This document provides a chronology of important events in early Islamic history from the birth of the Prophet Muhammad in 570 CE to the Abbasid Caliphate period from 750-833 CE. Some key events included are the Hijra in 622 CE which marks the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar, the conquest of Mecca in 630 CE, the death of the Prophet in 632 CE, and the early Islamic conquests under the Rashidun caliphs which established Islamic rule across the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia by the mid-7th century CE. The chronology then outlines the First Fitna civil war and the establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate from 6

1. Islam
Jamal J. Elias
Amtierst College, Massachusetts

2. Contents
Foretsord 5
Prefdce 7
Ghronology ofIslam 9
1 Islam in Everyday Life and Society 13
Tlie Muslim Wbrld Todav 14
The Qur'an IS
Tlie < Icntralitv of the Qur’an in Islamie Tradition 20
Art Focus: Islamie Art 22
Hadith and Sunna 24
Veneration öl'.Muhammad 26
2 The Birth of Islam 28
Muhammad s Birth and Early l.if'e 31
The Great Emigration: The Ilijra 33
The Islamie Community alter Muhammad 35
Seetarian Division 39
Zaydis 39 Twelvers 40 Isma‘ilis 41
3 Theology, Law, and Mysticism 44
Theology 45
Islamie Law: Shari a 47
Sources 47 Principles of Jurisprudence 48
Mystieal Islam: Sufism 52
The Sufi Path 54 Organized Sufism: The Sufi Orders 55
Veneration of Saints 58 Mysticism and Magie 59
Conclusion 60
4 Beliefs, Rituals, and Practices 61
l’illars of the Faith 61
Divine Unity 61 Prophecy 62 Revelation 63
Angelic Agency 64 Judgment and Afterlife 64
l’illars of Practice 65
Art Focus: Prayer and the Mosque 68
Shahada 66 Prayer 66 Fasting 67 Alms-giving 70
Hajj 71 Jihad 73

3. Observanees: Life-cycle Rites 74
Circumcision 74 Marriage 74 Death 76
Observanees: Festivals 78
Eid al-Fitr: The Culmination of Ramadan 79
Eid al-Adha: The Culmination of Hajj 79 Muharram 80
Populär Holidays 81
5 Islamic Thought in the Modern World 82
Islam in the Colonial Aße 84
Tradition aild Reform 85
Early Reformists 88
Jamal al-Din Afghani 88 Muhammad Abduh 88
Visionaries of Polities and Faith 89
Rifah al-Tahtawi 89 Ziya Gökalp 89 Ali Abd al-Raziq 90
Muhammad Iqbal 91 Sayyid Abu'l-A la Mawdudi 92
Sayyid Qutb 92
The Iranian Revolution 93
Ayatollah Khomeini 95 Ali Shari ati 95
Conelusion 96
6 Looking to the Future 98
I lie Salman Rushdie Controversy ’>'>
Muslim Minorities in the West 102
Islam in Context 103
Women in Islam 105
A Question of Interpretation 107
Conelusion 108
Notes 110
(ilossary 113
lloly Days and l'esrivals I 19
/’rommekrrion Guide 120
Sugfiested Fürther Readin/i 121
Internet Resourees I 25
Index 127

4. Foreword
Religions of the World
The informell citizen or Student needs a good overal) knowledge of our
small but eomplieated world. Fifty years ago you niight have negleet-
ed religions Xow. however, we are shrewder and can see that religions
and ideologies not onlv form eivilizations but direetly influence
international evetlts. These Brief books provide sueeinet. balaneed.
and informative guides to the major faiths and one volume also intro-
duees the ehanging religious seene as we enter the new millennium.
Todav we wallt not only to he informed. but to he stimulated by
the lil'e and beliefs of the diverse and offen eomplex religions of today's
world These iusightl’ul and aeeessible introduetions allow you to
explore the riches of eaeh tradition—to understand its history. its
beliefe and praetiees. and also to grasp its influenee upon the modern
world The books have beeil »Titten by a team of exeellent and, on the
»hole, vounger seholars who represent a new generation of writers in
the field of religious studies Wliile aware of the politieal and lüstori-
eal influenees of religion fliese authors aim to present the religion’s
spiritual side in a fresh and interesting way So whether von are inter-
ested simply in descriptive knowledge of a faitli, or in exploring its
spiritual message, you will find these introduetions invaluable.
The emphasis in these books is on the modern period. beeause
every religious tradition has transfomied itself in the faee of the trau-
matie experienees of the last two hundred years or more. Colonialisin.
industrialization. nationalism. revivals of religion, new religions. world
wars. revolutions. and soeial transfomiatious have not leit faitli unaf-
feeted and have drawn on religious and anti-religious forees to reshape
our world. Modern teehnology in the last 25 years—from the Boeing
747 to the world wide web—has niade our globe seem a niueh smaller
plaee. Evett the moon s magie has beeil eaptured by teehnology.

5. 6 • Islam
W'e meet in these books people of the modern period as a sample
of the many ehanges over the last few eenturies. At the samt time,
euch Book proeitles a valnable insight into the different diinensions of
the religion: its teaehings. narratives, organizations. rituals, and expe-
rienees. In touehing on diese features. eaeh volume gives a rounded
viett of the tradition cnabling von to understand «hat it means to
belong to a partieular l'aith. As the native American proverb has it:
"Never judge a person withont «alking a utile in bis moccasins.".
To assist von further in vour exploration. a lnunber of useful ref-
erenee aiils are included Eaeh Book eontains a chronology, map. glos-
sary pronunci.ition guide. list of fcstivals. annotated reading list, and
indes. A seleetion of images provides examples of religious art sytil-
Bols. and Contemporary praetiees. Eocus Boxes explore in more detail
the relation between the faith and some aspeet of the arts—whether
painting. seiilpture. arehiteeture. literatnre. dance, or musie.
I hope von will find these introdncdons enjoyable and illuminat-
ing. Hrevity is supposed to be the soul of «it: it ean also turn out to be
«hat we neeil in the first instanee in introdueiilg eultural and spiritu­
al themes.
.Vinüm Smart
Santa Barbara, 1998

6. Preface
Writing a brief introductory book of this kind presents a set of unique
challenges to die author. who must balance brevity. elarity. and com-
prehensiveness. These deniands are particularly acute in the ease of
Islam, whieli is a religion of people from vastly varying cultures. and
simult.-meously one perceived as foreigtl to die Western world. In the
interest of elarity I have eliosen to eoneentrate on a limited number of
soeieties vvhen providing concreto examples of Islamie beliefs and cus-
toms. and must apologize to those readers whose regional interests
have not lieen suffieienlly aeeotnmodated.
Emphasizing Islam as a living tradition, I have provided only the
most Condensed deseription of elassical Islamie historv and thought.
subjeets whieh are eovered in great detail in a variety of books. 1 have
tried to foeus on the religion of ordinäre Muslims, who live in soeieties
tliat are niostly in a state of relative peaee. and whose major eoneems
revolve around the day-today issues tliat preoccupy human beings in
most soeieties. I have intentionally avoided the Islam of newspaper
headlines; nor have I attempted to make religious sense of the madness
tliat has grippeil Afghanistan and Algeria.
I have tried to be as eonsistent as possible in my use of teehnieal
terms tliat have not beeil standardized in seholarly use. For example. I
use "Muslim" as an adjeetive to refer to both men and women who prü­
fens the religion of Islam. I also use "Muslim'' as an adjeetive referring
to soeietal or historieal phenomena tliat are religious in eontent or
eharaeter. This is distinet from my use of the term "Islamie" to refer to
those features of life tliat are sliared even bv the non-Muslim members
of a predominantlv Muslim socicty, sueh as its art or musie. This lor-
mula parallels the usage of '‘Christian” versus "Western " in the book.
I have used Arabie teehnieal terms only vvhere absolutely neeessary. and
have used a simplified svsteni of transliteration—interested readers
should eonsult the pronuneiation guide for clarifieation. Arabie words
that have entered the English language are treated as English words
vvlien written in plural form; singulär and plural fornis of otlier words
are provided as neeessary.
This book emerges from roughlv teil years of teaehing introduetorv
eourses on Islam, and I would like to aeknowledge the eonlribution of

7. 8 ♦ Islam
students, both past and present, at Amtierst, Yale, and Brown, for forc-
ing nie io think about die material in new ways. My frequent researeh
trips to die Islamie world base beeil faeilitated by a nuniber of granting
agencies and aeademie institutions, most significantly Amtierst
College.
In putting together this volume I have drawn Information from a
large nuniber of people in the Islamie world and in the l’nited States.
Among tliose seholars whose direet eonimunications I was acutelv
aware of during the months in which I was writing this book are Eqbal
Ahmed. I.eila Ahmed. Virginia Aksan. Adel Allouehe. Gerhard Böwering,
Amila Buturovie, Michael Cooperson, Alan Godlas. Yvonne liaddad.
Farooq llamid. Nancy Hill. Ahmet Karamustafa, Nevzat Kaya. Ahmet
Kuya.s. Ali Mirsepassi. Dwight Reynolds. Ahmed Tasbihi, Shawkat M.
Toorawa. E. Sarah Wolper. and Osman Yahya. There are. no doubt. many
others wliom I liave overlooked. but neither tliey nor the people named
above are in anv way aecountable for the shorteomings of this book.
I wotild partieularly like to thank Melanie White. my editor at
Cahnann and King, for her patienee with the delays necessitaled by my
schedule. Shahz.ad Bashir for reading the manuscript and eommenting
on it. and Mehrin Masud for her eareful reading. for listcning to nie for-
mulate ideas. and for keeping the Cappuccinos conüng.
Januil .1. Elian
June 1998

8. Chronology of Islam
c. 570 C.E.
619
622
630
632
632
632-4
634-44
635
639
640
644
644-56
651
653
656
656-61
657
661
661-750
678
680
711
711-12
750
762
765
767
784-6
786-809
801
813-33
Birth <>i thc Prophet in Meeca.
Death of Khadija, first wife of thc Prophet and first convert to
Islam.
Thc Hijra: thc emigration of Muhammad and bis f<»Howers from
Meeca to Medina, marking thc beginning of thc Islamic lunar
ealendar.
Conquest of Meeca.
Thc Farcwcll Pilgrimagc and dcath of thc Prophet.
Death of Fatima, daugbter of the Prophet and wife of Ali.
Abu Bakr is Caliph.
Dinar is Caliph.
Conquest of Damascus.
Conquest of Egvpt.
Conquest of Persia.
Death of l'mar.
l'thman is Caliph.
Death of the last pre-Islamic Persian emperor, Yazdigird.
Official datc of thc canonization of thc Qur’an under l’thman.
Dcath of l'thman.
Ali is Caliph
Battle of Siffin between supporters of Ali and thc army of
Mu awiya.
Assassination <>f Ali. Mu awiya becomes Caliph.
Dinayvad dynasty.
Dcath of A’isha. wife of thc Prophet and one of thc most influcntial
figurcs in early Islam.
Ilusayn, son of Ali and grandson of thc Prophet. martyred at
Karbala.
(Conquest of Spain.
Conquest ot Indus Valley.
Defeat of thc l’mayvads by thc Abbasid dynasty.
Thc citvof Baghdad founded as thc seat of thc Caliphatc and
capital of thc Abbasids.
Dcath of Ja far al-Sadiq. thc sixth Shi'i Imam. Ile is thc last Imam
to be reeognized by both thc TWelver Shi is and thc Ismailis, and
is liighly regarded for bis rcligious knowlcdge.
Dcath of the great legal Scholar. Abu llanifa.
Building of thc Great Mosquc in Cordoba. Spain.
Reign of thc famous Caliph. Harun al-Rashid.
Dcath of thc ascetie nnstic. Rabi'a al-Adawiya.
Reign of thc Abbasid Caliph al-Ma’mun. under whom tbcre was a
great flowering in Islamic scholarship and litcraturc. Major
theologica) debatc over thc naturc of thc Qur’an.

9. Attcntpt at reeoneiling Slii i and Sunni Islamie sccts.
Death of al-ShatTi. a famous legal seholar.
Death of the theologian and legal seholar. Ibn llanbal.
Death <>f Bukhari. the famous eompiler of Hadith.
The twelfth Imam of the Twelver Shiis, Muhammad al-Qaint. goes
into a state of eoneealment. He is not expeeted to return until the
events that Signal the end of ihis world.
Death of Muslim Ihn al-Hajjaj. the famous eompiler of Hadith.
First appearanee of Isma ili religious and politieal insurgents in
Iraq.
Rise of Zaydi Shi'ism in Yenten.
Raid on Meeea and deseeration of the Ka'ba by the extremist
Isma ili followers of llamdan Qarmat.
Death of the great theologian, al-Ash'ari.
Death of the philosopher, al-Farabi.
Foundation of the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo.
Death of the philosopher, Ibn Sina (known in the West as
Avieenna).
Death of Ibn llaznt, a theologian, philosopher. poet. and
jurisprudent, and possibly the greatest seholar to eome out of
Islamie Spain.
Battle of Manzikert, in whieh the Seljuk Turks defeated the
Byzantine armv and eaptured the Byzantine Entperor Romanns
Diogenus, thereby opening the Byzantine territories to future
invasion and eonquest.
Crusaders eapture Jerusalem.
Death of the famous theologian. Al-Ghazali
Death of Muhammad al-Shahrastani, a historian of religion famous
for his Rook ofRdigionx und Sccts.
Relaking of Jerusalem front the Crusaders by Saladin.
Death of the great Spanish philosopher. Ibn Rushd (known in the
West as Averroes).
The Mongol invasion of the Islamie world.
Death of the great Spanish mvstieal philosopher. Ibn al-Arabi.
Mongol eonquest of Baghdad and the end of the Abbasid Caliphs.
Battle of Ayn Jalut. at whieh the Egvptian Mamluks defeated the
Mongols. preventing them front invading Afriea.
Death of the famous mvstieal poet, Jalal al-Din Rumi.
Conquest of Byzantium (Constantinople) by the Ottoman Turks.
Muslim eommunities established in southern West Afriea.
The fall of Granada and the end of the last Muslim priiieipalitv in
Spain.
Reign of Sltah Ismail I. a founder of the Safavid Empire in Iran.
Twelver Shi ism is made offieial religion of Iran.
Death of Al-Suyuti, a famous Egvptian historian. grammarian. and
seholar of the Qur’an.

10. 1517
1520-66
1526-30
C. 1550
mid 1500s
1550-7
1609-14
1624
1744
1792
1798
1803
1817
1897
1898
1906
1917
1924
1939
1947
1966
1977
1979
1979
1989
1991
1992
1998
Ottoman eonquest of Egypt. alter whicli the Ottoman empenir
also clairns to Ire the Caliph ol the Islamie world.
Reign of Ottoman emperor Süleyman the Magilifieent, who
makes the Ottoman elaim to Ire the main rulers of the Sunni
Islamie world a reality.
Reign of the Emperor Babur. who lairl the foundations of the
Mughal Empire in India.
Islam arrives in Cambodia.
Islam hecomes establishcd in Borneo.
Conslruction of the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul.
The expulsion of all Muslims front Spain
Death of the Indian mystie and reformer Ahmad Sirhindi
Alliance betwecn the religions reformer Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and
Muhammad Ilm Sa ud, whieh eventually led to the crcation of
Saudi Arabia.
Death of Abd al-Wahhab.
Napoleon inendes Egypt.
Establishment öl' the Sokolo Caliphatc in West Afriea.
Death of Csuntan Dan Fodio, founder of the Sokoto Caliphatc.
Death of the reformer Jamal Ad-Din Al-Afghani.
Death of the reformer Sayyid Ahmad Khan.
Constitutional reform in Iran.
Abolition of the Sunni caliphatc.
Turkey hecomes the first Muslim-majority secular republic.
Death of the philosopher and poct Muhammad Iqbal
Pakistan is establishcd as the first modern republic based on
religion as nationalisnt.
Death of the Islamist reformer Sayyid Qutb.
Death of the Iranian aetivist and religious intelleetual Ali
Shari'ati.
Creation of the Islamie Republic of Iran linder Ayatollah
Khomeini.
Death of the Islamist reformer and founder of the Jama at-e
Islami. Abu'l-A'la Mawdudi.
Death of Ayatollah Khomeini
Dissolution of the Sollet Union provides independenee to
Muslim-majority Soviel republics that bad formerly been Russian
eolonies.
Bosnia-llerccgovina deelares its independenee as the onlv
Muslim-majority pluralistie socicty in Eumpe. and is innncdiately
oeeupied by the Scrbian Yugoslav l’eople's Army. whicli. together
witli its allies. embarks on a poliey of gcnoeidal etlinic eleansing.
Pakistan hecomes the first Islamie eountry to test a nuclear
weapon.

12. Islam in Everyday
Life and Society
1
There are. needlcss to say. numerous things that I. as a Muslim Immi­
grant to the United States, miss about the place where I spent mueh of
my youth. I have eome to rcalize that the lack I have feit most deeplv in
my lifc in New England is not environmental, architeelural, culinary. or
social (although all such wants are there as well): it is the absenee of a
sound. that of the Islamic call to prayer, or adhan (sometimcs <<s«n).
One of the most distinctive features of any
Muslim societal landseape is that five times
a day a human voicc rings out. marking the
time for prayer. In most eultures the sound
is musieal. in parts of Africa it is conscious-
ly not so. but evervivhere the Arabic words
are instantlv recognizable for « hat tlicy are:
God is Greatest! God is Greatest!
God is Greatest! God is Greatest! I
witness that there is no god but God!
I witness that there is no god but
God! I witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God! 1
witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God! Come to
prayer! Come to prayer! Come to Salvation! Come to
salvation! God is Greatest! God is Greatest! There is no god
but God!
The adhan is delivered shortly beforc the times of the five daily ritual
prayers. «hieb can be performed in a niosqiie—a building dedicated to
the purposc—or. as is practiced more frequentlv. at home. I.ike mein-
bers of otller rcligious cornmunities. the majority of Muslims are not
strict observers of rcligious ritual and prav somewhat irregularly. But
even for those Muslims who prav infrequently. the adhan marks the pas-
sage of time through the day (in mueh the same way as ehureh bells do
in many Christian cornmunities) and serves as a Constant reminder that
they are living in a Muslim eommunitv. Equally importantIv. the Arabic
used for the adhan dircctly evokes a conneetion to the Qur'an (often

13. 14 ♦ Islam
rendered as 'Koran" in English). the Islamic scripture that is believed
by Muslims to Ire God's literal word, and therebv reaffirms God’s eon-
tinual presence in human life. The scriptural eonnection signified by the
(ulluin was ingrained in me, while growing up, by my parents, who
stopped cating and drinking when they heard the call to praver and
refrained front all idle conversation until it was over. As a ehild. I simul-
taneously respeeted the aithan for its religious signilicanec. eonsidered
it an intrusion on my routine (for example my parents told me to stop
playing musie when it soundcd). and learned to ignore it enough to
sleep through the first one of the day. which rings out shortly before
dann. No« when I travel front my honte, a charming town wltere not
even chtireh bells are allowed to disturb the peaee. to Muslim eities for
research or to visit friends and relatives, thc morning <«Wt«n always
wakes me up. It is a welconte intrusion on my routine. bccausc I find the
sound reassuring and emotionally evocative.
The Muslim World Today
Islam is a religion with approximalely 1 billion adherents worldwide.
with established populations on every inhabitcd continent of the plan­
et. Mithin a hundred years of its entergence in the Arabian peninsula in
the seventlt Century < ,E.. Muslim conmumities could be found living in
Asia. Afriea. and Europc. It was through Islamic ecntcrs of lcarning and
the work of Muslim scholars lliat much of Greek thought reaehed
Christian Europc. Muslim seientists maile major seientific eontribu-
tions. such as the algebraie System, the nutnber zero. and elliptical
orbits in astronomy. The importance of Muslims to the development of
wcstern Mediterranean culture is hinted at in some of the words of
Arabic origin which continue into English (there are far tnore examples
in Spamsh and l’ortuguesc): algebra. riee. admiral. sherbet.
A remarkable feature of Islamic historv is that, with only one sig-
nificant exception. all lands to which Islam spread among the Popula­
tion have remained Muslim into modern times. The exception is Spain
and Portugal, where the long process of Christian reconquest (called
the Reconquista), followed by the Spanish Inquisition, systcmatically
eradicatcd thc arca's Muslim population. Even so. when the ediet for the
final expulsion of Muslims and Jews was issued in 1619 (127 years aftcr
the end of the Reconquista in 1492). around two million Muslims fled
the kingdom of Castile alone. giving some indieation of the degree to
which Islam had been integrated into Spanish life.

14. Islam in Everyday Life and Society ♦ 15
Islam continues to be the majority religion in countries as diverse
as Moroeeo in the west and Indonesia in the east. and front Senegal in
the soutli to Kazakhstan in the north. In eaelt of these countries Islam
is practiced in a distinet way, these differences Iteing most apparent in
the way people dress and in their eustoms surrounding such life-events
as birth and marriage. Tlius Hosnian Muslims live their lives in ways that
have niore in common with their Christian neighbors than with the
Muslims of Pakistan, and the Muslims of Indonesia have incorporated
many elements of Hindu mythology into their religious lives. In other
places. local Muslim eustoms reflect the need to sct the Muslims off
front their non-Muslim neighbors. Forcxample, Indian Muslims eat par-
tieular foods and avoid certain colors and Howers in their weddings for
the specifie purpose of maintaining their differences from the Hindu
majority. It is therefore possible to speak of numerous "fault-lines" of
identity along which one can differentiate Muslims, these Iteing lincs of
language. ethnicity. raee. nationhood, gender, attitudes toward the
modern world. cxperience with colonialism. age, eeonomic Status,
social Status, seclarian identity. and so on. AnyStatement about Muslim
beliefs that Claims to be universal inevitably ends up being disproved by
exceptions somewhere in the Muslim world.
N'onetheless. the majority of Muslims retain a remarkable similari-
ty in their rituals. a fact that is reinforeed by the almosl universal use
of Arabic as the language of prayer and liturgy. Furthermore. even
though Muslims have as highly developed a sense of nationalism and
patriotism as anyone eise, many of them retain the sense that thev all
belong to one Community, or imim« For this reason. the Muslim citi-
zens ofa particular region or countrywill greet fellow Muslims from dis-
taut, unrelated societics with a warmth and sense of kinship that is very
rare in most other religious eommunities. And even though some
Muslims, particularly activists with an extremely politieizcd under-
standing of Islam, will critieize other Muslims to the point of eonsider-
ing them nonbelievers or apostates. when the Muslims ofwhom theyare
eritieal are faced with an external threat (as in Hosnia). the first group
will frequenth- suspend its criticism and extend the umbrella of their
sympathv and aid to the Muslims in need of support.
The central shared eharaeteristie of all Muslims is their belief in a
God who seilt a verbal revelation called the Qur'an (or Koran) through
a human prophet named Muhammad, who was born around 57(1 < l.. in
the Arabian eity of Mecea and died in the nearby city of Medina in 632
c.K.1 The specifie ways in which God's identity. the nature of revelation.

15. 16 ♦ Islam
and the coneept of prophecy are unders«xxl havc varicd over time and
in different eontcxls. but the eentralitv of these elements in defining
Islamie identity has not changed.
God is eomntonly referred tu by Ilis Arabie name Allah, most like-
ly derived front al-ilah, literally meaning 'Tlte God." Ile is also fre-
quently ealled “al-Rabb," Arabie for "the Lord." Ile is offen also referred
to nsing whateter the generic Word for God is in the various languages
spuken by Muslims (for cxample "Khuda" in Indo-Iranian languages and
"Tann" or "Teugn" in Turkie ones). Western scholarship on Islam has
sometimes represented the Muslim God as being steril and wrathful.
and the relationship of Imman beings to Hirn as one of a servitude large-
ly motivated by fear of punishment and. secondarilv. the desire for sen-
sual rewards in heaven. For man)' Muslims, however. the overarching
charaeteristics of God are Ilis nurturing mercy and eompassion: the
ideal attitudc tliat human beings shonld Itave toward Hirn is not one ol
fearful obedience but of gratitude. Pious Muslims try to begin every
action. front religious ritual to mundane activities such as beginning a
journey to the groeery störe, witlt the formula "In the name ofGod, the
Compassionate. the Merciful." This phrase niarks the openiilg of ehap-
ters in the Qur'an and has beeil used to start formal eorrespondenee
throughout Islamie history.
God’s mercy and eompassion are proven to many Muslims in every-
tlling front the wondrous complexity of the universe to the very faet of
human existenee. One of the most eloquent chapters of the Qur'an is
entitled “The Merciful" (Chapter 55); nsing both rltynie and meter. it
catalogs sollte of the wonders (iod has creatcd and expresses a rhelorical
amazenient at the capaeity of human beings to dein God's generosity:
The Merciful! Ile taught the Qur'an: He ereated Mail, Ile
taught liint an intelligent Speech. The sun and the moon
follow courses computed, and the stars. plants and trees bow
down in adoration. The sky has He raised high, and He has
sei up the balanee ofjustiee in Order that von ntay not
transgress ... It is Ile who has sprcad out the carth for Ilis
creatures: Thercin is fruit and date-palms, producing
bunches of dates; also corn. with its liusks and Stalles ior
fodder. and sweet-smelling plants. Then «hielt of vour I.ord’s
favors vvould you deny? (55: 1-13)
Tltere are muncrous other places in whieh the Qur'an speaks of God's
mercy:

16. Islam in Everyday Life and Society ♦ 17
And Ile gives von all that von ask for. and if von were to add
up the favors of Allah, von «otild never Ix- altle to eount
them. Indced. human beings are given to injustice and
ingratitude.
(14:34)
In the face of God's ovenvhelnting kindness, disobedienee to (Jod
becomes synoiiymous «ith denying llis generosity. and evil is therefore
the samc as ingratitude. I.ike the Qur’an. many Islamic thcological tvrit-
ings see the entirc universe as in a state of oltedience to God's la«: the
nord Islam literally refers to (Ins state of surrender. Human beings are
the only Creations that have the capaeity to disobcy. and tliey do this by
arrogantlv thinking that tliey are self-suffieient. not necding God's Sup­
port or guidanee.
A eommonly repeatcd Islamic tradition states that <Jod is eloser to
a person than bis or her jugular sein, intplying that God permeates the
eostnos. Islamic Systems of ritual observance assume that there is a
nakeful, attentive God «ho listens to and cares about cach and everv
onc of llis creations. Throughout thc Islamic norld. there is a ccrtain
ne«sworthiness to miraculous stories of hon the name of God or the
Islamic profession of faith appears in the pattem on the sides of a fish,
or hon thc bleat of a particular shecp sounds as if the animal is singing
thc praises of God. A pigcon's coo sounds likc “Him! Him!" in Arabic,
and in Pakistan, a partridge cries out ' (ilory be to Your Creation!” These
stories bear a resemblanec to oncs cneountercd in thc Christian norld
(ineluding the l'nited States), bnt the Islamic ones underlinc thc
Muslim belief that God permeates thc universe and that He continues
to be intimately involved in its earc and therefore in our lives.
Many Muslims see Islam as the Submission to Divine Ian. and any-
thing that has surrendered itself to this Ian as bcing called Muslim
(fein mus/fnui). Rcligious and pious human beings often prelcr thc
«ords miilixin and nin'nun. thc formcr lernt applying to sonteone « Ito
docs good decds. is righteous and lx-neficent. and thc lattcr to someone
nho bclieves or has faith. Thc nord for faith. inuin. is closely related to
thc words for safcty. sccurity. and trust. and for many Muslims having
faith autoinatically implies bcing in God's protection. seeure nitltin the
prineiplcs of guidanee Ile has provided.
Thc belief in God's onencss is called tawhül. «hielt not only ineans
divinc unitv but also a person’s act of affirming that unitv. The Word for
picty (t<«fuo) also carrics connotations of strength and etnpowerment.
Muslims see their relationship «ith God as an intimate onc in «hielt

17. 18 ♦ Islam
God's creation of human Iteings is a blessing. and llis laus and stric-
tures are not an affliction but an aet ofgrace providing guidanee in this
life. Many Muslims hold the belief that our life in this »orld is actuallv
a test for an etemal afterlife; God has provided us with clear guidanee
through scripture and prophets. so if we still choose to disobey Hirn, we
deservc whatever forms of unpleasantness await us in the hereafter.
The Qur’an
For many Muslims the Qur’an is the single greatest sign of God in the
physical universe. In faet, individual Verses of the Qur'an are ealled uyat
(literally "signs"). The text refers to itsclf as "guidanee for the »orld"
and “a clear sign for those »ho eatl understand." It provides instrue-
tions on ho» to live one's life and aets as a source of ethical guidanee
for the things for »hielt it does not provide clear instructions. It is a
eontnton Muslim belief that. as God's final revelation, the Qur'an eon-
tains the sunt total of »hat God plans to reveal to humanily: therefore.
behind the finite, literal incssage of the Qur'an is an infinite reservoir
of divine «isdom. The uord ■ Qur'an" is derived front the Arabic verb
.1 Muslim reatls
/xuisagesfnnn the
Qur'an in a t/uiet
mosque. In addition
to prayer, mostfues
arefrequcntly used
for study and
cmuemplation.

18. Islam in Everyday Life and Society ♦ 19
meaning to read or to reeite. “Qur'an” therefore means something like
a recitation. or a Collection of things to lie reeited. Muslims often refer
to their scripture siinply as the Qur'an but normally add a title that sig-
nifics respect. such as “al-Karim” (the Noble) or "al-Azim" (the
Magnificent). Within the Qur'an itself. the term “aJ-Kitab” (the Book)
is used as an alternative.
In the prophet Muhammad s opinion and that of the majority of
pious believers. the Qur’anic revelations came front Hcaven. where thev
were preserved on a “Well-guarded Tablet," a eoncealed supernatural
Book that existed in the presence of God. Muhammad did not beeome
acquainted with the «hole of the Qur'an at once but only with isolated
scetions of it. The Qur'an contains only a few obscure hints to hon it
was communieated to Muhammad. In fact. it is front later Islamie writ-
ings (ineluding the Hadith—see p. 24) that ne learn hon Muhammad
would oceasionally go into trances nlicn he received a revelation and
would then reeite it to those around hint.
Muhammad believed that not only his prophetic mission but also
the revelations of the earlier I lehren prophets and the holy scriptures of
the .lens and Christians nere based on the original heavenly book. so
that tliey eoincided in part with nhat he himsclf taught. The Qur'an
thus confirms what was revealed earlier: the Ians whicli nere given to
Moses, the Gospel of Jesus, and othcr prophetic texts,
Although the stories eontained in the Qur'an and the concept of
revelation through a series ofprophets are shared with the Mehren Bilde
and the New Tbstament. the style of the Qur’an is more in keeping with
that of the pre lslamic Arab religions tradition of soothsayers. The text
is mitten neither in prose nor poetrv. hui eonsists of rhymed prose,
whicli is easier to remember tlian normal prose but is not as restricted
in style as poetrv.
The text is arranged in 114 ehapters ealled suras These are uii-
equal in length. some being sevcral pages while others are only a len
lines. The ehapters are not arranged in a way that retleets the Order of
revelation. In faet. tliey seetn to be in ronghly the opposite of the
ehronological order. Tliey appear to be arranged In- length. going frorn
the longest to the shortest. Suras are traditionally identified Iw their
names rather tlian their numbers. These names are normally distinetive
or unusual words that appear soniewhere in the early part of the sura.
for cxamplc The Cow, The Bee. The Fig, Dav Break, and The Glatterer.
I he suras are further sulxlivided into Verses ealled <iv«l. 1venty-nine of
the ehapters begin with seemingly disjointed letters which are relerred

19. 20 ♦ Islam
to as the "mysterious letters." «hielt may eottvey sollte seeret rcligious
meaning. or mayjust signify a filing svsteni for organizing the Qur'an.
The Qur'an was not put together during .Muhammad'
* lifctime Inn
was preserved on whatcvcr material was tlieit availablc: Bits of pareh-
ment. leaves. shoulder blades of camels. and in the mcntory of bis fol-
lowers After Muhammad s death people deeided to start eollecting the
work. but the proeess took several years. Sollte say that the Qur'an was
eolleeted in its present form within two years of bis death utldcr the lead­
ership of bis Iriend and sueeessor. Abu Bakr (d. 634). Otlicrs contend
that the Calipli l’ntar (d. 644) was the first to eontpile the Qur'an. Vast
arguments have raged ever sinee. coneeming issucs of theologv and early
Aral» history. over who gathered together the first edition. and «hat it
eonsisted of. Todav. hrwever. most agree that the established eanon of
the Qur'an. the «ritten text Muslims use todav. was completed lietween
650 and 656, during the reign of Umar s sueeessor. the Caliplt I thnian
llis Commission deeided «hat was to he ineluded and «hat exeluded: it
also fixeti the nnmber and order of the Suras. Thal said. unolTieial Ver­
sion
* of the Qur'an were not eiltirely l'orgotten. and fliese «ere referretl
to in subsequent histories and eontmentaries on the Qur'an.
Wliile the prontulgation of the offieial text of (he Qur'an linder
Uthman «as a major Step toward uniforntity in Version
* of the seripture.
its importanee niav easily be exaggerated. For one tliing. kntnvledge öl’
the Qur'an among Muslims «as based far more on memory tlian on «Th­
ing. For another. the early Arabic seript of the Qur'an was a sort of
shorthand: only eonsonanrs were «Titten, and the sante letter shape
eottld indieate more than one sound. Tltis seript was simply an aid to
meniorization: it presupposed that the reader bad sollte familiarity witli
the text. It was not uniil the reign of Abd al-Malik (6.S5-7O5) that the
modern Arabic seript «as created. «ith its vowels and use of one letter
shape for one sound.
The CentraLity of the Qur'an in Islamic Tradition
Belief in the Qur'an being God's literal «ord has had farrcaeliing impli-
eations: there has traditionally beeil some resistanee to the Qur’an's
translation from Arabic into otlier languages. And although this reti-
cenee is no« largely gone, traditional etiquette still requires that one
refer to printed volumes of the Qur'an as mosu/nf (sing, musluif: liter-
ally. “binding" or “volutne”), implying that the divinc «ord is singulär
and eannot be perfeetly eontained in ink and paper. h is still uneomnion

20. Islam in Everyday life and Society ♦ 21
for bookstores to write prices 011 copies of the Qur'an: the appropriate
etiquette tor a potential purehaser is to ask what the suitable “gift’’ for
the volume should be.
The speeial Status accorded to the Qur'an goes far beyond the
semanties of «hat to eall it. To this day liiere is great prestige in inem-
orizing the text, and one who knows it in its entirety is callcd Ittt/is (lit-
erally "guardian“), an honorifie title which hearkens back to a time
«hcn the Qur’an was transmitted orally and connnitting it to niemory
was to participate in guarding the text from loss or corraption. Children
aeross the Islamie world. «beiher they know any Arabie or not. take
Qur’an lessons in which they learn the Arabie seript and ho« to sound
the «ords phonetically. Hous Muslims ölten try to re.-nl a thirtieth of the
book every niglit. so that they can finisli the Qur'an every month. Thosc
«ho eannol rcad simple rtm their Angers along its lines. believing that
they derive merit through this simple act of devotion.
The Qur'an tlius beeomes simultaneously a source of prayer and a
prayer in its o«n right, a guidebook for aetion as well as a ritual object.
Devont Muslims treat volumes of the Qur’an with great reverenec: they
are not shelved «ith other books in the house but oceupy a Position of
honor. and rcaders enter a state of ritual puritv before touehing them.
It is common to have special bookstands to hold the text, and the most
bcautiful of these rank among the niastcrpieccs of Islamie art. The
Qur'an itself has beeil hoch an object and source of artistie expression.
Ornate copies of the Qur’an provide outstanding examples of the art of
bookmaking. Furthermore. calligraphy—which eomtnonly uses as its
subjeet «ords or phrases from the Qur’an—has emerged as one of the
most highly developed art fornis in the Islamie world. Qur’anic calligra­
phy is used to decorate a wide ränge of objects. from huildiilgs to eeram-
ic and mctal vcssels and even items of clothing.
The eaptivating sound of Qur’anic rccitation is used to open most
religious and official functions in the Islamie world, and skillcd Qur’anic
reciters enjov a high Status in the soeiety. < liven the importanee aeeord-
ed to the Qur'an it should eomc as no surprise that the human eonduit
of the text, the Prophet Muhammad, is similarly venerated. The Qur’an
refers to Muhammad as a blessing from (Jod. a messenger. a warner. a
guidc. the bringcr of good news. and good news in and of himsell.
Muslims conunonly belicve that Muhammad was a human being likc any
other who was chosen by (>od to be the last of llis prophets and to be
the instrument Ile used to reveal the Qur'an. The Qur’an itself empha-
sizes the ordinarincss of Muhammad, commanding bim to sav that he

21. 20 ♦ Islam
to as the "mysterious letters." «hielt may eonvcy some seeret religious
incaning. or mayjust signify a filing System for organizing the Qur'an.
The Qur'an was not put together during .Muhammad's lifetinie but
was preserved on whatcver material was dien availablc: Bits of pareh-
ment. leaves. shoulder blades of camels. and in the memory of bis fol-
lowers After Muhammad s death people deeided to start colleeting the
work. bin the proeess took several years. Some sav that the Qur'an was
eolleeted in its present form «ithin two years of bis death under the lead­
ership of bis Iriend and sueeessor. Abu Bakr (d. 634). Others eontend
that the Calipli l’mar (d. 644) was the first to compile the Qur'an. Vast
arguments Itave raged ever sinee. coneeming issues of theology and early
Arab history, over «ho gathercd together the first cdition. and «hat it
eonsisted of. Toda), however. most agree that the established canon of
the Qur'an, the «Titten text Muslims use today. was eompleted lietween
650 and 656, during the reign of linar s sueeessor. the Caliph I thntan
llis Commission deeided «hat «as to he ineluded and «hat exeluded: it
also fixed the nuntber and order of the Suras. Thal said. unofficial ver-
sions of the Qur'an were not eiltirely l'orgotten, and tliese «ere relerred
to in subsequent histories and eommentaries on the Qur'an.
Wliile the promulgation of the official text of die Qur'an linder
Uthman «as a major Step toward uniformity in versions of the scripture.
its importance may easily he exaggerated. For one thing. kninvledge öl’
thc Qur'an among Muslims «as based far more on memory than on «rit-
ing. For another. the early Arabic seript of the Qur'an was a sort of
shorthand: only eonsonants were «Titten, and thc same letter shape
eould indicatc more than one sound. Tliis seript was siniply an aid to
mcmorization: it presupposcd that thc readcr bad some familiarity «ith
the text. It was not until die reign of Abd al-.Malik (6.S5-7O5) that thc
modern Arabic seript was created. «ith its vowels and use of one letter
shape for one sound.
The CentraLity of the Qur'an in Islamic Tradition
Belief in the Qur'an being God's literal Word bas had far rcacliing impli-
eations: therc has traditionally beeil some rcsistanee to the Qur’an's
translation from Arabic into otlier languages. And although this reti-
cenee is no« largely gone, traditional etiquette still reqiiires that one
refer to printed volumcs of the Qur'an as vumiihif (sing, musluif: liter-
ally. “binding" or “volutne”), implying that the divinc «ord is singulär
and eannot be perfeetly eontained in ink and paper. It is still uneommon

22. Islam in Everyday life and Society ♦ 21
for bookstores to writc prices 011 copies of the Qur'an: the appropriate
etiquette tor a potential purehaser is to ask what the suitable “gift" for
the volunie should be.
The speeial Status accorded to the Qur'an goes far beyond the
scmantics of «hat to eall it. To this day tliere is great prestige in niem-
orizing the text, and one «ho knows it in its entirety is callcd lut/is (lit-
erally "guardian“), an honorifie title which hearkens back to a time
«hen the Qur'an was transmitted orally and committing it to memory
was to partieipate in guarding the text from loss or corruption. Ghildren
aeross the Islamie «orld. «beiher they kno« any Arabie or not. take
Qur’an lessons in «hieb they learn the Arabie seript and ho« to sound
the «ords phonetically. Hous Muslims ölten try to read a thirtieth of the
book eecry niglit. so that they ean finisli the Qur'an every month. Those
«ho eannot read sintply run their Angers along its lines. believing that
they derive nierit through this simple aet of devotion.
The Qur'an thus becomes simultaneously a source of prayer and a
prayer in its own right, a guidebook for aetion as «eil as a ritual object.
Devont Muslims treat volumes of the Qur'an «ith great reverencc: they
are not shclved «ith other books in the house but occupy a Position of
honor. and readers enter a state of ritual puritv before touehing thcm.
It is eommon to liave special bookstands to hold the text, and the most
beautiful of tlicsc rank among the masterpieecs of Islamie art. The
Qur'an itself has beeil both an object and source of artistie exprcssion.
Ornate copies of the Qur'an provide outstanding examples of the art of
booktnaking. Furlhermore. calligraphy—«hich eomtnonly uses as its
subjcet «ords or phrases from the Qur'an—has cmcrged as one of the
most highly developed art forms in the Islamie «orld. Qur'anic calligra­
phy is used to decorate a wide ränge of objects. from huildiilgs toeeram-
ic and metal vcssels and even items of elothing.
The eaptivating sound of Qur'anic rccitation is used to open most
religious and official functions in the Islamie «orld, and skillcd Qur'anic
reciters cnjov a high Status in the soeicty. < iivcn the importanee aceord-
ed to the Qur'an it should eome as no surprise that the human eonduit
of the text, the Prophet Muhammad, is similarly vcnerated. The Qur'an
refers to Muhammad as a blessing from (Jod. a messenger. a warner. a
guidc. the hringer of good ne«s. and good news in and of himsell.
Muslims eomtnonly belicve that Muhammad was a human being likc any
other «ho was ehosen bv God to be the last of llis prophets and to be
the instrument Ile used to reveal the Qur'an. The Qur'an itself empha-
sizes the ordinarincss of Muhammad, commanding him to sav that he

23. 22 ♦ Islam
ART FOCUS
Islamie Art
bids the nhvsical dcoiction
In Addition to caixigrapiiy and architccturc. a
wide varicty of arts havc bccn and continue to
bc practiced in the Islamie world. Textile arts,
particularlv woven carpcts, continue to bc
highly valucd around the world: thcrc is also a
long-standing tradition of making fine ecram-
ics and giassware. In faet. the only visual art
form that is notiecably absent in traditional
Islamie culturcs is sculpture. bceause it is con-
sidered to bc too elosely rclatcd to the von-
struetion of religious idols and icons Islam is a
vehementIv iconophobic rcligion. that is. it for-
of (Jod or anv religious Kernes in any form that
might cncouragc pcople to makc the ieon an objeet ofvencration. This intol-
cranec stems front the religious Situation in the Arabian pcninsula at the
time of Muhammad and is probably fucled by the ongoing contaet between
Muslims and members of othcr religious groups in placcs such as India and
Nigeria, who continue to usc icons as central clcments in their religious
lives. Not only are sculpturcs disapproved of, but sculptors are eondemned
for attempting to encroach on God’s rolc as the solc creator.
The c<indemnations of sculpture often extend to includc a general dis-
approval of all fonns of rcprcscntational religious art. Nevertheless, thcrc is
no lack of artwork in the Islamie world depicting plants, animals. human
beings, and even supernatural creaturcs. Miniaturc paintings, gcncrallv
intended to bc bouiid in books. are to bc ranked among the finest artistic
works of Iran. General Asia. India. and Turkey.
One can linderstand the wealth of visual Islamie art despite the com-
inonly hcld Muslim ambivalcnec toward figural imagery by drawing a dis-
tinction between sacrcd art. wlticli almost never makes usc of human or ani­
mal imagery. and religious art. which includcs religious subjeet matter but
is not used in ritual contcxts. A similar distinction can also bc drawn
between figural and rcprcscntational arts: Islamie artists havc frequently
depieted suggestive “figural” imagery. as opposed to dircct representations
of specific living beings.1
Such distinctions bccomc somewhat obseure in modern practice
among somc eitizens of Iran and Turkey who display portraits of
Muhammad s cousin Ali. the first Icader of the Shfi scct. This practice would
be frowned upon by the majority of Muslims, but it is not too different front
hanging a pieture of the Kuba. the focusofthe Islamie pilgrimagc and therc-
fore an objeet of great religious significanee, on the wall. At a much more
abstract levcl, one could argue that litcraturc dcscribing Muhammad s phvs-
ieal appcarancc in great detail—common in many Islamie communities and
central to an entire genre of litcraturc in praise of the Prophet—crcatcs a

24. Islam in Everyday Life and Society ♦ 23
/x/r halfofthe double frontispiece to Volume VII ofthe Qur'an ofthe
E^yptian Baybars Jashnaflir. 1304-6. British Library. London.
pieture of Muhammad in thc mind of a Muslim, and that this mental image
is no different from a phvsical imagc hanging on a wall. It would be sale to
assume. tliough. that many Muslims would find thc differencc between a
phvsical visual representation and a mental onc easy to make. and would not
disapprove of thc latter.

25. 24 * Islam
was a mortal man like cveryone eise and chastising bim for losing eon-
tidence and fecling inseeurc.
N'onetlleless. it Stands to rcason that Muhammad would havc beeil
öl' outstanding moral eharacter to begiil «ich if an omniseient and
omnipotent < Jod was planning to use bim as a prophet. ITtrthermore.
onee Muhammad took on the role of <Jod's messender and exemplar to
humanity. (Jod would hardly let bim engage in any activitv that would
eontradiet tbe divine message. Aceording to this vicwpoint. .dien.
Muhammad bad to be free from sin (and possibly eien from tbe capaci-
ty to sin). and any frailties or errors he displayed were themselves eon-
sciously added to bis eharacter bv God to fulfill a divine purpose.
Muhammad bas therefore become tbe model of liehavior for most
Muslims who try and Ibllo« bis example. or .Summ. and colleeted anec-
dotes of bis life, ealled hadiths. reprcscnt a seriptural source second
only to tbe Qur'an.
Hadith and Sunna
Tbe word "luidith" primarily mcans a communieation or a narrative in
general. In Islamic terms, it bas tbe particular meaning of a reeord of
actions or saiings of tbe Prophet and bis eompanions. In tbe lattcr
sense tbe «hole body of tbe saereil tradition of Islam is ealled the
' Iladith'' and tbe formal sttidi of it tbe "Science of Hadith."
Prc-Islamic Arabs considercd it a virtue to follo« tbe example of
one’s forefathers. Hut in (he Islamic period one eould hardly follo« tbe
example of anccstors who were not Muslim, so a ne« tradition. or
Sunna. bad to be Ibund. This was tbe Sunna of Muhammad. After
Muhammad s death tbe learned liegan systematieally to develop tbe
doctrine of duties and beliefs in aceordance with tbe new conditions.
After tbe early conqucsts Islam covered an enonnous arca. and new
ideas as well as institutions were borrowed from tbe conquered peoples.
Xevertheless. in Islam only tbe Sunna of tbe Prophet and the original
Muslim eommtmity eould sttpply rules of conduct for die belicvers. This
soon led to the deliherate forgery of tradilions: transmitters brought
tbe words and actions of the Prophet into agreement with their own
views and Ideals. A very large portion of diese saiings aseribed to
Muhammad deals with legal provisions. religious obligations. issues of
«hat is permissible and «hat forbidden. ritual purity. as «eil as «ith
matters of etiquette and eourtesy.

26. Islam in Everyday Life and Society ♦ 25
The majoritvof hadiths cannot therefore be rcgardcd as reallv reli­
ablc historie.il accounts of the Summ of the Prophet. As early as the
eiglith Century, eertain Islamic scholars beeamc c.vtrcmely coneerncd
about the large number of forged hadiths that were tloating about and
dcvised an elaborate systent whercby sollte idea of thc aecuracy of a
hadith eould be established. Aceording to the Muslim cicw. a hadith
account can only be considered believable if its chain of transmission
(or isimtl) öfters an unbroken scries of reliablc authorities. The critieal
investigation of isimils has caused Muslim scholars to do rescarch to
ascertain the names and cireumstanees of the transmitlers in a hadith
account in order to investigate «heil and where tliey lived and «'hich of
them had been pcrsonally aequainted »ith onc another. Scholars divide
Hadith into three main eatcgorics aceording to their reliability: Suhili
(sound). or those hadiths which hast flawlcss chains of transmission
and reiilforcc something that is widcly aceepted in the Islamic Commu­
nity: lliisan (bcautiful). «hich are considered reliablc but whose autlien-
tieitv is not totallv beyond doubt: and "weak" hadiths (da'il), which are
suspect in terms of either their content or the chain of transmitlers.
The carliest eollcctions of Hadith, of «hich the best known was
compiled by thc rcspccted Scholar. Ibn Ilanbal (d. S55). were arranged
not aceording to their content but aceording to their transmitlers
l.ater works were arranged by topic. twoofwhich. those of al-Muslim (d.
S75) and al-Bukhari (d. 870). are scen as so reliablc that mailt Sunnis
rank them just IkIow thc Qur'an itsclf as sacrcd texts.
Vhat is containcd in thc Hadith is thc Sumui. or tradilion. of
Muhammad, consisting of bis actions and sayings and those things to
uliich he gavc unspoken approval Summ has eome to mcan thc prac-
tice of thc grealer Muslim Community, and in this capaeity it is often
referred to as the "living .Sumui.” In theory the concepts of .Summ and
Hadith are separate but in practicc tliey often coineide.
Muhammad had settlcd many questions posed to him not by reve-
lation but by deeisions maile on a casc-by-casc basis. and thc words and
actions of the Prophet «ere recognizcd—eien in llis own lifetimc—as
worthy of imitation. It is for this reason that thc Sumui of thc Prophet
was fLxed in writing and beeamc a Standard of bchatior alongside thc
Qur'an. Rcligious scholars tried to ailswcr questions coneerning thc
relation between thc two of them. In the carliest Islamic community the
.Sumui appears to liave Ixten cqual to thc Qur'an in its authority
llowever, witli thc passagc of time and eonversion of non-Arab pcoples
to Islam thc Qur'an gained a centrality as scripturc that outstripped the

27. 26 ♦ Islam
importanee given to die .Stmntt. partieularly in iis «ritten form ol
Hadith.
In aetual practiee. niany Muslims do not niake a elear distinetion
betvveen hadiths eompiled by al-Bukhari or al-Muslim. and thosc that
have Ik-cii deemed fake by scholars. Tbc result is an Overall body of Wis­
dom litcrature I» wliich Muslims emphasize their high regard for
Muhammad and learn lessons eoneerning etIlies and morality «hielt ean
dien be applied to their everyday lives.
Veneration of Muhammad
Although at die levei of religious doetrine and in the informal opinion
of many Muslims die Qur'an oeeupies a higher and more central Posi­
tion in Islam than Muhammad does. die opposite offen appears to be
the ease. partieularly at the levei of populär devotion. Most Muslims
regard everything about Muhammad «itli deep veneration. Most of
thent find it diflieult to utter Ins name vvitltout preccding and folloning
il with ternis öl' rcspcct and devotion (the eommonest in English Iteing
"Peace be upon him"). Ile is vvidely regarded as the ideal human heilig
and is therefore the model for Imitation. Emulation of Muhammad
langes front seeing him asa model in legal and ethical matters to seent-
ingly trivial details in everyday life. such as ho«' olle brushes one's teetli.
wears one’s hair. or «hat Ibod one eats.
Muhammad s presence in populär Islaillic religious lil’e is all per
vasive. There is a long-standing tradition of «Titing poems in praise of
the Prophet, the most famous of wliich is the liurda (or "Mantle
Poem”), eontposed in die thirteenth Century by al-Busiri. «hieb Iltis
beeil frequendy copied in a number of languages. Other such poems in
the large number of languages spoken by Muslims are frequently sei to
inusic. ofwliich sontc, such as Qawvali front Pakistan. Kai front Algeria.
and tltc songs of Morocean tmaw.a or Bangladeshi Bauls. Iiavc ciljoyed
considerablc commercial sueeess in the West.
Devotion to the Prophet extends to veneration of his rclics. There
are several shrines around the world devoted to an individual hair front
bis lieard. When the hair vanished briefly from one such shrine in
Kashmir. distraught Muslims interpreted it as an attaek against Islam
by the llindu-majority Indian government and took to the streets in riot-
ing The emotional outhursts of some pilgrims to Muhammads tomb in
the citvof Medina ean Ite truly moving. as ean the visible devotion ofvis-
itors to the reliquary in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, wliich llolds the

28. Islam in Everyday Life and Society ♦ 27
l’rophet's mantle. hairs l'rom bis beard. and a easting of «hat is alleged
to have beeil a footprint he leit in some mud.
Some Muslims, such as the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia. feel extreme
*
ly uneomfortable «ith this level ofdevotion to the l’rophet’s person. and
Itelieve that it borders on heresy by exalting Muhammad to a quasi
*
divine level. There is. however. no elear boundary between those «ho
exalt Muhammad to superhuman Status and those «ho would eonsider
him just another human heilig. The real points of eontention are over
veneration of bis physieal relies. «hieb smaeks of idolatry to erities. and
over Ins role as someone «ho Stands between human beings and God
and therefore bas the power to intereede on the pari of bis devotees.
A frequently mentioned eharacteristic of Islam as a religion is the
value plaeed upon the direel link bet«een individual human beings and
God. The so-ealled orthodox tradition of the legal seholars and tlieolo-
gians does not reeognize the existenee of a elergy in Islam, nor of any
form of sainthood in «hieh living or dead persons ean intereede for
other human beings. Yet many Muslims firmly believe in the possibilitv
of intereession. not just by Muhammad, but also by a variety of other
saintly figures ineluding members of Muhammad s family. prominent
mystieal figures or Sufis, and other individtials «ith wliom miraeles are
assoeiated or «ho are kntmil to he uneommonly pious. The possihilit)
of intereession is brought up in one of the most famous Verses of the
Qur’an: "Vho is it that ean intereede betöre Hirn exeept as Ile per-
mits?" (2:255).
The issue of intereession is a major one throughout Islam and
invohes questions not just of theology and the Interpretation of scrip­
ture but also issues of elass. eulture. gender. and level of edueation. The
aeknowledgment of the possibilitv of intereession betöre < Jod allons for
the existenee of saints and a elergy. and for a «ide variety of religious
expression. It is one of the major fault-lines along »hieh one ean divide
the varieties of Muslim religious experienee.

29. The Birth of Islam 9
Islam s historical origins lie in the life ot a man nanied Muhammad who
was born in the cityof Mceea in present-day Saudi Arabia in around 570
and died in a nearby eity callcd Medina in 632 In Muhammad s
time. Arabia was culturally. politieall). and economically impoverished
relative to the
north were the
large rind werilthy empires that surronnded it. To the
Byzailtinc Greek rind Sassanian IVrsian Empires and to
the south the allluent world of Abyssinia.
Arabia itself was divided bctween the niain
Arabirm plateau and a region ealled South
Arabia (present-dav Yemen). which lind
onee beeil the seat of a thriving agricultur­
al soeietv but lind fallen 011 poorer times.
The plritenu. where Muhammad was from.
was an arid place in which the majority of
people lived as nomads. aeeompanying
their lierds of camcls. slieep. and goats
from one place to another in senreh ofgood
pasture. The few cities were located on orises. which providcd the only
reliable source of water for agrieulture, and some were Centers for trride
among the people of Arabia and with the surrounding lands.
The Arabs of Muhammad s time lived in tribes which were large
social groups licld together by a sltared ancestry. erleb being eomposcd
of a number of elans made upofseveral cxtended families. A f.unily elder
wotild lie recognized as the Icader of (he clan. and the clan leaders
together constituted the rnlitig council of a tribe. Tribal councils tried
to operate through negotiation and Consensus buikling. allhough pow-
erful elans no doubt had niueh grenrer influenae over tribal affairs tliati
did wcaker ones. The majority of tribes in Arabia were both patriarchal
and patrineal: howcver. therc appear to have beeil some tribes in which
lineage was passed down through the mother. rind even in very patriar­
chal tribes it was not uncommon for wollten to hold properlv A good
e.xamplc of this was Muhammrid s first wife. Khridijri. who was a werilthy
widow aetivelv engaged in trade.

31. 30 ♦ Islam
The Arabian peninsula had no central governnicnt or state, but
existed in a state of balance between tribes on the one liand. and the
mercantile and agrarian eities on the other. Noniads who belonged to
the sanie or allied trilies as town-dwellers would often agree not to
attack diese places, or the Caravans going to or from thcin Arabia was
loeated at the erossroads of many trade routes: goods brought by ship to
Arabian ports were loaded onto c.amel Caravans to be transported aeross
the desert to distant markets. Mercantile eities wcrelieavily dependent
tipoti the east-west trade between the Indian Ocean and the
Meditcrranean. and on the north-south trade between Afriea and the
Byzantine and Sassanian empires. Many nomadie tribes supported tliem-
sehes by raiding Caravans, so mueh so tliat the practice was eonsidered
an acceptable was of life and was covercd by a eode of eonduct.
Vcry litile is known about the religious Situation in Arabia al the
time of Muhammad ' birth. The surrounding empires had large <Jiristian
ixipulations. Abyssinia and the Byzantine Empire lx>th being Christian
kingdotns. Sassanian l’ersia (modern Iran) was offici.ilh Zoroastrian, a
major religion of tliat time whieli sunives today in verv small numbers.
Even so. l’ersia had a large Christian populatioil. hl addilion. all the
empires had signifikant Jewish populärions Tliere were clearly soine
Christians within Arabia, but tlieir numlicrs appear to have been quite
small and they were individual believers. not entire clans or tribes who
regarded theniselves as Christian Tliere was also no Chureli based with­
in Arabia. The nuniber of Arabian .lews appears to liavc been mueh larg-
er: tliere were entirelv Jewish tribes. somc of whieli seeni to have inoved
to Arabia from Balestine alter the destmetion of the temple in Jerusalem
by the Romans at the end of the first Century i:.E. Tliere were probable
many who. though not fornially lews. identified theniselves as lsraelites
and were familiär witli the stories of the llebrcvv prophets.
The niajority of Arabs did not belong to anv formal religion but
believed in a eombination of su|xrnatural forecs. some of whieli they
identified as spirits and others as gods. The spirits were believed to
inhabit natural objects such as roeks and trees and to have influenee
over human lives. whercas the gods were often identified witli natural
phenomena such as the suii. nioon. and rain. Many Arabs vievved the god
of the moon and traveling, named Allah (litcrally, ‘The God"). as the
aneestor and leader of the others. of whieli the goddesses al-Lat and
Mail at also inspired populär religious ctilts.
The pre-lslamie Arabs did not have a detailcd moral and ethical
eode of the kind tliat was dcveloped in Islamie. Christian, and Jewish

32. The Birth ol Islam ♦ 31
theology. nordid they eommonly bclieve in life after death. Instand, they
«ere governed by rules öl' lionor, courage. and hospit.dity In die absenee
of a belief in the afterlife. the primary way to attain ininiortality was to
live heroie lives full of extravagant acts öl' valor and genemsity. whieh
were dien rendered into Verse by tribal poets. The Arabs were in awe of
the pmver of poetry and poets, and viewed tlieni as supernaturally pos-
sessed figures to be both feared and revered. not only as artists but also
as tribal historians.
In addilioil to poets. two other figures earried great respeet in pre-
Islaniic Arab soeiety. The first was the soothsayer. «ho would foretell the
future and attempt to solve Problems as diverse as those of euring infer-
tility and finding lost animals. The otherwas thejudge. «hosejob it was
to intereede in contlicts «ithin a tribe and. more importantly. between
tribes. as a «ay of avoiding violenee. All diese offiees hold relevanee for
early Islamic historv because, during bis eareer as a prophet,
Muhammad displayed qualities of all three, enabling his erities to label
liini as a poet or soothsayer in Order to dismiss his religious elaims
Muhammad’s Birth and Early Life
It was into this environment that Muhammad was born. His family
belonged to the dan of Hashim in the tribe of Qiiravsh (meaning
"shark"). an important merehant tribe with eonsiderable influenae in
Mecca and the surrounding area. The Hashim elan, lliough not the most
ptnverful in the tribe. was eonsidered respeetable. Meeea «71s honte to a
major shrine. ealled the Ka ba. whieh was one of the few religious sites
revered by people front all over Arabia. In their Status as Custodians of
tliis site. the Quraysh not only gaincd finaneially front the pilgriinage
business hm also in repulation. because of their exclusive control of the
associated rituals. Scveral of fliese «ere later incorporated into the llajj
pilgritnage. «hieb beeamc a central rite in Islam.
Muhammad s fathcr. Abdallah, died shortly before he «as Ixim and
his paternal guardianship «as taken over by his grandfather. Abd al-
Muttalib Wheil he «as born. his mother. Amina, named him Ahmad
«hile his grandfather named liini Muhammad. The lattcr nanie liecame
more common. althoiigh cveti to this day he is sometimes referred to as
Ahmad.
Very littlc is known about Muhammad s childhood or about the
period of his life before his eareer as a prophet began. The few tliings
that «e can consider to be faetually true liave beeil enibellished by pious

33. 32 ♦ Islam
biographers who inserted real or imagined cvents into his early life in
onler to shon that Muhammad «as markcd Ibr greatness front the time
of bis birth. As a very young ehild Muhammad was sent to the desert to
live «ith a nomadie tribe. a .Mcccan custont «hielt perhaps derived from
the desire to get ehildren out of the unhygicnic environment of the eity.
as «eil as front the belief that the noiliads led a etilttirally 'purer' Arab
life. Muhammad livcd «ith a foster farnily as a shepherd. and he retained
a great deal of affeetion for them in later life. particularlv for bis foster
mother. Halima. Aceording to a populär legend, one day whilc
Muhammad «as herding slteep he was visitcd by two angels «Ito laid bim
down and opcned up bis ehest. Tltey tlien took out his heart and washed
it in a golden basin fillcd «ith snow betöre replacing it and elosing hint
up. « hielt probably symbolizcs the removal of all cxisting siil front his
body. Howcvcr. ncither the notion of primordial sin nor the belief that
one can inherit one s parcnts' sins is prevalent in Islam.
Following this Visitation. Muhammad s foster familv begatt to fear
lor his safety and decided to return hint to bis mothcr Indore sontcthing
bad h.appened to hint. Shortlv after his return to Meeca. Itoth
Muhammad s mother and grandfather died. and bis guardianship «as
assunted by his patcrnal uncle. Abu Talib, a merchailt «ho frcquently
traveled throughout Arabia. Muhammad aeeompanied his uncle on
thcsc cxpcditions. probably iiicluding one joumcy to Svria. and in the
proeess not only leanted the ntcrchant s trade but also camc in contact
«'ith a wide varietv of people.
l'pon rcaching adulthood, Muhammad Iteeante a mcreltaitt himself
and quickly gained a reputation Ibr honest)' and tnistworlhiness. A «ealtliv
«ido« named Khadija noticed hint and extcnded to Muhammad a marriage
proposal. «hielt he aceepted. At the time of their Wedding Muhammad was
twenty-titv veare old and Khadija was fort)-. In later life Muhammad s|tokc
fondly of the years he had spent «ith Khadija. who was the mother of the
only ehildren Muhammad had «ito survhed past infancv.
In his adult years. Muhammad had developed the habil of retiring to
a eave outside Meeca to meditate in private. On one such occasion he
feil asleep. only to bc a«akcncd by an angelic being «ho commanded
bim "Recite!" Muhammad replicd by asking «hat he sltould recite, at
«hielt the angel only repeated his initial command. After the third time
the angel commanded:
Recite! In the name ofyour Lord Who created.
Created man from a elot!

34. The Birth of Islam ♦ 33
Recite! Anil vour Lord is Most Bountiful—
Ile taught by the peil—
Taught man that «hieb he knew not!
(Qur'an. 96:1-5)
Tliis event oeeurred «heil Muhammad was forty years old. and for the
remainder of bis life he continued to reeeive revelations. sometimes
through the efforts of that angelic heilig whom he was to identify as
Gabriel, and at others direetly from God.
Initially Muhammad sought conifort from his wile Khadija. but over
time, she eonvinced him to listen to the angel. Muhammad was eon-
lineed that he had beeil eliosen as a pmphet of God to bring a divine
message to humankind about the existence of a unique, all-powerftil
God a «arning of an impendiilg doomsday and judgment. and an
eneoiiragemein to live a virtuous life.
The Great Emigration: The Hijra
At first Miihammad's preaehing was niet with toleranee and euriosity.
Inn as he started to gain eonverts the leaders of Meeea began to pereeive
him as a threat and to perseeute his followers. The majority of
Miihammad's early followers «ere «omen. slaves. and the very poor. all
ofwhom «ere exiremely vulnerable to their powerful oppressors. Hearing
for their salety in Meeea, Muhammad and his followers began lo seareli
for a ne« plaee to live. It so happened that a nearby to«n. Yilhrib. need-
eil an impartial judge lo arbitrale lietween Iwo powerful trilies. and tliey
extended Muhammad an invitation to move to Yathrib and adjudieate
Muhammad agreed to do so only if eertain eonditions «ere fulfilled: (i)
that his faniilv and followers eould move with him; (ii) that tliey «ould
be supported until thev eould find means of livelihood for themselves;
and (iii) that tliey «ere to be eonsidered full eitizens of the eil). so that
if the Meeeans and their allies ehose to attaek the Muslims, all the eiti­
zens of Yathrib «ould fight on the side of the Muslims. The ilelegation
from Yathrib agreed to diese terms and a seeret migration of Muslims
from Meeea lo tliis eitv began. Finali) «heil all but t«o of Muhammad s
followers (his friend Abu Bakr and his eousin Ali) had reaehed Yathrib.
he deeided to move there llimself. By tliis time some of his opponents
had realized that he represented a grave threat to their Interests and
had formell a p.iet to kill him Hearing of their plan. Muhammad seeret
I) leit Meeea in the eompany of his elosest friend and advisor. Abu Bakr.

35. 34 ♦ Islam
leaving Ali in bis liouse. Ali was the son of Muhammad s unele Abu Talib,
and had eome to live witli Muhammad as bis adopted son. marricd bis
daughtcr Fatima. and became one of the most important and influential
people in the formative period of Islam.
That nigllt Muhammad s encmics surrounded bis liouse. Ali scrvcd
as a decoy by slccping in Muhammad s hed. Vhen the Meeeans finally
brokv into Muhammad s liouse and found Ali. tliey realized that
Muhammad had slipped awayand sent a seareh party to bunt him down
Legend has it that Muhammad and Abu Hakr hid in a eave to escapc
their pursuers. and that a spider wove a web covering the entranee to
the eave. Seeitlg the spider web, the Meeeans thought that no one had
beeil inside in a wliile and turned away. After the seareh party had
rctumed empty-handed. Muhammad and Abu Hakr made their way to
Yathrib. and Ali followed as soon as he had settled all of Muhammad s
financial and soeial Obligation» in Meeca.
The emigration of Muhammad and the Muslims from Meeea to
Yathrib, which occurred in 622. marks the most important date in
Islamic history. It is called the llijra. or < Ircat Emigration"; thc Muslims
who einigrated are referred to as Muhajirs and those who hcljK-d them as
Ansar. (ircat honor is attached to both groups. and throughout Islamic
history. any event in «hieb a number of Muslims have had to flce from
pcrsecution to a safc haven is scen as a repetition of thc llijra. Thc llijra
also marks thc start of thc Islamic calendar. which is used for all rcligious
evcnts and is thc official calendar in many countrics to this day.
The llijra Signals the beginiling of Islam as a social religion. In
Meeea Muhammad was mostlv a wamc-r and prophet bringing a message
ol ilionolheism (belief in one God) and urgiiig people to repent of their
immoral ways. In Yathrib the religion began to evolve into a social phe-
nomenon and devclopcd a history and complex set of laws. The city was
even renamed Madinat an-nabi ("City of thc Prophet"). Medina for short.
Vhilc at Medina, thc revelations that Muhammad received began to
empliasize social Ians and a sense of history. which showed Muhammad
and bis religion to be a eontinuation of the saered tradition of the
Ilcbrew prophets. Muhammad rapidly rose from thc Status of a simple
prophet to that of the social, rcligious. and political Icader of an entire
Community. As such, he rescmbled rcligious figures such as Moses.
David, and Solomon much morc than he did Jesus or thc Buddha.
The Meeeans pereeived thc Muslim coinmunity of Medina as a
growing thrcat and engaged in tlirce hattles with them. each of which
resulted in Muhammad s eausc becoming mueli strongcr. Finally in 630

36. The Birth of Islam ♦ 35
c.E. the city of Meeea surrendcrcd to Muhammad and he cntered it.
guaranteeing the life and property of its citizcns. The only major cvcnts
«ere the exceutions of a few poets «ho had ridiculed Muhammad and his
rcligion. and the removal of all religious objcets front the Ka'ba.
Muhammad performed a pilgrimage to the Ka'ba and thcii retumcd to
Medina, «hielt he tun eonsidered his honte. Ile made one ttlorejourney
to Meeea betöre his death: referred to as the "Farcwcll Pilgrimage" it
still serves as the model for one of the most important lslamie rituals.
the Hajj.
Shortly alter his return front the Farewell Pilgrimage. Muhammad
feil gravelv ill and eonfined himsclf to the house of his wife .Vislta «hont
he had ntarried in Meeea several years alter Khadijas death. Ile died in
her bcd around midday on June 8. 632 c.e. Aceording to a tradition
«hielt states tliat prophets should he buried where they die. Muhammad
was buried in A islta s chamber. I.ater on it was eonverted into a sltrine
and senes as an important pilgrimage site to tltis day.
The lslamie Community after Muhammad
Muhammad died withont appointing a definite sueeessor. Althougll it
»as very elear tliat tltere would Ite no prophets after hint. no one «as
sure wltat the role of the next leader should be. The elders of the lslamie
Community dceidcd tliat Muhammad s elosest male companion. Abu
Bakr. «Ito «as also one of the earliest converts to Islam, should lead the
Community after bis death. Abu Bakr died only two years after
Muhammad and was sueceeded by another respeeted companion of
Muhammad named l'mar. It was during Umars ten year leadership and
the tue-lve years of his sueeessor. Uthman. tliat the lslamie Community
spread out of Arabia and expanded front the Mediterranean sliorcs of
Nortli Afriea to the Central Asian steppes. It was also during tlteir time
tliat the revelations rcceived by Muhammad «ere organizcd into the
Qur'an.
The leaders of the lslamie eomnnmity after Muhammad were nci-
ther prophets nor kings. htstead. they «ere known as Caliphs (khalifa in
Araltie). a word «hielt means ‘representative" or "delegate. " implying
tliat they did not rule on tlteir own atithority but only as the represen-
tatives of (Jod and His Prophet Alter Uthntan's death liiere «as sollte
eonfusion as to «ho should Ix; the next (laliph. Many peoplc feit tliat the
lionor should go to Muhammad s eousin and son-in-la«. Ali. Others. hon­
eter. favored Uthman s eousin Mu'awiya. Eneotiragcd by tlteir respective

37. 36 ♦ Islam
supporters. botli men were deelared < äilipli und a civil war ensued. In the
eourse öl' the dispnte Ali was murdered by an assassin and Mu awiya sue-
cessfully seizcd powcr for himselfand Ins lamily. layiilg the foundalions
of the first Islamie dynastv. known as the l mayyads (a referenee to
Mu awiya's tribe). The majority of pious Muslims today believe that with
the rise of the l'mayyad dynastv the pristine Institution of the < ’.aliphate
eame to an end; they eonsider the first four Caliphs as truly virtuous. as
a result ofwhich those four are rcfcrrcd to as "Rightlv-Guided." Even so.
it was under the 100-year rille of the l'mayyads that most of the lands
that are still identified with Islam were eonquered, and the Islamie
enipire extended from Spain to Pakistan.
Even though the l'mayyads were in almost complete control. the
dispnte bctween the supporters of Ali and the l’mayyads eliel not end. It
took an even ntore serious turn when Ali s son llusayn and many of bis
familv members were massaercd by troops loyal to Mil awiya's son. Yazid,
in 680 C.E.
Disillusioned by the politieal eonfliet. many Muslims witlulrew into
a quietistie contemplation of their faitli. (Ithcrs devoted themselves to
preaching among the eitizens of the newlv eonquered lands. while still
others dcdicated their lives to the study of the Qur'an and the traditions
of Muhammad and bis eompanions. It was primarily through the efforts
of such people that the Islamie world developed a rieh and vibrant tra­
dition of theology and philosophy and that the eitizens of verv diverse
lands eonverted to the new religion.
Ncvertheless. the sueeession struggles following Muhammads
deatli served as the pritnary catalysts for the initial sectarian scliism
witllin Islam, one that persists to this day. One faetion maintained that
Ali should have beeil the rightful leader of the Islamie community. and
is known as the Shi al Ali ("Faetion of Ali") or Shi is for short (this is the
same Word as Shi ah and Shi itc). The Shi i Position sccs the first three
< älliphs as usurpers. who deprived Ali of bis birthright. This belief is sup-
ported by many hadiths aecordiilg to w hich. in bis absence. Muhammad
used to designate Ah as the temporäre leader of the Islamie Communi­
ty The most fanious of these is known as the Hadith of Gliadir Kimm,
named alter an oasis bctween Mecca and Medina. Aeeording to this tra­
dition. on bis return from his final visit to Mecca. Muhammad claspcd
Ali s haild in bis and deelared betöre the asscmblcd erowd: l or whom-
ever I have beeil a proteetor (nutidu). Ali is his proteetor."
Tbc implieations of this liadith ridc on the multiple meanings of the
word nuiwla. Scholars of the Sunni seet—many of whom eonsider this

38. The Birth of Islam ♦ 37
liadith reliable sinee it appears in the eompendiiim of the great Sunni
seholar Ihn llanbal witli no less than teil variant rcadings—have taken it
to meail proteetor or leader in a very narrow sensu. implyiilg tliat Ali was
to he an antbority only in vei y speeilie coiltexts. The Slii is see it as a pub-
lie declaration by Muhammad tliat eommunity leadership shoukl reniain
forcier in the handsof the <1/1/al-lxiyt ("members of the honsehold ') l e«
other hadiths Support the Shi'i assertioil. although they elaim this is
beeause the reeord was falsified by the supporters of Abu Bakr and later
by the ITnayvads. The Shi is have their own colleetions ol hadiths tliat-
eontradiet the Sunni sie« of evetits. the most important lieing the Wulij
al-balaülui. «hieb is eomprised of sayings and sermons attrihuted to Ali
Scveral aeeounts «ithin the work proiide insight into the Shi i Position
regarding leadership after Muhammad:
I lie family members of the Prophet (011 liini be blessings and
peaee) are the loeus of divine tnyslery: they are where llis
eommandments are guarded and the repositories of llis
knowledge. refuges for llis «isdom. sanetuaries for llis
books. and mountain strongholds for llis religion. Through
them did Ile straighten the bowing of |the religion s| back,
and through them dkl Ile banish the trembling of its flesh.
A particularly eloquent reading of the cvcnts tliat led to the politi-
cal marginalization of Ah and the Prophet's household is found in Ali s
al-Khialxi nl-sluiiisliiapya or "Braying Sermon. " It is so named because
Ali was interrupted while speakiilg and refused to contiilue it. stating
tliat the sermon had beeil cxtcinporaneous like the braying ol a eamel.
«Inch starts spontaneously and stops in the same way. Aeeording to this
aceount. while the family of the Prophet had beeil hust' «ith bis burial.
Abu Bakr had usurped power for himself without Consulting .Mi or any
of Muhammad s other close relatives. On llis death, Abu Bakr had noni-
inatcd his alle l'mar to be the leader of the Islamic eommunity even
thougli this form of successorship was in eomplete Violation of
Muhammad s «islies. < >11 l’mar's death a eouncil «ns convened to name
a successor: it ineludcd Ali but was unfairly packcd «ith sttpporters of
Ctlunan. This ushcred in a particularly dark peritHl of oppression and
ncpotism «hielt the virtuous members of the Islamic eommunity eould
do little tnore than bear in silence.
Ali s silence in the face of thesc unjust transfers of power is
explained Iw Ins desire to preicnt bloodshed and division «ithin the
young Islamic eommunity. Ilowever. «heu l'thman passed leadership to

39. 38 ♦ Islam
his profligate Cousin Mu a«iya. Ali was forced to intervene at the liehest
of virtuous mcmbers of the Community, who repeatedly pleaded witli
him to deliver thcni front Mu"awiya's lyrannieal rille.
Sunni historians and theologians intcrpret the events somewhat
differently. They see Alm liakr as liaving beeil rcluetant to assume
leadership. and to have done so for the express purpose of holding the
Islamic Community togcther as it weathcred the erisis presented by the
death of its prophet Thal he «as the bcst person to assume this role was
evident front his seniority in age and closeiicss to Muhammad. His sclcc-
tion of l'mar as his successor «as founded on a similar closeiicss to the
Prophet and seniority as a eonvert. The Sunnis do not dcny Ali s senior­
ity as an early eonvert or his reputation for religious knowlcdge or zeal
in serviec to Islam. They do. hmvevcr. traditionally maintain that Ali was
tooyoung ar the time of Muhammad s and Abu Hakr’s deaths to beeome
the leader of the Community. In so doing. they eonsciously deny the kitt-
ship-based Claim to Icadership («hielt is so central to the Shi i vie«).
seeing it as antithetieal to Islamic teachings Thcrc is a degrce of arbi-
trariness to this asscrtion. because Abu liakr. l'mar. and I tlmt.in «ere
all related to Muhammad through marriage (as was Mu awiva's lather.
Abu Sufyan. who was blind at the time of I thnians death am! thercfore
eonsidered unfit for leadership). The strength of the Sunni Position lies
in the elaim that it «as preferable to accept a less than ideal leader than
to risk the destruetion of the Muslim eommunity through civil «ar In
faet the namc of the scet derbes front the Word .Sunna (tradition) and
is actually an abbreviation for a milch longcr terill meaning "The People
of Tradition (.S'mm«) and the Community." «hieb implics a eommit
ment to political quietism and a desirc to avoid Splitting into factions
at «hatever cost.
At most tinics in history the Sunni sect bas taken a very inclusive
attitude and tried to count as tiiitin Muslims as it eotikl «ithin the Sunni
umbrella. even «heil it meant that the notion of aceeptable Sunni liclicf
bad to be expanded. At the satne time, heilig a Sunni does not neces-
sarily imply that one agrees «ith the «ay the Sunni Islamic world is
being governed. simple that one bclieves that it is more important to
keep the Muslim eommunity sal'e than it is to fight a bad ruler. Sunnis
do. htnvever. harbor sotne antipathv toward the Shi is for the disrcspect
they show toward figures who arc higlily venerated in Sunni eirelcs
Indeed. memliers of somc Shi i scets continue to ritualistically curse
Abu liakr. l'mar, and l'thnian. and a holiday known as l'nuir-kushi
("l'mar killing") was commemorated in southwestem Iran until the

40. The Birth of Islam ♦ 39
middle of the twentieth Century to celebrate the murdcr of Umar. As
pari of the fcstintics people maile miniature effigies of Umar in the form
of liollow cakes fillcd with pomcgranatc syrup whieh were stabbcd. ein
up. and eonsumed. Such praetiees have relied on eommimal Segregation
for their sunival. and as Shi i and Sunni societies are drawn closer
together tlirough dcvcloping global infrastruetures and shared national
inlcrests. eoneiliatoiy leaders on both sides try their best to minimize
their differences in belief and praetice. Nonetheless, anti-Shi i diserimi-
nation is rampant in Saudi Arabia. where the sizable Shi i minority is all
hüt excluded from publie life. and seetarian differences play a major lac-
tor in the eivil violencc in Karachi and othcr eitics in Pakistan.
In recent tiines. Shi ism bas developed a negative reputation for a
perceived propensity toward violencc. as ctidenced by events in Iran fol-
lowing the Islamie Revolution ol 1979. and in southern Lebanon where a
Shi i militia has waged a lengthy guerrilla war against Israel and rival
militias within I.ebanon. In aetual tuet, niueh of Shi i history has been
onc of political withdrawal and an outright rejection of worldly power.
After the assassination ofAli in 661 and the martyrdom of his soll Ilusayn
in 680. the Shi’is were not to wield political power for quite sollte time,
as a result of whieh tliey spellt less time emphasizing the political dimen-
sion of Shi ism and more on developing claborate llicological ideas.
Ilowever. the early political experienees bad a direet bearing on Shi i
hcliefs, whieh eniphasize the importailee of martyrdom and persccution.
Seetarian Division
There are three main branches of Shi ism. the- Twelver Shi is. Isma ilis.
and Zavdis. all of whieh are united by a common belief that the only
legilimate leader of the Muslim eomniunity is a descendant of Ali and
his wife Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet. This leader is known as the
Imam, and is considercd superior to other human beings on account of
his blixtdline. The three main Shi'i seets agree on the idcntitics of the
first tour Imams. There is disagreement over the fiftli. with the majority
believing that llusavn's grandson. Muhammad al-Baqir (d. 731). was the
rightful Imam, and a minority following al-liaqirs brother. Zayd (d.
740). on account of whieh tliey are called Zavdis.
Zaydis
Zayd was the first person after the massaere of llusayn and his f.miily to
try towrest political power from the Umayyads by force. After spending

41. 40 ♦ Islam
a ye.u in preparation in the hcavily Shi i eity <>f Kufa in Iraq, he came out
«ith a group of followers but «as killed in battlc.
Zaydi bcliefs are similar to those of the major Shi i seet. that of the
T«ehers. The major differente is that Zaydis believe that any descendant
of Ali and Fatima can bc the Imam regardless of «herber they are
deseended from llusayn or his ekler brothcr Hasan. In order to be
aeknowledged as the Imam, a person must have the ability to resort to
the s«ord if necessary. For this reason. unlike in Welver Shi ism, no per­
son «ho rcmains hidden can bc considered the rightful Imam. The Zaydi
Imam is also required to possess high moral eharacter and religious
learning. If a person does not live up to all diese rcquirements. 11c can-
nol be leeognized as a full Imam but is an inferior Imam of eithcr mar-
tial skill or learning only. Leaders «hose political and intelleetual
strength is only enough to keep the Zaydi religious elaim alive are called
Dais. a term shared by the third Shi i seet. the Isma'ilis The high Stan­
dards required of a Zaydi Imam, combined «ith the conccpt of the Ml i.
allmvs for the possibility that thcrc inight be an age «itliout an Imam,
«heil the commimity is led byDa'is.
Zaydi Shi ism never gained a great fbllowing and in modern times
is almost entirely limited to emen.
Twelvers
Those members of the Shi i communitv «ho did not acecpt Zayil as the
rightful Imam remained in agreement for t«o more generations. The
si.xtli Imam of this group. Ja far al-Sadiq (d. 765). is espccially impor-
taut liccause he «as a very great Scholar «ho is also higlily regarded by
the Sunnis. The major Shi i school of religious la« is called “Ja fari”
liccause of him.
Aller the dcath of Ja far al-Sadiq this Shi i group divided into t«o.
the first heilig Isma ilis. «ho reeognized his ekler son Isma il (d. 765) as
the rightful leader; the secoud follo«ed his vounger son. Musa (d. 799).
This latter seet eontinued follo«ing a eliain of Imams until the hvelfth
in sueeession from Ali. Muhammad al-M.ahdi, vanished in 874 i:.i„ His fol-
lowcrs. thcrcaftcr kntnvn as Welver Shi is. believed that he had gone
into a Ibrin of supcrnatural hiding and «ould return as the messiah at
the end of the world.
Welver Shi is have a eomplex theory concerning the nature of the
Imam, «hieb derbes in large part from writitlgs attributed to Ja far al-
Sadiq. In everv age thcrc is an Imam «ho represents (iod on earth. and
«ho designates his suecessor by giving him a hody of knowledge eover-

42. The Birth of Islam ♦ 41
ing the inner and outcr meanings of the Qur’an. The Institution öl' die
Imam is a eovenant between God and human beings. and all belicving
Twelvcr Shiis are required to acknowledge and folltnv the Imam of their
age. Twelvcr Shi'is regard Imams as free of sin: they serve as the door-
wav to God and convev His message directly.
After the disappearancc of the twellth Imam, envovs (uxikils) aet-
ing on his behalf elaimed that they Here in direet eontaet «ith him.
Vhen the fourth of thein died in 939 C.E.. no one eise succeeded in his
Claim to be the mobil of the vanishcd Imam. The period from then on
eame to bc knoHii as the "Greater Oeeultation." as distinet from the
earlier one. whieh was ealled the "Lesser Oeeultation." Düring this later
period. which extends tintil todav. Hvclver Shi'ism developed an elabo-
rate elerical System that takcs care of the religious needs of the Shi'i
community. The highcst rank of this clergv is believed to bc inspired by
the Imam and is given the right to cngagc in independent reasoning. or
ijtiluul. In actual fact. since the sixteenth Century. Shi'i elcrics havc been
cxtremeh conservative in their excreise of ijtihad and. for all practieal
purposes. aet exaetly the wav a Sumti Scholar does in the study of law.
Isma'ilis
Some Shi is maintained that it was Isma il and not his youtiger brothcr
Musa »Im «as the rightful scvcnth Imam, dcspite the fact that Isma il
died before his father. Jafar al Sadiq According to Isma ili doctrine,
betöre dying Isma il designatcd his son Muhammad ibn Ismail as his
suecessor. and the line of Imams eontinucd «ith him.
A fundamental feature of early Ism.Tili thought «as the division of
all knowledge into two levcls. an outer. exoteric one (so/u'r) and an
inner, csotcricone (Ixitin). The exoteric level of knowledge changes witli
eiert prophet and every seripture. The csotcric level is eonccalcd linder
the words of the seripturcs and their la»s. and eomcys an inimutable
truth «Inch ean only bc madc apparent through a proeess of Interpreta­
tion (ealled ttt’wif). This is (he exclusive prerogative of the Imam or eise
of his deputies.
One of the most interesting aspects of Isma ili thought is the con-
eept of cyelieal time. History goes through a cycle of seien cras. euch
inaugurated by a prophet who publiclv announces his message using a
seripture. The first six of diese prophets are Adam. Noah. Abraham.
Moses. Jesus, and Muhammad. These prophets are aceompanicd In a
silent eompanion «ho is the guardian of the esoteric dimension of the
seripture. In the eyele of Muhammad. Muhammad ibn Isma il is die sev-

43. 42 ♦ Islam
This mud-brick niosqiw in .lenne. Muli, was eonscrncted in diefourteendi
Century und is the oldest in Afric«. The inud. which wushes au-tiv in the ruin.
nceds continuai renewul—henee the huilt-in “scqft'alding" qfdie stnicture
enth Imam and will retum in the future to sene as the publie prophet
öl' bis own (the seventh) prophelic eyclc. bringing the entirc eyclc of
seven to an end and our workl with it. Until bis retum. Ismailis believe
tliat the hidden Ixitin knowledge should Ix- kept secret. and revcaled
only to initiated believers.
Tlx- Isma ilis Ix-camc cxtremely powerful in N'orth Afrioa in the
tenth Century and founded a dynastv known as the latimids. wliich fora
briel period posed a thront to the .absolute politieal authority of the
Sunni < laliphs of the Abbasid dynastv. Tlx- great eity of (lairo was found-
ed by thesc Ismailis, as was Cairo s famous miiversity, Al-Azhar. In Liter
tiillcs this miiversity becamc one of tlx- most important Centers ofSunni
learning and eontinues in tliat role to this day.
(her the ecntiirics Isma ilism bas split into a number of different
sects. espeeially the rival lollowers of the two brotlxrs. Xizar (d. 1095)
and al-Musta li (d. 1101). Tlx- Fatimid nile-rs supported the religious
Claims of al-Musta li, forcing tlx- followcrs of Xizar to flee Fatimid terri-

44. The Birth of Islam ♦ 43
tories or eise to hiile for fear of persecution.
The Fatimid Empire «as destroyed l>y the rise to posver of the Sunni
Ayyubids, but 110t liefere Isma ili seholars patronized by the Fatimids bad
leit a lasting impaet on Islamie philosophy and mystieism. Xizar's fol-
lossers fomul refuge in the Syrian and Iranian mountains. and dispersed
alter the Mongol imasion of the thirteenth eentury. In the nineteenth
eentury the Iranian monareh gase the «cll-lmosvn title Agha Khan to the
Imam of one of their sub-seets. the Qasimshahis. Today Isma ilis remain
fragmented. «ith Xizaris eoneentrated in northern Ihkistan as well as
parts of Afghanistan. Tajikistan. and India. The litte of al-Musta li is eon­
eentrated aromul the Arabian Sea. on the western eoasl of India and in
Pakistan and Temen. (äirrently the Institute of Isma ili Studies in Britain
is pioneering the eollation of Isma ili literature and. together «ith oth-
ers. is helping to reconeile the disparate Isma ili sub-seets.

45. Theology, Law,
and Mystieism
3
ology and la« arc xvidelv
Islamie tradition.
I rom (he time öl' die ITnayyad Caliplis omvard (661-750) virtually all
Muslim areas. with die cxcepdon of Iran after die sixtecnth centurv,
have had a Sunni majority. Most of die areas tliat eonverted lo Islam
after its initial rapid expansion in tlie seventh and eightli eenturies also
adopted die Sunni Version ol die rcligion. as a result of«iiicll Sunni thc-
regarded as represcnting die "orthodox”
Tlie l'mayyads proved to lie great state
builders as «ere tlie Abbasid Caliplis
(750-1258) after llieni. Tlie Abbasids, «ho
on oeeasion tried to reconeile tlie
Sunni-Shi'i schisni. «ere also aetive Cham­
pions of seholarship and the arts. Their
dynasly heraided a period of unprccedent-
ed prosperiti in die Islamie «orld. the
mylliic glorv of «hieb bas lieen iinmortal-
ized in «orks such as Ihe One Tlmusiiiul
und (Ine Xifilits (more eommonly knovvn in
English as The Arabian Xiälits). Their rule is also frequeiitlj rcferrcd to
as the (llassical Islamie Aße. «heil die major pointsof religious doctrine.
la«, theology. and philosophy «ere addressed in «ays tliat framed their
discussion until modern tinies and. arguably. continue to shape the
ideas and bchavior of tradidonalists
In lliis cliaptcr I altempt to fumish a brief incrvie« of some of die
kev developments in Islamie theology. la«, and mystieism. It is ini|
*
ossi-
ble to proiide a eomprehcnsive aecount of diese large subjects in such
a brief spacc. but their central aspeets. partieularly those formulated in
the <llassical period. are casilv outlined. <)ne must bear in mind tliat the
intricate details ol theological and legal dehates have little direet bear-
ing on die religious Iives of most Muslims. Xonetheless. ovcr a period of
time thcological ideas have some influence in societv. just as societal
practices affecl the content and naturc of seholarh debatc. More impor-
tantly. members ol societv ean be direcdy alfected by developments in

46. Theology, law, and Mysticism ♦ 45
la«' inasmuch as they sce Islamie la« asa guiding prineiple in their lives
and are subjeeted to it by the judicial and poliee powers of a state.
Theology
Asa prophet, Muhammads role was more that ofa preachcr than a theo-
logian. Ilowever, the Qur'an bring
* up many philosophical and theologi-
eal questions regarding the nature of God. God's relationship to our
world. the problem of cvil. and the plaee occiipied by human lieings in
the divine plan for the universe. As the Islamie world expamlcd to absorb
new eultures many ne« philosophical questions emerged. Some of these
issues were alrcady being diseussed in the newly convcrted territories:
otIlers «ere brought up by the theologieal debates that occiirred as Islam
eame into competition «ith Christianitv and Zoroastrianism. «hieb «ere
the major religions of that region; still others emerged as a result of
politieal and social crises that plagued the early Muslim eommunity.
The term most commonlv used for theology in the Islamie world is
lüilam. «Itich literally mcans "Speech" or "dialectic." This gives a elear
sense of the faet that Islamie theology emerged in an environmcnt
where theologieal issues «ere being publiely debated. Kulrmi is distinct
from Islamie philosophy. in that the philosophical tradition derived verv
eonsciously and directly from the »orld of (Jrcck (and. to a lesser
extent. I’ersian) thoughl. This is exident even from the «ord used for
phil«isophv. «'hiell is Falsafa. an Arabie adaptation of the Greek Word
philosophiu.
Many of the major questions that «ere diseussed in the earliest
Islamie theologieal cirelcs arosc out of the politieal crises that followed
the assassinations of the Caliphs Umar. Uthman. and Ali. and from the
eivil wars that resulted in the division bctween the Sunni and Shi i sects.
The main questions dealt with who was the rightful leader of the eom­
munity. and «hat was the Status of a bcliever »ho committcd a grave sin
(sinee the killers of the early Caliphs «ere all Muslims). As theologieal
schools gre« witlliil the Islamie «orld. the questions being debated
Irccamc more thcoretieal and abstract. The main issues coneemed the
relationship lietween t Jods omnipotenee and human responsibility. This
led to more abstract discussions of the nature of < Jod and of ho» human
lieings gained the abilitv to differentiate bctween right and wrong and
to commit gooil and bad actions.
After the murder of l'thman and the emergence of seetarian divi-
sions in the Islamie «orld. four major schools of thoughl emerged. rep-

47. 46 ♦ Islam
resenting the Spectrum öl' Islamic theological opinions. The first of
these. die Qadariya. ssere die most aetisely opposed to the l'mayyad
dynastv. The Qadariya belicsed that human beings hast' such extensise
posver oser their actions that they can dctcrniine the Commission and
outcome of their acts. It is front the belief in human ability or ilctermi-
nation (t/ndro) that the Qadariya get their name. Sinee human lieings
had complete frecdom of aetion. and their deeds ssere a perfect mirror
of their belief, anyone »Ito commiltcd a grase sin must Ise a dislfclieser.
The seeonil group ssere called the Jabriya, sslio took a sliamctric.il-
ly opposite sicss to the original Qadariya. They lieliescd that disine com-
pulsion (jnbr) ereated human actions and that human beings had
absolutely no frecdom in eommitting good or bad actions Sinee (Jod
svas the dircct source of all acts. a human heilig could not bc hcld
responsiblc for eommitting a grase sin and therefore ssould still he con-
sidered a Muslim.
The .Murji'a oecupied a Position in-betsseen the Qadariya and the
Jabriya. They belicsed that it ssas not possible for human beings to pass
judgment oser the Status of anothcr human being s faitli. Instcad. basesl
Oll a Qur’anic sersc. they belicsed that a grase sinner's futtire ssas lield
in suspense assaiting God's dccision.
The last major group ssas called the Khassarij. Like the Qadariya.
they belicsed that actions ssere (11c perfect mirror of an indisidual's
faith: unlike them. hossesvr. they tended to be extrcmely politically
aetise. They Ich it ssas (he duts of esers true Muslim to slcposc. In force
if necessars. ans leadcrsvho had strayed froin the correct patli. They also
lieliescd that ans Muslim male, regardless of sshether he belonged to
Muhammads tribe or not. could bc declared C.iliph as hing as he ssas of
irreproachable moral charactcr. The Khassarij had originalls supported
Ali in biseompetition ssitli Mu assiya. bin ssheil Ali agrccil to human arbi-
tration (as opposed to letting < lod tunke the dccision on the battlefield).
they deserted hiin and eame to be sery distinet from bis supporters. the
Shi'is.
Bs the end ot the cightli Century these early trends had descloped
to the point that tull-llcdged theological sehools had einerged ssithin the
Islamic ssorld. The most famous of these is called the Mu tazila svhich
lor forty years in the mid ninth Century hcld sssay as the offieial thco­
logical sehool of the Sunni ssorld. .Mails- religious seholars ssere mis-
treated if their beliefs diil not falls ssitli those of the Mu tazila. Ihn svhen
the Mu tazila lost their offieial patronagc, they eame to be seen as
heretieal and ssere themselses victims of diserimination and pcrsecu-