Islam

Islam• Religion of 1.3 billion people

• Predominant in Middle East from North Africa to Central Asia

• Practiced from deserts of Africa to tropics of SE Asia

• ½ live in four countries:– Indonesia– Pakistan– Bangladesh – India

• Islam in Arabic means “submission to the will of God” and root in Arabic word for peace

• Practitioners called Muslims “one who surrenders to God”

• God had four functions– Creation, sustenance, guidance, judgment– Purpose of people is to serve God by worshipping him

and adhering to ethical social order– Actions of individual should benefit humanity

• Earthly matters are profane, only Allah is pure• Allah’s will is absolute, he is omnipotent and

omniscient• World created for Muslims use until judgment

day

Five Pillars of Faith• No god worthy of worship except the one God,

Allah• Pray 5 times daily facing Mecca • Give to charity (purification and growth)• Fast during the month of Ramadan (Self-

purification)• Hajji (pilgrimage, if possible, to Mecca)

• Islam forbids: alcohol, smoking, and gambling• Mosques are built for Friday prayer and social

gathering places

Branches of Islam

• Sunni– Arabic word for Orthodox– 83% of Muslims– Largest branch in Middle East

• Shia (Shiite)– 16% of Muslims– 30% live in Iran\

Other sects include Wahhabis, Sufis, Salafists, Alawites, Alevis, and Yazeedis

Islam in North America and Europe

• Population has increased rapidly

• France has largest Muslim population

• US Muslim population at 5 million– Encouraged by Nation of Islam in Detroit

• Known as Black Muslims• Sect divided in 1960 between leader and Malcolm X

Origins

• Jews and Christians trace their history through Abraham and his first wife, Sarah

• Muslims trace their history through Abraham and his second wife, Hagar

• Hagar and son Ishmael wandered through desert and reached Mecca (Saudi Arabia)

• Ishmael’s descendant Muhammad would become Islam’s prophet

Muhammad

• Born in Mecca in 570 A.D.• Age 40: received first revelation from God

through Angel Gabriel 610 A.D.• The Qu’ran is a literal record of God’s words to

Muhammad• Devoted like to fulfilling God’s commands• Muhammad suffered persecution, God

instructed him to emigrate. Fled to Medina• Migration marks beginning of Muslim calendar• Muhammad died in 632 A.D.• Islam had diffused throughout Saudi Arabia

Holy Book

• Qur’an– Serves as basis of Islamic law– Revelations spoken to Muhammad directly from Allah– Christians and Jews referred to as “People of the

Book”– Moses, Abraham, Virgin Mary, Jesus all prophets– Muhammad admired Judaism and Christianity

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Islam Divided

• Sunni Muslims– Believe in effectiveness of family and community in

solving life’s problems

• Shiite Muslims– Believe the Imam is the sole source of true knowledge– Imams are Shiite Muslim leaders whose appointments

are sanctioned by Allah– Imams are without sin and infallible– Imams social and political force

Islam Divided

• Muhammad had no surviving sons• Conflict over succession• Some believed rightful heir was Muhammad’s

son-in-law Ali• Sunni’s gained power through different heir• Shiite’s supported Ali’s family’s claim to power• Later, in 16th century a Persian ruling dynasty

made the Shiites the only legitimate faith of the empire giving them unprecedented power which created the foundations for modern day Iran.

Diffusion of Islam

• At the time of Muhammad’s death, Muhammad had been converting Kings of Arabia to Islam

• Kings used armies to spread the faith through invasion and conquest

• Invasion moved west into North Africa• By 9th century covered from Morocco to Egypt

and parts of Spain and Portugal• Through Trade, Islam expanded into India and

across Southeast Asia• They established new secondary hearths and

Islam was diffused contagiously

• As with other universalizing religions, diffused well beyond its hearth in SW Asia through relocation diffusion of missionaries– Example: Isolated group in Indonesia due to

Arab traders in 13th century

• Recent diffusion into Europe, South Africa, and the Americas has been due to relocation diffusion

• Fast growing religion in the world

Landscape of Islam

• Elaborate mosques in major cities– Dominate Islamic towns and cities– Most carefully maintained building– Most imposing building– Prayers are called from towering Minarets

• Mosques built at height of diffusion had Roman elements to design.

• Muslim architecture represents unifying concept of Islamic monotheism: the perfection and vastness of the spirit of Allah

Alhambra Place in Granada

Great Mosque of Cordoba in Spain

Art

• Prohibited from depicting human form– Led to use of geometric designs and

calligraphy

Holy Places

• Holiest places associated with Muhammad– Mecca (holiest city)

• 1.3 million Muslims• Contains al-Ka’ba (black stone given to Abraham by

Gabriel as symbol of Covenant with Muslims)• Great al-Haram Mosque• Where Hajj takes place each year• Over 2.3 million attend

– Medina• 1 million Muslims• Houses Muhammad’s tomb

Autonomy in Islam

• Most local autonomy• No religious hierarchy• Only formal organization of territory in

Islam is with coincidence of religious territory with secular states

• Some governments in Islamic countries include Islamic institutions

• Unity in Islamic world maintained through communication and migration

Medina

Religious Conflict: Former Yugoslavia

• A number of religious and linguistic fault lines run through the Balkan peninsula

• Dividing line between two Christian sects• Also dividing line for Language of Europe• Complicated by arrival of Ottoman Turks in

1300’s• Turks (Muslim) took control by force

beginning with bloody battle of Kosovo in 1389 A.D.

• Since then, pockets of Islamic faith had created interfaith boundaries

Yugoslavia

• Means land of south Slavs

• Formed after WWI in 1920

• By WWII Serbs resented Muslim presence

• During WWII Croats supported Nazis, Serbs supported Allies

• Croats committed genocide against Serbs

• After 1945, controlled under Communist Dictator

• Dictator (Joseph Tito) divided it into 6 republics• Was able to stop nationalist movements in

Croatia and Kosovo• With crumble of Soviet Union in late 1980’s the

republics declared their independence• Serbia tried to force the republics to stay in

Yugoslavia• War broke out between Serbs and Croats• Muslims caught in middle (Bosnia) were

attacked• Term ethnic cleansing used to describe the

slaughter of Bosnians and forced move• Muslims joined Croats side

• International community got involved and created a partition plan

• Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina joined United Nations

• Bosnia and Herzegovina divided into two parts: one for Croats/Muslims, one for Serbs

Islam Fundamentalism

• Shari’a Laws: harsh laws, including criminal code– Example: amputation of limbs for theft– Nigeria, Sudan use it– Malaysian government considered it– Indonesia, movement for it strong

Iran• Former Shah of Iran tried to limit power of

Imams• Provoked movement – led to his overthrow• During revolution, Imams imposed basic Shiite

religious rules and practices• Shah replaced by Ayatollah (supreme religious

leader)• Women had new restrictions

– Not allowed western dress– Required to wear hijabs

• Revolution important to recognize early movement towards fundamentalism

• Movement has since accelerated

Religion vs Social Change

• Taliban vs Western Values– Gained power in Afghanistan in 1996

• Imposed very strict laws with Islamic values as the Taliban interpreted them (strictest in world)

• Men beaten for shaving their beards, homosexuals were buried alive, prostitutes hung, women wearing nail polish had fingers cut off

• Believed they had been called by Allah to pure Afghanistan of sine and violence

• Banned “western” leisure activities like playing music, flying kites, TC, internet, Soccer

• Destroyed Buddhism statues for being worshiped as idols

Anti-Globalization• Rise of Islamism

– Anticolonial, anti-imperial, anticore political movement– Resists Western forces of Globalization

• Modernization• secularization

– Most militant movement within Islam– Wants to create a model society of Islam– State that would be religiously and politically unified

with Islam – Modernization = corrupting influences – Concept of jihad: sacred struggle

• Directed at enemies of Islam• Understood to be a holy war

Osama bin Laden

• Key figure in Afghanistan movement

• Helped finance terrorist activities such as 9-11

• Product of revolutionary Islamic movement that sees the US at the great enemy one that Muslims must oppose

• Not representative of Islam as a whole

• Traced to Wahhabi Islam

Religious Wars

• Crusades– 7th century, Arabs captured the Middle East,

including Palestine and Jerusalem– Diffused Arabic language and Islam– Arab army moved into Europe and conquered

Spain but held in the Pyrenees– Turks conquered Constantinople, Orthodox

Christianity's most important city in 1453– Christians began campaign to recapture Holy

Land over 150 year period

Crusades

• 1st crusade: Christians took Jerusalem in 1099

• 3rd crusade: Islam regains Jerusalem in 1187

• 6th crusade: Christians retake Jerusalem in 1229

• Last crusade: Islam wins Jerusalem in 1244