Download Intro to Islam

Islam
A basic introduction
Courtyard of the Great Mosque at
Herat, Afghanistan. Photo:
http://www.islamicity.com/
Current Distribution of the World’s Religions
Map: Thomson/Wadsworth
Origins of Islam
• Arabia (Mecca &
Medina)
• Muhammad the
Prophet
• 570-632 C.E.
• Member of the
Quraysh tribe, Hashim
clan
• Messenger of God:
visited by angel Gabriel
and begins recitation
(the Qur’an) in 610 C.E.
• 622 Hijra to Medina
Pillars of Islam
• Main doctrines of
Islam
• Faith in the unity of
God
• Angels as helpers of
god
• Belief in the
scriptures & the
prophets
• Final judgment day
• Five main pillars of
Islam
• Shahada (faith)
• “There is no god but
God. Muhammad is
the messenger of
God.”
• Prayer (salat), 5
times a day at set
times
• Almsgiving (zakat)
• Fasting (sawm)
during Ramadan
• Pilgrimage to Mecca
(Hajj)
Sources of Islam: Qur’an, Sunna, & Hadith
• Qur’an
• Word of God (Not
Muhammad)
• One god
• Ethical monotheism:
God as just &
judging
• Oral & written
• Most authoritative
source of Islamic
doctrine & practice
• Hadith
• Written reports of
instructions, sayings,
and actions (Sunna)
of the prophet
• Confirms, extends,
elaborates on the
Qur’an
The spread of Islam
• Return to Mecca,
630 C.E.; city
converts to Islam
• Muslim conquests
630s-720s
• North of Arabia
(present-day Syria,
Iraq, etc)
• Egypt 640 C.E.
• North Africa 655 C.E.
• Spain 718 C.E.
The Great Mosque , Cordoba, Spain.
(Built 784-6 , 961-6 , 987-90 , and other
restorations). Photo: IslamiCity.
Expansion of Islam: Major Cities
Map: Thomson/Wadsworth
Expansion of Islamic empires
What explains the rapidity and durability
of Islamic (political) expansion?
• Weak empires
• Warfare
• Byzantine and Sasanian intolerance of
Jews and Christians
• No established state in Arabia
• Common language (Arabic)
• Islamic policies towards “people of the
book” (dhimmis)
• From Arab to multi-ethnic Islamic
governance.
Major denominations : Sunnism & Shi’ism
• Source of the division:
political differences over
leadership of the Muslim
community
• Dispute over succession: Ali
or Abu Bakr?
• Household/family vs
companions
• Shiite belief in the Imamate:
leadership of the Muslim
community through familial
connection to the Prophet
• Most Shiites believe in 12
infallible, divinely
appointed Imams
• Beleaguered minority: 1215% world’s Muslims are
Shiite
• Ethos of suffering &
martyrdom
A young Shiite woman of Iraq worshipping at
the end of the Ashura holiday commemorating
the death of Hussein in 680 C.E.
Family relations
Abdullah
Khadija
Abu Talib
Mohammad
Ali
Fourth Caliph;
Assassinated,
661 CE
Fatima
Huseyn
Hassan
Killed at Battle of Karbala, 680 CE
Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf,
Iraq
Beliefs and customs: Shi’ism
• Common acceptance
of the Quran, but Shiites
reject some Hadith
• Different prayer times
• Different inheritance laws
• Different laws about
marriage and sex
• Different ceremonies and
commemorations
• Muharram processions,
passion plays, storytelling
about Karbala and Husayn’s
death
Imam Ali commemorated in art, from
http://www.imamalinet.net
Sufism
• Islamic mysticism:
emphasis on
spiritual
interpretations of
Islam
• Emphasis on God’s
love, piety,
simplicity,
informality, the
“inner way” (tariqa)
• Organized into Sufi
orders (tariqat)
Miniature painting of Rumi by Hossein Behzad
• “Dance, as though no one
is watching,
Love, as though you've
never been hurt before,
Sing, as though no one can
hear you,
Work, as though you don't
need the money,
Live, as though heaven is on
earth.”
~Jalal al-Din Rumi~