A little reminder of historical Islam
Islam, a word meaning "to surrender to God", was born of the will of its creator Muhammad (Arabic: Muhammad), who came from the great Meccan (Saudi Arabian) family of Hashim, from the tribe of Quraysh. As an orphan, Muhammad was adopted successively by his grandfather and his uncle. As a young boy, he became a shepherd and was later hired by Khadija, a wealthy widow merchant who organized caravans in the desert. He later married her and they had four daughters, including Fatima, who became Ali's wife. At the age of 40, Mohammed was touched by the grace of the archangel Gabriel, who dictated the words of the Koran to him. He advocated faith in one God, Allah, and the renunciation of a selfish and easy life. He also felt that he should warn the rulers of Mecca of this revelation. They saw him as a troublemaker who sought to pervert public order by indoctrinating the poor classes. Muhammad was forced into exile and took refuge, in 622, with his first followers (the first Muslims), in Medina (still in Saudi Arabia). This migration, thehijra or the hegira, marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar. He thus became a politician, then a military leader. In order to gain the trust of the city's Jews, he guaranteed them freedom of worship and introduced some of their rites into Islam. Jews and Muslims alike turned to Jerusalem for prayer. But the progressive revelation of the Koran broke with them and better defined the principles of the new religion. From now on, the faithful must turn to the most holy Kaaba, in Mecca, a cubic temple dedicated to Ibrahim (Abraham) to whom the Prophet links his religion, in order to give it a monotheistic origin and a continuity after Judaism and Christianity. Muhammad died on June 8, 632, in Medina, after having exercised significant political power throughout the Arabian Peninsula. His glory grew especially after his death, throughout the world. Currently, there are more than 1.8 billion Muslims in the world.
The Qur'an, the foundation of Muslim education
Published in Arabic in 634, two years after the death of Mohammed, the Koran (Al Quran
) is the only sacred book of the Muslims. The Qur'an is simply the words of God, transmitted to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel (Jibrael). The right reading and knowledge of the Qur'an are the basis of a traditional Muslim education (Qur'anic schools). Written in an archaic alphabet, on camel shoulder blades, during the Prophet's lifetime, its structure has evolved since then. Only the content of the texts has remained unchanged. The work presents numerous difficulties of interpretation, which can only be discussed by the greatest scholars. The Qur'an is composed of 114 suras, or chapters, and is divided, for practical reading purposes, into 30 parts (juz'i). Each surah is further divided into verses (aya), 6,211 in all. Islam imposes on its believers a code of good conduct comprising five fundamental rules: the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving to the poor, the Ramadan fast, and the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.Islam in Djibouti
The country has a very large Sunni Shafiite majority (the majority current in Egypt, Sudan, Somalia...). Djibouti has adopted the Muslim week. The days of rest are Thursday afternoon and Friday. The festivals of the Muslim calendar (the birth of the Prophet Mohamed, the Ascension of the Prophet, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha and the Muslim New Year) are public holidays. Each town, village and group of houses has one or more mosques. They are characterized by their small size and rather low minarets. But in a city as flat as the capital, they are clearly visible in the urban skyline and serve as landmarks. The muezzins call for prayer five times a day and thus set the rhythm of the Djiboutian day. Although Islam has never been as prevalent in Djibouti as it is today, the religion is not as visually omnipresent as in other Muslim countries. Thus, one rarely sees people praying in the street. Religion has never been a source of conflict between different currents here.
Within the Organization of the Islamic Conference (57 members), Djibouti is one of the states that applies Islamic law to personal status (as in the Maghreb, for example). Since the creation of a Ministry for Muslim Affairs in 1999, the State has authority over all Islamic matters, including mosques, private religious schools and religious activities. It controls religious education, the training of imams, as well as the activities of charitable foundations and coordinates all Muslim non-governmental organisations in the country. The President and senior officials, including the judiciary, are required to take a religious oath.
Islam is the official religion. Shari'a, the Islamic law, is not official law. Sharia does not entail rigid norms, it is reconciled with modernity. In matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance, for example, the Family Code includes elements of both civil and Sharia law. Civil courts dealt with the same issues for non-Muslims. There are no penalties for those who choose not to follow the precepts of Islam or to practice other religions. Alcohol is not drunk, but it is tolerated for foreigners. Moreover, Sharia law has never totally supplanted the xeer and the fima
