Islam “Basic Beliefs”

Muhammad Born in Mecca to merchant family Orphaned at 5 Caravan manager Married rich widow named Khadija

Failure at First Hijrah – Muhammad’s journey to Mecca – Year 1 in Islamic calendar – Converted Bedouin people along the way

Teachings of Muhammad Monotheistic – Allah Muhammad=prophet Allah’s earlier messengers had been rejected – Muhammad received final revelation from Allah

The Five Pillars of Islam Belief Prayer Charity FastingPilgrimage

Why Spread so fast? Islam spreads because: Easy to learn and practice No priesthood Teaches equality Non-Muslims, who were “peoples of the Book” were allowed religious freedom, but paid additional taxes Easily “portable”-nomads & trade routes Jihad (“Holy War”) against pagans and other non- believers (“infidels)

Shari’ah Islamic law code developed after Muhammad’s death Practical laws to govern daily lives Based on scholar’s interpretation of Quran Does not separate religious matters from civil or political law

Shari’ah Law continued… Hadd crimes: crimes punished by preexisting laws in Quran five hadd crimes: – unlawful sexual intercourse (sex outside of marriage and adultery) – false accusation of unlawful sexual intercourse – wine drinking (sometimes extended to include all alcohol drinking) – theft – highway robbery Punishments – flogging, stoning, amputation, exile, or execution

Examples… Amina Lawal, a 31 year old divorced Nigerian woman, was sentenced in March 2002 by a Sharia court to death by stoning for committing adultery. The case became a high profile one and a test of the reintroduction of Sharia in 12 predominantly Muslim states in northern Nigeria. She appealed and on September 25 the court ruled to overturn her conviction.

Another Example Afghan Abdul Rahman was arrested in February 2006 for converting to Christianity. Formerly a Muslim, Rahman was charged with rejecting Islam but his case was dismissed in March of 2006, after human rights groups and international organizations protested, supposedly because of problems with the prosecutors' evidence. He could have faced the death penalty if convicted.

Third Example Mirza Tahir Hussain, a citizen of Great Britain, was convicted in 1989 of murdering a taxi driver in Pakistan, but was cleared in 1996 by a secular court. He was then retried and found guilty in an Islamic one, the Federal Sharia Court, and was sentenced to death. He spent a total of 18 years on death row and was released on November 17, 2006 after international outcry and a plea for clemency by Prince Charles.

Discussion On Sept. 25, an Islamic court in the Nigerian state of Katsina cleared Amina Lawal, a 31-year-old mother of three accused of having sex outside of marriage and sentenced in March 2002 to death. The court overturned Lawal's sentence after four of the five judges hearing her case decided that she had not been given "ample opportunity to defend herself" and that her crime had not been proven beyond a doubt. "It is a victory for justice, it is a victory for the law, it is a victory for freedom," said Hauwa Ibrahim, one of Lawal's lawyers. "Amina is free today." Though Lawal was acquitted, human rights groups argue that other cases of cruel and excessive punishments, based on Sharia and other Islamic laws, still exist around the world.

Questions What surprised you about this case and its outcome? What do you think about the charges against Amina Lawal and the outcome of her case? Why might people in the predominantly Muslim northern states of Nigeria wish to be governed by Sharia?

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