The Cradle of Islam
Part 3 in the seven-part series "An Arabian Adventure"
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by Linda Pappas Funsch
Special to The Frederick News-Post
Saudi Arabia is at the heart of the Muslim world. This is the land in which Islam, the last of the three great monotheistic faiths, was born in the seventh century.
This new faith spread with breathtaking speed within its first 100 years, from the heart of Arabia to the Atlantic Ocean on the west to the borders of India and China on the east.
Mecca and Medina, located in the western Hijaz region, are the two holiest cities in Islam. Thus, Saudi Arabia's monarch, King Abdullah, bears the official title, "Custodian of the two Holy Mosques," carrying implications far beyond his country's borders, to 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide.
One of the five Pillars of the Islamic faith is that every Muslim should visit these holy cities at least once during their lifetime.
Pilgrims from every corner of the globe travel to Saudi Arabia to observe a complex, but highly symbolic, series of rituals associated with this event, known as the hajj.
While Islam is the official religion of Saudi Arabia, it is even more: it defines the culture.
Reinforced by strongly held traditions, Islam transcends religion, permeating every aspect of the believer's life -- social, political, and economic.
Five times each day, the sound of the muezzin, calling the faithful to prayer, resonates from minarets all over the Kingdom. Muslims are expected to break from their normal routines at these times in order to observe this second Pillar of Islam.
Within Islam, the sacred and the secular are one.
Part 4 of this series: Culture and customs.
Copyright ©2006 by Linda Pappas Funsch |
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