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