Arabia before Mohamed

• Tribal • Nomadic • Violent• DividedMohamed and Islam turned Arabia from humble origins into the heart of a new Islamic Empire that ultimately conquered Byzantium, Persia, parts of India, and parts of the Roman Empire in Northern Africa and Southern Mediterranean. Europe and China were two of the few neighbors of Islam to successfully resist conquest after centuries of struggle.

The Pre-Islamic Ka’ba (the cube):

pre-Islamic “Jahiliyyah – the Time of Ignorance”:

Similar to paganism: open to many Gods.

360 idols were housed in and around the Kaba. Among them were:

-Hubal: Syrian god of the moon

-al-Uzza = Egyptian Isis = Greek Aphrodite

-al-Kutba: Nabataean god of writing and divination

-Jesus

-MaryPilgrims from Arabian peninsula came to worship, offer sacrifices, pray for health.

People rotate around 7 times (tawaf).

Muhammad’s career• Born circa 570 A.D. into the Banu Hasim clan of the

influential Quraysh tribe in Mecca. His father died before his birth and he lost his mother at age 6. He was raised by his uncle Abu Talib and his uncle’s wife Fatimah.

• Worked first as a shepherd, then as a trader. Limited literacy if not illiterate. Good speaking skills and memory. Known as “the Trustworthy One”.

• His reputation and manner caught the attention of a wealthy widow Khadijah who hired him first to lead her caravans, and who eventually proposed marriage to him. They had one daughter, Fatimah, and 3 adopted daughters.

• First revelation – c 610 (M. is around 40) in the month of Ramadan. These revelations continue for 20 more years until his death.

Mohammed in Mecca• M., as he approached middle age, often went alone on retreat into

the wilderness to pray and meditate.• In 610 during on of these retreats he felt an overwhelming presence

(the angel Jabril) telling him “Recite”. This happened on 3 separate occasions. He repeated what he heard to his wife Kadijah, and again to her cousin Waraqa bin Nawfal, an old and revered Christian. He told them he believed the sincerity of Mohammed’s message and that he was being called as God’s prophet to the Arabs.

• He received a few more revelations, then all revelations stopped for 2 years. When they began again, he had over 100 different revelations spanning over a 20 years until his death. He committed them to memory and repeated them to others. His followers gradually wrote them down and they became the Quran.

Key ideas of the Mohammed’s revelations:

At first : The Oneness of Allah and Human

Equality

Later: the Afterlife & Final Judgment (therefore justice and ethics)

• Meccan period of his mission 610-622. Preaches, peaceful.

Hijra to Medina – 622 (needs to get out of Mecca). First year of Islamic calendar.

Medinan period of his mission, 622-632. Establishes a polity that warfare is necessary to survive and be respected among hostile surroundings.

Death – 632

2 distinct periods in the Mission of Mohammed

Battles expanding Islam through armed conquest - 620-630 AD

Opposition to Mohammed in Mecca• The Quraysh tribe was responsible for

maintaining polytheism at the Ka’ba. Mohammed’s message of monotheism was a direct threat to the foundation of their society.

(fear of wrath of gods and loss of pilgrimage income)

• Attempts to dissuade M included bribing him to stop and harassing and torturing some of his followers (first martyrs).

• Mohammed began to plan how he would protect his followers, sending some to the Christian community of Abyssinia, where the Negus gave them refuge. He also converted 2 main tribes in the nearby oasis city of Yathrib, where he would also send people for refuge from the Meccans.

The Night Journey • 622: M’s Year of Sorrow; he loses both his wife and uncle. • M. was awakened by Jabril, who took him on a winged

horse (the Buraq) to the site of the temple at Jerusalem (“the furthest mosque) where he met the great prophets; Abraham, Moses, Jesus and others). He then rode up to the heavens, having visions of paradise and hell. He was instructed by Allah to have Muslims pray 5 times a day rather than the customary 3. Muslims also pray facing Mecca, not Jerusalem, from this day forward.

• In 691, the Dome of the Rock was built over the rock at the site of the Jerusalem temple where M. is believed to have ascended up into the heavens. Jerusalem is considered the 3rd holiest city of Islam, after Mecca and Medina.

• When M. reported his vision to the Meccans at the Ka’ba , many thought he was truly mad. More and more Muslims were encouraged to secretly flee north to Yathrib. When the Meccans became aware of the flight, they planned to kill M, but he was warned by the angel Jabril to flee to Yathrib before they could reach him.

Mohammed in Medina• Mohammed’s dangerous escape to Yathrib (aka Medina) is

known as the Hijra. It is year 1 A.H. in the Muslim calendar. Mohammed led the new community in the Medina, based on religious values rather than tribal loyalty. Several Jewish tribes joined in alliance with the muslims.

• M’s visions in Mecca had more social and political overtones. Revelations began to imply that Muslims could fight both to defend themselves and regain what was left behind in Mecca. In 623 M began to order raids on Quraysh caravans going to and from Mecca to regain lost wealth. Leaders in Medina and Jewish allies began to see M as a threat.

• 624 Battle of Badr: M. decisively won, spared all prisoners but 2, and divided the spoils of war evenly. Revelations on just war theory: spare women and children and non-combatants, do not fight out of anger or aggression but instead for defense or worthy goals, do not desecrate the dead and treat prisoners humanely.

The Quran begins with the Shahādawhich has 2 parts

First part isLā ilāha illa Allāh “There is no god but God...”It is followed by the second partMuhammad Rasūl Allāh “...and Muhammad is

His prophet.”

Messengers and Prophets of God

God has sent many messengers and prophets before Muhammad

Partial list:Adam Nuh (Noah)Hud (Arabian prophet)Salih (Arabian prophet)Ibrahim (Abraham)Lut (Lot)Ishaq (Isaac)Isma‘il (Ishmael)

Yusuf (Joseph)Musa (Moses) Scripture:

TawraHarun (Aaron)Daud (David) Scripture: Zubur

(Psalms)Ilyas (Elias, Elijah)Suleiman (Solomon)Yunus (Jonah)Yahya (John the Baptist)‘Isa (Jesus). Scripture: Injil (Gospel)

With 1st wife SarahWith second wife

Hagar (Egyptian)

IsaacIshmael

Jacob (Israel)

12 sons,

12 tribes of IsraelBecame a great

people: the Arabs

Abraham/Ibrahim

Ishmael (Hebrew, "may God hear"), in the Old Testament, the elder son of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham, and in Islamic tradition, an ancestor of the Arab peoples. His story (see Genesis 16, 21, 25) is interwoven with that of Isaac. Ishmael's mother was Hagar, Egyptian handmaid to Abraham's wife, Sarah, who was barren. In answer to her prayers, Sarah conceived and was delivered of a son, Isaac. Having thus satisfied Abraham, Sarah demanded that Hagar and Ishmael be driven away. Hagar and her son fled to the south. Ishmael settled in the wilderness, married an Egyptian woman, and became the progenitor of 12 tribes of desert nomads. The region occupied by these Ishmaelites included most of central and northern Arabia. Muslims regard themselves as the descendents of Ishmael and view Hagar as the true wife of Abraham, and Ishmael (or Ismail) his favored son. In this version, Ishmail, not Isaac, was offered for sacrifice by Abraham (Quran 37:101)

½ brothers

Zam zam in the Ibrahim & Ishmael storyA story (not in the Quran) is told about Hagar and Ishmael, when they were in what is now Mecca, after they no longer had any water left to drink. God told Ibrahim to leave his wife and son in the desert (Mecca). Ibrahim obeyed, but prayed God would send people to care for them. Hagar took Ishmael 7 times looking between the 2 hills Safa and Marwa in Mecca to find water. They were somewhere between when Ishmael played with the sand and miraculously a spring appeared on that spot, which is near where the Ka’ba is today. That spring is called zam zam and the water is believed to have healing properties. People who make the pilgrimage to Mecca fill up cans with this special water to take back to their homes. They pray while walking 7 times around the Ka’ba. The well water is accesses today from the Masjid al-Haram shown below, which has been built 60 feet east of the Kaba. Water is collected and brought home. Below is a zam zam bottle.

The Main beliefs of Islam• Allah• His angels• His scriptures• His messengers• The Last Day (final judgment)

The 5 Pillars of Islam(the most important religious requirements)

• Shahada: see slide 10

• Salah (salat) - prayer five times a day• Ramadan: daytime fasting during the month of

Ramadan. • Zakah (zakat) - alms or tax for the poor.• Hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one’s

life during the month of Dhu al-Hijja.

Sunni + Shi’a Islam

Choosing as the successor of Mohammed divides the community

Those who chose Abu Bakr came to be called the Sunni Muslms

Those who chose Ali came to be called the Shi’a Muslims Sunna – in Arabic means the normative “behavior” or “practice” of Islam Shi’at – means “the faction”.

• Abu Talib, uncle of M., who raised and protected him.

• Abu Bakr; right hand man, ally, gives his daughter Fatima to be M’s favorite wife

• Ali ; cousin of M. and early, loyal follower who marries Ayesha, M’s daughter.

Those closest to Mohammed

MENWOMEN* Khadija: first wife of M.Widow. Monogamous. After Khadija he married several widows. •Ayesha – favorite wife of Mohammed, given at age 14. Daughter of Abu Bakr.•Fatima – daughter of M. and Ayesha

The first Caliph is chosen

• When Muhammad died in 632 CE, his closest relatives (Fatima and Ali) took charge of the funeral arrangements. While they were preparing his body, Abu Bakr, Umar, and Abu Ubaidah ibn al Jarrah met with the leaders of Medina and elected Abu Bakr as caliph without consulting Fatima or Ali.

• Ali and his family were upset, but accepted the appointment for the sake of unity in the early Muslim community

1st Caliph Abu Bakr

2nd Caliph Umar (assassinated in 644)

3rd Caliph Uthman: appointed by Umar, first Umayyid . Assassinated in 657.

Anger over his attempt to establish a dynasty, the community now appoint Ali.

4th Caliph Ali (656-661): sets up his caliphate in Kufah (in present day Iran).

His caliphate is contested by Ummayids, there is civil war, and he is assassinated.

His son Husayn turns it over to the Umayyids in the interests of peace, but in the end is still assassinated.

Damascus: new Umayyid capital. Arabic: official language.

Conflicts with Persia and Byzantium are very successful. Empire expands to N. Africa

Policy toward the conquered: Convert to become Islam or pay tax and live as dhimmi with very

limited freedom.

Caliphates after Mohammed (632)

The 4 Righteous

Caliphs

ASHURA:Shi’as commemorate the martyrdom of Hussayn, with men beating their backs or cutting the heads.

Shi‘as split further based on arguments over which of M’s descendents should rule

• Zaydīs (Fivers)• Ismā‘īlīs

(Seveners)• Imāmīs

(Twelvers)

Shi’ite genealogy

The hidden imam went into occultation in the 9th century and will eventually make himself present as savior and judge of the world.

Sunnis believe the savior Mahdi is yet to come.

Sunni & Shi’aThe main

“sectarian” difference among Muslims.

Rooted historically in the question of who should lead the Muslim community (umma) after Muhammad’s death.

1. Sunnis believe that Muhammad designated no successor (khalifa) and that the successor was and should have been chosen by representatives of the umma.

2. Shi‘as (collectively called the Shi‘a) believe that ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad’s closest male relative, was designated by Muhammad should have been his successor but was unjustly denied this role (at least at first).

3. Sunnis constitute about 85 to 90 percent of the whole Muslim umma today and the Shi‘a about 10 to 15 percent.

Islām today refers to the religion of those who follow the teachings of Muhammad (Mohamed) and the Quran (Koran) Older Arabic Semitic meanings:• Islām = submission (to the will of the one all-powerful al-

Lah)

• islām is also linguistically related to salām(Hebrew: shalom = peace ) entering into peace with GodOne who is at peace with God may then be:• - at peace with him/herself• - at peace with other people• - at peace with nature