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Timeline: 6th - 13th C./ Present Day Issues

FQ: How do the foundational beliefs of Islam compare with Judaeo-Christian tradition?
Main Idea: Islam shares a great deal with the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Unlike Judaism, however, Islam
shares with Christianity (and Buddhism) a 'global' quality. Generally speaking, these faiths have
transcended the borders and culture of the originating society. There is a global following since birth 'into
the faith' is not a requirement. Many cultures have adopted and adapted the faith as a consequence. It is
with these and other qualities that Islam becomes a major unifying tool, politically and culturally, for
Muhammad and the peoples of the Arabian peninsula.
CCSS
I. Vocabulary
A. Islam: Arabic word meaning "To surrender your will to God".
B. Allah: Arabic word meaning "God".
C. Muslim: Arabic word meaning "One who surrenders his will to God". [Therefore, Abraham,
Jesus, Moses, etc. were Muslim]
D. Jihad: Arabic word meaning Struggle or Striving.1
E. Qur-an: Arabic for 'Recite'. A book containing the words of ALLAH as conveyed to Muhammad
via angels including the archangel Gabriel. Revealed over a period of 22 years (610-632 CE).
Given as a 'grace' to humanity. Offers guidance on living in accordance with the will of ALLAH. It
was orally transmitted and written in Arabic and thus cannot be 'translated' into other languages,
but it could be interpreted/transliterated into other languages.2 The Qur-an is 'word for word' the
commands & teachings of ALLAH. Therefore, there is no higher authoritative source on Earth that
can be appealed to by humanity.
F. Kitab: A heavenly book containing the essence of Allah's Will. In the Islamic tradition, the
prophets of Israel, Jesus, and other prophets were given portions of the Kitab by ALLAH to convey
to their respective peoples. Over the centuries, those prophetic messages from Allah were
corrupted via translations (translations are never 100% accurate in expressing content and/ or
sentiment), political mischief (and other unethical behavior), or physical damage (decay or
destruction brought about by Time and conflict). The Qur-an is a final attempt to correct past errors
in the recording of the messages from Allah.
G. Hadith: The Hadith is a compilation of the words of The Prophet. It aids Muslims in their Jihad
to live in accordance with Allah's will.
H. Sunna(h): Is an account of Muhammads conduct during his life as The Prophet. The Prophet
is the ideal and by studying and emulating his behavior Muslims hope to get closer to Allah's will.
II. Context
A. 570 - 632 CE3
B. Bedouins dominate the Arabian Peninsula with the presence of prosperous commercial cities
along the coast. Two of these cities are Mecca and Yachrib (now known as 'Madinah' which
means 'The City').
C. Mecca: The holiest city in Islam. Holds the Ka'aba (Arabic Language => Cube), which was a
pagan shrine at the time of the Prophet. Abraham and Ishmael built the structure as the first shrine
dedicated to Allah. Like many urban centers, many faiths were represented within Mecca. in
addition to paganism, there existed in this city the followers of Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism
and tribal faiths of the Bedouins
D. Byzantine Empire: A powerful, Christian, empire lies just North of Mecca. Contact between
these two entities existed in the areas of trade, political/ military, scholarship, and cultural.
III. The Prophet: Muhammad (PBUH)
A. Born and lived as a merchant in the city of Mecca.

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B. Muhammad was orphaned at a young age and placed in the care of his uncle.4 He married an
older widow (Hadisha) and fathered four daughters. She became a partner for Muhammad in all
aspects of his life. The qualities of The Prophet
included being: Good-natured, an honest merchant, and dedicated to family.5
C. 610AD: The Prophet began receiving the words (revelation) of Allahfrom angels including the
archangel Jibril (Gabriel).
D. 622 CE: Established authorities and residents of Mecca did not accept the verses. Resistance
against The Prophet and his early followers grew and lead to active persecution. Possible reasons
for the conflict could include the dominance among Meccans of polytheistic faiths and idol
worship. Another reason could be that many Meccans were profiting from pagan and non-pagan
pilgrimages to the Ka'aba. The
Prophet decides to move the fledgling Muslim community6 when he was invited to Yachrib to
help settle disputes among the city's feuding factions.
E. 622-630 CE: Muhammad gains respect, becomes a leader, and leads an army to conquer
the Meccans.
F. The last and greatest prophet of ALLAH (Abraham being the Patriarch). There will be no new
messengers after The Prophet Muhammad.
G. Did not write any text (illiterate). All texts were compiled by 'companions' or later students of
The Prophet.
H. Sources on life of The Prophet include biographies written during the 7-9th C.
IV. Spread of Islam
Islam spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa from 632-750AD. This is why the faith is
prominent in the region today. Other regions the faith reached still have a strong Muslim presence today,
e.g. Central Asia, South Asia, South-East Asia, Africa, and the islands of the East Asian Pacific.
V. Islamic Ethics and Faith: The Five Pillars of Islam.7
The only god is God and Muhammad was his prophet.

You must pray five times a day.

You must fast during the month of Ramadan.

You must offer alms to the poor.

You must undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your life.

Ponder: Compare the Ten Commandments, The Beatitudes (from the 'Sermon on the Mount'), and the
Five Pillars of Islam. What does the content of each have in common? Where, if at all, do they differ?
VI. The Islamic World View
A. Unified Diversity: All Muslim are unified within one belief concerning Allah. How each of
approximately one billion Muslim achieve this ideal is diverse. Example would be the requirement
to dress modestly for both genders = Veiling of women is not an interpretation of 'Modesty' shared
by all Muslim societies.
B. Scholarship: A waste of time to study the nature of Allah or to determine exactly His will. To
attempt to explain why certain events occurred [Ex: issuance of the Qur-an] by focusing on earthly
matters [Ex: political persecution] is inappropriate since the presence of revelation is at Allah's
discretion only. If He thought it necessary, it would be done. All other areas of learning are open for
study and encouraged.
C. Judgment: The Qur-an is for all people. Judgment on you will be dependent on how well you
adhered to Allah's will as expressed in the Qur-an (there is no appeal). You will be held
accountable for your actions since the Qur-an was given to all people for guidance.
D. People of The Book (The 'Book' is the Kitab): Includes, among others, Jews and Christians.
Guaranteed a special place in Islamic society due to their relationship with Allah.

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E. Revelation: Prior revelation as interpreted and practiced by the followers of Judaism and
Christianity was corrupted. Muhammad's revelation was a correction and not a newly
introduced faith.
VII. Challenges to the Faith
A. Mideast Conflict: Temple Mount => The holiest site in Judaism and 2nd holiest site in Islam
overlap on the top of this hill.
Are there issues that are not religious but contribute to the crisis?

Is the current manner of handling the dispute in keeping with the values of both faiths? Is

it possible that another way of addressing this dispute exists that reflects the values of
both faiths to a greater degree?
Is it possible that ethical values exemplified by The Golden Rule and Jihad can be

incorporated into a solution to this dispute?

B. Terrorism
C. Coerced Conversions: Sura 10 Ayat 99 regarding converting others. This is a quranic
prohibition against forced conversions, as implied by many textbooks when the topic of Jihadis
raised.
D. Islamic Symbol: The crescent moon is the universal symbol of the Islamic faith. How this symbol
came to be adopted for this purpose is quite interesting since traditionally, Muslims have always
been taught to avoid the use of symbols, particularly those of celestial bodies. The symbol was
originally a representative icon of the Byzantine Empire. When that empire collapsed before the
onslaught of the (Islamic) Ottoman Turks, the Turks appropriated the symbol for their empire. As
the Ottoman empire grew in political and religious influence, the crescent moon became universally
accepted as the icon of Islam.
VIII. Summary Activity: Why its important today.
As one of the worlds fastest-growing religion, Islam has a strong impact on the lives of millions of people today.
1

This is one area involving Islam that presents a set of challenges for the teacher that is not encountered in other topics. Another
area of difficulty is the textbook. Many school texts have varying degrees of ambiguity on these issues (and outright errors in
others). Therefore, it is incumbent on a responsible teacher to ensure that understanding is achieved by presenting accurate facts
and explanations. Jihad is a case in point. The textbook, as did the text I used as a high school student in the 1970s, translates
Jihad as Holy War. Every scholar and practitioner of the faith that I have consulted has explained to me that the holy war
interpretation is narrow at best and completely erroneous at worst. Every devout Muslim struggles to remain on the path Allah
commands. As humans, they must strive to their best ability to adhere to His laws. It is this understanding of Jihad that is dominant
and common in the faith. Jihad occurs on a personal and communal level. The personal level is dominant since it is part of our daily
routine. Should a large number of Muslim find that adhering to Allahs will becomes increasingly difficult due to the acts of a person
or nation, then they could strive or struggle to remain on the Straight Way. This could now manifest into a communal Jihad that at
its extremes may be warfare or other physical conflict. However, it could also be a strike, protests, boycott, and other manner of civil/
national protest. Obviously, communal Jihads of the kind I mentioned would cease when the obstacle blocking the Straight Way is
removed and the affected Muslim can return to a life in accord with the will of Allah. The personal Jihad, however, would continue
throughout life. No one should be mislead into thinking that the acts of politically/ economically powerful people who use Jihad (and
other religious terms) for their purposes are representative of the faith and its followers. They are no more representative of the
Islamic faith as Pope Urban II and the participants of the Inquisition are of Catholicism or Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin are of their
respective nations.
2 Prohibition against changing the words of ALLAH. To a Muslim, no human has the ability to be Allah's editor.
3The Time: 570-632 CE. Please note here that the dates are given with consideration to Western reckoning methods. Islamic
calendrical calculations are lunar in nature. Therefore, there are 12 full moons in one lunar/ Islamic year. No correction is applied to
synchronize the calendar with the seasons/ sun. Therefore, a holy day could fall within the Summer season one year and several
years later fall within the Fall season. This period spans the life of The Prophet.
4 His family/ clan was called Hashem. The clan has received a great deal of prestige since because of this. Thus, for example, the
King of Jordan and Saudi Arabia are of this clan. Jordan actually includes the ancient kingdom of the Hashemites.
5 Muhammad is the model of righteous living for all Muslim [refer to the Hindu concept of 'The Ideal'/ Guru found in the lesson notes
on Hinduism.]. The Hadith is the compilation of words spoken by The Prophet other than the Quranic verse which is attributed to
Allah only.
6 Hijra: 622 CE in Western reckoning and 1 AH in the Islamic calendar. 'Hijra' is Arabic for 'Journey'.

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These and other ethical rules in the Qur-an are 'qualified' or change under certain circumstances. Therefore, the ill, pregnant,
elderly or young children are not expected to fast. Clearly, there are over-arching principles within the Qur-an that qualify all
references to righteous/ ethical behavior. Why the variation? An underlying foundational belief, for example, in all the great
monotheistic faiths is that human life is sacred (refer to The Dignity of Man concept). This is one of the principles elevated to
preeminence by the Hebrews. Therefore, anything that could possibly harm body and/ or soul must be avoided. Someone, for
instance, who cant perform the pilgrimage to Mecca because it would create economic hardship, would not be viewed as unfaithful
and would expect to still receive Allahs mercy and love (NOT PUNISHMENT).
Teacher Note: Here, as in any academic attempt to study beliefs and practices of peoples, the sources include scholarly work as
well as philosophical/ religious texts. Presentation of any philosophical/ religious text is to facilitate study, acquire appreciation, and
enliven discussion of the traditions that produced them. In no form, content or intent, are the materials presented to teach and/ or
proselytize any belief system. No particular denomination, if applicable, is chosen over another. The basic tenets of the philosophy
or faith as presented here are meant to transcend any deviations that currently separate the denominations.
Materials/Sources:Refer to the course calendar for additional assignments and pertinent due dates.
The Qur-an

World History: Patterns of Interaction

http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/welcome/?article&id=931 (26 Nov.07)