Islam Exam #1

Kafir

"Infidel," "unbeliever"; in its original sense "one who is ungrateful," and by extension one who is ungrateful for the bounties and mercies of Allah can also apply to a Muslim whose beliefs or practices are judged to go beyond the permitted limits of variation.

Bid'ah

"Innovation" in Muslim ritual practice or beliefs for which there is no authority in the practice of the Prophet.

Rihlah

"Journey" for the purpose of pilgrimage to Mecca, or to study and gather knowledge from scholars elsewhere. A LOT ABOUT THIS, LOOK IN NOTES/ASK MADDIE

Imam

"One who stands before" ; a leader, especially in prayer and thus by extension the supreme leader of the Muslim community; legitimate successor of the Prophet, used by 'Ali and his descendants.

Masjid

"place of prostration" a mosque for worship and a center of communal affairs.

Aayat/Ayah

A sign or symbol in the sense that the created order and all it contains are identified as signs of Allah's power and mercy. Also refers to a single verse in the Qur'an.

Yathrib

Ancient Arabic name for Medina

Hadith of Gabriel

In Sunnī Islām, the Hadith of Gabriel (ḥadīth Jibrīl) is the single most important Hadīth (report on the words and actions of Muhammad). Its narrative contains the best summary of the core of Islam: the "Five Pillars of Islam", the "Six Articles of Faith", and Ihsan, or "doing what is beautiful".

1) Who seems to be speaking in the first person plural here (the "We" that speaks in many verses)?

LOOK AT PAPER

2) Who seems to be blamed most for the "fall" in these Qur'anic accounts?

LOOK AT PAPER

Jami' masjid

Major mosques of cities and towns in time became commonly known as jami' or congregational mosques, distinguishing them from the smaller neighborhood masjid, or the mosque which was an adjacent to a tomb.

622

Muhammad completes his "flight," from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution. In Medina, Muhammad set about building the followers of his religion-Islam-into an organized community and Arabian power. Would later mark the beginning (year 1) of the Muslim calendar.

Isra

Night Journey STORY ABOUY MHD. ONE NIGHT AT K'ABAH SLEEPING NEAR THERE. GABRIEL CUT OPEN HIS CHEST TOOK HIS HEART ZAMZAM WATER. PURIFIED HIM. THEN THIS MAGICAL STEED TOOK MHD TO JERUSALEM.

Khwaraji

Other more radical groups developed The Khawarij or the Kharijites, a name that was virtually synonymous with rebellion against established authority. They had first been among 'Ali's supporters and later abandoned his camp when he agreed to submit his dispute with Mu'awiyah to an arbitrator. KHARIJITES WERE VERY RADICAL. THEY WERE ADAMANT ABOUT SOCIETY BEING SPLIT BETWEEN BELIEVERS AND NON-BELIEVERS. THEY CARE ABOUT WHO IS ENGAGING IN BIDAH (INNOVATION UPON BASIC BELIEFS OF ISLAM AND PRAYER/SUNNAH).

Adam

Prophet, Allah gave forgiveness to him.

Who was the ruling tribe of Pre-Islamic Arabia

Quraysh The Quraysh were a mercantile tribe that historically inhabited and controlled Mecca and its Ka'aba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe.

'Uthman

Served after 'Umar as Caliph

What were elders referred to during the Pre-Islamic Arabia time? (maybe other time too)

Shaykh (an Arab leader, in particular the chief or head of an Arab tribe, family, or village.)

Hadith qudsi

Special type of Hadith which stood part way between the Qur'an and Traditions of the normal type of Hadith. It was a pronouncement from Allah as recorded by the prophet but did not constitute part of scripture itself. Most concerned the believer's spiritual life and his or her proper relationship to Allah.

Caliph

Successor of the prophet and head of the Muslim community

Matn

The actual wording of the hadith by which its meaning is established, or stated differently, the objective at which the isnad arrives at, consisting of speech.

Khadija

The wife of Muhammad. She is commonly regarded by Muslims as the "Mother of the Believers"

5. How did Muhammad's role change after the Hijra? And how did the concerns of the early Muslim community change with this transition?

• After the Hijra, Muhammad's message gradually became more accepted among the communities that had ridiculed him in years prior. • With that said though, many people in the community still did not believe in Muhammad's cause. Subsequently, his newfound role was to "both arbitrate disputes and bring some semblance of stability to the town." Almost like a missionary of sorts, Muhammad preached the words of Allah, further exacerbating the rift between the pagans and Muhammed's new followers. • Upon establishing a community in Medina, Muhammad was "responsible for depending it from external assault and internal dissension or subversion." The next few years consisted of fighting, however, Muhammad's followers won. This victory is marked by the destruction of the idols of the Ka'bah. THE HIJRA HAPPENS IN 622. MHD DEPARTED IN 620. KHADIJA WAS THE FIRST MUSLIM. THE FIRST TO ACCEPT THE MESSAGE. ALI = COUSIN OF MHD. HE IS THE FIRST TO CONVERT. ABU BAKR = MDH FATHER IN LAW THROUGH AISHA. DURING THIS TIME PERIOD THE THREAT WAS SO BIG THAT THEY CHAD TO LEAVE MECCA FOR YATHRIB (MEDINA). WHEN ALL OF THIS HAPPENED, MHD BECAME A STATESMAN AND REVELATIONS CHANGE A BIT WITH MHD'S ROLE AS A LEADER.

7. Who were dhimmis?

• Dhimmis were Jews, Christians, and Magians (or Zoroastrians), but also applied to Samaritans and even idolaters and fire-worshipers (and much later HIndus as well). • Dhimmi means protected person. Muslims were steadily growing in number in the region. As rulers of others, Muslims had to define the relationship of their community to those non-Muslim people under their control. • "The status of dhimmi guaranteed a person's life, property, and religious practices, under the supervision of their own religious leadership, in return for payment by every male adult of a poll tax or jizyah which was lifted in the event of his conversion to Islam." WHEN ISLAM EXPANDED A LOT OF PEOPLE CONVERTED TO ISLAM! DHIMMI = PEOPLE OF THE BOOK. PART OF BODY OF REVELATION IN ABRAHAMIC FAITH. HINDUS BECOME PROTECTED LATER TOO. PEOPLE NOT PROTECTED DID NOT GET PRIVILEGES. DHIMMIS WERE NOT ABLE TO SERVE IN ARMY AND NOT RUN FOR POLITICAL POSITIONS. MUSLIMS PAY ZAKAT (alms) AS PART OF THE 5 PILLARS. IT IS SIMILAR TO THE JIZYA THAT THE DHIMMIS HAD TO PAY. THE POINT IS BOTH HAD TO GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY IN SOME FORM.

8. What was the main issue being debated in the polemical writings between the 'ulama and Christians and Jews in the first few centuries of the Muslim community's development? What was at stake in this debate?

• The main issue being debated in the polemical writings between the ulama, Christians and Jews, was the role of Jesus Christ in each respective religion. • There was a lot at stake in the sense that any "biblical quotation whether real or spurious was common means of validating the beliefs of any particular faction." WE LIKE DID NOT GO OVER THIS SOOOOO.

6. How and why did the meaning of the term 'sunna' transform within the first few generations following the Prophet? What was bid'ah?

• The meaning of the term sunna means "path" or "broken track" and in pre-Islamic times referred to the ways of the ancestors which formed the basis of each tribe's identity and pride. • In a religious context though, the term Sunna appears in reference to the Prophet. Because of this, the term gradually shifted to mean something regarding the "normative conduct of the prophet." • At one point, Sunnah and Hadith had become practically synonymous. • Bid'ah is "innovation" • "A Muslim's standing could be severely tested, however, if some felt that his or her public bearing in matters of ritual, belief, or accepted custom lacked the approved prophetic precedent. In this event, such behavior was judge an innovation or bid'ah." • Bid'ah = "innovation" in Muslim ritual practice or beliefs for which there is no authority in the practice of the Prophet.

Sunna

"Verbally transmitted record of the teachings, deeds and sayings, silent permissions (or disapprovals) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as various reports about Muhammad's companions." IMPORTANT

Shahadah

"Witnessing" The Muslim profession of faith expressed in the words "there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah"

Mecca

The birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, was an important center of pagan worship in the peninsula. Muslims face in the direction of Mecca when they pray, and they are expected to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives. Mecca is in present-day Saudi Arabia. The city holds the holiest site in all Islam, the Masjid al-Haram ('Sacred Mosque'), and was declared a site of pilgrimage by the Prophet Muhammad in 630. That was the year of his triumphant return to the city after years of exile in Medina.

Ka'ba

The central shrine, a cube like structure. (Allah was the lord of the Ka'ba). In or around the Ka'ba, more than 300 Gods were housed.

Sahabah

The companions of the Prophet

Qiblah

The direction towards Mecca where one faces during a prayer. Wall thing in the mosque.

the 'Rightly Guided Caliphs'

The first 4 Caliphs, Rightly Guided Caliphs was term that implied not only model leadership of justice and prudence but also a golden age model community.

Abu Bakr

The first Caliph or successor to Muhammad (his father in law, Aisha's father)

'ulama/'alim

The people acquiring the knowledge. Those who become professional scholar of source. "those recognized as scholars or authorities" in the "religious hierarchy" of the Islamic religious studies." They went on Rihlah to attain knowledge. A JOURNEY!

Ummah

The world wide Muslim community; also called ummat al-islam.

Umma

The worldwide Muslim community.

Hijaz

Western strip of Arabian Peninsula where Mecca is located.

5. What 'schisms' developed in the decades following the fitnah (trial, conflict) of 40/661?

• After the murder of the 3rd Caliph 'Uthman, a man by the name of Ali b. Abi Talib took over. Talib was soon involved in a bitter quarrel with 'Uthman's nephew Mu'awiya the governor of Syria at the time. • In short, Talib lost support and Mu'awiyah reigned and a dynasty ensued. • The ummah (community of Muslims) were divided by rival visions of salvation. The majority sided with the Umayyad victors and forged the mainstream of Islamic Culture which finally emerged as Sunni Islam. • The losers who had sided with Ali became identified with an ethos which sustained them through their centuries long status as a religious minority. They became known as Shi'ah. • Shi'at 'Ali = Faction of 'Ali. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO ARE ON PAGES 46/47 • Other more radical groups developed The Khawarij or the Kharijites, a name that was virtually synonymous with rebellion against established authority. • They had first been among 'Ali's supporters and later abandoned his camp when he agreed to submit his dispute with Mu'awiyah to an arbitrator. KHARIJITES WERE VERY RADICAL. THEY WERE ADAMANT ABOUT SOCIETY BEING SPLIT BETWEEN BELIEVERS AND NON-BELIEVERS. THEY CARE ABOUT WHO IS ENGAGING IN BIDAH (INNOVATION UPON BASIC BELIEFS OF ISLAM AND PRAYER/SUNNAH).

7. How is Allah described in the Qur'an?

• Allah is described as "the sole source and sustainer of life." Additionally, verses in the Qur'an describe Allah as essentially one, with "attributes of perfection." •According to religious scholars, Allah can be "both utterly transcendent and yet as near to one as his own jugular vein." • Moreover, Allah is "merciful and compassionate," yet has the ability to "serve in retribution." ALLAH IS OMNISCIENT, OMNIPOTENT, ETC. 99 NAMES OF GOD REFER TO QUALITIES. ALLAH IS ULTIMATE ARBITRATOR. ALLAH IS THE LORD OF JUDGEMENT. ALLAH HAS PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH HUMAN. HUMANS REQUIRE HIS GUIDANCE

2) What is the function of a mosque?

• The word "mosque" in Arabic is Masjid (plural, masajid), meaning a place of prostration. It is where the faithful perform their devotions, the five daily prayers, a ritual involving kneeling and touching the forehead upon the ground in humble prostration before Allah. In Islam this place of prostration need to be a sanctuary set apart for such worship. It could be any place where humility before Allah is expressed in prayer. • The OG mosque was completed in the first months of the new Islamic era marked by the hijrah. It was a large enclosure, the mud brick walls running more than fifty meters along each side, with an open portico at one end constructed from a double row of palm trunk columns and roofed with pamm trees and mud. (PAGE 196). • The major mosques of cities and towns in time became commonly known as jami' or congregational mosques, distinguishing them from the smaller neighborhood masjid, or the mosque which was an adjacent to a tomb. READ • MORE ON PAGE 197 AND ON. MOSQUES ALSO WERE A FORM OF SIMILARITY TO AN EXTENT. THERE ARE SOME COMMON FEATURES!!!! RITUAL PRAYER HAS TO BE IN THE DIRECTION TOWARDS MECCA. ALWAYS A QUIBLAH WALL INDICATING THE DIRECTION OF MECCCA. THERE IS ALSO A PULPET lIkE STRUCTURE CALLED THE KHUTBAH.

2. Who were the Companions of the Prophet?

• There are TWO generations or classes of Muslims who are remembered in the tradition by their relationship to the Prophet. • (1st Generation) T The Companions of the Prophet (sahabah) were: The men and women who lived, worked, and fought beside him in his lifetime. They included those who led the community after his death. Abu Bakr: The first Caliph or successor to Muhammad 'Umar, 'Uthman, and then 'Ali. Following successors (Caliphs) This generation of leaders oversaw from 10-41/632-661 The opening stage of Muslim expansion in regions well beyond the Arabian peninsula. The second generation was logically called the Successors (tabi'un) to the Prophet's Companions.

1) Through Ibn Battuta's travels we learn of the diversity Muslim cultures of his time, and also of points of commonality across these settings. What were some of the features of commonality across Muslim settings, and what were some of the features of diversity within this unity?

• This guy, Ibn Battuta went on a journey (rihlah), with intent to perform the pilgrimage. He ended up exploring a lot though! FOR OVER A QUARTER OF A CENTURY He saw more of the world during his time than any other traveler of his day. (725/1325) • "Ibn Battuta's narrative presents Muslim civilization as a mosaic of Muslim society, united by a deep commitment to the prophetic revelatory event yet expressing a wide diversity of Muslim experience within local culture." Ibn Battutah rarely stepped into a wholly alien world. • Wherever he ventured, he encountered the warmth and welcome of Muslim scholars' homes, Sufis' khanqahs and sultans' palaces." As an Arab, he possessed the language of scripture, and as a judge an intimate knowledge of the religious law. • He learned Persian but required an interpreter to converse with Turks in Asia Minor. Ibn Battuta witnessed customs of Muslims in India that differed from what he had been used to. India was inhabited predominantly by Hindus who lived under Muslim rule, signaling the fact that Muslims were, and would always remain a minority in India as a whole. • Muslim and Hindu lived in mixed communities along the western (Malabar) coast of India, especially in ports where Muslim merchants congregated. Relations were not always peaceful. • BOTTOM LINE IN INDIA: In the Indian subcontinent, Islam developed along different lines from in the heartlands to the west. Its culture inevitably evolved patterns which were broadly Islamic but whose principal characteristics were Indian. •Muslims were never able to Islamize the whole of India. • Ibn Battutah's residence on the Maldive Islands provides a further example of the DIVERSITY OF PRACTICE and PERCEPTIONS among Muslims within the Ummah. • One feature of the islands which perplexed him was their ruler, a woman, although the real power holder was her husband. He said the inhabitants of the island looked weak, and they were "unused to fighting, and their armour is prayer" • The punishment for theft as determined in scripture had apparently not been fully assimilated by the Maldivians. Ibn Battutah ordered a thief's hand to be cut off and people in the room fainted. • Women did not cover their heads! • Ibn Battutah then went to the Muslim kingdom of Samudra. Saw differences here. Only 1 of 8 kingdoms on the Island had converted to Islam. The spread of Islam was sporadic (PAGE 180). China greatly impressed Ibn Battutah. He said it was the safest and best regulated country for a traveler. • "Every city had a quarter where Muslim merchants and their families lived by themselves, honored and respected. These quarters would have their own Friday mosque, a hospice for travelers, and a bazaar." • Today like 2 percent of Muslims in China. Ibn Battutah's final journey took him to the West African kingdom of Mali in the Niger River valley. Islamic values necessarily coexisted with local pagan customs. On Muslim festivals, both the prayer leader and pagan poets addressed the king. • On Fridays the main mosque in the capital was overflowing with young people and communal prayers who were keen to memorize the Qur'an in a language they did not even understand. • Battutah was shocked during his encounter with the Muslims of the Maldive Islands. In the town of Iwalatan, he remarks upon the great beauty of the women, who are shown more honor than the men. • "Women and men alike had "friends" and companions from outside their own immediate families. A wife, indeed, might entertain a male companion in her house during her husband's absence." • Important to know that Battuta traveled as a qadi, representative of the normative values of the Maliki school of Sunni Islam. He observed the customs of other Muslims, pious and devout by his own testimony, who lived according to customs of which the law, as he understood it, disapproved. • Still though he did not condemn these people as he felt a sense of belonging. • "Arabic remained the universal language of ritual, while along with Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, other languages such as Malay and Urdu would become modes of expression of high Muslim culture." • "Islamic lore from the older Middle Eastern heartlands (which had itself assimilated elements from previous Middle Eastern Cultures) spread unevenly into areas newly opened to the trade and missionary ventures of Ibn Battutah's day and later. Islam had to compete vigorously with local customs wherever it encountered them." • THERE WAS A SHARED AWARENESS OF BEING A MUSLIM THROUGHOUT THE UMMAH! • "Shared rituals of worship, especially prayer and fasting, but reinforced, too, by institutions discussed in previous chapters, such as the ritual pilgrimage to Mecca and travel for the purposes of trade and commerce, learning and teaching." • "At the core of this shared sense of belonging which cut across ethnic, racial and even linguistic barriers was the message of the Book, Allah's immutable will and command to Humankind." THERE WERE SHARED RITUALS LIKE PRAYERS AND FASTING. THEY HAD HIGH REGARD OF QUR'AN. IBN DUDE NOTES THAT WOMEN DON'T COVER BUT THEY ARE INDEED MUSLIM BECAUSE THEY PRAY. THERE WERE DIFFERENT ROLES OF THE QUDI THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. ISLAMIC PRACTICE IS A DEFINING DIFFERENCE. ARABA REMAINED UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF RITUAL. IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT TRADE ACCOUNTS FOR MANY OF THE CONVERTS TO ISLAM. * READ MORE ABOUT THE EMPIRES.

Yathrib

Ancient Arabic name for Medina Renamed Medina short for expression city of the prophet

Arabian Peninsula

Arabian Peninsula: a peninsula in SW Asia, including Saudi Arabia, Yemen Arab Republic, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait: divided in ancient times into Arabia Deserta, Arabia Petraea, and Arabia Felix

Masjid

Arabic word for a mosque.

Mi`raj

Ascension GABRIEL LED MDH UP THROUGH 7 HEAVENS TO GOD. MHD COMES DOWN WITH 5 PRAYERS.

Isnad

Chain of transmitters or authorities appended to a hadith whose names indicate the degree of its validity.

Surah

Chapter of the Qur'an

Ibadat

Devotion to Allah

Dhimmi

Dhimmis were Jews, Christians, and Magians (or Zoroastrians), but also applied to Samaritans and even idolaters and fire-worshipers (and much later HIndus as well). Dhimmi means protected person. Muslims were steadily growing in number in the region. As rulers of others, Muslims had to define the relationship of their community to those non-Muslim people under their control. "The status of dhimmi guaranteed a person's life, property, and religious practices, under the supervision of their own religious leadership, in return for payment by every male adult of a poll tax or jizyah which was lifted in the event of his conversion to Islam."

Ibn Ishaq

Early biographer of Muhammad Wrote biography in 770.

al-Tabari

Famous scholar who traced the course of Muslim expansion in his History of Prophets and Kings.

Al-ilah

God/deity

Hunafa

Groups that believed in Abraham traditions etc.

Angel Gabriel

He came to Muhammad in a vision during a retreat to a nearby mountain. He appeared to him from Allah and ordered him to "Read!," a command that had been repeated twice.

Islam

In the religious sense, "the willing and active recognition of a submission to the Command of the One, Allah."

Muslim

In the religious sense; one who surrenders him/herself to Allah.

Kafir (don't really need to know this one)

Infidel or unbeliever; in its original sense "one who is ungrateful" and by extension one who is ungrateful for the bounties and mercies of Allah; can also apply to a Muslim whose beliefs or practices are judge to go beyond the permitted limits of variation.

Ottomans

Islamic state founded by Osman in northwestern Anatolia ca. 1300. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, was based at Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) from 1453 to 1922. It encompassed lands in the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus, and eastern Europe.

Muhammad's Night Journey (isra) & Ascension (mi`raj)

Isra and Mi'raj, also known as Al Isra' wal Miraj, is observed on the 27th day of the month of Rajab, the seventh month in the Islamic calendar. This event marks the night that Allah (God) took Mohammad (also known as Mohamed or Muhammed) on a journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and then to heaven. Given instructions to pray 5 times a day. Night Journey (Isra) - STORY ABOUY MHD. ONE NIGHT AT K'ABAH SLEEPING NEAR THERE. GABRIEL CUT OPEN HIS CHEST TOOK HIS HEART ZAMZAM WATER. PURIFIED HIM. THEN THIS MAGICAL STEED TOOK MHD TO JERUSALEM. Ascension (Miraj) - GABRIEL LED MDH UP THROUGH 7 HEAVENS TO GOD. MHD COMES DOWN WITH 5 PRAYERS.

Fitnah

It is like a trial. "Temptation" or "trial," commonly used in the sense of sedition or political upheaval.

3) From these Qur'anic passages, does it appear that all of humanity is bound to sin like Adam?

LOOK AT PAPER

4) These verses give you some sense of the Qur'an's view of the source of evil, and of human nature. According to the Qur'an, what is God's main response to the human situation?

LOOK AT PAPER

In Chapter 109 (The Disbelievers), God is commanding the Prophet Muhammad to deliver a specific message to the Meccan idolaters who suggested a compromise with the Prophet in which he would worship their gods and vice versa. Given this context, what might chapter 109 suggest about this "the straight path"?

LOOK AT PAPER

Select any two images the Qur'an uses to try to convey the nature of the Day of Judgment and analyze them: what do they convey?

LOOK AT PAPER

What do the following chapters seem to say about what this "the straight path" consists of, and of the reality for those who do not follow this path?

LOOK AT PAPER

Qur'an

Literally, "recitation"; the name given to Muslim scripture. The collection of revelations from Allah to Muhammad delivered to him through the agency of the angel Gabriel.

Ibn Battuta

Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits to Islamic lands from China to Spain and the western Sudan significance: documented his travels, providing insight.

Hijra

Muhammad's departure from Mecca to Medina in AD 622, prompted by the opposition of the merchants of Mecca and marking the consolidation of the first Muslim community.

Quraysh

Muhammad's tribe. They were the guardians of the shrine in Mecca (Ka'ba). The Quraysh were a mercantile tribe that historically inhabited and controlled Mecca and its Ka'aba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. The Quraysh staunchly opposed Muhammad until converting to Islam en masse in 630 CE. Afterward, leadership of the Muslim community traditionally passed to a member of the Quraysh as was the case with the Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abbasid caliphs.

Abu Talib

Muhammad's uncle who raised him after his grandfather.

Sunni

One of the two main branches of Islam, commonly described as orthodox, and differing from Shia in its understanding of the Sunna and in its acceptance of the first three caliphs.

Shi'ah

One of the two main branches of Islam, followed especially in Iran, that rejects the first three Sunni caliphs and regards Ali, the fourth caliph, as Muhammad's first true successor.

2. What sources do we have for our knowledge and understanding of the Prophet Muhammad? How is he understood in Islamic tradition, and what is the role of scripture in this understanding?

Our knowledge and understanding of the Prophet Muhammad stems from THREE major sources. 1) Scripture, specifically the Qur'an. 2) A "vast body of material extant in the form of sayings and anecdotes which comprise the latter community's collective memory of the Prophet and his companions." (SUNNAH) 3) Biography by Ibn • In Islamic tradition, Muhammad is understood as "both the bearer, and first interpreter of Allah's message." It is ultimately Islamic tradition that best depicts a most accurate representation of Muhammad, as by its nature scripture could not provide raw biographical data of the Prophet's life." On the other hand, tradition provides a proliferation of data (sometimes very confusing and conflicting). The earliest biography of the Prophet "fuses together elements of both scripture and tradition." Both are used in accordance with one another. SCHOLARS TRAVELED A TON TALKING ABOUT PROPHETS. MHD WAS BORN IN 570.

'Ali

Served after 'Uthman as Caliph

'Umar

Served after Abu Bakr as Caliph

Mughals

The Mughal Empire (Urdu: مغلیہ سلطنت‎, translit. Mughliyah Salṭanat) or Mogul Empire, self-designated as Gurkani (Persian: گورکانیان‎‎, Gūrkāniyān, meaning "son-in-law"), was an empire in the Indian subcontinent, established and ruled by a Muslim Turkic dynasty of Chagatai Turco-Mongol origin from Central Asia.

8. What does the Qur'an have to say about human beings?

The Qur'an says that human beings have a "stubborn disdain" and that the world is made up of two distinct groups. The first group, "mu'min", are believers in Allah while the second group, "kafir", are not believers in Allah. ***** HUMANS REQUIRE ALLAH'S GUIDANCE. HUMANS HAVE TO BE ON THIS "STRAIGHT PATH" AND SUBMIT TO GOD. PRAYER IS A RESPONSIBILITY.

Saffavids

The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran, often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history. The Safavid shahs ruled over one of the so-called gunpowder empires.

3. Why were Muslims embarking upon a 'quest for knowledge' in the formative centuries of the Islamic tradition? What kind of knowledge was being sought, and why?

*KNOWLEDGE IS HELLA IMPORTANT IN ISLAM* • Muslims were embarking upon a "quest for knowledge in the formative centuries of the Islamic tradition" because it was embedded in the prophetic revelatory event. (THIS IS IMPORTANT STUFF) • "Knowledge was essential for the proper worship of Allah and of life in society. The quest for knowledge itself is known as talab al-'ilm and the persons engaged in the activity (the people of knowledge) are known as ahl al- 'ilm or 'ulama.' All knowledge was embraced, even from outside sources like Jews/Christians. All knowledge, both religious and non religious was sought. Muslim scholars sought information about philosophy, medicine, astronomy, and mathematics. • One scholar Abu Bakr b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. al -Harith said that the purpose of knowledge was to gain honor, to strengthen one's faith and to win favor with the ruling Caliph in order to service him. • Knowledge was also essential to confirm the faith of the flock of Muslims at the time, setting up a community etc. This was knowledge of the Jews/Christians and how they set up their lasting/respective religions. • "For the average Muslim layman of some cultural pretension and social standing, religious education and learning covering at least some knowledge of scripture and tradition was deemed essential." KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ACTS OF SUBMISSION ARE VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT HAS TO DO WITH HOW ONE WILL FARE ON THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT. KNOWLEDGE IS ALSO NEEDED TO HELP ONE PROPERLY LIVE IN SOCIETY. SEEKING KNOWLEDGE IS DIRECCTLY BOUND UP WITH FAITH.

Identify and discuss (in a few sentences) three features of this "straight path"

1) Practice 2) Moral 3) Patience

Mu'awiyah

602-680 ad, first caliph (661-80) of the Omayyad dynasty of Damascus; regarded as having secularized the caliphate. Uthman's nephew Mu'awiya the governor of Syria at the time. In short, Talib lost support and Mu'awiyah reigned and a dynasty ensued.

What year does the Islamic calendar begin and why?

622 because that was HIJRA. It marks the beginning/Mdh being a leader.

Surah

A chapter division of the Qur'an of which there are 114.

Medina

A city of western Saudi Arabia north of Mecca. The Mosque of the Prophet, containing Muhammad's tomb, is a holysite for Muslim pilgrims.

Ra'y

A judge's decision based upon his own discretion.

Qadi

A judge; appointed by the ruler to settle disputes according to the shari'ah.

Hadith

A report or tradition of the sayings and deeds of the Prophet, containing practice or sunnah, the second source of authority for Muslims after the Qur'an. According to its validity a s Tradition may be classed as sahih "sound" hasan, "fair" or da'if "weak." The Shi'a use the term hadith for sayings of the twelve Imams but they distinguish clearly between the sayings of the Prophet and those of Imams.

Ibrahim

Abraham

Who was Muhammad's uncle?

Abu Talib

1. What were the defining features the pre-Islamic Arabia worldview?

• Documented by poets such as Zuhayr b. Abi Salma, the pre-Islamic Arabia was dictated by "eruption(s) of inter-tribal bloodshed." • During this time period (before the seventh century), ancient Arab poets (like Zuhayr), wrote of the turbulent life amongst their respective civilizations. These accounts are portrayed traditionally as the "so-called Days of the Arabs." • The poets of the time period emphasized dahr (meaning time) as the frequent term for the impersonal agent of a preordained destiny, fate or death against which there was no shield or bargaining." • Perhaps the most important defining feature of the pre-Islamic Arabia worldview though, is this polytheistic notion. In other words, there was more than one God. • While there was a recognition of Allah (the "High God") in Pre-Islamic Arabia, the pagan did not treat Allah as the sole object of worship. Instead, Allah stood above the other Gods. These Gods were "consulted on various matters of domestic and other concerns; setting a date for marriage, confirming parentage of a child, the settlement of a quarrel," and more. It must be noted that there was a homocentric world view also, as the pagan Arab "bowed first to the force of oral tribal tradition (sunnah) rather than to the power of the gods." BASICALLY IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT IT WAS A VERY TRIBAL SOCIETY. THERE WAS A LOT OF PAGAN TRADITION AND POLYTHEISTIC BELEIF. IT WAS A VERY ORAL CULTURE. STORY TELLING WAS HELLA IMPORTANT. THERE WAS VENERATION OF SIGNS AND SUPERSTITIONS. SHRINES WERE VERY IMPORTANT. A LOT OF PILGRIMAGE TO THE KA'BA. THERE WAS RELIGIOUS RITUAL AND PRAYER/TRADE THERE. PEOPLE WERE SUPPOSED TO FUFUIL ONE'S DESTINY IN TRIBE. THERE WERE JEWS AND CHRISTIANS AROUND AT THE TIME. IMPORTANT TO KNOW THERE WAS A HOMOCENTRIC WORLDVIEW. HUMAN CENTERED WORLDVIEW.

4. What are hadith and how were they collected? Why was the process of determining standards and norms according to the model of the Prophet Muhammad--for any given issue—through hadith so complicated an endeavor?

• Hadith is a single Tradition (literally a story, anecdote, or narrative of an event). • Transmitted from person to person either orally or in a written manner. • Up for debate! • Multiple methods to transmit information (PAGE 41). • "A Tradition in its classically accepted form was supposed to have two components, the substance of the Tradition (matn) or the point it conveyed, and a chain of transmitters (isnad) listing the persons allegedly responsible for handling it as far back as the original source, whether a Companion, a Successor, or the Prophet himself." • A hadith can take multiple forms. • It was such a complicated endeavor because there had been an opposition against the recording of religious knowledge apart from the Qur'an. • In spoken word, messages are harder to be transmitted, and can be skewed and misinterpreted more easily. HADITH SHOW THE RIGHT PRACTICES. YOU CAN ARGUE THAT ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF ORTHOPRAXY. Hadith consist of 2 parts!!!! Isnad = chain of transmitters (they had to be close companions of the prophet Mhd himself. These close companions were known as sahaba.) Matn = The matn is the actual wording of the hadith by which its meaning is established, or stated differently, the objective at which the sanad arrives at, consisting of speech. MORE ON PAGE 42

4. Why was Muhammad's message so opposed by Meccans?

• Meccans think that Mhd was coming up with these messages for power. Monotheism threatened their way of life. Trade and economy was threatened, and so was authority of the tribe. • Mhd's message undermined justice of the time period because he preached the Allah was the ultimate judge. • There was a new ethical/moral significance to actions. The day of Judgement was introduced. • Originally met with mockery, and ridicule, the Meccan opposition to Muhammad's message soon turned to anger. First and foremost, the Meccans felt that Muhammad's message was unrealistic, in the sense that Allah had the ability to "raise the dead." • More frustrating to the Meccans though, was this idea that Allah was absolutely unique, one, and eternal. This was extraordinarily troubling for a polythetic civilization. • Additionally, older Meccans complained that Muhammad's message had a major economic disadvantage. They argued if the shrine of Ka'bah only had one God, as opposed to hundreds of idols, the same attraction of potential pagan pilgrims would cease to exist. • Furthermore, the Meccans were "concerned that Muhammad's message appeared to question the honor of their ancestors and thus their total way of life, in sum, the tribal sunnah." This was a significant, and arguably the most primary concern of the Meccans, leading to their opposition of Muhammad's message. • In essence, the Meccans were threatened that their way of life was going to be "replaced by the sunnah of Allah, while it was currently dictated by the sunnah of their forefathers." BASICALLY MHD'S MESSAGE THREATENED TRADITION!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. What was Muhammad's experience of first receiving the Qur'an?

• Muhammad's experience of first receiving the Qur'an occurred when he was 40 years old, while on "lengthy retreat at a nearby mountain." HE USED TO GO THERE BECAUSE HE DID NOT HAVE TO WORK NO MORE BC HE MARRIED RICH WIFE. • During this retreat, he fell asleep, and had a vision. In this vision, the angel "Gabriel appeared to him from Allah (different than the Allah of pre-islamic Arabia) and ordered him to "Read!," a command which he repeated twice." " • It is said that Muhammad experience as sensation of suffocation,as though he were close to death, and then he responded repeating the words of the Qur'an." After the angel vanished, Muhammad had felt as if the words had been "engraved upon his heart." MHD IS FRIGHTENED AND CONFUSED, SOME JESUS GUY TELLS HIM IT WAS A REVELATION AND HE MIGHT BE A PROPHET.

1. Waines explains that in the earliest years of the expansion of Islamic tradition, the tradition itself "constituted a complex set of responses to a number of inter-related challenges." (34) What were these challenges?

• The challenges of the early Islamic community were: 1) "The challenge of a prophetic revelatory event. What did the divinely revealed message and the life of its messenger mean in detail, and how was each source relevant to the new community's daily concerns?" • Questions took a great deal of time and immense effort to answer! • There was some violent dissent during the time period as well. • Tradition reflects a myriad of points of view because of all of this. • "Tradition mirrored the challenge confronted by the community in its continuing experience of the founding event." • "The community continued to reinterpret the event from different perspectives in changing historical circumstances and different cultural locales." WHEN MHD DIED A LOT OF THESE ISSUES AROSE. PEOPLE WERE LOST WITHOUT MHD AS A LEADER. PROPHETIC REVELATORY EVENT DEMONSTRATED HOW MHD'S LIFE WAS A MODEL IN HOW TO LIVE. HIS LIFE AND MESSAGE. ISLAM = THE STRAIGHT PATH. THIS IS ELABORATED BY MHD'S LIFE. A HUGE PART OF THIS IS KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ALLAH ETC. POWER TRANSFER

6. Based on Waine's brief discussion of the Qur'an, identify four features of the Qur'an as a text. How is it different from what you think of as 'scripture'? How is it similar?

• Waine describes the Qur'an as a text in the sense that it has 114 chapters (surahs), not in any chronological order. Instead the chapters appear by length with the longest appearing in the beginning of the text. With that said though, the text of the Qur'an does not have an "explicit thematic order to the material; instead there is frequent repetition throughout a number of leitmotifs." • Additionally, when analyzed as a text, it must be noted that the Qur'an is not necessarily a "narrative text" like other religious documents. Instead, it is better characterized as "aphoristic being a collection of pithy statements expressing the wisdom and will of Allah." • Interestingly enough, the word Qur'an itself means "recitation," while scripture (understood in Latin), means "something written." The Qur'an is different than a piece of scripture because it is meant to be more recited than read. It is supposed to be "beautified" by voices. • The Qur'an can be similar to a scripture though, in the sense that they can both be cited on paper by chapter. THE MAIN GOAL OF THE QUR'AN TEXT IS TO RESTORE MONOTHEISM. THERE IS A LOT OF REPETITION IN QUR'AN. IT IS MEANT TO BE READ OUT-LOUD AND RECITED. IT IS AN ORAL DOCUMENT. IT IS WRITTEN IN ARABIC. ARABIC IS IMPORTANT IN THIS SENSE BECAUSE IT IS A COMMON GROUND. IT IS THE LANGUAGE OF ALLAH. THE QUR'AN DESCRIBES ITSELF AS "THE GUIDE" "THE OPENING" . . . ALSO REFERS TO ITSELF AS REVEALER, DISTINGUISHER, LEADER, THE TRUTH ETC.