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Islam: Faith, Art, Culture - Manuscripts of the Chester Beatty Library by Elaine Wright TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: THE EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM The Lifetime of the Prophet The Expansion of the Islamic State Under the Rashidun Silsila-nama Murad III’s Life of the Prophet and the Production of Images An Islamic World History: Mirkhwand’s Rawdat al-safa CHAPTER 2: MUHAMMAD AND HIS FAMILY The Names of the Prophet Poems in Praise of the Prophet Hilya al-nabi The Prophet’s Night Journey Muhammad’s Wives and Children Muhammad’s Uncle: Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib Ali and Shi‘a Islam Fatima: Daughter of Muhammad and Wife of Ali Shi‘a Iran CHAPTER 3: THE QUR’AN Formal Structure and History of the Qur’an The Arabic Alphabet The Language of the Faith The Basmala The Qur’an: Content and Style Death and Paradise Uses of the Qur’an and Qur’anic Inscriptions Qur’anic Commentaries CHAPTER 4: QUR’ANIC CALLIGRAPHY AND CALLIGRAPHERS The Role and Art of the Calligrapher Calligraphic Scripts The Colophon The Ibn al-Bawwab Qur’an The Ruzbihan Qur’an CHAPTER 5: THE PRACTICE THE FAITH The Five Pillars of Islam The First Pillar of Islam: The Profession of the Faith The Second Pillar of Islam: Daily Prayer al-Fatiha The Most Beautiful Names of God The Third Pillar of Islam: The Giving of Alms The Fourth Pillar of Islam: Observance of the Annual Fast The Fifth Pillar of Islam: The Hajj Futuh al-Haramayn The Kiswa Islamic Law: The Shari‘a and Sunna Hadith The Four Schools of Islamic (Sunni) Jurisprudence The Study of the Faith: al-Ghazali CHAPTER 6: PROPHETS AND OTHER PEOPLE OF THE QUR’AN Sources for the Lives of the Prophets Adam and Hawwa Idris Nuh Lut Yusuf Musa Yunus Sulayman Iskandar, Khidr and Ilyas Maryam Isa CHAPTER 7: MYSTICAL ISLAM Sufism Sama and Dhikr Sufi Orders: The Chishtiyya Sufi Orders: Jalal al-Din Rumi and the Mevleviyya Persian Mystical Poets: Attar and Jami CHAPTER EXCERPTS Chapter 1, The Early History of Islam The Qur’an is the holy book of the Islamic faith and is regarded as the written record of the exact words uttered by God. God did not speak directly to Muhammad, rather his words were transmitted to him by Jibril (the Archangel Gabriel). Muhammad received the first revelation in 610, when he was about forty years old. It was not until two years later, on the night now celebrated annually as laylat al-qadr, meaning ‘the Night of Power’ (or the Night of Destiny), that Muhammad began to preach openly. Arabia in the seventh century was a tribal society, and it was from the weakest of the tribal clans that many of Muhammad’s first converts were drawn. As some members of a clan converted to the new faith but not others, families became divided, and so hatred for Muhammad amongst the non-converts grew. By 622, hostility towards the Muslim community had peaked and the majority of the Meccan Muslims emigrated north, making a new home for themselves in the city of Medina. By the time of his death in 632, Muhammad’s influence had spread throughout much of the Arabian peninsula. Chapter 2, Muhammad and his Family Muhammad’s first wife, Khadija, was fifteen years his senior but the only one of his wives to bear him children. Of their four children to survive infancy (all daughters), Fatima was the only one to outlive him. She married Ali, who was raised in Muhammad’s home as his foster-son and later served as one of the first caliphs (i.e., successors to the Prophet after his death). The majority of Muslims are known as Sunni Muslims, because they follow the sunna, or customary practice, of the Prophet. The Shi‘a form the second largest group of Muslims and take their name from the fact that they adhere to the shi‘a, or ‘party’, of Ali and his descendants. The fundamental difference between the two groups is that the Shi‘a maintain that only a direct descendent of the Prophet can serve as caliph--or imam in Shi‘a terminology. They therefore regard Ali as the true first caliph. As the wife of Ali and the mother of Hasan and Husayn (the Prophet’s beloved grandsons), Fatima is venerated by all Muslims but in particular the Shi‘a. Chapter 3: The Qur’an The Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad over a period of more than twenty years, from 610, when the first revelation was received, until a few days before his death in 632. The revelations are arranged in the Qur’an in the form of suras and ayas, generally referred to by non-Muslims as chapters and verses. The 114 chapters that comprise the Qur’an are of varying lengths and are arranged not in the order they were received but in order of diminishing length, more or less. The Qur’an is never illustrated, but is instead often beautifully illuminated with non-figural decorations. Each chapter is usually marked by an illuminated heading, with other illumination denoting the end of each verse and marginal decoration indicating every fifth and tenth verse. Chapter 4: Qur’anic Calligraphy and Calligraphers Because the Qur’an is considered by Muslims to be a record of the actual words that God spoke to the Prophet Muhammad, the copying of the Qur’an is an act imbued with sanctity, making calligraphy the most highly esteemed art in Islam and placing the calligrapher in a position of pre-eminence over all other artists. This favoured position of calligraphy and the calligrapher in the religious domain extends to the secular domain as well as to other media. Over the years a number of different scripts developed, most of which could be used for copying both sacred and secular texts. Chapter 5: Practice of the Faith There are five basic duties and observances that are obligatory for all Muslims. Known as the pillars (arkan) of Islam, they are the foundation of the faith and consist of the profession of the faith, daily prayer, the giving of alms, observance of the annual fast, and the pilgrimage to Mecca. Chapter 6: Prophets and Other People of the Qur’an Muslims regard the Qur’an as the final portion of God’s revelation to mankind, completing but not supplanting God’s earlier revelations to the Jews and Christians who, like Muslims, are considered People of the Book. The prophets of the Old and New Testaments are therefore also considered prophets in Islam and likewise many other biblical figures are referred to in the Qur’an and revered by Muslims. Although the Qur’an is never illustrated, depictions of these individuals appear in other types of texts, though their depiction of course falls beyond the realm of orthodox Islam. Chapter 7: Mystical Islam Sufism is the term used to describe the mystical or esoteric dimension of Islam. The word Sufi derives from the Arabic word suf, meaning wool, and is thought to refer to the rough wool garments once worn by Sufis as a sign of humility (for only the poor wore wool) and hence as a symbol of their rejection of the material world. The goal of the Sufi is knowledge of God and, specifically, full realization of union with God. To achieve this--or to attempt to do so--the adherent is guided by a master, or shaykh (or pir, in Persian) as he travels along a spiritual Path or Way (tariqa), consisting of numerous stations (maqams) and states (hals).