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Islamic Traditions
Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.
GSTR 220-B
Western Traditions I
Berea College
Fall 2004
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THE PRE-ISLAMIC WEST
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Rome, once unified and in
control of entire
Mediterranean region, now
divided between east and west
(since 300s CE) and
increasingly incapable of
ruling vast multiethnic
territory
Christianity, identified with
Roman power, widespread
throughout west Asia, north
Africa, and southern Europe
Arab peninsula on periphery
of Roman Christian world but
center of East-West trade
routes
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MUHAMMAD (570-632 CE)
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Born in Arabian city of Mecca,
home to diverse religious
influences (Christian, Jewish,
local Arab polytheism)
Experiences revelations from
Allah (name of one Arab deity)
beginning with “Night of
Power” (610), later transcribed
in Quran
Sees himself as final
messenger of one God
revealed in Hebrew Bible and
New Testament
Persecution leads to escape
(Hijra) from Mecca to Medina
(622), from which his
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followers conquer Mecca (630)
WHO IS A MUSLIM?
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Muslim = from Arabic Islam,
“submission”
A Muslim is “one who
submits” to one who submits”
to Allah (God) through the
revelation (Quran) given to
humanity through His Prophet
and final messenger,
Muhammad
A Muslim is anyone who can
say and believe the Shahada,
or “Profession of Faith”:
There is no God but Allah
Muhammad is Allah’s Prophet
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THE “FIVE PILLARS”
OF ISLAM
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Shahada: profession of faith
in Allah as sole deity and
Muhammad as final
messenger (culmination of
Hebrew Bible and New
Testament prophecy)
Salat: ritual prayer five times
daily (morning, noon,
afternoon, sunset, dusk) while
prostrated in direction of
Mecca – customarily solitary,
but communal on Fridays at
noon in masjid (mosque)
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Zakat: charity – a “loan to
God” representing 2.5% of
one’s income, donated by
those 16 years and older who
can afford it
Ramadan: abstinence from
food, drink, sex, stimulants
during daylight hours of ninth
lunar month in
commemoration of the
Prophet’s “Night of Power”
Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca to
be made by every Muslim at
least once in a lifetime
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THE GROWTH OF ISLAMIC
INSTITUTIONS
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After the Prophet’s death,
power struggles between his
caliphs (deputies) lead to
deaths of fourth caliph, Ali
(600-661), Muhammad’s
cousin, and Husayn (626-680),
Muhammad’s grandson
Sunni (“traditional”) Muslims
revere first four caliphs and
emphasize Islamic unity
through Shari’a (law)
Shi’a (“factional”) Muslims
honor Ali and Husayn as
martyrs and emphasize
authority of various imams
(religious leaders)
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THE ISLAMICIZATION OF
THE WEST
• 634: Army of the caliph
conquers Mesopotamia and
Palestine
• 635: Damascus, capital of
Syria, conquered
• 644: Egypt and Persia
conquered
• 700s: Most of north Africa,
Spain, Portugal, Italy, and India
conquered by Abbasid Empire,
based in Baghdad (756-1055)
• Within a century of
Muhammad’s death, much of
the formerly Roman Christian
world is under Islamic rule
• Gradually, most formerly
Christian and pagan
communities become Islamic
• Islamic scholars translate and
preserve Greek philosophy and
science, now lost to Europeans
• Christians and Jews tolerated as
Ahl al-kitāb (“People of the
Book”) and therefore dhimmī
(protected peoples)
• Tax (jizya) levied on nonMuslims under Islamic rule
• Slavery restricted to nonMuslims and children of
existing slaves – converts are
emancipated
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Greatest Extent of Abbasid Empire (756-1055 CE)
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WHY DID ISLAM SUCCEED?
• Culture: Islamic rulers
encouraged literature,
philosophy, and science
• Politics: power vacuum due to
decline of Persian and
Byzantine empires
• Religion: Christian doctrine too
complex, Christian disputes too
bitter to retain allegiance of
many – many Christian
“heretics” convert to Islam
• Society: in most cases, Islamic
rulers less oppressive, more
humane than Byzantine or
Persian rulers
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THE AGE OF CRUSADES
(1095-1291)
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By 11th century, Byzantine Empire
faces increasing challenges from
Seljuk (Muslim) Empire, and
requests help from West
1095: Pope Urban II urges Western
Christians to attack and invade
Muslim-held territories in Middle
East in order to recapture them for
Christendom, offering “immediate
remission of sins” to those who die
in battle
1099: An army of mostly Frankish
(French) Christians massacres the
population of Jerusalem and
establishes independent Crusader
states in Middle East, undermining
Byzantine and Muslim power in the
region
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1144: Edessa (in modern Turkey)
overthrows Crusader rule and
returns to Muslim control,
prompting second Crusade
1187: Jerusalem recaptured by
Muslim forces, triggering third
Crusade led by kings of England,
France, and Germany
1204: Western Christian forces
capture Constantinople and
establish short-lived Latin Empire
in East (1204-1261)
1291: Acre, last stronghold of
Crusaders in Middle East,
recaptured by Muslim forces
Christian persecution of Jews,
heretics, and homosexuals
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increases during Crusades
RISE OF THE SUFI
TRADITION
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Soon after Prophet’s death,
some Muslims become
critical of what they see as
worldliness and corruption of
caliphs
Wearing plain blue wool (sūf)
clothing, these Sufis preach:
tawakkul (absolute trust in
Allah)…
… which arises from tawhid
(absolute oneness of Allah)…
… expressed through faqr
(“poverty,” both material and
spiritual)…
… which leads to fanā
(“annihilation” of self in the
presence of almighty Allah)
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THEMES IN SUFI THOUGHT
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As Sufism expands throughout
Muslim world, it encounters
criticism from other Muslims
In response, Abu Hamid alGhazali (1058-1111), most
famous Sufi theologian,
defines 4 major points of
Sufism:
islām (“surrender, submission” to
God in all aspects of life)
īmān (“faith” in God and his
Prophet, Muhammad)
ihsān (“serving God as if one
were seeing Him” at all times)
ishrāq (“illumination” of the soul,
leading it from dark materiality to
light spirituality)
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Sufi teachers (shaikhs) and
their disciples (tarīqa)
devoted to dhikr
(“remembrance”) of Allah
through chanting, dancing,
fasting, music, poetry, and
prayer
The poetry of Sufi writer Jalal
Al-Din Rūmī (1207-1273) is
known as “the Quran in
Persian”
Rūmī’s basic theme: love, not
fear, should define
relationship between
humanity and God
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