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Islam: God, Faith, and Action

Islam: God, Faith, and Action.

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Islam: God, Faith, and Action

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  1. Islam: God, Faith, and Action “The three monotheistic religious traditions of Middle Eastern origin- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam- claim firm roots in history. History, as these traditions view it, begins with the creation of all things by God and will end with the Day of Judgement” W.G. Oxtoby, World Religions, 359

  2. Concept of God • One and only God who is also the creator, sustainer, judge and sovereign Lord over all of his creation • Focus on absolute transcendence – not presented as Father of any creature. Although masculine grammatical forms used to refer to God, masculinity or femininity not properly speaking attributes of God. God is above all time and space • Allah is not the name of a particular deity but simply the Arabic word for God (same term used by Arab Christians and Jews and pagan Arabs before Islam) • God is known through attributes sometimes called, the beautiful names (e.g. the All-merciful, the Compassionate”

  3. Individual Faith and Institutions • Equality before God, regardless of race, colour, or social status • Islam is more concerned with orthopraxy than orthodoxy • Religious Obligations: Regular performance of these in sincere faith and obedience to God assures the pious of salvation and paradise on the day of Resurrection • Five Pillars (individual faith and institutional Islam converge in the worship of God and service to others)

  4. Five Pillars • 1. Shahadah – bearing witness. Combines affirmation of the oneness of God with assertions of Islamic identity. Personal faith is combined with safeguarding of rights • 2. Prayer – performed 5 times a day (dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dark). Salat prayers preceded by ritual washing (partial). Washing of entire body required to remove impurities caused by sexual relations, menstruation, touching a corpse, etc. No Sabbath or day of Rest. But Friday is day of gathering for congregational prayers

  5. Pillars - Continued • 3. Almsgiving: zakat alms, tax consists of 2.5 percent of accumulated wealth, but also giving to all those in need more generally • 4. Ramadan: fasting recognized by Qur’an as universal form of worship encouraged by all scriptures. Month-long fast extending from daybreak until sundown (abstention from food, drink, smoking, sexual relations). Ends with three-day celebration of breaking the fast including visits of graves of loved ones and gifts to the poor.

  6. Pillars: Continued • 5. Pilgrimage to Makkah. According to the Qur’an the pilgrimage to the Ka’bah was instituted by Abraham after he and Ishmael were ordered to build it. Wear burial shrouds symbolizing consecration and erasing class distinctions. Links pilgrims to sacred times of biblical figures and Muhammad through various rituals including four-day festival of sacrifice, clipping of hairs or shaving of heads

  7. Pillars, Continued • Hajj (pilgrimage) culminates in a final cicumambulation of the Ka’bah. Often followed by visit to Prophet’s tomb in Medinah • Hajj is a form of resurrection or rebirth. Returns free of sin – known as hajji • Jihad (“striving in the way of God”) when social and religious reform is gravely hampered or community is threatened. Sometimes has found political and military expression

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