Moral Revelation: Islam

1. Moral Revelation: Islam Day One: Introduction The Five Pillars of Islam, “Submission to God”

2. Five Pillars of Islam • Shahada (testimony, confession on faith) • Salat (prayer) • Zakat (almsgiving) • Sawm (fasting during Ramadan) • Hajj (pilgrimage)

3. Shahada • Shahada is the confession of faith (or “having the testimony”) that • “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet.” • la illahu illa ‘llah. Muhammad rasul Allah • Allah works through agents in heaven and on earth: • Angels • Prophets • Scriptures • There will be a final judgment, or division, of and recompense made to the righteous and the wicked.

4. Salat • Prayer, but literally “worship” • Five times daily • Dawn • Noon • Mid-afternoon • Sunset • Evening • Purification/Ablution • The call to prayer • By a muezzin from a minaret • Ritual prayer • Qibla (per mihrab)

5. Purification • Spiritual purity • Submission to God • Repentance • Duty to love others • Physical purity / cleanliness in body • Hadath (rituals of physical purification • Ablutions: wash faces, hands to elbow, feet up to knees • Baths (especially before Friday, the Muslim Sabbath), including teeth and mouth. Ablutions before prayers

6. Sunnite call to prayer God is greatest! (4 times) I testify that there is no God but Allah! (twice) Hurry to prayer! (twice) Hurry to salvation! (twice) God is greatest! (twice) There is no God but Allah! (once)

7. Sultan Hasan Mosque (Cairo, 14th c.)

8. Sultan Hasan Mosque-Mihrab The orientation of the mihrab is toward Mecca, directing the worshipper’s soul toward the bayt-allah, the Ka’aba), or House of God

9. No Mosque? Qibla arrow in Cairo hotel Prayer in the desert

10. 1 2 Form of Prayer • “God is Greatest. I testify that there is no God but God, and Muhammad is His Messenger.” • “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate . . .” • “Glory to God!” • “God is Greatest!” • “God is Greatest!” (awaiting revelation of the will of God) • Cycle repeats as required by the Imam or the worshipper herself. 3 4 5

11. Zakat • Complex rule, but basically 2.5% of all property owned above a poverty minimum • Annual payment - if not made the property becomes unclean, the Muslim sins and does not prosper. • Paid to Imams, who distribute it. • Zakat al-fitr: the cost of one day’s food at the end of Ramadan

12. Sawm • Fasting from dawn to dusk for 28 days • Minimal meals allowed in the evening and before dawn • Considered a joyful time, when dependence upon Allah is emphasized • Recitation of the Qur’an in the evening/night Muslim children celebrate the end of one day’s fast with song and dance (Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem) Palestinian refugee children enjoy donated meal at the end of Ramadan (Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem)

13. Hajj • Pilgrimage to Mecca during Dhu al-Hajj • Incumbent on all competent adults • Ritual • Oath to take the Hajj • White garments • Tawaf: circling the Ka’aba • Wuquuf : climb a hill to reflect Abraham’s call to sacrifice Ishmael • Sacrifices and prayer • Stoning the Devil and final tawaf

14. Hajj Hajj prayer at the al-haram as-sharif (The Sacred Precinct/Mosque in Mecca) About 2 million Muslims go on Hajj each year.

15. 5 Hajj and Hajja 2 4 3 1 • Arab housefront on Zeit Street, • Jerusalem, with Hajj drawings • The Ka’aba • Dome of the Rock • Allah • Muhammad • “In the Name of God, • the Merciful, the Compassionate” Anyone who has been on the Hajj receives the respectful title of “Hajj” for men, or “Hajja” for women. Often they have their house painted to reflect their memories of the Hajj.

16. Is there a 6th pillar called jihad? • Jihad means “struggle” • Lesser jihad = “holy war” • Greaterjihad = battle against the natural man to learn control of the • Heart • Tongue • Mind • A few radical Muslim fundamentalists preach the necessity (i.e., that it is a “pillar of faith”) of jihad, both greater jihad within the soul, and lesser jihad against those who are perceived to be enemies of Islam, or infidels (literally “not of the faith” or “nonbelievers”). • Radical Muslim fundamentalists willing to do violence against the so-called enemies of Islam (a belief in which is not supported by the vast majority of Muslims or a reading of the Qu’ran) constitute a very small minority of believers. • Do the math! Out of the approximately 1.3 B Muslims in the world, the possibly 10,000 or so radical Muslim fundamentalists willing to do serious violence (those who have damaged the reputation of Islam) to infidels is like 100 radical fundamentalists out of 13 M LDS doing violence and claiming that they represent the rest of us.