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An Introduction to Islam: Historical Background Definition of Islam • Islam is an Arabic word that means “submission” – submission to the will of God. • To become a Muslim one has only to make a confession of faith – that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is the messenger of God, God’s prophet – before others who witness this confession. • A Muslim believes that an omnipotent, omniscient God will, on the Last Day, judge each person by his or her acts. Each person’s resurrected body will be admitted to Paradise or condemned to eternal hellfire, according to God’s evaluation. • God is just, but God is also merciful. The sinner who repents may be welcomed into the company of the faithful in Paradise. Background • The descendants of Adam led to Noah, who had a son named Shem. This is where the word Semite comes from; literally, a Semite is a descendant of Shem. • Like the Jews, the Arabs consider themselves a Semitic people. • The descendants of Shem led to Abraham. It was the submission of Abraham is his supreme test – would he be willing to sacrifice his son Ishmael? – that appears to have provided Islam with its name (Islam means “surrender”). • Abraham married Sarah and Sarah had no son. Wanting to continue his line, Abraham took Hagar for his second wife. • Hagar bore him a son, Ishmael. Then Sarah conceived and likewise had a son, Isaac. Sarah then demanded that Abraham banish Ishmael and Hagar from the tribe. • According to the Qur’an, Ishmael went to the place where Mecca was to rise. His descendants, flourishing in Arabia, became Muslims. The Seal of the Prophets • Following Ishmael’s line in Arabia, we come in the latter half of the sixth century A.D. to Muhammad, the prophet. • Muslims believe that there had been authentic prophets of God before him (Abraham, Moses, Jesus), but he was their culmination. • Hence, Muhammad is called “The Seal of the Prophets.” No valid prophets will follow him. • Muhammad was born around 570 A.D.. The world into which he was born is described b y subsequent Muslims as ignorant. • People felt almost no obligation to anyone outside their tribes. Life was chaotic with little rule of law. • The prevailing religion of Arabia could be called “animistic polytheism.” It peopled the world with beastly spirits called jin or demons. • The animalistic spirits inspired neither exalted sentiments nor moral restraint. Arab communities frequently erupted into blood feuds and conflicts fueled by the fact that pillaging other tribes’ material goods was common. • The times called for a deliverer. Muhammad’s Early Life • Muhammad was born into the leading tribe of Mecca, the Koreish. • His early life was characterized by tragedy. His father died a few days before he was born. His mother died when he was six, and his grandfather, who cared for him after his mother’s death, died when he was eight. • He was adopted into his uncle’s home, where he was warmly received. • Tradition says that Muhammad had a sweet and gentle disposition. His family tragedies had made him sensitive to human suffering in every form. He was always ready to Mecca help others, especially the poor and the weak. • Yet, despite his concern for others, he remained removed from people around him in outlook and ways, isolated in a corrupt and degenerate society. • As he grew from childhood to youth and from youth to manhood, the lawless strife, the repeated outbursts of pointless quarrels among tribes, and the general immorality and cynicism of his day combined to produce in him a reaction of horror and disgust. Preparation for Muhammad’s Ministry • As an adult Muhammad took up the caravan business. Although illiterate, like most men of his society, he had a reputation for integrity and intelligence. At the age of 25 he entered the service of a wealthy widow named Khadija. Though she was fifteen years older, they were married and lived happily together. • Fifteen years of preparation followed before Muhammad’s ministry was to begin. He began seeking solitude in a cave in a mountain outside Mecca – Mount Hira. • The desert jin were irrelevant to this quest, but one deity was not. • Allah was worshipped by the Meccans not as the only God, but as an impressive one. Allah was creator, supreme provider and determiner of human destiny. • Through long vigils, often lasting an entire night, Allah became real for Muhammad. For Muhammad, Allah was far greater than his countrymen supposed. • This God was not a god or even the greatest of gods. He was what his name literally claimed: he was the God, one and only. Muhammad and the Beginnings of Islam • In about 610 AD, Muhammad had the first of several painful visions. • An Angel appeared to him in the cave and said, “Proclaim!” The Angel appeared repeatedly with the same command. These visions become the basis of the verses (sura) of the Koran, the Muslim holy book. • The Koran was revealed to Muhammad bit by bit 23 years and not written down by scribes until about 630 AD. Opposition to Muhammad • Despite relentless persecution, insult and outrage, over time, Mohammad became an inspirational visionary who preached submission - Islam – to the one God in return for universal salvation, the values of equality and justice, and the virtues of pure living , with easily learned rituals and rules for life and death. • People opposed Muhammad’s message for three main reasons: 1) Its uncompromising monotheism threatened polytheistic beliefs and the revenue that was coming to Mecca from pilgrimages to its 360 shrines. 2) Its moral teachings demanded an end to the licentiousness that citizens clung to 3) Its social content challenged an unjust order. In a society full of class distinctions, Muhammad preached a message that was intensely democratic. For Allah, all people were equal. Migration to Medina • At first, Muhammad and his followers faced so much opposition that he made few converts. Three long years of effort yielded only 40 converts. After a decade, several hundred families were acclaiming Muhammad as God’s authentic prophet. • The Meccan nobility became alarmed. Muhammad’s prophetic claim had become a revolutionary movement. • The seminal event in Islamic history was Muhammad’s decision to migrate with his followers from Mecca to Medina (this migration is known as the hijra) in 622. • In Medina Muhammad created a small state. The despised preacher became a masterful politician and statesman. Muhammad’s Leadership In Medina • Despite is growing power and influence, Muhammad lived in an ordinary clay house, milked his own goats, and was accessible day and night to anyone in the community. • Tradition depicts his administration as an ideal blend of justice and mercy. • The people of Medina found him to be a master whom it was difficult not to love as not to obey. • Exercising his statecraft, Muhammad brought together five different and conflicting tribes into an orderly confederation. • His reputation spread and people began to flock from every part of Arabia to see the man who had wrought this “miracle.” Mecca Becomes Center of Islam • Conflict with the Meccan nobility soon followed. • Eight years after his exile to Medina, Muhammad and his followers defeated the Meccans and converted the famous Kaaba (a cubicle temple said to have been created by Abraham) into a shrine dedicated to Allah. The Kaba became the focus of the Islamic faith. • The Kaaba is a cube-shaped building containing a granite cube mined from nearby hills and covered with a black and gold silk curtain. • Today, it is located at the center of Islam’s most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid alHaram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. • Muslims are expected to pray five times a day facing the Kaaba. During the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the Hajj, pilgrims are required to walk around the Kaaba seven times in a counter-clockwise direction. • In 2013, the number of pilgrims coming from outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj was officially reported as 1,100,544 on a single day. The Paradox of Muhammad’s Mercy and Cruelty • What is difficult for many non-Muslims to understand is the combination of mercy and cruelty that became characteristic of Muhammad’s leadership. Muhammad believed that Muslims needed to defend themselves and to conquer or struggle (jihad). • Following his victory over Mecca, Muhammad did not exact vengeance on his former persecutors. In his hour of triumph, the past was forgiven. In Mecca, Christians were allowed to coexist as long as they submitted to Muslim rule. • On the other hand, in addition to promoting tolerance to non-Muslims, the Koran promoted the destruction of infidels if they refused to submit. In Medina, Muhammad expelled the Jews and made an example of one Jewish clan who openly resisted Muslim rule by beheading 700 men, and enslaving the women and children. Expansion of Islam from 632 A.D. – 733 A.D. • In 632, two after the defeat of Mecca, Muhammad died with virtually all of Arabia under his control. • Before the end of the century, his followers had conquered Armenia, Persia, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, North Africa and Spain, and had crossed the Pyrenees into France. • But for their defeat by Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours in 733, the entire Western world might today be Muslim. The Power of the Qur’an (Koran) • The third major factor in the foundation of Islam is the book that Muslims believe is the revealed word of God transmitted by the prophet Mohammad – the Qur’an. • Muslims believe that the Qur’an was given as the culmination and conclusion of all previous prophetic revelations, was addressed to a people, the Arabs, who hadn’t previously received a revelation in the Arabic language. • The vehicle of this final revelation was the language, Arabic, not the man, Muhammad, nor the event of Muhammad’s call to prophethood. • What God said is inseparable from the way (through a particular language) the thoughts are expressed. • The meaning of the Qur’an can’t be conveyed exactly in any words other than the original Arabic words of the Book. • For Muslims no translation of the Qur’an is satisfactory. The Uniqueness of the Qur’an • Muslims believe that Muhammad was the passive receiver of the revelation. The eternal words of God were transmitted to the Prophet by the angel Gabriel over a period of twenty-three years in varied circumstances. Unlike Jewish and Christian scriptures, the words or the Qur’an were not impacted by editors or redactors. • Muslims believe the words themselves were not new. They were taken from a well-guarded tablet in heaven, from which previous revelations to other peoples had also been taken. • In its essential content, the Qur’an is believed to be in agreement with the revelations that God gave to Jews and Christians. • The scripture of the Muslims is arranged in chapters, called suras. • The language of the Qur’an is a rhymed prose. Its verses rhyme but are not metrical. The text is recited on public occasions according to the requirements of a refined art of pronunciation and intonation. Muslim “Fundamentalism” • The Koran is to be read in community as a liturgical document (chanted in the mosque), not a book of personal devotion. Also, the Qur’an is not a theological treatise. • It is the record of how God spoke through Muhammad to warn all people, to summon them to repentance and faith and to clarify their duty. • The book contains the divine principles that should direct the personal and social life of humanity. • The Qur’an is meant to be read aloud and only in Arabic. The sound of the language is an essential part of its effect. • Christians may find this hard to understand since they don’t have a sacred language like Hebrew or Arabic. • It is not possible for non-Muslims who lack a knowledge of Arabic to appreciate the power and the impact of the Qur’an because its content and manner of expression are inseparable.