Session 1 - Introduction to Islam - 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide today - Second largest religion in the world - Dominating religion in 50 countries,

Session 1 - Introduction to Islam - 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide today - Second largest religion in the world - Dominating religion in 50 countries, 35 countries of populations over 87% Muslim. In this class we will not have the time to cover everything there is to know We will look at how to reach your average Muslim you will run into (not the Taliban)

Indonesia = 196 million Bangladesh = 104 million Pakistan = 125 million India = 133 million China = 133 million Russia = 26 million Turkey = 62 million Iran = 65 million America = 6 million What countries are they located in?

1. God: There is one true God, named Allah. 2. Angels: They are the servants of God, through whom He reveals His will. The greatest angel is Gabriel, who appeared to Muhammad. Everyone has two "recording angels": one to record his good deeds, the other to record his bad deeds. 3. The Prophets: Allah has spoken through many prophets, but the final and greatest of these is Muhammad. Other prophets include Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. What do Muslims believe?

4. The Holy Books: The Koran or Quran is the holiest book of Islam, believed to be Allah's final revelation to man. It supersedes all previous revelations, including the Bible. It contains Allah's word as passed on orally to Muhammad by Gabriel. 5. The Day of Judgment: A terrible day on which each person's good and bad deeds will be balanced to determine his fate. 6. The Decree of God: Allah ordains the fate of all. Muslims are fatalistic. "If Allah wills it" is the comment of a devout Muslim on almost every situation or decision he faces.

1. Affirmation (Shahada): "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger." This is recited constantly by devout Muslims. Five Pillars of Islam 2. Prayer (As-Salah): Muslims are required to pray five times a day, kneeling and facing Mecca. 3. Almsgiving (Zakah): A worthy Muslim must give 2.5 percent of his income to the poor.

4. The Fast (Siyam): Faithful Muslims fast from dawn to dusk every day during the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, Ramadan. 5. The Pilgrimage (Al-Hajj): Muslims are expected to journey to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. 6. Some have added Jihad as the 6 th Pillar of Islam

How did it all begin? Muhammad was born in A.D. 570 in the town of Mecca located in what we now call Saudi Arabia The sources we have of Muhammad's life come about a century after he lived, and have obvious embellishment within them Some scholars (we will not) actually question if Muhammad ever existed

The life of Muhammad is very focused on the city of Mecca Muslims believe that Mecca was a center of worship all the way back to the time of Abraham It is maintained that Abraham and his son Ishmael, established the Kaaba in Mecca as the center of true worship to the one God Today, only Muslims are allowed in the city of Mecca

After that time they believe a gradual decline took place in Mecca (they call jahaliya) where they allowed images to be place in the Kaaba and they began worshipping them instead This continued until the days of Muhammad Muhammad was born to Abdullah & Amina of the Banu Hashim clan His mother and father both died when he was young, and he was send to his uncle Abu Talib

With his uncle, he would begin traveling with Caravans and gaining knowledge of the region and business We do not have many records of this time of his life, so we will not say too much (nor is it very important) Understand though that Christianity and Judaism were both very common in the regions that he was traveling too, so he would have some exposure to them

After a while (in 595 A.D.) Muhammad married an older women (15 years older) and became the leader of his tribe in Mecca Muhammad became troubled by the polytheism of Mecca, and tradition says he retired for times of contemplation and mediation in a cave on Mount Hira In 610 AD, at age forty, he claims he experienced a supernatural visitation

In the words of Martin Longs who wrote one of the most popular biographies on Muhammad: there came to him an Angel in the form of a man. the Angel said to him: "Recite!" and he said: "I am not a reciter," whereupon, as he himself told it, "the Angel took me and whelmed me in his embrace until he had reached the limit of mine endurance. then he released me and said:' Recite!

I said: 'I am not a reciter,' and again he took me and whelmed me in his embrace, and again when he reached the limit of mine endurance he released me and said: 'recite!', and again I said 'I am not a reciter.' then a third time he whelmed me as before, then released me and said: "Recite in the name of thy Lord who created! He created man from a clot of blood. recite; and thy Lord is the Most bountiful, He who hath taught by the pen, taught man what he knew not". (Quran Alaq :96)

He recited these words after the Angel, who thereupon left him; and he said "It was though the words were written on my heart." But he feared that this might mean he had become a jinn-inspired poet or a man possessed. So he fled from the cave, and when he was half-way down the slope of the mountain he heard a voice above him saying: " O Muhammad thou art the Messenger of GOD, and I am Gabriel (J IBRAIL )."

The Prophet stood gazing at the Angel; then he turned away from him, but whichever way he looked the Angel was always there, astride the horizon, whether it was to the north, to the south, to the east or to the west. Finally the Angel turned away, and the prophet descended the slope and went to his house Its interesting to note Muhammad was worried he had become spiritually possessed

"Now none of Gods creatures was more hateful to me than an (ecstatic) poet or a man possessed: I could not even look at them. I thought, Woe is me poet or possessed Never shall the Quraysh say this of me! I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself and gain rest. Ibn Ishaqs "Sirat Rasul Allah," The Life of Muhammad, translated by A. Guillaume, p. 106 It bothered Muhammad so much that he said the following after it happened:

When trying to commit suicide, Muhammad is confronted again by Gabriel who tells him he is a prophet After a while he gets the Quranic revelation from Allah The classic belief is the entire Quran was sent down in one night (The night of Power), Muhammad received it piece by piece over the next 22 years

The inspiration ceased to come to the Messenger of God for a while, and he was deeply grieved. He began to go to the tops of mountain crags, in order to fling himself from them; but every time he reached the summit of a mountain, Gabriel appeared to him and said to him, You are the Prophet of God. Thereupon his anxiety would subside and he would come back to himself. (History of Tabari [1155], translated by W. Montgomery Watt, vol. 6, p. 76.)

Muhammad became a messenger of pure monotheism (Tawhid) and he became emphasizing heaven, hell, judgment, prayer, fasting, etc. Around this time another event takes place in Islamic tradition, Isra. Isra is Muhammad's night flight & the Miraj, his visitation to heaven. The most popular view is the Isra is not a dream or vision, but happened in reality

Muhammad was given a winged steed that he rode to Jerusalem (to the farthest mosque) and from there, guided by Gabriel, he ascended through the levels of heaven where he received his instruction on prayer Muhammad is said to have traveled through the 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd, 4 th, 5 th, 6 th, and 7 th Heaven As he travels, he meets different people along the way

First heaven = Adam Second heaven = John the Baptist & Jesus Third heaven = Joseph Fourth heaven = Idris Fifth heaven = Aaron Sixth heaven = Moses Seventh heaven = Abraham The account of each heaven is repetitive, the same thing is said to a different person, and they always ask if Muhammad has been called at each heaven and then say What an excellent visit his is

Muhammad then ascends to The Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary) there ran four rivers from there, two hidden (that were in paradise), two visible (The Nile and the Euphrates) After that Muhammad was told that he and his followers should pray fifty times daily in their new faith After he leave he passes Moses and is asked what he was told, he tells him 50 prayers and Moses says go back and have them lower it

This goes on for quite a while, its lowered by 10, then 10 more, and eventually we reach the five prayers a day When we examine this visitation to heaven it is easy to understand why Muslims see Islam as a continuation of sorts of the Jewish and Christian religions

The next big event is called the Hijra, which is the pilgrimage of Muhammads followers from Mecca to Yathrib (renamed Medina) 210 miles north This exodus was needed for the survival of Muhammad and his followers who were not very popular in Mecca anymore He became known as the prophet in Medina, and his religious and political power grew (as did the new Islamic state)

After arriving in Medina, Muhammad ordered his followers to begin raiding Meccan caravans. Three major conflict happened between the Muslims (Medina) and Mecca in a short period The Battles of Badr (AD 624) Uhud (AD 625) and Trench (AD 627) In all cases the Muslims were outnumbered, but they won the battle at Badr

As you could imagine this was taken as evidence that God was on their side At Uhud the Muslims were winning, until their archers abandoned their post to loot some booty, causing a dramatic turn and loss for the Muslims Even though they had won that battle, the Meccans did not capitalize and finish the job because they thought Muhammad had been killed (when he was only wounded)

After that battle a revelation came down that is now in the Quran: And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were killing the enemy by His permission until [the time] when you lost courage and fell to disputing about the order [given by the Prophet] and disobeyed after He had shown you that which you love. Among you are some who desire this world, and among you are some who desire the Hereafter

Then he turned you back from them [defeated] that He might test you. And He has already forgiven you, and Allah is the possessor of bounty for the believers. (Surah 3:152) The third Muslim-Meccan large battle was a brief siege Having taking advice from the Persian, and knowing a large Meccan force would come against them, Muhammad dug trenches around the vulnerable part of Medina

Once again revelation comes down, normally associated with Surah 33:9-27 At this time the Muslims turn against the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza, who they said had entered into negotiations with the Meccans The earliest sources say that Muhammad beheaded all but a few men (who converted to Islam) and enslaved all the women and children

The Muslims expanded through alliances as Muhammad grew by bringing more Arab tribes under the banner of Islam At the same time the Meccan leadership was dwindling and loosing influence In 628, they marched on Mecca, not to conquer it but to engage in hija (Pilgrimage)

They were not allowed to enter, and an agreement known as the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was worked out that allowed them to return the following year However, in 630, Muhammad brought a huge army into Mecca, and started clearing the idols out of the Kaaba and establishing himself as the ruler of Central Arabia Few people were killed, many converted, and many were driven out who would not convert

The issue of Muhammad's wives As his political power increased, so did the number of wives he had. The Quran limits legal wives to four (Surah 4:3) but it was not long before new revelation allowed him as a prophet to have more We will look at two major issues (wives) that Muhammad took in his lifetime, Aisha and Zaynab

Aisha, Daughter of Abu Bakr The harshest denunciations of Muhammad have been based on his marriage to the young Aisha She was betrothed to him at age six, and the marriage was consummated at age nine (one source says ten) The idea of a fifty three year old marrying a nine year old is troubling to many people today

The Quran gives no evidence of embarrassment or apology for Muhammad taking this young wife There are stories in the Quran about Aisha that we could talk about, but they are not incredible relevant to our purposes in this session

Zaynab bint Jash This story is just as problematic for Islam as the one of Aisha Zaynab by all accounts was a very beautiful women, and she was married to a man named Zayd bin Muhammad A former slave who was the adopted son of the prophet (Muhammad) himself

At that time the Arab tribes, like the Jews, Romans, and many others, had practices and honored the concept of adoption If a man married the wife of his adopted son in that culture (and still today) it was a fundamental violation of morality and was seen as incest The Quran changed this to make it acceptable for Muhammad to marry and fulfill his desires

Allah has not made for a man two hearts in his interior. And He has not made your wives whom you declare unlawful your mothers. And he has not made your adopted sons your [true] sons. That is [merely] your saying by your mouths, but Allah says the truth, and He guides to the [right] way. Call them by [the names of] their fathers; it is more just in the sight of Allah. But if you do not know their fathers - then they are [still] your brothers in religion and those entrusted to you

And there is no blame upon you for that in which you have erred but [only for] what your hearts intended. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. (Surah 33:4-5) The Quran says that adoption should not be honored as it had been for thousands of years This cleared the way for Muhammad to take Zaynab as his wife

And [remember, O Muhammad], when you said to the one on whom Allah bestowed favor and you bestowed favor, "Keep your wife and fear Allah," while you concealed within yourself that which Allah is to disclose. And you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him. So when Zayd had no longer any need for her, We married her to you in order that there not be upon the believers any discomfort concerning the wives of their

adopted sons when they no longer have need of them. And ever is the command of Allah accomplished. There is not to be upon the Prophet any discomfort concerning that which Allah has imposed upon him. [This is] the established way of Allah with those [prophets] who have passed on before. And ever is the command of Allah a destiny decreed. But Muhammad didnt steal her from his adopted son

Zayd tells Muhammad that he will divorce his wife (Zaynab) so that Muhammad could marry her At first Muhammad says not to do it, until he suddenly has a vision that tells him that the adoption is undone, its okay for them to get divorced, and he is to marry Zaynab Aisha recognized this as an issue and is recorded saying I fell that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires

Muhammad died on June 8 th, 632 AD after getting sick, tradition say he was sixty three years old Many believe a prophets body does not decay and it looks the same still today. A few companions of the prophet are buried next to time, and by tradition there is an empty tomb for Jesus burial after he returns

Memory Verse Deuteronomy 17:17A: And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away

Documents

Session 1 - Introduction to Islam - 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide today - Second largest religion in the world - Dominating religion in 50 countries,