ISLAM LECTURES – PRINTABLE SUMMARY
The root word
behind "islam" connotes "peace"
and "safety".
"Islam"
is the religion and "Muslim" is a follower of that religion.
To be a Muslim
means to be obedient to God.
So, animals are
"Muslims" by nature,
because they follow their God-given nature.
The moon and
stars can also be called "Muslims" by nature.
Arabic society
had traditional Arabic religion
- and pockets of Judaism
- and several kinds of Christianity
Muslims call
Arab history before Muhammad the "age of foolishness".
Arabs worshipped
many deities, included the three daughters of Allah (God).
Muslims consider
the three Daughters and other gods to be mere names.
Arabs made
pilgrimages to the
Those images
included the Christian Madonna and Child
He was born in Makkah in 570
- in the Quraysh tribe, who were
traders
- father had died before his birth
- mother died when he was quite young
- the young orphan was raised by the family
- first, by his grandfather
- then by his uncle Abu Talib
Perhaps because
he was an orphan, the boy
- worked on
caravans and
- no formal education (he was illiterate)
He received a
call to prophecy from God via an angel, while meditating.
He preached the
Oneness of God, Judgement Day, and denounced idols.
Critics said his
poems were "just poetry", but his claim was that his poetry was from
God.
The Arabic form
of Abraham is spelled Ibrahim.
Abraham is the
forefather of Arabs and Jews.
Abraham taught
that the moon and planets were not worthy of worship.
Abraham taught
that images were just wood or stone and couldn’t hear prayers.
Abraham refused
to associate anything with the one true God.
The Hijrah (migration) took place in 622.
By invitation,
Muhammad became the political and spiritual leader of Yathrib.
Yathrib
was renamed Madinah, meaning 'City of the Prophet'.
Common era dates are 579 years bigger than Islamic calendar years.
At first,
Muhammad had the Muslems keep the Yom Kippur fast and
pray facing
But the Jews
didn't accept him as a new, true prophet.
Muhammad and his
men raided Makkah caravans, forcing them into
submission.
War broke out
between Madinah and Makkah.
Divisions from a
coalition of Arabian tribes joined Muhammad's Madinan
army.
They lost the
battle of
The Muslim
coalition led to the surrender of the Makkah.
Islam holds that
God has sent
124,000
prophets to help and warn us.
The Qur'an gives the names of 26 prophets and messengers.
Most of the
named prophets are Hebrews, but three are Arabian.
A prophet who
brings laws from God is called a rasul. (Muhammad and
Moses)
The Quran says that some prophets were killed.
1. Noah:
God revealed
dietary and marriage laws through the prophet Noah.
2. Ibrahim/Abraham
God revealed
God's oneness and abhorrence of idol worship through Abraham.
3. Moses
God revealed his
Torah to Moses, who refuted the pharaoh's magicians.
4. Isa/Jesus
God revealed his
Injil (gospel) to Jesus, who is God's "annoited" (Messiah, Christ) but not Son of God or God.
Islam denies
that Jesus died on the cross.
Muhammad, the
last prophet, is known as the 'seal' (completion) of the prophets.
The Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad as a series of poems, over
22 years.
It is recited in
a fixed melody, without musical instruments.
Though
illiterate, Muhammad was commanded to 'read' by the angel Gabriel at his Call
to prophecy.
God sent the Qur'an to instruct humans in proper behaviour and to obey
God.
Some surahs reflect issues which arose in Madinah
during Muhammad's rule.
Arabic is used
by all Muslims during worship.
Muhammad is said
to have been uneducated, not being able to read nor write.
The Qur'an is written in very eloquent Arabic poetry.
The recitations
of the Qur'an are read to bless marriages, babies,
etc.
Pious Muslims
memorize many, many verses of the Qur'an.
Abu Bakr ordered the Qur'an to be
fixed. A canonical version was established.
There are 114 surahs of the Qur'an.
Most surahs start with an invocation named after its first word,
bism-illah.
Scholars must
guess at the historical order.
The surahs are arranged from longest to shortest.
The important
term Sunnah refers to the traditions that guide
Islam.
It is felt that
God would not let Muhammad sin or err.
Muhammad
received the Qur'an and the wisdom, which is taken
together to be the sunnah.
Muhammad's
behaviour leads to a sunnah
of 'action', 'consent', and 'speech'.
Muhammad's
sayings (hadith) are the most important kind of sunnah.
Commentary on
the Qur'an is called tafsir.
The Qur'an functions as legal constitution of an ideal Muslim
state.
Islamic
universities developed the science of interpretation, for the Qur'an.
They are not
allowed to change or add to the Qur'an.
Only the pure
should interpret the Qur'an.
God is one.
God is neither
born nor gives birth.
Allah is the God
of the Jewish and Christians as well.
Allah is beyond
maleness and femaleness, but is commonly referred to as 'He'.
Humans and
animals will be judged differently.
The term imam
refers to faith and trust in God.
In Islam, men
and women are said to be equal in the eyes of God.
No race has
special status.
The ideal is
faith combined with good works.
To know the
faith and reject it is called kufr, the denial of
faith.
The first pillar
is bearing witness, Shahada in Arabic.
One affirms the
creed, with two parts:
The first
affirmation is that there is not God but The God (Allah).
The second
affirmation is that Muhammad is the (final) Messenger of God.
- the rasul of God
To become a
Muslim, one bears witness before other Muslims.
Bearing witness
should also have an inner, spiritual dimension.
The second
pillar is salat, prayer.
Muslims are to
pray at five, specified times daily.
Before praying,
the hands, feet, and face should be washed, and mouth rinsed.
--If water is
not available, sand may be used.
During prayer,
Muslims repeat a cycle of movements, including prostration.
There is no
Muslim sabbath, but the
Friday
- usually include a talk
The third pillar
is zakat, the giving of alms.
The alms are to
be given at a certain time each year.
The alms are to
be given to the poor, or to worthwhile Muslim charities.
The amount is
2.5% of accumulated wealth.
God rewards one
for charitable giving.
The fourth
pillar is fasting during the month of Ramadan.
During the fast,
Muslims are not to eat between sun up and sun down.
Muslims also
abstain from sex.
During the fast,
Muslims abstain from meat.
The fast ends
with a three day festival called Id ul-fitr.
The fifth pillar
is called hajj, meaning pilgrimage.
Pilgrims take a
ritual bath and put on special clothes before approaching Makkah.
Pilgrims start
with a a tawaf,
many circumambulations (going round) of the Kabah.
Pilgrims imitate
Hagar's search for water for Ismael.
She ran back and
forth across the valley.
They run along a
path between pillars.
On the eighth
day, pilgrims perform the 'standing ceremony' on the Mount of Mercy.
Recalling the
sacrifice made by Abraham. The Muslim version involves a boy named Ismael.
Pilgrims throw
stones at three places
representing Satan and evil.
Pilgrims return
to Makkah and perform a second Tawaf.
Pilgrims get
their hair cut.
Pilgrims do a
farewell tawaf before departing.
Pilgrims do the "little
pilgrimage" to
Medinah.
A caliph is a
'successor' to Muhammad.
At his death,
Muhammad was the spiritual and political ruler of most of
Strict obedience
to Muhammad was required both by the Qur'an and by
practice.
Abu Bakr was chosen be an inner circle of leaders to be the
(first) Caliph, "successor".
Abu Bakr waged war against those who dropped out of the
confederation.
- the "wars of apostasy"
Abu Bakr consolidated and expanded the Islamic commonwealth.
- using military
force to expand the rule of Islam
Tribal rivalries
played a large role in the selection of the early caliphs.
Before his death,
Abu Bakr appointed Umar to
succeed him.
(Names of the
first four Caliphs adore many mosques.)
Islam became a
very large empire during the 10 year rule of Umar
(634-644).
Uthman,
the third caliph (644-56), got into trouble by appointing and protecting his Ummayad relatives.
A mob of angry
Egyptians and Arabs surrounded Uthman's house, then
killed him.
His
blood-stained shirt was used by his relative Mu'awiyah,
the Governor of Damascus, Syria, to demand revenge for Uthman's
murder.
The leaders in Madinah chose Ali as the 4th Caliph, but Mu'awiyah pressed Ali to avenge Uthman's
death.
Mu. backed those who opposed Ali, and soon
war broke out.
The "War of
the Camel" took place near
Ali's side won.
Ali wanted to
replace Uthman's relatives, but Mu'awiyah
refused to step down.
Ali and Mu'awiyah met in battle in 657.
Ali was winning,
when the other side called to a ceasefire and adjudication. Ali agreed, and
nothing decisive happened from the battle.
Some of Ali's
men were angry with the ceasefire. This
dissenting group of fanatical Muslims was called Karijis
(or Kharijites).
The Kharijites waged war against Ali, but lost.
A Khariji assassin killed Ali while he led prayers, in
661.
- their attempt to kill Mu'awiyah
failed.
The Kharijites
continued as a fanatical group, but later ceased to exist.
The supporters
of Ali chose his son Hasan, but had no army to press
the claim.
Mu'awiyah
had the army to back his claim to the Caliphate. He started the powerful Umayyad Caliphate, in
During the rule
of Umayyads of Damascus, the caliphs lived like kings
at a court.
The Umayyads caliphs built a fleet of warships and became
rulers of the seas.
- with influence from
The Umayyad
Caliphate ruled in
Meanwhile, the
backers of Ali continued in southern
Ali's youngest son Husayn, led a small army
against the Umayyad caliph Yazid.
Husayn and
his men were killed at
Husayn was
seen as a martyr by the Shi'i sect, which remembers
this battle annually with a festival.
The Shi'i remain active in southern
The Abbasids
leaders of northern
The Umayyad
Caliphate was criticized for its luxury and brutality, but it launched a
widespread Islamic empire.
The Umayyads built ships that dominated the
The Umayyads built great mosques such as
- the Dome of the Rock, on the site from which Muhammad
started his "night journey".
- the Dome of the Rock is on the
In 750, Persian Muslems revolted against Umayyad rule and established a new
Caliphate, called the Abbasid Caliphate.
The 2nd Abbasid
Caliph, al-Mansur, moved the capital to his newly
built city,
- it flourished as the centre of an empire.
The Abbasids
sponsored the study of Islamic law.
The Abbasids
turned on the Shi'is, killing many Shi'i leaders.
Philosophy,
medicine, and science were advanced at Abbasid universities.
The Abbasid empire broke apart by the mid 900's, and regional Caliphs
arose.
The Buyids of Persia ruled the former Abbasid empire, and supported the Shi'i
sect.
The Fatimid caliphate rivaled the
Abbasids, ruling from
A prince from
the former Umayyad caliphate became a caliph in
Like the three
rival popes in the 1400's, there were three rival caliphs in the 900s CE
It ended with
the fall of
Shi'a, or
the Shi'i tradition, includes several sects and
ideologies.
All Shi'i sects recognize Ali and his descendants as the true
leaders.
They were mainly
poorer Arab and non-Arab Muslims.
Shi'i
Islam holds that Muhammad gave special authority to his son-in-law, Ali. imam Ali was also his cousin.
A dispute arose
over who would be the 5th Caliph or Imam.
The Party (shi'i) of Ali backed Ali's son Hasan.
After Hasan's death, Ali's younger son Husayn became Imam.
The
Damascus Caliphate army massacered Husayn and his men near
This is seen as
a great tragedy by Shi'a Muslems
and is remembered in an annual ritual.
Shi'i
Islam remembers the martyrdom of Husayn on 'Ashura'.
Husayn was
the grandson of Muhammad, and after his death his sons continued the line of
Imams (leaders).
Early Shi'i movements got their start in fighting against the
current caliph.
The Zaydis, Shi'i Muslims, trace
themselves back to Husayn's grandson, Zayd.
The Zaydis followed a line of imams that lasted until 1962.
Shi'i
Muslims use the term 'Imam' for the true leaders of Muhammad onward.
'Seveners' trace the line of imams through a different,
seventh imam.
The famous line of Agha Khans in northern
The Druze
religion is a branch of Shi'i, teaching reincarnation
and occultation.
- they exist today in
The Twelver's understand that each Imam appoints his successor.
They are called Twelvers because they believe there were twelve true Imams.
The 12th Imam
went into hiding at age 4, will return at the end of the world.
Imani Shi'ism derive Islamic law from
the Qur'an and the sunnah.
Jesus plays a
role in the final judgement.
Makkhamissah
Shi'i deifies the five holy persons (Muhammad, Ali, Fatimah, etc.)
Delegationsists say God delegated power to the five holy persons.
The Nusayris or Alawis of Syria see
Ali as an incarnation of God.
About one in
eight Muslims is a Shi'i today.
The Shaykhis Shi'i movement teaches
secret theological wisdom.
Islam holds ulama (scholars) in great respect.
Shari'ah,
Islamic Law, is based on the Quran and the Sunnah.
Sunnah
refers to the life-example of the Prophet and his generation of Muslims.
Shari'ah
deals with individual, political and business life.
Hadith are
"traditions" about Muhammad's words and actions.
The Annual, and
regular, almsgiving helps provide for the needy.
The Quran denounces making huge profits by hoarding scarce
goods.
The Quran prohibits loaning money for interest.
The Quran calls for amputation of the right hand as punishment
for theft.
The Quran lays down guiding principles for society, often
without giving details.
Within 300 years
of Muhammad, traditions (hadith) about him were
collected.
The
"chain" connects the hadith back to
Muhammad.
Many hadith have more than one chain, connecting to respected Muslims.
The hadith qudsi are said to have
been revealed by angels.
The hadith were an important source for the development of
Islamic Law.
Al Bukhari and Muslim collected Hadith
in the 9th century CE.
They selected
the Hadith they considered the most authentic.
They each
compiled a collection of around 3000 authentic Hadith.
The collections
are organized by topics.
Muhammad's
youngest wife was an important witness to the true hadith.
There are four
main collections, and all deal with every aspect of life.
"Fiqh" means jurisprudence, the principles of Islamic
law. Fiqh has
four "roots".
1. One root
(basis) of Law is the Quran.
2. The Sunnah.
3. Reasoning of
the scholars.
4. Consensus of the Muslim community.
Analogy is a
tool used by scholars, not a root itself.
The Shafi'i school is based on only the Quran
and Sunnah.
The term figh, "jurisprudence", refers to scholarship
about Shari'ah.
The Jafari school represents the Shi'i tradition of Islamic Law.
The Hanafi school was founded by Abu Hanafah.
The Maliki school draws upon the
practice of the Muslims of Madinah.
There are four
main Schools of Law in use among Sunnis today.
The
The
The Shafi'i School is strong in
The conservative
Hanbali school is strong in
Ijtihad
means "legal opinions".
There is no
world wide Islamic Supreme Court.
Muhammad said,
"the best generation is my generation."
The "gate
of ijtihad" was closed within four centuries of
Muhammad.
Jurists (Muftis)
still issue legal opinions (fatwas).
Imami Shi'i Islam also developed a body of Islamic Law.
Imami Shi'i Islam uses the Jafari
School of Law.
Imami
Islam stresses the need for the Imam to guard the law.
Imami Shi'i holds that there is always an Imam, either in the
open or in hiding.
Imami Shi'i gives a strong role to the reasoning of scholars.
Shari'ah
is taken as the true path for a Muslim to follow God's will.
Shari'ah
is God's plan for organizing human society and government.
At Judgement
time, each one will be judged by the standards of Shari'ah.
The two domains
are worship and human interactions.
Five types of
actions: required, recommended, permitted, reprehensible, forbidden.
Islam believes
the Qur'an, hadith, and shari'ah are 'transmitted sciences'.
Islam
understands the study of theology and philosophy as 'rational sciences'.
They are
distinct but interrelated disciplines.
Islamic philosophy
interacted with various kinds of Christian based philosophy.
Islamic theology
and philosophy arose in interaction with Greek philosophy.
The term 'murji'ah' or Murji'ite, refers to one who leaves judgement to God.
Mu'tazili
theology stressed the oneness of God, and God's justice.
Islamic theology
debated about God's role in human extreme predestination
Sunni Islam has
been skeptical of theology innovations since the l2th
century CE.
Islamic
Philosophy arose out of Greek philosophy.
Some philosophers
put reason above the Qur'an in search for rational
truth.
The philosopher
al-Farabi combined Quranic
thought with Plato's thought.
Ibn Sina, 'the Great Master' of philosophy, wrote of God as
First Cause.
Discredited in
the Muslim East, Islamic philosophy continued in
The name Sufism
may come from "suf", a coarse woolen garment worn by ascetics.
Sufis modeled
themselves after others who lived in simple harmony (Jesus etc.).
Some early Sufis
were known as 'weepers' or 'shunners' (of the world).
There were
important female sufis.
Rabi'ah
devoted herself to the pure love of God.
Many Sufis
distinguished between scientific and mystic knowing.
Some Sufis
entered a state of ecstasy in which they were 'one' with God.
Al-Hallaj was executed for his extreme utterances identifying
himself with God.
Devoted Sufis
practiced actual and symbolic journeys towards oneness with God.
Fana: A Sufi goal was the ecstatic state of fana, a "passing away" of the ego or self.
The five
stations move from repentance to complete acceptance of the will of God.
Shuraardi
wrote of the way of illumination.
Ibn'Arabi wrote of the 'unity of being' with everything eminating
from God.
Attar wrote of 30 birds, on a quest for their
king, who learn their King is within them.
Sexual longing
was related to the longing of the soul for God.
Mevlani
(or Rumi) of
In Rumi's poetry, reed flutes long for their marsh home, as
humans long for God.
Mevlan (or
Rumi) of
In Rumi's poetry, reed flutes long for their marsh home, as
humans long for God.
Life of Mevlana (Rumi)
- born in what
is now Afghahistan
- father was a respected Islamic scholar
Life of Mevlana (Rumi)
-his father left
home, expecting a Mongol invasion
-settled in
Life of Mevlana (Rumi)
- early 20's Married
first wife, had two sons
- later widowed, remarried, with two more children
Life of Mevlana (Rumi)
- mid 20's -- became a respected young theologian/jurist
- studied Sufi
thought under Burhan al-Din
Life of Mevlana (Rumi)
- 30's turned from
theology to mystical studies
- became a
"seller of new ideas"
Life of Mevlana (Rumi)
- became a
constant disciple of Shams of Tabriz
Life of Mevlana (Rumi)
- His pupils and
supporters blamed Shams for causing Mevlana to ignore
them, and caused Shams to leave
Life of Mevlana (Rumi)
- one day while
passing a shop, he heard a song being played on a reed flute
Life of Mevlana (Rumi)
- one day while
passing a shop, he heard a song being played on a reed flute
Life of Mevlana (Rumi)
-his school
taught sam'a, the practice of mystical consciousness
with music, dance and other sufi
practices
-students lived
in cells and worked on crafts to earn money
-students lived
in cells, worked on crafts for sale, and learned music, dance and spirituality
- Today, Mevlana is remembered for his poetry, his mysticism and his
unique style.
- He is buried
with others in his training school.
- Today, Muslems come to pay respect to the great mystic
- During the Ataturk days, the whirling practice died out, but now an
annual festival is held,
and whirling for
tourists is common at major hotel and cultural centres
-students lived
in cells, worked on crafts for sale, and learned music, dance and spirituality
-students lived
in cells, worked on crafts for sale, and learned music, dance and spirituality
Voluntary
poverty of brotherhoods gave rise to the Arabic name 'faqir'.
Shaykh,
leader of the brotherhood, traced his lineage back to an early Muslim.
Great Shaykhs were thought of as saints, and could perform
miracles.
The Arabic term masjid (mosque) means 'kneeling place'.
Mosques contain
areas for ritual washing, praying, a wall with a niche, and pulpit.
The dome cover
over some mosques is derived from Christian architecture.
The shape of the
arch in mosques varies from country to country.
Islamic art has
shunned the use of images and statues because they are prohibited.
Islamic art
makes use of Arabic script, geometrical shapes, and floral motifs.
The script often
involves one of the 99 names (attributes) of God.
Shi'i
Islam is not comfortable with pictures of Muhammad, preferring early Muslims.
Dar al Islam
means the house of Islam.
The term refers
to all Islamic areas.
After Muhammad,
Islam soon spread into . . .
Islam spread
into
- and later down through
Islam spread to
- Jews and
Muslims got along well during the Muslim period of rule in
Islam now
controls most of
In
Ottoman Turks
adopted the crescent moon as a symbol of Islam.
- crescent moon & star now the symbol
Muslims form a
significant minority in southern
In south
Muslim armies
from
By 1300 Muslim
armies controlled most of
Today, there are over 100
million Muslims in
At independence
in 1947, Muslim
portions became East and
Militant Hindus
destroyed a Mosque at Ayodhya in 1992, touching off
violence.
The Christian
Crusades left bitter scars with Muslims.
Wahhabi
reformers of
Some Sufi
leaders want to purge their territories of western influence.
Afghani said
Islam goes with science better than Christianity.
Some Middle
Eastern Muslims feel exploited by the Christian west.
Ataturk
tried to reform
Rida of
Lebanon argued for an Islamic nation based on rule by jurists.
Hassan al-Banna founded the Muslim Brothers of Egypt to promote
Islamic life.
The Muslim
Brothers are now out of power in
Many 20th
century Muslims have called for a pan-Muslim movement of unity.
The trend has
been away from western models and back to Islamic law.
Ruhollah
Khomeini, a conservative cleric, led the Islamic Revolution in
The Twelver Shi'i idea of a rule by
Islamic jurists underlies the Islamic Revolution.
With the end of
the Iran-Iraq war,
Having been
expelled from
There is now a
sizable and growing Muslim population in
Many of the
Africans brought to
Sunni Muslems in the
Many North
American cities now have a Sunni Mosque, and maybe a Shi'i
one.
Before the Quran, men could marry or divorce any number of women, at
will.
The Quran allows a man up to four wives, but a woman only one
husband.
The Quran allows for divorce, but encourages other solutions to
problems.
The Quran requires Muslims to care for their aged parents
cheerfully.
Both men and
women may inherit and hold property.
Fundamentalism
started as a term for Protestant Christians who resisted modern science and
non-literal Bible interpretations.
In the past
decade, some Muslems have also been called
"fundamentalist". Is that a
fair and correct assessment?
First, we should
note that "fundamentalism" originally had nothing to do with
violence, militancy or terrorism.
But some
religious extremists have turned to violence, confident that "God wills
it" (as the Crusaders said).
Many Muslems are 'fundamentalist" in the way that many Protestants are -- believing deeply in the
"inerrancy" of their scriptures.
But not many
Christian, Jewish or Islamic "fundamentalists" turn to violence or
terror.
Yet some
do. There are militant fundamentalist
Christians, Muslems and Jews active today.
Is it ever
legitimate to harm or kill someone in the name of god?
Islam arose as
an Arabic version of the religion of Abraham.
It was political from the start, and remains so
to this day.
Sunni - Shi'i conflicts
- Shi'i extremists have occasionally have terrorized the Hajj
- Recently,
Sunni extremists have attack Shi'is in
- Mr. 2, 04. Sunni
terrorists bomb