Download Standards SS.912.W.3.1 Discuss significant people and beliefs

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Standards
SS.912.W.3.1
Discuss significant people and beliefs associated with Islam
SS.912.W.3.2
Compare the major beliefs and principles of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
SS.912.W.3.3
Determine the causes, effects, and extent of Islamic military expansion through Central Asia, North
Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula.
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Question of the Day
What is Islam and how is it similar/different from other major religions in History?
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Early Days of Islam
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The Islamic faith was founded during the same era as the split in the Roman Christian Church
and the conflicts it brought.
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With the passage of time, and with increased conflict with both eastern and western Christians,
this protective instinct grew stronger.
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Islamic military conquest was attempted to convert Christians and Jews back to the “true” faith.
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In the end, Islamic culture did not penetrate the west in the same way that Germanic culture
did, but would remain strange as well as threatening to the West.
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Origins of Islam
Islam
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Religion founded in the 7th Century AD by Muhammad, an Arabian merchant from the city of
Mecca.
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At the time of its foundation Christianity had become the dominant faith of the
Mediterranean and it's message was quickly spreading to other regions of the world via the
major trade routes of the era.
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Mecca was still tied to the traditional social and religious life of the Arabian world.
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In other words, it was governed by the tribal societies of the desert.
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Mecca was a city along these trade routes, and may have played a role in the flow of goods and
ideas between the trade systems of the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean.
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It should therefore come as no surprise that Islam would be heavily influenced by the traditions
of Christianity and Judaism.
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Commonality of Religions
Muhammad claimed that he was visited by an invisible angel called Gabriel, who passed on messages to
him from God, therefore making him a Prophet.
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the same character appears in the stories of Christians and Jews.
Abraham, Moses, and Jesus are all considered important prophets in Islam, Muslims even claim that
Abraham visited Mecca and established the Kaaba there.
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There is no mention of this event in Christian and Judaic sources.
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Muhammad believed that God had chosen him to be the last prophet. Abraham, Moses, and
Jesus Christ. But Muhammad believed that Jesus was not the son of God.
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The Jews and Christians, according to Muhammad, had strayed from the true faith, a faith
which Muhammad believed he had had revealed to him by the previously mentioned angel
Gabriel.
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It was his task to convert them and bring them back to the true word.
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Faith Rejected
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Despite the faith of his flock, Muhammad met with disappointment as he preached his religion
at Mecca. Jews and Christians failed to convert.
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His faith was totally rejected by the authorities at Mecca. It should be obvious that the
merchants at Mecca would have objected to Muhammad's belief – actually a profession of faith
– that men should be generous with their wealth.
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The authorities tried to quiet Muhammad and so he left for the northern city of Medina (or
“City of the Prophet”) in the year 622. The journey to Medina – the hijra (the "breaking of
former ties") – became the true foundation of the Islamic faith.
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The hijra also marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
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Medina & Mecca
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At Medina, Muhammad created an Islamic community.
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Besides the profession of faith, Muhammad also specified that at his community there would be
strict rules governing diet; wine, gambling and usury were prohibited; he set up his own legal
system; and prohibited infanticide.
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After settling in Medina, his followers began to attack the caravans on their way to and from
Mecca.
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By 624 his army was powerful enough to conquer Mecca and make it the center of the new
religion.
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Muhammad triumphantly returned to Mecca in 630.
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Muhammad’s Beliefs
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The basic beliefs of Muhammad's religion were:
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That God is good and omnipotent.
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That God will judge all men on the last day and assign them their place in either Heaven
or Hell.
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That men should thank God for making the world as it is.
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That God expects men to be generous with their wealth.
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That Muhammad was a prophet sent by God to teach men and warn them of the last
judgment.
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Muhammad’s Obligations of Faith
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For Muhammad, there were also 5 obligations which were essential to his faith:
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The profession of faith – there is no God but Allah and Muhammad was the last
prophet.
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Prayers had to be uttered 5 times daily.
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The giving of alms, or charity.
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Fasting.
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The pilgrimage to Mecca.
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These laws are recorded in the Qur'an, a book which contains all of the revelations of
Muhammad.
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Like the Christianity believes in the Bible or Judaism believes in the Torah, those that follow
Islam believe that the Qur’an is the direct and unchangeable word of God
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Muslims, Christians and Jews all worship the same God according to the Qur’an, however,
Muslims consider Jews and Christians “people of the book” but that Muhammad is the FINAL
prophet and that he completes God’s Revelations.
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Sharia Law
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Developed by Muslim Scholars
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Interpreted from the Qur’an
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Similar to Jewish law, it regulates
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Moral conduct
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Family life
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Business practices
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Government
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Does NOT separate religious from criminal/civil laws
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Other aspects of individual/Community life
Impact of Islam on Women
Initially a tribal society, womens rights were limited
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Could not inherit property
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Had to obey male guardians
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Unwanted daughters were killed at birth
Islam extended rights of women
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Affrimed their spiritual equality
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Qur’an prohibited the killing of daughters
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Granted them inheritance
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Allowed them to reject marriage offers
Still some inequality however
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Women inherited less than men
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Harder for them to get a divorce
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Women must dress modestly and in some cases be “veiled”