Islam Final!!!!!!!!!! Flashcards
Hadith of Gabriel
- very famous hadith that is the most common, in terms of teaching about Islam; Features the Archangel Gabriel and Muhammad’s followers; The Angel Gabriel relays various tenets of Islam to Muhammad
Ihsan
Creating beauty and goodness, acting as if you could see God, and if not, knowing that he can see you
Tawhid
To declare oneness of God
Shirk
Literally means “to share/associate with”, associated with polytheism, ascribing things that belong to God to anything that is not God; Example: Cheating: someone is placing their desire for sex or romance outside of their religious obligation and God’s desire for them to honor their marriage
Kufr
Unbelief;disbelief; implies covering up what one knows to be true
Give an overview of the Hadith Gabriel. What happenss? What are the Prophet’s answers to each question?
The Prophet and some of his companions run into a suspiciously clean stranger in the middle of the desert, who appears to know the Prophet very well. The angel continues to ask Muhammad questions about Islam, of which he answers, to the bewilderment of his companions; the traveler is later revealed to be the archangel Gabriel
Overview of the Hadith Gabriel; What happens? What are the five questions that Gabriel asks? What are the Prophet’s answers to each question?
-the messenger of God is staring at the edge of an oasis with a few of his companions and he runs into a stranger, who he kneels at the feet of, and then the mysteriously clean traveler asks him about Islam. that angel is revealed to be the archangel Gabriel who teaches Muhammad the five pillars
- 2AG- What do you know about Submission? PM: : Peform the ritual prayer, pay akat, partake in prescribed tax, profess that there is no god except for God, and if you are able, make pilgrimage
- 2AG- Tell me about faith. PM: Faith means having faith in God, his angels, his books, messengers, and the last day
- Tell me about Ihasn; PM: Worship God as if you see him
- 2AG: Tell me about the hour; PM- I don’t know any more than you do
- 2AG: What are the Hour’s marks? PM: herddsmen wil build high buildings; enslaved women will give birth to their masters, children will not listen to their parents
How is God described in the Qur’an and the Hadith?
- God is traditionally given 99 name; some of which include : All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Just, Loving, creeator
- God is One
- Allah=God, the only God
- God is beyond gender, neither male nor female, has qualities that we associate with or ascribe to both men and women
Explain at least two rational arguments that Muslims made for the existence of God
Argument from design; the universe is too complex and detailed to be some sort of cosmic accident
- Expert testimony; central and original evidence of Prophet Muhammad, as well as the derivative and confirmatory evidence of his followers
- Prophets have existed throughout all of human history, vouching for God’s existence; prophets are morally impressive
What are the six articles of faith given in the hadith Gabriel? Briefly explain each article as understood in the Islamic tradition
Belief in:
1. The oneness of God
2. Angels
3. Sacred books of Allah
4. All of the prophets- All of God’s prophets are the conduit by which God speaks to humans: God “chooses” them, communication with God is constant and direct; there are aspects ascribed to them(EX. infallability–sometimes
5. Day of the Judgement
6. Divine Decree - that whatever happens in one’s life is preordained, and that believers should respond to the good or bad that befalls them with thankfulness or patience.
A few sentences about each
Explain at least one mystical argument that Muslim scholars made for the existence of God
Man is born with knowledge of God, in the heart(if the heart sees dimly, it is not performing its proper function)
* Fitra: innate/primordial disposition towards worshipping and seeking God
Its seeing has the same verdical truth as seeing w/ the eye
Human heart is a locus of perception—spiritual sense
Explain how Muslim scholars sought to reconcile free will and predestination in Islam. a) why are these concepts often percieved to be in tension? b.) what does the Qur’an say about each concept?
- they’re in conflict because people ask “if God knows that we will make bad decisions that’ll lead us to hell, why create us at all?
Qura’an: we have it and God gives it to us, endowing man with the ability to differentiate btwn good and evil; this free will equips man w/ the ability to shape his fate in the alfterlife, giving him two choices:righteousness or transgression
Predestination: God experiences time differently than us, or if you ask some, at all; He endowed everything with particular qualities and potentialities, made men with a limited sphere of it; Man has true freedome of choice, while at the same time, everything is predetermined by God; both exist at the same time
Compare and contrast humans, angels, and jinn in Islam.
Humans: Made of clay, possesses fitra, have a purpose of life, worships God, experiences God’s mercy and Free will
Angels: made of light and generally do not have free will, and interact with humans by conveying revelation, protecting humans, recording our deeds, and ecnouraging good deeds
Jinns; spirits made from smokeless fire, can be good or bad, with the purpose of their creation being to worship God. Can have religion and have usually little interaction with humans, with the “bad” ones being whisperers to humans, or outright possessing them, excorcising them typically involves reciting the Qur’an
Explain Muslim understanding of prophets; why and to whom does God send prophets? How many have there been? How many are mentioned in the Qur’an? Can prophets sin? How are their messages similar or different?
- Prophets are sent to every group of people, to maintain consistent and clean correspondence with God, via signs. There have been 124,000 prophets total in Islam, the Qur’an mentions 24, with only five having their own written records; Prophets are all similar in the way that they all profess monotheism and moral accoutnability to humanity, with the differences being specific rituyals or forms of worships, as well as differing rules, depending on the time and context; Prophets are usally held to be unable to sin, but the extent to which the argument applies varies, some believe that prophets can’t commit major sin, but others say that they are completely infallable
Previous scriptures mentioned by the Qur’an
- Abraham-Suhur
- David-Psalms
- Jesus-the Gospel
- Moses-the Torah
Three signs of the coming of the end of the world, as recorded in the hadith
- Planets crasshing into each other
- The immediate feeling of the end of the world
- Abundance of police
- the Prophet interceding on man’s behalf
- Destructive rainfall
- Moral degradation
Three post-death events before heaven and hell; what arguments does the Qur’an make for the coming of a Day of Judgement?
- The grave- You go straight there after death, aware of the world, but unable to interact with it; the amount of time in the grave varies from person- to -person
- End of the World: day of ressurection in the Next world; end of the micro and macrosm; multiple signs;two angels of death determines one’s faith
- Day of Judgement
How are heaven and hell described?
Hell: Fire, torment, pain, anguish, regret, people can move between the two, but it is incredibly rare
Heaven: Garden: everything you wish for and more;rivers;fruits one cannot conceive, general things beyond human conception
Ablution/Wudu
Ritual in which one washes the mouth, nose, hands, forearms, face, head, and feet; if they had sexual intercourse before, genetalia, performed to be pure enough to touch the Qur’an and perform ritual prayer
Shahadah
“testimony” or bearing witness to a covenant that one renews with God, professing that there is no God but God; One of the five pillars
Salat
Canonical prayer; 3 times a day for most Shi’ites and 5 for most Sunni; WUdu must be performed beforehand, involves bowing and prostration, one of the five pillars of Islam
Zakat
2.5% charitable donation that the Qur’an deems suitable, wealth means money, as well as liquid assets
Ramadan
The ninth month on the Islamic lunar caledar; Month of daytime fasting, taking place when the Qur’an itself was revealed; between the new cresccent moon and new moon; different in every part of the world so it is not static, also has an equalizing effect
Hajj
Derived from pre-Islamic Arabia; Means “pilgrimage”; it was appropriated to Islam; is the pilgramage to Mecca and the surrounding rituals