Chapter 9 Flashcards
Where was the homeland of Islam?
In Arabia
The central region of the Arabian Peninsula had long been inhabited by whom?
by nomadic Arabs, known as Bedouins, who herded their sheep and camels in seasonal migrations.
How did the Bedouins live?
They lived in fiercely independent clans and tribes, which often engaged in bitter blood feuds with one another.
What did the Bedouins recognize?
a variety of gods, ancestors, and nature spirits; valued personal bravery, group loyalty, and hospitality; and greatly treasured their highly expressive oral poetry.
In scattered oases, the highlands of Yemen, and interior mountain communities practiced what?
sedentary village-based agriculture.
Which city in Arabia came to occupy a distinct role?
Mecca
What was Mecca home to?
Mecca was the site of the Kaaba, the most prominent religious shrine in Arabia.
What was the Kaaba?
the most prominent religious shrine in Arabia, which housed representations of some 360 deities and was the destination for many pilgrims
Who was Mecca’s dominant tribe?
the Quraysh who had come to control access to the Kaaba and became wealthy through taxing local trade
Where was Arabia located?
On the periphery of two established and rival civilizations of that time - the Byzantine Empire, heir to the Roman world, and the Sassanid Empire, heir to the imperial traditions of Persia
Which religions lived among the Arabs?
Many Jews and Christians, as well as some Zoroastrians and their monotheistic ideas, became widely known.
When was Muhammad Ibn Abdullah born?
570 C.E. and died in 632 C.E.
Where was Muhammad Ibn Abdullah born?
was born in Mecca to a Quraysh family
As a young boy, what happened to Muhammad?
Lost his parents, came under the care of an uncle and worked as a shepherd to pay his keep
At the age of twenty-five, who did Muhammad marry?
He married a wealthy widow, Khadija, herself a prosperous merchant, with whom he fathered six children.
What occupation did Muhammad later take that took him as far north as Syria?
he was a trader
According to Muslim tradition, when do the revelations begin?
In 610 and continued periodically over the next twenty-two years.
Where are the revelations recorded in?
Recorded in the Quran and became the sacred scriptures of Islam
On the arid mountains outside the city when Muhammad undertook periods of withdrawal and meditation, what happened?
The religious experience left him convinced that he was Allah’s messenger to the Arabs, commisioned to bring them a scripture in their own language.
What was the core of the faith, Islam? How was the Quran used?
Intended to be recited rather than simply read for information, the Quran, Muslims claim, when heard in its original Arabic, conveys nothing less than the very presence of the Divine.
How was the Quran beautiful?
Its unmatched poetic beauty, miraculous to Muslims, convinced many that it was indeed a revelation from God
How were Islam beliefs?
Religiously, it was radically monotheistic, presenting Allah as the only God, the all-powerful Creator, good, just, and ever merciful.
How was Muhammad viewed?
As “the Messenger of God,” Muhammad presented himself in the line of earlier prophets - Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and many others.
How did Muhammad fall in the line of earlier prophets?
He was the last, “the seal of the prophets, bearing God’s final revelation to humankind.
How di Islam differ from the Jews, Christians, and Arabs?
They feel that J, C, and A have deviated from the original pure faith. They see the Jews have wrongly conceived themselves as a “chosen people”; Christians made Jesus into the Son of God, and the Arabs are too polytheistic. The Quran was corrective
What was the primary obligation of believers in the Muslim world?
Submission to Allah (“Muslim” means “one who submits”) and the means of achieving a God-conscious life in this world and a place in Paradise after death.
What prevailing social practices did the Quran denounce?
the hoarding of wealth, the exploitation of the poor, the charging of high rates on interest on loans, corrupt business deals, the abuse of women, and the neglect of widows and orphans
What does the umma mean?
The just and moral society of Islam that was a community of all believers, replacing tribal, ethnic, or racial identities.
Such a society based on umma would be a “___________________,” according to the Quran
“witness over the nations”, for according to the Quran “You are the best community evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.”
What was the umma to be, which was bound by a common belief rather than by territory, language, or tribe
was to be a new and just community
The core message of the Quran - the remembrance of God - was effectively summarized in what for believers?
5 requirements known as the Pillars of Islam.
What is the first pillar of Islam?
expressed the heart of the Islamic message: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”
What is the second pillar of Islam?
it was ritual prayer, performed five times a day. Which included cleansing, bowing, kneeling, and prostration, which expressed believers’ submission to Allah and provided a frequent reminder, amid the busyness of daily life, that they were living in the presence of God.
What is the third pillar of Islam?
Almsgiving reflected the Quran’s repeated demands for social justice by requiring believers to give generously to support the poor and needy of the community.
What is the fourth pillar of Islam?
established a month of fasting during Ramadan, which meant abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations from the first light of dawn to sundown. It provided an occasion for self-purification and a reminder of the needs of the hungry.
What is the fifth pillar of Islam?
encouraged a pilgrimage to Mecca, known as the hajj, during which believers from all over the Islamic world assembled once a year and put on identical simple white clothing as they reenacted key events in Islamic history.
What is the hajj?
a pilgrimage to Mecca where believers reenacted key events in Islamic History
What was a further requirement of believers sometimes called the sixth pillar?
was “struggle,” or jihad in Arabic. Which was an interior personal effort of each believer against greed and selfishness, a spiritual striving toward living a God-conscious life
