ISLAMIC CULTURE

Context / Content• Context – Every aspect affecting the process of

communication such as body language, silence, relationship between the communicators.

• Content – the message itself, the words and the ways its structured.

High context cultures• Depends on non verbal messages such as social status

and relationship of communicators.• Use of voice, tone gestures, silence.• Message maybe, indirect or formal.• Listener, must have good observation and listening skills

and must read between the lines.• Every person can communicate in both high and low

context communication, it depends on the situation.• Family communications is an example of high context

communication.• The more people of a culture have history together and

the more homogenous the population, the more high context communication.

Low context cultures

• Depend on verbal messages, everything must be in the message, all the needed information.

• Does not depend on context, prefer written communication..

• The message maybe direct and informal .• The task of communication relies heavily on the communicator.

Task oriented, low commitment to relationships.• This type of communication is easier to enter for an outsider.

Arabic language

• Words are spoken not just to convey information, an emotional experience to be shared:• Repetition – In Arabic language is a positive thing.• Over assertion – A style of Arabic language which can

be misread as extreme or violent.• Flowery language.• Flowery expression of emotion about an action,

intended to express these emotions. This might lead to misunderstanding that Arabs are just full of words and being dishonest.

Personal space• Needs to be less

• High context.• Low in territoriality.• More into sharing.• Sense of stealing is not as developed.

• Needs to be more• Low context.• High in territoriality.

Tribal system• Importance of family and extended family in providing

protection for the individual.• Children learn the positive qualities that strengthen the

unity of the group.• Family takes precedence over appointments.• Loyalty and acceptance by the family.• This is why it is a high context communication, focused on

relationships.

Honour and self respect

•One of the most important principles for an Arab is self-respect. This is also related to others showing him respect.

• “Face is the outward appearance of honor”.

•This is why they don’t criticize in public, the communication is indirect.

Time

Polychronic

• Do more than one thing at a time.

• Schedules are not important as relationships.

• Appointments are flexible.• Things get done, but according

to their own time.• Tend to be high-context.• Mediterranean, Latin America,

Arabs, Native (aboriginal) Americans, French.

Monochronic

• Do one thing at a time.• Stick to schedules, and

concentrate on the job at hand.• Things get done according to

schedules.• Tend also to be low-context.• North America, Northern

Europe.• Think about when things will be

done.• Very careful not to disturb other

people’s time.

Individualism / Collectivism

Individualism

• The moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual.

Collectivism

• Used to describe any moral, political, or social outlook, that emphasizes the interdependence of every human in some collective group and the priority of group goals over individual goals.

• Collectivists focus on community and society, and seek to give priority to group rights over individual rights.

Face saving• Preserving prestige or outward dignity.• Associated with high-context and indirect communication

cultures.• It is impolite to say “no”, to criticize, to reject an invitation

or a favor. You are not showing proper respect for the other person.

• Asking for directions.• Words are used to save-face more than to describe

reality.• The use of intermediaries.

Friendship• Once you become a friend, you become part of the group,

loyalty and help are expected.• Male-male , female-female, male-female greetings. In the

Gulf it is somewhat different.• Visiting patterns can be more frequent, unexpected,

threatening to a western’s concept of privacy.• If someone is sick, death, people are needed to be

around.• Hospitality, generosity. Don’t eat or drink alone.• Personal contacts make a big difference, you enter into

his/her personal sphere.

Ihsan

• It means that you do, say, what is needed and exceed it.

• It is achieving excellence in everything we do.

•Practicing Ihsan in everything elevates the state of our hearts.

• Ihsan is. achieved by being mindful of GOD.

Actions

• Happiness in the next life is tied to the state of our hearts in this life, which is connected to our actions.

• In Islam, there is a strong relationship between belief and actions.

• Action, in this case greeting, has to do with developing a state of love, of kindness of compassion in our hearts.

• Our actions will affect the state of our heart and the state of our heart will affect what kind of actions we carry out.

Manners of speaking and listening

• Silence if one has nothing good to say (don’t talk too much).

• One does not transmit what others tell him, because it is a trust.

• Elders speak first.• One should not cut off or interrupt someone while he/she is speaking. (manners of the prophet)

• One should not speak loudly, or quickly, or too long.

Friendship• Give advice, sandwich it, clear, short, in private.• Not to burden our brothers with our visits, but also

respect their privacy. • Every Muslim has certain rights on his fellow Muslim

brother, such as greetings, visit when sick, be at his funeral, accept his invitation, overlook his mistakes, do not envy, backbite,… and be sincere in giving advice.

• Special rights given to those whom one shares with them a bond of love for the sake of ALLAH .

Social interactions

• The rights of parents.• The rights of ones neighbor• The rights of members of the family.• The rights of spouses.• The rights of children.• The rights of the elders.• There is wisdom behind each one of these rights that accounts for a change in the state of our hearts.

The concept of time / work in Islam

• Life is a gift of time.• Time is given value only if it is spent while being mindful of God, for it affects the state of ones heart. Time spent reacting to life, without being mindful of God.

• The prophet said that whosever of you does a job, he should do it to the best of standards.

• If mindful of GOD, work becomes worship. No work is undermined even house work.

The five principles of sharia

1. The preservation of Faith.

2. The preservation of Life.

3. The preservation of the use of intellect.

4. The preservation of the ability to procreate, Genealogy and chastity.

5. The preservation of wealth.

Interaction between the sexses• The idea is not to draw attention to the body, but to the

person in that body.• As a general rule, the more one is covered the higher the

respect given, when interacting with practicing Muslims. • There are different dress codes for men when mixing with

men and when they are mixing with women and the same applies for women.

• Neither sex is allowed to totally undress in front of members of the same sex.

Physical touching

In Islam, members of the opposite sex do not touch, unless they are related, a man can physically touch his mother, sisters, aunts and grandmothers, a woman can touch her father, uncles, brothers and her grandfather.As a general rule for shaking hands, do not put out your hand to a person of the opposite sex unless they put out their hand first.

Medical ethics

• Avoid predicting whether a patient will live or die, since this is known only by GOD.

• Should not loose his temper when the patient asks a lot of questions, but should answer him gently and with compassion.

• All his patients should be treated alike, rich or poor,…

• Should not be late for his rounds or house calls.• He should be decent towards women.• Should not divulge his patient’s secrets.

Types of knowledge in Islam

1. KNOWLEDGE OF THE ISLAMIC CONTEXT:• The theology, the Islamic world view, the Aims of sharia.

It structures the frame through which physical knowledge is achieved and utilized.

2. PHYSICAL KNOWLEDGE:• Everything that is required as knowledge of the physical

world, in all disciplines.

Mosques / homes

Mosques

• The mosques were centers for learning. They were buzzing with scientific circles, debates, scholars would come from other countries and cities, to Interact with their peers and have discussions and debates

Homes

• Home is the first school. • ]Parents used to teach their

children, reading and writing and some arithmetic, in addition to the Quran and the principles of their faith, some parents were well off, so they would bring tutors.

• Tutors had a high status in the society, kids sometimes looked up to their mentors more than their parents.

Schools / higher education institutes

Schools

• There were schools for basic learning for those who could not afford tutors. These were set up by the government and “Wakf”, this help was extended Towards stationary and books.

• There were schools for secondary free education. Were kids can sleep in dorms, get financial assistance and get specialized in the area of their interest. These “Nizami” schools were all over the Islamic world in the fifth century.

Higher education institutes

• Institutes of higher education, like the university of Granada and Qurduba Also Dar –Alhikma in Egypt.

• European students used to flock To the Andalusia universities to get the latest in education.

• There were also the hospitals that served as institutions for teaching medicine.

• Doctors would specialize and be granted degrees In their field of specialization.

Libraries • Libraries started with the start of journalizing, writing

translation and paper making, in the 2nd century hijri. • Private libraries owned by those who are rich, women also

owned libraries. Most famous was Bait Al-Hikma” constructed by Harun Ah-Rashid in Bagdad at the 2nd century Hijri. It wasn’t just A library, it was a cultural center where scholars meet, research is carried out and a center for translation and copying.

• Public libraries spread out from China to France, with scholars handing over their Private libraries after their death as endowment to become a public library.

• Some libraries also provided it’s users with paper, ink and pens. Some also provided food and Drink.

• There were also school libraries, mosques and hospital libraries.

The Quran

• The creator communicated to us humans.• The purpose of creation, and the way to fulfill it.• The Quran deals with every issue that man needs• to address. • It is the primary source of knowledge, from which • all guidance is sought.• There is one Quran only, but many translations, which can restrict the meaning.

Preservation of the Quran during the prophetic period:

1- Memorization:• It came down over a period of 23 years.• The Arabs were well known for their oral memorization and mastery over poetry.• The prophet السالم memorized the verses as they came down and asked his companions عليه

to do the same.•The Quran is recited daily in the five prayers.

• The prophet السالم would recite the Quran every year in Ramadan with angel Gibreil in عليهfront of the companions, and the year he died, he recited it twice, therefore all the order of the ayat and suwar were will know and memorized by everyone.

• The style of the Quran made it very easy to memorize. Up to now children memorize the quran by the age of 8 or 10. Even those who do not speak Arabic. It takes 3-6 years.

2- Writing:• The prophet السالم himself did not know how to write, but he assigned some of his عليه

companions to write every revelation. They were called “revelation scribes”, one of them was Zaid ibn Thabit.

• Other companions who knew how to write, wrote whatever they could from the Quran on anything they could lay their hands on from leather, parchment, scapulae (shoulder bones of animals) and the stalks of date palms.

• It is believed that the whole Quran was written down between the different companions, but it was not gathered into one collection during the time of the prophet السالم .عليه

• This could also be related to the fact that the Quran did not come down in order and it was finished in its final form just before the prophet’s السالم .death in 632 CE عليه

Proof of authenticity from the content of the Quran:

1- The linguistic challenge:• The Quran is Prophet Muhammad’s السالم miracle. The Arabs عليه

were known for their linguistic abilities and GOD challenged them to bring something like the Quran and they couldn’t

.2-Predicting the future:• When the Roman (people of the book) were defeated by the

Persian, the pagan Arab were telling the Muslims that they will beat them (since Muslims are also people with a revelation) as the Persian beat the Roman’s. Then the ayat came predicting the defeat of the Persians by the Romans and the pagan Arabs by the Muslim Arabs, in a few years, and it happened.

• The story of Abu Lahab. The Quran said that he will be in Hell• All Abu lahab needed to do was to pretend that he is a Muslim and

to prove that the Quran was from Muhammad’s head.

Proof of authenticity from the content of the Quran:

3-The scientific proofs:

a-Human embryology:• “Verily We created man from a product of wet earth; (12) Then placed him as a drop (of seed) in a

safe lodging; (13) Then fashioned We the drop a clot, then fashioned We the clot a little lump, then fashioned We the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators! (14)“ Comments of kieth moore:

• Professor Emeritus Keith L. Moore8 is one of the world’s most prominent scientists in the fields of anatomy and embryology and is the author of the book entitled The Developing Human, which has been translated into eight languages.

• “It has been a great pleasure for me to help clarify statements in the Quran about human development.  It is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from God, because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many centuries later.  This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a messenger of God.”

b-Quran about mountains:• A book entitled Earth is a basic reference textbook in many universities around the world.  One of its

two authors is Professor Emeritus Frank Press.  He was the Science Advisor to former US President Jimmy Carter, and for 12 years was the President of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC. His book says that mountains have underlying roots.1  These roots are deeply embedded in the ground, thus, mountains have a shape like a peg.

• Likewise, the modern theory of plate tectonics holds that mountains work as stabilizers for the earth.  This knowledge about the role of mountains as stabilizers for the earth has just begun to be understood in the framework of plate tectonics since the late 1960’s.

Quran / Hadith

Quran

• The meaning and the words are from GOD.

• Transmitted to us by tawator.

• Recited in salah and outside salah as a form of worship.

• It is a miracle, Arabs could not answer the challenge.

Hadith

• The meaning from GOD, but the words are from the prophet السالم .عليه

• Transmitted to us by tawator or by ahad.

• Can’t be recited as a form of worship in or outside of salah.

• It is not miraculous.

Preservation and Compilation of the Hadith:

1- During the prophet’s والسالم الصالة :life عليه• The main route was oral transmission. At that time people were well know for their

memorizations and they were honest and did not lie.• Some companions did write Hadith, however, this was on a personal basis and not

to be handed out to others. There were a number of these collections and were included in the later organized books of ahadith.

• The prophet والسالم الصالة did not command the companions to write his hadith عليهas he did with the Quran. Some say that he didn’t do that so as people focus on the Quran.

2- During the first centurey A.H.• It was during the ruling of Omar bin Abdul Aziz around the 100 A.H. that the hadith

was to be collected and used as a public document. At this stage it was not classified, only collected.

3-The second century A.H.• Classification started and Malik produced the first officially classified book of hadith.

4- The third century A.H.• The Golden age for Sunnah. Not only the collection and classification of hadith, but

also the writing of the sciences that studied the • authentication of the hadith.• Bukhari, Muslim, and the four sunans were writen during this time.

Fatwa• It is the Islamic legal ruling/opinion on any issue ranging

from politics to the environment , to the routine of everyday life. Concerning rulings of halal/haram, on details how to do things,…

• It is the practical application of the Islamic world view.• More recently it started to have a negative political

connotation after Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa, in 1989, ordering the murder of novelist Salman Rushdie.

FatwaCan anyone give a fatwa:

Islamic rulings are given by Muslim scholars who are specialized in the field of Islamic law (fiqh).

This is why when one hears a fatwa, one has to get information about the scholar’s background and authority enabling him to give the fatwa, and his evidence.

How is a fatwa made:

Scholars look for Islamic rulings in the Quran, if the details regarding the issue are not in the Quran they will look in the authentic Sunnah of the prophet والسالم الصالة ..عليه

Here comes the importance of the sciences of the Quran and of Hadeeth that we discussed in the previous lectures.

If the needed information is not present in the Quran or in the sunnah, fiqh is applied, and the natural product of fiqh is the fatwa.

What is Fiqh (jurisprudence)?•The science of deducing Islamic laws from evidence found in the sources of Islamic law.•Ijtihad; The process of arriving at fatwas to fit new circumstances. It follows a number of steps. The resulting fatwa should be in adhere to and should not contradict the major principles of Islamic law.•The fatwa is a not a divine law, it is the opinion of a human. Only laws in the Quran and the prophetic interpretation of the laws of the Quran are divinely guided, the rest is subject to human error.

Can one legal issue have different fatwas?•Jurists use the evidence and their reasoning, and can arrive at different conclusions (fatwa).•There are about 10 famous schools of thought in Islamic jurisprudence (math hab) there is agreement between them on some issues and also disagreement.