REL 137g 1st Edition Lecture 2 Current Lecture Muhammad When a figure has an important impact on a large group of people Collective memory is embellished Because of the internal effect people experience Folklore Representation made up of historical fact and communal lore Facts Tempo centric vs ethno centric Perspectives based on our own time vs our own ethnicity Born in Mecca around 570 C E Arabia at that time Little interest from outside powers Empty quarter Nothing but the desert No economic political civilization significance Undeveloped stature Provided insulation from foreign powers Long distance trading connected Arabia to the world Spice from India Food medicine form of currency Extremely important to all Arabia acted as middleman No state of nation citizenship authority Need for socialization Unit of the tribe An individual is only as strong as their tribe Lead by a shaykh Did not have ultimate authority To regulate preserve interest of tribe Must be older strong personality eloquent Raiding Nationally utilized Shaykh got of spoils To help in leading tribe Dynamics of a tribe Asab yah Very deep sense of us ness Individuals tied to their tribe on a deeply Psychological level Takes the place of citizenship Mur wwah Generosity under all circumstances Protection of the weak To be stingy reflects weakness Helping others is a manifestation of strength machismo masculine strength A tribe will break down into clans Quraysh Mother tribe Virtually disappeared as functional reality Broke down into several clans The clan is then the unit of society Afterwards clans will only identify with a tribe in face of External threat Operates exactly like a tribe Has a shaykh Clans in Mecca at the time of Muhammed s birth Banu i Hashim Banu i Taym Banu i Makhzum Muhammed From the tribe Quraysh from the clan B Hashim Break down of alliances between clans into three main groups B Hashim B Abd Shans Will eventually become leading dynasty Mckhzum Most powerful and wealthy Introduction of liquid money through trade made people less dependent on their clan Religion before Muhammed Arabians believed in God known as Allah proper name for God in Arabic Creator and sustainer of universe Great distance between the people and God Too far to be involved in everyday life Intermediaries Idols who connected the people to God Not the creators of the universe just connection to God Acquired some semblance of supernatural power Was the core of Arabian religion Shirk Translated as polytheism Did not believe in more than one creator Rather the recognition of more than one possessor of supernatural power Rituals Mecca as the religious site of pilgrimage To visit the Ka ba Built by Abraham Held idols Primarily about extracting service from nature As opposed to being moralistic No prophets books theology religious hierarchy Folk religion No belief in afterlife Question arises Did Muhammed want to replace or just transform already existent religious norms Transformed Arabic religious traditions into Islamic traditions Kahin Priest Communicated through speech called saj Arabic as rhymed prose Muhammed Born in 570 C E Father died before he was born Mother died when he was around 6 Taken into the care of his grandfather He died when Muhammed was 8 Then taken into the care of an uncle Abu Talib His father s brother Normal childhood but disturbed by the religious life of Mecca Member of a small group of monotheists Hanif Wanted to find a way to connect with one true God In this way Muhammed was apart from society In 610 At around 40 years old says he receives revelations from God Beginning of prophet hood