The uniqueness of the Islamic experience: historical context, revelation and conception of God (Part I)

Abstract

This article aims to present important aspects of Islamic spirituality. To this end, it starts with a presentation of the historical context in which Islam appears in order to place the roots that will give a specific configuration to this religious experience. In that aspect, the life and the figure of the Prophet Muḥammad are fundamental as well as the historical context of the Arabian Peninsula and its socio-political and religious perspectives. Then, one begins to handle on the conception of singular revelation that Islam has from the experience with the angel Gabriel in which content is transmitted and should be repeated without alteration by the followers of this revelation. In this aspect, the prospect about the revelation in Islam differs from the Judeo-Christian conception, in which the revelation has a historical perspective. Finally, this article will deal with the Islamic conception of God, especially as such conception nods to the central point in the Muslim spirituality: the divine omnipotence and the search for unity.