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ISLAM
OVERVIEW
“Islam is probably the world's simplest religion, which may explain its rapid
growth in recent years. It is said to be the world's fastest growing religion. "...
the heart of Islam is submission to the total will of Allah, or God. (Allah is
not the name of a god, but simply means "The God" -- the one and only
God)
God's will for humanity, Muslims believe, was most fully given in the Koran,
the book revealed through the prophet Muhammad.
The term, Islam means "submission", and the name tells us that the central
idea of this faith is simply full and complete submission to the will of God: an
adherent of the faith is called a Muslim, one who has made the submission.”
[Many People, Many Faiths, Carmody & Carmody]
STORY OF CREATION
Allah created the world and created the first man (Adam) who led to Noah and finally to Shem
(Does this sound familiar?) -- hence term "Semite" (literally 'son of Shem'), today used to refer
only to Jews but really meant to include all descendants of Shem, including Arabs and probably
Christians. Abraham was a descendent of Shem and he had two wives – - Sarah and Hagar. He
was able to marry Hagar because Sarah was supposedly infertile.
Genetics being what they are, both Sarah and Hagar
got pregnant about the same time. Since Sarah
gave birth to a son (Isaac), she was able to have
Abraham banish Hagar and her son (Ishmael).
Isaac stayed in Palestine and generated the
population of Jews. Ishmael ended up in Mecca
(Saudi Arabia) where, it is said, his decedents became
the Arabs.
MUHAMMAD
Muhammad (570-632) is called the "The Seal of
the Prophets" because he was the last true
prophet. He entered the culture during a corrupt
and violent era with unstable government and
many thriving Brigands -- chaotic daily lives for
majority of population.
Muhammad married a woman 15 years his senior
who was his employer -- the camel trader Khadija
became first convert and was called his solace
given to him by God to see him through his most
difficult years of reformation. He retreated to a
local cave to began his study and reflection -- and
periodically returned to this cave during a 15 year
period to develop his full thesis (or receive the
whole message). He was called to preach and
taught for 23 years.
MUHAMMAD
Muhammad developed his thesis with the background of a polytheistic religion riddled with
hundreds of jinns and demons - one of which was "Allah" the creator, provider and
determiner of man's destiny. He became convinced that Allah was the one true God and
much greater than previously supposed - thus was born the creed, "La ilaha illa Allah!"
(There is no God but Allah!)
This idea was largely rejected by those in power in Mecca for the following reasons:
1) his new religion was determinedly monotheistic and consequently threatened
the revenues to other shrines,
2) the moral code enjoined people to more puritanical behavior which explicitly
criticized and condemned the more popular "licentious ways", and
3) Islam is intensely democratic which denied the current social structure of rigid
class distinctions with sharp lines drawn between the "haves" and "have-nots".
Followers of this early Islam were often tortured, stoned, enslaved and generally social
outcasts. (The 1st muezzin was staked in desert with stone on his chest)
MUHAMMAD
In 622 Muhammad, together with his followers left Mecca to go to Yathrib, a
city 200 miles away where his preachings had taken hold -- the leaders of
Mecca feared his departure because they feared his growing influence without
being able to control him -- these leaders attempted to stop his flight -- by
murder if necessary -- and Muhammad barely escaped with a couple of
helpers (his family and the bulk of these early Muslims had departed earlier).
His migration became known as the HIJRAH or HEGIRA (literally "flight")
and Yathrib became known as Medina ("The city of the Prophet").
Muhammad became a powerful statesman and his followers grew in number.
"He became at once the religious leader of the Arabs and their political ruler
and military commander. Right up to the end of his life, which occurred just
after his return from his triumphal progress to Mecca in 632, the strange
revelations continued. Together they make up the text of the Koran, the Holy
Scripture of Islam." [342]
THE QURAN
"Unlike the Judaeo-Christian Bible, the Koran is not a collection of diverse
material from over a thousand years. It was all delivered in a period of no
more that twenty-two years through one man in communications from God
through his angel [Gabriel]. It is not a book of history, or a life of
Muhammad, or a philosophical treatise. It is a book of proclamation:
proclamation of the oneness and sovereignty of God, of his coming
judgment, of the need to submit to him. In passing, it also presents a Muslim
view of previous religious history, especially of the earlier prophets such as
Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. From time to time it gives instructions to the
faithful upon which Muslim law is based.
To Muslims, the Koran is a miracle -- the most convincing miracle of all as
validation of their faith. It is said to be untranslatable, but to be in the
original Arabic of exquisite, incomparable beauty of rhythm and expression.
That one man and he illiterate according to tradition, could be the merely
human author of 'the Glorious Koran, that inimitable symphony, the very
sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy,' seems to Muslims incredible.
The Holy Koran, they deeply believe, is the full and complete message of the
infinite Divine Mind to humanity. Thus, it is not only studied, but chanted,
memorized, and recited on all sorts of occasions, venerated both as words and
as a book. Even its way of speaking is divine; it represents the personal style
of Allah and so transmits something of God's essence. [This differs
dramatically from the Christian notion that God's nature is unknowable for
mere humans] Its very choice of rhythm, metaphor, and rhetorical method, in
other words, reveals something of how God thinks and feels, just as do its
contents.”
Many Peoples, Many Faiths, Carmody & Carmody
THE QURAN
Afghan Protesters Hurl Grenades at US Base
Afghans carry a wounded man during an anti-U.S. demonstration in Kunduz, north of Kabul, Afghanistan,
Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012. (Ezatullah Pamir/AP Photo)
THE FIVE PILLARS
1. Faith
"There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet"
One must - at least once in a lifetime - be able to say the creed recognizing it
in its full meaning and all its implications.
"La ilaha illa Allah; Muhammad rasul Allah"
THE FIVE PILLARS
2. Prayer (salah)
Always begins with ritual formats "Allahu akbar" (God is most great) and "bismillah al rahman al
rahim" - (In the name of God the compassionate, the merciful...) 5 times daily - one must "be
constant" in one's perspective of life directed towards Allah. Formal community worship most
often occurs on Friday at noon but one can pray anywhere, anytime. It is always to be done in
Arabic, regardless of one's own native language. One begins with ritual purification -at home or
in a mosque a fountain is usually built for this purpose: one washes the feet then the hands and
arms up to the elbow then the neck and face, paying special attention to the mouth, nose and
eyes. It is not mandatory to pray if the circumstances do not allow safe contemplation (e.g. in the
middle of a war) but the idea is to remind oneself often (dhikr -constant remembrance) of Allah's
grace and sovereignty. It is composed basically of two parts: the first a witness to God's
grandeur and the second a supplication for His mercy.
THE FIVE PILLARS
3. Charity (zakat)
Zakat does not refer to charitable gifts given out of kindness or generosity, but to the systematic giving of
2.5% of one's wealth each year to benefit the poor.
The benefits of Zakat, apart from helping the poor, are as follows:
•Obeying God
•Helping a person acknowledge that everything comes from God on loan and that we do not
really own anything ourselves •And since we cannot take anything with us when we die we need
not cling to it
•Acknowledging that whether we are rich or poor is God's choice
•So we should help those he has chosen to make poor
•Learning self-discipline
•Freeing oneself from the love of possessions and greed
•Freeing oneself from the love of money
•Freeing oneself from love of oneself
•Behaving honestly
THE FIVE PILLARS
4. Ramadan (sawm)
It is a month of fasting (the month is on a lunar calendar - one fasts from sunup
to sundown: from the time that one can distinguish a black thread from a white)
during which no food or drink can pass the lips. It is to teach discipline, sacrifice
and the price that divine treasures cost. It celebrates both the Hegira as well as
Muhammad's initial commission as a prophet by Allah. This year, Ramadan
begins in the evening of Friday, July 20, 2012, and ends in the evening of Monday,
August 20, 2012.
THE FIVE PILLARS
5. Pilgrimage (Hajj)
At least once in a lifetime, muslims must make a pilgrimage to Mecca - the center of the
Islamic religious universe where the world was born - It is the holy city where the Koranic
revelation was disclosed to Muhammad. On pilgrimage, Muslims dress alike (a simple twosheet garment for men and a shift with veil for women - heads are not covered and shoes
are not worn within the holy precincts), go through the same traditional actions and often
experience a profound sense of community. Pilgrimage celebrated the revealed will of
Allah and the consequent equality of humankind.
THE FIVE PILLARS
5. Pilgrimage ( Hajj)
The hajj begins with a ritual purifying bath, hair and nail trimming and donning of the ihram
(white garmet). The destination is the Holy Mosque in Mecca that contains the Ka'ba, a cubical
stone nearly fifty ft. high and 12 inches across, surrounded with a silver collar. The Muslims
believe it was handed down from Heaven by God and erected by Abraham and his son Ishmael.
The pilgrim circles the ka'ba seven times, trying to touch or kiss the stone at least once. The
pilgrim then runs several times between the two hills near the Ka'ba and drinks from the holy well
of Zamzam. These actions are said to commemorate Hagar's search for water in the desert for
herself and her son Ishmael. On the eighth day of the month of the Hajj, the pilgrims pour out
of Mecca through a mountain pass into the plain of Arafat. They spend a night at a place called
Mina in prayer and meditation and in visiting with each other. On the second day they proceed to
the Hill of Arafat where the wukuf or Standing takes place. This involves standing from noon
until sunset listening to a sermon preached by the qadi (judge) of Mecca or another dignitary in
commemoration of Muhammad's farewell sermon. After sunset the pilgrims move to another
site on the plain called Muzdalifa, where they gather pebbles to stone the devil the next day and
where they also spend the night as before. On the third day they return to Mina, where they
throw their pebbles at a pillar representing the devil. On the fourth day the feast of the Sacrafice
(Id al-Adha) begins, when each head of the household is expected to kill a sheep or goat in
memory of Abraham's willingness to sacrafice his son Ishmael at God's command. After this
they are free to return to Mecca where they usually make another ritual circling of the Ka'ba.
Many also make a visit to Medina and pay their respects to Muhammad's tomb.
ISLAMIC LAW
Islam was created as a very specific and precise guide to "right living." It is thought that Islam
must cover every action in life and one must do all things with Allah in mind. Accordingly, one
may look to Islamic law to answer virtually every question regarding what one ought to do - there
is meant to be no ambiguity. There are four sources of Islamic Law and are discussed below in
order of hierarchy.
1) the Quran - it is the divine word of God and the ultimate source of authority for what God
wants us to do.
2) Hadiths - these are the traditions of the prophet Muhammad - we may learn by example what
we should do in cases not specifically covered by the Quran.
3) Ijma - the consensus of the ulama (Islamic scholars) may decree in cases not covered by the
previous two sources - this ulama may be formed by religious leaders of the community or from
Alazar University in Cairo or by the elders of a village - it is thought that God will not allow us to
be led astray when all of these people honestly agree after appropriate meditation and prayer.
4) Qiyas - analogies - reasoning by parallel cases where the Koran and Hadiths are not directly
applicable. It is the last resort based on the intellect of humans - a weak instrument when
compared to the word of God.
ISLAMIC SECTS
There are nearly one hundred Islamic sects but we will only discuss three of
the major ones which have important differences informative to our
understanding of the religion.
These three are
Sunni (approx. 85% of Muslims),
Shi'a (of southern Iraq, Iran) and,
Sufi (the mystical arm of Islam).
ISLAMIC SECTS
Sunni
Means "Well-Trodden Path" is the normative Islam of most places except Iran and
Iraq. It refers to the consensus of traditional legal and social practices as well as
referring to the majority Islamic community.
It is a tradition given to accommodation of differences and tolerance within the
overall Islamic perspective, often citing as its precedent the Prophet's saying,
"Differences of opinion within my community are a blessing."
In Sunni Islam, the fundamental authority, after the guidance of the Koran is
Muslim law, interpreted by the consensus of learned men who base their decisions
on tradition, hadith (Muhammad's practices & examples), and analogy. One of the
more colorful sects of the Sunni tradition is the Wahhabi movement, in Saudi
Arabia which is a conservative puritanical reform movement dating from the
18thC.
ISLAMIC SECTS
Shi'a (Shi'ite)
Shi'a Islam is primarily in Iran and southern Iraq, with minorities everywhere.
"Shi'ites believe that after Muhammad there was intended to be a succession
of Imams, divinely appointed and authoritative teachers of Islam, to guide the
faithful. The first was Ali, Muhammad's cousin, and after him Ali's eldest son,
Hasa, and them Ali's second son, Husain." [Carmody 362] Most of the
emphasis and devotion of the Shi'ite Islam revolves around this martyr. "The
death of this splendid young hero has been made by Shi'a into an event that
demands eternal recompense by fervent mourning and reenactment." [363]
This third Imam was followed by others -- the current one may be invisible in
the world. There is a festival of Muharram the climax of which (the 10th day)
is a commemoration of the hero's death.
ISLAMIC SECTS
Sufi
This Islamic sect does not only try to follow the normal Islamic commandments, but to
know God "intimately and even to lose themselves in love and loss of self into the depths
of his being. [366]
The word Sufi is normally ascribed to have come from the word suf "alluding to the coarse
wool garments worn by ascetics seeking a more inward way, as conformity to Islam."[367]
The focus of this sect is "on the presence of the divine oneness every where and offers
paths to the attainment of union with God. Their practices include chanting, dancing,
whirling, and meditation. Unlike other Muslims the Sufi view Muhammad to be a "supreme
saint and mystic." [Carmody 352]
"Sufism set a great deal of the emotional, anti-intellectual, and antiprogressive tone of an
Islam that had lost its status as a world power." [Carmody 365] Sufi's reject the main body
of Islam as a dead religion, in that it does not look to the Koran. There is a story along
these lines it seems there is a "... dervish who meets the devil. The devil is just sitting
patiently, so the dervish asks him why he is not out making mischief. The devil replies,
"since the theoreticians and would-be teachers of the Path have appeared in such numbers,
there is nothing left for me to do.“ [Carmody 366]
ISLAMIC SECTS
Development of Sufi Thought: Al-Ghazali
He emphasized “the priority of faith and intuition over reason, and of
the need to employ reason in its proper sphere of clarifying,
interpreting, and defending the insights of faith and the knowledge of
the heart….” (Koller p.145)
For Al-Ghazali, “ultimately God is the only real
object of knowledge and … God can be known
only through faith.” (Koller p.145)
ISLAMIC SECTS
Development of Sufi Thought: Ibn Sina
(Avicenna)
“God, the ultimate reality, is eternal beauty,
according to Ibn Sina, as demonstrated by the
beauty of nature. It is the very nature of beauty
to be self-expressive, he says, and nature is
simply the self-expression of God. In God, this
self-expression, not different from His Being, is
the supreme love, for love is nothing other than
the expression and appreciation of perfect
beauty.” (Koller p.146)
TWO COMMON MYTHS
Myth #1: The Islamic concept of Jihad means “holy war.”
The literal meaning of jihad is “to strive or struggle in the way of Allah.” ( Islam, The Straight
Path, John Esposito). There are actually two interpretations of jihad: the greater and the lesser.
The greater jihad is interpreted to be the struggle within – against one’s own vices and failings.
This is the jihad that is mandated within the commands of the Five Pillars of Islam; one must
always be faithful to the rigorous demands of the ethical and religious life decreed by these
commandments. It is recognized that this is not an easy task so one must wage war with one’s
own impulses to give into these temptations. While Allah may be closer to us than our own
jugular vein (50:16), we are solely responsible for our failure to uphold these standards.
The lesser jihad is the struggle against those who prevent the believer from following the
“straight path” of Allah. This does not mean that the believer is to pursue a war of conversion
or annihilation. The Qur’an is explicit about the importance of faith: Only those who willingly
and with their whole hearts commit themselves to Islam will be capable of following the way of
Allah.
The recent emphasis on the lesser jihad, while certainly clear in contemporary groups such as
Egypt’s Jihad Organization (which assassinated Anwar Sadat) as well as Jihad organizations in
Lebanon, the Gulf states and Indonesia, does not appear to be consistent with the treatment of
this concept in the Qur’an.
TWO COMMON MYTHS
Myth #2: The Qur’an urges Muslims to wage war on anyone
who is not a believer.
There’s a great deal of ambiguity regarding the role of war in the Qur’an. The passage known as
the “sword verse” is commonly cited in support of this myth:
Then, when the sacred months are drawn away, slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine
them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent and perform the prayer, and pay the
alms, then let them go their way. (S. 9:5)
However the Qur’an has at least 124 other verses that stress peace and tolerance toward others!
One of the most telling of these verses is explicit about the improper use of force.
And fight in the way of God with those who fight with you, but aggress not: God loves not the aggressors. (S. 2:187)
In his discussion on the relevance of these passages, Esposito points out that,
“…Muhammad’s use of warfare in general was alien neither to Arab custom nor to that of the Hebrew prophets.
Both believed that God had sanctioned battle with the enemies of the Lord. Biblical stories about the exploits of
kings and prophets such as Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Samuel, Jehu, Saul and David recount the struggles of a
community called by God and the permissibility, indeed requirement, to take up arms when necessary against those
who had defied God and to fight “in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.” (Islam, The
Straight Path)
When put into this historical context or compared to certain passages in the Christian Bible, the
Qur’an may be reasonably interpreted as an appeal for peace and non-aggression!