HISTORY OF ISLAM THE RELIGION OF TRUTH
In this part of the lesson you will learn about the religion of Islam. As with the other religions, you will survey its origins and trace the life of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and try to understand his role both as a founder of a religion and as the shaper of a new community. Then you will discover the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith and the main components of its doctrines and practices. You will also come to know of the sacred texts of the religion, and of the first few leaders of the Muslim community after the death of Muhammad. Because Islam in the seventh century spread the fastest of all faiths in history, you will examine the nature and extent of the initial diffusion of Islam, as well as the ideological basis of its interaction with the other religions it encountered. Finally, you will review the main sects of Islam.
Study Notes
Islam is the religion promulgated in Arabia by the prophet Muhammad in the seventh century C.E. In Arabic Islam means ʺsurrender to God,ʺ and a Muslim is one who submits completely to the will of God. Islam is a strict monotheism, recognizing no other god than Allah (the Arabic for God), whose mortal prophet was Muhammad. Islam today has become the second largest religious community in the world, next only to Christianity. The vast majority of the people in North and sub‐Saharan Africa and West and Southeast Asia are Muslims. A vast number of Muslims also inhabit Central and South Asia. Although this great geographical diffusion means a significant racial and cultural heterogeneity among the Muslims, all of them are bound by a common religion and sense of belonging to a single spiritual fraternity, a universal community united by fear of God.
Arabian Background
Islam has its origin in the early seventh‐century Arabia. The pre‐Islamic era in Arabian history is viewed as the ʺAge of Ignoranceʺ by the Muslims. Tribalism was at a very advanced stage of development at the time Muhammad was preaching Islam. Despite divisive warfare, the desert tribes of Arabia had an evolved nomadic value‐system based on honor, loyalty, courage, hospitality, and magnanimity. Islam has subsequently attached great significance to these Arab traditional qualities, has strongly bolstered tribal patriarchism, and, at the same time, has eradicated the pagan religious beliefs and practices of the pre‐Islamic nomads. The polytheistic practices of these pre‐Islamic bedouins of the desert, as well as strong localized influences of monotheistic religions like Judaism and Christianity, form the religious background of Arabia at the advent of Islam. The different nomadic tribes worshipped their own deities and honored a variety of spirits in sixth‐century Arabia. A widespread cult of astral (related to planets and stars) deities flourished in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula. Around Mecca the ʺthree daughters of Allahʺ‐‐the sun‐goddess, the morning star, and the goddess of destiny‐‐were worshipped. The Jews had a strong presence at Medina. The Christians had their settlements in the southern coast, which also experienced Zoroastrian (an ancient Persian religion founded by Zarathustra) influence during the Sassanid rule since ca. 575. Both southern Arabia and the important city of Mecca were confluences of vital trade routes, the former connecting East Africa and western India, the latter with Syria and the Red Sea. As a consequence, those regions were fertile with foreign religious ideas that percolated into the desert heartland of Arabia.
The Meccans, besides venerating the Kabah, or the great Black Stone, practiced idolatry and animism, and worshipped in the sanctuary several deities, the chief among whom was Hubal, the god of rain and warfare. The devotees of this god offered the strongest opposition to Muhammad when he preached the uncompromising monotheism of Islam. One of the first iconoclastic (idol‐breaking) acts of Islam was Muhammadʹs destruction of most of the idols and images of deities in the sanctuaries of Mecca, when the city fell into his power. Mecca is the most sacred city of the Muslims, as Jerusalem is of the Jews, and Amritsar is of the Sikhs.
Overview
In this part of the lesson you will learn about the religion of Islam. As with the other religions, you will survey its origins and trace the life of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, and try to understand his role both as a founder of a religion and as the shaper of a new community. Then you will discover the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith and the main components of its doctrines and practices. You will also come to know of the sacred texts of the religion, and of the first few leaders of the Muslim community after the death of Muhammad. Because Islam in the seventh century spread the fastest of all faiths in history, you will examine the nature and extent of the initial diffusion of Islam, as well as the ideological basis of its interaction with the other religions it encountered. Finally, you will review the main sects of Islam.
Study Notes
Islam is the religion promulgated in Arabia by the prophet Muhammad in the seventh century C.E. In Arabic Islam means ʺsurrender to God,ʺ and a Muslim is one who submits completely to the will of God. Islam is a strict monotheism, recognizing no other god than Allah (the Arabic for God), whose mortal prophet was Muhammad. Islam today has become the second largest religious community in the world, next only to Christianity. The vast majority of the people in North and sub‐Saharan Africa and West and Southeast Asia are Muslims. A vast number of Muslims also inhabit Central and South Asia. Although this great geographical diffusion means a significant racial and cultural heterogeneity among the Muslims, all of them are bound by a common religion and sense of belonging to a single spiritual fraternity, a universal community united by fear of God.
Arabian Background
Islam has its origin in the early seventh‐century Arabia. The pre‐Islamic era in Arabian history is viewed as the ʺAge of Ignoranceʺ by the Muslims. Tribalism was at a very advanced stage of development at the time Muhammad was preaching Islam. Despite divisive warfare, the desert tribes of Arabia had an evolved nomadic value‐system based on honor, loyalty, courage, hospitality, and magnanimity. Islam has subsequently attached great significance to these Arab traditional qualities, has strongly bolstered tribal patriarchism, and, at the same time, has eradicated the pagan religious beliefs and practices of the pre‐Islamic nomads. The polytheistic practices of these pre‐Islamic bedouins of the desert, as well as strong localized influences of monotheistic religions like Judaism and Christianity, form the religious background of Arabia at the advent of Islam. The different nomadic tribes worshipped their own deities and honored a variety of spirits in sixth‐century Arabia. A widespread cult of astral (related to planets and stars) deities flourished in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula. Around Mecca the ʺthree daughters of Allahʺ‐‐the sun‐goddess, the morning star, and the goddess of destiny‐‐were worshipped. The Jews had a strong presence at Medina. The Christians had their settlements in the southern coast, which also experienced Zoroastrian (an ancient Persian religion founded by Zarathustra) influence during the Sassanid rule since ca. 575. Both southern Arabia and the important city of Mecca were confluences of vital trade routes, the former connecting East Africa and western India, the latter with Syria and the Red Sea. As a consequence, those regions were fertile with foreign religious ideas that percolated into the desert heartland of Arabia.
The Meccans, besides venerating the Kabah, or the great Black Stone, practiced idolatry and animism, and worshipped in the sanctuary several deities, the chief among whom was Hubal, the god of rain and warfare. The devotees of this god offered the strongest opposition to Muhammad when he preached the uncompromising monotheism of Islam. One of the first iconoclastic (idol‐breaking) acts of Islam was Muhammadʹs destruction of most of the idols and images of deities in the sanctuaries of Mecca, when the city fell into his power. Mecca is the most sacred city of the Muslims, as Jerusalem is of the Jews, and Amritsar is of the Sikhs.
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