(Oct 2012: 'Religions & Cults: Summary Paper)
I. RELIGION: ISLAM
1. THE FOUNDER AND ISLAMIC HISTORY
Islam is a religion founded by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be on him) within the period of his lifetime (approximately A.D. 560-632) when he claimed to receive revelation (“wahi”) from Gabriel the archangel of God at the age of 40, in Makka (Mecca) of Arabia, which was the traditional center of trade and religion, and the commercial crossroad between east and west, and north and south regions.
Muhammad was recognized by his followers to be the Last Prophet and the Messenger of Allah sent during the “jahiliyya” (period of ignorance or “The Dark Age”), where majority of Arabian regions were populated with idol worshippers. He was the first “Muslim” who pointed others toward the Path, who sealed the revelation of Allah, written and known as Al-Qur’an.
Upon receiving of the revelation, Muhammad tried to persuade his kinsmen to return to worship of the One True God (the God worshipped by Abraham), but he was severely persecuted by pagan Arabians. With a handful converts, Muhammad began the Hijrah in A.D. 622, migrated themselves to Yathrib and built his first masjid there. The conquests of Makka and al-Ta’if established his fame over Arabia. Apart from demolishing idols of these two places, he had received homage from different people groups and tribes. In Yathrib (Medina) he fused the Arabian Muslims under Islamic social and political structures and customs, guided them under the Islamic teachings and built a new Islamic nation or “ummah” (community).
Mohammad married a rich widow Khadijah at his age of 25 and she became his first follower. He remained monogamous until the age of 50 when Khadijah died, since then he became polygamy. He died with fever and was buried in Yathrib, and was succeeded by Abu Bakr as Caliph. Shortly after Muhammad’s death, his successors and followers have propagated and spread the Muslim faith even over the boundaries of Arabia.
2. ISLAMIC BELIEFS
The root word of Islam in Arabic is SLM which means peace, and “aslama” derives from it denoting to act of submission or resignation to God. It is believed by Muslims (or Moslem, which means “one who submits to God) to be the only true religion professed by prophets Allah of all generations since the day of Adam. For Muslims, peace is received through submission of oneself under the will of Allah.
A true Muslim must possess three basic elements consist of faith, action and realization. He has to profess his faith acknowledging Allah as the Creator, and submit himself as servant under the Will of the Master. He is to believe Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah, and the Al-Qur’an as heavenly revelation to men guiding them towards worship of Allah, and Sunnah (practices of Muhammad) as exemplary values of their actions and words in practical living. He must be ready to give up everything for the sake of Allah, even his own life, which is commonly known as Jihad (means striving and struggling in the Path of God). He is to believe of life-after-death and his own responsibility to be accountable to Allah in the Day of Judgment based on his freewill in choosing how to live his life on earth.
The Shari’ah is external rules and laws laid down for proper and wholistic Muslim conduct in all perspectives of human living. Worship in Islam is related to one’s purification of soul and practical daily living. Muslims believe the message of Islam is for the entire human race and Allah is God for all peoples. Therefore their social mission is to expand Kingdom on earth and to spread the Islamic faith through practical political or commercial approaches. They also recognize the ownership of Allah over all their possessions and are able to share with the poor. The five pillars of Islamic structure observed by Muslims are Islamic Creed (Shahada, faith in unity of God), Prayer(salat, 5 times a day), Fasting(sawn, one month during Ramandan), almsgiving(Zakāt, sharing with the poor) and pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj, at least once per lifetime).
II. CULT: UNIFICATION CHURCH
1. THE FOUNDER
The founder of the Unification Church(UC), Sun Myung Moon, was born on January 6, 1920 into a North Korean farmer family. He had accessed Christianity and became a Sunday School teacher since young as his parents were devout Presbyterians. Under the cruelty and ruling age of Japan over North Korea he grew with a strong sense of nationality and injustice.
Sun Myung Moon claimed that at his age of 16, Jesus had appeared to him in a vision on the Easter Morning while he was praying on the mountains, and entrusted him with a mission to continue His unfinished work. Thus he was recognized as the Messiah who will establish God’s kingdom and world peace on earth. He had been imprisoned six times under Japanese, North Korean, South Korean and US governments for the sake of his calling and mission.
He married his second wife Hak Ja Han Moon, who strived to be his great helper in ministry throughout his lifetime, and they were honored as the True Parents of mankind who had replaced the original roles of Adam and Eve, bearing fourteen True Children during their marriage who are considered to be sinless.
2. THE VISION AND MISSION
UC seeks to pursue the dream of God in establishing peace and harmony in societies all over the world, and in building true love of God among the families. The headquarter is built in New York during 1976, known as “Heaven’s Blessing Palace” and it functions as a temple to the world peace, creating ministries to develop ideal families, and enhancing cooperation and harmony among religious groups.
3. THE TEACHING AND CORE BELIEFS
The Divine Principle was systemized in 1945 and published in 1966. It serves as the main theological textbook to its believers. The teachings are arranged systematically stating God’s purpose of creating mankind, the fall of man and the redemptive process of God in history restoring mankind to Himself. The followers of UC believe in God, in Jesus as Messiah and Bible as the Holy Scripture.
The Second Coming of Christ is taught to be in this age, in the flesh of Sun Myung Moon who is married to His Bride in the flesh of Hak Ja Han. They are the True Parents and are confessed as Eternal King and Queen of Peace, liberators of God’s heart who offer salvation, future blessings of true love, forgiveness and happiness for their followers. UC believes that this materialistic age will soon be replaced by a spiritual age with universal sacrificial love and harmony dwelt among the mankind. .
2.4 THE MOVEMENT AND ITS MINISTRIES
The first UC was built in the refugee city of Pusan in South Korea in 1950 and Moon prophesized since then that the Divine Principle will be preached all over the world. UC has majored its efforts in promoting world peace activities through sending missionaries to build churches in many nations, with the True Parents travelling extensively around the world giving their speeches. They also associated with some major world political bodies.
UC has founded organizations to work against communism, to promote world peace and to reconcile interreligious conflicts etc. The Unification Theological Seminary was founded in New York and The Washington Times was launched and grew to be the second largest daily newspaper in the US capital. One of the most striking phenomena found in the UC is the international mass wedding ceremonial blessings conducted by Moon.
After the departure of the founder Sun Myung Moon on September 3, 2012, the peace of UC has been disrupted by some negative marital news discovered among the Moon’s family members and there are disunity issues found also among its top leaders.
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