IslamOrigins and Basic Principles

Courtyard of the Great Mosque at Herat, Afghanistan. Photo: http://www.islamicity.com/

Origins

• Arabia (Mecca & Medina)• 7th century• Pre-Islamic Religious Life• Muhammad the Prophet

• Born about 570 C.E. in Mecca. Died 632.• Member of the Quraysh tribe• Messenger of God: About 610 C.E.

receives visit from angel Gabriel and begins recitation (the Qur’an)

Basis of Islam: Qur’an, Sunna, & Hadith

• Qur’an • Word of God (Not

Muhammad)• One god• Ethical

monotheism: God as just & judging

• Oral & written• Most authoritative

source of Islamic doctrine & practice

• Hadith• Based on Sunna:

custom of the Prophet

• Hadith: customs in written form

• Confirm, extends, elaborates on the Qur’an

Doctrines & Pillars of Islam

• Five main pillars of Islam• Shahada (faith)

• “There is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God.”

• Prayer (salat), 5 times a day at set times

• Almsgiving (zakat)• Fasting (sawm)

during Ramadan• Pilgrimage to Mecca

(Hajj)

• 5 main doctrines of Islam• Faith in the unity of

God• Angels as helpers of

god• Belief in the

scriptures & the prophets

• Final judgment• Divine decree

(predestination)

The spread of Islam

• Muhammad’s migration to Medina (Hijra) 620 C.E.

• Return to Mecca, 620 C.E.; city converts to Islam

• Muslim conquests 630s-720s• North of Arabia

(present-day Syria, Iraq, etc)

• Egypt 640 C.E.• North Africa 655 C.E.• Spain 718 C.E. The Great Mosque , Cordoba, Spain.

(Built 784-6 , 961-6 , 987-90 , and other restorations). Photo: IslamiCity.

Expansion of Islam: Major Cities

Map: Thomson/Wadsworth

Current Distribution of the World’s Religions

Map: Thomson/Wadsworth

Major subtypes of Islam: Sunnism & Shi’ism

• Emerged in the late 7th c. through political divisions over leadership of the Muslim community

• Differences in belief:• Shiite belief in the

Imamate: leadership of the Muslim community through familial connection to the Prophet

• About 85% of the world’s Muslims are Sunni

A young Shiite woman of Iraq worshipping at the end of the Ashura holiday commemorating the death of Hussein in 680 C.E.

Sufism

• Islamic mysticism: emphasis on spiritual interpretations of Islam

• Emphasis on God’s love, piety, simplicity, informality, the “inner way” (tariqa)

• Organized into Sufi orders (tariqat)

• “Dance, as though no one is watching,Love, as though you've never been hurt before,Sing, as though no one can hear you,Work, as though you don't need the money,Live, as though heaven is on earth.”~Jalal al-Din Rumi~

Miniature painting of Rumi by Hossein Behzad

Other topics

• Sharia Law• 4 Sunni “schools”of Jurisprudence

• Jihad (Striving)• The Status of Women• Islam & Science

An astrolabe, developed by Muslim scientists in the 7th century.

University Mosque at al-Azhar, established in 969 in Cairo & one of the oldest universities in the world.