- he was orphaned at 6 years old
- at 25 he became a trader/business manager for Khadijah, a wealthy business women about 40 years old
- The two married
- He was interested in religion and often spent time alone in prayer and meditation
- at 40 a voice called to him while he meditated in a cave. This was the angel Gabriel, and he told Muhammad he was a messenger of Allah
- Muhammad believed this and began to teach of the one god, telling people to abandon other gods
- Islam means submission to the will of Allah, and Muslim means one who has submitted
- Muhammad's wife and several close friends/relatives were his first followers
- After his followers were attacked, Muhammad left Mecca (622)
- He sent a small group of supporters ahead of him as he went to Yathrib (now Medina)
- This became known as the Hijrah
- During this he attracted many devoted followers
- He made an agreement that joined his people with the Arabs and Jews of Medina as a single community - they accepted him as a political leader
- as a religious leader he got a lot of converts
- he also became a military leader in the hostilities between Mecca and Medina
- In 630, Muhammad and 10k of his followers marched to Mecca, whose leaders surrendered. Muhammad entered the city and destroyed the idols in the Ka'aba, making a call to prayer from its roof
- Most Meccans pledged their loyalty to him, and many converted to Islam
- Umma: Muslim religious community
- He died two years later at the age of 62
- The Dome of the Rock: the earliest surviving Islamic monument, located in Jerusalem, completed in 691. It's part of a larger complex which is the third most holy place in Islam. It's actually on tom of Mount Moriah, where there was a Jewish temple (the Romans destroyed it in 70). There's a rock there on the spot where Muhammad ascended to heaven (he came back). Jewish people say that the rock is also where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Issac.
Belief and Practices
- One God: Allah
- There is good and evil, and each individual is responsible for the actions of their own life
- Five Pillars: these are five duties that all Muslims must do
- Faith: you have to testify this: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah".
- Prayer: five times a day you must face towards Mecca and pray, either with an assembly at a mosque, or wherever you find yourself
- Alms: You have a responsibility to support the less fortunate, such as by giving alms (money for the poor)
- Fasting: During the holy month of Ramadan, you must fast between dawn and sunset. A simple meal is eaten at the end of the day. This is a reminder that your spiritual needs are greater than your physical needs.
- Pilgrimage: All Muslims must perform the hajj at least once if they are physically and financially able.
- Also, you are forbidden to eat pork or drink anything that makes you drunk
- Everybody goes and worships together on Friday afternoons
- There are no priests or central authorities, because you're supposed to worship Allah directly
- There is a scholar class called the ulama, which includes religious teacher who apply words and deeds of Muhammad to everyday life
- the original source of authority is Allah. But his angel Gabriel's revelations to Muhammad are recorded in the Islamic holy book, the Qur'an.
- The Qur'an is written in Arabic, and only Arabic is the true version of Allah, and only it can be used in worship
- Muhammad's mission as a prophet was to receive the Qur'an and demonstrate how to apply it to life
- Sunna: Muhammad's example, the best model for proper living for Muslims
- Shari'a: A body of law drawn from the Qur'an and Sunna, regulating family life, moral conduct, and business and community life of Muslims
- Allah is the same God of Jews and Christians, but Jesus was just a prophet
- the Qur'an is the word of Allah revealed to Muhammad, similar to Jews and the Torah to Moses, and Christians and the Gospels to the people who wrote them
- The Qur'an perfects earlier revisions, and it is the final book, like Muhammad, who was the final prophet
- There is heaven and hell and a day of judgement
- Muslims came from Abraham, like Jews and Christians
- Christians and Jews are "people of the book" because each of the religions have holy books with teachings similar to the Qur'an
- Shari'a law requires Muslim leaders to extend religious tolerance to people of the book
A Bit from Spread of Islam
- caliph: successor or deputy
- jihad: literally, striving; can mean inner struggle against evil, or an armed struggle against unbelievers
A Bit from Internal Conflict
- split between Shi'a and Sunni (and a small bit of Sufi)
- Sufi reject luxurious life and pursue a life of poverty and devotion to a spiritual path
- Sunni believe that the first four caliphs were "rightly guided", believe that Muslim leaders should follow the Sunna, and claim that the Shi'a have distorted the meaning of various passages in the Qur'an
- Shi'a believe that Ali, the Prophet's son-in-law, should have succeeded Muhammad, that all Muslim rulers should be descended from Muhammad (therefore they do not recognize the authority of the Sunni), and claim that the Sunni have distorted the meaning of various passages in the Qur'an
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