Muhammad
–> Greatest and last prophet
• at age 40 received first revelations from Allah through angel Gabriel
• 3 years later he began to publicly preach
•
Prophets
Jesus, Abraham, and Muhammad are all great prophets who have received revelation from Allah
Hegira
Muhammad’s flight from Mecca & an assassination plot
Islam
- Youngest and one of the largest world religions
- one billion adherents
- dominant religion in developing nations in the Middle East
- Monotheistic
Pre-Islamic religion
–> Arabs
• animistic (believing that spirits and gods resided in stones, trees, etc.)
•
Kaaba
- cube shaped building in Mecca toward which Muslims pray 5x a day
- “Grand Mosque”
- built by Abraham
- served as a center of worship for pre-Islamic Arabs and was reputed to contain 360 idols
- Muhammad removed all the idols except the black stone
Zoroastrianism
• one supreme God called Ahura Mazda
• dualisitic — 2 spirits emanate from Ahura Mazda (1 good, 1 evil)
1) Spenta Mainyu (good)
2)Angra Mainyu (evil)
Koran
- Record of the revelations that Muhammad received
- divided into 114 chapters of varying lengths called Surahs
- Surahs = organized by the lengths (longest to shortest)
- Koran emphasizes that Allah is the only God and that he is complete, eternal, and undivided
- Koran = believed to be a copy of the tablets in heaven (the Well Preserved Book)
Other theistic religions are just incomplete
- Muhammad taught that Allah was the same God as in Judaism and Christianity
- Islam doesn’t deny the other religions validity, it views them as incomplete
- says that Jesus and Abraham both had visions and had partial truth, but Muhammad has the final and full true revelation from Allah…
Medianans conflict with Mecca
- Ended in 630 when Muhammad led a conquering force of 10,000 men into the city of Mecca
- destroyed the idols in the Kaaba
Mosque
- House of prayer
* led in prayer by a Imam and followed by a sermon
Five Pillars
1) repetition of the creed (Shahadah)
2) daily prayer 5x facing Mecca
3) almsgiving
4) fasting during Ramadan
5) pilgrimage to Mecca
Shahadah
Islamic confession of faith: “There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”
- saying it makes you a Muslim
- it is the first phrase a Muslim child hears
Daily prayer 5x
Facing Mecca
Dawn, midday, mid-afternoon, sunset, & nightfall
Almsgiving
- begging is not looked upon as dishonorable
* a charitable tax is obligatorily taken out of ones wealth each year
Fasting during Ramadan
- in remembrance of the Prophet’s first revelation
- Muslims are expected to abstain from food, drink, and sex during the daylight hours
- those who complete the fast will have their sins forgiven by Allah
Hajj
• a word for the pilgrimage to Mecca
Saladin
- famous Muslim hero
- captured the city of Jerusalem
- led Muslims to victory so many times against the Crusaders
- reputation as a great chivalrous knight
2 major denominations of Islam
Sunni
Shia (Shiite)
Sunni Muslims
- 90% of Muslims = Sunni
- base their practice on the literal word of the Koran
- consider themselves the guardians of Islamic orthodoxy and tradition
Shiite Muslims
- biggest majority is in Iran
- split with mainstream Islam over the question of who should be Muhammad’s successor. Although it was started for political reasons, it has since evolved into a theological division as well
- believe that Muhammad named Ali his successor
- believe in divinely inspired figures called imams
- believe in the coming of a messiah figure
Hadith
- literature found outside the Scripture
- used often by scholars to clarify legal questions
- expands on the basic teachings of the Koran
Bahai
- began as a sect of Shiite Islam, but now is a separate religion and is rejected by many Muslims as heretic
- teaches that all religions come from the same source and that all the prophets received a partial message from one God
Sufi movement
- mystical unit with God through a simple, austere life
- Mystics
- consuming interest = union with God now rather than after death
- sometimes accused as heretics….
