PowerPoint on Smith's chapter on Islam

1. HUM10 World Religions:
ISLAM

2. 1. What is Islam?
 Islam: root word means ‘peace’ but also ‘submission’ or ‘surrender’
 Muslim: ’one who submits’
 Prothero (and others) calls Islam “the way of submission” (25)
 One of the Abrahamic faiths: Shared tradition/history with Judaism &
Christianity
 Islam “begins with God” (Smith 146)
 Question: What does this mean and why is it important?
 Religion that involves complete acceptance and submission to God’s
teachings
 God’s teachings are revealed ultimately and perfectly through the
Prophet Muhammad in the Qur’an.

3. 2. Split from other Abrahamic traditions
 Isaac vs Ishmael: both sons of Abraham
 Isaac’s mother = Sarah
 Ishmael’s mother = Hagar (Sarah’s maid)
Hagar: given to Abraham as enslaved by Egyptian king
Becomes Abraham’s wife at behest of Sarah (Genesis
16:3)
 Ishmael & Hagar called to Arabia (Mecca) by God
 (Judaism: Sarah asks Abraham to send them away)
 descendants: Prophet Muhammad  Muslims
 Isaac remained in Palestine;
 descendants: Jews  Jesus
 Muslims & other Abrahamic traditions worship the same
God
 Allah: Arabic word for “God”

4. 3. Who is the Prophet?
 Muhammad:
 Born: approx. 570 C.E. to the Quraysh tribe
 Orphaned when he was young; raised by an uncle
 “pure-hearted beloved” (Smith 148)
 Businessman (merchant – trade)
Meets Khadija, wealthy widow: Muhammad’s first wife & (eventually) first
convert
 First revelations come at age 40 – 610 C.E.
Night of Power: Sura 96:1-5 first revealed to Prophet
 Beliefs about Prophet:
 Illiterate (Qur’an = miraculous)
 Sinless
 “Seal of the Prophets” – the last true Prophet

5. 4. Culture at time of Prophet
 Culture of Mecca / Arabia at the time of the Prophet:
 Tribal society (tribal identity most important)
 Situated between two empires (Byzantine & Sasanian)
 Religion was polytheistic/animistic
 Question: Why might this matter?
 Affected how Prophet was received (as a threat)
 Makes apparent how some of Islam’s innovations
(about women, ethics, etc.) were considered
improvements/corrections to a violent society

6. 5. Prophecy
 Begins to retreat outside of Mecca for meditation (Smith 150)
 Begins to hear voice calling out, “Greetings, oh Messenger of God.”
 First revelation is terrifying
 Revelation will continue for the next 23 years
 Initially grounding and ethical (Meccan suras)
 later becomes more regulatory as nascent state emerges (Medinan
suras)
 1st 3 years: < 40 converts

7. 6. Emergence of Islam: Gaining Converts
 Prophet told Khadija about his receiving the initial revelation
 She becomes convert
 Prophet preaches strict monotheism
 Monotheism through Judaism & Christianity prior to Islam, but they
got part of the story wrong:
Judaism: revelation only to one specific group of people
Christianity: deified Jesus (who was just a prophet)
 Crucial events
 622—Hijra to Medina (crucial change – escape persecution)
 630—Peaceful conquest of Mecca
 630-632—Arabia mostly submits to Medina
 632-Prophet dies without universally recognized heir

8. 7. Map of Early Spread of Islam

9. 8. Humanity’s Problem & Solution
 Problem: Self-sufficiency – “hubris of acting as if you can get along
without God, who alone is self-sufficient” (Prothero 32)
 I.e., problem = idolatry of self
 No concept of original sin
 ”forgetting” – forgetting one’s origin as divine
 No need for salvation from sin
 Solution: submission to God / God’s will
 (As revealed in Qur’an)
 Submission produces a soul at peace
 Remember: root of word “Islam” is connected to both “submission” and “peace”

10. 9. Theological Beliefs: God & Qur’an
 There is one Supreme God (Allah is “God” in Arabic)
 All-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving
 Prophet’s revelation to eliminate other gods
 Qur’an = perfect revelation of God to humanity (in
Arabic only)
 Uncreated Qur’an
 Created Qur’an

11. 10. Theological Beliefs: Creation &
Human Self
 Creation:
 Universe is “uncompromisingly moral” (Smith 157)
i.e., good and evil matter
 World / matter is real, and since created by God, is good
 Humanity: unique part of Creation
 Human nature (Smith 158)
 Fundamentally good (despite “forgetting”)
 Fundamentally free
 2 obligations:
Gratitude
Surrender
 Question: What is the same and what is different between Judaism’s,
Christianity’s, and Islam’s view of human nature?

12. 11. Theological Beliefs: Judgment Day
 Judgment Day
 God will judge each individual’s actions on Earth
according to how well they followed God’s law
 Smith says another way to interpret this: self judges
itself – death “burns away” self-seeking component
(158)
 (Remember: uncompromising view of the universe as
moral – good / bad matter)
“Nothing on earth or in
heaven is hidden from
God: it is He who
shapes you all in the
womb as He pleases.
There is no God but
Him, the Mighty, the
Wise: it is He who sent
this Scripture down to
you [Prophet].” (3:5-6)

13. 12. Sacred Texts: Qur’an
 Qur’an (‘Recitation’)
 Smith calls it the “standing miracle” (154)
 = literal Word of God (in Arabic); “verbal incarnation”
(Smith 154)
 Process of transmission: Prophet memorized it;
shared with others (oral culture); wrote it down
 Smith argues for its uniqueness among sacred texts
(154-155):
 Not metaphysical, like Hindu Upanishads
 Theology isn’t grounded in narrative (Hindu epics) or
history (Hebrew Bible)
 God isn’t revealed in human form (New Testament,
Bhagavad Gita)
 Rather, Qur’an is “directly doctrinal and indirectly
historical” (154).
Question: What does this mean?
“People of the Book! Our
apostle has come to reveal to
you much of what you have
hidden in the Scriptures, and to
forgive you much. A light has
come to you from God and a
glorious Book, with which He
will guide to the paths of
peace those that seek to please
Him; He will lead them by His
will from darkness to the light;
He will guide them to a
straight path.” (5:15-16)

14. 13. Sacred Texts: Hadith + Sunnah
 Hadith + Sunnah  Sunnah
 Hadith: sayings of the Prophet outside Qur’an but whose chain of transmission is
traced for authentication
 Some hadith are relatively universally accepted
 Some hadith are accepted primarily by one sect (e.g., Sunni or Shi’a)
 Some hadith aren’t authenticated as thoroughly and therefore are accepted to
lesser degrees
 Sunnah: beliefs & practices of the Prophet
 Sometimes “hadith” and “Sunnah” used as synonyms (sayings are part of
Prophet’s practices)
 Known through hadith
 Helps one know how to understand and apply Qur’an
 Tafsir: exegesis of/commentary on Qur’an
 Question: How is Islam’s approach to sacred text similar & dissimilar from other
religious traditions we’ve looked at?

15. 13. Practices of Islam: Five Pillars
 Five Pillars
 shahadah (creed); salat (prayer); zakat
(charity); hajj (pilgrimage); fasting
(Ramadan)
 “five pillars” not phrase in Qur’an, but
known through Sunnah
 Demonstrates that Islam = way of life,
not just belief

16. 13. Practices of Islam: Law
 Sharī‘a: God’s law; God’s absolute will for humanity - the way they’re
supposed to live
 Fiqh: human attempt to understand God’s law / figure out how He
determined humans should live
 often translated “jurisprudence”
 Usually assumed Islamic jurists (fuqahā’ – experts in fiqh) have been
largely successful in discovering the Sharī‘a
 Hence what is strictly fiqh is often called Shari‘a
 Question: What problem might arise here?

17. 14. Sunni & Shi’a
 Question: Who should be caliph (Prophet’s
successor)?
 Sunnis
 Answer: anyone
 majority of Muslims (85-93.5%)
 “Sunni” = “one who adheres to the acts of the
Prophet Muhammad”
 Shi’ites
 Answer: only descendants of Ali, Muhammad’s
cousin & son-in-law
 minority (6.6-15%)
 “Shia” = “follower

18. Only countries with a Shia majority are:
Iraq (60-65%), Iran (89%), Azerbaijan (80%)

19. 15. Sufis
 Mystical side of Islam: seek union with God
 notion of hubb, the love b/t the “beloved”
(Allah) & the “lover”
 seek God through inner experience rather than
through scripture
 Smith identifies 3 “routes” to deeper
connection to the Divine (171):
 Mysticism of love: immerse oneself in God’s
love and reflect that love to others
 Mysticism of ecstasy: connect with Divine
through transcendence of world, but must
always return to share w/others
 Mysticism of intuitive discernment: brings out
what we can know with mind & not senses

20. 15b. Sufis
 bridge between Sunni and Shiite
 emphasis on humanitarianism – helping others decreases self-
centeredness
 Origins: In existence since the time of the Prophet
 Formalized through writings in 11th-12th c.
 Not all Sufis belong to Sufi orders: many Sunnis and Shiites
practice Sufi-style devotion.

21. 16. Social Teachings of Islam
 Economics:
 Encourages success in business
 Requires zakat (alms)
 Qur’an outlawed primogeniture
 Condemns taking of interest**
 Status of Women
 Qur’an outlawed infanticide
 Rejected primogeniture
 Leaves open possibility of full
equality
 Potential problems: polygynv
 Race relations:
 Qur’an rejects racism
 Use of Force / War
 Does not preach pacifism
unilaterally, but when circumstances
require it (Smith 168)
 Multiple stipulations for just war
Note: jihad means “Struggle”
Spiritual sense
Physical sense

22. 17. Zarqa Narwaz: Bio
 British-Canadian journalist and
filmmaker
 Pakistani origin
 B.Sc. from University of Toronto
 B.A.A from Ryerson University
 Went back to school to
avoid arranged marriage
 Lives in Regina, Saskatchewan
 Creator of Little Mosque on the
Prairie (TV)
 Also wrote/directed: BBQ
Muslims, Death Threat,
Random Check, and Fred’s
Burqa, all short comedy
films
 Author of Laughing All the Way
to the Mosque

23. 18. Questions
 Why is the issue of a partition in the mass seen as important for Muslim communities,
both on the “pro” and “anti” side?
 How does purity culture play a role in this issue of a separation or a partition in the
mosque? Is it true that the emphasis on partition to protect men is degrading to men?
 How should we understand this issue in relation to the idea of lived religion? In other
words, do religions take on a different character than what was there ‘originally’, or
should all religious practices be rooted in the religion’s origin? Is there a ‘pure’ religion,
or will all religions be syncretic?
 How do we determine whether a change in tradition is warranted or whether it
corrupts authentic faith?
 What corollaries can you see in other religious traditions’ thought and practice, based
on what we have read this far as well as your experience?