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Chapter 10
Islam
Pre-Islamic Arabia
Sufism
The Prophet Muhammad
The spread of Islam
The Qur’an
Relationships with the West
The central teachings
Muslim resurgence
The Five Pillars
Sunni and Shi’a
Key terms
Allah
caliph
fatwa
hajj
Hadith
hijab
hijrah
Imam
Islam
Islamist
jihad
madrasa
muezzin
Shahadah
Shari’ah
Shi’a
Sufism
Sunnah
Sunni
sura
ummah
Islamic Terms
 Islam – submission to Allah (god)
 Muslim – one who submits to the will of Allah
 Hajj/Hegira – pilgrimage to Mecca
 Imam – religious leader (Shia)
 Qiyama – Day of Judgment
 Jannah – heaven
 Minaret – prayer tower next to mosque
 Mosque – Muslim place of worship
 Mahdi – Islamic redeemer who will return with
Jesus on Judgment Day to save the world
Definitions
 PBUH- Stands for “Peace
Be Upon Him” and is
commonly said or
written after using the
Prophet Muhammad’s
name by Muslims.
 Qu’ran- the Holy book of
the Islamic faith, the
word means “recitation”.
Many believers, as well as
Muhammad himself,
were illiterate and
learned all teachings
orally.
 Surah- a chapter within
the Qu’ran
 Ummah- the religious
community
 Ahl al-Kitab- “People of
the Book”, refers to Jews
and Christians or ‘people
of an earlier revelation’
“Say: ‘Oh People of the book!
Come to common terms as between us and you:
That we worship none but Allah;
That we associate no partners with Him;
That we erect not from among ourselves
Lords and patrons other than Allah.’”
Qur’an
3:64
“When you live in poverty and isolation, one of the things you
hold on to is religion for your sanity, to keep you going. When
you hear people crying in suffering and pain, instead of
asking, ‘Where is God?’, this is God crying out to you, ‘Why
are you allowing this?’”
Farid Esack, South Africa
Islamic Era - Chronology
 570 CE – Birth of Muhammed, founder of Islam
 610 CE – Muhammed’s vision that creates Islam (Archangel
Gabriel comes to him)
 622 CE – Muhammed leaves Mecca for Medina and begins
gaining converts – this event is known as the Hegira (Hajj)
 630 CE – Muhammed and followers return to Mecca and
overtake the city – the Kabah is set up as major Islamic
shrine
 632 CE – Death of Muhammed, his father-in-law Abu –
Bakhr takes over and creates the title caliph; begins the
creation of an empire of Islam by conquering neighboring
lands. At Abu-Bakhr’s death Umar takes over as caliph.
Muslims divide into many subgroups.
Islamic Era - Chronology
 718 CE – Spain is under Muslim control
 734 CE – Battle of Poitiers – Muslim spread is stopped by
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Charles Martel of France
762 – 766 CE – The Abbasid Dynasty takes over from
Umayyads (except in Spain) and move capital from
Damascus to Baghdad
788 – 879 CE – Several countries break free from caliphate
and set up individual kingdoms and dynasties
879 CE – Seljuk Turks begin conquest of Mesopotamia and
Persia
900 CE – Fatimids take over in Egypt and conquer all of
North Africa
Islamic Era - Chronology
 945 CE – Abbasid power falls to the Shiites
 969 – 1171 CE – Fatimid Dynasty recreates a smaller
version of the Caliphate in Egypt
 1037 – 1194 CE – Seljuk Turk Dynasty
 1077 CE – Seljuk Turks conquer most of Arabia,
Palestine, Syria, Lebanon
 1099 CE – Crusades begun against Muslims in the
Holy Land by Pope Urban
 1187 CE – Saladin ends Western control of Holy
Land (Outremer) after Battle of Hattin
Islamic Era - Chronology
 1248 CE – Muslims lose control of most of Spain except
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area around Granada
1251 CE – Malmuk Dynasty takes over caliphate in Egypt
1258 CE – Abbasid Dynasty is completely wiped out by
Mongol invasion
1327 CE – Seljuk Empire collapses; Arab world splits into
several kingdoms
1453 CE – Ottoman Empire defeats the Byzantine Empire;
move capital to Istanbul (Constantinople)
1492 CE – Muslims completely expelled from Spain
Islamic World
Spread of Islam. Greece, Spain are no longer ruled by Muslims.
The Prophet Muhammad
 Muslims consider Muhammad to be the final prophet
in a chain of prophets who brought monotheism
 While God is the focus and sole authority within Islam,
Muhammad’s life story is important as a model of
Qur’anic teachings
 Muhammad’s life became a model for Muslims to
follow; those who knew him commented on his
nobility, humility, and kindness
 The revelations of the Qur’an speak not of a
contemplative life of withdrawal, but of the need for
Muslims to fight oppression and corruption and
establish moral order in the world
Islam-The Big Picture
 The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)receives the
revelation of the Qu’ran in 610
 612 Prophet Muhammad (phuh)begins preaching
 The Qu’ran holds 114 chapters or “surahs”. It took
21 years for the Qu’ran to be fully revealed. The
Qu’ran’s surahs are not ordered chronologically
but according to length- longest to shortest.
According to tradition, following
the deaths of his uncle and his
first wife, who had protected
Muhammad from persecution,
Gabriel carried Muhammad on a
horse with a human head from
Mecca to Jerusalem, where he
ascended to heaven from the
rock, now covered by the Dome
of the Rock, on which Jews
believed Abraham was to
sacrifice Isaac.
Islamic Art – Dome of the Rock
Traditionally, Muhammad first received the Qur’an in this cave.
The Qur’an
The Qur’an [“Koran” is an alternate, less
preferable spelling] contains the revelations
Muhammad received, which affirm God’s unity
and also direct life in human society
Because most Muslim
artists were forbidden
from depicting animals
and humans, they
concentrated on
decorative designs and
writing, especially in the
Qur’an.
 The oneness of God and of humanity
 Prophethood and the compass of Islam
 Human relationship to the divine
 The unseen life
 The Last Judgment
5 Pillars of Faith – (Sunni)
 1) Shahadah – profession of faith – “There is no God but Allah, and
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Muhammad is his messenger”
2) Salah – ritual prayer done 5x a day at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon,
sunset and evening
3) Zakat – giving to the poor – everyone must give something
depending on what they earn
4) Sawm – fasting during month of Ramadan – refraining from food,
drink and sexual intercourse from dawn to dusk each day of the month
– also supposed to get along with others better and get closer to Allah
during this time (there are exceptions for health, etc.)
5) Hajj – pilgrimage to Mecca – every able bodied Muslim must make
the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime – must walk around the
Kaaba 7 times, touch the stone and symbolically throw rocks at the
devil
In Shiite Islam there are the additional pillars of Jihad (personal
struggle against Islam’s enemies) and Khum (giving a tithe to the
Imam)
Additional Component
 Jihad- Important concept in both Sunni and Shia
Islam, signifies a struggle. Two types, the struggle
within (which the Qu’ran deals mainly with), and
the struggle (wars of religion) without. Shia
consider the inner Jihad an essential element of
the faith.
 Jihad is often misused in terminology and in its
purpose. Terrorist group Al-Qaida is a Sunni
organization.
Traditionally,
Abraham and
Ishmael built
the Ka’bah
where God
created Adam.
A meteorite,
believed given
by Gabriel, is
set in a corner.
Today, walking
around the
Ka’bah is part
of the hajj, one
of the Five
Pillars of Islam.
Kaaba
Malwiya minaret and Great
Sunnis and Shi’as
The issue of Muhammad’s successor led to a split
between two factions: the Sunni (roughly eighty
percent of Muslims) and the Shi’a
Sunnis
 Sunnis or “people of the Sunnah” emphasize
the authority of the Qur’an and the Hadith and
Sunnah
 Their understanding is that Muhammad did
not appoint a successor but rather left this up
to the Muslim community or ummah
 For Sunnis, the caliph is the leader of worship
and the administrator of the sacred law of
Islam, Shari’ah
Islamic Law
 There are different systems of Islamic law,
and varying interpretations of those laws.
 In general, shari’ah is based on the Qur’an
and the sunnah; its dictates are applicable to
all areas of life from diet to inheritance to
social justice.
 It is frequently noted that shari’ah gave
women rights they did not have in the west
until the nineteenth century (e.g. the right to
inherit, to divorce).
A famous law from the Quran
 5.38. As to the thief, Male or female, cut off his or
her hands: a punishment by way of example, from
Allah, for their crime: and Allah is Exalted in power.
On
Women
Sura 4:3 says: “ And if you be apprehensive that you will not be able
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to do justice to the orphans, you may marry two or three or four
women whom you choose. But if you apprehend that you might
not be able to do justice to them, then marry only one wife, or
marry those who have fallen in your possession.”
 Sura 4:34 says “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women,
because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other,
and because they support them from their means. Therefore the
righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the
husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those
women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish
them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat
them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against
them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above
you all)“
On suicide and killing
 “And do not kill yourselves, God is merciful with you. And whosoever does that
(kills self) with aggression and inequity, we will make them suffer in Hell fire, and
this is easy for God to do” (29-30, 4).
 “He who kills a person without (the latter) having killed another person, it is as if he
has killed all of humanity, and he who makes one person survive, it is as if he has
caused all humanity to survive” (32,5)
 "The person who participates in (Holy battles) in Allah's cause and nothing
compels him to do so except belief in Allah and His Apostles, will be
recompensed by Allah either with a reward, or booty (if he survives) or will be
admitted to Paradise (if he is killed in the battle as a martyr). Had I not found it
difficult for my followers, then I would not remain behind any sariya going for Jihad
and I would have loved to be martyred in Allah's cause and then made alive, and
then martyred and then made alive, and then again martyred in His cause."
 Whoever purposely throws himself from a mountain and kills himself, will be in the
(Hell) Fire falling down into it and abiding therein perpetually forever; and whoever
drinks poison and kills himself with it, he will be carrying his poison in his hand
and drinking it in the (Hell) Fire wherein he will abide eternally forever; and
whoever kills himself with an iron weapon, will be carrying that weapon in his hand
and stabbing his abdomen with it in the (Hell) Fire wherein he will abide eternally
forever."
The Quran on Christians and
Jews
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5.51. O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors
to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust.
5.57. O ye who believe! take not for friends and protectors those who take your religion for a mockery or sport,- whether among
those who received the Scripture before you, or among those who reject Faith; but fear ye Allah, if ye have faith (indeed).
5.60. Say: "Shall I point out to you something much worse than this, (as judged) by the treatment it received from Allah. those
[people of the Book (Jews and Christians)] who incurred the curse of Allah and His wrath, those of whom some He transformed
into apes and swine, those who worshipped evil;- these are (many times) worse in rank, and far more astray from the even path!"
5.64. The Jews say: "(Allah)'s hand is tied up." Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blasphemy) they utter. Nay,
both His hands are widely outstretched: He giveth and spendeth (of His bounty) as He pleaseth. But the revelation that cometh
to thee from Allah increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Amongst them we have placed enmity
and hatred till the Day of Judgment. Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah doth extinguish it; but they (ever) strive to do
mischief on earth. And Allah loveth not those who do mischief.
5.69. Those who believe (in the Qur'an), those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians and the Christians,- any who
believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness,- on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
5.72. They do blaspheme who say: "(Allah) is Christ the son of Mary." But said Christ: "O Children of Israel! worship Allah, my
Lord and your Lord." Whoever joins other gods with Allah,- Allah will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his
abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no one to help.
5.73. They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from
their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.
5.74. Why turn they not to Allah, and seek His forgiveness? For Allah is Oft- forgiving, Most Merciful.
5.75. Christ the son of Mary was no more than an apostle; many were the apostles that passed away before him. His mother was
a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways
they are deluded away from the truth!
5.82. Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans; and nearest among them in love to the
believers wilt thou find those who say, "We are Christians": because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who
have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.
The Virgin Myth
 The Quran never mentions 72 virgins (it is in a Hadith (Islamic traditional
writings)
 The virgins mentioned in the Quran are for all Muslims, not just martyrs
 "Dark-eyed virgins sheltered in their tents (which of your Lord's blessings
would you deny?) whom neither man nor jinnee will have touched before."
 "The Prophet Muhammad was heard saying: 'The smallest reward for the
people of paradise is an abode where there are 80,000 servants and 72 wives,
over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine, and ruby, as wide
as the distance from Al-Jabiyyah [a Damascus suburb] to Sana'a [Yemen]'."
 The word “hur” or Al-hur” can be translated in many ways, as hand
maidens (female servants); dark eyed virgins; voluptuous women or
“white pure raisins” and according to scholars, the use in the Hadith
was meant for raisins….
Shi’a
Shi’a Muslims are:
 devoted to the memory of Muhammad and his
close relatives
 revere a succession of seven or twelve Imams
(leaders, guides) rather than the Sunni caliphs
Islam after Muhammad’s Death
The death of Muhammad in 632 presented a challenge for the
Muslim community. Who would lead the group and keep it
unified? The answer affected the faith’s spread and its future.
Muhammad’s
Priorities
Expansion of
Successors
Territory
• Muhammad had not
named successor
• No clear candidate
• Abu Bakr, close
companion, early
convert, chosen leader,
called caliph,
“successor”
• Abu Bakr focused on
bringing back bedouin
tribes
• Abu Bakr, successor
Umar, expanded
Muslim rule rapidly
• Built strong Arab
fighting forces to keep
tribes under control
• 637 early victory
against Persian forces in
Iraq
• Reunified Arabia, led
forces north
• 642 victory over
Persian Empire
complete
The Sunni-Shia Split
-It’s All About FamilyMuhammad and Khadija are credited with having several daughters, although the
parentage of them is questioned by scholars; they may have been adopted by Muhammad
rather than sired by him. Uthman (the 3rd Caliph) was married to one of these daughters,
Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad. However, historically these daughters have
been marginalized, most likely because they did not bear any surviving children or survive
their father. For the purposes of this presentation, all family relations have been simplified,
thus we can state that Fatima was the only surviving daughter of Muhammad.
Khadija
First Wife
Prophet
Muhammad
Fatima
The Sunni-Shia Split
-It’s All About FamilyAbu Bakr
Abu Talib
Muhammad’s Uncle
Friend and Early Convert
Khadija
(First Wife)
Ali
Muhammad’s Cousin
Prophet Muhammad
Fatima
Aisha
The Sunni-Shia Split
-It’s All About FamilyHassan
2nd Imam
Fatima
Ali
1st Imam
Hussein
3rd Imam
Zaynab
Ali Zain Al-Abideen
4th Imam
All Other Imams
Descend from this
Line.
Umm Al-Kaltum
Muhammad’s Succession
 632- Muhammad dies, leaving no confirmed
successor*
 Disagreement among clans on who will lead the
faith- bloodline (Ali) or the one most capable
 The Ummah (the Islamic community) elects
Muhammad’s father-in-law (through his wife
Aisha) Abu Bakr to lead the faith. He becomes the
first Caliph - the leader of the Ummah.
The Rashidun (632-661)
The Rule of the Four Righted Guided Caliphs
Name
Ruled
Died
Known For
Abu Bakr
1st Caliph
632-634
elected
Natural causes,
appointed his
successor
Quelled rebellion
and united
Arabia
Umar ibn alKhattab
2nd Caliph
634-644
appointed
Stabbed in a
Medina mosque
by a POW with a
personal grudge.
Wars of expansion
(power not religion
but religion
followed) to the
greater Middle East
Uthman ibn
Affan
3rd Caliph
644-656
elected
Assassinated by those
from the elite of
Medina over the rise
of status and power of
the Umayyad clan.
Expanded the empire
to North Africa and
Central Asia- but with
much political cost.
Standardized the
Qu’ran.
Ali ibn Abu Talib
4th Caliph/1st
Imam
656-661
elected
Assassinated by
Kharajiites, a
group of dissenters
to Ali’s rule
Ruled during the first
Fitnah (civil war). His
place in history is
denoted more for who
he was rather than
what he did.
First Fitnah
A 5 Year Civil War that lasted through Ali’s Reign
 Angered over Ali’s reluctance to seek revenge in the death
of Uthman, Aisha and her kinsman lead a revolt against Ali
in the Battle of the Camel, which was lost by the rebels.
 Ali’s rule was not supported in Syria (where Uthman had
appointed members of the Umayyad clan in power).
Mu’awiya, governor of Syria, also wanted revenge for
Uthman’s death. The Battle of Siffin (657) ended in
arbitration between the two sides, which seriously hurt Ali
politically.
A Community Divided
 The Shia (followers of Ali) had been supporting Ali as the rightful
head of the Islamic faith since the death of Muhammad. Now as
Ali was being persecuted politically, the idea of being unfairly
treated was being ingrained in the Shia psyche.
 As Ali was not actively seeking retribution for Uthman’s death, the
Ummah was growing more and more discontent with the Caliph,
garnering more support for challengers to the Caliphate like
Mu’awiya.
 The Ummah was also horrified by the infighting between those
that had once been a part of Muhammad’s inner circle, the
community wanted a strong leader, not only for their protection
but for the preservation of the faith.
 The true split in Islam came with the death of Ali. The Shia, who
supported Ali went one way, and the Sunni, who followed Mu’awiya
I (who declared himself Caliph and began the Umayyad dynasty)
went the other.
Second Fitnah
 Mu’awiya I had managed to reconsolidate the Ummah,
although in order to keep the community intact longterm, a new style of government closer to a monarchy
than of an Arab Chieftain was needed. Mu’awiya
arranged for his son Yezid to succeed him.
 Outraged at the choice of succession, Hussein (the son
of Ali) and his followers demanded their rights to the
Caliphate, which culminates in the Battle of Karbala in
680.
The Battle of Karbala
and its outcomes
 Supporters of Hussein ibn Ali against Yazid I, the
Umayyad caliph.
 Horribly outnumbered: under 100 vs. 4000+
 Results- all men were massacred, women and
childern in capitivity and made to march to
Damascus, including Hussein’s sister Zaynab
 The Martyrdom of Hussein is celebrated by Shia,
this day is called Ashura.
Sunni and Shia Today
 Population statistics (Sunni 90%, Shia 10%)
 Cult of Martyrdom- the 12 Imams
 Concept of the Mahdi
 Areas of the World where conflict between the two
exist. Iraq and Bahrain
Sunni and Shia Today
 Concealing Faith for Self Protection
 Temporary Marriages
 Frequency of Prayer
Sufism
 Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, dates back to
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Muhammad’s lifetime
Forms of Sufism are found in both Sunni and Shi’a
Islam
Sufism has often stood in contrast to more
legalistically oriented approaches to Islamic life, to the
extent that some orthodox Sunnis do not consider
Sufis to be Muslim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gnWxiy44fA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_CfZxDfZA&feature=related
Other Branches of Islam
 Wahhabi (Wahabi) – sect in 1700s that believed any
forms of Islam after the 900s were wrong and need to
be expunged, led to many jihad’s against the Sunni’s in
particular.
 Against ostentation so no minarets on mosques and
only plain clothing allowed
 An orthodox, traditionalist branch
Other branches of Islam
 Ismailis – form of Shia, accepts 12 Imams, split on 6th Imam
and succession
 Druze – offshoot of Ismaili sect, that promotes gnostic
philosophy, they believe the Fatimid Caliph will return on
Judgment Day as the Mahdi
 Ahmadiyya – founded in 1889, claim Mahdi came and his
descendants are the caliphs in India
 Hashashin – “Assassins;” an order of Ismailis that were
trained killers meant to harass the Sunnis and others
whom they considered heretics; rumors of the use of
hashish to prepare them for their suicide missions and the
promises of direct passage to heaven with wine and women
Other branches of Islam
 Kharijite – only surviving sect is the Ibadi; claim the
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Imam must be pure spiritually and stand fast in their
faith; some Imams not accepted
Ahl-e Haqq – believe that god continuously manifests
himself in reincarnations throughout time; world is
divided into 2 – internal and external
Mahdavism – monastic version of Islam; focus on
prayer and meditation
Moorish Science – founded in 1913 in America; claims
all African Americans are originally Moors and
therefore should be Muslim
Nation of Islam – founded in Detroit in 1930; believes
Fard Muhammad was God on earth; “taking back the
true place of the black man and woman;” considered
heretical by most other Muslims
Other Branches of Islam
 Babs/Baha’i – followers of Shiraz, who claimed
to be Mahdi (Messiah) and changed his name
to “The Bab”; broke away from mainstream
Islam, and was executed in Iran in 1850; teaches
humanity is one single race all coming from
God
 Sikhs – combination of Islam and Hinduism
that rejects both religions policies of
discrimination; equality of all humans
 Nuwaubu – originally a sect of Islam; now more
of a New Age cult, believes extraterrestrial
beings speak through their founder Malachi
York and reveal God’s plan; use ancient
The Spread of Islam
 Islam spread rapidly as both a spiritual and
secular power.
 The stereotypical image of forced conversions by
the sword is false; the more typical means of
conversion came through personal contacts in
trade, in the appeal of charismatic Sufis, and the
example of particular Muslims
Islamic Culture
 The Abbasids took over the caliphate in 750 CE,
and moved the capital to Baghdad.
 A period of great intellectual and artistic activity
followed.
 Islam absorbed, transmitted, and expanded upon
traditions from other cultures, such as Persian art
and poetry.
Islamic Art
Islamic Art
Eastward Expansion
 Islam also moved eastward through central Asia
into India and beyond
 The Mongols and the Turks converted to Islam
Relationship with the West
 Many Christians in medieval Europe denounced
Islam and Muhammad, portraying Muhammad as
an idolater and Islam as a polytheistic faith
 The legacy of such negative characterizations of
Islam persists in the West to the present
 Both Christianity and Islam consider themselves
the ultimate religion
Islam in the West
 Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United
States, and may be the second largest religion in the
country
 About twothirds of American Muslims are immigrants
and their descendants
 The remainder are converts, most of whom are
African-American
Muslim Resurgence
 Most of the world’s oil-rich nations are
predominantly Muslim
 Oil wealth led to social change in many
Muslim nations; in response, some Muslims
turned to Islam as a blueprint for modern
political rule
 While modern industrial societies have tended
to make religion a private matter, some
contemporary Muslim reformers seek to
create societies in which religious principles
imbue all aspects of life
Tradition and Modern Life
 In some countries, such as Iran and Saudi
Arabia, particular versions of Shari’ah take
primacy over European-derived legal codes.
 Many women Muslim scholars are conducting
a reexamination of the Qur’an and Hadith for
new understandings of women’s issues.
 There is no political unit of global Islam, and
no single understanding of what a modern
Islamic state should be.
Outreach and Education
Muslim outreach is on the increase, often using
modern forms of mass communication such as
satellite television
Islam
in
Politics
 Muslims and non-Muslims are concerned with the role
various forms of Islam play in politics, especially
interpretations of Islam linked to suicide terrorist
attacks, and forms of Islam which express
antagonism towards the West
 The violence of groups such as al-Qaeda and
Palestinian suicide bombers has led to growing antiMuslim sentiment despite efforts by many prominent
Muslim leaders to distance their faith from such acts,
arguing that the Qur’an provides no sanction
whatsoever for terrorist acts
Holidays
 Sunni & Shia:
 Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice – Abraham prepared
to sacrifice Ishmael – replaced by ram 1/3 to family; 1/3
to friends and relatives; 1/3 to the poor), Eid al-Fitr
(Festival of the Closing of the Fast) – 3 day celebration
at the end of Ramadan, large meal served at the ending
of the month long fasting from dawn to sunset; this
festival concludes with a pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hajj)
 1st of Muharram – New Year’s – spent in prayer, quiet
holiday
 Mawlid al-Nabi – Muhammed’s birthday –
rememberances of Muhammed (Wahhabi do not
celebrate it)
Holidays
 Shia: Ashura
 Ashura- a day of mourning. Men would beat their
chests, and cut their bodies with knives. As most
religious elite ban the cutting practice it still happens,
they encourage the Shia to donate blood instead to
commemorate the blood spilled at the battle of
Karbala.
Holy Places
 Sunni: Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem
 Shia: Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, Najaf (Site of Ali’s
Tomb), Karbala
Islam for the Future
 Religious modernists, Islamists, and secularists
are all trying to understand the roots of extremism
in Islam and devise alternative means of relating
to a changing world
 While Western media may focus on sensational
manifestations of Islamism, there are many
currents of forwardlooking thought within Islam
Creating a culture of fear
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib9rofXQl6w
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHlb5FB26Lo&NR
=1&feature=fvwp