1. ISLAM

2. Three most influential religions
Judaism
- God (Yahweh) spoke to Abraham & Moses,
establishing their generations as chosen people
Christianity – largest religion
- Same God spoke to Jesus Christ at his baptism
Muslims – 2nd largest religion
- same God (Allah) revealed the holy book
(Qur’an) to the prophet Muhammad. Jesus
important prophet but NOT divine.

3. All monotheistic
Revelation comes from this single God
Faiths based on divine revelation

4. Roman empire contributed to rise of Islam
Christianity official state religion of Rome
Islam – drew from bible
Moses, Abraham & Jesus great prophets

5. d
Founder Muhammad received revelations from God through the angel Gabriel
Preached against Mecca’s polytheism & idolatry
Fled to a desert oasis – Medina (City of the Prophet) – in 622 (beginning of Islam; first year of Islamic calendar)
In Mecca, established Islamic house of worship Ka’bah, destiny now of Muslim pilgrims

6. Ka’bah in Mecca

7. Islam = submission (surrender of oneself to Allah)
Muslim = one who has submitted to Allah
Basic texts:
- Qur’an –central sacred text; revelations of Allah
to Muhammad from the Angel Gabriel; written in
Arabic; cannot be translated into other
languages (most Muslims aren’t Arabs)
- Hadith (Muhammad’s life, words & actions)

8. Worship Allah directly – no hierarchy of rabbis, priests, ministers or saints
Unity of church & state
The state is ruled by Islamic law (Shariah)
Caliph – ruler of both religion and state, as successor to Muhammad
Jesus honored as a prophet, not divine
- Reject Trinitarian faith of Christianity

9. The Thousand and One Nights – most important literary work of Islamic and Arabl culture (page 257 in text); woman tells wonderful stories to king so won’t kill her & other women

10. Like Christianity, tradition of expansion
Notion of the UMMA MULIMA – the community of all those who had become Islam; transcends national, political and social borders

11. Tribes raided each other for centuries before Islam in Arabian peninsula
Islam forbid Muslims to fight each other
Expansion
JIHAD = “Holy war” originally was war with one’s heart & mind to convert to Islam
Christians & Jews initially not forced to convert; given privileged status within empire as “people of the book (Bible)”

15. Golden Age of Islam 750 – 1258
Fruits from China, cotton from India
Started scientific method, testing hypotheses through experimentation
Considered sun center of solar system and earth spins on its axis
Invented algebra and trigonometry
Discovered concepts of inertia and momentum, later adopted by Isaac Newton

16. Five Pillars of Islam
Recitation of Muslim act of faith in one God with Muhammad as his messenger
Pray five times daily, facing Mecca; in a mosque on Fridays if possible
Charity –individual responsibility for community (2.5% of wealth, not income)

17. Fast during month of Ramadan from sunup to sunset (similar to monks’ asceticism)
Pilgrimage to Mecca (HAJJ) at least once to walk around the Ka’bah (directly above which is heaven)

18. Islam is ORTHOPRAXY – emphasis on conduct, not ORTHODOXY with emphasis on religious doctrinal teachings
For long time, no clergy as in Christian and Jewish traditions

19. Muslim cell phone – reminders to pray, direction of Mecca

20. No pork
No alcoholic beverages
Males circumcised
Polygamy permitted (not practiced widely)
Interest on loans (usury) forbidden (same in Christianity)
Observation of feast days
Simplicity & asceticism led to rapid growth and spread of religion

21. Sunni versus Shia
Disagree on rightful successor to Muhammad and his son-in-law Ali
Muhammad was last prophet; successors became CALIFS
Sunnis 85-90% of Muslims
Shia 10-15% (Iran, Iraq, Bahrain)
Key to understanding conflict in Middle East today

23. Sunni & Shia

24. Art & Architecture Most magnificent works were architectural
Often decorated with mosaics and calligraphy
Forbidden to depict Allah or face of Muhammad since Allah is beyond all imagining
Intricate blend of abstract geometric designs entwined with sacred texts from Qur’an
Carpet weaving

25. 25 million knots (Maqsud of Kashan)

27. Mosque – large, covered space for prayer, especially for Friday prayers
Floor covered with carpets for kneeling at prayer
Minbar is pulpit
No furniture
Mihrab – niche in wall indicates direction of Mecca
Fountain to ritually clean hands, feet and mouth before prayer

28. Minaret – a tower for the muezzin to call the faithful to prayer five times a day
Mosque also is community center, similar to the Roman forum or medieval cathedral area
No standard design for mosques so much innovation

29. Dome of the Rock

32. Octagonal building
Interior decorated with mosaics
Qur’anic verses inside
Rock is important in Abrahamic tradition
Burial place of Adam
Rock upon which Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac until an angel stayed his sword at the last minute
Place from which Muhammad ascended to heaven

33. Great Mosque of Damascus
“standard” mosque design with minaret, grand prayer hall, minaret and large courtyard
Influence of Roman architecture evident
(Pediment dome and arcades surrounding
courtyard)

35. Façade Mosaics – no human figures

36. Mosque at Cordoba
Originally a Christian church building (basilica)
Survived the 1492 Christians driving the Muslims out of Spain – the reconquista

39. Mosque of Samarra (Iraq) – spiral minaret

40. Alhambra Mosque – Granada, Spain

41. Hagia Sophia in Constantinople
Golden Age ended with Mongol invasion
Mongols converted to Islam a century later
Ottoman Empire also converted
Christian Cathedral of Constantinople ( ) converted into a mosque by the Ottoman Turks
- Four minarets added
1935 – after Ottoman Empire defeated in WWI, Turkey converted into a museum to end Christian-Muslim conflict over building