RELS 317 1nd Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 4 KEY TERMS Abrahamic Religions Judaism Christianity Islam o All these religions are believe in monotheistic prophesies Day of Judgment Goodness of the material world notion of progress things will get better ex A Messiah Zoroastrianism Religion that believes in light vs dark Four Heavenly Books Torah Jewish scriptures book revealed by God Gospel book revealed by God 1st four books of the New Testament come from Matthew Mark Luke and John Psalms book revealed by God contains hymns Quran Islam holy book from the prophet Mohammed Five Great Prophets Noah Abraham Jesus considered a prophet in Islam and Mohammed Muruwwa manliness a code of conduct that men followed included bravery in battle loyalty to tribe and generosity to guests Mawla Arabic word for protector in Bedouin society men were expected to protect people outside of their tribe Jahiliyya Age of Ignorance the time before Islam and monotheism Shaykh the leader of a particular tribe Hanif Early monotheists Quaraysh Mohammed s tribe Banu Hashim Mohammed s clan duty of keeping Mecca in order during Hajj Khadija Mohammed s ONLY wife a wealthy trader and merchant Angel Gabriel Messenger of God the angel came to Mohammed and told him to recite Mt Hira Where Mohammed received his first vision in 610 Umma world wide Muslim community Hijra The early Muslim community fled persecution in 622 Yathrib Gave Mohammed and his followers refuge when they fled Mecca Ansar When the citizens of Medina helped Mohammed after he left Medina Battle of Badr Battle against Quraish opponents and the Early Muslims the first large battle between the Muslims and Meccans Ahl al Kitab The Islamic Script Uthman companion to Mohammed caliph at a later time Meccan Suras Earlier chapters of the Qur an shorter than Medinan suras Al Fatiha The first chapter of the Qur an which contains 7 verses that pray for God s guidance shortest book Jinn Spirit beings creatures created out of fire male or female mix between man and angel Genies Shahada One of the Five Pillars of Islam No god but God Sawm One of the Five Pillars of Islam fasting Sunna means custom works out Mohammed s Visions Hadith sayings tales what Mohammed did say or silently confirmed o Broken down into two parts Isnad Matn Isnad chain of reporters who relay the story Matn original story Al Bukhari collected 7 563 Hadiths KEY THEMES FROM READINGS Aslan No god but God Prologue What does Aslan mean by clash of monotheism and why does he not like the term clash of civilizations that has entered into popular speech among some social scientists and journalists Aslan does not like the term clash of civilization because he sees it as a clash of monotheism rather than a clash of civilization The conflicts we are experiencing today are more deeply based on religion rather than culture Aslan defines the clash of monotheism by major religions fighting for supremacy Since post 9 11 Christian missionaries have gone to the Middle East in hopes to spread the religion and therefore eradicating Islam Even in the Middle East Muslims spread anti Christian and anti Jewish propaganda to combat what they deem as an intruding religion Chapter 1 Pay attention to some of the religious and cultural traditions in place during preIslamic times and think about how this may have influenced the thinking of Mohammed and his followers What was Hanifism and how might it have played a role in Mohammed s worldview and religious formation Hanifism is an Arab monotheistic movement and it only existed in western Arabia in a region the Arabs called Hijaz Hanifism influenced Mohammed s religious formation by only believing in one god Chapter 2 Think about how the religious practices and beliefs in seventh century Arabia contribute to and detract from the implementation of Mohammed s mission and the early development of the umma Many early practices of religion included the worshiping of many gods so therefore Mohammed tried to tell his community that the real religion of Abraham only praises one god The Umma is the worldwide Muslim community in the beginning it was small but know it entrenches many parts of the globe Chapter 3 Aslan states that nowhere was Muhammad s struggle for economic redistribution and social egalitarianism more evident than in the rights and privileges he bestowed upon the women in his community Focus on how he tries to support this comment and note how he accounts for the way Muslims have not always lived up to this ideal especially following the Prophet s death The Qur an states the equality of man and woman and how both sexes should be treated fairly The Qur an also states that both sexes have different roles to play in society KEY THEMES FROM FILMS DOCUMENTARIES The Message The Story of Islam shown in class on 9 8 The director is able to make Mohammed a main character without showing him or having him speak which would have offended many Muslim viewers When the early Muslims flee persecution and go to Abyssinia they convince the king to let them stay by telling him the story of the Virgin Mary and how she gave birth the Jesus Christ Decoding the Past shown in class on 9 15 The Sword verses are considered the most violent verses within the Qur an o Radical Muslims have used the Sword verses to justify violence towards nonMuslims and infidels Inside Mecca a National Geography documentary on the Hajj shown in class on 9 22 The documentary followed 3 people from different backgrounds a rich man from Malaysia an American woman from Texas who converted to Islam from Christianity and a poor man from Africa o Even though the Qur an teaches everyone to be equal during the Hajj the man from Malaysia was able to stay in an air conditioned tent with commodities o The man from Africa was treated different because of his skin color o The American woman was questioned repeatedly if she was really Muslim