel (North 10 tribes, destroyed by Assyria 722 BCE) + Judah (South 2 tribes)
Babylonian Exile 586-538 BCE — return under Cyrus the Great Edict 538 BCE
Second Temple period 516 BCE - 70 CE — rebuilt under Zerubbabel + Joshua; Hellenistic period after Alexander 333 BCE; Ptolemaic + Seleucid rule
Hasmonean / Maccabean revolt 167-160 BCE — Mattathias + Judas Maccabeus vs Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ hellenization + Temple desecration; rededication 164 BCE = Hanukkah; Hasmonean dynasty 140-37 BCE
Roman period — Pompey 63 BCE; Herod the Great 37-4 BCE rebuilt Temple; Jewish-Roman wars: First Revolt 66-73 CE — destruction of Second Temple 70 CE by Titus (9th of Av); Masada fell 73 CE; Bar Kokhba revolt 132-135 CE crushed by Hadrian → Diaspora intensified
Rabbinic Judaism — Yochanan ben Zakkai escapes besieged Jerusalem 70 CE, establishes Yavneh academy; Sanhedrin reconstituted; oral Torah codified
Medieval Jewish history:
- Babylonian Jewry — geonim 6th-11th c, yeshivot of Sura + Pumbedita
- Spanish/Sephardic Golden Age ~900-1200 — Maimonides (1138-1204) + Judah Halevi + Ibn Gabirol + Nahmanides; coexistence + persecution alternated
- Ashkenazi development — Rhineland + France 11th c onward; Rashi (1040-1105 Troyes — definitive Torah + Talmud commentator); Crusader massacres 1096; expulsions — England 1290 + France 1394 + Spain 1492 Alhambra Decree + Portugal 1497
- Pale of Settlement — Russia confined Jews 1791-1917; pogroms 1881+ Kishinev 1903 + Odessa 1905 + 1919-20 Ukraine
- Haskalah Jewish Enlightenment late 18th c — Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86)
- Reform Movement — Abraham Geiger 1840s Germany — modernizing liturgy + theology; Pittsburgh Platform 1885
- Zionism — Theodor Herzl Der Judenstaat 1896 → First Zionist Congress Basel 1897; Chaim Weizmann; Balfour Declaration Nov 2 1917
Holocaust (Shoah) 1933-45 — Nazi Germany’s systematic murder of ~6 million Jews; ghettos + Einsatzgruppen + extermination camps (Auschwitz-Birkenau + Treblinka + Sobibor + Belzec + Majdanek + Chelmno); Wannsee Conference Jan 1942; Final Solution; Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 1943
State of Israel founded May 14, 1948 — David Ben-Gurion proclaims independence; war with Arab states 1948-49 + Suez 1956 + Six-Day 1967 + Yom Kippur 1973; Yom Ha’atzmaut 5 Iyar; ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict including 1st + 2nd intifadas + Oslo Accords 1993 + 2nd Lebanon War 2006 + Gaza wars 2008-09 + 2014 + 2023-25
Branches
Orthodox — accept halakhah as binding + revealed:
- Modern Orthodox (Centrist/Religious Zionist) — Joseph B. Soloveitchik (Boston/Yeshiva U; “The Rav”); Torah u-Madda; Yeshiva University; Bnei Akiva
- Haredi / Ultra-Orthodox — strict halakhah, separation from secular culture, distinctive dress
- Hasidic — Baal Shem Tov (Israel ben Eliezer 1698-1760 Ukraine); emphasis on joy + devotion + tzaddik (rebbe); courts include Chabad-Lubavitch (Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson 1902-94), Satmar (Joel Teitelbaum), Belz, Bobov, Ger (Gur), Vizhnitz, Breslov, Skver
- Litvish / Misnagdim / Yeshivish — opposed early Hasidism (Vilna Gaon 1720-97); Lithuanian yeshiva tradition; Lakewood BMG + Brisk + Mir
- Mizrahi / Sephardic Orthodox — Eastern Jewish traditions (Iraq + Syria + Yemen + Morocco + Persia); Shas party Israel
Conservative / Masorti — Solomon Schechter Jewish Theological Seminary America 1902+; halakhah evolves through Committee on Jewish Law + Standards; egalitarian since 1980s; declining numbers
Reform / Progressive — Hebrew Union College 1875 + Central Conference of American Rabbis 1889; classic Reform abandoned ritual; modern Reform restored some + ordains women (1972 Sally Priesand) + LGBTQ inclusion; largest US Jewish denomination
Reconstructionist — Mordecai Kaplan Judaism as a Civilization 1934, formal denomination 1955; Judaism as evolving civilization; non-supernatural theology
Renewal — Zalman Schachter-Shalomi 1960s+ — neo-Hasidic, integrating mysticism + meditation + ecology + feminism
Secular Jewish identity — cultural + ethnic; significant in Israel (Hilonim) + US
Practice
- 613 mitzvot — commandments derived from Torah by Talmudic + later enumeration (Maimonides Sefer HaMitzvot); 248 positive + 365 negative; Hillel — “what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor; that is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary”
- Shabbat — Friday sundown to Saturday sundown; 39 categories of prohibited work (melachot); candle lighting + Kiddush + challah + Havdalah; “more than the Jews have kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat has kept the Jews” — Ahad Ha’am
- Kashrut — kosher dietary laws (covered comparative-religion)
- Brit milah circumcision 8th day; bris with mohel; Brit bat / Simchat Bat naming for girls
- Bar mitzvah age 13 boys + bat mitzvah age 12 girls (Conservative + Reform; some Orthodox)
- Daily prayer 3x — Shacharit (morning) + Mincha (afternoon) + Maariv (evening); Amidah/Shemoneh Esrei silent standing prayer; Shema (Deut 6:4-9)
- Kippah / yarmulke + tallit + tefillin for morning prayer; mezuzah on doorposts
- Mikvah ritual immersion — conversion + nidah + before Shabbat
- Yamim Noraim (High Holy Days) — Rosh Hashanah (1-2 Tishrei) + Yom Kippur (10 Tishrei, fast + Kol Nidre)
- Three pilgrimage festivals (Shalosh Regalim) — Pesach / Passover (15 Nisan, 8 days, seder + matzah) + Shavuot (Pentecost, giving of Torah) + Sukkot (booths, 15 Tishrei)
- Hanukkah (25 Kislev, 8 days, menorah) + Purim (14 Adar, Esther reading, megillah) + Tisha B’Av (9 Av, fast for Temple destructions)
Theology
- Maimonides 13 principles — God’s existence + unity + incorporeality + eternity + worship of God alone + prophecy + Moses’ supreme prophecy + divine origin of Torah + immutability of Torah + omniscience + reward/punishment + messiah + resurrection
- Hashem (“The Name”) + tetragrammaton YHWH (Adonai in reading; pronunciation lost); Elohim + El Shaddai + Adonai Tzevaot; in Kabbalah 72 + 42 + 4-letter names
- Covenant + chosen people — Israel as God’s covenantal partner with mission to be or la-goyim (light to nations); chosenness as responsibility not privilege
- Messiah + olam ha-ba (world to come) + tikkun olam (repair of the world — popularized in 20th c social-justice sense)
- Halakha (Jewish law) + aggadah (narrative + theology)
- Musar movement — Israel Salanter (1810-83) — ethical self-cultivation through study of medieval ethical texts; revived 21st c
Christianity
The largest world religion (~2.4 billion), centered on the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth, originating as a Second Temple Jewish messianic movement (~30 CE), spreading through Roman Empire, and developing distinctive theology, sacraments, ecclesiology, and ongoing internal divisions.
Jesus + New Testament
Jesus of Nazareth ~4 BCE - 30 CE (or 30-33 CE; chronology debated). Born Bethlehem (per Matt + Luke; Nazareth per other accounts); raised Nazareth; baptized by John the Baptist Jordan ~27 CE; itinerant Galilean teacher + healer; gathered 12 disciples; preached Kingdom of God / Heaven (basileia tou theou); parables (prodigal son + good Samaritan + sower + mustard seed); Sermon on the Mount Matt 5-7 (Beatitudes + Lord’s Prayer + Golden Rule); love commandments (Mark 12:28-31 — love God + love neighbor); ate with sinners + tax collectors; cleansed Temple; Crucifixion under Pontius Pilate ~30 CE; Resurrection (Easter, 3rd day) foundational claim
Paul of Tarsus / Saul ~5-67 CE — Pharisee, Roman citizen, persecuted early followers, converted on road to Damascus; 3 missionary journeys; letters to early churches ~50-60 CE are earliest NT writings — undisputed: Romans, 1+2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon; disputed: Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians; pseudonymous: Pastorals (1+2 Tim, Titus). Pauline theology centers grace + faith + justification + the new creation in Christ.
New Testament canon — 27 books finalized ~367 CE Athanasius 39th Festal Letter + Carthage 397/419; consists of:
- 4 Gospels — Matthew + Mark (earliest ~70 CE) + Luke (with Acts) + John (latest ~90-100 CE)
- Acts of the Apostles (Luke’s vol 2)
- 21 Epistles — 13 Pauline + Hebrews + 7 Catholic (James + 1+2 Peter + 1+2+3 John + Jude)
- Revelation / Apocalypse of John ~95 CE
Old Testament — shared with Judaism in content but ordered differently and supplemented:
- Protestant 39 books = Jewish 24 redivided
- Catholic 46 (adds 7 Deuterocanonical — Tobit + Judith + Wisdom + Sirach + Baruch + 1+2 Maccabees + additions to Esther + Daniel)
- Eastern Orthodox 49-51 (adds 1 Esdras + Prayer of Manasseh + Psalm 151 + 3 Maccabees; some include 4 Maccabees in appendix)
- Ethiopian Orthodox 81 books including 1 Enoch + Jubilees + Meqabyan I-III
Major theological developments + councils
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Council of Nicaea 325 Constantine convened — defined Son as homoousios (same substance) with Father against Arius; Nicene Creed
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Council of Constantinople 381 — confirmed Nicaea, expanded creed re Holy Spirit; Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (recited today)
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Council of Ephesus 431 — Mary as Theotokos (God-bearer) against Nestorius; condemned Nestorianism
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Council of Chalcedon 451 — Chalcedonian Definition — Christ in two natures (divine + human), one person; rejected by Oriental Orthodox who follow Miaphysite formula (one united nature) of Cyril of Alexandria
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Council of Constantinople II 553, III 680-81 (Monothelitism rejected), Nicaea II 787 (icons restored)
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Great Schism 1054 — Cardinal Humbert + Patriarch Cerularius mutual excommunications; long-developing differences crystallized: Filioque (“and from the Son” added to Nicene Creed by Western church, rejected as unilateral by East); papal primacy/jurisdiction; unleavened/leavened bread eucharistic; clerical celibacy; mutual excommunications lifted 1965 Paul VI + Athenagoras
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Western Schism 1378-1417 — competing popes Rome + Avignon; resolved Council of Constance
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Reformation 1517 — Martin Luther 95 Theses Wittenberg Oct 31 1517 against indulgences; sola scriptura + sola fide + sola gratia + solus Christus + soli Deo gloria; Augsburg Confession 1530; excommunicated 1521 Diet of Worms
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John Calvin Institutes of the Christian Religion 1536 + Geneva theocracy; predestination + Reformed theology
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English Reformation — Henry VIII Act of Supremacy 1534; Book of Common Prayer Cranmer 1549/1559/1662; Anglican via media between Catholic + Reformed
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Anabaptists — Zurich 1525 Conrad Grebel + Felix Manz; believer’s baptism + radical reform; Mennonites + Amish + Hutterites; Münster catastrophe 1534-35
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Council of Trent 1545-63 — Catholic Counter-Reformation — affirmed 7 sacraments + transubstantiation + tradition alongside scripture + Latin Vulgate; Tridentine Mass standardized
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Vatican I 1869-70 — papal infallibility when speaking ex cathedra on faith + morals (Pius IX); Pastor Aeternus
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Vatican II 1962-65 — aggiornamento updating; Lumen Gentium (Church) + Dei Verbum (revelation) + Nostra Aetate (non-Christian religions) + Sacrosanctum Concilium (liturgy — vernacular Mass) + Gaudium et Spes (Church in modern world)
Branches
Roman Catholic ~1.4 billion — Pope (Bishop of Rome) supreme; Vatican City state since Lateran Treaty 1929; current Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) 2013-25 (Argentinian Jesuit, first from Americas); ~1.4 million parishes worldwide; magisterium + canon law (1983 code); 24 sui iuris Eastern Catholic churches in full communion with Rome but using Eastern rites (Maronite + Melkite + Ukrainian Greek + Syro-Malabar + Coptic Catholic + Ethiopian Catholic etc.); religious orders — Benedictines + Franciscans (Order of Friars Minor + Capuchins + Conventuals) + Dominicans + Jesuits (Society of Jesus, Ignatius Loyola 1540) + Carmelites + Cistercians + many congregations
Eastern Orthodox ~220 million — 15 autocephalous churches in communion, no single jurisdictional head though Constantinople has “first among equals” honor:
- Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople — Patriarch Bartholomew I 1991-
- Russian Orthodox Church (Patriarch Kirill 2009-) — largest by adherents
- Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem — ancient patriarchates
- Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Georgia, Cyprus, Albania, Poland, Czech-Slovak, OCA (Orthodox Church in America)
- Ukrainian Orthodox split 2018-19 (Constantinople recognized OCU autocephaly; Moscow rejected)
- Distinctive: divine liturgy of St John Chrysostom + St Basil; icons + iconostasis; theosis; hesychasm; married + monastic clergy; bishops monastic only
Oriental Orthodox ~60 million — non-Chalcedonian (rejected 451); Miaphysite Christology:
- Coptic Orthodox Egypt — Pope Tawadros II
- Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo — largest by population
- Eritrean Orthodox (split from Ethiopian 1993)
- Syriac Orthodox / Jacobite
- Armenian Apostolic — first state Christianity 301
- Malankara Orthodox Syrian Kerala India
Assyrian Church of the East + Ancient Church of the East — historically Nestorian; rejected Ephesus 431; once spread to China + India + Mongolia
Protestant ~900 million:
- Lutheran ~75M — Lutheran World Federation + LCMS conservative; Augsburg Confession
- Reformed / Presbyterian / Congregational — Calvin tradition; Westminster Confession 1646; PCA + PCUSA + URC + Church of Scotland + Reformed Church Netherlands
- Anglican / Episcopal ~85M — via media; Anglican Communion 42 provinces; Lambeth Conference; Archbishop of Canterbury honorary head; Global South vs liberal North tension
- Methodist / Wesleyan ~60-80M — John + Charles Wesley 18th c; United Methodist Church split 2022-24 over LGBTQ
- Baptist ~75M — Southern Baptist Convention largest US Protestant body; believer’s baptism + congregational polity
- Pentecostal / Charismatic ~280M — Azusa Street Revival 1906; speaking in tongues; gifts of Spirit; Assemblies of God + Church of God in Christ + Foursquare + Vineyard; world’s fastest-growing branch
- Evangelical as transdenominational identity — Bebbington quadrilateral (Biblicism + crucicentrism + conversionism + activism)
- Adventist ~22M — Seventh-day Adventist; Saturday Sabbath + Ellen White
Independent + Restorationist — Christian self-identified but heterodox by mainstream:
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS / Mormons) ~17M — Joseph Smith Jr 1830 Book of Mormon (golden plates revealed by angel Moroni, translated 1827-30) + Doctrine and Covenants + Pearl of Great Price; Brigham Young Utah migration 1846-47; non-Trinitarian; deification doctrine; temple ordinances; Quorum of the Twelve + First Presidency
- Jehovah’s Witnesses ~9M — Charles Taze Russell Watchtower Bible and Tract Society 1879; non-Trinitarian; no blood transfusions; door-to-door evangelism; 144,000 anointed
- Christian Science — Mary Baker Eddy Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures 1875
- Unitarianism + Universalism — merged Unitarian Universalist Association 1961
Sacraments
- Catholic + Orthodox: 7 — Baptism + Confirmation (Chrismation in East) + Eucharist (Communion / Lord’s Supper / Divine Liturgy) + Reconciliation (Penance / Confession) + Anointing of the Sick (Extreme Unction historically) + Holy Orders (ordination) + Matrimony
- Most Protestant: 2 — Baptism + Eucharist/Lord’s Supper (often called ordinances)
- Eucharistic theology — Catholic transubstantiation (Aristotelian substance change, Trent); Lutheran consubstantiation/sacramental union (“in, with, under”); Reformed memorialist (Zwingli) or spiritual presence (Calvin); Orthodox real presence without scholastic formula
Doctrine
- Trinity — Father + Son + Holy Spirit, one God in three Persons (hypostases); Athanasian Creed; immanent vs economic Trinity
- Incarnation — God became human in Christ (Christology — fully God + fully human per Chalcedon); kenosis (self-emptying, Phil 2)
- Atonement — theories: Substitutionary (Anselm Cur Deus Homo 1098 satisfaction; Reformers penal substitution) + Christus Victor (cosmic battle, Gustaf Aulén 1931 recovery) + Moral Influence (Abelard 12th c) + Recapitulation (Irenaeus 2nd c) + Ransom (early fathers)
- Justification by faith — Romans + Galatians; sola fide Reformation; Trent’s response affirmed faith + works (in cooperation with grace); Joint Declaration Lutherans + Catholics 1999 substantial agreement
- Sacramental theology + Ecclesiology (Church — one + holy + catholic + apostolic)
- Eschatology — Second Coming + resurrection + Last Judgment + heaven + hell; rapture theology premillennial dispensationalist (Darby 19th c, Left Behind pop)
- Mariology (Catholic + Orthodox) — Theotokos + perpetual virginity + Immaculate Conception (defined Pius IX 1854 — Mary conceived without original sin) + Assumption (defined Pius XII Nov 1 1950) + Mediatrix titles
Practice
- Sunday worship — gathered around Word + Sacrament; central act varies by tradition (Mass + Divine Liturgy + Service of the Word + revival-style)
- Liturgical calendar — Advent (4 weeks before Christmas) → Christmas (Dec 25 / Jan 7 Julian) → Epiphany (Jan 6) → Ordinary Time → Lent (40 days, Ash Wednesday) → Holy Week (Palm Sunday + Maundy Thursday + Good Friday + Holy Saturday) → Easter (movable, Sunday after first full moon after vernal equinox) → Eastertide → Pentecost (50 days after Easter) → Ordinary Time → All Saints (Nov 1) → Christ the King
- Liturgy of the Hours / Divine Office — monastic prayer 7+ times daily (Matins + Lauds + Prime + Terce + Sext + None + Vespers + Compline)
- Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6, Luke 11) + creeds — Apostles’ Creed (~4th c form) + Nicene-Constantinopolitan + Athanasian
- Sign of the Cross (East: 3 fingers, right-to-left; West: open hand, left-to-right)
- Prayer + intercession — to God directly + (Catholic + Orthodox) through saints + Mary; Hail Mary + Rosary (15 mysteries → 20 with Luminous 2002)
- Lectio Divina — meditative reading of scripture (4 stages: lectio + meditatio + oratio + contemplatio)
- Eucharistic Adoration + Stations of the Cross
- Pilgrimage — Rome (St Peter’s + 4 major basilicas) + Jerusalem + Compostela + Lourdes + Fátima + Guadalupe (Mexico City, 1531 apparition to Juan Diego — largest Marian pilgrimage worldwide ~20M annually) + Knock + Czestochowa + Velankanni + Walsingham
Islam
The faith of Muslims (“those who submit”) to one God (Allah) as revealed through prophets culminating in Muhammad. ~2.0 billion adherents, ~25% of humanity, fastest-growing major religion. Founded early 7th c CE Arabian Peninsula; rapidly spread across Middle East + North Africa + Iberia + Central Asia + Indian Subcontinent + Southeast Asia + sub-Saharan Africa.
Muhammad + Five Pillars
Muhammad ibn Abdullah 570-632 CE — born Mecca (Banu Hashim clan, Quraysh tribe); orphaned young; merchant; married Khadija (older businesswoman) 595; received first revelation from angel Jibril (Gabriel) in Cave of Hira 610 — first surah revealed: Surah 96 al-Alaq (“Recite!”); preached strict monotheism against Meccan polytheism; persecuted by Quraysh; Hijra (migration to Yathrib/Medina) 622 CE = year 1 AH of Islamic lunar calendar; established Ummah community + Constitution of Medina; battles Badr 624 + Uhud 625 + Khandaq 627; Conquest of Mecca 630; cleansed Kaaba of idols; Farewell Sermon Arafat 632; died Medina 632, buried Masjid an-Nabawi
Five Pillars (Arkan al-Islam):
- Shahada — declaration: La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadun rasul Allah (“There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God”) — Shia adds Aliyun waliyullah (“Ali is the friend/saint of God”)
- Salah — 5 daily ritual prayers facing Mecca — Fajr (dawn) + Dhuhr (noon) + Asr (afternoon) + Maghrib (sunset) + Isha (night); preceded by wudu ablution; rakaat units of prayer
- Zakat — obligatory almsgiving, ~2.5% of accumulated wealth annually to poor + categories specified Quran 9:60
- Sawm — fasting during Ramadan (9th month of lunar calendar) — no food/drink/sex sunrise to sunset; iftar at sundown; suhoor pre-dawn; concludes Eid al-Fitr; Laylat al-Qadr (“Night of Power”) — odd nights of last 10 days, revelation began
- Hajj — pilgrimage to Mecca obligatory once if able; 8-13 Dhu al-Hijjah; tawaf (7 circuits Kaaba) + sa’i (7 trips between Safa + Marwah) + Arafat standing + Muzdalifah + stoning of Jamarat + animal sacrifice on Eid al-Adha (commemorating Ibrahim/Isaac); umrah is lesser pilgrimage anytime
Some traditions enumerate jihad as 6th pillar (Ismaili + Kharijite). Jihad encompasses “greater jihad” (struggle against ego/sin) + “lesser jihad” (armed defense of community), though Western reception focused on the latter.
Quran + Hadith + Sira
Quran — Muslim scripture, considered uncreated word of God revealed in Arabic via Jibril to Muhammad over 23 years (610-632); 114 surahs (chapters) of varying length, Meccan (mostly short, theological) + Medinan (longer, legal); compiled under Caliph Uthman ~650 (“Uthmanic codex” / mushaf); recitation (tajwid) preserves classical Arabic + 7-10 canonical readings (qira’at); cantillation (tartil + tilawah)
Hadith — reports of Muhammad’s sayings + actions + tacit approvals; transmitted via isnad (chain of narrators) + matn (text); 8th-9th c collection + critical authentication (ilm al-hadith).
Sunni canonical “Six Books” (Kutub al-Sittah):
- Sahih al-Bukhari (Muhammad al-Bukhari d. 870)
- Sahih Muslim (Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj d. 875)
- Sunan Abu Dawud (d. 889)
- Jami al-Tirmidhi (d. 892)
- Sunan al-Nasai (d. 915)
- Sunan Ibn Majah (d. 887)
Shia hadith differs — Twelver canonical “Four Books”:
- Al-Kafi (al-Kulayni d. 941)
- Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih (al-Saduq d. 991)
- Tahdhib al-Ahkam + Al-Istibsar (al-Tusi d. 1067)
Sira — biographies of the Prophet; earliest Ibn Ishaq (d. ~767) only preserved in recension by Ibn Hisham (d. ~833); al-Tabari history (d. 923); al-Waqidi (d. 822) battles
Sharia + fiqh (jurisprudence)
Sharia (“the way”) — Islamic law system; sources (usul al-fiqh):
- Quran
- Sunnah — practice of Muhammad embodied in hadith
- Ijma — scholarly consensus
- Qiyas — analogical reasoning from precedent
Some schools add ijtihad (independent reasoning), istihsan (juristic preference), maslaha (public interest), urf (custom).
Four Sunni schools / madhahib:
- Hanafi — Abu Hanifa (d. 767 Kufa); largest globally — Turkey + South Asia + Balkans + Egypt + Levant + Central Asia; tradition of ra’y (reasoned opinion)
- Maliki — Malik ibn Anas (d. 795 Medina; Muwatta); Medinan practice authoritative; North + West Africa
- Shafi’i — Muhammad al-Shafi’i (d. 820 Cairo; Risala on usul al-fiqh); East Africa + Southeast Asia + Yemen + Kurdish areas
- Hanbali — Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855 Baghdad); strictest scripturalism; Saudi Arabia + Qatar; Wahhabism descends
Shia school:
- Jafari — Jafar al-Sadiq (6th imam, d. 765); Twelver Shia primarily; Iran + Iraq + Bahrain + Azerbaijan + Lebanon
5 categories of acts (al-ahkam al-khamsa):
- Fard / Wajib — obligatory (sin to omit)
- Mustahabb / Mandub — recommended (rewarded but not required)
- Mubah — neutral (permitted)
- Makruh — discouraged (avoided, not sinful)
- Haram — forbidden (sinful)
Branches
Sunni ~85-90% — accept the first four “Rashidun” caliphs (Abu Bakr + Umar + Uthman + Ali) as legitimate successors; community-based authority
Shia ~10-13% — believe Ali ibn Abi Talib (Muhammad’s cousin + son-in-law) was rightful successor; descendants (Ahl al-Bayt) are Imams with spiritual + temporal authority
- Twelver (Ithnā ʿasharī) — largest Shia branch; 12 imams ending with Muhammad al-Mahdi (occulted 874, will return); Iran (state religion since Safavid conversion 1501) + Iraq + Bahrain + Lebanon (Hezbollah) + Azerbaijan; Marja al-Taqlid system (current marjas — Sistani in Najaf + Khamenei in Iran)
- Ismaili (Sevener) — split over 7th imam Ismail ibn Jafar
- Nizari Ismailis — led by Aga Khan (currently Aga Khan IV Karim al-Husayni succeeded by Aga Khan V Prince Rahim 2025); ~15M; Aga Khan Development Network
- Mustaali / Bohra — Da’i al-Mutlaq; ~1.5M India + Yemen
- Historical Fatimid Caliphate 909-1171 was Ismaili; Assassins (Hassan-i Sabbah Alamut 1090-1256) Nizari
- Zaydi (Fiver) — 5th imam Zayd ibn Ali; Yemen — Houthi movement Zaydi-affiliated since 1990s
Ibadi — Oman; descendants of moderate Kharijite movement; pre-Sunni-Shia split branch; ~3M total
Kharijite legacy — earliest Islamic sectarian split; assassinated Ali 661; Ibadi only surviving descendant (others denounce extreme Kharijite views)
Sufism (Tasawwuf) — mystical/esoteric Islam, cross-branch tradition — emphasis on inner purification, divine love, union with God:
- Early ascetics — Hasan al-Basri + Rabia al-Adawiyya (8th c, woman saint);
- Doctrine — al-Junayd al-Baghdadi (sober) + al-Hallaj (ecstatic — “Ana al-Haqq” “I am the Truth”, executed 922);
- Synthesis — al-Ghazali (1058-1111, Ihya Ulum al-Din); Ibn Arabi (1165-1240, Fusus al-Hikam, Futuhat al-Makkiyya — wahdat al-wujud unity of being)
- Tariqat orders:
- Mevlevi — whirling dervishes; Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-73 Konya; Mathnawi + Diwan-i Shams); sama
- Naqshbandi — silent dhikr; Bukhara origin; widespread Turkey + Central Asia + South Asia + Caucasus
- Qadiri — Abdul Qadir Gilani (d. 1166 Baghdad); oldest order
- Chishti — Mu’inuddin Chishti (d. 1236 Ajmer); South Asia
- Tijaniyya — Ahmad al-Tijani (d. 1815 Fes); West Africa
- Shadhili + Suhrawardi + Bektashi + Rifa’i
Ahmadiyya — Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908 Punjab) claimed to be Messiah + Mahdi + non-violent jihad; persecuted as non-Muslim in Pakistan (constitutional amendment 1974); two branches Qadiani + Lahori; ~10-20M global
Druze + Alawite + Alevi + Yazidi — varying classification as Muslim sects, syncretic offshoots, or distinct religions:
- Druze Lebanon + Syria + Israel — esoteric, 11th c offshoot of Ismaili
- Alawite Syria — Assad family; offshoot of Twelver Shia
- Alevi Turkey — Anatolian, syncretic Shia + Sufi + pre-Islamic
- Yazidi Iraq Kurdish — distinct ancient tradition with Islamic + Zoroastrian + ancient Mesopotamian elements; Melek Taus
Nation of Islam — US 1930 Wallace Fard Muhammad / Elijah Muhammad / Louis Farrakhan; Black liberation theology; mainstream Sunni converts under Warith Deen Mohammed 1975
Modern movements:
- Salafi / Wahhabi — Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-92) alliance with Muhammad ibn Saud 1744-45 founded Saudi state; return to “pious ancestors” (salaf); strict scripturalism; reject sufi innovation + saint veneration; spread via Saudi oil wealth + missions
- Muslim Brotherhood — Hassan al-Banna Egypt 1928; Islamism + political Islam; Sayyid Qutb Milestones 1964 — radicalized + executed 1966; widespread sister organizations + Hamas in Gaza Strip
- Hizb ut-Tahrir — caliphate-restoration party 1953 Palestine
- Jamaat-e-Islami — Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi 1941 India/Pakistan
- Jihadist offshoots — al-Qaeda (bin Laden + Zawahiri, 1988); ISIS / Daesh / Islamic State (Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi caliphate 2014-19 Iraq+Syria); Taliban Afghanistan (Deobandi-influenced); Boko Haram Nigeria; al-Shabaab Somalia
History
- Rashidun Caliphate 632-661 — Abu Bakr (632-34) + Umar (634-44, conquests Iraq + Iran + Syria + Egypt + Jerusalem 638) + Uthman (644-56, Quran compilation, assassinated) + Ali (656-61, civil war Fitna, assassinated Kufa)
- Umayyad Caliphate 661-750 — Damascus capital; Mu’awiya + descendants; conquest Maghreb 700s + Iberia 711 (Tariq ibn Ziyad) + Sindh 712; Karbala 680 — Husayn ibn Ali martyred by Yazid → Shia mourning Ashura 10 Muharram
- Abbasid Caliphate 750-1258 — Baghdad founded 762 by al-Mansur; House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) translation movement Greek + Persian + Indian scholarship into Arabic; Islamic Golden Age — al-Khwarizmi (algebra + algorithm); al-Razi (medicine); al-Farabi + Ibn Sina/Avicenna (philosophy); Ibn Rushd/Averroes (Aristotelian Cordoba); al-Ghazali (theology + Sufism); Omar Khayyam (astronomy + poetry); al-Biruni (history + science); Ibn al-Haytham (optics); Ibn Khaldun Muqaddimah 1377 (historiography + sociology)
- Iberia — Umayyad Emirate then Cordoba Caliphate 929-1031 (Abd al-Rahman III); Andalusi culture; convivencia + tension; Reconquista 718-1492 ending with fall of Granada
- Fatimid Caliphate 909-1171 — Ismaili Shia; founded Cairo 969; al-Azhar mosque-university 970-72
- Seljuk Turks 1037-1194 — Sunni; defeated Byzantines Manzikert 1071
- Crusades 1096-1291 — initial Frankish conquest Jerusalem 1099 → Saladin reconquered 1187 → final Mamluk expulsion 1291
- Mongol sack of Baghdad 1258 Hulagu Khan — Caliph al-Musta’sim killed, House of Wisdom destroyed; end of Abbasid power (shadow Caliphate continued in Cairo under Mamluks until 1517)
- Mamluk Sultanate Egypt 1250-1517 — defeated Mongols Ayn Jalut 1260
- Delhi Sultanate 1206-1526 + Mughal Empire 1526-1857 (Babur → Akbar 1556-1605 syncretic Din-i Ilahi → Aurangzeb 1658-1707 orthodox → decline)
- Ottoman Empire 1299-1922 — Osman I founder; Mehmed II conquers Constantinople 1453; Süleyman the Magnificent 1520-66 peak; Sultan as Caliph from Selim I 1517; Caliphate abolished March 3 1924 by Turkish Republic under Atatürk
- Safavid Persia 1501-1736 — Shah Ismail I imposed Twelver Shia as state religion in Iran (decisive moment for sectarian map)
- Wahhabi-Saud alliance 1744-45 → modern Saudi Arabia founded 1932 by Ibn Saud → oil 1938 → Wahhabi global influence
- Colonial era — Sykes-Picot 1916 + Mandate system + abolition of Caliphate + emergence of nation-states + decolonization 1945+
- Iranian Revolution 1979 — Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi → Islamic Republic of Iran + velayat-e faqih (guardianship of jurist)
- Modern political Islam — Muslim Brotherhood + Iranian model + Afghan mujahideen + 9/11 al-Qaeda 2001 + War on Terror + Arab Spring 2010-12 + Syrian Civil War + ISIS Caliphate 2014-19 (Mosul, Raqqa, defeated by 2019)
- 2020s — Taliban return Afghanistan Aug 2021; Hamas-Israel war Oct 2023-25 + regional implications; Iran-Israel tensions; Saudi-Iran rapprochement 2023 China-brokered