RLG204 - Introduction to Islam and Muslim Civilizations

Who Represents Islam? Both everyday practicing people and radicals/extremists What is Islam? Islam is the religion of those people who have for some 14 centuries followed the teachings of prophet Muhammad (SAW). We understand the work “Islam” at 3 levels: basic level-submitting or committing oneself to God, essentially an inward mental action with outward consequences Islam refers to a religion, that is, a system of beliefs and practices believed to be ordained by God, Muslims are the adherent

Part I: History of the Community Historically Islam said to have two major roots, one in central Arabia and the other in the lands surrounding it, from Iran to Greece to Egypt and Ethiopia (Hellenistic-Iranian world). Political face of the Hellenistic-Iranian world had two major “superpowers”. Its religious and cultural face, however, was extremely diverse with a multitude of religious groups. Two “Superpowers” The Sasanian were Iranian in language and culture and the Byzantines were Greek,

The Arabs Before Islam The Arabian Peninsula lay on the periphery of the lands ruled by the Byzantines and the Sassanians. They were Christian in religion, Monophysite (Byzantines) and Nestorian (Sassanians). (Check book) In central Arabia were tribes, mostly nomadic but many living in agricultural settlements or trading towns. Prominent among trade was Mecca, which was settled by the Quraysh tribe 500CE and become prosperous through the caravan trade. These Arabs worshiped spirits associated

What is the Qur’an? Exact words of God, conveyed in the Arabic language to the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) by the angel Jibreel (Gabriel) (AS) Gradually revealed over 23 years Qur’an transmitted both orally (from memory) and written In the battle the year after Muhammad (SAW) death a number of those who memorized the Qur’an were killed and Abu Bakar (RA) decided that the whole should be collected and recorded. this was done by Zayd ibn Thabit who has been one of Muhammad (SAW) secretaries eventual

The Quran is the word of God Muhammad(SAWS) is the person through whom that book came to humanity and his words and deeds are the first and most important commentary of it. In his life time he was prophet, arbitrator, political leader, and moral exemplar. Moral exemplar and model for his followers, that has primarily continued after he left the world. Muhammad(SAWS) is Human, but Special Muhammad(SAWS) was a human being and not an incarnation of God, as Christians claim of Jesus (AS). He is n

Some Basic Distinctions and Concerns Ibadat “acts of worship” Ritual actions Duties owed directly to God Mu’amalat Duties humans owe to each other Laws relating to society Intention (niyya) Essential to all human activity The Prophet (saw) said- “deeds [are judged] by intentions and every person will receive according to their intention” (Bukhari) Ritual Purity Server kinds of impurity- Najasa- Caused by coming in contact with forbidden or unclean things Hadath - May be major or minor Minor H

Khariji Translated as “secceder” or “rebel” Those who broke with Ali when, during the battle of against Muawiya, he accepted arbitration on the question of whether the killing of Uthman had been justified. They held that Uthman had clearly violated the Quran and thus the matter should mot be arbitrated by humans; Ali had committed a serious sin by accepting this. Their slogan was “judgement belongs only to Allah” Accepted the validity of the caliphs of Abu Bakr and Umar and part of Uthman’s cal

Islamic law Shari’a and fiqh Represents the will of God for human life as a whole Fiqh - Understanding of the Qur’an and the Sunna Shari’a is what God ordains and fiqh is what humans understand of it Fuqaha (singular: faqih) - (jurisprudent) are ulama who specialize in fiqh (jurisprudence). The Five Shari’a Valuations Obligatory (wajib or fard) Must be done. God rewards for doing them and punishes for omitting them Branch out into fard ‘ayn (individual obligations) and fard kifaya (once a cer

Shari’a and how it can be discovered Always been a main concern Islam had both a theological and philosophical movement which have been d less importance but still significant Theology (Kalam, Usul Al-Din) The term for an important form of theology among Muslims that appeared in the 2nd century hijri is ilm al-kalam) or kalam for short, literally the science of words Primarily concerned with defending the truth of religion against erroneous views Kharijis, Murji’is and Qadaris discussed theolo

Sufi from suf = wool, because the early Sufis wore rough woolen garments Synonymous to faqir, and Darwish or Dervish which mean poor (i.e. Poor in spirit) They distinguish between two kinds of knowledge, ilm and ma’rifaIlm Ilm - Knowledge you get from hearing or reading about something and drawing conclusions from it The ulama have this sort of knowledge of God’s attributes Marifa - Direct and intimate knowable we have when we become acquainted with a person This is what Sufis seek of God Corre

Arabesque Includes both floral and geometric ornamental deigns These are often said to express the devein unity underlying the world of diversity and the harmony it imparts in this world. They reject individualism as an ideal Provides an intuition of infinity and a realization that it cannot be achieved in this world. Since it is repetitive it has no built-in limit but it cut-off by an arbitrary boundary (ex. end of the page) Faruqi argues that the purpose of Islamic art is not to depict the div