Download The Founding of Islam

What Every Christian Should Know about Islam
Part 2
The Founding of Islam
The Qu’ran
© 2016 George E. Blanford Jr.
The Early Development of Islam
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While alive, Muhammad had sent
messengers to Arabian tribes requiring
submission to Allah and they all did
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Kuhafa as-Siddiq, an
early convert, was the first Caliph
(replacement or vicar) from 632-634
He was succeeded by Umar ibn Khattab
(634-644) and expansion outside Arabia
began while he was Caliph
The fourth Caliph was Ali ibn Abi Talib
(d. 661), the cousin and son-in-law of the
Prophet
His martyrdom and disagreement over
his successor led to the Sunni-Shi’ite
split in Islam
Imam Ali Mosque, Najaf, Iraq. It is considered
Islam’s 3rd holiest shrine by Shi’a Muslims
Sunni and Shi’a Muslims
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Shi’ites insisted that leaders must be descendents of the Prophet
whereas Sunnis did not agree. The first 4 Caliphs were relatives of
Muhammad
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Shi’ite leaders are known as imams
After Imam Hussein, Ali’s son and leader of the Shi’a, was killed in
the Battle of Karbala in 680. The split now became permanent.
The shrines of Imam Hussein (left) and
Imam Abbas in Karbala, Iraq
The Shrine of Imam Hussein
Sunni and Shi’a
Muslims
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The “Seveners” or Ismailis are Shi’ites who
recognize 7 imams. They live today primarily
in Pakistan and India
The “Twelvers” are Shi’ites who recognize 12
imams. The son of the 11th imam went into
occultation and will reappear in the future.
They live today primarily in Iraq and Iran
Sunni Muslims constitute 80-85% of Muslims
today
The world community of all Muslims is known
as the Umma
The shrine of Imam
Abbas, Hussein’s loyal
half-brother, who was
also killed in the Battle
of Karbala
Major Populated Areas of Sunni and Shi’a Muslims
The Dar al-Islam (Household of Submission) are territories governed by Muslims under Shar’iah law
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Sufis
Sufism is a old movement within both Sunni and
Shi’a Islam
– It is a mystical movement in which personal
experience and absorption into the Divine are
important
– Some Sufis, in a meditative trance, do a spinning
dance and are known as whirling dervishes
– Consists of different orders (tariqah)
– Sufism has pushed the bounds of orthodox Islam and
has often been persecuted and its followers martyred
– Beginning in the 19th century, Islamic reformers
tended to view Sufi practice as backwards,
superstitious, and a cause for why Islam has not
prospered in the modern era
– The poet Rumi (1207-1273) is one of the best known
Sufis
Whirling Dervishes
Wahhabis
• Wahhabism is a conservative 18th century reform
movement of Sunni Islam founded by Muhammad ibn
Abd-al-Wahhab (1703–1792)
– It is a fundamentalist movement and its philosophy and
practices are stern and austere
– With the support of the House of Saud, it is the official Islam
of Saudi Arabia
– It is also the dominant form of Islam in Kuwait, Qatar, and in
pockets of Somalia, Algeria, and Mauritania
– The leaders of al-Qaeda are Wahhabis, but this does not imply
that Wahhabis generally support al-Qaeda
Muslims in America
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There are 2-7 million Muslims in America
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It is one of the fastest growing religions in
America
More than half of the Muslim population
consists in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation
immigrants
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Political turmoil in their homelands is one of
the primary motivations for emigration today
American Muslims are from all forms of
Islamic movements
Although Muslims can be found all across America, many have tended to
form communities
Questions of identity, occupation, dress, and acculturation are
particularly significant for many American Muslims
Muslim Mosques in America
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In 2010, there were
2106 mosques in
America (166 in TX)
The oldest mosque
still in use was built
in 1914 in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa
Baitus Samee, Houston, TX
Muslim Calendar
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Calendar of 12 lunar months
– Each month begins when a sliver of a crescent moon can be seen following New Moon
– Since the mean synodic period of the moon is ~29.5 days, a Muslim year is only 12 x ~29.5
= ~354 days long
– Unlike the Jewish and Chinese calendars, the Muslim calendar has no mechanism for
synchronizing with a solar year (~365.25 days)
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Muslim years begin with the year of the Hijra, Muhammad’s move from
Mecca to Medina, and are designated by H or AH (anno Hegirae)
Significant months
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The year begins with the month of Muharram
Ramadan is the ninth month
‘Eid al-Fitr is on 1 Shawwal (10th month)
The Hajj is from 8-10 Dhu al-Hijjah (12th month)
‘Eid ul Adha is on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah
Holidays
Two major and two minor holidays
• Muharram—New Year’s Day commemorates the Hijra
• ‘Eid al-Fitr—Feast of the Breaking of the Fast of Ramadan
– Begins when the month of Ramadan has ended
– Very joyous with house decorations, feasting and gift giving
• ‘Eid ul Adha—Feast of the Sacrifice
– Takes place during the Hajj
– Commemorates the sacrifice that Allah commanded Abraham to make of his
son Ishmael (not Isaac as in the Judeo-Christian tradition)
– Theologically the more important feast, but emotionally ‘Eid al-Fitr is more
important
• Lailat al-Miraj—Commemorates the Night of Ascent
– (27 Rahab, the 7th month)
Islam
• Remember that we are outsiders. Islam can never mean as
much to us as it does to believers
• For 14 centuries Islam has spiritually nourished hundreds
of millions of people, giving them a way of life and a way
to finding meaning in life, achieving holiness and
encountering the Transcendent
– Islam has produced saints, mystics, artists and beauty
• Islam is practiced across a large spectrum of cultures,
geographies and languages
– Whereas the essentials of Islam may be the same across time and space, it
is a living religion that shows differences across time, cultures and
geographies
The Qur’an
• The Qur’an is the considered the literal
word of Allah revealed to Muhammad by
Gibra’il (Gabriel)
– One would not quote the Qur’an beginning,
“Muhammad says . . .”
– The Qur’an is considered a miracle (Muhammad
did not perform miracles—the Qur’an was the
witness to his legitimacy as a prophet)
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Artistic Giant Qur’an
The Qur’an is God’s guide to humanity and Muhammad is the Seal
of the Prophets (2:185, 3:3, 33.40)
To those who question its authenticity, the Qur'an challenges them
to produce a Surah like that of the Qur’an (2:23,10:37-38, 11:13, 52:3334)
The Qur’an
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Even though 85% of Muslims do not speak
Arabic, it is the language they believe that
Allah spoke to reveal it
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Translations are considered interpretations and are
inherently inferior to the Qur’an in Arabic
During prayers, the Qur’an is always recited in Arabic
following complicated rules (tajwid)
Hearing the sound of the Qur’an is a deep and
powerful religious experience for Muslims
The Qur’an has content, but, to a Muslim, it
is a book with power beyond what it says
A Qur’an from Andalusia
The Qur’an
The Blue Qur’an
• The Qur’an is written in rhymed prose (saj’u)
– This imposes a restraint on the language that makes the Qur’an
elliptical, i.e., a lot must be assumed before one can understand
the text
– A tension exists between the meaning of the words and their
sounds—both are important in a way that is foreign to us
The Qur’an
• The Qur’an is about the length of the
New Testament with 114 Sura (chapters)
– The Sura are roughly arranged by length and
not in the order of their revelation
– Each Surah, except 9, begins with the bismilla
• Muhammad received the revelation and
then he recited it to his followers who
memorized it
– It is considered a virtue to memorize the Qur’an
• Smaller Surah were often revealed in
their entirety whereas longer Surah were
more often revealed piecemeal
The Qur’an
• Copies of the Qur’an are often
produced with the text centered
on the page and commentary
written around it. Explanatory
notes, especially of the historical
setting of the revelation, and
meanings of words are often
included
• Muslims very early developed
an elaborate and detailed
method of interpreting the
Qur’an
The Qur’an
– One interpretation technique is naskh or
abrogation which Westerners find
questionable
A Qur’an from Syria
• Surah 4:82 indicates that there is no
discrepancy in the Qur’an because a divine
book cannot be self-contradictory
• Faced with the fact that some verses are not
compatible with each other, a later verse is
declared to be nasikh (abrogating) and the
earlier verse to be mansukh (abrogated)
• Example: 4:10-11, which gives detailed
instructions on apportioning inheritances,
abrogates 2:180, which regulates inheritances
in a general way
The Qur’an
• Each Surah has a traditional name
– Examples with animal names: “The
Cow,” “The Spider,” “The Ant”
– Examples with names of Biblical
people: “Jonah,” “Joseph,”
“Abraham,” “Mary”
– Often, but not always, the name is
suggested by the opening line of the
Surah
– The Surah may not deal with the
topic of the title
A Qur’an from Egypt
The Qur’an
• Stories about biblical persons are often
different from those in the Bible
– This led to early disagreements with Jews
– Denial of the divinity and son ship of
Jesus Christ and even the fact of his
crucifixion has led to contention with
Christians
• To a Muslim, the Qur’an, Allah’s direct
revelation, always takes precedence over
other sources including the “Book” or
Bible (Biblios is Greek for Book)
A Qur’an with Large Calligraphy