Islam Uncovered

Qur’an, crescent, & Ka’aba

CONTENTS

response - how do you respond?

geography - where is it?

history - how did it become?

beliefs - what do they believe?

goals - what do they want?

injeel - where do i start?

Terms - what do they mean?2

Response

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FearFury

Facination

Strife

Syncretism

Secrecy

TRUTH

BOLDNESSSORROW

geography• Approximately 23% of the world's population is Muslim. • Estimates conclude the number of Muslims in the world to be about 1.6 billion.1

• Muslims are the majority in 49 countries,2 they speak about 60 languages and come from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

• If Hindi-Urdu is considered one language, then it is the dominant language of about 24% Muslims, mainly of Pakistan and India. Arabic is the second most spoken language of Muslims, and is spoken by 20% of Muslims.

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1 "Executive Summary". The Future of the Global Muslim Population. Pew Research Center. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2012.

2 "Muslim-Majority Countries". The Future of the Global Muslim Population. Pew Research Center. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2012.

countries with largest muslim populations 3

■ Indonesia 204,847,000 (88.1%)■ Pakistan 178,097,000 (96.4%)■ India 177,286,000 (14.6%)■ Bangladesh 145,312,000 (90.4%)■ Nigeria 75,728,000 (47.9%)■ Iran 74,819,000 (99.6%)■ Turkey 74,660,000 (98.6%)■ Egypt 73,746,000 (90%)■ Algeria 34,780,000 (98.2%)■ Morocco 32,381,000 (99.9%)■ Iraq 31,108,000 (98.9%)

■ Sudan 30,855,000 (97%)■ Afghanistan 29,047,000 (99.8%)■ Ethiopia 28,721,000 (33.8%)■ Uzbekistan 26,833,000 (96.5%)■ Saudi Arabia 25,493,000 (97.1%)■ Yemen 24,023,000 (99.0%)■ China 23,308,000 (1.8%)■ Syria 20,895,000 (92.8%)■ Malaysia 17,139,000 (61.4%)■ Russia 16,379,000 (11.7%)■ Niger 15,627,000 (98.3%)

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3 "Muslim Population by Country". The Future of the Global Muslim Population. Pew Research Center. Retrieved 22 December 2011.

History• Islam began in Mecca as a persecuted religion because it preached monotheism in

a highly polyteistic culture.

• Traditionally, Islam spread through forced conquer as opposed to freewill decision (ie. trade and commerce).

• Don’t confuse words like “spread” for “conquer, kill, war, raid, force, besiege, and capture...”

• Islam is a martial civilization4... 23:1: "Successful indeed are the believers"; Sura 9:14 "Fight them and God will punish them at your hands ... God will make you victorious over them"; 22:40: "God will certainly aid those who aid His (cause): for verily God is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might."

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4 Lippman, Thomas W.,Understanding Islam, New American Library, (1982), p.50

Life of Muhammed and Islam5

• 570 AD Muhammed is born in Mecca to the Quaraysh tribe• 610 AD At the age of 40, Muhammed is said to have received his first revelation• 610-622AD Muhammed preaches in Mecca and ostracizes the tribes and flees• 630 AD Muslims capture Mecca and vows of Allegiance come to Muhammed• 632 AD Muhammed dies and Abu Backer named first Caliph• 634 AD Abu Backer fought to reconvert Arabs back to Islam (RId6da Wars)• 650AD Caliph Uthman has Quran written down

Sunnis and Shi’ites• Sunnis and Shi’ites differ in how they think about the Islamic leadership• It goes back to two appointed leaders in Islam (Ali and Muawiyah)

• Sunnis believe leadership should be chosen by consensus of Sunnah• Shi’ites believe leadership should be chosen through succession of imams

Satanic Verses• When Muhammed was feeling the greatest persecution and longed to bridge ties

back to his tribe in Mecca he is said to have given verbal credence to three of his tribe’s pagan Meccan goddesses that Muslims eventually removed from their historical writing and now deny the event altogether.

• This event is now considered blasphemous by Muslims though Satan’s tampering with prophets while writing are actually affirmed in the Qu’ran (supposedly as a comforting response to his admittance of guilt).

Qu’ran• When Uthman (650 AD) combined the alleged manuscripts and variant texts of

Muhammed to compile the Koran he is said to have burned them all upon completion leaving behind no original records.

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5 Masri, Fouad. Bridges Study Guide. pg. 9-11

6 Sura Al-Hajj 22:52-53, Sura Al. Isra 17:73-75

Creed - “I testify that there is no god except Allah and I testify that

Muhammed is the

messenger of Allah.”

Beliefs• Every Muslim must be related to on a personal level to determine beliefs.• Islam is the most Christian-like yet the most anti-Christian of all religions.” (Samuel

Zwemer)• 5 Pillars considered obligatory to all Muslims and presented in the Qu’ran as

framework for worship and sign of real commitment of faith7

5 Pillars of faith8

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7 Pillars of Islam , Oxford Islamic Studies Online

8 8 Masri, Fouad. Bridges Study Guide. pg. 9-11

Prayer - ritualistic ceremony of prayer

that is exercised

while facing Mecca five times a ay

Fasting - performed during the month of

Ramadan (and other times)

when a Musliim fasts

during the day celebrtating the Qu’ran

Alms Giving - percentage of Muslim

wealth given as alms to

needy Muslims. (2.5% for Sunni and

5% fo Shi’ite)

Pilgrimmage - evey able-

bodied Muslim is to take a trip to Mecca and walk around the Ka’aba 7

times

Belief in the Prophets9

• Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Jesus, Job, Elijah, Jonah, John the Baptist• Muhammed is considered to be the last and greatest of them all.• Qu’ran 2:136 “We believe in Allah and the revelation given to us and to Abraham,

Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to [all] prophets from their Lord we make no difference between one and another of them and we bow to Allah [in Islam].”

Belief in the books• Tawrat (book of Moses)• Zabur (book of David)• Injeel (book of Jesus)• Qu’ran (book of Muhammed) - cannot be translated (only in Arabic)

Most Muslims believe that the Old and New Testaments have been changed and corrupted. However, this teaching is not found in the Koran.

Belief in mizna10

• Mizna meaning “scale” in which good deeds will be weighed against bad deeds on Judgment Day.

• “Then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy,- they will attain salvation: But those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls, in Hell will they abide” (Sura 23:102)

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9 Ibid., 21

10 Ibid., 23

Goals: sword vs. sacrificeIslamization (externalism)"the belief that Islam should guide social and political as well as personal life"11

1) cultural conformity2) political control through shar’ia law3) conquering of people’s and lands

Christianization (internalism)“when the worship of Christ and the wonder of the gospel wins over peoples minds, hearts, and hands.”

1) transcultural transmission2) submission to government3) sacrifice of people and lands

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11 Berman, S, "Islamism, Revolution, and Civil Society, Perspectives on Politics", Vol. 1, No. 2, June 2003, American Political Science Association, p. 258

9:5. Then when the Sacred Months (the 1st, 7th, 11th, and 12th months of the Islamic calendar) have passed, then kill the Mushrikun {unbelievers} wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and prepare for them each and every ambush. But if they repent and perform As-

Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat {the Islamic ritual prayers}), and give Zakat {alms}, then leave their way free. Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

injeel = arabic for gospel12

Sobering• Muslims honor all four holy books, but only follow the Qu’ran.

• Some believe Christians removed references of Muhammed in the Injeel.

• Muslims generally believe that the words of God in the Bible have been changed (though the Qu’ran never says this, but instead most mulims interpret “conceal” for “changed.”) Response: “Astagh’ furallah” - “God Forbid”

• The only Gospel that saves is the Gospel of God’s Son in the Bible “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9 ESV)

Surprising• The Qur’an states it never came to replace earlier messages from God

• “To thee We sent the scripture in truth, confirming the Scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed” (Al-Ma’idah 5:48)

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12 Masri, Fouad. Bridges Study Guide. pg. 108-113

• The Qur’an states how Muslims should relate with Christians• You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward the

believers [to be] the Jews and those who associate others with Allah ; and you will find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, "We are Christians." That is because among them are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.” Qur’an 5:82

• Christians must judge all of Muhammed’s revelation by the Injeel• “Let the people of the Gospel Judge by what Allah hath revealed

therein.” (Qur’an 5:47)

• Christians have incredible “ins” with Muslims through many different venues• Relationships - love is an universal language• Injeel - holy book of Islam• Balance of Good and Evil Deeds - John 6:28

! ! Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” !! ! ! Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him ! ! ! ! whom he has sent.” (John 6:28-29 ESV)

• Adha13 - celebrating the redeemed son of Abraham• What is the Christian Adha?

• John 1:29-30

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13 Masri, Fouad. Bridges Study Guide. pg. 130.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Terms• Ka’aba - most sacred Muslim site; cuboid structure in Mecca with a mosque around

it that serves as the focal point for the Hajj and the Muslim call to prayer

• Caliph - “head of state” and ruler of the Islamic caliphate

• Injeel - arabic for “Gospel”

• Jihad - meaning “struggle” of internal (fulfill religious duties) and external nature (physical struggle agianst enemies of Islam); duty of all Muslims14

• Caliphate - community of Muslims in political unity; first goverment of Islam

• Qu’ran - the holy book of Islam

• fatwa - a juristic ruling by a Muslim scholar concerning Islamic law (can be a death sentence)

• Mecca - most holy city to Muslims because it was the place of Muhammed’s birth and the site for the composition of the Qu’ran; it is also the site for the Hajj

• Hajj - an obligatory pilgrimmage for all able-bodied muslims to make once in their lifetime around the Ka’aba

• Ramadan - supposedly the month in which the Qur’anic verses were written down when a muslim fasts during the daylight hours and celebrates a meal after sundown

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14 Morgan, Diane (2010). Essential Islam: a comprehensive guide to belief and practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 87. ISBN 0-313-36025-1. Retrieved 5 January 2011.

Notes

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15

Injeel“gospel” in Arabic

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