Download Islam - ClassNet

ISLAM
INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY
CRASH COURSE: ISLAM
1. How did Islam begin? Where?
2. What was Muhammad’s society like?
3. How do Muslims see Muhammad? How do they see
Abraham, Jesus and Moses?
4. How do Muslims understand the Qur’an?
5. What are the 5 Pillars of Islam?
6. What are the sayings of Muhammad known as?
7. Explain the myth of the “72 virgins”.
8. What is Sharia? How is it interpreted?
9. What is the Umma?
10. Why did the Quraysh tribe force Muhammad and his
followers out of Mecca?
CRASH COURSE: ISLAM
11. What is the hijra? When did it happen?
12. Are religion and gov’t separate in Islam?
13. What are the 2 main branches of Islam? How did
they start? How do they differ?
14. Why did Islam spread so quickly?
ABRAHAM
• Abraham was born
approximately 2500 years
before Muhammad.
• In the Hebrew Bible and the
Qur’an, Abraham had more
than one son.
• Mecca was founded at the
site of a miraculous well that
sprung up at the heels of
Ishmael.
• The Kaaba was built or rebuilt
by Abraham - a house for the
one God.
• The Black Stone is believed to
have been sent by God white,
but was blackened by Adam’s
sin.
THE KAABA
• Muslims always face the Kaaba in Mecca
whenever they pray.
• All Muslims pilgrimage there once in a lifetime (if
they are able).
ARABIA BEFORE MUHAMMAD
• Arabia was undeveloped, poor and violent
• religious life involved the worship of many gods.
• The Kaaba (or “cube”) became a house of idols,
draped in the pelts of sacrificial animals
• Nomads travelled to Mecca both as religious
pilgrimage, but also to get water from the well
• Lack of gov’t led people to take the law into their
own hands; revenge was typical.
• Women had few rights
MUHAMMAD
• Muhammad was born
around 570 CE in Mecca
• He saw his country as
corrupt
• Over approx 20 years,
Muhammad had
revelations from God
through the angel Gabriel.
• The first revelation to
Muhammad is
remembered as The Night
of Power
• M’s 1st revelations took place in a cave. Later revelations
include his Night Journey (to the “furthest mosque” –
believed to be in Jerusalem).
• According to tradition, M was praying at the Kaaba when
Gabriel appeared to him with the Buraq
• M toured heaven and hell with Gabriel and met all the
previous prophets (Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus..)
• M’s Night Journey is remembered during Ramadan
(which commemorates the writing of the Qur’an)
• All M’s revelations were written in the Qur’an.
• M preached against polytheism and immorality – he
gave the Pillars of Islam that were revealed by God.
• He gained many enemies in Mecca, especially those
who profited from travelers.
• M fled to the city of Medina – this event (622 CE, the
hijra) marks the beginning of Islamic history
EARLY ISLAM
• M believed religion and state should be combined
• He became a military and political leader in
Medina
• Eventually, M won back Mecca, destroyed the idols
in the Kaaba and reclaimed it for the one God.
• M. declared peace – and Islam spread quickly –
Arabs were united as Muslims.
• In the first 100 years, Islam spread as far east as India
and west to Gibraltar.
WHY DID ISLAM SPREAD SO QUICKLY?
• It is simple and universal –
• Islam does not have to involve extensive study or
ascetic practices.
• All people are accepted as equal.
• The 5 pillars are simple to follow and memorize.
• Military might – however, Muslim governments
began to be seen as preferable to Romans and
Persians.
•
•
•
Under Muhammad
by 661 CE
by 750 CE