Download The Rise of Islam WHAP/Napp “Born in 570 to parents eminent in

The Rise of Islam
WHAP/Napp
“Born in 570 to parents eminent in the Quraysh tribe, Muhammad was orphaned at an
early age, and he was raised by his grandfather and later his uncle. He became a
merchant, employed by a wealthy widow named Khadija. When he was twenty-five years
old, he married her and they had four children together.
Muhammad was a deeply meditative person, retreating regularly to a nearby hill to pray
and reflect. In 610, when he was forty years old, his reflections were interrupted,
according to Islamic teachings, by the voice of the angel Gabriel, who instructed him:
‘Recite: In the name of the Lord who created Man of a blood-clot.’ Over the next two
decades, according to Islamic theology, God continued to reveal his messages to
Muhammad through Gabriel. Muhammad transmitted these revelations to professionals
whose task it was to commit them to memory…Soon after Muhammad’s death, during the
rule of Umar I, the second leader of the Islamic community (r. 634-644), scribes and editors
compiled the entire collection of written and oral recitations into the Quran, which in
Arabic means recitations…Approximately the length of the Christian New Testament, the
Quran is considered by Muslims to be the absolute, uncorrupted, word of God. Composed
in poetic form, the Quran helped to define the literary standards of the Arabic language.
Muslims chant and study its text in Arabic, considering each syllable sacred. Even today
many Muslims reject translations of the Quran into other languages as inadequate…
The Quran reveals the ‘five pillars’ of Islam, the five ritual expressions that define
orthodox Muslim religious belief and practice:


Declaring the creed, ‘There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet.’
Praying five times daily while facing Mecca (2:144) and, if possible, praying also in
public assembly at midday each Friday.
 Giving alms to the poor in the community, especially to widows and orphans (2:212
ff.), later recommended at 2 ½ percent of income.
 Fasting each day during the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar year,
although eating is permitted at night, with a major feast marking the month’s end
(2:179-84)
 Making the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca, at least once in a lifetime, if possible (2:185
ff.).”
~ The World’s History
1. The hajj
(A) Is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
(B) Helped to unite Muslims from disparate
parts of the world.
(C) Ends at the Ka'ba in Mecca.
(D) Contributed to the spread of Islamic
beliefs and values.
(E) All of the answers are correct.
2. The Five Pillars are to Muslims as
(A) The hadith is to Muslims.
(B) The Noble Eightfold Path is to
Buddhists.
(C) The four Vedas are to the Aryans.
(D) The book of Genesis is to Christians.
(E) None of the answers are correct.
Key Words/ I. The Birth of Islam: Arabian Peninsula Inhabited by Nomadic Bedouins
Questions
A. Arabia was located on trade routes which gave rise to commercial cities
1. Mecca was the site of the Kaaba, a significant shrine in Arabia,
housed representations of some 360 deities and center of pilgrimage
2. Mecca’s dominant tribe, Quraysh, controlled access to the Kaaba
B. Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (570-632 CE) was born in Mecca
1. Orphaned but eventually married a wealthy widow, Khadija
2. Deeply troubled by religious corruption and social inequalities
3. Had an overwhelming religious experience
4. Revelations began in 610 and continued over next twenty-two years
a) Revelations recorded in the Quran (the holy book of Islam)
C. Muhammad’s Message
1. Radically monotheistic
2. “Seal of the Prophets”: final prophet of Jewish/Christian prophets
3. Submission to Allah (“Muslim” means “one who submits to God”)
D. Five Pillars of the Faith
1. Absolute monotheism
2. Prayer, preferably five times a day facing Mecca
3. Give generously to help community (Charity/Alms)
4. Month of fasting from sunrise to sunset during the month of Ramadan
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)
a) Further requirement, known as sixth pillar, “struggle” or jihad
1) “Greater jihad”: personal effort against greed and selfishness
2) The “lesser jihad”: the sword or holy war
E. Muhammad’s Flight
1. By 622, Muhammad and followers emigrated to the more welcoming
town of Yathrib, soon to be called Medina, the city of the Prophet
a) Known as hijra marked the beginning of a new Islamic calendar
F. The Umma or Community
1. Membership: matter of belief not birth, allowing it to expand rapidly
2. All authority, political and religious, concentrated in Muhammad
G. Rise of Empire
1. In 630, Mecca surrendered and Muhammad purged Kaaba of idols
2. Islamic law or sharia (a path to water) regulated every aspect of life
3. Within a few years of Muhammad’s death in 632, Arab armies
engaged the Byzantine and Persian Sassanid empires
4. An Islamic/Arab empire stretching from Spain to India
H. Changes
1. Mass conversion of Middle Eastern peoples to Islam
2. Converts to Islam could avoid the jizya, tax imposed on non-Muslims
3. First four caliphs (successors to Muhammad), Rightly Guided Caliphs
a) But third and fourth caliphs, ‘Uthman and Ali, were assassinated
b) Sunni Muslims believed any pious Muslim man could lead
community and ulama or religious scholars interpreted religion
c) Shia Muslims (meaning “party” or “faction”) believed that
leadership derived from the line of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet
Questions 1 and 2 are based on the following 6. Which religious schism stemmed from
photograph
disputes over legitimate succession of
leadership after the death of its key or
founding figure?
(A) Eastern Orthodox and Catholic
(B) Catholic and Protestant
(C) Mahayana and Theravada
(D) Sunni and Shia
(E) Mahayana and Zen
1. The scene represents a central event of a
(A) Muslim hijra
(B) Commemoration of the Byzantine
Empire in the Hagia Sophia
(C) Muslim hajj
(D) Celebration of the Christian victories of
the First Crusade
2. The center of attention in the scene is
(A) a holy book
(B) the sharia
(C) the Well of ZamZam
(D) the Ka’ba
3. All of the following are part of the Five
Pillars of the Islamic Faith EXCEPT:
(A) Observation of fasting during the month
of Ramadan
(B) Right thought and right action
(C) The pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca
(D) Prayer five times a day
4. Which of the following Arabic terms
refers to the “community of the faithful”?
(A) Hijab
(B) Hajj
(C) Hadith
(D) Zakat
(E) Umma
5. Prior to Muhammad’s revelations, the
religion of the Bedouin was
(A) Primarily Christian.
(B) Primarily Jewish.
(C) Based upon ancient poems.
(D) A mixture of animism and polytheism.
7. The Islamic umma was
(A) The name given to the clergy of the new
faith.
(B) The name given to Muhammad’s flight
from Mecca to Medina.
(C) The holy book into which Muhammad’s
revelations were recorded.
(D) The concept of the community of the
faithful that transcended clan boundaries.
8. The word Islam means
(A) Submission.
(B) One who has submitted.
(C) the god.
(D) Arabia.
(E) None of the answers are correct.
9. The nature of the society into which the
prophet Muhammad was born was
(A) An urban-based culture with small
manufacturing.
(B) A pastoral society with many camels.
(C) An agricultural society dominated by
warriors.
(D) A society made up largely of nomads
and merchants.
(E) A society based on maritime trade.
10. Under pressure from authorities in
Mecca, Muhammad and his followers fled to
Medina in 622. Muslims call this move
(A) The hijra.
(B) The umma.
(C) Yathrib.
(D) The hajj.
(E) None of the answers are correct.
Thesis Practice:
Analyze similarities and differences in the religion of ISLAM with ONE of the following
belief systems: Buddhism OR Christianity.
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Critical Thinking Questions:
1- Islam spread more rapidly than any other major world religion. Why do you think this
was? What aspects of the religion made it appealing? How was the cultural climate
conducive to the rapid expansion of Islam?
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2- Compare and contrast the beliefs (including the treatment of women) of the major world
religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
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1. Who was Khadija?
4. The hijra is
(A) A modern Egyptian woman who took off (A) The emigration of the early Muslim
her headscarf
community from Mecca to Medina
(B) The first wife of the prophet
(B) The annual pilgrimage to Mecca
Muhammad
(C) The written reports of how Muhammad
(C) The first Abbasid caliph
lived his life
(D) A twentieth-century reformer
(D) The term for Islamic law
2. The word jihad means
(A) Pilgrimage
(B) To strive or struggle
(C) Fasting
(D) Prophecy
3. The hadith reports
(A) Tell about what Muhammad said and
did
(B) Were collected by those closest to
Muhammad
(C) Were compiled in several authoritative
collections
(D) All of the above
5. Sunnis and Shias split due to a
(A) Disagreement about the chapters of the
Qur’an
(B) Disagreement about what kind of
clothing women should wear
(C) Difference in opinion over who should
lead the Muslim community following
Muhammad’s death
(D) Difference of opinion about where the
early Muslim community should make its
home