Download Islam: The Pillars and Umma

Islam
ARHU 301 WORLD RELIGIONS
FA 2015-2016
Umma
THE WHOLE COMMUNITY OF MUSLIMS BOUND TOGETHER
BY TIES OF RELIGION.
Once upon a time
Christians and Jews and Muslims lived together and in harmony
One thinks of Moorish Spain
That was a while ago
For a good part of the past
1400 years, Islam and
Europe have been at
war.
Who created this religion?
Some would say: Muhammed did
But many would say: God did
Islam begins not with Muhammad in 6th C,
but with God. “In the beginning, God…”
says the Bible. The Koran agrees, but uses
the word Allah. Allah means “the God.”
First split (there are two)
Abraham’s Sarah barren
Abraham gets 2nd wife (Hagar) and she bears Ishmael.
Then Sarah has a boy: Isaac.
Ok, now the koranic and the biblical accounts diverge:
◦ According to the Koran, Ishmael went to where Mecca was to rise; his
descendants became Muslims
◦ Isaac remained in Palestine where the people were Hebrews and became
Jews
The Seal of the Prophets
Context: animistic polytheism
Many blood feuds
The area called for a deliverer
Along came Muhammed . . . Seen as the last prophet, hence “The Seal”
Muhammed (no picture)
Lost mom and pop; became caravan driver
Married Khadijin, 15 years his senior and spent 15 years with her . . .
Mount Hira nearby contained a cave
Tribes in the area: still polytheistic, but there was this one deity called Allah
Hanifs worshipped Allah exclusively, and Mohammad was one of them
La ilaha illa ‘llah: There is no god but God
So Muhammed hears “a call” (as did Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, and Jesus.
A voice falls from heaven saying “You are the appointed one.”
In the cave that night
An angel in the form of a man
“the Angel took me and whelmed me in his embrace until he had reached the limit of my endurance.
Then he released me and said again, ‘Proclaim.’”
Proclaim in the name of your Lord who created!
Created man from a clot of blood
Proclaim: Your Lord is the Most Generous
Who teaches by the pen
Teaches man what he know not.
Muhammed felt he had been branded on his soul.
It was an age charged with supernaturalism
Miracles were the stock-in-trade of the most ordinary saint
Still . . .
The reaction to his message was at the time violently hostile
◦ Revenue was coming to Mecca from the many pilgrammages: 360 shrines
◦ Muhammed’s moral teaching put an end of licentiousness, which was all the rage
◦ Islam’s social text challenged the status quo
◦ YET STILL, within a few short years something huge and amazing swept the entire area
40 converts to several hundred families … and then huge.
We are three
In the context of barbarity, M and his friend
Abu Bakr went towards Mecca, hiding.
Abu murmured when they were
running and hiding, “We are only two.”
The reply, “No, we are three for God is with us.”
From his arrival
at Medina
M was a new man, playing a different role.
Struggles
Triumphs
And just a few years later (A.D. 632)
all of Arabia was under his control.
The word, the root s-l-m
S-l-m means primarily “peace”
In a secondary sense, it means “surrender”
Its full connotation: “the peace that comes when one’s life is surrendered to God.”
Thus, like Buddhism, it is named after the attribute it seeks to cultivate.
God’s nature: awesome
Fear-inspiring: Muslims fear Allah
Not correct to say something like “God is inside” the human: presumptuous
evil
Good and evil do matter; there IS such a thing as evil.
The Koran ~~ Qu’ran
The most memorized book in the world.
114 chapters: surahs
To be read aloud, In Arabic
“like the reverberating of bells”
The final and infallible revelation of God’s will.
It is not metaphysical; it is doctrinal: a manual
of daily doings; a manual of definitions and guarantees’
ODD: “A road map for the will.” read this on p. 235
IT IS NOT ABOUT GOD (like the Bible). IT IS GOD.
The soul will go to heaven or hell:
individuality of the soul is ever lasting
P. 240: “Coming to Islam from the ’no self’ of Buddhism and
the social self of Confucianism, we are struck by the stress
the Koran places on the self’s individuality: its uniqueness
and the responsibility that devolves on it alone. In India the
all-pervading cosmic spirit comes close to swallowing the
individual self; and in China the self is so ecological that
where it begins and ends is hard to determine. Islam
reverses this. Individuality is not real but good in principle.
Who was “the prophet?”
He did not create Islam; God did. Begins with God. God created the world.
Allah means “the God”, not a God; there is only one: monotheism. Abraham.
Abraham two sons: Ishmael and Isaac.
According to the Koran Ishmael went to the place where Mecca was to rise
Isaac back to ….
Muhammed is the last of many prophets.
Hence he is called “The Seal of the Prophet”
The Prophet, continued …
Quarrelling tribes; Took up caravan business; Married a woman 15 years older
Some (hanifs), worshipped Allah exclusively; many were “idolaters” (worshipped idols)
Then comes “There is no god but God.”
NIGHT OF POWER: HE LAY IN THE FLOOR OF A CAVE – AN ANGEL COMES
Angel, “Proclaim!” Trance: Felt as though the words were branded on his soul
For 24 years, more and more “came” to him
supernaturalism age: miracles were stock-in-trade of ordinary saints
Moment he arrived at Medina: Muhammed assumed a different role; By the time he died, he
had virtually all of Arabia under his control. Amazing transformation of an area.
Our book
ȯȯ p. 238-240
The Shahadah
"There is no god but God (Allah),
and Muhammad is
the messenger
of God."
Thuluth, Hasan Kan'an / Arts College, Shahadah
http://www.patheos.com
Salah (prayer)
Pray 50 times a day  ok, 5 times a day. (deal)
◦Praise
◦Gratitude
◦Supplication
PRAYER: The format
Ṣalāh ‫صلوات‬ṣalawāt) is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.
It is a physical, mental and spiritual act of worship. 5 times every day at prescribed times.
In this ritual, the worshiper starts standing, bows, prostrates, and concludes while sitting on the ground.
Allahu Akbar
Ashadu anna la ilaha illa Allah
Ashadu anna Muhammadan rasul
Allah
Haiya 'ala al-salat
Haiya 'ala al-falah
Al-salat khayrun min al-nawm
Allahu Akbar
La ilaha illa Allah
God is most great
I bear witness there is no god but God
I bear witness Muhammad is the prophet
of God
Come to prayer
Come to wellbeing
Prayer is better than sleep
God is most great
There is no God but God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1oF8DG4BDg
Prayer Posture
Call to Prayer on streets of Europe
Animation of how to pray
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=l1oF8DG4BDg
Transformation through Pilgrimage: Hajj
• Required of all Muslims at least once in life
(IF economically feasible!)
• Must be during the last month of the year
(Dhu al-Hijjah)
• Primary focus: the Ka’ba
• Rectangular temple thought to have been
built by Abraham
• State of Holiness: ihram
"hajj." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Britannica Academic. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.,
2016. Web. 11 Jan. 2016.
Various rituals involved
• Circumambulating the Ka’aba
• Running between Safa and Marwah
• Visiting Mount Arafat, Medina, Mina
• “Stoning the Devil” at Mina
• Visiting the Well of Zamzam –
where God provided water to
Hagar and Ishmael
• Making a sacrifice on Eid Al-Adha
(Feast of Sacrifice)
• Sheep, goat, camel, or cow
• Food divided among family,
friends, poor, and neighbors
How does the Sacred become Community?
•
•
•
•
Economic
Political regulations
COMMUNITY
Civic duties
• Marital duties
• Family Codes
• Regulations on sexuality
Social
Codes
Family
Codes
• Gender norms
• dress
• eating
Individual
Codes
Relationship between self and God is of PRIMARY importance
5 Pillars
Economic, Family, Individual
much improved from before “The Prophet”
• Economic regulations – taxes, poverty, etc.
• Political regulations
• Islam as a COMMUNITY
• Relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims
• Civic duties and responsibilities: zakat
• Marital duties
• Codes concerning children,
inheritance, divorce
• Regulations on sexuality
• Gender
norms
• Codes for
dressing
(modesty)
• eating (halal
v. haram)
Major festivals
Dhu al-Hijjah: last month of the year many Muslims pilgrimage to Mecca
Eid al-Adha: 10th day of the last month – “The Feast of the Sacrifice,” commemorates
Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael (similar to the story of the Sacrifice of
Isaac in the Torah) An animal sacrifice, a family feast, and a designated time to donate to the poor
Ramadan: the 9th lunar month; fasting, prayer, and service. Eid al-Fitr: “the
feast of the breaking of the fast:” end Ramadan with a large family feast
Muharram: 1st month of the year: Commemoration of the Hijrah (Muhammad’s
emigration from Mecca to Medina)
Rabi’ al-Awwal: 12th day of the month; Muhammad’s birthday
(Shi’a) Ashura: 10th day of the month; commemorate the martyrdom of Husayn,
grandson of the prophet Muhammad
Sharia
Sunni Shia
http://worldhistoryeducatorsblog.blogspot.com/201
4/01/great-prezi-sunni-shia-split.html
MT: go to IE
Two parts:
1. original split
2. detail on Sunni Shia
◦ Jews and Christians want everyone to be like them
◦ They don't read/interpret the scriptures correctly
◦ Muslims believe they are part of the same tradition
◦ Moses and Scripture, Jesus (son of Mary) and the Holy Spirit
◦ All prophets are equal
◦ Emphasis on "son of Mary" is to reinforce, "not son of God"
Letter of Protection from Muhammad to the Monks
of St. Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, Egypt
http://www.islamic-study.org/saint_catherine_monastery.htm
How does the Qur'an say to relate to Jews & Christians?
Islam and modern questions
Islam and Politics: What should the relationship
between Islam “the faith” and the governments of
majority Muslim countries look like?
Is Islam inherently political?
Islam and Women: Is there room in Islam for a
critique of cultural attitudes about women’s
traditional roles?
What would the effect of “Muslim Feminism” be?
Islam and modern questions
Islam and Secularism: How should Muslims respond
to developments in Western political and social
philosophies which emphasize the division between
the “sacred” and the “secular.”
Islam and Islam: Who defines Islam?
WHO gets to answer the above questions?
Whose answers are authoritative?