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Islamic Traditions

Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.

GSTR 220-BWestern Traditions I

Berea College

Fall 2004

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THE PRE-ISLAMIC WEST

• Rome, once unified and in control of entire Mediterranean region, now divided between east and west (since 300s CE) and increasingly incapable of ruling vast multiethnic territory

• Christianity, identified with Roman power, widespread throughout west Asia, north Africa, and southern Europe

• Arab peninsula on periphery of Roman Christian world but center of East-West trade routes

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MUHAMMAD (570-632 CE)

• Born in Arabian city of Mecca, home to diverse religious influences (Christian, Jewish, local Arab polytheism)

• Experiences revelations from Allah (name of one Arab deity) beginning with “Night of Power” (610), later transcribed in Quran

• Sees himself as final messenger of one God revealed in Hebrew Bible and New Testament

• Persecution leads to escape (Hijra) from Mecca to Medina (622), from which his followers conquer Mecca (630)

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WHO IS A MUSLIM?

• Muslim = from Arabic Islam, “submission”

• A Muslim is “one who submits” to one who submits” to Allah (God) through the revelation (Quran) given to humanity through His Prophet and final messenger, Muhammad

• A Muslim is anyone who can say and believe the Shahada, or “Profession of Faith”:

1. There is no God but Allah2. Muhammad is Allah’s Prophet

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THE “FIVE PILLARS” OF ISLAM

• Shahada: profession of faith in Allah as sole deity and Muhammad as final messenger (culmination of Hebrew Bible and New Testament prophecy)

• Salat: ritual prayer five times daily (morning, noon, afternoon, sunset, dusk) while prostrated in direction of Mecca – customarily solitary, but communal on Fridays at noon in masjid (mosque)

• Zakat: charity – a “loan to God” representing 2.5% of one’s income, donated by those 16 years and older who can afford it

• Ramadan: abstinence from food, drink, sex, stimulants during daylight hours of ninth lunar month in commemoration of the Prophet’s “Night of Power”

• Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca to be made by every Muslim at least once in a lifetime

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THE GROWTH OF ISLAMIC INSTITUTIONS

• After the Prophet’s death, power struggles between his caliphs (deputies) lead to deaths of fourth caliph, Ali (600-661), Muhammad’s cousin, and Husayn (626-680), Muhammad’s grandson

• Sunni (“traditional”) Muslims revere first four caliphs and emphasize Islamic unity through Shari’a (law)

• Shi’a (“factional”) Muslims honor Ali and Husayn as martyrs and emphasize authority of various imams (religious leaders)

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THE ISLAMICIZATION OF THE WEST

• 634: Army of the caliph conquers Mesopotamia and Palestine

• 635: Damascus, capital of Syria, conquered

• 644: Egypt and Persia conquered• 700s: Most of north Africa,

Spain, Portugal, Italy, and India conquered by Abbasid Empire, based in Baghdad (756-1055)

• Within a century of Muhammad’s death, much of the formerly Roman Christian world is under Islamic rule

• Gradually, most formerly Christian and pagan communities become Islamic

• Islamic scholars translate and preserve Greek philosophy and science, now lost to Europeans

• Christians and Jews tolerated as Ahl al-kitāb (“People of the Book”) and therefore dhimmī (protected peoples)

• Tax (jizya) levied on non-Muslims under Islamic rule

• Slavery restricted to non-Muslims and children of existing slaves – converts are emancipated

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Greatest Extent of Abbasid Empire (756-1055 CE)

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WHY DID ISLAM SUCCEED?

• Culture: Islamic rulers encouraged literature, philosophy, and science

• Politics: power vacuum due to decline of Persian and Byzantine empires

• Religion: Christian doctrine too complex, Christian disputes too bitter to retain allegiance of many – many Christian “heretics” convert to Islam

• Society: in most cases, Islamic rulers less oppressive, more humane than Byzantine or Persian rulers

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THE AGE OF CRUSADES (1095-1291)

• By 11th century, Byzantine Empire faces increasing challenges from Seljuk (Muslim) Empire, and requests help from West

• 1095: Pope Urban II urges Western Christians to attack and invade Muslim-held territories in Middle East in order to recapture them for Christendom, offering “immediate remission of sins” to those who die in battle

• 1099: An army of mostly Frankish (French) Christians massacres the population of Jerusalem and establishes independent Crusader states in Middle East, undermining Byzantine and Muslim power in the region

• 1144: Edessa (in modern Turkey) overthrows Crusader rule and returns to Muslim control, prompting second Crusade

• 1187: Jerusalem recaptured by Muslim forces, triggering third Crusade led by kings of England, France, and Germany

• 1204: Western Christian forces capture Constantinople and establish short-lived Latin Empire in East (1204-1261)

• 1291: Acre, last stronghold of Crusaders in Middle East, recaptured by Muslim forces

• Christian persecution of Jews, heretics, and homosexuals increases during Crusades

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RISE OF THE SUFI TRADITION

• Soon after Prophet’s death, some Muslims become critical of what they see as worldliness and corruption of caliphs

• Wearing plain blue wool (sūf) clothing, these Sufis preach:

1. tawakkul (absolute trust in Allah)…

2. … which arises from tawhid (absolute oneness of Allah)…

3. … expressed through faqr (“poverty,” both material and spiritual)…

4. … which leads to fanā (“annihilation” of self in the presence of almighty Allah)

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THEMES IN SUFI THOUGHT

• As Sufism expands throughout Muslim world, it encounters criticism from other Muslims

• In response, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111), most famous Sufi theologian, defines 4 major points of Sufism:

1. islām (“surrender, submission” to God in all aspects of life)

2. īmān (“faith” in God and his Prophet, Muhammad)

3. ihsān (“serving God as if one were seeing Him” at all times)

4. ishrāq (“illumination” of the soul, leading it from dark materiality to light spirituality)

• Sufi teachers (shaikhs) and their disciples (tarīqa) devoted to dhikr (“remembrance”) of Allah through chanting, dancing, fasting, music, poetry, and prayer

• The poetry of Sufi writer Jalal Al-Din Rūmī (1207-1273) is known as “the Quran in Persian”

• Rūmī’s basic theme: love, not fear, should define relationship between humanity and God

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