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

Notes on prayer for IA from Idiots Guide

Islam for Idiots

· Salat is the 2^nd pillar-ritual having the most direct impact on a Muslim’ daily life.

· Prayer is a way for the individual to elevate his or her mind to seek God.

· Benefit of curbing the desire to hearken immoral inclinations.

Supplication vs. Prayer

· David says in Psalm 34: “I will extol the Lord at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; Let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.” David was an excellent model to follow

· Supplication=quick fix to get wants or needs answered.

· Muslims are encouraged to call on God for their needs and desires, as long as they are for virtuous goals

· This is called Du’a

· Salat is the ritual which a Muslim must perform five times every day to show obedience and attentiveness to God’s call

· It consists of a physical routine and reciting short phrases in which we praise God and remind ourselves of our mission here

· Salat: literally means red-hot connection, so when someone makes salat they are establishing a hot-link to God.

· The Muslim method of performing prayer is one of the more demanding forms of worship but also one of the most rewarding

· First benefit: provides a constant reminder throughout the day that we are God’s servants

· Second benefit: God forgives some of our sins each time we perform salat

· Each of the prayers is said at a different strategic time so that no matter what we are doing or how busy we get, we are always aware that we either prayed a few hours ago or will pray again soon.

· Keeps the mind fresh and aware of our duty to God, become less likely to want to break one of his laws

· If you truly understand that God is real you wont hesitate to take every opportunity to pray to him

The Seven Preconditions

· Before praying everyone must do seven things

· It must be prayer time

· We must wash our hands face, and feet with water to be ritually pure

· We must wear clean clothes

· A clean place to pray must be available. Prayers can be done in a Mosque or anyplace else.

· We must be wearing pants, a shirt, and/or a robe to cover up our body. Women add a scarf or veil over their hair to remind them that God does not judge us by our looks or beauty but by our sincerity.

Cleanliness is Next To…

· Before Muslims may pray, we must be in a ritually pure condition, we must make every effort to look presentable

The Muslim Call to Prayer

· Muslim men over the age of puberty are required to attend a special service on Friday afternoon in which they hear a sermon. This is called salat ul-Jumu’ah

· Muslims had to come up with a way to alert people five times a day

· Allahu Akbar means “God is greater than…”meaning he is greater than anything you could put after that

Humble Pie

· The purpose of salat is to present ourselves before God as humble servants

· Final goal of salat: producing a meditative state that no distractions are able to take our focus off of God

· Islam says that all three of our components must be unified for prayer to be truly meaningful

· First we humble our hearts our of love for God, then we recite prayers and concentrate on their meanings so we can learn how to remember God throughout our lives, then we bring it all together by bowing down low so we feel with our physical senses what true humbleness means.

· Islamic prayers seek to make us really know our proper place before the greatest sovereign of all.

· First chapter of the Qur’an is recited during prayer: “In the name of God, the Compassionate Source of All Mercy. All Praise be to God, the Lord of all the worlds, the Compassionate Source of All Mercy and Master of the Day of Judgment. You alone do we serve and it is to You alone that we look for help. Guide us on the Straight Path; the path of those who have earned Your anger, nor of those who have gone astray.” (Qur’an 1:1-7)

· When a person or group of people begin to pray, angels join in the prayer and then report back to God on what His servants are doing, though he already knows.

Remembrance of God

· Third type of prayer is dhikr or remembrance

· Whatever you fill your mind with you will remember

· The Islamic way of performing prayers is both unique and comprehensive. By humbling ourselves before God five times each day, supplicating to God in private moments, and remembering God through the repeated phrases of dhikr, we seek to mold our minds and thoughts into a way pleasing to God. Salat builds discipline as well and makes a person learn punctuality even as it keeps the mind focused on the true reality of our time here in this world.

· Goal of Islamic prayers: to learn piety and self-discipline in wholesome activities

Islam Reading Chapter 2

• The Muslim lifestyle is based on faith in God, leading a morally upright life, following a set of daily rituals to remind oneself of his or her allegiance to God, and doing good to improve lives of all living things.

The Core Beliefs of Islam

• Seven Core Beliefs:
• Belief in God
• Belief in the angels
• Belief in the revealed Books of God
• Belief in God's many prophets
• Accepting that there will be a last day
• Belief in the divine measurement of human affairs
• Belief in a life after death

We All Have the Same God

• The Qur'an says that Allah is the same God for Jews and Christians
• Proper name for the deity cannot be made plural or altered in any way in Arabic grammar.
• The Islamic Concept of our place in the universe hinges on the notion that Allah is the only true reality
• Nothing is permanent other than God
• Proof to God's existence: The natural world; human abilities such as thought, creativity and morals; God's guidance and the existence of religion; and our inner feelings

The Universe is Muslim

• Two categories: whatever is surrendered to God's will and whatever is resisting his will
• God established all natural laws and every physical material in the universe is surrendered to his will
• everything does what is was created to do
• Islam: means to surrender to Allah and to acquire peace, someone/thing that does this is called a Muslim
• Animals and plants are also Muslim because they follow their innate instincts, God taught them how to do what they do

Aladdin Rubbed the Wrong Lamp

• Jinns are similar to genies, portrayed as wild and crazy spirits
• Jinns are the cause of superatural phenomena and paranormal events
• Jinns inhabit another dimension in which you cannot see them
• they can be good or evil
• Jinns are made out of the residue or scorched fire
• Muslims believe that it is Jinns who haunt houses, spook animals, give predications etc.

Touched By and Angel

• Islam accepts the existence of angels
• they are made of light energy and can materialize into any form they need
• Jibra'il: brings revelations to prophets
• Azra'il: angel of death
• Mika'il: controls the weather
• Israfil: blow the horn signaling the end of the universe
• Job of angels: look for people who are praising God and join them and watch over people

Accepting the Burden

• Long before God made people he offered the gift of self awareness and free will
• gave us the ability to choose between right and wrong

Was God Right to Make Us?

• God created Humans and Jinns for the sole purpose of serving Him and surrendering to his will
• Islam says that our most basic needs are fulfilled on the ultimate level when we achieve union with God's goodwill
• religious people live longer because they are calmer and freer from stress
• Allah wants us to Love him as much as he loves us, but he is not dependent on our love

Soul Soup

• Allah gave humans free-will, self-awareness, intelligence, reason and a moral compass or fitrah
• our brains respond to religious stimuli and cause us to feel euphoric
• Fitrah: inner nature or moral compass it steers you to seek out religious experiences and directs you to the existence of God

Our Compass Points Inward

• The mere application of reason alone as a means of solving the world's problems may appear a valid procedure on paper
• We all desire personal pleasure and the fullfillment of our animal urges
• These are the instinctual motivations that cause us to hoard food, procreate, and gather wealth
• reason alone cannot guide us to right actions cause of animal urges
• Muhammad once said that every child is born with a natural inclination to surrender to Allah
• A childs fitrah influences them to believe in God
• we have the choice to surrender to allah or reject him

Can you Stand on One Leg?

• The very purpose of our existence is to use our eyes, ears brains, emotions, and fitrah to realize we must surrender to God
• we will live stress free in harmony if we dont fight against Allahs way

OPVL 3 and source notes

Aslan, Reza. No God but God. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006.

Origin:

Purpose: The purpose of this book is to share the story of Islam based on the memories of the first generation of Muslims. This book is also meant to argue for a Muslim reformation.

Value:

Limitations: The author wrote a note about translations at the beginning of the book. The author attempted to make all translations from Arabic into English in their most simple, understandable form however there is always the possibility of meaning being lost in translation.

· Prologue pg. XXV “Religion, it must be understood, is not faith. Religion is the story of faith. It is an institutionalized system of symbols and metaphors (read rituals and myths) that provides a common language with which a community of faith can share with each other their numinous encounter with the Divine Presence.”

· 144- Muslim theologians, the Ulama, were concerned about the specific ways to express faith through ritual and thus came up with the five pillars.

· 145-The pillars are intended to be “a totality of actions which are not merely verbal and bodily but, above all, mental and moral, performed according to certain conditions of conscious intention, of external and internal purity, presence of mind, humility and submissiveness of heart, creating within the soul of the believer a real life of religious devotion and spirituality.”

· 146- Two kinds of prayer: du’a informal, individual communication with God and Salat ritualized obligatory prayer performed five times a day

· 146- Salat is comprised of a series of yogic movements like standing, bowing, rising, sitting, turning east and west, and falling prostrate accompanied by specific verses from the quran.

· 146- Salat can only begin after the intention to pray is voiced, and the muslim must face towards mecca (qiblah)

· Salat can be performed individually to cleanse and purify the soul

· Salat is meant to be a communal act that binds the Ummah as a single body.

· The noon prayer on Fridays must be performed in the mosque, in the presence of the community.

Introduction to Islam Notes

Arabia Prior to Islam

• There were people who lived on oases and lived off trade and agriculture
• There were nomads who traveled around
• Oftentimes tribes raided other tribes to get food but oftentimes killings happened
• Practical and courageous people were the leaders and they were highly respected
• Poetry was the highest form of expression
• Poets were believed to be possessed by jinn (spirits that inhabited the natural world)
• Allah was considered the supreme God, but believed to have little involvement in daily lives of people

The Town of Mecca

• In hijaz there were three goddesses, daughters of Allah
• Mecca was built around a black stone
• Hajj is a pilgrimmage to see the stone (there is a ceremonial procession around the shrine)
• Merchant families in Mecca benefited, controlled the flow of goods
• There was a new concern with materialism, wealth and power

Muhammad's Early Life

• Muhammad was an orphan, his uncle gave him clothing and a home
• He worked as a camel driver and learned a lot about other customs
• Woman named Khadij proposes to Muhammad
• He lived a life of prosperity for 15 years
• Eventually he did not find satisfaction

The Coming of Revelation

• At age 40 he began meditating
• Angel Gabriel appeared and ordered him to recite a short set of words
• Gabriel tells him he is the messenger of God
• He received revelations for the next 20 years
• 1st message: there is only one God, Allah, and nothing like him
• He called on people to worship only Allah (not the goddesses anymore)

The Opposition to Muhammad

• People insulted and threatened him
• Woken up by Gabriel, traveled to Jerusalem then heaven where he met w/ Jesus, Abraham, Moses and others
• A group of Meccans planned to kill Muhammad
• Muhammad made a journey from Mecca to Medina
• This was his escape to safety, was the establishment of the Islam community
• Also the beginning of the Islamic calender

Muhammad: Politics and Prophethood

• He continued recieving revalations in Medina
• Had to find the solution to many problems such as: a solution to the feuds dividing the town; finding work and shelter for the Meccans who had come to Medina with him; counter the opposition to the teachings of Islam within Medina; dealing with the Meccans who wanted to destroy him
• There were three jewish tribes
• Muhammad considered incorporating Jewish practices into Islamic rituals
• Then he received inspiration from God to instruct people to pray in the direction of Mecca
• Two jewish tribes left, the other was executed

Clash of Arms

• The Meccans sent a caravan and strong forces to respond to the Muslims
• The Muslims won with a much smaller force and they considered this a divine guidance
• Another Meccan force set out to defeat Muhammad
• Muhammad said those who believed in God would survive
• Meccans eventually gave up
• But Muhammad was still battling the Meccan leaders
• He made negotiations with them that the Muslims would leave Mecca and not return for a year
• The following year the Meccans opened the town back up to the Muslims

Victory and the Final Pilgrimage

• In 630 Muhammad stayed for a short time in Mecca and established Muslim control
• In 632 Muhammad said the pilgrimage is now only allowed for Muslims
• Muhammad died on the third month of the Islamic calender

2 OPVLs and notes for each

OPVL 1

Abdalati, Hammudah. Islam in Focus. Indiana: American Trust Publications, 1975.

Origin: This book was written by a Muslim mainly to help educate Muslims in the western hemisphere about Islam.

Purpose: The author states in the foreword that many Muslims become lost and do not appreciate their own Islamic heritage. He would like to educate Muslims of the new world and keep the religion alive. Therefore, the purpose of this book is to provide information about the five pillars of Islam, and to demonstrate how to apply Islam to one’s daily life.

Value: Because this book is written by a Muslim himself, therefore the information it contains must be based mainly off of experience and personal knowledge. This book is directed to a Muslim audience which is important because the information is not censored or simplified to benefit a non-Muslim audience.

Limitations: There was never a central force which unified Muslim belief such as the church in Christianity. That being the case, the author of this book could have slightly different beliefs and values then a person of different Islamic origin.

Notes:

· 7-The meaning of Islam: peace, purity, submission and obedience.

· 7-The meaning of Islam: submission to the will of God and obedience to His law.

· 8-Concept of God: the most merciful and gracious, the most loving and the most concerned with the well-being of man.

· 8-his will if one of benevolence and goodness and whatever law he prescribes must be in the best interest of mankind.

· 9-Man alone is singled out as being endowed with intelligence and the power of making choices.

· 23-FAITH-faith in Islam is a state of happiness acquired by virtue of positive action and constructive conceptions as well as dynamic and effective measures.

· 53-“practive provides faith with nourishment, survival and effectiveness.

PRAYER

· 55-prayer is considered the foundation of religion

· 55-failing to observe ones prayers regularly and at their proper times is 55-committing a grave offense and a heinous sin.

· 55-“the best way to cultivate in man a sound personality and actualize his aspirations in a mature course of manner is the Islamic prayer”.

· 55-Prayer is for one’s own benefit not for the benefit of God

· 56-EXPLANATIONS FOR THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRAYER:

1. It strengthens the belief in the existence and goodness of God and transmits this belief into the innermost recess of man’s heart.

2. It enlivens this belief and makes it constructive in the practical course of life.

3. It helps man to realize his natural and instinctive aspirations to greatness and high mortality, to excellence and virtuous growth.

4. It purifies the heart and develops the mind, cultivates the conscience and comforts the soul.

5. It fosters the good and decent elements in man, and suppresses the evil and indecent inclinations.

OP

Ed. OPVL 2

Lewis, Bernard. Islam and the Arab World. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1976.

Origin: The editor of this book is Bernard Lewis, however many authors and editors contributed to the making of this book.

Purpose: The purpose of this book is to relay information about the history, faith, culture, places, and important people surrounding the religion of Islam. The main parts of this book that I will be using are those concerning, faith and the five pillars of Islam.

Value: The information in this book was compiled by several publishers and editors who gathered information from various authors. Therefore, it is less likely that the information in this book is biased or one sided. It is more probable that its contents are more accurate being compiled from multiple different sources.

Limitations: This book was copyrighted in 1976, therefore it could contain information that, more recently has been found to be false or different. In the foreword of this book it notes that some translations were made from Arabic words to English ones, consequently leaving the possibility for error in translation.

Notes:

· 25-The basic religious precepts of the Qur’an are: there is one God, omnipotent and omniscient, creator of all that exists; it is the duty of men to submit themselves completely to the will of God to guide them and who persist in there are punished both in this world and the next; that after death there is a heaven and a hell where the good are rewarded and the wicked chastised; at the end of time and the end of the world there will be a resurrection of bodies and a universal judgment.

· 26-Two kinds of prayer. 1. Personal, spontaneous prayer not bound by any rules or rituals (dua), 2. and ritual prayer prescribed words and motions five times a day at sunrise, midday, afternoon, sunset, and evening. (salat)

· 26-The worshipper must be in a state of ritual purity, in a ritually clean place and facing in the direction of Mecca, the birthplace of the prophet.

· 26-The prayer itself consists of the profession of faith and some passages from the Qur’an.

· 26-Mosques are always open for meditation, study, and spontaneous prayer.

Evidence of Research (Beginning)

Evidence of Research:

Source 1 Notes:

Bentounes. Sheikh Khaled. Sufism: The Heart of Islam. Arizona: Hohm Press, 2002.

· The Declaration of Faith: acknowledgement of God’s oneness. “I declare there is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is the messenger of Allah.” (pg 64-5)

· The Sense of Prayer: After Shahada, prayer is the best tie between man and God. It is the key to the right way, it purifies the heart so that it may reflect God’s light. One who does not pray cannot meet God.

· Prayer is the daily cycle in Islam

· Morning prayer: symbolizes the beginning of life (subh)

· Midday Prayer: no more shade in the day, the sun is up, one somehow finds oneself in ones culminating point, in one’s verticality. (duhr)

· Prayer of the mid afternoon: prayer of the sages, and the path to wisdom (asr)

· Sunset Prayer: the moment when a person’s life gradually leaves this earth. (Maghreb)

· Penetrating the night we enter a parallel world which we do not know, teaches us that prayer exists in the other world as well. (esha)

(PG 65)

· The role of prayer is to place us each time in front of God

· Prayer transports us from the temporal world of an everyday life usually difficult to live, to a sacred encounter.

· “Prayer is a means for the practicing individual to improve his or her inner side and to progress, because disipline that is based on that desire to prostrate and to communicate with God elevates us and protects us from the abuses and the distractions which may be born in us.”

· “Prayer is the mechanism for the spiritual transformation that is going to take place, It is a key for one to move from one stage to the next…By the power of persuasion and discipline, he will obtain a result- a promise to experience a better state than the one he is now.” (pg 67-68)

· Basically prayer, in many ways, helps get Muslims closer to their final goal

· Fasting: has a role of purification, and is also a form of worship. It is not only a matter of abstaining from eating, but also from everything that is superfluous in the relationship between the human and the divine.

· Zakat: represents the expression of gratitude that I have for God who has given me life, health, and the possibility to enjoy the gifts of life. It is not charity, nor is it a donation-it is a duty and obligation.

· The Pilgrimage: People integrate themselves into something else, and the bond between people comes ouit in an extremely powerful way

-Here are notes from my first source......this is all we needed for today right? I was kinda confused...but I hear we just needed evidence that we are moving along.

IA Research question

I am planning to narrow the focus from my last IA and attempt to conduct at least one interview.

IA Research Question (from last year): What is the importance of the five pillars of Islam to the religion?

I think I would like to modify this research question to focus on what I believe to be the most important pillar and what its importance is.

First I will need to review my research as well as conduct new research in order to determine this.