What Every Christian Should Know about Islam fileThe Early Development of Islam While alive, Muhammad had sent messengers to Arabian tribes requiring submission to Allah and they all

What Every Christian Should Know about IslamPart 2

The Founding of Islam

The Qu’ran © 2016 George E. Blanford Jr.

The Early Development of Islam While alive, Muhammad had sent

messengers to Arabian tribes requiring submission to Allah and they all did

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Kuhafa as-Siddiq, an early convert, was the first Caliph (replacement or vicar) from 632-634

He was succeeded by Umar ibn Khattab(634-644) and expansion outside Arabia began while he was Caliph

The fourth Caliph was Ali ibn Abi Talib(d. 661), the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet

His martyrdom and disagreement over his successor led to the Sunni-Shi’itesplit in Islam

Imam Ali Mosque, Najaf, Iraq. It is considered Islam’s 3rd holiest shrine by Shi’a Muslims

Sunni and Shi’a Muslims Shi’ites insisted that leaders must be descendents of the Prophet

whereas Sunnis did not agree. The first 4 Caliphs were relatives of Muhammad

Shi’ite leaders are known as imams

After Imam Hussein, Ali’s son and leader of the Shi’a, was killed in the Battle of Karbala in 680. The split now became permanent.

The shrines of Imam Hussein (left) and Imam Abbas in Karbala, Iraq

The Shrine of Imam Hussein

Sunni and Shi’aMuslims

The “Seveners” or Ismailis are Shi’ites who recognize 7 imams. They live today primarily in Pakistan and India

The “Twelvers” are Shi’ites who recognize 12 imams. The son of the 11th imam went into occultation and will reappear in the future. They live today primarily in Iraq and Iran

Sunni Muslims constitute 80-85% of Muslims today

The world community of all Muslims is known as the Umma

The shrine of Imam Abbas, Hussein’s loyal half-brother, who was

also killed in the Battle of Karbala

Major Populated Areas of Sunni and Shi’a MuslimsThe Dar al-Islam (Household of Submission) are territories governed by Muslims under Shar’iah law

Sufis• Sufism is a old movement within both Sunni and

Shi’a Islam

– It is a mystical movement in which personal experience and absorption into the Divine are important

– Some Sufis, in a meditative trance, do a spinning dance and are known as whirling dervishes

– Consists of different orders (tariqah)

– Sufism has pushed the bounds of orthodox Islam and has often been persecuted and its followers martyred

– Beginning in the 19th century, Islamic reformers tended to view Sufi practice as backwards, superstitious, and a cause for why Islam has not prospered in the modern era

– The poet Rumi (1207-1273) is one of the best known Sufis

Whirling Dervishes

Wahhabis• Wahhabism is a conservative 18th century reform

movement of Sunni Islam founded by Muhammad ibnAbd-al-Wahhab (1703–1792)

– It is a fundamentalist movement and its philosophy and practices are stern and austere

– With the support of the House of Saud, it is the official Islam of Saudi Arabia

– It is also the dominant form of Islam in Kuwait, Qatar, and in pockets of Somalia, Algeria, and Mauritania

– The leaders of al-Qaeda are Wahhabis, but this does not imply that Wahhabis generally support al-Qaeda

Muslims in America There are 2-7 million Muslims in America

■ It is one of the fastest growing religions in America

■ More than half of the Muslim population consists in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation immigrants■ Political turmoil in their homelands is one of

the primary motivations for emigration today

■ American Muslims are from all forms of Islamic movements

■ Although Muslims can be found all across America, many have tended to form communities

■ Questions of identity, occupation, dress, and acculturation are particularly significant for many American Muslims

Muslim Mosques in America

Baitus Samee, Houston, TX

In 2010, there were 2106 mosques in America (166 in TX)

The oldest mosque still in use was built in 1914 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Muslim Calendar• Calendar of 12 lunar months

– Each month begins when a sliver of a crescent moon can be seen following New Moon– Since the mean synodic period of the moon is ~29.5 days, a Muslim year is only 12 x ~29.5

= ~354 days long– Unlike the Jewish and Chinese calendars, the Muslim calendar has no mechanism for

synchronizing with a solar year (~365.25 days)

• Muslim years begin with the year of the Hijra, Muhammad’s move from Mecca to Medina, and are designated by H or AH (anno Hegirae)

• Significant months– The year begins with the month of Muharram– Ramadan is the ninth month– ‘Eid al-Fitr is on 1 Shawwal (10th month)– The Hajj is from 8-10 Dhu al-Hijjah (12th month)– ‘Eid ul Adha is on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah

Holidays

• Muharram—New Year’s Day commemorates the Hijra

• ‘Eid al-Fitr—Feast of the Breaking of the Fast of Ramadan

– Begins when the month of Ramadan has ended

– Very joyous with house decorations, feasting and gift giving

• ‘Eid ul Adha—Feast of the Sacrifice

– Takes place during the Hajj

– Commemorates the sacrifice that Allah commanded Abraham to make of his son Ishmael (not Isaac as in the Judeo-Christian tradition)

– Theologically the more important feast, but emotionally ‘Eid al-Fitr is more important

• Lailat al-Miraj—Commemorates the Night of Ascent

– (27 Rahab, the 7th month)

Two major and two minor holidays

Islam• Remember that we are outsiders. Islam can never mean as

much to us as it does to believers

• For 14 centuries Islam has spiritually nourished hundreds of millions of people, giving them a way of life and a way to finding meaning in life, achieving holiness and encountering the Transcendent– Islam has produced saints, mystics, artists and beauty

• Islam is practiced across a large spectrum of cultures, geographies and languages– Whereas the essentials of Islam may be the same across time and space, it

is a living religion that shows differences across time, cultures and geographies

The Qur’an• The Qur’an is the considered the literal

word of Allah revealed to Muhammad by Gibra’il (Gabriel)– One would not quote the Qur’an beginning,

“Muhammad says . . .”

– The Qur’an is considered a miracle (Muhammad did not perform miracles—the Qur’an was the witness to his legitimacy as a prophet)

The Qur’an is God’s guide to humanity and Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets (2:185, 3:3, 33.40)

To those who question its authenticity, the Qur'an challenges them to produce a Surah like that of the Qur’an (2:23,10:37-38, 11:13, 52:33-34)

Artistic Giant Qur’an

The Qur’an

• Even though 85% of Muslims do not speak Arabic, it is the language they believe that Allah spoke to reveal it– Translations are considered interpretations and are

inherently inferior to the Qur’an in Arabic

– During prayers, the Qur’an is always recited in Arabic following complicated rules (tajwid)

– Hearing the sound of the Qur’an is a deep and powerful religious experience for Muslims

• The Qur’an has content, but, to a Muslim, it is a book with power beyond what it says

A Qur’an from Andalusia

The Qur’an

• The Qur’an is written in rhymed prose (saj’u)– This imposes a restraint on the language that makes the Qur’an

elliptical, i.e., a lot must be assumed before one can understand the text

– A tension exists between the meaning of the words and their sounds—both are important in a way that is foreign to us

The Blue Qur’an

The Qur’an• The Qur’an is about the length of the

New Testament with 114 Sura (chapters)– The Sura are roughly arranged by length and

not in the order of their revelation

– Each Surah, except 9, begins with the bismilla

• Muhammad received the revelation and then he recited it to his followers who memorized it– It is considered a virtue to memorize the Qur’an

• Smaller Surah were often revealed in their entirety whereas longer Surah were more often revealed piecemeal

The Qur’an• Copies of the Qur’an are often

produced with the text centered on the page and commentary written around it. Explanatory notes, especially of the historical setting of the revelation, and meanings of words are often included

• Muslims very early developed an elaborate and detailed method of interpreting the Qur’an

The Qur’an– One interpretation technique is naskh or

abrogation which Westerners find questionable

• Surah 4:82 indicates that there is no discrepancy in the Qur’an because a divine book cannot be self-contradictory

• Faced with the fact that some verses are not compatible with each other, a later verse is declared to be nasikh (abrogating) and the earlier verse to be mansukh (abrogated)

• Example: 4:10-11, which gives detailed instructions on apportioning inheritances, abrogates 2:180, which regulates inheritances in a general wayA Qur’an from Syria

The Qur’an• Each Surah has a traditional name

– Examples with animal names: “The Cow,” “The Spider,” “The Ant”

– Examples with names of Biblical people: “Jonah,” “Joseph,” “Abraham,” “Mary”

– Often, but not always, the name is suggested by the opening line of the Surah

– The Surah may not deal with the topic of the title

A Qur’an from Egypt

The Qur’an

• Stories about biblical persons are often different from those in the Bible– This led to early disagreements with Jews– Denial of the divinity and son ship of

Jesus Christ and even the fact of his crucifixion has led to contention with Christians

• To a Muslim, the Qur’an, Allah’s direct revelation, always takes precedence over other sources including the “Book” or Bible (Biblios is Greek for Book)

A Qur’an with Large Calligraphy