Download here - Third Age Learning Guelph

ISLAM AS AN ABRAHAMIC
FAITH: CONTINUITY AND
CONTRAST
Third Age Learning series on Understanding Islam
Persistent Orientalist modes of thinking
and Muslims



Once again dominant, has acquired the status of
commonsense
Promoted by primary definers of the news in a
climate of fear and intimidation
Such definitions become normative through a
process of repetition
Key commonsense assumptions: taken for granted
frames that underpin discussion of Islam and Muslims





Islam is a monolithic religion
Islam is a uniquely sexist religion
The Muslim/Arab mind is incapable of rationality
and science
Islam is inherently violent
The West spreads democracy whereas Islam
promotes terrorism
Islam vs. Judeo Christian tradition?
Emergence of the concept in the twentieth century?
Resurgence of the concept in the current times,
especially post-9/11
Use by Islamophobes and implications for alienating
Islam and Muslims
Shift to Abrahamic traditions
Approach of the three traditions to Abraham and
scholars wrestling with finding common ground in
Abraham
Questions to ponder for today






What is Islam and Muslims?
What does it mean that Abraham is the father of all
monotheistic faith traditions?
What does the Quran itself tell us about continuity and
contrast, pluralism and diversity?
What are our choices—clash or convivencia?
Any other questions you will bring to the table in a
respectful way
All questions are good, better to ask than to believe in
the “commonsense” myths
The Basics



What is Islam and who are Muslims?
When did Islam arrive on the scene
Adam/Abraham/Muhammad?
Three Dimensions of Islam
 Islam
(Submission)
 Iman (Faith)
 Ihsan (Excellence)
Faith principles:
Pillars of Islam and Ihsan


Five pillars of Islam (submission): belief in One God,
Prayer, Alms giving, Fasting, Pilgrimage,
Six pillars of Iman (faith): faith in One God, all
Prophets, all Books, Angels, Last day, Measuring out
of good and evil
Muslims






Over 1.7 billion people who live in 57 Muslim
majority countries all over the world
Large sections of Muslims live as minorities
Arab and Muslim not to be conflated. Arabs only
make up 20% of the global Muslim population
Faith and family core values in Muslims’ lives
Muslims like Jews and Christians believe in the God
of Abraham, Moses and Jesus
Islam and Muslim is not a monolith
Essence of Oneness

Reality of God as the One, the Absolute and the
Infinite-- Allah
 Surah
Al-Ikhlas (Purity ) Chapter 112
 In the Name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of
Mercy
Say, He is the One, God the eternal, He begot no one nor
was He begotten, No one is comparable to Him
Oneness of God and other religions


Reassertion of the revelation of God to all Prophets
The Quran states
 We
have never sent a messenger before except that
We revealed to him, saying, “There is no god but I, so
worship Me”
Who or what is God?






Praise be to God, the Lord of all the worlds. The Most Merciful, the Most
Compassionate
God is the Light of the heavens and the earth…. neither of the east nor
of the west,… Light upon Light! 24:35
The East and the West belong to God. To whichever direction you turn,
you will be turning to God. God is All-Embracing, All-Knowing. 2:115
There is no male or female representation of God
Ninty nine attributes (never personified) that describe the nature of divinity
Al Asma al-husna (Beautiful names)
God is never the father or heaven—He is the all-Knowing, the Praiseworthy,
the strong, the Creator, the Permanent.
God’s reality is absolute, human reality is relative
God is close than the jugular vein
God for Whom?



We have honoured the children of Adam (not Muslims) 17:70
Quran favours the ‘virtuous’ individual and admonishes the ‘vicious’
individual It does not guarantee special status to anyone but the righteous:
Goodness does not consist in turning your face towards East or West. The truly
good are those who believe in God and the Last Day, in the angels, the
Scripture, and the prophets; who give away some of their wealth, however
much they cherish it, to their relatives, to orphans, the needy, travellers and
beggars, and to liberate those in bondage, those who keep up the prayer and
pay the prescribed alms; who keep pledges whenever they make them; who
are steadfast in misfortune, adversity, and times of danger. These are the ones
who are true, and it is they who are aware of God 2:177
O Human beings, … We have made you into nations and tribes that you may
recognize one another. Verily, the most honoured of you, in the sight of God,
is he who is the most righteous among you. … 49:13
Islam and creation of humans

Insan (human)
“
God created humans in the best of stature” 95:4
 With intelligence capable of Knowing the One.
 Primordial nature (al-fitrah)
Relationship between humans and God even before
coming into this world
Plurality and diversity by design


Had your Lord willed, all the people on earth would
have believed. So can you compel people to
believe? No soul can believe except by God’s will,
and He brings disgrace on those who do not use
reason. 10:99-100
If your Lord had pleased, He would have made all
people a single community, but they continue to
have their differences 11:118
Creation of Adam (synonym for human
being)





God created Adam the first human in His image
Human as vicegerents of God (khalifa)
Carrying the trust and human freedom
God taught Adam the names
Abd (servant of God) Servanthood precedes
vicegerency
 Servant
of God an epithet given to Muhammad and Jesus
in the Quran (also a very common name, Abdallah)
Adam’s superiority to Angels





God announces Adam’s creation to Angels. They
say:
“What, will you place in the earth who will work
corruption there, and shed blood?” (2:30)
Gog replied, “I know something you know not.”
God taught Adam the Names--knowledge
God asks Angels to bow before Adam, Iblis refuses
Adam and Iblis (Satan)


Trust and fitra (innate nature) suggest that humans
have a great responsibility before God and His
creation
God created humans from a single soul
 People
be mindful of your Lord, who created you from
a single soul, and from it created its mate…(4:1)
God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with
instructions
Enter Iblis





Iblis’s disobedience, leads to his downfall
How Satan came to be the enemy of humans. His
motivation pride, anger and envy
Iblis’s mission until the end of time with God’s permission
Said he, “My Lord, because You have led me astray, I
shall make the earth seem fair to them and I shall lead
them astray, except the sincere among Your servants.”
Said He, “This is for me a straight path: As for My
servants, you shall have no authority over them, except
those that follow you, going astray. Gehenna is the
promised place for all of them.” (15: 39-43)
Instructions for Adam and Eve



We said, “ Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in the
Garden, and eat thereof easefully wherever you
desire. But do not come near this tree, lest you be
wrongdoers.”
Then Satan caused them to slip there from and
brought them out of what they were in. (2:35-36)
Freedom and guidance
What does it mean to be human?




Choice between right and wrong
Both Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the
tree of knowledge, both slipped and both asked for
forgiveness
“Adam disobeyed his Lord’ (20:121)
God then said to them both
 “Did
I not prohibit you two from this tree and say to
you, ‘Verily, Satan is for you two an open enemy?”
(7:22)
No original sin



Both Adam and Eve recognize their mistake and
seek God’s forgiveness and they are both forgiven
God chose Adam as the first Prophet
God then sends Adam and Eve down to earth as
vicegerents
 Dialogue
of Moses with Adam
Why Prophets?







In Islam revelation and Prophecy are necessary and
Universal
Divine Oneness (Tawhid) and its reaffirmation
through Prophets
Why? Ghafla (heedlessness, forgetfulness of fitra)
Religion (din), a way of life
Revelation (wahy)
Prophecy (nubuwwa)
Kitab--- Quran and other books
Islam’s Prophets






Start with Adam down to Muhammad
Acceptance of multiplicity of prophets and
revelations
People of the Book—Jews and Christians
Some traditions number them at 124,000
Finality of Prophecy—”Seal of Prophethood”
Role of Abraham, Moses and Jesus in Islam
Abraham the father of monotheism


Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was
one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allah
]. And he was not of the polytheists 3:68
Say, [O believers], "We have believed in Allah and
what has been revealed to us and what has been
revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob
and the Descendants and what was given to Moses and
Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their
Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and
we are Muslims [in submission] to Him 2:137
Abraham’s descendants

Or were you witnesses when death approached
Jacob, when he said to his sons, "What will you
worship after me?" They said, "We will worship your
God and the God of your fathers, Abraham and
Ishmael and Isaac - one God. And we are Muslims
[in submission] to Him 2:134
Demonizing Ishmael and his
descendants

Often based on a exclusivist interpretation of the Bible
The angel of the LORD also said to her( Hagar):
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,[a]
for the LORD has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward[b] all his brothers.”
Genesis 16:11-12New International Version
Quran and Prophet Muhammad a
continuation





Quran as revelation: key issue
To understand Islam, it is essential to understand the
Prophet of Islam to whom the Quran was revealed
The Prophet, a human just as all other Prophets—no
divinity
Islam is not Muhammadanism
Verily you have in the Messenger of God and excellent exemplar for him who
looks to God and Last Day and remembers God often” (32:21)
Who was Prophet Muhammad?









Born in Mecca in 570 A.D. into the tribe of Quraysh
An orphan
A Hanif (primordialist, followed the monotheism of
Abraham) Al Amin (the trustworthy)
His marriage to Khadija
Revelation at the age of 40
Al-Miraj (ascension to heaven)
Opposition and migration
Return to Mecca
Death in Medina
Continuation of revelation


This Qur'an … is a confirmation of (revelations) that went
before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book - wherein
there is no doubt - from the Lord of the worlds. 10:37
We have revealed to you (Muhammad) as We revealed to
Noah and the Prophets after him, and We revealed to
Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the offspring of
Jacob, and Jesus and Job, and Jonnah, and Aaron and
Solomon, and We gave to David Psalms. 4:163
Repeatedly the Quran underscores the fact that its message is
not something new or completely different from the message
of the earlier prophets or former scriptures.
Universality and particularity of
Prophecy
All Prophets brought the first shahadah—tawhid
(oneness f God)
“We have never sent a messenger before thee save that
We revealed to him saying, ‘There is no god but I, so
worship me’” (21:25).
“to every one of you (messengers) We have appointed
a right way and an open road (shariah) (5:48)
Particularity of the second part of the shahadah
(bearing witness)

No differentiation in Prophets of God

Say: We have faith in God, and in that which has
been sent down on Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, and
Jacob, and the Tribes, and that which was given to
Moses and Jesus and the prophets by their Lord. We
make no distinction among any of them, and to Him
we have submitted (2: 136, 2: 285, 3:84)
Acknowledgement of different
messages

Any distinction has to be made on the basis of
messages
 “And
those messengers—some we have preferred
above others. Among them was he to whom God spoke,
and He raised some in degrees. And We gave Jesus
son of Mary the clear explications, and We confirmed
him with the Holy Spirit” (2:253)
 “And we have preferred some Prophets over others,
and We gave David the Psalms” (17:55)
Islam and other religions



No consensus among Muslims on the issue of Islam
and other religions
Shades of exclusivist tendencies persist
Quranic perspective, centrality of tawhid.
 “Those
who have faith, and those of the Jews, the
Christians, and the Sabeans---whoso has faith in God
and the Last Day and works wholesome deeds—their
wage awaits them with their Lord, and no fear shall be
upon them, neither shall they sorrow” (2:62)
Believers vs. Non believers





Focused on distortion of Tawhid (oneness of God)
Corruption of scriptures
Trinity (in Christianity)
Criticism of Jews who broke the covenant of God
and opposed conspired against Prophet
Muhammad
Kuffar (those who cover) or truth concealers, does
not equate to infidel
People of the Book


Jews and Christians are referred to as the people
of the Book
Mentioned throughout the Quran
 Some
of the people of the Book are a wholesome nation.
They recite God’s signs in the watches of the night,
prostrating themselves, having faith in God and the Last
Day, bidding to honour and forbidding dishonour, and
vying with one another in good deeds. They are among
the wholesome. Whatever good they do, they will not be
denied its reward”. (3:113-115)
Jews and Christians in the Quran
The Quran frankly acknowledges the virtues of Jews and Christians and thus generates an inclusive attitude
among the believers. It says:

Of the people of Moses there is a section who guide and do justice in the light of truth 7:159

Of the People of the Book there are upright people: they recite the word of God all night long, and they
prostrate themselves in adoration. 3:113
…and nearest among them in love to the believers will you find those who say, "We are Christians":
because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they
are not arrogant. 5:82





The Quran also acknowledges the Jewish and Christian scriptures, their high status and position:
It is He Who sent down to you (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He
sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, … 3:3
It was We who revealed the law (to Moses): therein was guidance and light… 5:44
And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We
sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before
him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God. 5:46
This (i.e. the Quran) indeed is what is taught in the former Scriptures — The Scriptures of Abraham and
Moses. 87:18-19
Islam and religious pluralism today




Role of political tensions
Missionaries and colonialism
Forced conversions in Islam unacceptable—
precedence in Prophet’s return to Mecca
Apostasy and freedom of religion

“There is no compulsion in religion” (2: 256)
Clash of civilizations vs. clash of
ignorance



Bernard Lewis
Samuel Huntington
Edward Said’s response
Where do we go from here?



Constant divide or dialogue of civilizations
Who will frame the future of which path we choose?
Our responsibility
Thank you

For sharing this time with me. I am grateful.
Peace be with all of you