Islam: the Basic Facts [PRELIMINARY 1 and 2 UNIT (22 HOURS)]

10 Islam: The basic facts [PRELIMINARY 1 AND 2 UNIT (22 HOURS)] The very rst lesson that I learnt from the Qur’an was the message of unity and peace. YUSUF ISLAM (ENGLISH MUSICIAN FORMERLY KNOWN BY HIS STAGE NAME, CAT STEVENS) CHAPTER OVERVIEW In this chapter we will discuss: • The nature of the society and the religious practices of the Arabian Peninsula before the Prophet Muhammad • The signifi cant events in the life of the Prophet and why he is the model for a good Muslim life • The rapid development of Islam during and after the life of the Prophet • The rise of the Sunni and Shi’a Islam • The principal beliefs in Islam • The importance of the Qur’an (Koran) and the Hadith to Muslims • The sacred texts that highlight principal beliefs in Islam • The principal ethical teachings of Islam • Islamic jurisprudence • The importance of law and ethics to Muslims • The Five Pillars of the Islamic faith TIMELINE circa 570 CE Birth of Muhammad ibn Abdullah circa 555–619 CE Life of Khadijah bint Khuwaylid – Muhammad’s fi rst wife and the fi rst woman to convert to Islam 622 CE Prophet Muhammad leaves Mecca for Medina. This is called the Hijra and is dated year 1 of the Islamic calendar 613–78 CE Life of A’isha bint Abu Bakr – regarded as the Prophet’s favourite wife circa 605–32 CE Life of Fatima al-Zahra – the daughter of Muhammad 632 CE Death of the Prophet Muhammad; leadership of the Muslim community passes to the fi rst of the four caliphs in the immediate post-prophetic period 661 CE Caliphate becomes a monarchy under the Umayyad clan; centre of the Muslim community moved from Medina to Damascus 680 CE Death of Hussein (grandson of Muhammad through Ali and Fatima) circa 711 CE Muslim armies begin their conquest of Spain circa 732 CE Battles in south of France stop Muslim expansion into France and the rest of western Europe 750s CE Abdul (or Abd al-) Rahman, scion of the Ummayads, establishes a rival Caliphate in Cordoba, Spain, leading to 700-year rule of Muslims in southern Spain 223 ISBN 978-1-107-52668-6 © Christopher Hartney, Jonathan Noble 2016 Cambridge University Press Photocopying is restricted under law and this material must not be transferred to another party. P CAMBRIDGE STUDIES OF RELIGION 750 CE Caliphate passes to the Abbasid clan 762 CE Baghdad becomes the new capital for the Abbasid Dynasty 922 CE Execution of the mystic al-Hallaj, a Sufi , for allegedly proclaiming he was at one with Truth (God) 1095–99 CE Muslims defend themselves from constant attacks by Christian soldiers of the First Crusade in and around Jerusalem 1111 CE Death of al-Ghazali, one of Islam’s great philosophers of faith and reason 1200–1600s CE Islam arrives through trade routes to South-East Asia 1240 CE Death of Ibn Arabi, philosopher and mystic 1258 CE Baghdad is invaded by the Mongols; great libraries and many great works of culture are destroyed 1273 CE Death of the great Sufi poet Rumi 1390 CE Death of the Sufi poet Hafi z, to this day regarded highly in Iran 1453 CE Ottoman Turkish Muslim forces fi nally conquer the city of Constantinople. This signals the absolute end of the Roman Empire. The Ottoman Sultan of the Turks becomes Caliph or general protector of all Muslims 1492 CE Christian forces reassert total control over Spain. This leads to the subsequent expulsion or persecution of Muslims and Jews in Spain and the rise of the Spanish Inquisition 1792 CE Death of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab, leader of a revivalist movement in Arabia (known as the Wahhabis) 1800s CE onwards Muslim lands are increasingly colonised by European colonial powers, especially France and Britain 1897 CE Death of al-Afghani, promoter of a modern Islamic cultural revival 1922 CE Collapse of Ottoman Empire; the Sultan is deposed. The modern, secular state of Turkey is created. The Caliphate is terminated in 1924 1930 CE Famous Muslim thinker Muhammad Iqbal proposes a Muslim state in India 1947 CE Pakistan comes into being as a Muslim state after the partition of India 1979 CE Ayatollah Khomeini leads an Islamic revolution against the regime of the Shah of Iran, who was supported by the US 224 ISBN 978-1-107-52668-6 © Christopher Hartney, Jonathan Noble 2016 Cambridge University Press Photocopying is restricted under law and this material must not be transferred to another party. CHAPTER 10 ISLAM: THE BASIC FACTS P 10.1 INTRODUCTION Islam has become one of the most widespread ago in the Arabian Peninsula. Islam is the religious traditions in the modern world, but second-largest world religion. As it has spread is often misunderstood and misrepresented. throughout the world, it has taken a multitude Reasons for this may be the popular media of forms, as peoples of different regions have focus on terrorist activity and differing social adapted Islam to suit the demands of their customs and practices. By focusing on these own lives. Islam is more than a set of beliefs; it differences, the media often ignores the vast is a religion that involves every aspect of life, body of Islamic thought and tradition that has including daily ritual and prayer. developed since Islam was founded 1400 years 10.2 ORIGINS Pre-Islamic Arabia: the cultural The settlements that existed in the peninsula were engaged in pastoral, agricultural and and historical context of the rise trading activities. One major trading post of Islam of the peninsula was Mecca, Muhammad’s birthplace. Islam began in the Arabian Peninsula about 1400 years ago with its prophet Muhammad, Mecca (sometimes who lived in Mecca and then Medina. The social and religious Makka or Makkah) City in modern Before Islam, the Arabian Peninsula was conditions of Arabia Saudi Arabia where inhabited by Bedouin (or nomadic) tribes as Muhammad lived well as settled communities. The peninsula The most important social network among and received his was home to a wide range of religious peoples of the peninsula was their connection revelations; spiritual faiths including Judaism, Christianity, to their clan, family and tribe. A person’s centre of the Muslim Zoroastrianism and various kinds of identity and security was based on their world and focus of the polytheistic beliefs. Complicating this picture, membership of one of these clan groups. If Hajj someone in the clan was murdered, it was the the peninsula was bordered by the Byzantine Medina (Madinat al- empire in the north-west, the Sassanid empire responsibility of other clan members to avenge Nabiy) to the north-east and Yemenite rulers to the that death. The peninsula intermittently broke ‘City of the prophet’ south. out in blood feuds between the tribes, as each (also sometimes Madina or Madinah) is a few hundred kilometres north of Mecca; the Prophet Damascus N Mediterranean Sea Muhammad migrated there in 622 CE Bedouin Basra Arab desert nomad Alexandria Zoroastrianism A religion which is HEJAZ based on the idea that NEJO there is a continuous Persian Gulf ght between a EGYPT Medina god who represents r e good and a god who iv ARABIA R e represents evil il OMAN N Mecca Clan A small group of Red Sea HADRAMAUT families Tribe A group of clans YEMEN Arabian Sea Source 10.1 The Arabian 0 500 km Peninsula, showing the cities of Mecca and Medina 225 ISBN 978-1-107-52668-6 © Christopher Hartney, Jonathan Noble 2016 Cambridge University Press Photocopying is restricted under law and this material must not be transferred to another party. P CAMBRIDGE STUDIES OF RELIGION Source 10.2 The Mosque in Mecca, at INVESTIGATE night. The Ka’ba can be seen in the centre Access some of the following websites of the courtyard. via the links at http://cambridge.edu.au/ redirect/?id=5755, http://cambridge.edu. au/redirect/?id=5756 and http://cambridge. edu.au/redirect/?id=5757 to dig a bit deeper in researching Islam: Islam World; A brief illustrated guide to understanding Islam; and Islam.com. See also the Investigate box in the ‘Sacred texts and writings’ section later in this chapter. wealth. Muhammad’s rst wife, Khadijah, was an example of this. Ka’ba The Ka’ba (in Arabic ‘cube’) is Mecca’s Literally ‘cube’. A most sacred religious site. It is believed by building in Mecca Muslims to have been built much earlier by believed by Muslims to the prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael represent the presence of Allah (centuries before Muhammad) and renovated group took vengeance for the wrongs they from time to time. Muslims believe it was the Polytheism considered had been in icted on their clan. rst house of worship dedicated to the One Worship of many (poly) Pre-Islamic society is commonly referred God. Later in time it was used by polytheists. gods ( ) theos to by Muslims as the age of ignorance or Before Islam emerged, people in and around Age of ignorance Jahiliyyah. Women in this society were treated Mecca worshipped multiple gods and it is Islamic term for differently under different traditions held by reported that there were 360 idols placed in pre-Islamic life, a various tribes. In some tribes, women had or around the Ka’ba. Allah (God) was also translation of the word a low status because they were not able to worshipped by some of these Arabs, but only Jahiliyyah participate in warfare but in others they were as the supreme god among a range of other able to become businesswomen of signi cant gods.

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