Compare and contrast Christianity and Islam

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Chapter 10

Islam

Living Religions

Tenth Edition

Learning Objectives (1 of 2)

10.1 Describe pre-Islamic Arabia.

10.2 Explain how the revelations given to Muhammad influenced Islamic belief.

10.3 Outline the role of the Qur’an in Islam.

10.4 Summarize the central teachings of Islam.

10.5 Identify the Five Pillars of Islam.

10.6 Distinguish between Sunni and Shi’a Islam.

Learning Objectives (2 of 3)

10.7 Define shari’ah.

10.8 Describe the key aspects of Sufism.

10.9 Analyze the reasons for the successful expansion of Islam in the seventh and eighth centuries.

10.10 Explain the spread of Islam in the West.

10.11 Discuss the main issues facing contemporary Islam.

Syed Mousmen Hussain Quote

“If you at least help one person seriously in your life, then you have learned something in your life. You can show your face to God, that you have helped one of his creatures who was suffering. Otherwise what is life? It won’t make any sense.”

Dr. Syed M. Hussain

Syed Mousmen Hussain, interviewed October 18, 2006.

Islam

570 CE: Muhammad born

Last of continuing line of prophets

Not a new religion but the original path of monotheism

One-fifth of the world’s population

Pre-Islamic Arabia (1 of 2)

Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam traces its ancestry to Abraham.

Abraham took Hagar and son Isma’il to desert valley of Mecca.

Abraham and Isma’il built the Ka’bah.

Adam’s original site of worship

Houses a venerated black meteorite

Important pilgrimage site

Pre-Islamic Arabia (2 of 2)

Arabs

Nomadic cattle-breeders

Robbed caravans and settlements to sustain themselves

Mecca situated along trade routes

Quraysh

Most powerful tribe and keepers of the Ka’bah

Relatively uniform customs and language

Ka’bah housed 360 idols, including Jesus and Mary

The Prophet Muhammad (1 of 5)

How did Muhammad’s life influence aspects of Islamic belief and practice?

Pre-Islamic Arabia: “age of ignorance”

Muhammad (“the praised one”)

Born into the Quraysh tribe

Great-grandfather and grandfather very charitable

Parents died when he was very young

Lived amid great poverty

The Prophet Muhammad (2 of 5)

Hadith: literature containing life and sayings of Muhammad

Sunnah: exemplary actions of the Prophet

Age 25: Muhammad married Khadijah.

Muhammad spent periods in solitary retreat.

Age 40: Muhammad visited by the angel Gabriel, who told him to “recite.”

Revelation became opening words of the Qur’an

The Prophet Muhammad (3 of 5)

Islam: complete surrender to God

First converts: Khadijah, ‘Ali, Abu Bakr, Waraqah, and Zayd

Abyssinian slave Bilal: first muezzin, one who calls people to prayer from a high place

“Year of Sorrows”: worst year of Qurayshite persecution

The Prophet Muhammad (4 of 5)

Muhammad ascended to heaven during the Night of Ascension.

622 CE: first migration (hijrah) of Muslims from Mecca to Medina

Yathrib renamed al-Medina (City of the Prophet)

Marks the first year of the Muslim era

Medina the model for Islamic social administration

The Prophet Muhammad (5 of 5)

Mecca declared war on Medina.

630 CE: Muhammad returned triumphant to Mecca; only 30 people were killed.

Ka’bah purged of idols

Mecca: the center of Muslim piety

Medina: the political and spiritual center of Islam

632 CE: Muhammad died

caliph (successor to the Prophet)

Abu Bakr elected first caliph

‘Ali: Shi’ites claimed legitimate heir

The Qur’an (1 of 3)

Why is the Qur’an important to Islam?

The heart of Islam: the revelations Muhammad received

To be recited in a serious and subdued tone

Has a healing and soothing effect

Long oral tradition, but written canon established in 650 CE

Divided into 114 surahs (chapters)

First is Fatiha (the opening)

The Qur’an (2 of 3)

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Praise be to Allah,

The Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds;

Most Gracious, Most Merciful;

Master of the Day of Judgment.

Thee do we worship,

And Thine aid we seek.

Show us the straight way,

The way of those on whom

Thou has bestowed Thy Grace

Those whose portion

Is not wrath,

And, who go not astray.

Surah 1:1–17. Note that despite the layout of this translation, the Qur’an is not a work of poetry.

The Qur’an (3 of 3)

Jewish prophets and Jesus all brought same messages from God:

Belief in one God

Personal moral accountability

Day of Judgment

Qur’an teaches that humans have distorted God’s original messages.

Paraclete: advocate to assist humanity

Allah: Arabic word for God

The central teachings

What are the central teachings of Islam?

On the surface, Islam is very straightforward.

Islam means peace, voluntary surrender to the will of God, and obedience to God’s law.

It comprises a number of articles of faith.

The Oneness of God and of humanity

Shahadah: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”

Ultimately there is only one Absolute Reality.

Underlying essence is eternal unity.

Allah is the name of God that encompasses all the attributes.

Muslims reject any divisions within the Islamic community.

Prophethood and the compass of Islam

Islam honors all prophets as messengers of God.

Muslims believe that the original religion is monotheism.

The prophets are mere humans.

Islam is universal religion in its pure form.

Only the Qur’an is considered fully authentic.

Human relationship to the divine

God created everything for a divine purpose.

Human history provides many “signs” of the hand of God.

No one is punished without first being warned by a messenger of God.

Two major human sins

shirk: associating anything else with divinity

kufr: ungratefulness of God, unbelief

The unseen life

Our senses do not reveal all of reality.

Satan

A nonsubmissive being

Originally a jinn—an immaterial being of fire

Those who fall prey to Satan’s devices ultimately go to hell.

Popular Muslim piety also developed a cult of saints.

The Last Judgment

After a period in the grave, all humans will be bodily resurrected.

Hell is a grievous destiny of unrepentant nonbelievers.

Afterlife reveals our tendencies in life.

Righteous experience a Garden of Bliss

Evildoers experience torments of hell

The Five Pillars

What are the basic spiritual practices incumbent on all Muslims?

The Five Pillars are the basic spiritual practices of Islam.

They were specified by theologians after the death of Muhammad.

Actions define a member of the Muslim community.

The pillars are not prescribed by outer rituals.

Belief and witness

First pillar: the Shahadah—believing and professing the unity of God and the messengership of Muhammad

Muslims must tell others about their religion.

They cannot convert through coercion.

The Qur’an insists on respect for all prophets and all revealed scriptures.

Daily prayers

Second pillar: salat—a continual round of prayers

Actions of the faithful, five times a day:

Perform ablutions with water

Face in direction of Mecca

Recite a series of prayers

imam: prayer-leader

Remembrance of God an everyday obligation

Zakat

Third pillar: zakat—charity or almsgiving

Prayer accepted only if one shares with others

Must donate at least 2.5 percent of accumulated wealth

Saudi Arabia devotes 15 percent of GDP to relief projects

Fasting

Fourth pillar: fasting during the month of Ramadan, from sunrise to sunset daily

Commemorates the revelations of the Qur’an to Muhammad

After puberty: all but the infirm, sick, menstruating, pregnant, and nursing must fast

Must abstain from food, drink, sex, smoking, and negative emotions

Ends with the holiday Eid al-Fitr

Hajj (1 of 2)

Fifth pillar: pilgrimage to Mecca

All Muslims who are physically and financially able must go, once in lifetime

Series of symbolic rituals

All men wear a burial shroud-like garment

Women must dress modestly

Time for dhikr (repetition of the Shahadah)

Hajj (2 of 2)

Pilgrims

Walk around the Ka’bah seven times

Run between two hills near the well of Zam-Zam

Pilgrimage to the field of Arafat

Pray from noon to sunset

Throw stones at the devil represented by pillars

Hajj the vibrant core of the global Muslim community

Most important holiday is Eid al-Adha, or “The Feast of Sacrifice”

Sunni and Shi’a

How do the Sunni and Shi’a groups differ?

Sunni: 80 percent of Muslims

Shi’a: majority of the remaining Muslim community

First 3 caliphs—Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman: elected from the Prophet’s closest companions

The fourth, ‘Ali: the Prophet’s closest male relative

680 CE: battle between Husayn and Umayyad Mu’awiyya in Karbala

Sunnis

“The people of the Sunnah” (sayings and practices of the Prophet)

Those who follow the elected caliphs

Consider themselves “traditionalists”

Look to the four “rightly guided caliphs” as leaders of the ummah (Muslim community)

Consider the period of the “rightly guided caliphs” as the golden age of Islam

Shi’a

Believe ‘Ali was Muhammad’s rightful original successor

Martyrdom of Husayn at Karbala

Symbol of the struggle against human oppression

Commemorated yearly as ‘Ashura, a memorial on the tenth day of the month of Muharram

Pay allegiance to a succession of 7 or 12 Imams (leaders, guides), who combine political and spiritual leadership

Shari’ah: Islamic law and ethics (1 of 2)

What role has shari’ah played in Muslim communities?

shari’ah: Law and ethical code developed during Abbasid dynasty to purify social and political life

fiqh: jurisprudence, the process of understanding, interpreting, and implementing shari’ah

Sunni Islam: four major schools of fiqh

Several Shi’a schools

Shari’ah: Islamic law and ethics (2 of 2)

Shari’ah not monolithic or unchanging

ulama: scholars who devote their lifetime to shari’ah

fatwa: a legal opinion

Sufism (1 of 2)

What are the key aspects of Sufism?

Sufism: the mystical inner tradition of Islam

Understand themselves as corrective to orthodoxy

Believe that the world is full of “signs”

Allegorical interpretation of Qur’an

dervishes: poor mendicant mystics

Sufism (2 of 2)

Rabi’a (713–801): famous female mystic of Iraq

fana: total annihilation in the Beloved

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111): prominent theologian who adopted a life of spiritual devotion, making it more acceptable to orthodoxy

The development of Islam (1 of 3)

Which factors contributed to the successful expansion of Islam?

Military battles led by Muslims were not for spreading Islam; wars of aggression violate Muslim principles

Two years before Muhammad’s death, nonviolent takeover of Mecca

Islam spread through West Asia and beyond

637 CE: conquered Persian empire

732 CE: battle of Tours in France

The development of Islam (2 of 3)

Muslims cite divine will for establishment of peaceful, God-conscious society

Populations often demoralized by fighting among themselves

Welcomed Muslim rulers without a fight

Some historians cite economic factors

Monotheistic; “People of the Book”

dhimmis: protected people

The development of Islam (3 of 3)

Under Abbasids: Muslim society became more Persian and cosmopolitan.

Capital in Baghdad

Great house of wisdom

Period of intense intellectual and and artistic activity

Second center of power: Muslim Spain

Capital in Córdoba

Scientific advances

Third center of power: Shi’ite Fatimid caliphate

Tunisia and Egypt

Cultural and scientific accomplishments

Destroyed Church of the Holy Sepulcher, starting the crusades

Eastward expansion

Mongols accepted Islam and expanded it to Russia during the reign of Uzbek Khan (r. 1313–1340).

1453: Muslim Turks conquered Constantinople (Istanbul).

Muslim Mughals ruled northern India.

Mughal emperor Akbar established interfaith dialogues.

1947: creation of Pakistan

1992: destruction of mosque in Ayodhya

China and the former Soviet Union encompass tens of millions of Muslims.

Relationships with the West

What are the key issues facing Muslims in the modern world?

Inaccurate label, “Muhammadanism”

During crusades, Muslims labeled “infidels”

Decline of Islam in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

Jewish presence in Palestine

Islam in the West (1 of 3)

Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the United States.

Two-thirds of American Muslims are immigrants.

Most converts are African Americans.

1913: Noble Drew Ali (1886–1929) began the Moorish Science Temple.

Islam in the West (2 of 3)

Early Muslim communities in the United States were based on missionary efforts.

Nation of Islam

Founded by Elijah Muhammad (1897–1975)

Followers included Malcom X, Warith Deen Muhammad, and Louis Farrakhan

Islam in the West (3 of 3)

American Muslims

Young Muslim girls are taunted about headscarves.

American Muslim community is extremely diverse.

European Muslims

More than 20 million Muslims in western Europe

Maintain traditional cultures

Cultural bans

Muslim resurgence

1970s: oil-rich nations formed OPEC

Shifted global balance of power

Some turned back to more conservative version of Islam

Islam and nation

dar al-Islam: abode of Islam

dar al-sulh: abode of peace

dar al-harb: abode of conflict

Islamists seek to establish Islamic states

Contemporary Islam in public and private life

ijtihad: reasoned interpretation; independent judgment by a qualified scholar

hijab: veiling worn by Muslim women

Women’s rights to divorce and choose a marriage partner are hotly debated.

Muslim women scholars are reexamining the Qur’an and Hadith.

Problems associated with modern Western world should be avoided.

Outreach and education

There are 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide.

madrasas: traditional religious schools

Muslims debate the content of government-run schools.

Efforts are being made to increase the accuracy and sensitivity of portrayals of Islam in the education of non-Muslims.

Islam in politics (1 of 5)

Political use of Islam by extremist groups

After World War I, dismantling of the Ottoman Empire led to instability.

Some discontented with secularization and moral decline.

Sought restoration of life guided by Islam.

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab (1703–1792)

Legal scholar and reformer

Wahhabi thought: discard all non-Qur’anic practices

Islam in politics (2 of 5)

Sayyid Qutb (1906–1966)

Imprisoned in Egypt

Stereotyped West as source of evil and moral decline

jihad: “striving”

Greater Jihad—the struggle against one’s lower self

Lesser Jihad—external effort to protect the Way of God

Not for personal gain

mujahid: fighter in the Path of God

Islam in politics (3 of 5)

Iran

1979: Overthrow of Pahlavi Shah and rise of Ayatollah Khomeini (1900–1989)

Hostage crisis

Taliban: Afghani group that rejects secular rule

Supported as freedom fighters by United States

Authoritative rule, 1996–2001

Rejected secular laws; replaced with its interpretation of shari’ah

Islam in politics (4 of 5)

Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda

Global terrorism

September 11, 2001: attacks on United States

2011: Bin Laden killed by U.S. commandos

Authoritarian rule in Arab world: destabilizing

Regimes viewed as illegitimate

Severe poverty, lack of employment, discontent

2010: Arab Spring

Islam in politics (5 of 5)

2008: interfaith conference in Mecca to showcase Islam’s encouragement of peaceful coexistence

Palestine: two factions

Fatah: Supports “two-state” solution with Israel

Hamas: Calls for destruction of Israel

2014: Islamic State [IS], violent militant group, rose to power

Offshoot of Al Qaeda

Controls territories in Iraq and Syria

Increasing tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims

U.S. “war on terrorism” has brought an increase in acts of terrorism.

Islam for the future

Global conferences to formulate unified response to current issues

Sunnis and Shi’as: differences are not matters of religious doctrine but historical conflict over leadership

Many feel that extremism undermines Islam

Media focus on sensational manifestations of Islam