History of Islam

Question 1

What is pre Islamic Arabia know as?

Answer 1

Jahilliya- a period of ignorance

Question 2

Political and social background

Answer 2

Families in clans in tribes
Each tribe has a leader called a shaykh
They deal with clan elders
People had loyalty to their clan/tribe
Raids of other tribes
Tribes offered protection

Question 3

Moral background?

Answer 3

Infanticide was common especially girls
Raids on other tribes was accepted
In cities: crime gambling drinking poverty prostitution

Question 4

What did pagans think?

Answer 4

Nomads and pagans
Had idols that represent different spirits or gods
Tribes had special idols
Allah was a god
3 daughters of allah- Al-hat, Al uzza, Manat
Pilgrimage to Mecca to worship idols
360 idols in ka’ba in Mecca
Polytheism

Question 5

Religious background?

Answer 5

Pagans
Nomads
Judaism
Zoroastrianism
Christianity
Hanif

Question 6

Zoroastrian beliefs?

Answer 6

Ahura Mazda is god
Gave birth to twin spirits- Angra Mainya and Spenta Mainya
Good and bad spirits to represent our choices

Question 7

Where was Judaism in Arabia?

Answer 7

Medina

Question 8

Christian beliefs?

Answer 8

Different schools of thought about the nature of Jesus

Was he fully human, fully divine or a mixture?

Question 9

What is a hanif?

Answer 9

Believed in one god

Had a strict code of conduct

Question 10

Variations in the nature of Jesus?

Answer 10

Monophysite- one nature, simultaneously human and divine

Nestorian- his human and divine natures were individually distinct from each other

Docetist/ Gnostics- he only appeared to be human but was really spiritual

Question 11

What did Muhammad think of jahiliyya?

Answer 11

Didn’t like polytheism or the gambling, poverty, drinking etc

Started meditating more in the hills outside Mecca

Question 12

The night of power

Answer 12

Cave Hira, mount Nur

Angel Jibril
Only one God and one message
People have distorted the message and need to get back on the straight path
Muhammad is the seal of the prophets and there will be no more after him

Question 13

What did he do with the first revelation?

Answer 13

He didn’t know if it was real so went to Khadijah and her cousin Waraqa
They convinced him and he began to preach in Mecca
Khadija wrote them down for him

Question 14

What did he preach?

Answer 14

Monotheism
Slavery is wrong
Gambling drinking etc all wrong
Women are equal
Regular prayer times

Question 15

Who reverted first?

Answer 15

Abu Talib- his uncle

Abu Bakr- his best friend

Question 16

The night journey

Answer 16

Muhammad taken on a spiritual journey
Winged beast called a buraq
Went to Jerusalem then to heaven and met other prophets
Prayer negotiated for 5 times a day

Question 17

Why did people dislike Mohammed?

Answer 17

Religious grounds
He rejected polytheism

Economic grounds
Challenged the pilgrimage to Mecca which brought money

Question 18

The Hijra

Answer 18

Because of people hating muhammed in Mecca they planned to kill him
They went to his home but his cousin Ali took his place in his bed to fool them
Muhammed and Abu Bakr his in a cave and a spider spun a web over the opening to protect them
They then went on to medina

Question 19

What did muhammed do in Medina?

Answer 19

He let a camel choose where to build his house so as not to offend anyone
He thought Jews would be easier to convert because of their monotheism

Question 20

How did muhammed convert the people of medina?

Answer 20

He let them have their old tribal system with him as an overall leader
He earned the nickname Trustworthy One
Offered protection
Introduced Zakah to support the needy
Changed direction of prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca

Question 21

How to unite medina?

Answer 21

He wrote a formal constitution to protect from outside attack
Zakah for the needy
He married tribes together
Offered protection after battles
Established conditions for trade

Question 22

How did he deal with threat from Mecca?

Answer 22

He United medina so they stood together against he threat
He carried out raids on camel caravans and trained his followers
He’s a good negotiator

Question 23

How did he convert the whole of Arabia?

Answer 23

He married the daughter of the head of a clan and got his followers to do the same
He wrote to powerful people in surrounding empires about islam
The battle of Badr raised his profile
People liked the idea of the ummah

Question 24

What was the Battle of Badr?

Answer 24

Probably most influential battle
Initiated by muhammeds order to attack a Quraysh caravan during the sacred month when war was banned
It is argued as the lesser of two evils
300 Muslims vs 1000 meccans
He was successful which convinced people to convert