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OrientalPerspectiveII. Judaism and Islam
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I. JUDAISM
Place of Origin: Israel
Prophet : From Abraham
Date: 6th - 5th century BCE (Babylonian Exile Argument)
20th - 4th century BCE (FF. Continuity Argument)
Text: The Torah (Pentateuch)
History. Some scholars believed that the Babylonia exile in 586 BC was a major turning
point in their religion. The prior history of Israel now was reinterpreted in light of the
events of 586, laying the foundation for the traditional biblical Pentateuch, prophetic
canon, and historical books. The prophets believed that God had used the Babylonian
Empire to punish the Israelites for their sins. Their messianic hope for a restored Judean
kingdom was fulfilled when Cyrus the Great, after conquering Babylon in 539 BC,
permitted them to return for the restoration of local temples.
This theory of the gradual evolutionary development that was dominant at the beginning
of the 20th century, however, has been discarded by most scholars. Most Jews believed
that there never was a real break in continuity and that Mosaic-prophetic-priestly Judaism
was continued, with few modifications, in the work of the Pharisaic and rabbic scholars..
Even today the various Jewish groups—whether Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform—all
claim direct spiritual descent from the Pharisees and the rabbinic sages. In fact, however,
many developments have occurred within so-called normative or Rabbinic Judaism.
Basic Idea:
1. the Covenant 2. Ethical Monotheism
Theory of Human Nature : 1. HP exists primarily in relation to God.
2. Man created in
God Image
3. Free will or Freedom
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------II. ISLAM: Submission to Allah’s will
Place of Origin: Arabia
Prophet : Muhammad Abd Mustafa Abu’l Qasim [Aug.29.570AD]
Date:
7th century AD
Text: Qur’an and Hadith
Qur’an = collection of words that Muhammad attributed to Allah.
Hadith =records of Muhammad’s words, teachings, and deeds.
Sira = recorded biography
Sunnah =Muhammad’s way of life as recorded in the Hadith, especially when he is viewed
as a Model for muslims to emulate
a. Islam is the world’s second largest religion (after Christianity) with more than 1.6
billion adherents and present as the majority religion in 49 countries, the largest being
Indonesia.
The term Islam means “submission” (or “surrender”). The submission emphasized by
Islam is submission to Allah. Hence a “Muslim” is “one who submits” to Allah by
obeying Allah’s commands in the Qur’an (believed by Muslims to be the literal word of
Allah), along with the teachings of Muhammad contained in the Hadith.
b. Six Articles of Faith: Muhammad’s teachings concerning (1) Allah, (2) angels and other
spirit beings, (3) prophets, (4) scriptures, (5) the Day of Judgment, and (6) predestination.
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c. Core Muslim practices are Five Pillars of Islam: (1) reciting the Islamic Creed,
(2) Islamic prayers, (3) alms giving, (4) fasting- Month of Ramadan, and (5) pilgrimage to
Mecca.
Muhammad
Muhammad (570-632AD - Quraysh tribe) born in Mecca.. His father died before he was
born, and his mother died when he was 6. After the death of his grandfather, his uncle,
leader of the Banu Hashim clan, took care of him. We may divide Muhammad’s life into
three main periods.
1. Pre-Prophetic Period (570-610 AD). As a young man, he worked in the Meccan caravan
trade. At 25, he married Khadijah, rich widow (15yrs older). As was common for the
polytheists of the Meccan Quraysh tribe (at his time) he developed the habit of retreating
to a cave on Mount Hira for prayer and reflection.
2. Meccan Prophetic Period (610-622). In one of his annual retreats, he thought a spirit had
ordered him to recite verses (This has now become a controversial Islamic revelation issue
among scholars). Convinced by his wife that he was Allah’s prophet, he began preaching
Islam to friends, family members, and to the public, which brought him into conflict with
the Meccan polytheists. But his condemnation of their beliefs made him and his followers
the target of persecution. After his wife and uncle died, he decided to go to Medina, an
event known as Hijrah (the flight of Moh from mecca to medina).
3. Medinan Prophetic Period (622-632). This is the Period when Muhammad began
fighting the Meccan caravans. A series of battles most of which were in his favor brought
him new converts. The growing army allowed him to conquer not only Mecca, but the rest
of Arabia. In 632 he suffered an agonizing death. Muslims believe that Muhammad is
their highest moral example (Qur’an 33:21) and the final authority (along with Allah) in all
decisions (Qur’an 33:36). According to the Qur’an (4:65), a person can have no faith
without unquestioningly accepting Muhammad’s judgments.
Basic Concept: 1. Monotheism as expressed in the first article of Islam or the Shahada:
There is no god but god and Muhammad is the messenger of god.(TSNGBGAMSMG)
2. Merciful and compassionate God (limited to the believers??)
3. God’s Will for all existence {predestination? Or determinism?]
Human Person:
1. Equality of creation in Adam/Eve:
Q. 3:59 = dust-instantly
10:3 = 6days
16:14 = sperm
21:30 = water
41:9-12 = 2days
96:2 = blood clot
15:26 = clay
19:67 = nothing
2. Freewill: Free to choose between good and evil. How about apostasy?
3. Teleological creation – goal-directed, i.e. man created for God worship.
4. Worth and dignity of man. Universal or particular?
Terms to study: See Enclopedia Brittanica/Micropeadea @ SU Library
Apostasy
Al-fitna
Infidel
Hypocrite
Salat
Jihad
Nazed
Jizya