Hinduism and Islam

Question 1

What does the word ‘Islam’ mean?

Answer 1

“submission to God”; root meaning of word ‘slm’ means peace, safety, security

Question 2

What does Muslim mean?

Answer 2

“person that submits to God”

Question 3

When + where was Muhammad born?

Answer 3

570 CE in Mecca, Arabia

Question 4

Muhammad facts

Answer 4

• Tribe he’s from called Quraysh
• His family were guardians of the kaaba in Mecca– hundreds of diff gods in kaaba **

-Died 632CE

Question 5

When did Muhammad’s vision happen + what happened?

Answer 5

610 CE, during Ramadan he was doing lonely cave prayer, gets visited by Gabriel; tells Muhammad there’s only 1 God & that he’s now God’s messenger

• Muhammad was illiterate– he recited God’s revelations aloud and it was written down in what’s now the Qur’an

Question 6

Hijrah

Answer 6

622CE – Muhammad’s followers go from Mecca to Medina

• sidenote: This date marks year 1 in Islamic calendar

Question 7

Return to Mecca year?

Answer 7

630CE; Muhammad comes w/ massive army– Mecca immediately surrenders peacefully– Muhammad destroys false idols in Kaaba

Question 8

What caused Sunni-Shia split?

Answer 8

Abu Bakr (Muhammad father-in-law) elected as first caliph

• Sunni believe Abu Bakr was rightly elected
• Shia believe Muhammad chose Ali (his son-in-law) as first caliph
• Split violent; lead to Husayn (Ali’s son) being killed
• Last 4 leaders referred to as Rightly Guided Caliphs; last 4 ever recognized by entire muslim population

Question 9

Caliph

Answer 9

Successor

Question 10

Sharia

Answer 10

Islamic Law

Question 11

Accounts of Muhammad’s actions and words outside of the Quran

Answer 11

Hadith

Question 12

1. The Creed

Answer 12

No God but God; Muhammad is messenger of God - declaration of faith

Question 13

2. Salut (prayer)

Answer 13

Pray facing Mecca at specific time of day - obligatory prayer

Question 14

3. Sawm (fasting)

Answer 14

Fasting during month of Ramadan – during month that Muhammad had Quran revealed

(sunrise-sunset; follows lunar calendar)

Question 15

4. Hajj (pilgrimmage)

Answer 15

Visit Mecca during specific time of year, go to Kaaba and circle it counterclockwise 7 times to honor it (goal is at least once in a Muslim’s lifetime to visit it)

Question 16

5. Zakat (Almsgiving)

Answer 16

Give certain portion of income to charity (~2.5%) - compulsory giving

Question 17

Prayer performed 5x/day

Answer 17

Salat

Question 18

One who issues the call to prayer from the minaret of a mosque

Answer 18

Muezzin

Question 19

(Islam) building for public community worship

Answer 19

Mosque

Question 20

The holiday that celebrates Husayn’s martyrdom (Shia-specific)

Answer 20

Ashura

Question 21

Scientific and Cultural Achievements:

Answer 21

• Due to drawing ppl. banned ornate and creative caligraphy came about
• Astronomy and geography huge development
• Gardens and fountains developed in really cool ways
• ** Philosophy; ‘Western Canon’ was preserved by Muslims during European Dark Ages
• (Sufi-Specific) Quawwali; Sufi-devotional music that got popular even w non-Sufis; popular in Northern India

Question 22

Not pork; ritually slaughtered in proper way (Islam)

Answer 22

Halal

Question 23

Islamic mysticism

Answer 23

Sufism;

• word came from woolly scarf or the term for ‘divine one’

Question 24

Sufi term referring to a saint

Answer 24

Wali

Question 25

Sufism notes:

Answer 25

- Began as reform movement to counter material value + wealth accumulated by empire - Taught to experience god's presence + abstinence - Emphasis on past sufis; people wld go to their burial sites to pray kinda like catholic saints - Song and dance rhythm incorporated into practices - Turkey had whirling dervishes; spinning to imitate divinely ordained motions of universe

Question 26

Person who practices self-discipline and abstention

Answer 26

Ascetic

Question 27

(1058-1111) practiced Sufism and wrote work known as 'The Revivification of Religious Sciences' and argued that mysticism and orthodoxy can be compatible

Answer 27

Al-Ghazi

Question 28

Indus Valley Civilization

Answer 28

- Came into India ~1500 BCE; their merging resulted in Hinduism - Brought in caste system - Brought in ritual slaughter (ritual fire-sacrifices; goats; eagle-fire thing) - Brought in political system based on nomadic movement; cattle worship

Question 29

Ancient language of Hindus

Answer 29

Sanskrit

Question 30

Belief in one Universal soul

Answer 30

Brahman; - formless, genderless source of all reality -Brahman is the universe and all the material that makes up universe

Question 31

Belief in an immortal, individual soul

Answer 31

- When you die, soul moves to new body - Kind of body soul inhabits next is called karma

Question 32

Soul in Hinduism

Answer 32

Atman

Question 33

What is karma?

Answer 33

Karma is action-- - Usually good or bad actions that affect society - our actions today affect our souls' future

Question 34

Belief in Moksha

Answer 34

- Goal in Hindu life is to get back to Brahman; if Hindu does this they're freed from moksha aka cycle of life and death - Achieved via realizing yr one-ness w/ Brahman

Question 35

What are the Vedas?

Answer 35

- Hindu books of secret knowledge (written in Sanskrit) - Four of them-- divinely revealed to ancient Hindu sages

Question 36

What is dharma?

Answer 36

Proper behavior; maintains balance in universe-- every being has its own dharma - For humans its based on caste

Question 37

The creator, swan, not commonly worshipped

Answer 37

Brahma

Question 38

Preserver, several avatars, bird, blue complexion on snake, incarnated nine times with one still to come

Answer 38

Vishnu

Question 39

God of intellect and remover of obstacles, rides mouse, son of Shiva and Parvati, elephant head

Answer 39

Ganesh

Question 40

A god and mythical king; a form of Vishnu, ramayana, wife sita; bravery, strength

Answer 40

Rama

Question 41

The monkey god - A noble hero and devotee of Lord Rama -courage, hope, knowledge, intellect, and devotion - holds a mace and has a picture of Lord Rama tattooed on his chest.

Answer 41

Hanuman

Question 42

A god associated with divine playfulness; a form of Vishnu, always carries flute, child and prankster, around cows for cowherding

Answer 42

Krishna

Question 43

goddess of time and death, portrayed as dark and violent, the goddess who was born of the forehead of Durga to kill demons; Shiva's consort

Answer 43

kali

Question 44

mother goddess, god over evil, tiger, created from Shiva's left half, god of retribution and justice, fiercer form of parvati, rides tiger

Answer 44

Durga

Question 45

God that the V-Shaped forehead symbol symbolizes

Answer 45

Vishnu

Question 46

God that 3-shaped horizontal lines symbolizes

Answer 46

Shiva

Question 47

Who's symbolized by the dot symbol on forehead?

Answer 47

Goddesses

Question 48

What is Hindutva?

Answer 48

"Hinduness"; founded by V.D. Savarkrar; need ancestor blood in India and see India as fatherland (Right-wing)

Question 49

Involved in R.S.S and assassinated Gandhi

Answer 49

Godse

Question 50

WHPA

Answer 50

Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America - tries to change U.S. textbooks thru lobbying

Question 51

BJP

Answer 51

India People's Party (rose to power) -plays on middle-class desires and economic growth - Babri Masjid dispute (train violence); police step aside or actively participate-- governor complicit -- said governor (Shri Narendra Modi) now prime minister

Question 52

Whom do Hindutva consider their enemies?

Answer 52

Muslims and those w/ non-Indian blood

Question 53

Why do they dislike Gandhi?

Answer 53

Hindu nationalists have long resented Gandhi because they believe that he pioneered the appeasement of religious minorities.

Question 54

What were the ways that Hindutva gradually gained popularity and power in India?

Answer 54

- Played on anti-Muslim rhetoric - R.S.S coming to villages; trained w/ youths--- direct mimicry of European fascism - Modi (current India prime minister) played on middle-class issues to gain power while instilling tidbits of Hindutva rhetoric into his governing

Question 55

What are the goals of hindutva?

Answer 55

Asserting that Indian national identity and culture are inseparable from the religion of Hinduism

Question 56

A human-value ranking system based on your lineage; not about 'class' but about 'purity'

Answer 56

Caste

Question 57

Top of caste system

Answer 57

Brahmin (priests)

Question 58

Second-place in caste system

Answer 58

Kshatriyas (warriors)

Question 59

Third-place in caste system

Answer 59

Vaisyas (Merchants)

Question 60

Fourth place in caste system

Answer 60

Sundra (Laborers)

Question 61

People who are excluded from caste system; seen as untouchable

Answer 61

Dalits (outcasts)