Islam Flashcards
What is a hadith?
An individual narrated report of Muhammad’s life
What is a Sunnah?
the record of the teachings, deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad
What is the difference between hadith and sunnah?
sunnah is the collection of hadith
What are 4 key beliefs of Islam?
- Tawhid ‘the oneness of Allah’
- The Shahada
- Rusul (prophets)
- salat (daily prayer)
What are the steps of the Hajj in order?
- Meequat
- Mecca
- Mina valley
- Plain of Arafat
- Muzdalifa
- Return to Mina
- Mecca again
What does Hajj mean?
to ‘set out with a purpose’
What does the Qur’an say about the Hajj?
‘Perform the pilgrimage and the visit for Alla’
When does it take place?
Thus-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar
What is meequat?
- the preparation stage that takes place in border regions near Mecca
- A person arrives with their status and their name, but leaves this stage as equal to everyone else
- There is ritual washing and pilgrims reach a state of IHRAM (purity)
What happens at Mecca?
The Hajj rites:
- Circling the Ka’ba 7 times, rushing between Hagar’s hills, drinking from the Zamzam well
What happens at the mina valley?
Prayer and sleep away from civilisation
What happens at the plain of arafat?
‘Day of Standing Together’ - the key part of the pilgrimage - skipping this step invalidates the Hajj
What happens at Muzdalifah?
Collect stones for throwing later
Ritual sacrifice
What happens on the return to Mina?
Throw stones at the Jamras, representing the devil and temptation
How does the Hajj represent the beliefs of Islam? (5)
- Tawhid: giving up time to dedicate to Allah
- Walking around the Ka’ba literally places the church at the centre of the person’s life, representing putting Allah first (shahada)
- Umma - representing community of faith
- Follows the footsteps of Abraham - belief in prophets
- Rejection of temptation represented by throwing stones at Jamras
What is the significance of the Hajj for the individual? (5)
- Takes people away from the bombardment of daily life to focus on their faith
- pushes people out of their comfort zone so they are forced to submit to Allah
- State of Ihram: pure state of mind that strengthens them as a Muslim and a person
- Opportunity to reflect on past wrongs in a clear way
- They are able to contemplate how to best live their life, and implement this after the pilgrimage
What is the significance of the Hajj for the community? (4)
- Usually one person is supported by a community - this brings them together through fundraising and a secondary experience of the Hajj
- Millions of pilgrims validate the value and adherence of Islam by participating
- Reminder of what is important is faith, not more superficial elements of life
- Re-enacts significant events in Islam - doing so as a community improves the Umma and makes it more spiritual and memorable
What were the contributions of Khadijah? (6)
- Supported Muhammad as he received the Qur’an
- Helped Muhammad realise his role
- She began spreading the message of peaceful submission to Islam, using her influence
- She characterised the religion as one of equality and generosity through donating all her wealth to it
- She was the first real Muslim, and the first witness of the Shahada beliefs
- She demonstrated that she could be the equal to men in a male dominated world, attracting women to be empowered
What tribe was Khadijah from?
Quraysh tribe
What did Muhammad say about Khadijah?
‘She believed in me when no one else did: the accepted Islam when people rejected me: and she helped and comforted me when there was no one else to lend me a helping hand’
What was the impact of Khadijah’s contributions? (5)
- She helped deliver the Qur’an which became the very basis for Islamic teaching and is still used today
- She became an influential advocate and embodies the teachings - set foundation for subsequent followers
- The demonstrated that accepting Islam has to be life-changing
- She is a great role model for Islamic women, as they see her as living all facets of Islamic life
- She is honoured today as one of the four most perfect women - people want to emulate her to reach this level of perfection
What is a name given to Khadijah?
al-Tahira (the Pure One)
- makes her a further inspiration as followers look at her actions and strive to be like her, hence living full lives
How does Khadijah’s life reflect the teachings of Islam? (4)
- The 1. Zakat (charity): gave up everything for her faith
- Tawhid: had complete faith in Muhammad and Allah, and was the first to submit to Allah
- Modelled the belief that everyone is equal through fighting to abolish slavery
- Umma: was one of the first in the community of Islam - she began the first community of faith
What are the four parts of Shariah Law?
- The Qur’an
- The Sunnah of the Prophet
- Analogical Reasoning (Qiyas)
- Consensus (Ijima)
What the principles behind Islamic ethics? (5)
- the sanctity of human life
- the belief that only Allah has power over life and death
- Life is considered to be an extraordinary miracle
- Human life is the most special form of life, as it attains a spiritual dimension
- When faced with two choices, choose the lesser of two evils
