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Islam
Religion, History,
Philosophy, Culture
IMAGES OF ISLAM
The Ka’ba Stone (above)
Entrance to Jamé Mosque, Iran
Crescent Moon symbol (disputed)
There are more than
2,000 mosques in
the United States
“Islam” as a word,
and its cognates
• Semitic languages work by building
cognates from consonantal groupings
• The s-l-m group in Arabic gives
• I-S-L-a-M = Submission (to God)
• M-u-S-L-i-M = One who submits (to God)
• S-a-L-a-a-M = Peace (that comes when one
submits to God) - cognate with Hebrew
“Shalom”
Prophet Muhammad’s Arabia
• This map shows the relation of Medina and Mecca.
• Note the very few relief features on the map
Key Figures in Early Islam:
Muhammad
• Muhammad - 570-632 - a human being,
chosen by God as a prophet. Talented
businessman and devout seeker after truth
prior to receiving the revelation of the
Qur’an. Never learns to read and write, but
highly skilled in oral tradition.
Key Figures in Early Islam:
Women in Muhammad’s Life
• Khadijah - 555-619 - Muhammad’s first
wife, first woman convert to Islam. Had
confidence in her husband’s abilities, and
heard the message to submit to God
• A’isha - 614-678 - Muhammad’s youngest
and favorite wife at the time of his death;
famous for speaking forthrightly to him
• Fatima - 605-633 - Muhammad and
Khadijah’s daughter, wife of ‘Ali, mother
of Hasan and Hussain
Key Figures in Early Islam:
The Rightly Guided Caliphs
• These men were all companions of the
Prophet; ‘Ali was Muhammad’s cousin
• Abu Bakr - 572-634 - among first five
converts; a wealthy, respected man
• Umar - 596-644 - like Paul in Christianity,
opposed Islam before his conversion
• Uthman - 579-656 - member of Umayya
family, a prominent Meccan convert
• ‘Ali - 599-661 - cousin of the prophet, of
special importance to Shi’a Islam
Sura 96, 1-5: Initial Revelation
1. Recite, in the name of Thy Lord and Cherisher,
Who created 2. Created man, out of a clot of congealed blood
3. Proclaim! And the Lord is Most Bountiful, 4. He Who taught the use of the Pen, 5. Taught man that which he knew not.
Sura 96, 6-7, 14-16, 19:
Humanity’s Insubordination
6. Nay, but man doth transgress all bounds.
7. In that he looks upon himself as self-sufficient.
14. Knows he not that God does see?
15. Let him beware! If he desist not, We will Drag
him by the forelock
16. A lying, sinful forelock!
19. Nay, heed him (man) not: But bow down in
adoration, And bring yourself the closer to God.
Sura 2: 255
Philosophic Characteristics of God
255. God! There is no god but God,—the Living, the Selfsubsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep.
His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is
there can intercede in His presence except as He permits?
He knows what (appears to His creatures as) before or
after or behind them. Nor shall they (creatures) compass
aught of His knowledge except as He wills. His Throne
extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no
fatigue in guarding and preserving them. For he is Most
High, the Supreme.
Sura 108: 1-3
Kauthar: The Abundance
1. To you have We granted the Fount of Abundance
2. Therefore to your Lord turn in prayer and sacrifice.
3. For he who hates you,—He will be cut off (from Future
Hope)
This sura, a very early one, may have been occasioned by
non-believing opponents of Muhammad who mocked
the death of two of his infant sons. God’s abundance is
asserted in the face of tragedy, and the self-destroying
hatred of those who ridicule others, is simultaneously
affirmed.
Peoples of the Book
The Three Abrahamic, Monotheistic Religions Judaism
Christianity
Islam
- share many structural cosmological similarities,
such as a) revelation received from b) a
monotheistic God who c) acts in history through
d) individuals (prophets) and e) historical events
(battles, governments, etc.)
Peoples of the Book
The Three Abrahamic, Monotheistic Religions Judaism
Christianity
Islam
- share so much revelation, mythology, ancestry,
and structure that they can be called “Sibling
religions.”
The Problem with the word “Sibling”
…is that the word that comes most quickly to mind is
“Rivalry” - and, indeed, Judaism, Christianity and
Islam share aspects of Sibling Rivalry, most
prominently the question of who is best loved by the
Big Parent
Peoples of the Book
The Three Abrahamic, Monotheistic Religions
and their forms of revelation:
Judaism
Torah
Christianity
Jesus
(as recorded in
New Testament)
Islam
Qur’an
Peoples of the Book
The three religions appropriate each others’ revelations sequentially
Judaism – Torah (first five books of Hebrew Bible:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy)
Peoples of the Book
The three religions appropriate each others’ revelations sequentially
Judaism – Torah (first five books of Hebrew Bible:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy)
Christianity – Life of Jesus as recorded in the New
Testament, plus the “Old Testament” corrected
by “The New Law”
Peoples of the Book
The three religions appropriate each others’ revelations sequentially
Judaism – Torah (first five books of Hebrew Bible:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy)
Christianity – Life of Jesus as recorded in the New
Testament, plus the “Old Testament” corrected
by “The New Law”
Islam – The Qur’an is a direct revelation from God,
but the Torah and the New Testament were also
revelation, albeit they are riddled with human
error (corrected by the Qur’an)
Sura 5: 47-51
Sequence of Revelations
47. We have revealed the Torah, in which there is guidance
and light. By it the prophets who surrendered themselves
(to God) judged the Jews… Have no fear of man; fear
Me, and do not sell My revelations for a paltry end….
49. After them We sent forth Jesus…confirming the Torah
already revealed, and gave him the Gospel, in which
there is guidance and light…
51. And to you We have revealed the Book with the truth. It
confirms the Scriptures which came before it…
Sura 5:4
Final Revelation, and God’s Mercy
4. The unbelievers have this day abandoned all hope of
vanquishing your religion. Have no fear of them: fear
Me.
This day I have perfected your religion for you and
completed My favour to you. I have chosen Islam to be
your faith.
He that is constrained by hunger to eat of what is forbidden,
not intending to commit sin, will find God forgiving and
merciful. (Yusuf Ali translation: “Oft-forgiving, Most
merciful”)
Sura 5:16-18
People of the Book and the Qur’an
16. People of the Book! Our apostle has come to reveal to
you much of what you have hidden of the Scriptures, and
to forgive you much.
17. A light has come to you from God and a glorious Book
(the Qur’an),
18. with which God will guide to the paths of peace those
that seek to please Him; He will lead them by His will
from darkness to the light; He will guide them to a
straight path.
Sura 5: 119
Jesus Speaks of Submission to God
119. Then God will say: “Jesus, son of Mary, did you ever
say to mankind: ‘Worship me and my mother as gods
beside God?’”
“Glory to You,” he will answer, “how could I ever say that
to which I have no right? If I had ever said so, You would
have surely known it. You know what is in my mind, but
I know not what is in Yours. You alone know what is
hidden.”
Sura 5: 120-121
Jesus Speaks of Submission to God
(Jesus continues)
120. “I told them only what You bade me. I said: ‘Serve
God, my Lord and your Lord.’ I watched over them
while living in their midst, and ever since You took me to
Yourself. You have been watching over them. You are
the witness of all things.
121. If You punish them, they surely are Your servants; and
it You forgive them, surely You are mighty and wise.”
Sura 97: 1-5
Qadr: The Night of Power
1. We have indeed revealed this in the Night of Power:
2. And what will explain to you what the Night of Power
is?
3. The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
4. Therein comes down the angels and the Spirit by God’s
permission, on every errand:
5. Peace! . . . This until the rise of Morn!
Sura 113: 1-5
Falaq: The Dawn
1.
2.
3.
4.
Say: I seek refuge with Lord of the Dawn
From the mischief of created things;
From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads;
From the mischief of those who practise Secret Arts
(magic);
5. And from the mischief of the envious one as he
practices envy.
Sura 2: 256-257
Religious Co-existence
256. Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands
out clear from error: whoever rejects evil and believes in
God has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that
never breaks. And God hears and knows all things.
257. God is the Protector of those who have faith: from the
depths of darkness He will lead them forth into light. Of
those who reject faith the patrons are the Evil Ones: from
light they will lead them forth into the depths of
darkness.
Hadith:
Using the Prophet’s Sayings and
Examples as Paradigmatic
• While all Muslims agree that Muhammad
was a human being, not a god, they also
maintain that he lived as righteously as
possible.
• Hadith is a category of Muslim writings that
record sayings and actions of the Prophet.
• They are attested to by chains of
verifications
Hadith Chains:
Legitimating Communication
• An example of a hadith chain can be found in
Ishaq’s biography of Muhammad:
• “The apostle was ordered to pray and so he
prayed. Salih ibn Kaisan from Urwa ibn alZubayr from A’isha told me that she said…”
• Muslim legalists retain biographical information
and character-witness information on individuals
involved in hadith chains, in order to judge the
relative merit and likelihood of any given hadith.
Muhammad loved his cat,
Muezza
• An official hadith concerning treatment of a cat, from
Volume 3, Book 40, Number 553: Narrated by
'Abdullah bin 'Umar (the second Caliph):
• Allah's Apostle said, "A woman was tortured and was
put in Hell because of a cat which she had kept locked
till it died of hunger." Allah's Apostle further said,
(Allah knows better) Allah said (to the woman), 'You
neither fed it nor watered when you locked it up, nor
did you set it free to eat the insects of the earth."
Muhammad loved his cat,
Muezza
• There are legends concerning Muhammad and Muezza.
These stories are shared among Muslims, but lack the
canonical status of hadith
• For instance, Muhammad, when giving a sermon at
home, would hold Muezza on his lap
• Once, when call for prayers was sounded, Muezza had
fallen asleep on Muhammad’s sleeve; he cut the sleeve
in order to get up, rather than wake the feline.
• And yes, Muezza was (reputedly) a tabby.
The History of Islam
Success, Expansion, Empire
The Question of Piety and Society
Islam’s
Schizophrenia
• Muhammad had
success in three realms
– Religious
– Political/Civic
– Military
• Thus Islam has never
known whether these
three areas are coextensive with each
other, or logically
separable.
• Split of Sunni and
Shi’i falls on this
fault line
• Existence of, and
debate over, Sufism
also follows these
tensions as well
• Current debates
within Wahhabism,
in the 2011 uprisings,
etc. can be
understood thus too
Expansion
of Islam
610-710
• Above,
growth
through 660
• Right,
growth
through 710
After Muhammad:
The Rightly Guided Caliphs
• These men were all companions of the
Prophet; ‘Ali was Muhammad’s cousin
• Abu Bakr - r. 632-634 - assured that Islam
would put God first, not Muhammad
• Umar - r. 634-644 - Established many of the
administrative facilities of early Islam
• Uthman - r. 644-656 - favored his Umayya
family, chosen because he was weak
• ‘Ali - r. 656-661 - growing Muslim empire
created discord that made his caliphate fail
Splits within the Ummah
• Shi’ite Muslims belief
the Arab principle of
family lineage should
have made ‘Ali the
first caliph, as he was
related to the prophet,
and his children by
Fatimah are direct
descendents of
Muhammad
• Sunni Islam, reacting
to the growth of the
Muslim Empire,
established the
principle of a
separation between
human judgment and
divine judgment
Splits within the Ummah
• Shi’ite Islam maintains
that there are hidden
Imams in every
generation. They are
ever in danger of
being persecuted, as
the righteous are
always persecuted in
this world.
• Sunni Islam separated
the spiritual unity of
the Muslim ummah
from the political
nation-states under
Islam (much as the
European nations and
the Holy Roman
Empire did in
Christianity)
Splits within the Ummah
• Shi’ite Islam
predominates in the
areas around modernday Iran and southern
Iraq
• Shi’ite Islam is
institutionally
established by the end
of the 7th century
• Sunni Islam
predominated in the
areas of North Africa,
Arabia, and the former
Byzantine empire.
• Its formation was not
complete prior to the
ninth century
• Sunnah refers to the
“path” of the Prophet