Islam

1
Islam
2
A Growing Religion

• Islam is an important religion to know about for
  many reasons, one of which is that its the
  worlds 2nd largest, as well as the fastest
  growing religion.

3
The Central Idea

• The word Islam means submission, and the name
  tells us that the central idea of this faith is
  simply full and complete submission to the will
  of God. An adherent of the faith is called a
  Muslim, one who has made the submission.

4
The Five Pillars

• The practice of Islam centers on what are
  commonly called its Five Pillars reciting the
  creed that states that there is no God but Allah,
  and Muhammad is his Prophet praying 5 times
  daily giving alms keeping a fast during the
  month of Ramadan once in ones life, if
  possible, making the pilgrimage to Mecca.

5
The Golden Age

• During the Golden Age of the Caliphate, science,
  philosophy, and theology were extensively
  cultivated.

6
Sunni and Shia

• Sunni Islam emphasizes the traditional path of
  Islamic life as interpreted by the consensus of
  scholars the community. Shia Islam, while
  following the traditional path, also puts its
  faith in the authority of Imams who are
  Muhammads hereditary successors.

7
Islamic Mysticism

• Islamic mysticism, called Sufism, focuses on the
  presence of the Divine oneness everywhere,
  offers paths to the attainment of union with God.

8
No Consensus

• There is currently no consensus on how women
  should fit into Islam and what their place is to
  be.

9
The Mosque A Place of Prayer

• The mosque, a place of prayer to the infinite
  Lord, has no picture, image, altar, flowers or
  candles-only a vast, clean, cool, austerely
  beautiful empty space.

10
Muslim Worship

• It is deeply consistent with the basic premise of
  the faith that whenever feasible, Muslims not
  only establish Muslim worship, but create Muslim
  societies under Muslim rulers based on Quranic
  law.

11
Muhammad (570-632)

• At the core of Islam lies the experience and
  faith of Muhammad himself.

12
Journey to Yathrib

• His journey to Yathrib is called the Hijra, the
  date from which the Muslim calendar begins
  marking the beginning of Muhammads public
  organizational work on a large scale.

13
The Quran

• It would be more accurate to say that the Quran
  is to Muslims what Jesus (not the Bible) is to
  Christians.

14
A Standard

• The Qurans Arabic has been compared to
  Shakespeares English. It is the standard by
  which all other Arabic is compared, and found
  wanting.

15
Show Respect

• To profane the Quran would be like a Catholic
  having to witness Holy Communion misused and
  abused.

16
Not a Competition

• Jesus has, to say the least, been far more highly
  regarded by Muslims than Muhammad has been by
  Christians.

17
Submission to God

• It is just the essence of religion, plain and
  perfect submission to the absolute God in all
  areas of life.

18
No Separation

• This focus on the oneness of God of all life is
  what allows Islam to remain fundamentally simple.
  Its also the key to the Sufis understanding of
  reality. Their whole practice takes off with
  unity oneness as the starting point. If we are
  all one with God, then the separation we
  experience must be an illusion.

19
Life Under the Law

• To study the Quran is to realize that all of
  life falls under religious law is one of the
  reasons that many Muslims prefer to live in a
  Muslim ruled state.

20
Hadith

• If the Quran is the direct words of Allah, then
  hadith is the direct words and stories about
  Muhammad.

21
Jihad Holy War

• Out of the community ideal of Islam comes the
  concept of jihad, which is designed to defend
  Islam allow its social practice.

22
A Holy Struggle

• Any act of self-control and discipline can be
  seen as a holy struggle.

23
The First Pillar

• The first of the five pillars is to say, There
  is no god but God (Allah), Muhammad is the
  rasul (Prophet or messenger) of God.

24
Unity and Oneness

• The idea behind charity is solidarity and a
  celebration of unity and oneness.

25
Not Okay

• The moral issue is not with poor people, but with
  people who are destitute. Poor is one thing,
  homeless starving is another.

26
Spiritual Hunger

• If we let our physical hunger remind us of our
  spiritual hunger and let that reminder turn our
  hearts to prayer, then we are beginning to gain
  the benefits intended.

27
The Hajj

• Abraham under Gods instructions built the
  cubical shrine at Mecca-the Kaba-with the help
  of Ishmael.

28
Prayer

• Five times a day the faithful Muslims mind and
  heart, perhaps prompted by the muezzin, turns
  away from the things of the world to prayer.

29
The Mosque

• Far simpler in ornamentation than most churches
  and temples of other faiths, yet imposing and
  monumental, the mosque well reflects the
  austerity majesty of Islam and its God.

30
A Popular Hero

• Unlike other religious founders, Muhammad died a
  popular hero among his people, a ruler, a
  successful diplomat, politician, general.

31
The Glorious Years

• The years of the Baghdad caliphate (750-1258)
  of the Cordova caliphate in Spain (755-1236) were
  the glorious years of early Islamic civilization.

32
Divine Sanction

• The rule of law believed to have Divine sanction
  inevitably made society static, putting a premium
  on conformity, rather than innovation new ideas.

33
From Time Into Eternity

• The famous Persian carpets also often have a
  comparable sacred message the spot in the center
  upon which the elaborate design focuses is an
  opening from time into eternity.

34
Literary Masterpiece

• The Quran itself is considered a work of not
  only religious spiritual genius, but also a
  literary masterpiece.

35
Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273)

• Rumi wrote that we should Let the beauty we love
  be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to
  kneel kiss the ground.

36
Crucial Questions

• Religions must adapt to their surroundings to
  some extent. How much they should adapt is always
  one of the crucial questions faced by religious
  leaders.

37
Islamic Scholars

• Progress was seen as a good thing in Islam, an
  unfolding of Allahs will for humans.

38
Reason and Limits

• Mystics tend to fall in line with those who
  follow their hearts. They see a purpose for
  reason and rationality, but they also see its
  limits.

39
Integral Philosophy

• From an Integral Philosophy perspective, it is
  good to have both ways. Neither the mystical nor
  the rationalist position is better than the
  other.

40
Consensus

• Sunni Islam relies on the consensus of a group of
  scholars to reach decisions regarding beliefs and
  practices.

41
Peace

• Since all three religions are waiting, wouldnt
  it be great if they could wait together in peace?

42
Lost in the Depths

• Sufis seek not only to follow his external
  commandments, but to know him intimately even
  to lose themselves in love into the depths of his
  being.

43
A Timeless Path

• Thus, many Sufis believe not only that their way
  is that of Muhammad himself, but also that Sufism
  is really a timeless path known to the wise in
  all generations.

44
Pre-Trans Fallacy

• This is a classic pre-trans fallacy where a
  trans-rational comment is understood on a
  pre-rational level.

45
Persecution

• Many of the great saints of all of the worlds
  religions have been persecuted condemned, even
  killed before they are later recognized as saints.

46
The Spread of Islam

• By the last quarter of the twentieth century this
  situations changed dramatically. Rarely since the
  stunning spread of Islam in its 1st century have
  the fortunes of a religion changed so remarkably
  in so short a time.

47
A Popular Source of Support

• By having a strong belief system, strict rules
  and laws, and a strong emphasis on community,
  Islam proves to be a popular source of support
  for many people who find the rapid changes of
  modern life disconcerting and troubling.

48
Reformation

• The Reformation helped wrench Europe into new
  stages of historical development. What Islam will
  generate remains to be seen.

49
Victims of the Western World

• At the very least, Muslims look at the 100
  million people killed in wars during the 20th
  century as being primarily the victims of the
  Western world, not Islam.

50
Acceptable Alternatives

• At least we can disagree with some perspective on
  what needs these movements serve. In doing this,
  we may be able to provide more acceptable
  alternatives that seek to meet these same needs
  for structure, stability, and safety.

51
Stereotypes

• Popular images of people become engrained in
  human consciousness, begin to influence the way
  we think about others.

52
Freedom

• Freedom doesnt mean that one has to give up his
  or her faith. It just means that one isnt forced
  by law to attend services, etc.

53
A Life of Service

• The mystics of all traditions agree that whats
  important is living a life transformed by the
  love presence of God. Such a life is a life
  lived in service to others.

54
What Makes a Fanatic?

• Part of what makes people fanatical is an extreme
  devotion to a certain literal understanding of a
  teaching or revelation.

55
A Gross Distortion

• Its important to know that the vast majority of
  Muslim people reject these fanatical teachings
  about suicide bombers see it as a gross
  distortion of the Quran.

56
Not Insurmountable

• Does that mean the temptations are more
  difficult? Possibly. But that doesnt meant they
  are insurmountable.

57
Patriarchy

• All the religions weve studied, except the Early
  Religions, spring out of the last few 1000 years,
  when the world has been patriarchal.

58
In Favor of Choices and Rights

• Muhammad himself pronounced in favor of choice
  rights for women, a position that flew in the
  face of the prevailing abuse of women in tribal
  society of his time place.

59
May 19, 1919Less Than 100 Years Ago!!

• We tend to forget that women were allowed to vote
  less than a hundred years ago in the modern
  United States.

60
Interpretation

• As we have seen, when it comes to written text,
  they each must be interpreted. The interpretation
  often says as much about the development of the
  interpreter as it does about the text.

61
Women Count

• If people (and thus women) count to God, then
  they have some inherent value that must be
  recognized by the community.

62
A Cloud of Rationalization

• The human ability to rationalize away the great
  ideals of the religions is one way we have
  delayed living up to them for hundreds of years.

63
A Compromise

• The government found a compromise, in that it
  respects the rights of adults to make up their
  own mind, but not to decide for children.

64
Spiritual or Political

• If the issue is not spiritual but political, then
  many women who want to stay in their religion
  demand that changes be made, so that what is of
  spiritual value is guarded, but what is of a
  bygone era harmful to the dignity of women be
  changed.

65
Changes

• Today, economic considerations are influencing
  changes in many Islamic countries. Women have
  moved out of the home into the workplace.

66
Challenging the Roles of Women

• Much of the modern scholarship challenging the
  roles of women in Islam are coming from women who
  are doing their homework and asking the critical
  questions about Muhammad, the Quran and early
  Islamic history.

67
Protection of Women

• We see the protection of women as something
  ordained by God forever, rather than a comment on
  what was relevant at the time.

68
Importance of Understanding

• If we are to continue to live work together in
  peace in this country, then it will be important
  for us to understand some general points about
  Islam.

69
A World Religion

• More importantly, after centuries of repression,
  Islam is on its way back as a world religion,
  full of new life many changes that make it a
  power and spirituality to be reckoned with in no
  uncertain terms. This resurgent Islam is a major
  force in the world today.

70
Not in the Original Teachings

• We saw that most of the negativity doesnt lie
  within the original teachings themselves, but in
  the way they are put (or not put) into practice.

71
A Balanced View

• We only gain a balanced view by talking to as
  many people and reading as much as we can.