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Riley Corey

Amanda Presswood

ENC2135: Research, Genre & Context

October 25, 2018

Islam: A Communication-Based Religion

Islam is a very misunderstood religion. The ideologies that surround Islam provide a

backing for how followers carry themselves in society and how they treat relationships between

others and with God. In order to understand Islam, I researched Islam theologians and the

history behind the religion itself. Through my research, I concluded that Islamic values and

traditions all lead back to the same term: Communication. Islam is considered to be a religion

that has a foundation based off of and influenced by communication. Communication impacts

how Muslims interact with each other and non-believers, how Muslim families conduct and

maintain their families, how Muslims conduct themselves in society as a whole, and how

communication has influenced tradition and common practices.

In order to understand the communicative aspect of Islam we have to analyze it from its

roots. The origin of Islam is said to originate from the prophet Muhammad who claimed to have

received visions from the archangel Gabriel, who translated messages from God, or Allah, to

Muhammad (Cumo). Muhammad used the visions, or messages, from Allah to record and format

the Muslim holy book known as the Quran (Koran). Muhammad used written communication to

record and preserve the Quran which was recorded through and on various mediums such as

tablets, bones, palms, and/or animal skins (Kazim). It can be noted that communication was used

from Gabriel to Muhammad to pass on Allah’s teachings and Muhammad is used as a medium to
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communicate the teachings of Allah to the world through the Quran. Muhammad used modes of

genre to bring the messages of Allah to all people. It can also be added that Muslims emphasize

written communication due to the fact that the Quran is still around today because of

preservation and the written communication that Muhammad brought to the Islamic state.

Muhammad used communication with all people, regardless of race, language, religion, gender,

or status, and shared the lessons from Allah in a way that people could understand, hear, and

practice (Khalil). Muhammad sent written modes of communication such as letters to kings and

governors of neighboring countries to share the news that had been shown to him (Kazim). This

is how Islam spread across the world. Written communication such as booklets, folders, and

pamphlets are used today in order to spread Islamic values and to gain converts (Khalil). Allah

says in the Quran, “And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does

righteousness and says, ‘Indeed, I am of the Muslims’.” (Quran 41:33). Muhammad proclaimed

his faith through the preservation of the Muslim holy book and by the spread of Islam through

his active role in communicating the Muslim ideals to the world through any and all mediums

available to him. There is a reason that Muhammad is praised to be the most influential

communicator in Islam’s history. Islam would cease to exist if the communication between Allah

and Muhammad, through Gabriel, and Muhammad and the others around him did not happen.

Allah used communication to reach the world through Muhammad and the creation of the Quran.

Moreover, communicative values in Islam did not just start and end at the foundation and

spread of Islam but also affects interpersonal communication through Muslim societies. Islam is

more than a religion, it’s a lifestyle. Islam provides guidance in all areas of society including, but

not limited to, economic and political aspects, social and individual behavior, and culture itself

(Khalil). The Quran provides ideologues about how Muslims should carry themselves and
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communicate in relation to interactions with other Muslims and with non-Muslins. The

messenger of Allah stated, “The likeness of the believers in compassion, mutual love, and social

call is like a body that when one individual has the disease, the whole body feels the suffering of

participated and literacy” (al-Hadith). Islamic values teach that followers must go out and

proclaim their faith. They must teach their faith to non-believers and share the holy book with

those who have not received the teachings. They must communicate the teachings of Allah to

ensure that Islam is spread until everyone in the body believes and follows Allah. Only until then

will the body be whole (Khalil). Communication is an important aspect in ensuring that their

religion is spread and that the holy book is acknowledged and practiced. If they did not

communicate their values, Islam would have only started and stopped with Muhammad.

Also, the Quran lays out the foundation for personal relationships between Muslim

families. The Quran lays out “rights” that each individual has in the household and

communicates how to effectively achieve a righteous Muslim family. This includes the ideals

that Muslim families need a continuous relationship with open communication through the

household in order to obtain emotional support and bonds in the family and the idea that every

member of a household needs to learn their own role in the family unit from the Quran (Khalil).

Allah states in the Quran, “It is not lawful for a Muslim to forsake his brother beyond three days;

and whosoever does so for more than three days, and then dies, will certainly enter the Hell.”

This allows Muslim families to be strong in the relationships they have within their own family.

They don’t break bonds with certain members or stop talking to siblings altogether. Islam is a

religion that requires action. You cannot just believe in Islam you must practice it. Islam is

learned through the family based on learning by doing (Hutchinson). Islamic tradition is passed

on by “faith communication”, meaning that as a child grows up in a Muslim household and

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society faith is communicated to him by observing everyone around him (Sodhar).

Communication’s role in Islam is observed here. Islam’s traditions are communicated to children

through the act of copying what others are doing. When copying peers, children begin to adapt

and practice Islam as it has been passed down to them allowing the traditional practice of Islam

to be preserved. It really is not until children reach a mature age that they learn the importance of

the traditions and what those traditions mean. Through interpersonal communication in Muslim

families, Islamic values are being expressed and practiced. Through communicative practices

you can see the influence it has on the culture of Islam. This could explain the claim that Islam is

the “world’s fastest-growing religious group” (Lipka). Most members of Islam are raised in

Islamic values and cannot see a life without it. Islam is a lifestyle and it is rare that anyone would

convert out of it once in it.

Muslim lifestyle is based off the 5 pillars of Islam which are derived from the Quran. One

of the pillars is known as “Salat” and Muslims acknowledge this pillar by praying 5 times daily.

Prayer is an act of worship that allows a follower of Allah to be in direct communication with

Allah. Believers pray to Allah in the depiction that Allah can hear them. According to

salamislam.com, “Muslims, all, should pray in the same uniform way, and manner, facing the

same direction. No matter what their social position is, where they are on this planet, and what

language they speak. This, particularly, means that all human beings are the same before God.”

Followers of Islam believe that it is important to do identical acts in order to communicate to

Allah that they do understand that all Muslims and people are the same before Allah. Praying 5

times a day allows Muslims to communicate their faith and love to Allah and use this time to

reflect and stop whatever they are doing to worship Allah and remember to keep on the righteous

path that Allah has set out for them. Communication is a “read between the line” concept in
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Islam. It is important to communicate to Allah but it also symbolizes the loyalty that followers

express to their god Allah.

According to Bitesize.com, “[The Sunnah] refers to the practices, customs, and traditions

of the Prophet Muhammad that are considered to be a perfect example.” To put it simply,

Muhammad left a list to the Islamic people to follow regarding how they would live. According

to quranreading.com, there are 9 ways to effectively communicate which include: keeping a

smiling face, wishing peace by saying Salam, shaking hands with persons of the same gender,

balancing your voice and tone, asking about your family members, avoiding the use of your

tongue for ill purposes, using simple and precise wording, avoiding useless arguments, and

ending conversations with greetings.” All of these practices are included and explained in the

Quran. Productivemuslim.com explains the last three practices included in the Sunnah which

includes: remembering that all people come with different characteristics and difference,

teaching the difference between good in evil, and in writing, start with Allah’s name. These

practices are considered proper etiquette and even used in a way that describes the basis of

Sunnah as having manners. Muslims believe that in order to communicate their beliefs to others

and to live their lives in a way that please both Allah and Muhammad they should follow these

rules.

“Hadith” is also a principle component of Islam. Hadith is used to describe the words of

Muhammad however, it is used to describe and alliterate that the words from Muhammad are

words from God (Abdullah). This is important to see because here you can note that

communication in Islam is very formal and proper. You can see that Islam is very precise about

how they choose to describe the aspects of communication. Hadith is used to describe the

communicative aspect about how Muhammad is sharing the knowledge and teaching of Allah,
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but it is not directly from Allah because it has been shared through Muhammad. Other important

ideals that Muslims possess based on communication is the idea that the Quran should not be

translated to another language. The Quran is the most sacred text to Islam followers and many

believe that the Quran is Arabic in its truest form and should not be translated to another

language regardless. Arabic words come with different contexts and connotations and none of

which can be noted if translated to another language with its own differences in language and

contexts (Khalil).

Dr. Pasha explains, “Islam is communication, no matter how you look at it. Islam is

communication with yourself and it is communication with God Almighty, with the Quran, with

your fellow human beings and with the rest of God’s creation.” This is exactly the point I have

researched myself. No matter how you look at Islam or its practices, you can see that

communication is the foundation on which the religion was founded and how the followers of

Islam present and conduct themselves in relation to personal interactions with others and with the

relation to public life in itself. Communication is such a vital aspect of Islamic traditions and

practices and it can be seen and analyzed through most, if not all, of the religion that is Islam.
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Bibliography

Cumo, Christopher. "Muhammad and the Spread of Islam." World History: Ancient and

Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2018, ancienthistory2.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/21.

Accessed 25 Oct. 2018.

Christopher Cumo talks about how the prophet Muhammad used communication from an

angel to start and spread Islam. You can see here that without communication the Islamic

religion would no exist. The author uses the Quran and history to make his claims. The

limit is that you cannot specifically see the full “ripple effect” of the prophets teaching

but you do see it in a broader scale. This relates to all my other sources because they all

acknowledge that Muhammad was the prophet that the entire religion was founded from.

El-Fattah Khalil, Amal. “Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture.” The Islamic Perspective of

Interpersonal Communication : Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture, 2016,

doi.org/10.15640/jisc.v4n2a3.

The author analyzes the historical overview of early Islamic communication and modern

communication. The author allows the reader to try and understand the communicative

unit that allows Islam to function as a society. This furthers my research in that every

aspect of Islam is traced back to communication. The limits of this journal are the real-

life examples of how modern Islamic families use communication today. However, a

source I have included previously covered includes some examples I wished for.
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“GCSE Bitesize: The Sunnah and Belief about Allah.” BBC, BBC,

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/rs/god/isrevelationrev3.shtml.

Hutchinson, Jennifer. "The Rise of Islam." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-

CLIO, 2018, ancienthistory2.abclio.com/Topics/Display/1919163?cid=41&sid=1919163.

The author wants to know how the rise of Islam lead to the foundation for the Islamic

state. Through the analysis of the rise of Islam you can see the consistent pattern of

communicative processes. The author uses the Quran and historical events to analyze her

claim. This contributes to my study in the fact that historical and religiously you see the

role that communication has played and continues to play on Islam. The limit of the

source is the only known written information in the Quran and the historical written

background of Islam. This source directly correlates with my other sources in that it

considers the same information and draws the same conclusions.

Kazim, Syed. “The Concept of Communication in Islam.” MuslimVillage.com, 14 Apr. 2013,

muslimvillage.com/2013/04/15/38313/the-concept-of-communication-in-islam/.

The author furthers the idea of the concept of communication in Islam and showcases

why people label it as a “communicative” religion. She analyzes the justifications for this

and provides examples on how Islam is traced back to communication in certain

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circumstances. I can use this source to back up previous claims I am making with my

other sources.

Lipka, Michael, and Conrad Hackett. “Why Muslims Are the World's Fastest-Growing Religious

Group.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 6 Apr. 2017,

www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/06/why-muslims-are-the-worlds-fastest-

growing-religious-group/.

Pasha. “Islam Is All about Communication.” IslamicSolutions.Com, 6 Dec. 2016,

www.islamicsolutions.com/islam-is-all-about-communication/.

Productive Muslim. Sunnah Communication. 2016.

Salam Islam. Why do Muslims pray 5 times a day? 3 June 2017.

Sodhar, Zain Ul Abdin, et al. “An Analysis of the Trend of Muslims to Communicate Their Faith

Tradition to Their Children in Pakistan.” International Research Journal of Art &

Humanities, vol. 42, no. 42, Jan. 2014, pp. 99–109. EBSCOhost,

login.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db

=hft&AN=111235665&site=eds-live.

The author, Zain Ul Abdin Sodhar, analyzes how families use communication to pass on

Islamic ideals and practices. The author explains how communication is a huge part of
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the lasting traditions of Islam and analyzes how the Quran lays out the ideal Islamic

society and family roles. This contributes to my research because it shows how

communication leads to Islamic religion as well as Islamic society. The limitations of the

journal is that it strictly analyzes the Islamic family roles in Pakistan only. This source

furthers the claims made by my other sources because it states how communication

affects not only religion but the society as a whole.