HI158: Lesson 2

Ummah

The Arabic term ummah means "community," and in Arabic literature refers specifically to the community of believers under Muhammad. Especially at first, Muhammad's followers, though members of the tribal clan system of early Arabia, usually came to him as individuals, and only rarely as entire clans. Hence, under the kinship system of early Arabia, these followers of Muhammad needed protection; therefore Muhammad devised the concept of the ummah to provide it for them. For Muhammad, the Muslims were bound together in a single community of faith, united in the brotherhood of arms against their enemies. If a member of the ummah were attacked or molested by a nonbeliever, the rest of the ummah was required to take his side to fulfill the laws of justice; if a member of the ummah were murdered, the rest of the ummah was required to respond to the offender and his family in kind. Leadership of the ummah was at first held by Muhammad himself; after his death this position fell to the caliphs, or successors to Muhammad.

Constitution of Medina

The Constitution of Medina was an agreement between Muhammad and his followers and the people of Medina which defined the Muslims' role in Medinan society. According to the constitution, the Muslims were a community bound together by faith, distinct from the pagan communities around them and united in war and peace. The constitution also made provision for violations of the tribal law within the Muslim community: under these circumstances, the requirement of blood for blood was to be fulfilled, with the original Muslim converts and Meccan refugees to be treated as one clan, responsible for the protection of its members. The constitution also made provision for the Jews, who were to keep their own religion and live in friendship with the Muslims.

Qur'an

The Qur'an is the holy book of Islam. In Muslim theology, it is quite literally the written word of God, preexistent with Him for all eternity, just as Christ is preexistent with the Father in Christianity. Muslims believe that the Qur'an represents the final revelation of God, the fulfillment of His messages to the Jews and to the Christians, and that it is the perfection of all human and divine knowledge. By tradition, it was revealed to Muhammad in stages, with the first revelation supposedly occurring to Muhammad in middle age, when he had entered a cave outside Mecca to pray. According to Muslim tradition, the Angel Gabriel commanded Muhammad to write down the revelations which he received, and Muhammad did so. Later, the various chapters which Muhammad or his followers had written were collated into a single text. The question of variant readings is a thorny one in Islamic history, as tradition attests to the existence of several other versions of the Qur'an or of Qur'anic passages in circulation in the decades after Muhammad's death.