As asked by Master Whiteman, I am going to present a short synopsis on Islam and try to draw some connections to Jediism in an attempt to build a duscission on this Easter Religion.



Islam is a monotheistic, abrahamic religion originated in the teachings of Muhammad. Muhammad was a 7th century Arab religious leader and a political figure at that. Islamic practicioners are called Muslims, which means \"one who submits (to God)\". This idea of submission to God is stronger in Islam than many other monotheistic religions present today.


Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad and that he(MUhammad) is God's official and final prophet.

The Qur'an, in union with the traditions of Muhamman in the Sunnah are considerd the primary sources of Islam.
Similiar to the Mormon faith, Muslims don't consider Islam to be a faith founded by Muhammad, but instead a revival((c. 570 – July 6, 632)) of the original monotheistic faith of the prohpets of the Bible, such as Adan, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus whom is regaurded as a prophet, not Christ.

Islam is unique in that the Qur'an references many other belief systems, calling Jews and Christians \"People of the Book\", and notably seperates them from polytheists.



The 6 main tenets of Islam are:
-belief in God
-belief in his revelations
-belief in his angels
-belief in his messengers
-belief in the \"Day of Judgement\"
-belief in the divine decree.

The Jedi faith corresponds to this through The primary connection between Jediism and the Islamic faith, which is a belief in an omnipotent, omnipresent, and perfect being that oversees the Universe. Jedi refer to it as the force. Where we see a light and a dark side to the same entity, they see a merciful and loving God that is not without judgement and justice. Firthermore where Islam dictates that God will give revelations through prophets, Jediism considers meditation and concentration in the ability of the force to yield the potential revelation of the future or things we may not have seen on our own.


Furthermore, Islam includes 5 Pillars, which are important elements to a Muslim's life.
The 5 Pillars of Islam, what Muslims consider the core aspects of Islam:
- The Testimony of Faith (Shahadah) - the declaration that only Allah (God), is worthy of worship.

- Fasting (Sawm) - three types of fasting are present, ritual fasting on specific months such as Ramadan, repentance fasting, and ascetic fasting.

- The Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) - during the month of Zul Hijjah, this is considered a necessary pilgramage of anyone capable at least once in their life.

- Zakat - meaning both purification and growth through the donation of alms to the poor. It is similiar to tithing in christian churches except that it is 2.5% of a Muslim's net worth, not his/her earnings.

- Salah - obligatory prayers that are performed five times a day. Muslims consider these a direct link worship to God as there are no heirarchical authorities in Islam.

Eastern...

Could you elaborate further? what specific tenets of this eastern religion correspond to our teachings specifically? How do they differ? In what way are we similarly called upon to \"submit\"?

I found this to be a very quick yet accurate summary of Islam..as a Sufi which I bet decribe as a Muslim Mystic,I find it interesting how closely it fits with the path of the Jedi and how it seem that every \"organized\" religion has had a branch of mystics. If any are intereted simply ak and I will attempt to explain further how the tenets of Islam as I perceive and understand them can apply to the teachings and doctrines of the Jedi. However, I must approach this from a viewpoint of Sufism which is not accepted by the majority of Muslims as part of their faith even though we follow the same tenets when possible and have alot of the same beliefs.

out of personal curiosity - Id like to know how you feel (for example) an 'average' Islamic follower can also be an 'abrahamic jedi'

I ask because of -- The Testimony of Faith (Shahadah) - the declaration that only Allah (God), is worthy of worship.


I ask because this line to me is a carbon copy of the Christian version 'thou shalt not worship false gods'

Is 'following' or 'believing' in The Force - the same or different to 'Worshipping'

Im not nit picking - its just im thinking that some of the more 'extreme' minded folks of all kinds of faiths would get hot under the collar over this and im wondering how one could defend their thoughts.

MTFBWY - A

very good questions...after this post i contacted brother john and am currently working on an article about Sufism,Islam,and how it fits with Jedism...I will endeavor to answer your questions in the article.I'm hoping to have it finished and presented to bro john in a couple days.

I have a question. Relating directly to the following:


As practitioner of the Islamic faith, can you really bring yourself to believing that evil uses Allah for their own bidding?

For example, if the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz commits an act against Dorothy using magick, can you really live with the idea that she is using Allah to accomplish such evil? (noting that the Wicked Witch of the West does not use the name Allah to accomplish anything)?

i can indeed believe this for look at the modern extremeist..they use the name of Islam and Allah to perform horrendious acts. I believe it lies in our own misunderstanding and imperfectations that causes this to form...by the way I had a personal quetion for you randi..I couldn't help but notice the last name and wondered if you hold any relation to the Oxfords family in the Chicago area..If so,please pm me as I also am related to that branch of Oxfords through adoption.

sorry I didn't have the time to reply as I wanted earlier today as I had to rush off to a doctor's appointment. In reponse to the question Randi Oxford wrote...I believe the Force or Allah as Islamic follower deem it at it' esence is neither good nor evil,light nor dark...this essence contain all thing which are direct manifestations of the Force. We jut use these terms to try to define that Essence. And to clarify my belief a bit better, I don't believe so much that evil uses the Force or Allah directly but claims to do thing in the name of such manifestation through the misunderstanding and imperfection that is common to human nature.

So - in simple terms (please correct me if im wrong) your saying some folk

Do bad things (kill etc) in THE NAME OF ALLAH (God etc) and possibly/probably not actually acting according to the true will/desires of said God(s)

IE a bit like me running off - shooting a load of french people and saying 'in the name of Her Majesty the Queen of England'

when in reality - she'd have or want nothing to do with such acts.