Islam Lecture 1 Nov 21

8/13/2019 Islam Lecture 1 Nov 21

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Islam, Submission and Serving Allah

"Righteous is he who believes in Allah and the Last Day

and the Angels and the Scriptures and the Prophets.-- Qur'an 2:177


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Islam: An Introduction

Islamis a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion articulated by the Qur'an,a book considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of Allah (God),and by the teachings and normative example (called the Sunnah) ofMuhammad, considered by Muslims to be the last prophet of God. An

adherent of Islam is called a Muslim.

The Arabic word islammeans "submission," reflecting the religion's centraltenet of submitting to the will of God. Believers demonstrate submission toGod by serving God, following his commands, and rejecting polytheism.

Islamic practices are defined by the Five Pillars of Islam: Shahadah(faith),Salat(prayer), Sawm(fasting), Zakat(alms), and Hajj(pilgrimage).

With about 1.57 billion followers (23% of global population), Islam is thesecond-largest religion only to Christianity and one of the fastest-growing

religions in the world.


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Islam: An Introduction

Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable and thepurpose of existence is to submit to and serve God. Muslims alsobelieve that Islam is the complete and universal version of a

primordial faith that was revealed at many times and places

before, including through Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses andJesus, whom they consider prophets. They maintain that theprevious messages and revelations have been partiallymisinterpreted or altered over time, but consider the Arabic

Qur'an to be both the unaltered and the final revelation of God.

Religious concepts and practices include the Five Pillars of Islam, whichare basic concepts and obligatory acts of worship, and following Islamic

law, which touches on virtually every aspect of life and society, providingguidance on multifarious topics from banking and welfare, to warfare and

the environment.


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Six Articles of Faith

Based on the sacred narratives of the Qur'an and other texts (which wewill discuss), Muslim doctrine is often summarized in "Six Articles ofFaith" that unite most Muslims. To be a Muslim one must believe in:

the reality of one God(Allah); the existence of the angelsof God; the authority of the books of God (revelation), especially the

Qur'an;

The prophetsof God, especially Muhammad; The Day of Judgment (or the afterlife); and The supremacy of God's will (or predestination).

!Allah has the knowledge of all that will happen;! Muslims believe that this doesn't stop human beings making

free choices.


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Six Articles of Faith: Allah

Islam's most fundamental concept is a rigorous monotheism,called tawhid. God is described in chapter 112 of the Qur'an as:"Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; Hebegetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto

Him."(112:1-4)

Muslims and Jews repudiate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity anddivinity of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism.

In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension and Muslims are notexpected to visualize God. God is described and referred to by certainnames or attributes, the most common beingAl-Rahman, meaning"The Compassionate" andAl-Rahim, meaning "The Merciful.


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Generally,Allahis the term with no plural or gender used by Muslimsand Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews to reference God. Other non-Arab Muslims might use different names as much as Allah, for instance"Tanri" in Turkish, "Khoda" in Persian or Xudain Urdu.

According to Islamic belief, Allah is not only the proper nameof God,Allahis the supreme and all-comprehensive divinename, and all other divine names are believed to refer back to

Allah.

The heart of faith for all Muslims is obedience and humble submissionto Allahs will; following divine ordinances and commandmentsdescribes the pivot of the Muslim faith.


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Islam emphasizes that God is strictly singular (tawhid), unique (wahid)and inherently One (ahad):

Allah is eternal, omniscient, and omnipotent; Allah has always existed and will always exist; Allah knows everything that can be known; Allah can do anything that can be done; Allah has no shape or form; Allah can't be seen; Allah can't be heard; Allah is neither male nor female; Allah is just; Allah rewards and punishes fairly; But Allah is also merciful.


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Allah = The one and only God

! All Muslims believe that God is one alone;! There is only one God;! God has no children, no parents, and no partners;! God was not created by a being;! There are no equal, superior, or lesser Gods;

As we will discuss next week, this stressing of the God asabsolutely One is often highlighted as a central dividing mark

between Islam and Christianity.


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For Muslims, the Quran is the most important source ofknowledge about God. In a popular verse called the "ThroneVerse" (surah 2.255), the Quran describes God in this way:

God, there is no god but He, the living, the self-subsistent.Slumber takes Him not, nor sleep. His is what is in theheavens and what is in the earth. Who is it that intercedes

with Him save by His permission? He knows what is before

them and what behind them, and they comprehend notaught of His knowledge but of what He pleases. His throneextends over the heavens and the earth, and it tires Him notto guard them both, for He is high and grand.


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Muslims believe that the creation of everything in theuniverse was brought into being by Gods sheer command,Be and so it is, and that the purpose of existence is

to worship and serve God. Allah is viewed as a personalGod who responds whenever a person in need or distresscalls him. There are no intermediaries, such as clergy, tocontact God who states, "I am nearer to him than (his)jugular vein." The reciprocal nature is mentioned in theHadith Qudsi (Sacred Hadith, a sub-category of hadithwhich are sayings of Muhammad): "I am as My servantthinks (expects) I am."


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Six Articles of Faith: Angels

Belief in angels is fundamental to the faith of Islam. TheArabic word for angel (malak) means "messenger", like its

counterparts in Hebrew (malakh) and Greek (angelos).

In Islam, it is believed that angels have been created out of

light, before the creation of humans from clay/earth. They aredescribed as "messengers with wingstwo, or three, or four

(pairs): He [God] adds to Creation as Hepleases..." [Quran 35:1]

Angels are genderless and do not require sleep, food, ordrink.


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Angels do not possess free will they arenaturally obedient creatures, worshipping Allahand carrying out His commands in total

obedience.

The Quran says, "They do not disobey Allah'scommands that they receive; they do precisely whatthey are commanded" (Quran 66:6).


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In Arabic, angels are called mala'ika, which means "to assistand help." The Quran describes that angels have been

created to worship Allah and carry out His commands:

"Everything in the heavens and every creature on the earthprostrates to Allah, as do the angels. They are not puffed up

with pride. They fear their Lord above them and doeverything they are ordered to do" (16:49-50). Angels are

involved in carrying out duties in both the unseen and

physical worlds.

Angels' duties include communicating revelations from God,glorifying God, recording every person's actions, and taking a

person's soul at the time of death.


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In Islam, there is no concept of "fallen" angels, as it is inthe nature of angels to be faithful servants of Allah. Theyhave no free choice to disobey.

Unseen beings who do have free choice, and who are oftenconfused with "fallen" angels, are calledjinn(demons). Themost famous of the jinn is Iblis, who is also known as

Shaytan(Satan). Muslims believe that Satan is adisobedient jinn who refused to bow to Adam, not a"fallen" angel.


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Six Articles of Faith: Revelation

Muslims believe that God (Allah) has sent guidancethrough His prophets and messengers.Among them,several have also brought books of revelation. Muslims therefore

believe in the Gospel of Jesus, the Psalms of David, the Torah ofMoses, and the Scrolls of Abraham. However, the Quran which

was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad is the only book ofrevelation which remains in its complete and unaltered form.

The Islamic holy books are thus records which most Muslimsbelieve were dictated by God to various prophets. Muslimsbelieve that parts of the previously revealed scriptures, theTawrat(Torah) and the Injil(Gospels), had become distorted

either in interpretation, in text, or both.


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The Qur'an (literally, Reading or Recitation) is viewed byMuslims as the final revelation and literal word of God and iswidely regarded as the finest piece of literature work in the Arabiclanguage.

Muslims believe that the verses of the Qur'an were revealed toMuhammad by God through the archangel Gabriel (Jibril) on manyoccasions between 610 CE until his death on June 8, 632 CE. WhileMuhammads revelations were written down by his companions

(sahabah), the prime method of transmission was orally throughmemorization.

In fact, Muslims usually view "the Qur'an" as the original scripture asrevealed in Arabic and that any translations are necessarily deficient,

which are regarded only as commentaries on the Qur'an.


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The Qur'an's name is derived from the Gabriel's initialcommand to Muhammad to "Recite!" Recitation is a

fundamental concept associated with the Qur'an. The first

followers of the Prophet memorized his recitation in order torecite it to others, following an established Arabic method for

preserving poetry.

The revelation was put in writing shortly after Muhammad'sdeath to preserve the content from corruption, but it is still

regarded as most authentic when recited aloud. Professional

reciters of the Qur'an (qurra') are held in very high esteem,and have often been influential in deciding matters of doctrine

or policy.


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The Qur'an is divided into 114 suras (or surah), orchapters, which combined, count 6,236 ayat, or verses,contains interspersed themes describing God's nature,

guidance for daily living, stories from history and theirmoral messages, inspiration for believers, and warnings fordisbelievers.

The chronologically earlier suras, revealed at Mecca, areprimarily concerned with ethical and spiritual topics. Thelater Medinan suras mostly discuss social and moral issuesrelevant to the Muslim community.


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Each sura has a heading, which usually incorporates the following elements:

! A title (e.g. "The Bee," "The Cow") taken from a prominent word in theSura, but one that does not usually represent its overall contents;

! The basmalah, a formula prayer (e.g. "In the name of God the Merciful, theCompassionate");

! An indication as to whether it was received at Mecca or Medina;! The number of verses in the Sura;! In 29 of the Suras, fawatih, or "detached letters" of unclear significance.

They may be abbreviations, initials of owners of early manuscripts, or have

some esoteric meaning.

The verses (ayat, "signs") also vary in length, with the shortest usually found inthe earlier suras. In these verses, the form closely resembles the rhymed prose

of the seers (kahins) of Muhammad's time. The later verses are more detailedand less poetic.


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Most of the Qur'an is written in the first person plural, with Godas the speaker. When Muhammad himself speaks, his words areintroduced by "Say," to clarify he is being commanded by Allah

to speak.

The science of Qur'anic commentary and exegesis is known astafsir. Rules governing proper pronunciation is called tajwid.

The Qur'an is more concerned with moral guidance than legalinstruction, and is considered the sourcebook of Islamic

principles and values. Muslim jurists consult the hadith, or thewritten record of Prophet Muhammad's life, to both supplement

the Qur'an and assist with its interpretation.


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Islamic holy booksare the texts which Muslims believe were authoredby God to various prophets throughout humanity's history.All these books,in Muslim belief, promulgated the code and laws that God ordained forthose people. As we just discussed, Muslims believe the Quran to be the

final revelation of God's word to man, and a completion and confirmationof previous scriptures.

Yet despite the primacy that Muslims place upon the Qur'an as God's finalword, Islam speaks of respecting all the previous scriptures; belief in all

the revealed books is an article of faith in Islam. The four revealed booksmentioned by name in the Qur'an are the Torah (revealed to Moses), theZabur (revealed to David), the Injil (Gospel, revealed to Jesus), and theQur'an itself.

There is also brief mention of The Suhuf-i-Ibrahim (Scrolls of Abraham/

Ibrahim), which have been lost due to the passage of time.


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The Quran mentions at least three main Islamic scriptureswhich came before the Quran by name:

! Tawrat (at-Tawrat): The Tawrat(Torah) was given tothe Prophet Musa (Moses). Like all revelation, it includedteachings about monotheism, righteous living, andreligious law. The Quran says: It is He Who sent downto you, in truth, the Book, confirming what went before

it. And He sent down the Law [of Moses] and the Gospel[of Jesus] before this, as a guide to mankind. And Hesent down the criterion [of judgment between right andwrong] (3:3)


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The Quran mentions at least three main Islamic scriptures whichcame before the Quran by name.

! Zabur (az-Zabur): The Quran mentions the Zabur, ofteninterpreted as being the Book of Psalms, as being the holyscripture revealed to the Prophet Dawud (King David): "...

and We preferred some of the prophets above others, and toDavid We gave the Psalms" (17:55). Not much is known

about this revelation, but Muslim tradition confirms that the

Psalms were recited much like poetry or hymns. The Arabicword "zabur" comes from a root word meaning song or music.

Muslims believe that all of Allah's prophets broughtessentially the same message, so it is understood that

the Psalms also contain praises of God, teachings

about monotheism, and guidance for righteous living.


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The Quran mentions at least three main Islamic scriptures which came before the Quranby name.

! Injil (al-Injil): According to the Qur'an, The Injil or Injeel (meaning Gospel) was theholy book revealed to Jesus, whom Muslims believe to be an honored prophet ofGod. Muslims believe that Jesus preached to his people about monotheism (the

Oneness of God) and how to live a righteous life. Muslims believe that Jesus puremessage has been lost, mixed with others interpretations of his life and teachings.Muslims believe that only the actual words of Jesus were divinely inspired," yet theyhave not been preserved in writing.

Although many lay Muslims believe the Injil refers to the entire New Testament,

scholars point out that it refers not to the New Testament but to an original Gospel,given to Jesus (Isa) as the word of God"theGospel was the message that Jesus,

being divinely inspired, preached to the Children of Israel. The current canonicalGospels, in the belief of Muslim scholars, are not divinely revealed but rather aredocuments of the life of Jesus, as written by various contemporaries, disciples andcompanions. These Gospels contain portions of the teachings of Jesus, but neitherrepresent nor contain the original Gospel (a single book written not by a human but

by God) which has been corrupted and/or lost.

Islam Lecture 1 Nov 21

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