Download Part 1 The Prophet and the Founding of Islam

Part 1
The Prophet and the Founding of
Islam
© 2008 George E. Blanford Jr.
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Muslims and Muslim countries have a major impact on modern
society
Christians are called by Jesus to love them
To love them we must get to know them
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
It is my hope that this series of presentations will help you to get to
know a little about Muslims so that you can interact with them
favorably.
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Muhammad ibn Abdullah was an Arab born c. 570 C.E. in Mecca
(Makkah) of the poor Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe
Mecca is about 50 miles from the Red Sea and about
halfway between the Arabian Sea and the Sinai
peninsula
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As an infant he was nursed and raised by desert Bedouins
From the time he was ~6, he was raised by Abu Talib, his
grandfather and the leader of the Hashim clan
When he was ~25, he was employed by an older, relatively wealthy,
merchant widow, Khadija bint Khuwalid
He was honest and reliable; she made him an offer of marriage; he
accepted and they had six children
Although polygamy was common and later he would marry several
wives, Muhammad never married anyone else while Khadija was
alive
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Probably in a state of flux
Arabs traveled and were familiar with Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Judaism
Jews lived in Arabia and were probably numerous and powerful in cities like Yathrib
(later Medina)
Meccan religion centered around the shrine of the god Hubal, which included the
Ka’aba and the Well of Zamzam believed to be built by Abraham and Ishmael
The Ka’aba (Cube)
The Grand Mosque of Mecca
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There were idols for ~360 other deities
including Allah, the God of heaven and
earth
A poorly understood Arab group, the
hanifiya, were monotheistic and claimed
to descend from Abraham and Ishmael;
Muhammad appears to have originally
been a hanif
Muhammad’s early religious practices
appear to include encircling the Ka’aba
seven times and praying and meditating
in the cave of Hirah outside of Mecca on
the Jabal al-Noor (Mountain of Light)
Jabal al-Noor
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When in the cave of Hirah on the 17th of
Ramadan, Muhammad had an overwhelming
experience of the Transcendent
He heard the command, “iqra!” = “Recite!”
(Qur’an = the Recital)
He felt himself squeezed by a supernatural being
until words came out (96:1-5)
Muhammad was terrorized and thought himself
possessed
He tried to flee
Halfway up the mountain he experienced a
vision of gigantic figure who filled his entire
field of vision
Cave of Hirah
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The giant figure announced that he was Gabriel and that
Muhammad was the apostle of God
Muhammad was very disturbed by the vision and the appearance
and sought comfort from Khadija who told him he was not
possessed
Her cousin, Waraqa ibn Nawfal, told him that he had had a
prophetic vision and was a prophet
Gradually, before he began to publicly preach, ~50 people began to
follow him and believe in his revelations
There was a break of several years between the earliest revelations
and later ones.
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The angel Gabriel revealed the Qur’an in
many appearances through most of
Muhammad’s life
Muhammad was supposedly illiterate and he
did not write it, but recited it to others
Today devout Muslims memorize the Qur’an
so that they too can recite it
The Qur’an does not give the revelations in
the order they were received
Muslims regard hearing the Qur’an more
like we regard the sacraments than how we
regard hearing the Bible
We will examine the Qur’an in more detail
when we talk about Islam as a religion
Noble Qu’ran kept at the
Ali Hussein Mosque
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Apparently, Mecca was in a state of moral decline at the time of
Muhammad
People listened to him, but they found it strange that he claimed that
Allah was the only God
When he attacked the divinity of Allah’s 3 daughters, Meccans
became belligerent because they benefited from pilgrims to their
shrines
The revelations also attacked the ingratitude of the wealthy for not
sharing their gift of wealth with the poor
Muhammad had strong clan protection, but other followers began to
be persecuted
In 616, 83 Muslims migrated to Abyssinia for safety and were
protected by Christians there
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In 619, both Khadija and Abu Talib died and Muhammad’s
situation became perilous
In 620, 6 pilgrims from Yathrib became Muslim
They saw Muhammad and Islam as a possible solution to
strife between 3 Jewish and 2 pagan tribes who lived in
Yathrib
They sent 7 more pilgrims in 621. A Meccan emissary was
sent to Yathrib to teach the Qur’an and converted many
Yathrib began to be called the “City of the Prophet,” in
shortened Arabic, Medina (al Madīnah)
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In 622, a large number of pilgrims came and made a
“Pledge of War.” Up until now, Muslims had not
engaged in hostilities. It followed from a new revelation
(22:39-40)
In July and August, Meccan Muslims moved to Medina
The Prophet’s Mosque in
Medina
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Muhammad initially remained in Mecca, but soon escaped to Medina
when faced with assassination
Whereas Islam was a small sect in Mecca, it soon became the
dominant religion in Medina. Muhammad became a religious leader
and would soon become a political leader
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Medina had a significant Jewish population that
Muhammad hoped to convert
Jews, however, saw the differences in Muslim
beliefs about Abraham and saw no need for an
Arab prophet
Polemics against Jews in the Qur’an date from this
time as well as more emphasis on Abraham who
was considered neither Jewish nor Christian
In 624 the direction of prayer changed from
Jerusalem to the Ka’aba in Mecca
Mihrab in a mosque in
Cairo which indicates the
direction to face the Ka’aba
(qibla)
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Because Jesus was a pacifist, we tend to lose sight of the fact that this
has not been true of all Christian and Jewish leaders
Accounts of Muhammad’s military successes over his Meccan
enemies are very important for Muslims because his victories indicate
that God was with him
Muhammad began raiding Meccan caravans in 623. This began
supposedly because Meccans had confiscated their property in Mecca
and were delivering it to Damascus to be sold.
His first success against a large force was at the Battle of Badr in
March, 624
Muhammad went out of his way to treat the prisoners of war
humanely
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A small Jewish tribe in Medina opposed Muhammad and
revolted against his leadership. Their defeat and
banishment was the beginning of expulsion of Jews from
Medina
In March 625, Muslims were losing the Battle of Uhud
against the Meccans, but managed to retreat
Sura 3 reveals that the defeat was not an act of God but
resulted from the lack of discipline of the Muslims and
from “hypocrites” disloyal to Muslims
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A second Jewish tribe, who planned to assassinate
Muhammad, were banished from Medina
The Battle of the Trench was Muhammad’s last major
battle, in March 627. A trench was dug for protection that
prevented the Meccan cavalry from attacking. They lay
siege on Medina
The last Jewish tribe attempted to aid the Meccans, but
they were defeated by Muhammad and all males were
killed and the women and children sold into slavery
The Meccans finally abandoned the siege
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Muhammad received a vision to make a Lesser Pilgrimage
(‘umrah) to the Ka’aba
He began in March 628 with 700 men and sacrificial
animals. Near al-Hudaybiya, a camel refused to go further
which Muhammad saw as a sign that he was not to
complete the pilgrimage that year
Negotiations began with the Meccans in which
Muhammad gave in on all non-essential points. They
signed a truce for 10 years that permitted pilgrimages to
Mecca starting the following year
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Muhammad made a pilgrimage in March 629 without
incident
However, the Treaty of Hudaybiya began to unravel in
November 629 over an intertribal murder
Muslims marched on Mecca in January 630 with minimal
resistance and Muhammad made the 7 circuits of the
Ka’aba, destroyed their idols, gave a general amnesty,
installed Islam as the religion, but otherwise left things
unchanged
Muhammad successfully defended Mecca from outside
attack
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In 632, Muhammad made the hajj (Greater Pilgrimage) to Mecca
The rites of the hajj remained unchanged, but their polytheistic
orientation changed to monotheistic
After returning to Medina, he began experiencing headaches
On June 8, 632 he led prayers at the mosque
He returned to his favorite wife’s quarters and died with his head on
her lap
Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, declared, “If anyone worships
Muhammad, Muhammad is dead. If anyone worships Allah, Allah is
alive, immortal.” He then began to recite 3:144, “Muhammad is
nothing but a Messenger; indeed Messengers have passed away
before him . . .”
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Muhammad had sent messengers to
Arabian tribes requiring submission
to Allah and they did
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Kuhafa as-Siddiq,
an early convert and the first Caliph
(replacement or vicar), died in 634
He was succeeded by Umar ibn
Khattab (634-644) and expansion
outside Arabia began
The fourth Caliph was Ali ibn Abi
Talib (d. 661), the cousin and son-inlaw of the Prophet
His martyrdom and disagreement
over his successor led to the SunniShi’ite split in Islam
Imam Ali Mosque, Najaf, Iraq. It is considered
Islam’s 3rd holiest shrine by Shi’a Muslims
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Shi’ites insisted that leaders must be descendents of the Prophet
whereas Sunnis did not agree. The first 4 Caliphs were relatives of
Muhammad
Shiite leaders are known as imams
After Imam Hussein, Ali’s son and leader of the Shi’a, was killed in
the Battle of Karbala in 680, the split became permanent
The shrines of Imam Hussein (left) and
Imam Abbas in Karbala, Iraq
The Shrine of Imam Hussein
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The “Seveners” or Ismailis are Shi’ites who
recognize 7 imams. They live today primarily
in Pakistan and India
The “Twelvers” are Shi’ites who recognize 12
imams. The son of the 11th imam went into
occultation and will reappear in the future.
They live today primarily in Iraq and Iran
Sunni Muslims constitute 80-85% of Muslims
today
The world community of all Muslims is known
as the Umma
The shrine of Imam
Abbas, Hussein’s loyal
half-brother, who was
also killed in the Battle of
Karbala
The Dar al-Islam (Household of Submission) are territories governed by Muslims under Shar’iah law
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Sufism is a old movement within both Sunni
and Shi’a Islam
It is a mystical movement in which personal
experience and absorption into the Divine are
important
 Some Sufis, in a meditative trance, do a spinning
dance and are known as whirling dervishes
 Consists of different orders (tariqah)
 Sufism has pushed the bounds of orthodox Islam
and has often been persecuted and its followers
martyred
 Beginning in the 19th century, Islamic reformers
tended to view Sufi practice as backwards,
superstitious, and a cause for why Islam has not
prospered in the modern era
 The poet Rumi (1207-1273) is one of the best
known Sufis
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Whirling Dervishes
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Wahhabism is a conservative 18th century reform
movement of Sunni Islam founded by Muhammad
ibn Abd-al-Wahhab (1703–1792)
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It is a fundamentalist movement and its philosophy and
practices are stern and austere
With the support of the House of Saud, it is the official Islam
of Saudi Arabia
It is also the dominant form of Islam in Kuwait, Qatar, and in
pockets of Somalia, Algeria, and Mauritania
The leaders of al-Qaeda are Wahhabis, but this does not
imply that Wahhabis generally support al-Qaeda
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There are 2-7 million Muslims in America
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It is one of the fastest growing religions in
America
More than half of the Muslim population
consists in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation
immigrants
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Political turmoil in their homelands is one of
the primary motivations for emigration today
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American Muslims are from all forms of
Islamic movements
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Although Muslims can be found all across America, many have tended
to form communities
Questions of identity, occupation, dress, and acculturation are
particularly significant for many American Muslims
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There are 1209
mosques in America
The oldest mosque
still in use was built
in 1914 in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa
Houston Islamic Center
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Calendar of 12 lunar months
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Each month begins when a sliver of a crescent moon can be seen following New Moon
Since the mean synodic period of the moon is ~29.5 days, a Muslim year is only 12 x
~29.5 = ~354 days long
Unlike the Jewish and Chinese calendars, the Muslim calendar has no mechanism for
synchronizing with a solar year (~365.25 days)
Muslim years begin with the year of the Hijra, Muhammad’s move from Mecca
to Medina, and are designated by H or AH (anno Hegirae)
Significant months
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The year begins with the month of Muharram
Ramadan is the ninth month
‘Eid al-Fitr is on 1 Shawwal (10th month)
The Hajj is from 8-10 Dhu al-Hijjah (12th month)
‘Eid ul Adha is on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah
Two major and two minor holidays
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Muharram—New Year’s Day commemorates the Hijra
‘Eid al-Fitr—Feast of the Breaking of the Fast of Ramadan
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‘Eid ul Adha—Feast of the Sacrifice
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Begins when the month of Ramadan has ended
Very joyous with house decorations, feasting and gift giving
Takes place during the Hajj
Commemorates the sacrifice Abraham was commanded to make of his son
Ishmael (not Isaac as in the Judeo-Christian tradition)
Theologically the more important feast, but emotionally ‘Eid al-Fitr is more
important
Lailat al-Miraj—Commemorates the Night of Ascent
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(27 Rahab, the 7th month)