ISLAM IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW

1. ISLAM IN INDIA: AN OVERVIEW Dr. Doris Jakobsh

2. Adherents.comWORLD-WIDE MUSLIM POPULATIONS900 MILLION

3. ISLAM: • Meaning = Submission/Surrender • To ‘Allah’ (‘the God’) • ‘God alone is great’

4. CONTEXT: 3 great ‘super-powers’: • Byzantine Empire - Christian • Ethiopian Empire – Christian • Persian Empire – Zoroastrian, with Jewish and Christian minorities • Arabia of Muhammad - polytheistic

5. HANIFS • Already a movement towards monotheism, due to the belief that worldview of the ‘super-powers’ was more progressive than that of polytheism • Movement that affirmed monotheism, but distinct from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastsrianism

6. MUHAMMAD: • 570-632 CE • Born in Mecca

7. MUHAMMAD • Merchant family • Part of Quraysh tribe (custodians of sacred places of Mecca) • 25 years old – entered service of Khadija, a wealthy widow much older than Muhammad • Fatima – their daughter

8. Muhammad leads a caravan

9. MUHAMMAD AND GABRIEL • 611 CE • Solitary meditations in caves • Archangel Gabriel

10. HIJRA • 611-621 Muhammad preaches to fellow Meccans about the oneness of God • 622 – accepts an invitation to Yathrib (Medina) • This journey is called HIJRA • This is the date from which the Muslim calendar starts

11. MUHAMMAD IN MEDINA

12. MUHAMMAD RETURNS TO MECCA

13. USING MEDINA AS A BASE, ALL OF ARABIA IS BROUGHT UNDER MUHAMMAD’S CONTROL • HE WAS THE RELIGIOUS LEADER, POLITICAL RULER, MILITARY COMMANDER

14. HIS DIVINE REVELATIONS CONTINUE TO THE END OF HIS LIFE • THESE REVELATIONS TOGETHER MAKE UP THE TEXT OF THE QUR’AN, THE HOLY SCRIPTURES OF ISLAM

15. MUHAMMAD’S DEATH In 632, he was suddenly taken ill. on June 8, with his third wife Aishah beside him, the Messenger of God "died with the heat of noon."

16. ISLAM’S EXPANSION, 25 YEARS

17. MECCA TODAY

18. 5 PILLARS OF ISLAM • SHAHADA - WITNESS • SALAAT - PRAYER 5 TIMES DAILY • ZAKAT - ALMSGIVING • SAWM OR SIYAM, FASTING, RAMADAN • HAJJ- PILGRIMAGE

19. 1) SHAHADA: CORNERSTONE OF ISLAM “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his messenger (Quran, 48:29).’’

20. SHAHADA • In Arabic, the first part is la ilaha illa'Allah - 'there is no god except God'; ilaha (god) can refer to anything which we may be tempted to put in place of God--wealth, power, and the like. Then comes illa'Allah: 'except God', the source of all Creation. The second part of the Shahada is Muhammadun rasulu'Llah: 'Muhammad is the messenger of God.' A message of guidance has come through a man like ourselves. It is taken directly from the Qur'an:

21. QUR’AN 3:18, BEARING WITNESS • "God bears witness that there is no god but God and so do the angels and those possessed of knowledge. In justice, there is no god but Him, He is the exalted, the wise."

22. 2) SALAAT: PRAYER • dawn • noon • mid-afternoon • sunset • nightfall • Prayers determine the rhythm of the entire day • Prayers can be performed anywhere, but preferably in a mosque

23. SALAAT, POSTURES • The Salaat consists of standing, bowing, prostrating and sitting positions. • Before, during and after each of these positions, Muslims recite verses from the Holy Qur'an and glorify Allah as directed by Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) who was taught the details by Archangel Jibril (Gabriel, pbuh).

24. Muslims performing Salaat facing toward Ka'bah. RIGHT: Pilgrims in prostration.

25. CALL TO PRAYER: • “God is most Great. God is most Great.God is most Great. God is most Great.I testify that there is no God except Allah.I testify that there is no God except Allah.I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.Come to prayer! Come to prayer!Come to success (in this life and the Here after)! Come to success!Allah is most great. Allah is most great.There is no God except Allah.” • (heard in Muslim mosques)

26. MUSLIMS, CALCUTTA

27. 3) ZAKAT: ALMSGIVING • all things belong to God • wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust. • Zakat literally means grow (in goodness) or 'increase', 'purifying' or 'making pure'. • So the act of giving zakat means purifying one's wealth to gain Allah's blessing to make it grow in goodness.

28. ZAKAT: ‘RELIGIOUS PAYMENT’ • Zakat is a religious ‘payment’ made by Muslims from their wealth or income, or business, or crops, • In the form of money or crops or animals – usually 2.5% • Often Zakat committee set up, or, in Islamic countries, government

29. ZAKAT: QUR’AN 9:103 • "Take from their wealth a portion for charity, in order to clean them thereby, and sanctify them."

30. 4) SAWM OR SIYAM • Fasting • Every year in the month of Ramadan, all Muslims fast from first light until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.

31. SAWM OR SIYAM • Those who are sick, elderly, or on a journey, and women who are pregnant or nursing are NOT required to complete the entire fast • They can break the fast and make up an equal number of days later in the year • They can also feed a needy person for every day missed.

32. RAMADAN • Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar • The Month of Ramadan is also when it is believed the Holy Qur’an was sent down from heaven to guide humankind and offer the way of Salvation

33. RAMADAN • Ramadan is a time when Muslims concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives. It is a time of worship and contemplation

34. QUR’AN • One may eat and drink at any time during the night "until you can plainly distinguish a white thread from a black thread by the daylight: then keep the fast until night."

35. ID/EID-AL-FITR • Begins with the sighting of the new moon: • Fasting is forbidden on this day, as it marks the end of the month long fast of Ramadan

36. EID: • One is encouraged to rise early and eat a light snack • Then bathe, as always, but with the remembrance that this is a special day. • Muslims are encouraged to dress in their best clothes, new if possible.

37. ‘EID MUBARAK’ EID GREETING CARDS

38. 5) HAJJ: PILGRIMAGE • a once-in-a-lifetime obligation upon male and female ADULTS whose health and means permit it • about two million people go to Makkah each year from every corner of the globe

39. HAJJ: PREPARATIONS • Before setting out, a pilgrim should redress all wrongs, pay all debts, plan to have enough funds for his/her own journey and for the maintenance of the family while he/she is away, and prepare him/herself for good conduct throughout the Hajj.

40. HAJJ: LUNAR CALENDAR • Although Makkah is always filled with visitors, the annual Hajj begins in the twelfth month of the Islamic year • so Hajj and Ramadan are at times celebrated in the fall or winter

41. QUR’AN, 22:26-30 Behold! We gave the site to Abraham of the (Sacred) House (saying): "Associate not any thing (in worship) with Me; and sanctify My House for those who compass it round or stand up or bow or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer)."And proclaim the Pilgrimage among men: they will come to thee on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways;"That they may witness the benefits (provided) for them and celebrate the name of Allah through the Days appointed over the cattle which He has provided for them (for sacrifice): then eat ye thereof and feed the distressed ones in want."Then let them complete the rites prescribed for them perform their vows and (again) circumambulate the Ancient House."Such (is the Pilgrimage): whoever honors the sacred rites of Allah for him it is good in the sight of his Lord. Lawful to you (for food in pilgrimage) are cattle except those mentioned to you (as exceptions): but shun the abomination of idols and shun the word that is false.

42. MINA: • On the first day of the Hajj, pilgrims sweep out of Mecca towards Mina, a small uninhabited village east of the city. • Pilgrims generally spend their time meditating and praying, as the Prophet did on his pilgrimage.

43. HAJJ: CLOTHING • Pilgrims wear simple but special white clothes: simple because no distinctions of class and culture are to be shown • ‘Ihram', a garment made of two seamless white sheets or towels symbolising purity and equalitythat must be worn by men • all are equal before God

44. HAJJ: RITES • Ablutions (as before prayer times) • Abstention from any killing, sexual activity, cutting hair or nails

45. TOUCH KA’ABA • The Ka'aba is a stone building located near the center of the quadrangle of the Grand Mosque in the Holy City of Makkah. Set in a silver surround in the east corner of the Ka'aba, some four feet above ground level, is the Black Stone. This sacred Stone, the focal point of the Hajj, is the only remnant of the shrine which Abraham built when it was given to Abraham by the angel Gabriel. • Kiss or touch KA’ABA • Circumambulate 7 times (Tawaaf)

46. KA’ABA, DRAWING Each year an Arab nation provides the beautiful drapes which cover the Kab’ah for the Hajj.

47. REFLECTIONS AT KA’ABA • “To touch and kiss the stone is to travel back in time and follow in the footsteps of all those pious and noble greats in history who have touched it. It is not easy to do that, though. It seems there are always too many people ahead who are trying to do the same. The closest we came to it was about ten feet and there we raised our hands in salutation and to say that 'God is great.” Reflections of a devotee at the Haj, http://users.erols.com/ameen/hajjexp.htm j

48. HAJJ: KA’ABA

49. KA’ABA • Islam's holiest place was not built by its last Prophet Muhammad • tradition has it that the Ka'bah was originally built by Prophet Adam and was rebuilt by Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and his eldest son Prophet Isma'il (Ishmael), nearly four thousand five hundred years ago.

50. TALBIAH (prayer during Tawaaf circumambulation) Here I am O Allah, at Thy Command. Here I am, at Thy Command.There is no partner unto Thee. Here I am, at Thy Command.Verily Thine is the praise, the blessings and the sovereignty of the universe.There is no partner unto Thee.