Introduction to Islam Aunali khaku

8/14/2019 Introduction to Islam Aunali khaku

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Islam


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Islam Today

Fastest growing religion in the world

1.3 Billion worldwide

Indonesia (200 M) > India (180 M) > Pakistan (160 M) >

Bangladesh (120 M) > China (80 M) > Egypt (70 M)

Asian > African > Arab > Anglo-Saxon/Caucasian

7 M Muslims in the USA, 3M are Arabs (roughly half of the Arab

Americans are Christians)

10,000 Muslims in the Lehigh Valley

Yet Islam remains the most misunderstood religion


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Intro

Islam means submission to One God

root word slm same root forpeace.

Peace is attained through completeobedience/submission to God.

Muslims believe in one God and inMuhammad as the final Prophet of God.


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Byzantine

Empire *Persian

Empire

An Arabian

dynastyAn Arabian

dynasty *


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570 Muhammad born in Mecca.

610 First revelation (27 Ramadan).

622 Hijra Muhammad & followers escape prosecution

and go to madinah (Yathrib).

Year 1 in the Islamic calendar

Missionaries sent all over Arabia

building peaceful coalition

(Wars imposed on fledgling Muslim community by Mecca

629 Muhammad re-enters Mecca peacefully (NO REVENGE)

Forgives all enemies destroys idols in the Qaaba.

single-handedly, brings peace to war-torn Arabia

632 Muhammad dies in Madinah.

Timeline


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Islam by the death of Mohammed 632


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Islam at 644


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732, 100 Yrs after Mohammed


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Beliefs

Tawhid: Unity (Oneness) of God

Adalah: Justice of God

Nubuwwah: Prophethood

Imamah: Shiite Belief

Qiyamah: (day of resurrection)


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Tawhid

Monotheism (central tenet of Islam)

Shahadah: None worthy of worship but God

Allah = God (same word used by Christian Arabs)

Allah (Arabic) = Eluhim (Hebrew) = El (Aramaic)


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Justice of God

God can not be unjust because he is

independent and above need

Islamic Philosophical thought (falasafa)

(Free will/Predestination)


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Prophets

Acknowledges Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac,

Jacob, Joseph, Moses,David, Solomon, Zacharia, Jesus,

John the Baptist, and others asprophets

A special place for Jesus and Mary (e.g., 3:45,46; 4:156-

158; 19:1-98) (entire chapter dedicated to and titled Mary)

Accepts Miraculous birth of Jesus.

Rejects the divinity of Jesus (no trinity).


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Jesus in Islam

"Behold! the angel said: 'God has chosen

you and purified you and has chosen you

above the women of all nations. O Mary!God gives you the good news of a word

from Him, whose name shall be Messiah,

Jesus son of Mary, honored in this worldand the hereafter, and one of those

brought near to God" (3:42).


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Quraiysh

Qussaiy

Abdmanaf

Abdshams Hashem

(Amneh+) Abdallah Abutalib Hamzeh Alabbas Abulahab Alhareth

(661-750) (750-1258)

Muhammad Ali

Adbelmuttalib

Ummayah Dynasty Abbbassides Dynasty

Abraham

Ismail

Adnan


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Relation with other Faiths

Quran is the only holy book that mentions other

religions/faith (Judeo-Christian and others as well)

Jews and Christians are respectfully addressed as People

of the Book

Islam sees itself as a continuation of the Judeo-Christian

tradition (Abrahamic faith)

Muslim Law (sharia) resembles the Halaga


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Other Faiths

Islam sees itself as a continuation of the Judeo-Christian Tradition:

"Say, we believe in God, and that which wasrevealed unto usand that which was revealedunto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and

Jacob, and the tribes and that which was

entrusted unto Moses and Jesus and theProphets from their Lord.We make nodistinction between any of them, and unto Himwe have submitted" (3:84).


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Islam did not impose itself by the sword.

"There must be no compulsion/coercion in religion"(2: 256) Muslims have to respect Jews and Christians, the "People of the Book,"

who worship the same God (e.g., 2:62; 29:46). "And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better,

unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong: but say, 'We believe in

the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down

to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one; and it is to Him we bow. In one of his last public sermons Muhammad said

God tells all human beings, "O people! We have formed you into nations

and tribes so that you may know one another" (49: 13). Do not conquer,

convert, subjugate, revile or slaughter but to reach out toward otherswith

intelligence and understanding

The Levant remained mainly Christian for almost 200 Yrs. No one was forced to convert to Islam

The right of all faiths to worship was respected

Sites of worship, holy places and shrines of all faiths were protected

Relation with other Faiths


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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

....I became more than ever convinced that it was not thesword that won a place for Islam in those days in thescheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-

effacement of the prophet, the scrupulous regard for hispledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers,his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in Godand in his own mission. These, and not the sword carriedeverything before them and surmounted every trouble.

[Young India (periodical), 1928, Volume X]


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Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) Considered the greatest

British historian of his time.

"The greatest success of Mohammad's life

was effected by sheer moral force without

the stroke of a sword."

[History Of The Saracen Empire, London,

1870]


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Resurrection (Afterlife)

Notion of responsibility for Human action

Good rewarded and Evil Punished


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Practice

Salah: 5 times daily prayer

Saum: Fasting

Hajj: Pilgrimage to Meccah

Zakat: Religious Tax

Jihad: Striving for the Good


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Salah: Prayer

Shade from the storm of daily life

Can be offered individually or in congregation (sense of

community/unity and equality of all people)

In the mosque when the call for prayer is sounded andworshippers are gathered together, the democracy of Islamis embodied five times a day when the peasant and king

kneel side by side and proclaim: "God Alone is Great." Ihave been struck over and over again by this indivisibleunity of Islam that makes man instinctively a brother.

Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) the first woman governor of

free India


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Saum: Fasting

Refrain from food and drink during the day

Struggle to refrain from all sins

(spirituality)

Nights spent in prayer/contemplation

Inculcates Discipline, appreciation for

Gods bounties, understanding the plight of

the poor


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Hajj: Pilgrimage

Once in a Lifetime: Meccah

Re-enactment of the story of Hagar and Ishmael

Unity of all mankind

Intense spirituality (Plains of Arafat)

Malcolm X: white, black, brown, red, and yellow people,blue eyes and blond hairall together, brothers! Allhonoring the same Godall in turn giving equal honor toeach other." (Malcolm X, 323)


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Zakah: Tax

Mandatory tax on wealth to benefit poor

In addition to voluntary charity/sadaqah

Social Justice


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Quran revealed in the context of an all-out war imposed on early

Muslims by Meccans, and many passages deal with the conduct

of armed struggle.

While one finds "slay[enemies] wherever you find them!"(e.g., 4: 89),

in almost every case it is followed by something like "if they let you be,

and do not make war on you, and offer you peace, God does not allow you

to harm them"(2:90; 4: 90; 5: 2; 8: 61; 22: 39)

Since good and evil cannot be equal, repel thou evil with something that isbetter, and love he between whom and thy self was enmity may then become

as though he had always been close unto thee, a true friend" (41:34)

God does not allow harm of civilian, and requests the protection of women,

children and the elderly during war (4:96; 9: 91; 48: 16,17)

If any one slew a person--unless it be for murder or for spreading mischiefin the land--it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if anyone saved

a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.(5:32)

You shall feed and protect prisoners of war, and you shall not expect a

reward (4: 25,36; 5:24)

Thus, the only permissible war in the Quran is one of self-defense, you

cannot kill unarmed (civilians), and you have to protect prisoners of war

Jihad and the Conduct of War


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Charity, Charity, Charity .

On top of the Zakat. Help the orphan, the poor, the ill, the lost, the homeless,

the elderly Endless times in the Quran (16 times in Chapters 2-5 alone)

Freedom, Integrity, Equality, Justice .

Endless commands for justice in the Quran (e.g., 2: 282; 6; 152)

O mankind, Weve created you from a male and a female and have madeyou nations and tribes that you may know and interact with each other.

The noblest of you in the sight of God is the best in conduct(49:13).

No Arab is privileged over non-Arab but by his or her conduct(Hadith)

All people are equal like the teeth of a comb (Hadith)

You are not considered faithful in the sight of God unless you like foryour brother(read, others) what you like for yourself (Hadith)

when you are greeted with a greeting of peace, answer with an even

better greeting, or at least the like thereof" (4: 86).

Social Justice and Human Rights


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Social Justice

Sarojini Naidu

(1879-1949) the first woman governor of freeIndia.

Sense of justice is one of the most wonderful idealsof Islam...

It was the first religion that preached and practiceddemocracy

[Speeches And Writings Of Sarojini Naidu, Madras,1918, pp. 167-9]


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Social Justice

Arnold J. Toynbee

(1889-1975) British historian, Lecturer at Oxford

University."The extinction of race consciousness as betweenMuslims is one of the outstanding achievements ofIslam, and in the contemporary world there is, as it

happens, a crying need for the propagation of thisIslamic virtue."

[Civilization On Trial, New York, 1948, p. 205]


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The Quran is the only Holy book to explicitly state that women have equal rights as

men (2:228) Eliminated pre-Islamic discriminatory practices (e.g. burying daughters)

Gave women rights (marriage, education, hijab, divorce, inheritance) 1400 yrs ago.

Limited the number of wives a man can marry (only book to say marry only one)

Treat women with kindness and respect their rights as equal to men

All commands/promises of rewards addressed explicitly to both men and women

The hijab or head scarf

Modest dress apply to women and men equally (Quran and Hadith).

Most Muslim women wear Hijab voluntarily (a liberating experience)

Women are not re uired to cover their faces.

Women in Islam


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Annie Besant

(1847-1933) British theosophist and nationalist leader in India. President

of the Indian

National Congress in 1917.

I often think that woman is more free in Islamthan in Christianity. Woman is more protected byIslam than by the faith which preaches

monogamy. In Al-Quran the law about woman ismore just and liberal. It is only in the last twentyyears that Christian England, has recognized theright of woman to property, while Islam hasallowed this right from all times.

[The Life and Teachings of Muhammad, Madras,1932, pp. 25, 26]


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Bertrand Russell

(1872-1970) British philosopher, mathematician, and Nobel laureate,

whose emphasis on logical analysis greatly influenced the course of 20th-

century philosophy.

"Our use of the phrase 'the Dark Ages' to cover the

period from 699 to 1,000 marks our undueconcentration on Western Europe From India to

Spain, the brilliant civilization of Islam flourished.

What was lost to Christendom at this time was not

lost to civilization, but quite the contrary To usit seems that West-European civilization is

civilization; but this is a narrow view."


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Jared Diamond

Professor of Physiology at the UCLA School of Medicine; recipient of the

Pulitzer Prize

for General Non-Fiction in 1998.

Medieval Islam was technologically advanced and opento innovation. It achieved far higher literacy rates thanin contemporary Europe; it assimilated the legacy ofclassical Greek civilization to such a degree that many

classical books are now known to us only through Arabiccopies. It invented windmills, trigonometry, lateen sailsand made major advances in metallurgy, mechanical andchemical engineering and irrigation methods. In themiddle-ages the flow of technology was overwhelmingly

from Islam to Europe rather from Europe to Islam. Onlyafter the 1500's did the net direction of flow begin toreverse.

[Guns, Germs, and Steel - The Fates of Human Societies,

1997, p. 253]


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Medicine and Pharmacy


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Medicine and Pharmacy

Institutionalized and regulated the practice of Medicine and Pharmacy The modern concept of clinics

Board exams and license to practice. Regulatory boards (FDA's) Classification of plants and Algae for their medical use, and outlined

possible side effects (PDRs)

Hospitals:

Tens, including specialized, in each of Baghdad, Qurtoba, and Damascus.

Mobile hospitals for emergency.

Departments and University Hospitals.

Patients records and vital signs, urine tests, family history.

Surgery:

Threads from animals intestine.

Opium and Hashish for Anesthesia. Alcohol as disinfectant.

Treatment of cataract, and removal of kidney and gallbladder stones

Autopsy

Students training (Anatomy)

Cause of death


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Arabic terms and methods of preparation for Alkali, Alcohol, Tartarate

Discovered and prepared in pure form 28 elements (Ibn Elhaytham)

The processes of crystallization, fermentation, distillation, sublimation,

Preparation of acids (H2SO4, HCl, HNO3) and bases (NaOH)

Light travels in straight lines. Laws of refraction, reflection and illusion of light.

Eluded to the Magnetic properties of some objects

Chemistry and Physics


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Astrology (myth) Astronomy (science)

Movement, path, and location of planets and stars

The Asturlab

Earth is spherical and rotates along its axis and around the sun.

Calculated earth circumference (Albairuni)

Calculated the time needed for one rotation around the sun (solar year), with

an error of 2 22 only (Albattani)

Calculated the equinoxes

Current names of most constellations, and many stars are from Arabic

Some known astronomists:

Alkindy (9th Century)

Albattani (9th Century) Ibn-elhaytham (11th Century)

Thabit Ibn Qarra

Almajreeti

Astronomy


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Important Holidays

Eid Al-adhaa (the sacrifice)

Symbolizes Abraham attempt to sacrifice his son Ishmael by Gods request.

Should sacrifice an animal and give the food to the poor.

The pilgrimage to Mecca

Eid al Fitr Observed at the end of the holy month of Ramadan (the fasting month)

Al-israa/ meraj Symbolizes the ascending, in Jerusalem, of Mohammed's soul to heaven

The Birthday of Muhammad

Ashuraa (Shia)


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Suggested Reading


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Authors: Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Karen Armstrong,

William Chittick, Sachiko Murata,John Esposito

Abdallah Yusuf Ali (Translation of Quran)

Islam, An Empire of Faith, PBS Video, 2001

Websites:www.al-islam.org

http://www.quran.org.uk http://it-is-truth.org/

www.uga.edu/islam

www.islamway.com

www.islamicity.com

Suggested Reading
http://www.islamicity.com/http://www.islamway.com/http://www.uga.edu/islamhttp://it-is-truth.org/http://it-is-truth.org/http://it-is-truth.org/http://www.quran.org.uk/http://www.quran.org.uk/http://www.al-islam.org/


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Introduction to Islam Aunali khaku

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