Intro to Islam Midterm

Jinn

Jinn are as imperfect as humans are They are an older creation and have free will; they were formed from smokeless fire They are often confused with the devils, shayateen, because the one who we have the most knowledge of left good for evil and is the chief of them, but the description doesn't apply to all of them as they too can be rewarded with the Paradise

Banu Umayyah

A branch of the Quraysh who settled in Syria and Levant Uthman is a member Namesake of the later Umayyad dynasty Clan is a very late convert to Islam

Muhammed

A religious, social, and political leader and the founder of the world religion of Islam Born in Mecca in 570 to the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh, known for being arbitars Married a wealthy widow named Khadijah, who became the first convert to Islam after Muhammad himself During the Night of Power, while Muhammad was on Mount Hira, God summoned Muhammad to his prophetic mission through the archangel Gabriel Had to leave Mecca for Medina due to a plot on his life during the Era of Repression For the remaining 22 years of his life Muhammad continued to collect his revelations into the Quran

Surah

A surah is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Quran. There are 114 surahs in the Quran, each divided into ayahs. The chapters or surahs are of unequal length; the shortest surah has only three verses while the longest contains 286 verses.

Sassanian Empire

A unifying religious community comprised of many diverse members, with the most empowered group believing itself to be a steward over the others, and not necessarily in an inclusive sense Pilgrimages to saintly shrines or holy cities, often funded or otherwise patronized by rulers per their role as religious stewards Commonplace ascetic and/or renunciant traditions, often in tension with the pomp and riches of the ruling elite The existence of an entrenched imperial hierarchy where social difference was articulated and maintained through religious metaphors and symbols Zoroastrianism, a religion that argued that existence was defined by a dualistic, cosmic struggle between good and evil that would end in an apocalyptic triumph of good over evil Manichaeism, a religion that argued that the material world was radically evil, and that true enlightenment came by way of secret knowledge vouchsafed by divine actors working on behalf of a radically good, immaterial deity

Abraham

Abraham is called Ibrahim by Muslims They see him as the father of the Arab people as well as the Jewish people through his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael He is depicted as having had problems trying to understand God Being restless, knowing that perhaps the Pagan environment which he was in did not have the answers Abraham is considered to be neither a Jewish person, nor a Christian person nor a Muslim, but somebody who is a hernif—somebody who essentially and intrinsically knows that there is really only one God

Abu Bakr

Abu Bakr joined the prophet during the Hijrah later called Medina Considered to be Muhammad's closest friend The Sunni majority chose Abu Bakr to become the first caliph of the Islamic community Abu Bakr's decisive victory over the rebelling tribes was consequential to the fate of the ummah but he soon fell deathly ill To the dismay of the Ansar, on his deathbed he appointed Umar to succeed him

Battle of Badr

After Muhammad consolidates power in Medina, he begins to oppose the Quraysh militarily The first battle is the Battle of Badr, in which he seizes the wells of the Quraysh despite being outnumbered The Spoils of War in the Quran

Umar

After Muhammad died, Umar lamented, "The gates of Paradise have been sealed." God no longer speaks to humankind. Became the second caliph and made it clear he favored his fellow tribesman and even the late-to-Islam branch of the Quraysh, the Banu Umayyah, over the Ansar Devised a new pension system called the diwan that scaled payments according to one's precedence in conversion to Islam; you earned more the earlier you converted Led the futuh or conquests of Arabia, Iran, Southern Anatolia, and parts of North Africa

Aisha

Aisha opposed Ali's ascension to power because he was married to Khadijah's daughter Aisha becomes a custodian of the prophet's persona and life after death Expert in Quranic recitation, inheritance law, poetry and metrics, pre-Islamic literature, history and genealogy, medicine Responsible for many hadiths Daughter of Abu Bakr

Ali

Ali was the first male convert to embrace Islam and became its fourth Caliph Married to the daughter of Muhammad and Khadijah, causing feud with Aisha Washed and buried the Muhammad after his death Chose not to forsake Muhammad after being approached by a delegation of Quraysh In the Ghadir Khumm, Muhammad indicates that Ali should succeed him

Apostasy Wars

Apostasy Wars, were a series of military campaigns launched by the Caliph Abu Bakr against rebel Arabian tribes during 632 and 633, just after the death of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad Many rebels followed either Musaylimah, Tulayha, Sajjah or Aswad Ansi, all of whom claimed to be prophets Some rebels said that they had submitted to Muhammad as the prophet of Allah, but owed nothing to Abu Bakr The rebel tribes were defeated and forced back into the control of the caliphate. A detailed reconstruction of the events is complicated by the frequently contradictory and tendentious accounts found in primary sources

Battle of the Trench

Battle of the Trench: the Quraysh rush a trench around Medina This results in a disaster for the Quraysh, who are captured and those that refuse to convert are executed After this battle, the tide turns and the Quraysh lose the war within a year Muhammad solidifies his control over Mecca by using marriage as a means of gaining influence and killing opponents Muhammad destroys all of the idols in Kaaba besides the image of the virgin Mary who Muhammad admired

Mount Hira

During the Night of Power, while Muhammad was on Mount Hira, God summoned Muhammad to his prophetic mission through the archangel Gabriel This happened during the night of Ramadan

Byzantine Empire

Features of the Byzantine Empire's imperial and religious culture: tradition of monotheism, widespread apocalyptic belief, asceticism A unifying religious community comprised of diver members with the most empowered group believing itself to be a steward over the others (Orthodox Christinaity) Pilgrimage to saintly shrines or holy cities funded by rulers (in principle for both the commoner and the ruling elite but not always the case) Commonplace ascetic traditions that often resulted in tensions with the rich ruling elite and clerical establishment An apocalyptic mindset and the belief that the current ruling elite would soon be deposed by God and all social relations would be reordered in a final judgement However, the existence of an entrenched imperial hierarchy where social difference was articulated by religious metaphors and symbols The Arabian peninsula was right next to an area of interchange between the Byzantine and the Sassanian and dominated by smaller client-states

Sirah

Ibn Ishaq was instrumental in the development of the sirah genre-translated literally, this means "one's way of going" or "journey," and can be taken to mean "biography" We can learn that both polytheism and monotheism We can learn about the socio-political order: haram is a space you can't cross into without permission; it was used as a negotiation space for many merchants and rulers Abraham was an important figure in the Sirah

Sunnah

In Islam, Sunnah are the traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, that constitute a model for Muslims to follow The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed on to the next generations

Mecca

In Saudi Arabia, located in the Ṣirāt Mountains, inland from the Red Sea coast. It is the holiest of Muslim cities. Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was born in Mecca, and it is toward this religious centre that Muslims turn five times daily in prayer (see qiblah). All devout and able Muslims attempt a hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Because it is sacred, only Muslims are allowed to enter the city.

Kaaba

Kaaba means "cuboid building" Muslims perform a Prayer (Salat) Five times per day in the direction of the Kaaba Muhammad destroys all of the idols in Kaaba besides the image of the virgin Mary who Muhammad admired Mecca's shrine, the Kaaba, became the center of an animistic cult that attracted worshippers from across Arabia Considered by Muslims everywhere to be the most sacred spot on Earth. Ibrahim was credited with being given the location of the Kaaba, when a crow began scratching at the floor

Night of Power

Laylatul Qadr, the Night of Decree or Night of Power, is one of the most sacred nights in the Islamic calendar. It takes place in the last ten days of Ramadan The night in which the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad Believed to be the night in which Allah shows great mercy to His creation and the night in which one's fate is decreed. Islamic festival that commemorates the night on which God first revealed the Qurʾān to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.

Hijrah

Marks the foundation of the first Islamic community; warned on a plot on his life, Muhammad and his followes leave Mecca and settle in Yathrib 622 is used as the first date on the Muslim calendar; cleavages in Islamic society is informed by the political realities of this emigration Muhajirun are Meccan Arabs some of whom are disenfranchised, and there is the ansar who are comprised of two tribes Claim to fame of the Ansar is that they helped the profit in his time of need, and the Muhajirun's is that they converted to Islam first Muhammad arbitrated between them

Khadijah

Married Muhammad after his succesful management of her businesses under the stipulation that she be his only wife Wealthy tradeswoman who was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad, a leader of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca Supported his prophetic missions as the first female convert to Islam Convinces Muhammad that he was sent by God to deliver his message Ali was married to Khadjiah's daughter

Hunafa

Meaning "renunciate," refers to one who, according to Islamic belief, maintained the pure monotheism of the patriarch Abraham More specifically, in Islamic thought, renunciates were the people who, during the pre-Islamic period of Jahiliyyah, were seen to have renounced idolatry and retained some or all of the tenets of the religion of Abraham, which was submission to God in its purest form The word is found twelve times in the Quran (ten times in its singular form and twice in the plural form) and Islamic tradition tells of a number of individuals who were According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad himself was a ḥanīf and a descendant of Ishmael, son of Abraham. The historical existence of hanifs is disputed by scholars, and after a century of exhaustive archaeological investigation, no evidence has been found showing that Ishmael and Abraham really existed.

Uthman

Member of the Banu Umayyah clan of the Quraysh and third caliph Finished codifying the Quran His rule was marked by protest and revolt that resulted in his assassination Expanded the empire into Persia and Armenia

Tawhid

Monotheism is the belief in a single all-powerful god, as opposed to religions that believe in multiple gods. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are widely practiced forms of monotheism. The oneness of God, in the sense that he is one and there is no god but he As stated in the shahādah ("witness") formula: "There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet."

Moses

Moses is the most important Jewish prophet He's traditionally credited with writing the Torah and with leading the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea In the book of Exodus, he's born during a time when the Pharaoh of Egypt has ordered every male Hebrew to be drowned Is considered one of the most important religious leaders in world history He is claimed by the religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Bahai as an important prophet of God and the founder of monotheistic belief

Jesus

Muslims believe that Jesus (called "Isa" in Arabic) was a prophet of God and was born to a virgin (Mary) They also believe he will return to Earth before the Day of Judgment to restore justice and defeat al-Masih ad-Dajjal, or "the false messiah" — also known as the Antichrist.

Ibn Ishaq

One of the earliest sources was Ibn Ishaq Born in Medina in 704 to a family of formerly enslaved Christians Studied history with the grandchildren of the prophet's contemporary Instrumental in the development of the sirah genre-translated literally, this means "one's way of going" or "journey," and can be taken to mean "biography" The genre evolved from the oral historical traditions dating to pre-Islamic Arabia (maghazi) and the ayyam al-arab Ibn Ishaq's work, The Biography of the Prophet, is lost and what we have is the incomplege recension produced by Ibn Hisham Thus the text we have is removed from the time of the prophet by two generations

Ahl Bayt

Refers to the extended family of the prophet Muhammad In Shia Islam, the Ahl al-Bayt are central to Islam and interpreters of the Quran Muhammad, Fatimah (his daughter), and Ali (his son-in-law) Shia and Sunni Muslims disagree about who belongs to it

Al-Alaq

Refers to the origin of man in the third stage of embryogenesis as described in the Holy Qur'an This surah is also related to physical literacy because it refers to the different types of physical being Allah first tells us we were made from a clot of blood Then He speaks about another part of us, our intellect

Hejaz

Region of western Saudi Arabia, along the mountainous Red Sea coast of the Arabian Peninsula from Jordan on the north to Asir region on the south. Historically, it served as the port of Mecca, facilitating pilgrims and trade. For centuries it has played a massive role in the Hajj as well as smaller pilgrimages to holy sites across the peninsula. The majority of pilgrims traveling by sea come through this port on the Red Sea.

Sunni

Sunni Muslims. Sunni Muslims strongly believe that the redemption of human beings is dependent on faith in Allah, His prophets, acceptance of Muhammad as the final prophet, and belief in righteous deeds as explained in the Koran.

Al-Fatihah

Surah al-Fatihah is the first chapter (surah) of the Quran. Its seven verses (ayat) are a prayer for the guidance, lordship and mercy of God. This chapter has an essential role in Islamic prayer (salat). The primary literal meaning of the expression "al-Fatihah" is "The Opener," which could refer to this Surah being "the opener of the Book" (Fatihat al-kitab), to its being the first Surah recited in full in every prayer cycle (rakʿah), or to the manner in which it serves as an opening for many functions in everyday Islamic life. Some Muslims interpret it as a reference to an implied ability of the Surah to open a person to faith in God.

Battle of Siffin

The Battle of Siffin was the second battle of the First Fitnah, after the Battle of the Camel It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs, and Muawiyah I on the banks of the Euphrates river in Siffin around the present-day Syrian city of Raqqa

First Fitnah

The First Fitna was a civil war within the Rashidun Caliphate which resulted in the overthrowing of the Rashidun caliphs and the establishment of the Umayyad dynasty. It began when the caliph Uthman was assassinated by rebels in 656 and continued through the four-year reign of Uthman's successor, Ali. It ended in 661 when Ali's heir Hasan ibn Ali concluded a treaty acknowledging the rule of Muawiyah, the first Umayyad caliph.

Shia

The Muslims of the branch of Islam comprising sects believing in Ali and the Imams as the only rightful successors of Muhammad and in the concealment and messianic return of the last recognized Imam

Quraysh

The Quraysh are a mercantile Arab tribal confederation that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Ka'ba. Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 to the Hashim clan, a subtribe of the Quraysh Despite this, many of the Quraysh staunchly opposed Muhammad, until converting to Islam en masse in c. 630 CE. Mecca was a hub of commerce and religion regulated by the Quraysh tribe Initially, the advent of Islam bothered the Quraysh because it upset the status quo, so the Quraysh put more and mroe pressure on the prophet Muhammad eventually defeats the Quraysh in a series of battles that ended with hsi conquest of Mecca

Battle of Uhud

The Quraysh counterattack in the Battle of Uhud, which ends disastrously for Muhammad who gets injured (rumored that he died) Hind eats the liver of Hamza, an early convert to Islam, in revenge It is said that Satan caused this and God did not intervene because he was upset by infighting within the Muslim army

Rashidun

The Rashidun Caliphate was the first of the four major caliphates established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his death in 632 CE These caliphs are collectively known in Sunni Islam as the Rashidun, or "Rightly Guided" caliphs.

Jahiliyyah

The age of ignorance is an Islamic concept referring to the period of time and state of affairs in Arabia before the advent of Islam in 610 CE It is often translated as the "Age of Ignorance" The term jahiliyyah is derived from the verbal root jahala "to be ignorant or stupid, to act stupidly" In modern times various Islamic thinkers have used the term to criticize what they saw as the un-Islamic nature of public and private life in the Muslim world

Miraj

The ascension of Muhammad into heaven Muhammad is prepared for his meeting with God by the archangels Jibrīl (Gabriel) and Mīkāl (Michael) one evening while he is asleep in the Kaʿbah, the sacred shrine of Mecca They open up his body and purify his heart by removing all traces of error, doubt, idolatry, and paganism and by filling it with wisdom and belief The ascension came to be associated with the story of Muhammad's night journey (Isrāʾ) from the "sacred place of worship" (Mecca) to the "further place of worship" (Jerusalem).

The Transmission

The communication of verses to Muhammad by Gabriel, at which point he would: - Enter a trance like state, sweat profusely and/or become rigid; - Receive the verse more neutrally, as if in conversation with Gabriel; - Hear the chiming of bells; - Receive a vision in his dreams. When an episode of revelation would end, Muhammad would have the verse imprinted upon his heart

Asceticism

The definition of asceticism is a practice in which one gets rid of worldly pleasures and focuses on thinking, particularly for religious or spiritual purposes A Buddhist monk is an example of someone practicing asceticism The principles and practices of an ascetic; extreme self-denial and austerity

Ghadir Khumm

The event of Ghadir Khumm refers to a sermon delivered by the Islamic prophet Muhammad at the pond of Khumm, shortly before his death in 11 AH According to Shia Islam, Muhammad announced Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor in this sermon.

Criterion of Embarrassment

The idea that Muhammad is so widely revered that if even one of the stories is embarrasing it's probably true The logic is why would anyone transmit a story that is both embarrassing and untrue? This explaining the existence of the Satanic verses, where Satan tricks Muhammad to into reciting incorrectly

Muhajirun

The people who accompanied him from Mecca are called Muhajirun (the emigres) and the group that accepted him are called the Ansar (the helpers) After the death of Muhammad, the Muhajirun appointed one of their own—Abu Bakr—who then appointed Umar Umar favored the Quraysh over the Ansar, leading to conflict

Ansar

The people who accompanied him from Mecca are called Muhajirun (the emigres) and the group that accepted him are called the Ansar (the helpers) Local inhabitants of Medina who sheltered the prophet during the Hijra After the death of Muhammad, the Muhajirun appointed one of their own—Abu Bakr—who then appointed Umar Umar favored the Quraysh over the Ansar, leading to conflict

The Descent

The process of gradual revelation whereby elements from the preserved tablet entered the cosmos, corresponding to certain occasions warranting them

Banu Hashim

The prophet had impressed emissaries from this city two years prior, who invited him to settle a tribal dispute as part of his customary role within the Banu Hashim

Medina

The second holiest Muslim city is Medina, where the Prophet's Mosque—Al-Masjid an-Nawabi—is located. Medina was the place to which Muhammad fled from persecution when he started having his revelations from Allah. Supposedly, Muhammad built the mosque next to his house upon his arrival in Medina. Muhammad and his message were well received in Medina, so he was able to form a following of people who would help him spread his message. Muslims also believe Muhammad received some of his final revelations from Allah in Medina.

The Preserved Tablet

This a divine preserving tablet in which the things that happened and are to happen, all moments in time and all beings in space, in short, everything is written on; it is the mirror of Divine knowledge, the book of fate and the program of the universe.

Era of Repression

Warned of a plot on his life, the Prophet leaves Mecca with Abū Bakr to join Muslims he had already sent to Yathrib, later called Medina, in 622 The Prophet had impressed emissaries from this city two years prior, who invited him to settle a tribal dispute as part of his customary arbitrative role within the Banū Hāshim Those who emigrated with him were called Muhājirūn and the denizens of Yathrib who welcomed him the Anṣār The Prophet's arrival in Yathrib marked the foundation of a society organized according to the principles of his revelation, and 622 is used as the first year to date the beginning of Islamic history