Download MUHAMMAD?

The Middle East
The Romans to the advent of
Islam
• The Romans held the Mid East a high priority because of
its location (Crossroads)
• The Silk Road had to be preserved for trade with the East.
• Trade had connected both empires in the east with Rome
• Persians & Romans tried to conquer & merge the crossroads.
– That effort would have been expensive, dangerous, & hardly secure.
• Places like the Arabian Peninsula were far too big, distant, &
anti-European.
• To avoid tribes on the Silk Road, the Romans used their
provinces in Palestine as a port region to exchange goods.
One Roman historian
wrote…
“The inhabitants of all the districts are savage and
warlike, and take such pleasure in war and
conflict, that one who loses his life in battle is
regarded as happy beyond all others. For those
who depart from this life by a natural death they
assail with insults, as degenerate and cowardly.”
• Roman traders sailed from the Gulf of Suez, stopping in
cities like Mecca, then around the Gulf of Aden, then to
South Asia for trade.
• The ppl who lived in that region were exposed to new
inventions, innovations and ideas.
• Mecca grew to be a valuable trading city
ROMAN COLLAPSE
EFFECTS THE
WORLD!
Dark Ages
• Once the overthrow was final, interest in trade declined &
soon ceased all together.
• Arabia’s economy slipped and fell.
• Trade routes were diverted; money and investments were
lost, along with the whole caravan traffic.
• A nomadic and ancient way of life dominated once again.
• Muslims call this Jahiliyya, The Age of Ignorance; soon
this ignorance would all end.
The beginning of a new era…
• Many ideas about politics, economics,
society, and religion remained.
• People made, sold, and traded simple items
as well as traveling to close regions to earn
a living. They may not have been civilized
in the western definition, yet they were
organized
• The one thing these people did not possess
was a unified religion of their own.
• They were not Jews, Christians, or
Zoroastrians, they were pagans or
irreligious. But not for long…
MUHAMMAD’S RITE OF
PASSAGE
PRE-PROPHETHOOD
 What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
 Muhammad was born in Mecca c. 570ce.
 Mecca was a prosperous city b/c of its location; centrality in the
Peninsula & its close contacts with others (trade).
The Kaaba
• Possessed an ancient black stone from the Heaven’s
• Represented all gods (360); Attracted religious travelers
• Quraysh: A ruling tribe/family used the attraction for profit
Quraysh: “The Tribe of God”-Wardens of the Sanctuary
• Only reason to visit the city was for god
• To visit, you need to pay
• Quraysh got rich owning the entrance to
god
• Rival families throughout Arabia had tried
to destroy the Kaaba to lure travelers to
their shrines
Mecca
NEAR THE KAABA
• Zamzam a spring believed to be the
well/water that nourished Hagar and
Ishmael
Muhammad’s Family
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Dad, Abdallah, died before M was born
Mom, Amina, died when M was 6
Sent to live with his grandfather, who died two years later
Sent to live with his powerful Uncle
Muhammad grew up a member of the “have-nots,” upset no
one cared about poor, people only cared about pursuit of
wealth
GROWING UP
• As he grew older, he worked leading trade caravans across the
desert for his Uncle
• As a trader, he learned many cultures (Christianity, Judaism,
Zoroastrianism)
• He became very well known for his work ethic & honesty.
• Al-Amin: “the trustworthy one”
Khadija
• A wealthy + respected
widow (with children)
employed him
• She was pursued by
many men, but she
proposed marriage to
Muhammad!
• Muhammad was
already reject by
Uncle’s daughter
(Umm Hani)
• 15 years older
• Strong Marriage:
Monogamy unique in
a polygamous culture
•
MUHAMMAD THE ADULT
Khadija recognized that Muhammad was a spiritual man.
– She encouraged him to take spiritual retreats.
– It was during one that Muhammad received his call.
• Polytheism and idol worship was everywhere!
• $$$ trumped spirituality
THE
CALL
• When he was almost 40, the Angel Gabriel appeared
before him demanding him to ‘recite or proclaim’
that Allah is the true & one universal God.
• Muhammad was terrified and unsure what to do.
• Khadija helped Muhammad accept Allah’s task
MUHAMMAD’S REVELATIONS
• He was the last Prophet, and needed to teach monotheism
• Quraysh: The most powerful people in Mecca who benefited
from current system of worship (How do you think they would respond?)
• Muhammad’s 1st supporters were family, friends, and women
• Women risked lives by rejecting husband’s/father’s traditions
Initial Message: Social/Economic
•
•
•
•
Free Slaves
Feed others in times of famine
Do not oppress the orphan
Woe to those who amass wealth to himself, he will be cast
into the fire by God (104:1-6)
DO NOT MESS WITH PEOPLE’S $$
• The wealthier families of Mecca saw Muhammad as a threat to
their existing order/life
• Solution to Muhammad: Bribe him
– Muhammad won’t take the bribe
Qurash were Furious
• Secondary Solution: Kill Muhammad
• Massive bounty: (100 she-camels) to bring
him back to Mecca
PERSONAL
TRAGEDY
Death of Uncle
Death of
Khadija
New tribal
leader didn’t
like
Muhammad
His life was in
danger
Where to go?
 Many cities didn’t welcome
Muhammad because it
upset the Quraysh
 250 miles away he found
Yathrib or Medina ‘city of
the prophet.’
This migration
Muhammad was forced
to take is the Hejira.
 Muhammad and others
had to sneak away slowly;
he & Abu Bakr were the
last to leave/arrive
Hejira
• Later, the beginning of the Muslim calendar relates
to the beginning of the Hejira (622)
Muhammad + others had to sneak away slowly &
stealthily
He, Abu Bakr, and Ali were the last to leave/arrive
In Yathrib
MUHAMMAD…
•
•
•
•
In Mecca, he was an individual vs. a solidified system.
In Yathrib he became a political, religious, and military ruler
Jihad: Right to defend yourself + beliefs vs. others
8 year war w/ Mecca: Up and down
628; 6 years into the war
• Muhammad and 1K followers marched to Mecca peacefully
• Quraysh negotiated temporary truce w/Muhammad (Peace
for Hajj)
• Muhammad won’t attack unless he is attacked (Jihad)
• When Meccans saw the #’s of pious Muslims circling Kaaba,
many dropped their passion for war
JIHAD
• A skirmish broke out vs. Muhammad’s followers and he
invaded in 630
• Meccans welcomed him with open arms
• Muhammad went to Kaaba and destroyed all the idols
EXCEPT for one of Jesus and his mother Mary
STANDING OUT
• Crucial difference between the career of Muhammad & that of
Jesus and Moses before him.
1. Moses did not enter the promise land, and died while his
people went forward
2. Jesus was crucified, & Christianity remained a minority religion
3. Muhammad CONQUERED his promise land, & during his
lifetime experienced success & power
Medina
• Muhammad returned to Medina, and lived
their until he died
• Mecca is the heart of Islam
• Medina is it’s soul
Allah’s Laws Keep Coming
• Muhammad’s flies on a winged horse to Jerusalem and back to
hear Allah’s instructions
5 Pillars of Islam
1.
2.
3.
4.
Shahadah (Proclamation of One God)
Zakat (Alms/Charity)
Salat (Prayer Multiple Times/Day)
Ramadan (Fasting during daylight hours of
this Month )
5. Hajj (Pilgrimage to Kaaba in Mecca)
MUSLIM
HOLY CITIES
• Mecca
• Medina
• Jerusalem
MUHAMMAD IN MECCA
• Mecca became a base from which to work toward
unifying the Arabian Peninsula
• Before his death, Muhammad spread Islam throughout the
Arabian Peninsula and brought most of the region under its
control.
• People of the Book: Monotheistic people (Jews and Christians),
supposed to be treated with tolerance
MUHAMMAD’S
END
• Muhammad NEVER
claimed to invent a
new religion!
• By his own admission
he is bringing the god
of J and C to the people
of Arabia
• His purpose, which was
to restore the idea of
monotheism
• *At his death the
revelation of God’s
purpose for human
kind had been
completed
Miracle?
• In order to be a religion, you need a miracle.
• Muslims answer this by stating that the Quran is the exact
word of Allah
• No way could Muhammad, who is claimed to be illiterate
produce such poetic/divine instructions
• The miracle is the Quran
• As a trader, Muhammad must’ve known some basic Arabic
(write receipts, names, dates, goods, services, etc)
ISLAM
• Teaches one God [Allah]
• Shari’a: Islamic law and moral code
• Each person is responsible for his/her actions No
separation b/w their personal and private life
• Koran: The Arab language [Arabic] united others to
Islam
ITS ON!
• Who are ‘People of the Book?’
• Christians & Jews; other monotheists that share the Old
Testament as historically accurate.
• Muslims were to be tolerant of them.
• CALIPH?
• Successor; Religious Ruler
• Name the 5 Pillars (In English & Arabic)
• Shahadah (Proclamation), Zakat (Alms), Salat (Prayer),
Ramadan (Fast), Hajj (Pilgrimage)
• SEMITE?
• Any descendant of Abraham [Noah]…Jew, Christian, &
Muslim.
YOU ARE DOING WELL, BUT CAN I
STUMP YOU HERE?
• MUHAMMAD?
Founder of Islam; world’s last Prophet.
• SUNNI?
80% of Muslims; people who believe any
devout Muslim could succeed Muhammad
• SHI’A or SHIITE?
Muslims who believe that only people of
direct blood lineage to Muhammad and
Ali could succeed them.