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ISLAM
These slides are prepared by Dr. Peter Vardy of Heythrop
College, University of London, to assist teachers in schools to
introduce Islam to young people. They are not to be regarded as
comprehensive and should be supplemented by appropriate reading.
Islam
meaning: ‘Submission to God’
• Islam is one of the three great monotheistic
religions – the others being Judaism and
Christianity.
• Monotheists believe in a single God (Allah) –
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
• Islam is possibly the most misunderstood of
all the world religions – and yet it is one of
the fastest growing world religions.
• In England, within ten years, more Muslims
may attend Mosques each week than
Christians attend Church, although the
Islamic growth rate is now slowing.
Islam
• Islam accepts Allah’s relationship to Abraham and
also that Allah sent his prophets (including Jesus)
but it considers that the message of the prophets
and of Jesus was distorted by their followers.
• Islam considers that Submission to God was the goal
of all creation – this was the goal of which all the
prophets speak. Service of God is the same as
Submission and devotion to God.
• The Qur’an has a unique status as it represents the
final revelation of Allah. It is held to be divinely
dictated directly to Muhammad who he held to have
been illiterate.
• The Qur’an is held to complement or corrects the
distorted versions of God’s revelation found in
Jewish and Christian scriptures.
Sura 11: 135-6
“Tell the people, O Muhammad!
That to be rightly guided
One needs not be a Jew or a Christian
The righteous belong to the community
of Abraham
Who was pure in his worship of God,
So were Isma’il, Jacob and the tribes,
And Moses, Jesus and the rest.
They are all our messengers;
We make no distinction between them.”
Note the central importance of Abraham – this
is vital.
ABRAHAM
• Abraham is the father of Islam through
Ishmael his first born son.
• Abraham is the father of Judaism through
his second son, Isaac and
• Abraham is the father of Christianity through
his faith.
• The status of Abraham cannot be over-estimated to
all three religions. Islam maintains that Ishmael,
Abraham’s first born son, lived in the desert and his
followers became the ‘hanif’ – believers in a single
God who were not Jews or Christians. They wandered
through the desert living very simply and valuing
solitude and the search for God above everything.
• Muhammad may have met some of these when he was
younger and they could have influenced him – but this
is disputed.
ISLAM
HISTORY AND EARLY
DEVELOPMENT
History in the Qur'an
• The Qur'an does not see Islam as a historical
religion, moving from creation, through the prophets,
culminating in Muhammad and then on to a final
Judgement. There is no idea of a Fall, no idea of
original sin and no redemption.
• Salvation lies only in submission to God and there is
no developing idea of God’s revelation through
history. In that sense, it does not matter in what
order the Holy Qur'an or the Hebrew scriptures are
read – as they all contain a single message:
Submission to God.
• The nearest Islamic equivalent to salvation is ‘falah’ –
fulfilment of the Divine will in time. This is the aim
of all creation. There is a strong pre-destination
element in Islam – as there is in Calvinist
Christianity.
The Prophet
•
Two seemingly opposed but compatible positions need
to be taken into account in understanding Islam:
1) At one level, Muhammad is a man, not in
any sense distinct from other men –
although Muhammad is considered to be
sinless.
2) At another level, Muhammad is the
prophet of God and is absolutely central to
Islam. The greatest offence non-Muslims
can give to Muslims, is to misunderstand
the unique place of the Prophet.
To understand Muhammad, one also needs to
understand the world in which he was born and
lived.
MECCA
The land which is now Saudi Arabia was and
is desert with fertile land on the coast &
prominent oases inland. It was populated by
many tribes (and within tribes there were clans) –
particularly the roving Bedouin and the settled city
tribes. One could not survive alone in this
environment and loyalty to the tribe was fierce.
Often the tribes were at war.
The people of Mecca were traders – they organised
great caravans and a market where different tribes
could trade. But they had one great advantage.
At Mecca was the ‘Ka’bah’ a building like a cube which
contained the sacred BLACK STONE in its furthest
corner – this was a symbol of divine power and is
very old. It is believed to have been given by the
Angel Gabriel to Abraham.
ABRAHAM AND MECCA
• Abraham is regarded by
Islam as the earliest of
the prophets.
• According to the Qu’ran,
Abraham prayed to God to
make Mecca safe and to
give it to him and his
descendents as their
home. He and his eldest
son, Ishmael, then
erected the ‘Kabah’ there
as a shrine to Allah.
Abraham is the forerunner
of the HANIF –
worshippers in one God
who were found in Arabia
before Muhammad.
•
Ottoman miniature 1583. Istanbul
Importance of the Black Stone
• Every tribe had its local deities in the Kab’ah
and this had the advantage of enabling tribes
to worship as well as trade at Mecca.
• There was also a tradition that tribes
normally at war could go on pilgrimage to
Mecca and they could trade and be safe
because of the holiness of the city.
• Mecca was not originally the focus –
Muhammad’s followers initially directed their
prayers to Jerusalem. However when
Muhammad’s message was rejected by the
Jews, Mecca became the new focus. Mecca
had always had great symbolic importance as
a centre for worship for the wandering tribes.
• The ‘Quraysh’ tribe were the custodians
of the Ka’bah. This gave them great
status but they were also aware of
anything that might undermine their
status.
• Muhammad was to present such a
challenge. He was an uncomfortable,
uncompromising figure – insisting on the
worshop of the one true God and calling
people away from idol worship.
MuhaMMad’s LIFE
• Muhammad was born in
570ce into a powerful clan,
but he was himself poor.
His father, Abdullah, died
before Muhammad was born
to his mother, Aminah so
any inheritance went to his
father’s brothers.
• Muhammad was sent to live
with Halimah, a shepherd’s
wife, until he was 6. The
painting on the right dates
from the 16th century and
shows Halimah feeding
breast-feeding the infant
Muhammad. Note the fire
coming from the baby.
MohaMMad’s MoThER’s JouRNEY
• After Muhammad was returned to his mother,
she took him on a journey to the city of
Yathrib where his father had died – but she
died on the return journey.
• Muhammad was thus an orphan and was cared
for by his uncle, Abu Talib. He took part in
his Uncle’s business activities and went with
the Caravans to Syria where he met
Christians and Jewish thinkers.
• Muhammad’s life up to the age of 25 is only
known in outline terms – there are stories,
but they are disputed.
MARRIAGES of MUHAMMAD
• Khadijah, a wealthy widow, had employed
Muhammad to lead some caravans for her.
Tradition has it that she was 40+ when
Muhammad married hern (he was 25) and he
had no other wife till she died.
• They lived together for 25 years and had two sons,
who both died in infancy, and four daughters – only
Fatima did not die before her father.
• The wealth of Khadijah, enabled Muhammad to spend
time deepening his spiritual life through meditation in
the surrounding hills.(Muhammad. Maxime Rodinson, Pantheon Books, New York, 1971,
p. 69)
• After the death of Khadijah, Mohammed married
several wives.
THE CAVE
• In 610ce (aged 40), whilst meditating in a cave on
Mt. Hira outside Mecca, the angel Gabriel appeared
and delivered a message from Allah challenging
Muhammad to recite a message from God (cf Sura 96).
He was in great pain and feared he was going to die.
• Muhammad was anxious and wondered if he was
deranged. He spoke to Khaidjah who consulted a
hanif (a worshipper of one God which was
comparatively rare at the time) and he confirmed
that what Muhammad had experienced was in
accordance with messages to prophets recognised by
Jews and Christians.
• Khaidjah supported him from the beginning and
Muhammad began to recite the messages he had been
given.
DIVINE DICTATION OR REVELATION
• After the first dictation or revelation in the
cave, there were no more for some time.
Then the revelations returned and continued
throughout Muhammad’s life.
• At the beginning the passages dictated were
more poetic but became more concerned later
with what would happen to mankind if they
did not listen and also with laws for the new
society that was being formed.
• The Qur'an as it is today is not chronological
– it is an assemblage of pieces of dictation
over the whole of Muhammad’s life.Most
scholars would see the the Qur’an as falling
into three stages: Early and late Meccan and
Medina.
MuhaMMad’s MEssagE
• The single most important part of the message
Muhammad had to relay was that there is only ONE
God.
• This was a challenging and uncomfortable message of
religious reform as it called for the destruction of all
the idols – and he had to recite this message to the
Quaraysh, the guardians of the Kab’ah and of the
idols therein!
• The Quaraysh quickly realised the threat this posed
and ridiculed Muhammad (think of St. Paul in
Ephesus!) – so much so that none of the respectable
people in Mecca would take him seriously.
• Muhammad was accused of making up the Qu’ran and
seen as a threat to be suppressed.
THE CHALLENGE OF THE PROPHET
• Muhammad challenged the business and social
practices of his society which exploited the poor and
needy.
• He opposed ancestor worship which was strong among
the tribes.
• He challenged the status of Mecca as a place of
pilgrimage for believers in many local tribal gods.
• He emphasised individual responsibility and life after
death for each individual – this was great at variance
with the communal, tribal ideas of the society of his
time.
• The first converts came from his own household.
• Early Islam depended on strong family ties –
Muhammad gave his daughters to two of of his
followers and he eventually married the daughter of
another.
EARLY CONVERTS
• The early converts came from slaves and young people
and great pressure was applied to them to renounce
the new faith.
• Some Muslims had to flee from the branch of the
Quraysh who opposed Muhammad. Abu Talib (from
the Hashim branch of the Quraysh), one of
Muhammad’s early followers and protectors, and
Khadijah came under intense pressure but they
resisted. However they both died within a year and
Muhammad was vulnerable and could see no way
forward.
• In 620ce, representatives from the city of Yathrib
saw Muhammad and became convinced he was a
prophet. They agreed to only worship the One true
God and Muhammad chose 12 leaders from Yathrib to
become the leaders of the Muslim community in this
tribe. He also told his supporters in Mecca to leave
and go to Yathrib.
A new threat
• The Quraysh in Mecca saw Muhammad’s involvement with
the Yathrib (the people of the town of this name) as a
new threat. The Quraysh did not want him and his
disciples to leave their control and to go to the Yathrib
(which was the town where Muhammad’s father had
died).
• 40 men from a number of tribes in Mecca agreed to kill
Muhammad – but they excluded any representatives of
the Hashim tribe who supported him. It was reasoned
that the Hashim could not attack all the tribes
represented by the 40 in revenge.
• The 40 stood guard outside Muhammad’s house, but his
cousin, Ali Talib, took his place in bed and Muhammad
and Abu Bakr were able to slip out of the city and flee
to Yathrib. He arrived on September 20 620 ce which,
15 years later, became fixed as the first day of the
Islamic calendar.
TRIBAL STRUCTURE
• The Hashemites who rule Jordan today are descended
from the Hashim who supported Muhammad in these
early days (although they also formally disowned him and
removed protection from him at one stage).
• In Arabia, loyalty to clan and tribe was and is central –
individuals only survived by being members of a tribe.
Muhammad had little choice but to make military
arrangements immediately to protect his new followers –
only by so doing could he have obtained the respect
needed by other tribes as they had left their old tribal
loyalties to follow Islam. Indeed Islam effectively
became a new tribe – albeit one that could be joined by
members of any tribe.
• Yathrib was renamed MEDINA – the city of the prophet.
The muhajirun (companions) who had come from Mecca
welcomed him and so did the ansar (helpers who aided
him to come to Medina) but many did not want him
there, including the Jewish population of the city.
• Key cities
• JERUSALEM
• MEDINA
• MECCA
TENSIONS
• The messages of Allah continued to come to
Muhammad as he made new rules for the city, and
the new rules of the Qur'an had to be firmly
enforced.
• The Jews rejected Muhammad as a prophet and they
rejected his teachings. This became a major factor
and Muhammad’s initial sympathy for the Jews seems
to have abated.
• The opposition of the Jews caused Muhammad to kill
some of them and force others to leave – without any
of their possessions.
• Early Christians saw Islam as a Christian heresy (cf
John of Damascus etc.) just as Jews saw Islam as
perverted Judaism. However Muhammad came into
contact with comparatively few Christians compared
to the significant number of Jews.
EXPANSION BY ARMS
• The new Muslims in Medina sent out armed
expeditions to other tribes and these were often well
received.
• However a Muslim raid on a Meccan caravan south of
Mecca Muhammad gained the new Muslims much booty
and this boosted the new Muslims in the eyes of
other tribes.
• However this raid caused the Meccans to carry out a
raid in retaliation – and the Muslims were defeated in
this. The Meccans raised money for a larger attack,
and Muhammad was defeated at Uhud in 625. Then
the Meccans besieged Medina but due to new military
tactics used by Muhammas and also due to extremely
cold weather, the siege failed.
The decisive HISTORICAL move
• In 628, Muhammad took 1600 people on
pilgrimage to Mecca. The Meccans sent
out a force to stop him and the two
sides met and talked. An agreement was
reached for ten years of peace and to
permit the Muslims to return the
following year and make the pilgrimage
to the Ka’bah.
• This had a major effect because as
Muslims and Meccans mixed, many of
the brightest Meccans became Muslims.
ATTACK IN MECCA
• In 630, Muhammad led a
force of 10000 men
against Mecca. Mecca
surrendered and
Muhammad destroyed all
the idols in the Ka’bah.
He gave a truce to the
Quraysh tribe, even
those who did not become
Muslims.
• He returned to Medina
and used both military
force and persuasion to
encourage almost all the
Arab tribes to become
Muslims. Muhammad died
on June 8, 632ce.
•
The painting is from the C16th and is
from the Siyer-I-Nabi gallery
THE MOSQUE OF THE
PROPHET, MEDINA
Built over Muhammad’s
burial place
MuhaMMad’s NIghT
JOURNEY
• The Hadiths say that
Muhammad was led by the
Archangel Gabriel through
seven heavens where he saw
Adam dividing good from evil
souls. He also met Moses
who asked Muhammad how
many prayers had to be said
each day. Muhammad replied
’50’. Moses then said
‘Prayer is a difficult thing
and people are weak’ so
Moses allowed Muhammad to
petition God to reduce the
number to 5 and this became
the numbers of prayers
Muslims have to say.(Berlin
Museum of Islamic art)
MuhaMMad’s NIghT
journey
• Muhammad is held to have
reached the highest heaven
in a mystical journey in
which he was taken from
Medina and then to the
‘outer synagogue’ - later
identified as Jerusalem before ascending through
the spheres (this was to
influence the British artist
William Blake)
• He first met with previous
prophets such as Abraham,
Moses and Jesus and then
glimpsed the pleasures of
Paradise.
• Finally, Muhammad enjoyed
the rarest privilege of all seeing Allah's unveiled face.
Al-Burak
• Muhammad is shown riding a
fabulous creature called alBuraq, meaning "Lightning." as
he passes through seven
heavens on his journey to the
presence of Allah.
• The name was well-chosen
because al-Buraq could streak
through the sky covering a
distance as far as the eye
could see in a single bound.
Al-Buraq is shown with a
woman's head and a mule's
body. In other paintings, alBuraq is sometimes shown with
a peacock's tail.
THE ANGEL
GABRIEL
• Unlike the other angels in this
painting Gabriel is surrounded by a
halo of fire. The halo of fire is a
symbol denoting Gabriel's holiness.
As the chief of Allah's angelic
servants, Gabriel has the honor of
leading Muhammad on his ascent
through the heavens.
• Gabriel and Muhammad were not
strangers. Gabriel delivered Allah's
revelations to Muhammad beginning
in 610. Gabriel also appears in the
New Testament. In the Gospel of
Luke, Gabriel is the angel who
announces the birth of John the
Baptist to Zachary (Luke 1: 11-20) and
the conception, birth, and mission
of Jesus to Mary (Luke 1:22.38).
MUHAMMAD
• Muhammad is surrounded by
a halo of fire denoting his
holiness and superior status
as Allah's prophet.
• Muhammad's face is hidden
by a veil. This is not an
artistic oversight. Islam
strictly forbids the making or
drawing of idols. As a result,
Muslim artists never portray
Muhammad's face.
Angel gifts
• The two angels shown in
this portion of the
painting are bringing
special gifts to
Muhammad.
• The angel on the right is
bringing Muhammad a cap
of honor while the angel
on the left is bringing
Muhammad a robe of
honor. Both gifts are
meant to show
Muhammad's special
status as Allah's prophet.
Muslim artists
traditionally show
Muhammad wearing his
green robe of honour.
THE DOME OF THE ROCK
• The Dome of the Rock encloses the sacred rock where
Muhammad began his ascension to Heaven.
EXTERIOR WALL OF THE DOME • According to
Muslim tradition,
OF THE ROCK
the rock wanted to
join Muhammad on
his journey to
Paradise. The rock
begged the Prophet
saying, "O
Muhammad, take
me along into the
presence of Allah."
But Muhammad
refused and the
archangel Gabriel
held back the
envious stone.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DOME
• Scholars suggest • Pilgrims had to circumnavigate the Dome in
the same way as the Ka’ba in Mecca – again
that the Sunni
making parallels for the Syrian based Caliph.
Caliph based in
Syria, Abd AlMarik, wanted
Jerusalem as an
alternative place
of pilgrimage to
Mecca – he
therefore forbade Pilgrimage
to Mecca and
the Dome on the
Rock and he built
the Dome as an
alternative.
•
Right: Dome from within
INTERIOR OF THE DOME OF THE ROCK
• The Dome of the Rock is located on the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Completed in
691, it is the oldest surviving Islamic
sanctuary.
• The dome is made of
wood and it was
completely
reconstructed and
regilded in 1994
(financed by Jordan's
King Hussein). The
Dome contains 80
kilograms (176
pounds) of 24-karat
gold.
• In the middle ages it
was used by the
Christian crusaders
as a Church but
Saladin returned it to
use as a mosque.
JERUSALEM
• Jerusalem is the third
most holy city for
Muslims, after Mecca
and Medina, as it is not
only associated with
Abraham but was the
place Muhammad visited
on his mystical journey
to heaven.
• This creates major
tensions today between
Muslims and Jews. The
wailing wall is on one
side of the Dome of
the Rock Temple area –
which is on the site of
the former Temple of
Solomon.
The Prophet
1) Muhammad says that ‘he is a slave, to whom (the
Qur'an) was revealed’ but just as Allah taught Adam
the names of animals (Sura 2.31) so Allah taught
Muhammad the Qur'an (Sura 96.2).
2) Muhammad was called to preach the Divine word as
it has been proclaimed to the prophets and to Jesus –
but without the distortions that have been claimed to
have crept in.
3) The Qur'an describes the Prophet as illiterate – and
this is seen as a virtue and proof that he could not
have written the Qu’ran himself. Just as Mary had to
be a virgin so she could give birth to Jesus, so The
Prophet had to be free from secondary intellectual
influences in order to receive God’s word.
4) Muslims have also been aware that The Prophet was
fully human. He is, above all, seen as a beautiful
model for a Muslim to follow.
VENERATION OF Muhammad
• Although Muhammad is a man, he is venerated in
Islam. The Qur'an itself says: “Verily God and the
angels bless Muhammad” (Sura 33.56).
• He is a blessing sent by Allah on the whole earth –
just like the rain is a gift and blessing from Allah
(“We have sent him as mercy for the worlds”) (Sura
21:107). The villagers in Iran and Anatolia call the rain
‘rahmat’ (mercy) just as the prophet is ‘rahmatan lil’alamin’.
• Muhammad brings refreshment to dried up hearts as
rain does to the desert.
• God is said to offer ten blessings for every one that
a person offers of Muhammad.
• Muhammad, and his family, are always seen as close
to a faithful believer who directs his love and trust
to Muhammad.
The Last of the Prophets
• The Qur'an describes Muhammad as ‘the seal of the
prophets’, the last of the long line of prophets that
began with Adam (Adam is recognised as a prophet in Sura 2:30-9;
7:19-25; 20:117-124). God’s primary covenant is with NOAH
and Abraham was the first prophet.
• Muhammad is held to be the final prophet. He is held by
some Muslims to be the paraklet (most praiseworthy) who
came to fulfil the message of Christ (Sura 61. 6)
• Muslims look not just to the Qur'an, but to the ‘Hadith’
traditions concerning Muhammad’s words and actions
passed down from very early times. Muhammad so
impressed all who met him, that any of his sayings and
actions became of decisive importance for later
followers. It is this that gave the Hadith its importance.
• Muslims differ as to the extent to which the Hadith can
be interpreted. Many Muslims reject all historical
criticism of the Hadith.
HADITH or SUNNA
‘Sunna’ is an alternative word for Hadith and the
former gave rise to ‘Sunnis’ – this main group of
Muslims paid great attention to these sayings.
However the Hadith only became established by about
200 years after Muhammad’s death – prior to this
there were ‘siras’ or stories about the Prophet’s life.
The Hadith were formed gradually based on rigorous
examination of the trustworthiness of those
associated with particular stories and they way the
stories fitted in to the Qu’ran.
There are six groups of Hadith – of which the one
compiled by the Bukhari and Al-Muslim are the most
reliable.
Sharia (Islamic law) depends heavily on the Hadith as
well as on the Qu’ran.
Stories developed
• After the death of the Prophet, many stories
about him developed. The tales of his birth
were enlarged by, for instance, the
appearance of a heavenly light at his birth
and ‘The Light of Muhammad’ became a focus
for devotion from the 8th century onwards.
• His birthday began to be commemorated from
the 12th century. Hundreds of hymns have
been written to commemorate his birth.
• Muhammad’s praise, sung by every being on
earth, is echoed in every branch of Muslim
poetry. Possibly the most famous birth hymn
is the great Marhaba (‘Welcome’) written in
1410:. . . . . .
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Welcome, O high prince, we greet you!
Welcome, O mine of wisdom, we greet you!
Welcome, A secret of the Book, we greet you!
Welcome, O medicine for Pain, we greet you!
Welcome, O sunlight and moonlight of God!
Welcome, O one who is not separated from God!
Welcome, a nightingale of the garden of Beauty!
Welcome, a Friend of the Lord of Power!
Welcome, a refuge of your nation!
Welcome, O eternal soul, we greet you!
Welcome, O cupbearer of the lovers, we greet you!
Welcome, a darling of the Beloved!
Welcome, O much loved of the Lord!
Welcome, O mercy for the worlds!
Welcome, O intercessor for sinners!
Welcome, Prince of this world and the next!
Only for you Time and Space was created……
SUCCESSORS TO Muhammad – The RASHIDUN
(MEaNINg ‘RIghTLY guIdEd’ - THE first FOUR caliphs)
• The status of the successors to Muhammad was not
universally agreed and divisions about them has led to
the largest split within Islam……
• The first CALIPH (person acting in Muhammad’s place
after his death) was Abu Bakr (632–634), one of the
Prophet’s oldest companions and father of Muhammad’s
wife, Aishah. Two years later he died.
• The next successor Caliph was Umar ibn Khattab (634–
644ce) and under him Islam expanded rapidly into other
countries. Umar was murdered in 644ce.
• The third Caliph was Uthman ibn Affan (644-656ce), a
son in law of the prophet, next succeeded. However he
was from a rival faction in Mecca and was murdered in
Medina as the original supporters of the prophet did not
accept him.
THE FOURTH CALIPH
• Ali ibn Abu Talib, Muhammad’s cousin and son in
law (he had married Muhammad’s daughter,
FATIMA), was chosen by the Medina community
in 656ce. However Muawiyah, the governor of
Syria, refused to recognise him and called
himself the Caliph.
• The Medina faction could not accept this as
Muawiyah came from the tribe that had opposed
Muhammad originally.
• Ali agreed to submit the decision on the
caliphate to arbitration.
• BUT Ali was assassinated in 661 and
Muawiyah kept power.
SHIA AND SUNNI MUSLIMS
• The division between SHI’I and SUNNI
Muslims stem back to this time. The
SHI’I are the supporters of Ali, They
do not recognise the first three
Caliphs.
• The Sunni consider that the first
FOUR Caliphs (Ali was the fourth) were
all ‘rightly guided’. Sunnis also accept
the Caliphate of Muawiyah.
The First Caliphs
SUNNI Islam
regards these
As the four
‘rightly guided’
Caliphs and
sees this as a
‘golden age’ of
Islam when the
laws were
well kept. 85%
of Muslims are
Sunni. ‘Sunna’
means ‘usual
practice or
custom’.
ABU BAKR d. 634
UMAR IBN KHATTAB d 644
UTHMAN IBN AFFAN d. 656
ALI d. 661
SHI’I Islam
sees Ali as
the first
genuine
Caliph. Ali
Was the
Prophet’s son
-in-law.
Shi’is regard
Ali and his
descendents
as infallible
teachers, akin
to the Prophet
THE DISPUTE
• Ali’s son, Husayn, attempted to establish a caliphate in
680 but he was beheaded and his head sent to
Damascus. Thereafter Damascus’ influence ruled…
• The killing of Husayn is regarded as a martyrdom by the
Shi’i who recall it in a passion play each year.
• The Shi’i regard Ali and his successors as the only true
Imams as they are family successors of the prophet.
• The Sunni respect Ali, but no more than that – and do
not see him as a Caliph.
• It was from this time that Jersualem and the Dome of
the Rock assumed importance as this was close to Syria
where the Sunni Caliphs were and Jerusalem provided a
focus apart from Mecca.
ThE shI’I
• The Shi’i Al-Kazimain mosque in Baghdad • The Shi’ites
separated
from the
Sunni in 661
and claim to
be a
continuation
of Islam as
it was
defined
through the
revelations
given to
Muhammad.
ThE shI’I – Contd.
• The main group of Shi’i are called ‘The Twelvers’ as
they accept twelve Caliphs. The last, Muhammad alMahdi al-Hujja disappeared in a cave near Baghdad
but continued to appear to followers until 940. Since
then he has been been held to be hidden and God
has prolonged his life. He will finally appear as the
MAHDI and usher in a golden age of Shi’i Islam.
• The hidden Mahdi is still held to inspire the religious
scholars of the Twelvers. So for the Shi’i, the one
true Imam is the hidden Mahdi.
• The Shi’i recall the death of Husayn a grandson of
Muhammud in 680. They see themselves as a
persecuted minority keeping the ‘true faith’ of
Islam.
ISMAILIS
• The ISMAILIS split from the ‘Twelver Shi’i
and now form a separate branch of Islam –
although are not recognised as Muslims by
other groups.
• Their leader is the Aga Kahn. They have a
great commitment to education, particularly
of women, and are required to contribute
towards a central fund managed by the Aga
Kahn which is used to improve social
conditions in area where Ismailis live.
• However Ismailis are a very small
percentage of total Muslims…
suNNI aNd shI’I
• The split between Sunni and Shi’i is of great
importance in Islam. It stems back to Ali and his
status but it has considerable political implications
today. The Shi’i have always been non-conformist,
enthusiastic and more radical than the mainstream
Sunni.
• 80 – 85% of Muslims are Sunni and 15-20% are
Shi’i. Shi’i are today largely found in Iran, Iraq,
Lebanon and Eastern Saudi Arabia.
• Sunni and Shi’i, however, both share a great deal –
commitment to the oneness of God, the status of the
Qu’ran and the Prophet as well as most Islamic
ethical and religious beliefs such as resurrection and
the day of judgement. However, just as with
Protestants and Catholics in Christianity, there are
also real tensions at times.
The Sunni Caliphs
• The Sunni see the Caliphs as being in a line
running through Muawiyah and based in Damascus
from 661 to 759 and then Baghdad and Samarra
up until 1258.
• From 1258 - 1924 there have been a number of
Caliphs but they had only limited influence – it is
difference about the status of the early Caliphs
that are decisive. These caliphs have arisen
more from political than religious reasons with
the Slajuks, the Timurids, the Turkomans, the
Uzebks and the Ottomons.
• When the Ottomons conquered Egypt in 1517,
the remaining Caliph was transported to
Constantinople and from there on the Ottomon
sultan took the title.
THE SUNNI
• About 85% of Muslims are Sunni. They believe
that the successors of the Prophet were
correctly chosen by consensus within the
community. They see themselves as descended
directly from the teaching of the Prophet – and
they maintain that the Shi’i had very few
followers in the decades after the death of the
Prophet.
• The Sunni developed much earlier than the Shi’i
their Hadith (which differ from the Shi’i) which
serve as a basis for Islamic law (Shari’a).
• Sunni Islam puts much greater emphasis than the
Shi’i on the pilgrimage to Mecca. For the Shi’i
there are other pilgrimages of equal importance.
THE IMAM
• For the Sunni, the Imam is simply one who
leads services in a mosque – there are, thus,
many Imams.
• The Shi’i consider the Caliph as a religious
head who controls all of life including
government. Thus in Iran, the Ayotollah has
great political as well as spiritual power –
because Iran is largely Shi’i.
• Iraq is ruled by a relatively small Sunni group
although Shi’i are in the majority (about 60%
Shi’i, 7% Christian, 8% Kurd an 25% Sunni.).
• This is a very rough map, but it indicates that
Shi’a Muslims are confined to a fairly small area
– Iran and Iraq are the centres of the Shi’I
although they form a minority in Iraq.
EXPLOSIVE GROWTH
• Islam grew faster in terms of territory controlled
than any other religion in history – largely by
conquest by Muslim armies. Between 634 and 644
Muslim armies gained control of the Middle East.
Jerusalem fell in 638, Egypt in 641.
• Islamic armies controlled part of Spain and entered
France (until turned back in 732) and to the East
they gained control of Persia.
• The new rulers permitted worship by ‘people of the
book’ (Christians and Jews were ‘dhimmis’ or
protected, second class citizens) provided they paid
the required taxes, but all idol worshippers were
punished. Constantinople survived many threats
before it finally fell in 1453. HOWEVER Christians
could not build Churches, could not evangelise,
St. Sophia, Constantinople/Istanbul
The great
Christian
Cathedral of
St. Sophia
was
transformed
into a
Mosque after
the defeat of
Constantinople
- it
is now a
museum.
ISLAM
The
Qur'an
• Because the
Qur'an is
such a holy
book and no
pictures are
allowed in
Islam, the
calligraphy is
often very
beautiful.
• This is a
page from a
C1300th
Koran.
THE Qur'an
The Qu’ran was revealed • The Qu’ran is written in
to Muhammad over many
Arabic poetic form. It was
years and was given in
assembled from many sources
114 SURAS. Each Sura by amongst others,
opens with an indication
Muhammad’s secretary of its origin but some
Zayd Ibn Thabit - between
scholars hold that many
Muhammad’s death and the
Suras have mixed
mid 650s.
origins.
• The precise punctuation, and
The longest Suras are at
therefore meaning, was a
the beginning and the
matter of considerable
shortest at the end –
debate for a long period of
BUT there is no sense
time after this.
of chronology.
• There are a number of
Suras appear to be applied to
different ways of reading the
the particular situation of the Koran, but ordinary Muslims
life of the prophet and his
do not concern themselves
community.
with this level of complexity.
ThE Qu’RaN as MIRacLE
•
• The Qu’ran is the only
miracle claimed by all
Muslims – it is held to be
so beautiful that
Muhammad defied any
poet to try to duplicate •
it. This miracle is
equivalent in status in
Islam to the Christian
claim of the miracle of
the resurrection of
Jesus.
•
• For such a book to be
produced by an illiterate
man is, claim Muslims,
impossible except by
God’s intervention.
The Qu’ran is written in
Arabic and it is held that
it cannot be accurately
translated into any other
language.
Interpretation of the
Qu’ran is a science in its
own right. In the early
years, Muslims scholars
studied history, language
and natural science in
order to interpret it.
This has given rise to
different interpretations
– but these are held in
parallel, not as
competing.
The Qur'an is not contextual
• Given that:
• There is no idea in Islam or
amongst Islamic theologians
The Qu’ran was written over
that the Koran is in any sense
a number of years and
culturally relative.
messages came to the
• It lays down the final
Prophet in response to
revelation of Allah that applies
particular events in the
at all times and in all
young Islamic community,
situations.
and there is no reason why
one Sura should appear
• The lack of historical thinking
before another – there is
is vital in understanding
no clear reason for the
Islamic teaching – which is why
ordering of the Koran.
most Islamic morality cannot
change or develop. It is fixed
• It would be easy to
by the clear injunctions of the
expect that Qu’ranic rules Qu’ran. However some Sunni
would be tied to the
modernists and Shi’is would
context and culture in
disagree with this.
which they arose. But this
is not the case.
ThE sTaTus oF ThE Qu’RaN
• Christians differ widely as•
to how the Hebrew and
Christian scriptures are to
be interpreted. Some,
few, are literalists but
most accept that these
were documents written •
by human beings in a
particular context and,
therefore, biblical
scholarship and exegesis
are entirely appropriate.
• Jewish rabbis delight in •
arguing over many
different interpretations
of the Torah and rabbinic
reflection on the basic
text is vital.
The Qur’an is in an
entirely different position
as it is considered to be
the word of God dictated
by the Archangel.
Many Muslims, therefore,
reject any interpretation
of Qu’ranic scholarship as
being offensive to the
divine origin of the Book.
This means that the
truths of the Qu’ran are
timeless – they apply at
all times and are in no
sense culturally relative.
CRITICS OF THE KORAN
• Christian Biblical
•
Scholars question the
historicity of the
Christian Gospels and
there is no certainty
about what what
Jesus actually said.
• The search for the
historical Jesus’ has
largely been
abandoned. All we
have is what the
•
young Christian
Church said of Jesus.
• Similar questions can
apply to the Qu’ran.
Muhammad’s secretary, Zayd
Ibn Thabit, collected pieces of
the Qu’ran that had been
spoken by the Prophet and
written down by his followers.
It was largely he who compiled
the Qu’ran (some say with the
assistance of 48 others). This
process of compilation obviously
raises questions about
methodology and accuracy.
To a devout Muslim, these
questions would be unacceptable
and there seems no way of
resolving the issue as to how
accurate the Qu;ran is to what
the Prophet actually said.
THE CENTRAL ISSUES
• Islam depends on various assumptions. That:
• 1) Muhammad did indeed believe that the Qur'an was
dictated by the Archangel,
• 2) Allah did, indeed, dictate the Qur'an
• 3) Allah intended the Qur'an to apply at all times
and not just in the circumstances in which it was
revealed,
• 4) Zayd Ibn Thabit was able to accurately collect
the various small fragments together into a single
volume and this is the volume that we have today.
• If any of these are rejected, then the basis of
Islam itself would be called into question.
• The fact that the above cannot be proved to be true
does not, of course, mean that they may not be
true…. Exactly the same applies to Christian claims.
ISLAM
MUSLIMS,
CHRISTIANS
AND JEWS
‘PEoPLE oF ThE BooK’
• Central to Islam is a radical monothesim –
commitment to God being One. The greatest enemy
of Islam is idol worship.
• The Qu’ran recognises Jews and Christians as
fellow ‘people of the book’ and gives them a place
of respect. It appears that the Qur'an modifies
this slightly – possibly due to the opposition
Muhammad faced from Jews in Medina and
elsewhere and also, possibly, because a Jewish
wife tried to poison him after her husband was
killed by Muslims.
• Nevertheless throughout much of its history Islam
has shown tolerance of Jews and Christians
(generally far more, let it be said, than Christians
have been tolerant of Muslims!). BUT…..
aPPaRENT ToLERaNcE BuT….
• Islam shows apparent tolerance of Judaism
and Christianity BUT there is no idea of
freedom of religion in Islam.
• If someone leaves Islam (for instance to
convert to Christianity) then the death
penalty is imposed for men or a life prison
sentence is imposed for women.
• Muslims, therefore, can find it difficult to
engage in inter-religious dialogue as they are
certain that they have God’s truth and every
other religion is wrong or, at most, a partial
and distorted insight into truth.
Respect for Torah and Gospels, but..
• Although the Gospels and Torah are
respected, Islam claims they provide an
inaccurate accounts of Abraham, Moses and
Jesus.
• The Gospels and Torah are accepted in so far
as they are in accordance with the Qu’ran,
where the former differ, they have been
tampered with.
• Thus Jesus was indeed born of a virgin as the
Christian Gospels say – this is affirmed in the
Qu’ran.
• The Virgin Mary is held in high veneration in
Islam as the virgin mother of the prophet,
Jesus.
TORAH, GOSPEL AND Qur'an
The Qu’ran speaks of both the Torah and the
Gospels containing ‘light’
• “And in their footsteps we
• “It was we who
sent Jesus, the son of
revealed the law of
Mary, confirming the Law
Moses; therein was
that had come before
guidance and light.
him: We sent him the
By its standard have Gospel; therein was
guidance and light and
been judged the
confirmation of the Law
Jews, by the
that had come before
prophet who bowed
him…” (Sura 5: 49)
to Allah’s will, by
• The Qur'an is the
the rabbis and
perfection and completion
doctors of the law…” of the Torah and Gospels.
(Sura 5:47)
ALLAH AS LIGHT
• Allah is light, the lights •
of heaven, earth and the
cosmos – the first light
and the source of all
light. Allah is absolute
truth and the source of
all truth.
• This light also shines
through the Torah, the
Gospels and the Qu’ran •
which are pure truth –
but only the Qu’ran is
unmediated, a direct
Word from God.
• The light of true faith
enlightens the one real
way to Allah.
The Light of
Muhammad became a
centre for mystical
veneration from the
8th century ce
onwards (referring to
the stories of the
light at his birth).
Muhammad himself
was also the Light –
and it is held he cast
no shadow as he
walked as he was
pure light.
The Unbeliever (Kafir)
• The term ‘kafir’ means ‘ungrateful’ and later came to
be used as ‘unbeliever’.
• The Qu’ran rejects both polythesists and the People
of the Book in varying degrees: “Those who reject
(Truth) among the People of the Book and among the
polytheists, will be in hell-fire, to dwell therein for
aye, and they are the worst of creatures. Those who
have faith, and do righteous deeds – they are the
best of creatures.” (Sura 98: 6-8)
• The Qur'an only describes non-Muslims as
‘unbelievers’ but later Muslim writings applied this
term to all who rejected the ‘consensus of the faith’
• Allah harshly judges all who reject his truth – humans
cannot be allowed to oppose what is for their own
good, so if unbelievers cannot be bought to their
senses, it seemed reasonable that punishment should
be applied even in this world.
Difference of Opinion
• There is a difference of opinion between two
positions:
• 1) Some Muslims look to the positive
references to ‘People of the Book’ and
consider that they should be tolerated and
are worthy of respect.
• 2) Others say that because Jews and
Christians deny the teaching of the Prophet,
they are worthy of condemnation.
• The Koranic commentary, Tabari (ce 923)
comments on Sura 3:110 & 5.77 which
condemns those who call the Prophet a liar
and sees Jews and Christians to be in this
position as they do not accept Muhammad.
LIFE AFTER DEATH
• In the Qu’ran, heaven and hell are very real:
“Those that deny our revelations, We will
burn in Hell-fire. No sooner will their skins be
consumed that We shall give them other
skins, so that they may truly taste our
scourge. Allah is mighty and wise. As for
those who have faith and do good works, We
shall admit them to gardens watered by
running streams, where, wedded to chaste
virgins, they shall abide for ever. We shall
admit them to a cool shade.” (Sura 4.54)
• The Last Judgement is a ‘great catastrophe’ which
no-one can escape (Sura 79 and 34).The Qur’an
portrays heaven in sensuous terms (Sura 39 and 6075)
CENTRAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS
• The central difference between Muslims and
Christians is over the person of Jesus.
• Muslims regard Jesus as a prophet sent by
God and born of a virgin (they revere Mary)
– but certainly not as the Son of God or God
Himself. They utterly reject the doctrine of
the Trinity as they see this as undermining
the unity of God. In fact the Trinity is
rejected by the Qur'an.
• They also consider that Jesus did not die on
the cross and someone else took his place.
MUSLIMS THEREFORE REJECT THE
RESURRECTION.
THE KORAN AND JESUS
• “They (the Jews) denied the truth and uttered a
monstrous falsehood against Mary. They declared:
‘We have put to death the Messiah, Jesus the son of
Mary, the apostle of Allah,’ They did not kill him, nor
did they crucify him, but they thought they did.
Those that disagreed about him were in doubt
concerning his death, for what they knew about it was
sheer conjecture; they were not sure they had slain
him. Allah lifted him up to His presence; He is mighty
and wise… On the day of resurrection he (Jesus) will
bear witness against them.” (Sure 4.158)
• “People of the Book do not transgress the bounds of
your religion. Speak nothing but the truth about Allah.
The Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, was no more
than Allah’s apostle and His Word which he cast to
Mary: a spirit from Him” (Sura 4. 171)
ARGUMENTS AGAINST CHRISTIANITY
• Arguments against Christianity in Islam rest largely
on the truthfulness of the Prophet. Once this is
accepted, then so is the truthfulness of the Koran.
• However there are also other arguments which
depend on a critical examination of the Christian
scriptures. One well known but disputed polemic is
the Tuhfa, written by a former Christian monk and
convert to Islam (died ce 1425), which maintained
that the Gospels are inaccurate and forgeries.
• Only John, he claims, knew Jesus personally and
other other evangelists lied (for instance, he says,
Jesus is said to have spent three days in the tomb
whereas in fact it was only a day and a half).
• He also argues against the Incarnation and Trinity.
ThE TuhFa’s aRguMENT
• John, the only evangelist who knew Jesus, makes no
mention of the Eucharist. This was an invention by
the early Christian Church.
• The miracles of Jesus are totally insufficient proof
of his divinity.
• The arguments against baptism, the Eucharist and
the sacrament of penance are very modern…
• Jesus’ promise of the paraclete that was to come
was fulfilled by the coming of Muhammad. (cf for all the
above ‘The shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam ed. A.j. Wensinck & J.H. Kramers). This
was to be the focus of centuries of Christian/Muslim
debate.
• HOWEVER, many Muslim critics of Christianity seem
unaware of modern Christian scriptural studies –
these are theologians who would hold to the truth of
Christianity and yet recognise the textual difficulties
in the Gospels.
CHRISTIANS AND JESUS
• Jesus will come
back before the
end of time – but
he is only a prophet
and the writings of
his followers are
corrected by the
Qur'an.
• Muslims are
directed not to
make friends
amongst Jews and
Christians. However
both Christians and
Jews can be
tolerated in Islamic
society AND Jesus
is highly respected.
• The picture below shows
Mohammad and Jesus on
camel and donkey. (C18th
painting)
ISLAM
THE SUFIS
THE SUFIS
• Sufi mystics may well predate Islam – they
have been traced back to Hindu sources or
possibly to Christian gnostics and neoplatonism. However, in spite of speculation,
there is no clear evidence for their existence
prior to 800ce.
• The Sufis may also have been influenced by
Christian monasticsm – althogh Islam itself
rejects Monasticism completely. Muhammad,
after all, had several wives and the Qu’ran
praises marriage.
AIMS OF SUFISM
• The aims of Sufis varied, but the objective of union
with God in this life was central. Sufis are widely
regarded as the great mystics of Islam, but they
are also more than that.
• The core of the Sufi position is a rejection of
ordinary life in the world in order to get closer to
God and, thereby, closer to truth and knowledge.
The soul is seen as being able to stretch out from
the body and approach God.
• Through leaders such as Ibn Arabi (1165 – 1240)
they developed knowledge and practices to try to
bring the person closer to God. Their concentration
on the individual and not on community led them
away from Islamic legalism and they have often
been considered to be heretical because of this.
INTENSE LOVE OF GOD
• Sufis seek no reward other than to know God. God
loves the world and Sufis seek to love and worship
God in return. The following passages express this:
• RABIA – a female mystic from Basra (1207 – 1273)
• “O God. If I worship Thee in fear of Hell,
burn me in Hell; and if I worship Thee in
hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise;
but if I worship thee for thine own sake,
withhold not thy everlasting Beauty”
• JALAl AL-DIM RUMI (1207 – 1273)
• “Lovers, lovers, whoever sees His face, his
reason becomes distraught, his habit
confounded. He becomes a seeker of the
Beloved, his shop is ruined, he runs headlong
like water in a river.”
THE SUFI WAY
• The Sufi way to seeking wisdom involves
mysticism, poetry and dance rather
than with philosophy. The knowledge
given in mystical experiences is held to
transcend the knowledge of philosophy as the knowledge
of an adult does that of a child.
• Sufi Masters often communicate using stories (akin to
Aesop fables) to try to convey truths. They also
recognise that the mystical path is long and hard and
utter devotion is required in order to follow it.
• A divide opened up between orthodox Muslims and Sufis
which resulted in the Sufi’s being treated with great
suspicion. AL-GHAZALI did most to overcome this rift –
but it was never entirely overcome. The rift still exists
today in tension between radical Muslims and traditional
Sufis and between emphasis on Islamic Law and
mysticism.
ISLAM
THE
GREATEST THINKERS
IN ISLAM
AL-GHAZZALI – (1058 -1111)
• Al-Ghazali was a brilliant young Professor but, after
20 years, he had studied every kind of law, dogma
and belief and, although he was held in very high
regard and had a high income, he was dissatisfied. He
did not believe in anything at all – neither religion nor
the possibility of knowing anything.
• He has started by being a philosopher using Aristotle’s
logic in order to make Islam more philosophically
rigorous than it had been. However he came to feel
that philosophy led nowhere.
• In 1095, he felt a fear of judgement and wished to
stand correctly before God. He left his teaching post
and for 10 years studied the mystical life as
represented by Sufism before returning, briefly, to
teaching.
• Possibly Al-Ghazzali’s major influence was to give
Sufism intellectual respectability.
AL-GHAZZALI
• Al-Ghazzali came to see the limitations of the
human intellect. He considered that most
theologians and philosophers were non-believers and
he came to reject all their work that conflicted
with the Qur'an.
• In ‘Destruction of the Philosophers’. He rejected
the scepticism of many Islamic philosophers
including Avicenna (=Ibn Saud) and this led to an
anti-intellectualism in Islam.
• To submit to God, Al-Ghazzali claimed, came first
and was greater than all human knowledge and this
submission must be sought no matter what the
cost. In this he agreed with the Sufi mystics.
Because of the influence of Al-Ghazzali, philosophy
came to be treated with suspicion.
IBN-ARABI
• Ibn-Arabi restored interest in philosophy in Islam but
he also helped explain, in Islamic terms, how God
could be experienced.
• God was the only reality and everything in human
experience was therefore an experience of God (there
are parallels here with the Jesuit idea, from St.
Ignatius, if idea of ‘finding God in all things’).
• The gulf between God and the universe is thus
bridged and this made sense to the mystics who could
see how God could be experienced in every day life.
His emphasis on mysticism and the individual lessened
the importance of theology and law as approaches to
God
• Ibn Arabi claimed unity in all religions – he could go so far as to
write that love was his only religion. Through mysticism, he
claimed, human beings could experience God who shows himself
both in nature and in human beings (St. Francis was to take a
similar position).
IBN RUSHD (AVERROES) [1126 – 1198]
• Ibn Rushd (Averroes as he was named in the West)
continued in the great tradition of speculative
Aristotelian philosophy in spite of the attacks on
this tradition by Ibn Arabi. He was probably the
last great Muslim philosopher in the Western sense.
He grew up in Islamic Cordoba, in Spain, and
studied mathematics, law and medicine.
• In 1195 he was expelled by the local caliph for
holding that REASON MUST PREVAIL OVER
RELIGIOUS BELIEF. He was allowed to return
three years later, just before he died.
• He held that the main use of religion was to provide
rules for ordinary people and he rejected the idea
of God creating the Universe – instead holding that
behind everything lay God.
• He also rejected personal resurrection maintaining
that the individual soul comes from a unified,
universal soul.
IBN RUSHD (AVERROES) [1126 – 1198]
• Western intellectual thought probably owes more to
Averroes than to any other non-Christian individual
(except, possibly, for Maimonides in the Jewish
tradition) because of his commentaries on the works
of Aristotle.
• Some of these works of Aristotle had been lost in
the West and were only kept alive in the great
Islamic centres of learning so the commentaries of
Averroes were of decisive importance.
• The great Christian thinker, Albert the Great, who
so strongly influenced St. Thomas Aquinas, was
himself heavily influenced by Averroes. It was
because of Averroes contribution that Aquinas was
able to use Aristotle’s philosophy to formulate a
distinctly Catholic view of Christian morality and
truth.
Jalaluddin Rumi
(1207 – 1273)
• Rumi was a religious scholar until he
met a wandering dervish (who
worshipped Allah in dance) named
Shams al-Din of Tabriz. Shams put
a theological question to Rumi that
caused Rumi to faint.
• When Rumi regained consciousness,
his spiritual life had been
transformed. For a year or two,
Shams and Rumi were constant
companions. Within three years of
their meeting, Shams disappeared.
• Rumi ceased to preach to the
general public and devoted the
remaining twenty-six years of his
life to training his Sufi initiates and
writing divinely inspired poetry.
Rumi speaks of his transformation:
• “Passion for that Beloved took me away from erudition
and reciting the Koran until I became as insane and
obsessed as I am.
I had followed the way of the prayer carpet and the
mosque with all sincerity and effort. I wore the
marks of asceticism to increase my good works.
Love came into the mosque and said, "Oh great
teacher! Rend the shackles of existence! Why are you
tied to prayer carpets?
Let not your heart tremble before the blows of My
sword! Do you want to travel from knowledge to
vision? Then lay down your head!
If you are a profligate and a scoundrel, do justice to
troublemaking! If you are beautiful and fair, why do
you remain behind the veil?”
(The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 3)
QUOTATIONS FROM RUMI
“Theologians mumble, rumble-dumble, necessity and
free will, while lover and beloved pull themselves
into each other.” (The Essential Rumi, p. 180)
“That intellectual warp and woof keeps you wrapped in blindness.”(
p 66)
“Someone was saying: ‘I have studied so many branches of
knowledge and mastered so many concepts; yet I still do not
know which concept in man will abide forever. I have not
discovered it yet’. If it could be known by means of words,
there would be no need for the annihilation of individual
existence or for so much suffering. You must
strive to rid
yourself of your own individuation before you can know that
thing which will remain.”(Signs of the Unseen: The Discourses of Jalaluddin Rumi, p. 203)
“The great scholars of the age split hairs in all the
sciences. They have gained total knowledge and complete
mastery of things that have nothing to do with them. But
that which is important and closer to him than anything
else, namely his own self, this your great scholar does not
know.” (The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 148)
QUOTATIONS FROM RUMI (2)
• "I know everything permitted and not permitted
by the Divine Law." How is it you do not know if
you yourself are permitted... You know the value
of every merchandise, but you do not know your
own value - that is stupidity... The spirit of all
the sciences is only this: to know who you will be
on the Day of Resurrection.” (The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual
Teachings of Rumi, p. 128)
• “Since cleverness is your pride and fills you with
wind, become a simpleton so that your heart may
remain healthy. Not a simpleton warped by
buffoonery, but one distraught and bewildered in
God.” (The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, p. 224)
• “You seek knowledge from books. What a shame! ...
You are an ocean of knowledge hidden in a dew drop…” (p. 64)
• “I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know
reasons, knocking on a door. It opens. I've been knocking
from the inside!” (The Essential Rumi, p. 281)
• “Mysteries are not to be solved.”
(The Essential Rumi, p. 107)
TENSIONS
• In Islam there has been a continuous tension (as in
Christianity as well) between Philosophy and
Mysticism. Sufism is the paradigm of the mystical
approach – seeking an experience of union with God in
praise, worship, dancing and sometimes silence. It
uses stories to communicate truths which, it is held,
go far beyond the truths of logical.
• By contrast, Aristotelian philosophy has led many
Muslim thinkers to emphasise the importance of
reason and rationality. However this path has
sometimes been seen to threaten the status of the
Qur'an and, therefore, has also been considered
unacceptable.
• Both traditions have been, are and will continue to be
important and it is, perhaps, best to regard the
tension between the two as creative.
ISLAM
BEING A MUSLIM
REQUIREMENTS OF MUSLIMS
• The requirements of Islam are in a way
simple – they can be performed by anyone,
irrespective of their station in life.
• God is just and merciful but requires
submission and obedience. Every individual will
be judged by God at the end of time. The
righteous will be rewarded in paradise and
the wicked punished in hell.
• Because God is just, God requires justice in
social relationships – which are an important
part of the Qur'an.
NO ORIGINAL SIN
• Although Islam accepts the story of Adam and Eve,
there is no idea of original sin as developed by
Augustine in the Christian tradition. Each individual is
‘free’ – although in Islam there is a strong idea that
God pre-destines everything.
• Because Islam has no idea of original sin, a saviour is
not need (as is the case with Jesus in Christianity)
rather what is required is submission to the will of
Allah. Provided a person can recite the Shadah
sincerely and lives according to the direction of the
Qur'an, salvation is certain.
• However Islam is not individualistic community is vital for Islam – Islam is a
community of individuals centred on the
mosque.
• The following are the minimum outward requirements
for a Muslim…
MINIMUM OUTWARD REQUIREMENTS FOR
MUSLIMS
• THE SHAHADA: Muslims must declare: ‘There is
no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet’
• SALAT: As a minimum, Muslims must pray five times
a day facing Mecca (not Jerusalem as was the case in
the early years of Islam) using prescribed raka’as or
postures and recitations.
• ZAQAT: payment of an obligatory tax to the needy
• FASTING: Muslims must fast during the month of
Ramadan
(the 9th month of the Islamic calendar which includes ‘The
day of destiny’ when man’s destiny is decided for the next year and
also commemorates the dictation of the Qu’ran – usually considered
between the 26 & 27 night of Ramadan).
• PILGRIMAGE: This must be made, if a person is
able to do so, once during a Muslim’s lifetime.
THE SHAHADA
• The opening section of the Qur'an is repeated
constantly:
• “In the name of God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate. Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all
Being, the All-merciful, the All-compassionate, the
master of the Day of Doom. Thee only we serve; to
Thee alone we pray for succour. Guide us in the
straight path, the path of those who Thou hast
blessed, not of those against whom Thou art
wrathful, nor of those who are led astray.”
• To recite this with full intention is all that is
required to be a Muslim – but it is a very serious
act. There is no turning back and renouncing the
faith leads to the death sentence.
The Shahada contd.
• Central to Islam is the second part of the Shahada
– it is this that most differentiates Islam as a
world religion. Concentration on the oneness of God
is important but would be shared by others – it is
the stature of the Prophet that
differentiates Islam.
• Muhammad came to be of supreme importance in
Islam – thus Muhammad Iqbal wrote in 1932: “You
can deny God, but you cannot deny the Prophet!”
• In India today, the greatest tensions arise when
Hindu fundamentalists disparage the prophet – not
Allah.
PRAYER
• Prayers can be made alone
or in groups, but prayer in
groups is seen as
particularly effective.
Weekly prayer is at noon
on Friday. Prayer must be
performed where a Muslim
happens to be - at Dawn, • All believers bow several
times whilst standing, then
noon, mid-afternoon,
they kneel and touch the
nightfall and evening
• There is a strong sense of ground twice with their
forehead – this is sign of
the importance of ritual in
their submission to Allah.
Islam with precise
• Islam also emphasises
definition of the ritual
strongly that outward
cleansing actions to be
actions without
performed before and
corresponding inner states
during prayer.
are empty.
• Each of the five daily
PRAYER – contd.
prayers ends with ‘Allahu
akbar’ (‘God is great’) and
• There is a distinction
between ritual prayer (salat) the recitation of the first
Sura of the Qur’an.
and petitionary prayer
• Each worshipper then
(du'a).
• Petitionary prayer is also an turns to his neighbour and
says ‘alamu alaykum’
important element in the
(‘Peace be with you!’)
spiritual life of devout
Muslims.
• Muslims are called to
prayer by the MUEZZIN
– an Ethiopian slave,
Bilal, was first
appointed by Muhammad
to call the faithful to
prayer.
PRAYER contd.
• Leon Gerome’s ‘Men
at prayer in the
mosque in Cairo’
(1824 –1904) shows
the gulf between
rich and poor
worshippers – but
they all take part in
the same prayer
rituals – whether
the wealthy man in
the foreground, his
slaves or the
ordinary folk
behind….
ZAKAT – Giving Alms
• The giving of alms was originally a voluntary
duty but it rapidly became an effective tax.
It is based on the view that all Muslims must
share their wealth with each other.
• The ZAKAT is a religious duty but, in
addition, Muslims are also encouraged to give
extra amounts (the SADAQA).
• The Zakat today is a tax in Muslim countries
dedicated to helping those in need in their
societies.
DISCIPLINE OF THE BODY
• Islam involves discipline of bodily pleasures –
fasting teaches such discipline (and, of
course, is also a central part of Christianity
in Advent and Lent).
• Alcohol is forbidden totally as are drugs
because both involve loss of control.
• Sex is forbidden outside marriage but within
marriage there is a positive views of sex.
• In some Muslim countries (Iran is an
example), ‘temporary marriages’ are
approved and this can allow sex in temporary
relationships.
PILGRIMAGE – The Haj
• The HAJ is the pilgrimage to
Mecca which is compulsory
for all those in good health
and with enough money.
• Only 10% of all
Muslims perform the
Haj but nevertheless 2
million go every year.
• The Haj is also a
continuation of what
happened to Abraham
and Isaac when they
made the Ka’ba into the
sacred place of worship
and peace (Sura
2:119).
• Today most who
perform the Hajj also
visit Medina, the city
of the prophet.
The Haj
• Pilgrims dress in identical clothes to show their equality –
two seamless pieces of white cloth sown together.
• During the
pilgrimage,
no Muslim
cuts their
hair or
toenails or
engages in
sex.
The HAJ – Contd.
• Muslims walk around the Ka’bah seven times (the
‘tawaf’). They kiss the sacred black stone and then
run between two hills imitating Abraham’s concubine,
Hagar, who searched for water in the desert to
save Ishmael.
• From noon on the 9th day until sunset, the pilgrim
stands on the Plain of Arafat where Muhammud
stood and recited the following verses to indicate
that God had completed Islam….
• “Today I have perfected your religion
for you, and I have completed My
blessing upon you, and I have approved
Islam for your religion.” (Qur'an Sura 5:5)
The Haj contd.
• After sunset, the pilgrims set out for Mina,
stopping at Muzdalifa where each pilgrim
gathers seven small stones which, on the
tenth day, at Mina, they add to the towering
heap of stones already there.
• This custom refers to Abraham’s temptation
by the devil to go mad when faced by the
command to sacrifice his son. Then there is a
great feast and any pilgrims who can afford
it sacrifice animals and share this with the
poor.
• On the 12th day, the pilgrims return once
more to Mecca, circle the Ka’bah seven times
and end the state of purity.
THE SHARIA
• The Sharia is the law of Islam (indeed some say
‘Sharia IS Islam’. It is accepted as law in a few
Muslim countries (Sudan, Pakistan and Iran). It is
based on the:
• (1) The Qur'an
• (2) The Hadith
• (3) The judgements of the community decided by
scholars in Medina.
• (4) More controversially, by the use of qiyas or
analogy.This is used if something arises that is
not covered by the first three and an attempt is
made to draw analogies to arrive at what the
Prophet would have said.
• There are different schools of Islamic law, some relying
on previous opinion, others on the consensus and others
almost entirely on the hadith.
SHARIA Contd.
• To Westerners, some aspects of Sharia law
can seem barbaric (such as the beheading of
adulterers, cutting the hands of thieves and
whipping adulterers (a girl was whipped 100
times in northern Nigeria in 2001 [where
Sharia law applied] as she had sex with three
men. The men were not punished…)
• However to devout Muslims, Sharia is based
on God’s direct command and obedience to it
cannot be questioned. Not all Muslims,
however, accept this strict interpretation.
OUTWARD ACTS ARE NOT ENOUGH
• The Qur'an makes clear that Islam is more
than just outward observances:
• “It is not piety that you turn your faces to
the East and to the West. True piety is
this: to believe in God, and the Last Day,
the angels and the Book and the prophets;
to give of one’s substance, however
cherished, to kinsmen and orphans, the
needy, the traveller, the beggars, and to
ransom the slave, to perform the prayer, to
pay the alms….” (2: 172)
• Nevertheless outward observances and
rituals are important.
WORLDVIEW
• Islam is highly positive about the world – The
world is created by God and most things are
good and are made for human enjoyment.
Food and drink (other than alcoholic) is good,
sex and procreation between married people
is good, money and wealth are good (provided
one gives to those in need).
• The world is in a wonderful place and, in a
way, is a foretaste of paradise to come. All
that is required is submission to the will of
Allah. ‘Inshallah’ or ‘As God wills’ is a very
common phrase in most Islamic countries
accepting an almost fatalistic determinism.
• This also provides a structure for life for
which, in a post-modern Western world,
many yearn.
STRENGTHS OF ISLAM
• Islam’s emphasis on the singleness of God and the
centrality of obedience to God is central to
monotheism.
• There is a great sense of unity in Islam (in spite of
the Shi’i/Sunni distinction. All Muslims, wherever
they are, recognise the centrality of the Prophet and
the Koran. The multiplicity of Churches so common in
Christianity does not happen in Islam.
• In times of crisis, there is a great sense of unity
amongst Muslims.
• Everyone is equal before God. Every Muslim is even
buried in the same way. There is a simplicity of
worship. Prince and pauper pray alike and together
although race and class can in practice be important.
• The rich share the experience of the poor (whether
in fasting, prayer, pilgrimage, etc).
BEAUTY
• The beauty of fine art is
affirmed and themes of
nature can be expressed in
calligraphy, carpets, mosaics
and architecture (but not in
religious paintings of people
or animals – hence there are
no paintings in Mosques).
The Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem
from where Muhammad is held to
have ascended to heaven.
• Carpets are often a
work of art and can
express a prayer as
they are works of
devotion and
dedication.
• The ‘arabesque’
style has a
theological
significance bringing
together unity and
eternity – there are
incredibly beautiful
examples.
BEAUTY
• The ultra modern design of the King Faisal mosque in Ruket designed
for 10000 believers in the prayer hall and 80 000 on the adjacent
land belonging to the mosque. Islamic architecture evolves but
remains the same.
ISLAMIC CALLIGRAPHY – oLd To NEW…
• Al-Ghaznawi 1177/8
• Wijdan Ali 1993
• INSERT p. 598
WOMEN IN ISLAM
Women in Islam
• The Qur'an specifically says that all human beings
are equal before God although Muslims are more equal
than others and Christians and Jews are second class
citizens.
• When Islam was introduced it represented a move
forward for women in the tribal areas of Arabia
where women were often treated badly – almost as
male possessions. The Quaran limits the number of
wives to four and these must all be treated equally.
The Qur'an says: “..marry such women as seem good
to you, two, three or four but if you feel you will not
be equitable, then only one….” (4.4)
• Women are allowed to own property (when this was
not possible in the Christian West) and the Qur'an
forbids female infanticide and also forced marriages.
• Women are seen as supports for their husbands –
rather than as independent individuals with the
marriage.
EXTRacTs FRoM ThE Qu’RaN
• ‘If any of you cannot afford to marry a
free, believing woman, marry a slave-girl who
is a believer.. If after marriage they commit
adultery they shall suffer half the penalty
inflicted on free adulteresses.’ (Sura 4.25) (The Qur’an
seems to accept slavery – and as the Qu’ran is the word of God this is
signficant. The main slave traders in Africa were Muslims and twice as
many slaves went to the Arab world than cross the Atlantic)
• ‘Men have authority over women because
Allah has made the one superior to the
others, and because they spend their wealth
to maintain them. Good women are obedient.’
(Sura 4.34)
• On death, men shall inherit twice as much as
women (Sura 4.176)
• The equality of women can, therefore, be questioned
from a Western perspective.
Women contd.
• Women have to dress so that they do not provide a
temptation to men. Muslims differ as to how this is
to be interpreted. Some hold that every part of a
woman’s body must be concealed – even her eyes.
Others accept Western dress provided it is modest.
• In Afghanistan the Taliban have forbidden women to
work, to be educated, to be out on the street
unless totally covered – but other Muslims see this
as a perversion of the Qur'an. Much depends on
interpretation.
• In some sections of the Qur'an women clearly have
a lower status than men – for instance the evidence
of two women is equal to one man in a court of law.
One problem in Islam is that it is not possible to
say that this was a matter of culture when the
Qur'an was written – as the Qur'an is the dictated
word of God it is not culturally relative.
ISLAM
AND
THE STATE OF ISRAEL
ISLAM AND THE STATE OF ISRAEL
• Many Muslims are implacably opposed to the state of
Israel. This is NOT, however, the same as them
being anti-Jewish. They see Zionism and the State
of Israel as movements that are fundamentally
unjust. Many Muslims reject the original UN
declaration which gave Israel what had been Arab
land for nearly 2000 years.
• Still more, they reject U.S. and European support of
Israel when Israel has occupied territory by force
of arms against quite explicit United Nations rules
and refuses to restore any of this territory.
• Many Muslims see the West (which is predominantly
Christian) conspiring with Israel to act unjustly and
to deprive Arabs of land they rightfully own. The
refugees in the Gaza strip, dispossessed of the their
homeland, have come to stand as a symbol for this
injustice.
Islam and Zionism
• “Islam is not opposed to Judaism but regards it as a
religion of God… Rather, Islam is opposed to Zionism
to Zionist politics and conduct… For its crimes against
the individual Palestinian men and women, against the
corporate existence of the Palestinians, against the
individual Arabs of the surrounding countries.. Islam
condemns Zionism. Islam demands that every atom’s
weight of injustice perpetrated against the innocent
be undone. Hence it opposed upon all Muslims the
world over to rise like one man to put an end to
injustice and to reinstate its sufferers in their lands,
homes and properties… Therefore, the Islamic position
leaves no chance for the Zionist state but to be
dismantled and destroyed, and its wealth confiscated
to pay off its liabilities.” (Ismail R. al Faruqi. 1983)
BACKGROUND TO ZIONISM
• The establishment of the State of Israel has a long
history behind it. The 1917 British ‘Balfour
Declaration’ was of crucial importance but, perhaps,
of even greater significance was the Holocaust.
• After the second World War, the world was horrified
at the extermination camps and the suffering of the
Jews. There was a feeling of corporate guilt and a
desire to put things right in some way – this lead to
the U.N. declaration giving the Jews a homeland:
Israel. BUT what was not considered was that the
land was already occupied by Arabs. Due to various
complex and disputed events, the Arabs left (or were
forced to leave – depending on your viewpoint) and
thus became homeless refugees.
• It is small wonder that the anger of Muslims at this
injustice is very great.
TERRORISM AND FREEDOM FIGHTERS
• One person’s terrorist is another person’s
freedom fighter. Nelson Mandela was once
labelled as a terrorist – so were many
government leaders in Africa. So is Gerry
Adams, the leader of Sien Fein. Western
countries brand Muslims who fight against
Israel as ‘terrorists’, but to other Muslims
they may be fighting for Justice.
• It must also be recognised, that religious
convictions are frequently used by politicians
around the world for their own selfish
interests and that all motives are mixed.
However understanding the perspectives of
others is part of a process which interreligious dialogue demands.