Glossary: Islam

WHAT IS ISLAM

• The word Islam means submission to the will of God.
• Islam is one of the world's monotheistic religions.
• Islam originated in the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia) in 610 A.D.
• Islam takes into account Judaism and Christianity which preceded it, and acknowledges their followers as the "People of the Book" (Bible).
• A Muslim is one who has submitted to God, believes in the last of his prophets Mohammad, and all God's prophets (from Adam to Jesus), and His Angels, and the Holy Books (Bible-Old and New Testaments), and after life.
• Throughout history Islamic Community (Umma) was a closely knit community despite of its diversity (race and culture).
• Today the world's community of Muslims numbers nearly a billion.
• The practice of Islam is personal, between God and the believer, as well as social.
• As a system of faith, Islam continues to be vital and expanding.

FIVE PILIARS OF ISLAM

ISLAMIC ACTS OF DEVOTION AND WORSHIP ARE EXPRESSED IN:

1. Shahada (profession of faith), to profess that there is

only one God and that Prophet Mohammad is His messenger.

2. Salat (prayer), five times a day--at dawn, noon, mid afternoon, sunset, and dusk. It must be performed in a state of ritual purity. Muslims turn their faces individually and/or collectively towards Makkah. Friday Weekly Congressional Prayer is also required.

3. Zakat (almsgiving), is considered as a social responsibility, part of one's service to God. It prescribes a payment of 2.5% of the individual's total net worth, excluding obligations and family expenses.

4. Saum (fasting), during the month of Ramadan, it demands complete abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking, and other sensual pleasures form dawn to sunset.

5. Hajj (pilgrimage), To Makkah> Muslims from allover the world wear identical white garments (ihram) as they perform the Hajj. It shows the unity of Muslims despite the differences in social status, color, race, and sex. It is required as a once-in-a life-time obligation if one is capable of it.

GOD

SURAT AL- IKHLAS, OR PURITY OF FAITH:

1. Say: He is God,

The One and Only;

2. God, the Eternal, Absolute;

3. He begetteth not,

nor is He begotten;

4. and there is none

like unto Him.

• God in Islam is unique, has no partner and no equal.

• There are no intermediaries between God and the creation that He brought into being by His sheer command: "Be".

• He is the sole creator and sustainer of the universe.

• He is just and merciful: His justice ensures order in His creation, in which nothing is believed to be out of place, an' is mercy is unbounded and encompasses everything.

• He is viewed as being nearer to human beings than their jugular vein, and, whenever a person in need or distress calls Him, He responds.

• The Qur'an rejects forms of idolatry and eliminates all gods and divinities.

PROPHET MOHAMMAD

• Born in Makkah from the Tribe Quraysh in 570 A.D., Paganism was the "religion" in his days.

• As an orphan he was raised by his grandfather and later by his uncle.

• He was known to be a wise, descent, honest, loyal, and a very quiet person.

• He was illiterate.

• A tradesman by profession, he was exposed to different kinds of people, cultures and religions.

• At age 40, God conveyed to him a series of revelations, which came to form the basis of the new faith.

• The revelations were delivered to him by the Angel Gabriel, and formed the Qur'an the Holy Book of Islam.

• As an illiterate, he repeated the words of God delivered to him by Angel Gabriel to his followers, and they, in their turn wrote it down.

• In the year 633 A.D., the Qur'an was collected and put together, during the reign of Caliph "Uthman (644-655 A.D.)

• He migrated from Makkah to Medina (Yathrib) because the people of Makkah denied him their support, fought him and tortured his followers.

• The date of his migration to Medina marks the beginning of the Hijra Calendar (Anno Hijri).

• Prophet Mohammad is believed by Muslims as a human being, and never as God or Son of God.

QUR'AN

• Is the corner stone of Islamic faith.

• The word of God as revealed to Prophet Mohammad in the Arabic language, in the month of Ramadan.

­

• Is the basic source of Islamic doctrine and law.

• It provides the Muslim believer with all he/she needs to know to lead a good and pious life.

• Qur'an is composed of 114 sura (chapters), each sura is composed of several ayah (verses).

• It is considered to be the highest manifestation of literary beauty (I'Jaz).

SHARI' A (JURISPRUDENCE)

• The Qur' an and Hadi th together are the fountainhead of all that is Islamic in whatever domain it might be.

• It includes law, moral principles and the creed, which every Muslim must follow.

• It is considered to be the ultimate way of righteous life leading to God.

SACRED PLACES

• The places where Prophet Mohammad was born, received revelation, and visited are considered sacred and holy, they are:

MAKKAH: His birthplace and the birthplace of Islam. Where the Grand Mosque contains Ka'aba, the oldest sanctuary built by Abraham. Mus1ims turn their faces to Ka' aba during prayer.

MEDINA: The city which hosted Mohammad and embraced him when he migrated, where he is buried, and where the first Mosque was built (The Prophet's Mosque).

JERUSALEM: The Al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock Mosques in Jerusalem surround the place where from the prophet ascended to heaven. It was the first Qibla (direction in which Muslims offer the prayer) before it was changed to Makkah. .

• In addition to the three shrines, there are also sacred places such as Karbala/Iraq, Place of Martyrdom of Imam Ali's son Al-Husayn. MashhadjIran, where Imam ‘ali is buried.

JAME' OR MASJID (MOSQUE)

• Jame' in Arabic means a place for gathering; masjid means a place of prostration.

• It was basically a clean place enlarged to a Mosque which comprises the community needs.

• It was not only a religious center, it was also a commun1ty center of the faithful.

SOME OF ITS ESSENTIAL FEATURES:

1. Mihrab (Niche) pointing to Makkah.
2. Minbar (small pulpit) for the Friday Preacher
3. Me'Dhana (Minaret) a small tower from which the call to prayer is initiated
4. Wooden carved stands to hold the Qur'an
5. C1ean prayer mats
6. Connected to it are schools, rooms for students and scholars.
7. Accessible water fountains for ablution which is a must before each prayer

• Friday Noon-Prayer is a community prayer primarily performed in the Mosque, preceded by Khutbah (words of advice given by the Imam).

SECTS OF ISIAM

There are two main sects in Islam:

• SUNNI: Followers of the Sunnah of the Prophet are a major community in Islam. The section of the Muslim community whose position prevailed from the beginnings. Later other sects contended for supremacy such as the Mu'tazila (a group who raised the question of whether the human acts are a result of a free human choice, or are they determined by God. This question brought with it a whole series of questions about the nature of God and of man), also Khawarij, Murji'ah and Shi'ah.
• The term Sunnah (in the religious terminology of Islam normally signifies "The example set by the Prophet") is usually accompanied by the appendage "The consolidated majority" (AI­Jama'A), which clearly indicates that the majority of the community as against peripheral positions of sectarians.
• A putative tradition of the Prophet that says "Differences of opinion among my community are a blessing" was given a wide currency, which made it possible for diverse sects and schools of thought to recognize and coexist with each other.
• No group may be excluded from the community unless it itself formally renounces Islam. As for individuals, unless a person is found to flagrantly violate or deny the unity of God or expressly negate the prophethood of Mohammad, there are no serious consequences or measures to be taken.
• On the question of free will, Sunnis attempted a syntheses between man's responsibility apd God's omnipotence. To the sunnis, it seemed blasphemous to hold that man could act wholly outside the sphere of divine omnipotence.
• The two main representatives of Sunni Doctrine in the tenth century are AI-Ash'Ari and AI-Maturidi.

• SHI'AH: Early formation of the Shi'ah ideas arose after the death of the Prophet Mohammad around the issue of who should be the successor.
• The Prophet did not name a successor, according to the Shi'ah ("Partisans" of 'Ali - the prophet's son-in-law and father of his only surviving grandsons) the Prophet's preference of Ali as a successor was a general knowledge.
• Ali and his Kinsmen were dismayed by the election of other Caliphs (Abu Bakr, 'Omar, and 'Uthman) but agreed for the sake of unity and because of 'Ali's young age.
• After the murder of 'Uthman, 'Ali became the fourth Caliph.
• Although the main difference between the Sunnis and the Shi'ah was political: should the Caliph must be chosen from the Muslim community at large (Sunnis), or from the prophet's family (Shi'ah)? Theological differences developed over the time.
• According to Shi'ah, the hidden and true meaning of the Qur'anic revelation can be known through the Imam (high-ranking clergy).
• The orthodox Shi' ah recognize twelve such Imams, the last having disappeared in the ninth century. Since that time, the Mujtahids (interpreters of Islam) have been able to interpret law and doctrine under the putative guidance of the Imam.

Sects of Islam Page 2

• Whereas the Sunnah believe in the Ijma' ("consensus") of the community as the source of decision-making and workable knowledge, the Shi'ah believe that the sure and true knowledge can come only through a contact with the infallible Imam.
• The violent death of Ali's son (Prophet's grandson) AI-Husayn, at the hands of the Umayyad Troops is remembered with moving orations and passion plays.
• All Muslims hold 'Ali, his family, and his descendants in great respect, they are referred to as "Sayyid or Shareef" which are honorable titles.
• From shi'ah developed: Twelver (Ithna 'Ishariyah), Isma'Iliyah who build the Fattimid Yazdiyah, and Druze.

SUFISM TASAWWUF (MYSTICISM): Where Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God.

• It taught that nothing exists except God, whose being is the only real being.
• It emerged out of early ascetic reaction on the part of certain religiously sensitive personalities against the general worldliness that had overtaken the Muslim community and the purely "externalist" expressions of Islam in law and theology.
• These persons stressed the Muslim qualities of moral motivation, contribution against over worldliness and "the state of the heart" as opposed to the legalist formulations of Islam.

IBADI: The most moderate sect of the Kharijis, the Ibadiyah, survived the first centuries of Islam. The Ibadiyah took a more accommodating view toward non-Khariji Islam at large, and their doctrine came to recognize different types of imams corresponding to the four states in which the community of the faithful could face its enemies. These include the state of manifestation, when the community was strong enough to overcome the opponent: the state of defense, when it could merely hope to ward off the enemy: the state of self sacrifice, when a small group of the faithful seeking martyrdom would choose to attack a powerful enemy: and the state of concealment, when the faithful were forced to live under the rule of the opponent and to practice dissimulation. Only the imam of the state of manifestation was entitled to exercise all the functions of the imamate.

ISLAMIC PERIODS

570 AD Birth of the Prophet Mohammed

610 AD Revelation of the Qur'an

622 AD Hijra-Migration to Medina

632 AD Death of the Prophet

632 – 661 AD Period of Caliphs Rashidoon (rightly guided Caliphs) to Medina

681 AD Al-Husayn's Martyrdom

661 – 750 AD Umayyad Caliphs/Damascus

750 – 1258 AD Abbassid Caliphs/Baghdad

711-1492 AD Andalus/Spain

1099 AD Crusades Invasion

1187 AD Salah Eddeen (Saladin) recaptures Jerusalem from the Crusades

1326 AD Beginning of the Ottoman Empire

1914 AD Ottomans join Germany in World War I

1920 AD Britain and France receive League of Nations' mandates to govern sections of the Middle East

1923 AD Kamal Ataturk forms Republic of Turkey, ending the Ottoman Empire

1945 AD End of World War II, marks the break up of colonial empires, leading to the independence of countries that were under the Ottoman Empire

General Bibliography: Arabs, Islam, Politics, and History

GENERAL BIBLIOGAPHY:
Arabs, Islam, Politics, and History


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AV MATERIALS:


Great World Religions: Islam (Esposito, John L). Chantilly, VA :Teaching Co., 2003.

Inside Islam. Directed by Mark Hufnail; written and produced by Mitch Lodwick; produced by
MPH Entertainment, Inc.; History Channel. New York: A&E Television Networks: Distributed
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Kindness in Islam. Islamic Circle of North America. Chicago, IL: Sound Vision, c1994.

Muhammad: Legacy of A Prophet. Kikim Media: Unity Productions Foundation; Alexandria,
VA: PBS Video distributor, 2002.

Ramadan. Schlessinger Media; Produced by Rhonda Fabian and Jerry Baber; directed by
Rhonda Fabian. Wynnewood, Pa.: Schlessinger Media, 2004.

Searching for God in America : Dr. Seyyed Nasr, PBS Video; produced and directed by Martin
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Take Me To The Kaba . Islamic Circle of North America. Chicago, IL: Sound Vision,
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The Living Islam. A BBC-TV production in Association with Ambrose Video Publishing. New
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Young Voices from the Arab World: the Lives and Times of Five Teenagers. AMIDEAST
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