REL1300 Final Study Guide 07 30 2013 Chapter 5 Islam Islam o Means submission in Arabic and signifies the commitment of its adherents to live in total submission to God o A person who professes Islam is called a Muslim One who submits to God o Another translation of Islam Engaged surrender Signifies both the surrender to God and the activities associated with this surrender Ramadan o The month throughout which Muslims fast during daylight hours o 4th pillar of Islam of worship Fasting is recognized in the Qur an as a universal form o The Ramadan fast extends from day break until sundown every day for a month Requires a complete abstinence from food drink smoking and sexual relations o Children those who are ill traveling and women who are pregnant nursing or menstruating are exempted Must feed a poor person for every day missed o It is a true act of worship when a person shares God s bounty with those who have no food with which to break their fast True fasting means more than giving up the pleasures of food but abstaining from gossip and anger and turning one s heart and mind to God in devotional prayers and meditations o Ends with a festival Id al Fitr Id al Fitr o A 3 day celebration during which people exchange presents and well wishing visits o The holiday celebrating the end of the Ramadan fast o The festival traditionally begins following the sighting of the new moon Lunar calendar Muslims don t base year off of this o At first the year only contained 354 days o To keep festivals and sacred months in their proper seasons they added an extra month every 3 years o The Qur an abolished this custom allowing Islamic festivals to rotate throughout the year Fasting o Universal form of worship Story of Muhammad s call o During the month of Ramadan Muhammad spent days in seclusion in a cave on Mount Hira During one of these retreats he received a call to prophet hood and the first revelation of the Qur an o The story As Muhammad was sitting one night in the solitude of his retreat and angel Gabriel appeared commanding Muhammad to recite in the name of the Lord After Muhammad was afraid and ran home Again the angel returned to him and said that he Muhammad is the messenger of God After confirmation of Muhammad s prophet hood by Waraqah he was also told he had a sacred mission that was to deliver a new message from God For 12 years Muhammad preached the new faith in the One God with little success because the Meccan people did not want to abandon the ways of their ancestors as they also feared implications of the new faith Muhammad s message was moral social and also religious He instructed the Meccan people to give alms care for the orphans feed the hungry etc He also warned them of impending doom on the day of last judgment o First to accept new faith His wife cousin son in law and his slave o Muhammad s first followers were vilified like Jesus Around 615 one group of Muslims without tribal protection faced severe persecution from the polytheistic group of Meccan people so the prophet advised them to migrate across the Red Sea to a Christian community now known as Ethiopia o In 619 the prophet was left without support due to the death of his wife and uncle After these losses the prophet experienced a mi raj night journey traveling from Mecca to Jerusalem in one night and ascending to heaven where he met earlier prophets and was granted an audience with God confirming the support of Muhammad from God o 3 years later Muslims found a place to est their own community and was free of persecution suffered in Mecca Sunni Shi a o The majority of the Muslims 5 6ths of the population o Muslims who trace succession to the prophets authority through the caliphate which lasted until the 20th century o Follow the sunnah Traditions of the prophet The life example of Muhammad s words and deeds based on the Hadith literature primary source of guidance for Muslims o Believed that Muhammad s death was before he had designated a successor or specified how one should be chosen o Partisans o Muslims who traces succession to the Prophets authority through imams in the lineage Ali o 1 6th of Muslim population o Believed that Muhammad appointed his son in law Ali to succeed him Question of Succession o Sunni no successor o Shi a Ali is successor o After Muhammad s death his close companion Abu Bakr became the Khalifat Rasul Allah The successor of the messenger of God o Abu Bakr s successor Umar in al Khattab was referred to as the successor of the successor of the messenger of God o Now caliphs recognized Caliph o Successor of prophet and religious leaders o Also the chief administrative head of the community o The amir commander in times of peace and war o Umar adopted the title commander of the faith o Caliphs continue to function as imams chief religious leaders of the community o 4 caliphs ruled after Muhammad Prophets and Messengers o According to the Qur an God operates through Prophets and Messengers who convey God s will in revealed scriptures and seek to est God s sacred law in the lives of their community o Human history prophetic history o Islamic tradition maintains that God sent 124 000 prophets into world to remind people of every community of their obligation to the one and only sovereign lord and warn them against disobedience o Prophet nabi conveys a message from God to a specific people at a specific time o Messenger rasul is a prophet sent by God to a specific The message he conveys is a universally binding sacred o Every messenger is a prophet but not every prophet is a community law shari ah messenger o 5 messenger prophets Noah Abraham Moses Jesus and Muhammad Called ulu al azm Prophets of power Shari ah o The sacred law law of God o Consists of the maxims admonitions and legal sanctions and prohibitions enshrined in the Qur an and explained elaborated and realized in the prophetic traditions o Originally meant the way to a source of water Metaphorically meant the way the good in this world and the next human society o Muslims believe the Shari ah is God s plan for the ordering of o Human actions range between absolutely obligatory that will bring rewards on the Day of Judgement and those that are absolutely forbidden and will bring punishment o Actions are classified in 5 categories Halal Mustahabb Mubah Makruh Haram Lawful and therefore obligatory Commendable and therefore recommended Neutral and therefore permitted Reprehensible and therefore disliked Unlawful and therefore
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