Download Part 2 The Qu`ran The Five Pillars of Islam

Part 2
The Qu’ran
The Five Pillars of Islam
© 2008 George E. Blanford Jr.
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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
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Islam has produced saints, mystics, artists and beauty
Islam is practiced across a large spectrum of cultures,
geographies and languages
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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
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The Qur’an is the considered the literal
word of God 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)
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Even though 85% of Muslims do not speak
Arabic, it is the language they believe that
God spoke to reveal it
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Translations are considered interpretations and are
inherently inferior to the Arabic Qur’an
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 Blue Qur’an
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The Qur’an is written in rhymed prose (saj’u)
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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
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The Qur’an is ~ the size of the New
Testament with 114 Sura (chapters)
The Sura are roughly arranged by size and not
in the order of their revelation
 Each Surah, except 9, begins with the bismilla
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Muhammad received the revelation and
then he recited it to his followers who
memorized it
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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
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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
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One interpretation technique is naskh or
abrogation which Westerners question
 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)
A Qur’an from Syria
 Example: 4:10-11, which gives detailed
instructions on apportioning inheritances,
abrogates 2:180, which regulates inheritances
in a general way
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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
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A Qur’an from Egypt
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Stories about biblical persons are
often different from those in the
Bible
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A Qur’an with Large Calligraphy
This led to early disagreements with
Jews
Denial of the divinity and sonship of
Jesus Christ and even the fact of his
crucifixion has led to contention with
Christians
To a Muslim, the Qur’an, God’s
direct revelation, always takes
precedence over other sources
The pillars of Islam are practices considered
essential for every Muslim
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Sheheda or Creed
Salat or Prayer
Zakat or Almsgiving
Sawm, the Fast of Ramadan
Hajj or Pilgrimage to Mecca
There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the
Messenger of God
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Professing the sheheda before an adult witness makes one
a Muslim—it is an act of profession and submission
Part 1
God is radically one (tawhid)—utterly unique, single, and
transcendent
 The unpardonable sin of Islam is idolatry (shirk) (4:48)
 It is a grave sin for a Muslim to associate anything with God
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 Belief in the Trinity is considered unbelief (5:73)
 Jesus cannot be the Son because then he would be in partnership with
God (4:171)
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Part 2
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Muhammad is human and only human
 Muslims disapprove of any portrayal of the Prophet
 Calling a Muslim a “Muhammadan” is offensive—they
submit to God, not Muhammad
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Muslims have a tremendous devotion to the Prophet
 He is the perfect model of what a human life should be
 His words, deeds, practices, likes and dislikes have been
gathered to provide a path by which a Muslim can walk in
righteousness
 After pronouncing his name, a pious Muslim will add,
“Peace be upon him.”
 Insulting Muhammad is a grave sin punishable by death in
many countries
 They expect those in dialogue with them to be respectful of
Muhammad
In general, Muslims oppose
portrayals of people in art and
prefer decorative calligraphy
instead
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Not prayer in general, but the obligatory prayer said
five times a day by every healthy adult Muslim
Times
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Dawn (fajr)—2 rakat
Noon (zuhr)—4 rakat
Afternoon (‘asr)—4 rakat
Sunset (maghrib)—3 rakat
Night (‘isha)—4 rakat
Announced by a muezzin (mu_adhdhin)
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He calls allahu akbar “God is most great” followed by the
sheheda with slight variations for the time of day
Casablanca Mosque
with the Muezzin’s
Tower or Minaret
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In 620, Muhammad mystically traveled to Jerusalem
and from there to God’s throne in heaven
As he ascended to the throne, he met Jesus and other
prophets of Israel
God told him that Muslim’s were to pray 50 times a
day
On the way down, he met Moses. Moses told him
that 50 times was too much and he should ask God
The Dome of the Rock in
for a lower number
Jerusalem—the place where
Muhammad ascended to heaven. It
He did this several times until the number was
is on the site of the ancient Temple
reduced to 5 times a day
Even though Moses thought this was still too large, Muhammad was too
embarrassed to go back to God again so the number was fixed at 5
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Before salat, there is a ritual washing of hands,
feet, face and head
The believer must make a conscious intention to
pray in fulfillment of the obligation
Each rakah begins with allahu akbar and ends
with a kiss of peace (assalam ‘aleikum)
Prayer consists in recitations from the Qur’an—
some aloud and others in a whisper, with bows
and prostrations
The first recitation is the opening Surah, the alFatiha
On Fridays, there is also a sermon at the noon
prayer
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Communal prayer takes place in a mosque
(masjid), but the prayers can be performed
anywhere
Imams lead prayers
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In addition to the obligatory prayers,
Muslims have a rich tradition of other
personal prayers and devotions
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A subha
Imam literally means “the one up front”
There are preaching imams (educated) and
non-preaching imams
One of the more common devotions is the
recitation of the Ninety-nine Beautiful Names
of God—often with a circular string of beads
(subha) similar to the Rosary
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All Muslims are required to give a certain
percentage of their goods to the poor
There are four schools of jurisprudence
that have different ways of calculating the
percentage
Traditionally, the zakat is given at the
Feast of ‘Eid al-Fitr which breaks the Fast
of Ramadan
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Sawm is the solemn fast of the holy month of
Ramadan
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The fast is between sunrise and sunset each day of the month
Forbidden are
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Eating
Drinking
Smoking
Sexual activity
After sunset the fast is broken (iftar) and normal activity may
resume
Not penitential but focused on self-discipline and rededication
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Pilgrimage to Mecca
with accompanying
rites
Required once in the
lifetime of every
Muslim who is
physically and
financially able
 Once performed, a
Muslim has the title alHajji or al-Hajjiya
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Great Mosque of Mecca (al Masjid al Haram) during
Hajj facing the King Fahd Gate
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The Hajj predates Islam
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The Quraysh tribe maintained a polytheistic shrine
that was a significant source of income
The site (the Holy Sanctuary of the Great
Mosque ) commemorates Abraham, Ishmael
and Hagar
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The Ka’aba is built around the Black Stone found by
Abraham and Ishmael
The Black Stone came from heaven (it is probably a
meteorite)
The Well of Zamzam is where Hagar found water for
Ishmael after being sent to the desert
The sacrifice of ‘Eid ul Adha commemorates
Abraham’s sacrifice of a sheep after being willing to
sacrifice Ishmael
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Rites—solemn version (Ihram) on
8 Dhu al-Hijjah
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Bathe and put on the white pilgrimage
vestments in the prescribed manner
Tawaf (circumabulation of the Ka’aba)
 Enter the Holy Sanctuary of the Great
Mosque preferably through the Babas-Salam gate
 Recite prescribed prayers
 When you reach the Black Stone (alHajar al-Aswad), begin
circumambulation of the Ka’aba
Man in ihram dress
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Rites—8 Dhu al-Hijjah continued
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Tawaf –continued
 Express your intention to make tawaf
(niyyah)
 Kiss, touch or point to the Black Stone
 Circumambulate the Ka’aba 7 times
with the Ka’aba on your left
 Stop at the Place of Abraham (Makam
Ibrahim), face the Ka’aba and recite
prayers
The Black Stone
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Rites—8 Dhu al-Hijjah continued
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Sa’y (shuttling between two small
hills, Safa and Marwah)
 The rite commemorates Hagar
searching for water for her son,
Ishmael
 Proceed to Safa
 Say appropriate prayers then walk /run
to Marwah and say prayers
 Repeat 7 times
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Walk to Mina and camp for the night
 Begin gathering stones
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Rites—9 Dhu al-Hijjah
Pray morning prayer and
walk to Arafat
 Attend the sermon at
Namirah Mosque
 Perform Wuquf—stand
praying to Allah while
facing Mecca
 Before sunset, walk to
Muzdalifah and camp
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 Gather more stones (need
70)
Mecca (Makkah) to Arafat is ~6.5 miles
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Rites—10 Dhu al-Hijjah
Pray morning prayer and walk to
Mina
 Stone the pillar representing the
devil
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 The act of stoning the pillar
commemorates Abraham’s resistance
to the devil’s temptations by stoning
him and driving him away
Perform the sacrifice of ‘Eid ul
Adha. Give uneaten meat to the
poor
 Men shave their heads and women
clip their hair
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 Bathe and change to normal clothes
Mecca (Makkah) to Arafat is ~6.5 miles
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Rites—10 Dhu al-Hijjah
continued
Return to Mecca and
perform Tawaf al-Ifadha
and Sa’y
 Drink water from the
Well of Zamzam
 Return to Mina
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The Great Mosque of Mecca
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Rites—11-13 Dhu alHijjah
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May stay up to 3 days
 Each day you stone
other pillars
 Hajj is completed with
a farewell Tawaf in
Mecca