Islam

1. Islam

2. 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

4. 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

5. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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 • j

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

16. 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

18. 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

19. Alhambra Place in Granada

20. Great Mosque of Cordoba in Spain

21. Art • Prohibited from depicting human form • Led to use of geometric designs and calligraphy

22. 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

23. 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

24. Medina

25. 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.

26. Since then, pockets of Islamic faith had created interfaith boundaries

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

37. 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

39. 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