Word: islam
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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April 1965 coincides roughly with Dhu-al-Hijja in the year 1384 A.H. (after the hegira). It is the last month of Islam's lunar calendar, and the season to perform the hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy places of Mecca that for devout Moslems is both spiritual duty and lifetime dream. More than 1,200,000 pilgrims entered Mecca to carry out the prayers and ablutions of Islam's most sacred ritual (see following color pictures of last year's hajj). Luckily, this year there were no outbreaks of typhoid or cholera like those that have...
...number and variety of pilgrims on this year's hajj were living proof of the fervor that burns within the youngest of the world's universal faiths, second in size only to Christianity. According to Islam's mission-minded Ahmadiyya movement, there are 647 million Moslems around the world; less partial statisticians lower the figure to a still impressive 465 million. Today, 35 countries in Africa and Asia have Moslem majorities. In much of West Africa, Islam now gains converts at a 9-to-l ratio over Christianity...
...Life. What explains the prosperity of Islam? One reason, certainly, is its simplicity. Islam has neither hierarchy nor organization: its creed is a simple affirmation that there is no god but God, and Mohammed is his prophet. Undemanding in doctrine, Islam calls upon its adherents, if they wish to be rewarded at the Last Judgment, to praise God five times a day while kneeling toward Mecca, fast during the holy month of Ramadan, abstain from alcohol and pork, give alms, and, if possible, make the hajj. Man's sexual nature is amply served by Islam, which permits four wives...
Sick Man of Europe. The torch of Islamic empire-building passed in time from Arab to Seljuk to Mongol to Ottoman Turk. All the while, Islam was intellectually withdrawing from engagement with alien thought, under the influence of the mystical Sufis, and the orthodox ulama (scholars) who saw all wisdom in the Koran and Moslem tradition. By the 19th century, Islam was enfeebled in body as well as spirit; lands once ruled by Saladin and Suleiman the Magnificent became European protectorates; Turkey, resident of the impotent caliphs, was the "sick man of Europe...
...even in the midst of decay the seeds of rebirth took root. As early as 1744 the fierce Wahhabi movement began preaching the need for a strict return to Islamic practice, and its doctrine slowly spread through the lands of the faith. Sharply countering Moslem fatalism, the 19th century philosopher Al Afghani preached ijtihad (self-exertion), urging Islam to adapt to the currents of change in the modern world. India's Ahmadiyya movement helped revive Islam's long-dormant lust for converts. Twentieth century nationalism gradually brought independence, and a new spirit of confidence, to Islamic countries...