Total Islam Study Guide

Vocabulary Part I:

Angels: Messengers of Allah and are all around us. Each person has an angel to keep record of the good you’ve done and one to keep record of the bad.

Akhira: The afterlife. After the last judgment the righteous will be sent to heaven and the damned to hell. Refers to both. Heaven is portrayed as paradise and Hell with fire and torture.

Allah: God. Darkness can be portrayed as unbelief and light as faith in God. He is the first teacher and absolute guide of humanity.

Five Pillars of Faith:

· Shahadah: “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah.”

· Prayer – Salat: Five times a day facing Mecca. Call to prayer sounded by a Muslim crier. Morning, Noon, Afternoon, Evening, Night.

· Alsmgiving – Zakat: Give a portion of earnings to the needy. 2.5%.

· Fasting – Sawm: Ramadan is the holy month during which Muslims fast from sunup to sundown

· Pilgrimage – Hajj: A trip to Mecca that Muslims must do at least once in their life.

Hadiths: Reports of what Muhammad said or did, and are examples for faithful Muslims to follow. Teachings of Muhammad.

Hijrah: Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Yathrib (medina) in 622.

Ka’bah: a cube shaped building of stone in the open court of the Grand Mosque of Mecca. The Ka’bah was built by Abraham and Ishmael and is very important because oftentimes waring Arab tribes would come in peace to visit the Ka’bah.

Muezzin: The one who calls Muslims to prayer at each prayer time. Muhammad preferred human voice to bells such as in Christianity. When Muezzin calls Muslims to prayer, everyone must stop what they are doing and must face Mecca and the Ka’bah.

Mihrab: A niche in the mosque signifying the direction of Mecca, which Muslim’s must face to pray. It directs the faithful towards the holy city, which they face to pray and praying is very important.

Imam: The spiritual leader of the community who directs the services at the mosque. Imam should be able to lead man in all aspects of life and should be a perfect example in everything.

Jannah: Islamic concept of paradise. It is said that everything one longs for on earth will be in Jannah. Compare to heaven.

Jahannam: Islamic concept of hell. Allah is the only one who knows who will go to Jahannam according to the Qur’an.

Jinns: The race of beings created from fire, distinguished from humans, who were created from clay. There are good and badd Jinns. Jinn literally means “concealment/invisitbility/seclusiveness”.

Medina: Where Muhammad fled to from Mecca. He was needed in medina to be a leader. Became known as the city of the prophet and is the place of Muhammads death. First Mosque in Medina.

Muhammad: The messenger of God. Founder of Islam, regarded by Muslims as the final prophet of Allah. Wrote the Qur’an as dictated to him by the angel Gabriel.

Qur’an: The Sacred scripture of Muslims, regarded as the word of God dictated to Muhammad by God through the angel Gabriel. It is believed to contain divine guidance and direction and is the final revelation of Allah.

Rasul: literally, “messenger”. One who recites for God. Muhammad is God’s messenger or rasul and most common refers to him and his role as God’s prophet.

Sadaqa: Informal charity between Muslims. Often given when traveling to other Muslim communities or Mosques. It is different from Zakat. It is not mandatory.

Shari’a: Like law. The duties that God places on the Muslim community. Shari’a governs Muslim life in all countries.

Shi’a: Considered the partisans of Ali. They believe that Ali should have been the next leader after Uthman. They see Ali as the first Imam – the communitie’s spiritual leader – with both spiritual and temporal powers.

Sunna: Literally translated as “the trodden path”. It is basically a prescription for the way of life and the way a practicing Muslim should conduct himself. The concepts featured in Sunna are mostly taken from the Hadith, specifically the biographies, descriptions and lifestyles of famous Islamic prophets and heroes.

Sunni Islam: The largest Islamic organization sect in the world. Host to the majority of practicing Muslims. Distinctive feature of this group is the use/appointment of a Caliph: a political/religious leader of Sunnis.

Shirk: The Islamic view on polytheism and idolatry. It states that it is a sin to worship anything other than God.

Tawhid: The Muslim doctrine of the unity of Allah. Islam denies any partners to Allah such as Christians have in their trinity. There are no equals to God or anything else.

Ummah: The Muslim community. This refers to the whole diaspora of Muslim faith and the space they occupy. Can refer to the physical aspect of the believers.

Yawm al-din/yawmuddin: Judgment day or the end of the world. At this point Allah will Judge each Muslim and will determine whether he or she has led a faithful enough life to deserve Akhirah (life after death).

Vocabulary Part II:

Ka’bah, muezzin, mihrab: These words are all related because they all have to do with Muslim tradition and prayer. The Ka’bah is a ceremonial place that is celebrated by Muslims and the Muezzin is the person who calls all Muslims to prayer. Each town has one and when Muslims are called to pray they must stop what they are doing and face the mihrab which is the place in the mosque which signifies the direction of Mecca.

Imam, medina, Muhammad: These words are related because Muhammad original travelled to Medina because they were in need of a leader and an Imam is a spiritual leader in each Muslim community who directs the services at the mosque. They should lead Muslims in all aspects of life.

Jannah, Jahannam, Jinns, Qur’an: Jannah and Jahannam are considered the after life in Islam and can be compared to heaven and hell. Jinns are almost like ghosts that can be good or bad and bad Jinns can taunt you and influence you to do things to go to Jahannam. The Qur’an is related because it is guidance and scripture dictated to Muhammad through God. One should follow the Qur’an to go to Jannah.

Jinns, Muhammad, Qur’an: Muhammad is the founder of Islam and God’s prophet and messenger and he dictate the Qur’an for God. The Qur’an provides guidance from God and Jinns and Muhammad are both beings above humans who provide the foundation for the teachings and guidance of the Qur’an.

Shia, Ummah, Sunni: Shi’ites make up a sect of Islam that believe they are the original descendents of Ali, who they consider the first imam (spiritual leader). Sunni is the other major sect of Islam, that has caliphs as spiritual leaders, and considers the first four caliphs, including Abu Bakr, to be descendents of Muhammad. Ummah refers to the whole Islamic community of believers, physically and spiritually.

Tawhid, Yawmuddin, Shari’a, Sunna: Sunna is basically a description of the way of life that every Muslim should strive for and on judgment day, yawmuddin, God will decide whether Muslims will go to the equivalent of heaven or hell. Shari’a is like law that every Muslim community lives by and Tawhid, doctrine of the unity of Allah, falls into those laws. There is only one Allah, unlike the trinity.

Sadaqa, Rasul: Sadaqa is voluntary Muslim charity. It may be given in the form of money to faith projects of public service or other. A rasul is a human prophet, and similarly, this prophet has a responsibility to the people to share Allah’s message.

Themes and Religious Belief:

Rituals:

-Lifetime:

SHADADA: the marking of a young Muslim’s formal entry into Islam

FUNERALS AND MOURNING: janazah are prayers for the dead at the gravesite. Burial takes place within 24 hours of death.

-Artifacts:

-Rites of Passage:

-Worship:

Muslims pray five times a day, must stop what they’re doing to pray

-Festivals/Holidays:

RAMADAN: takes place in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Time of Fasting and daily repentance.

LILAT Ul-QADUR: Final 10 days of Ramadan. Muslim’s celebrate Muhammad’s first revelation.

AL-ISRA WAL MIRAJ: Celbrated on the 27^th day of the 7^th month in the Islamic Calender. It marks Muhammads journey from Mecca.

- Gender Issues:

Women do not have equal rights to make independent decisions about choice of (marriage) partner, getting a divorce and custody of their children.

Text:

Muslim Call to Prayer: Allah is Most Great. Allah is Most Great.

Allah is Most Great. Allah is Most Great.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of being worshipped except Allah.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of being worshipped except Allah.

I bear witness that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah.

I bear witness that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah.

Come to prayer. Come to prayer.

Come to Success. Come to Success.

Allah is Most Great. Allah is Most Great.

There is none worthy of being worshipped except Allah.

Qur’an: The Qur’an has 114 chapters in no chronological sequence.

Doctrines/Beliefs:

Shahadada: "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger." (basically sums up all of the creeds put together)

Eschatology: Judgement day occurs after death and every human is held accountable for his or her deeds and are judged by God accordingly. If people believe in God, do good deeds and are deemed acceptable by Allah, they will be rewarded in the afterlife. Each person has a book of deeds which contains all their actions good or bad.

Cosmogony/Cosmology: There is the judged universe which is the place where those species live forever (they are divine). There is the Test universe (which is imperfect) and Allah has implemented some limitations on searching this vast universe.

Allah created the universe so that all of his attributes get satisfied because before the universe was created no one knew him.

Religious Experience:

Group Experience: Prayer in Unison, at Mecca, at the Ka’bah

Individual Experience: Hajj- Each Muslim is required to travel/migrate to Mecca to pray once in a lifetime at least.

Ethics and Moral Conduct:

-Beliefs: see gender issues, as well as women are required to wear a burqua/hijab, in order to cover their bodies to prevent temptation for the men. Jihad is the only form of warfare allowed by Islamic law, yet most Mulsims view Jiha as only a defensive form.

-Shari’ah Law: “Is the expression of the divine will” It covers all aspects of life, giving guidance and rules. The duties that Allah places on the Muslim Comminuty. (Ummah)

-Qanun Law: These are laws publicized by Muslim sovereignty, the opposite of Shari’a in a way. Laws laid down by humans, not Allah.

Huston Smith - Islam

PART IV

What is Sufism?

• Root - Sufi - means wool. A century or two after Muhammad's death, Sufis wore coarse woolen garments to protest silks and satins of sultans and califs.
• Sufis sought to purify and spiritualize Islam from within. They wanted to recover its liberty and love
• Sufis go to gathering places to sing, dance, pray, recite their rosaries in concert, and listen to the rosaries of their master.
• Sufis developed three routes to God - Love, ecstasy, and intuition.
• To them monotheism meant: God is that to which we give ourselves, and we should give ourselves to nothing but God.

Whither Islam?

• There are indications that Islam is emerging from several centuries of stagnation
• Islamic people are very united
• Islam is a vital force in the contemporary world.
• 1 out of 5 people in the world is Islamic

Huston Smith - Islam

PART III

What are the Five Pillars?

1st pillar: Confession of faith - shahadah - "There is no God but God and Muhammad is his prophet.

2nd pillar: prayer - salat - Muslims pray five times per day, helps faith to be a constant

3rd pillar: charity - those who have much should help life the burden of those who are less fortunate

4th pillar - Ramadan - able-bodied muslims must fast furing Ramadan to honor Muhammad's Hijra (pilgrimmage) from Mecca to medina.

5th pillar - pillgrimmage - hajj - every able Muslim must make a pilgrimmage to Mecca once in their life.

What were the Social Teachings?

Economics: a society's health requires that material goods be widely and appropriately distributed

The Status of Women: Before Muhammad, women had no rights, but the Koran leaves open possibility of women's full equality with men.

Race Relations: Islam stresses racial quality and there is much willingness to intermarry.

The use of force: The Koran teaches forgiveness and the return of good for evil when the circumstances warrant.

Houston Smith - Islam

Part II

What was the Standing Miracle?

• The Koran is the most memorized book and exerts the most influence on people
• It is considered the standing miracle because Muhammad said it is a miracle that such an amazing book was created in their language.
• The created Koran is said to be the miracle of the uncreated Koran
• The words of the Koran came to Muhammad over twenty three years by voices that condensed into a single voice
• Arabic word is powerful which is why the Koran is more powerful to Arabs

What are the basic Theological Concepts?

• Basically the same as Judaism and Christianity
• Four most important concepts are: God, Creation, the Human Self, and the Day of Judgement.
• The Koran wants to remove idols and focus the divine in a single invisible God for everyone.
• The world was created by a deliberate act of Allah's will
• Creation of the human self is third most important and surrendering is very important
• To be a slave to Allah is to be free from other slavery
• Judgement offers a chance for the "losers" a chance to return to life for even a single day to make good use of their opportunities.

Houston Smith - Islam

PART I:

How did Islam Originate?

• A people very different from all others in creed speech and physical type originated
• A great factor in the Arab rise to greatness was their religion - Islam
• Islam agrees with the book of Genesis in that God came first no Muhammad except they call him Allah.
• Arabs consider themselves a Semitic people
• According to the Koran, Ishmael went to the place where Mecca went to rise and his descendants became Muslims.

What is the Seal of the Prophets?

• Muhammad is the prophet through which Islam reached its definitive form
• He is "The Seal of the Prophets" because no valid prophets will come after him
• Conditions in the desert were not good. There was a scarcity of material goods, crime, etc. and people believed there were "jinns" demons of the desert
• The angels of god apparently opened Muhammad's heart and filled it with light - he had a tough childhood
• His suffering made him sensitive to human suffering in every form, he was always ready to help others, especially the poor and the weak
• Muhammad came up with the idea that there is only one God
• Muhammad is the preacher of God's words, the bringer of God's message to mankind

What was the migration that led to victory?

• Through pilgrims and other visitors to Mecca, Muhammad's teaching has won a firm hold in Yathrib a city 280 miles north of Mecca
• The city needed a leader to help with internal rivalries and they wanted Muhammad to come
• Muhammad received a message from God to accept the challenge
• This migration was called the "Hijra" and is known as a turning point and the first date of the Meccan Calender
• Once he arrived at the Medina he assumed a different role. He became a masterful politician

Islam for Idiots Chapter 4

ALL ABOUT ALLAH

• Muslim ideas of God are not affected by changes in social values or mores
• God is not personified into forms or shapes crated by the imagination of men and women.
• What we lack in artwork about God, we make up for in a compelling intellectual and spiritual ideology

GOD AND HOLLYWOOD

• Islam has a very definite conception of God and how to understand Him
• When Christians were defending the honor of their God, Muslims were more intersted in upholding the honor of a man who is considered to be one of the greatest prophets.
• Movies about prophets are considered blaspehmous by Muslims, who see any attempt to represent a prophet as wrong

THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD

• some popular western culture promotes the idea that we are all gods inside our hearts or that god lives in us, and we can tap into his power like some sort of personal energy reservoir
• the Qur'an warned us long ago that the desire of Shaytan is to seperate us from God and what better way for him to succeed than to get all of us to call ourselves gods and godesses or to make up gods of our own

DOES GOD SHOW HIMSELF TO US

• Islam records only one incident in which a person came close to seeing God
• Moses wanted God to prove himself to him, so he appeared in physical form on a mountain and it was too powerful for Moses to see and he pased out

ISLAM IN GOD

• Allah is only one being without division, children or partners
• God is strong enough and capable enough to not need anyones help of to divide himself into parts to do different jobs
• "There is no God other than God"
• He is not the God of any chosen people nor can any racial or ethnic community lay claim to his exclusive attention
• the idea that God makes any kind of racial preferences is reprehensible in Islam

PAGAN ARAB BELIEFS BEFORE THE COMING OF ISLAM

• The prophet Muhammad was born in arabia in 570 c.e.
• the pagans venerated idols thinking they were convenient gods who would bring luck, safety, good business deals, and other bounties on a daily basis
• Muhammads first preachings in 610 c.e.
• declared that God is not remote and is not contained in a wood or stone carving

THE QUR'AN SPEAKS

• "Tell people that he is one God; Allah, the eternal absolute. He neither gives birth nor was He ever begotten, and there is nothing equal to Him."
• in the pagan world, magic, spirits, shamans, luck, totems, and idols were the defining characteristics of religion.

MAN AND GOD

• islam teaches that every god has to face god alone
• no one can look to another god or person to save himself or herself in this life or in the next
• the Qur'an is very clear about blame being lade squarely upon our own shoulders
• Shirk means to hold something else as equal to god...biggest sin

DO MUSLIMS BELIEVE IN ORIGINAL SIN?

• Islam considers jesus to be a prophet of God, born of the Virgin Mary as a special miracle from God
• Muslims do not take Jesus' birth as a sign of God hood or as a sing that jesus was the son of god.
• the Qur'an even denies that jesus was killed on a cross
• the Qur'an states only that God saved Jesus and took him to himself
• the Qur'an says Adam and Eve sinned but God forgave them when they asked for his mercy
• it is our cumulative faith and actions that determine our salvation
• it is no sign of love for a muslim that God would die for him or her

HOW CLOSE IS CLOSE

• We can build a personal relationship with Allah because He can hear all our thoughts and because he knows our feelings
• "Accept Allah into your hearts and be saved
• The word taqwa means consciousness or awareness of God in your life

ALLAH HAS MANY NAMES

• The Qur'an declares emphatically that God has no form we can comprehend and that He resembles nothing at all in creation
• Islam completely forbids making representations of God
• Instead of focusing on God's physical form, we look to his qualities
• these are called Allahs names and attributes
• we use adjectives to describe the nature of God, and through studying them and emmulating them we come to a closer understanding of who God is
• *Actively particpate in knowing the divine
• we can get a feel for the essence of Allah through the Ninety-Nine names of Allah
• then we dont have to worry about what he looks like
• Muhammad once said that whoever knows and lives by the 99 names of Allah will go to heaven

• he has no beginning or end
• he does not reveal himself
• no human eye is strong enough to behold his power
• he can do all that he wishes with no need of a helper
• he is not male or female
• Allah is not a remote God but rather He is active in human affairs and is testing us in this life and giving us the chance to choose to surrender to him

Islam For Idiots Chapter 3

Looking at life the Islamic Way

• Islam holds that we are all born basically good but have a natural weakness due to our physical nature
• Islam also has the concept of an evil enemy, a Devil that preys upon our hearts and minds. But it only has limited power over us and God has given us the tools to combat him.

The Three-Fold Journey

• The Animal Self
• The Accusing Self
• The Restful Self
• ^Three Levels of Development ^
• these are the stages we obtain as we come to the final realization that god is, in fact, real and that we ought to move closer to him
• No child is born evil, but if their every urge is fulfilled they'll never learn self-control

The Animal in All of Us (Animal Self)

• During this stage our basic desires for food, sex, creature comforts and wealth guide our life choices
• The struggle out of animal self is made even harder by an evil jinn named shaytan
• He seeks to corrupt and ruin us

Stepping up the Plate (Accusing Self)

• After the second stage has been entered and we realize we need God in heart and mind, we can now try to mold our life according to his universal way
• We become less attached to the life of this world, more introspective, less irritable, and stressed
• through daily routine of prayer, reflection, fasting, and study, and a counscious morality, our heart becomes more at ease

The Supreme Acheivement (restful self)

• Nothing in the world has a hold of us any longer
• We lead lives of quiet contemplation and are not phased by anything
• We no longer live to satisfy ourselves but to realize the higher purpose of life

Sin and Redemption

• surrendering to God means to believe in him, to promote harmony on earth, to follow a personal code of morality
• charity, honesty, thrift, compassion, self-control, and integrity, are the goals of a Muslim
• Sins: dishonesty, violent behavior, greed, jealousy, gossip, and sexual promiscuity

How Does God Forgive?

• When you commit a bad deed or sin, it will be held against you on judgement day
• The only way to remove the stain of that sin is to follow a four-step process of repentence called making tawba
• Four steps: feel remorseful, repent by saying "God forgive me", make restitution for the sin if possible, resolve never to do the sin again.

Law and Order

• There are only a few crimes that incur physical punishment
• personal moral sins require only the four-step process
• islamic law mixes personal morality and civil and criminal law into one overall code in keeping with the religious view that there is no difference between the secular and spiritual realms

Everything Counts when is Counts

• you save or damn yourself everyday through your belief, or lack of it, your actions, good or bad, and your overall record
• our sins, if we dont repent of them, will be held against us
• everytime we do a good or bad deed it is recorded with god
• salvation in islam is founded on believing in a surrendering your will to god and nothing more

The Last Payday

• God will reward good even as He will punish evil

Our Report Card

• We will either be sent to heaven or hell on the day of judgement based on our list of good and bad deeds
• Islam does not teach that people are born sinful like in christianity
• we are all born spotless and can choose between good and bad

There'll Be Hell to Pay

• The consequence of rejecting god and staying in the animal stage is that our soul becomes corrupted or warped
• so we go to hell to have our soul cleansed by fire
• when the deserved punishment is finished the newly cleansed soul may again rejoin gods presence and recieve its reward in heaven
• some souls are so warped that they will never get out of hell