Monotheistic Religions Flashcards
0
Q
2nd pillar of Islam
A
- prayer/ salah
- each individual has a direct relationship with god
- pray 5 times a day (dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, evening)
- can pray in any clean place
- must face toward Mecca when pray
1
Q
1st pillar of Islam
A
- faith/ shahadah
- “la illah ill Allah wa-Muhammad rasul Allah
- there is no god but god and Muhammad is the prophet/messenger of god
- Muslims total commintment, acceptance, and submission to god
2
Q
3rd pillar of Islam
A
- almsgiving/ charity/ zakat
- calculate and set aside 2.5% of net worth/ possessions for the needy
- when set aside purified, act encourages growth
3
Q
4th pillar of Islam
A
- fasting/ sawn
- must fast during the holy month of Ramadan
- it purifies you and gives you a richer perception of god
- makes you more aware of the sufferings of the poor
- fast until sunset– break with a special meal called Iftar
4
Q
5th pillar of Islam
A
- pilgrimage/haji
- go to Mecca at least once Ina lifetime
- peak of religious life
- represents pilgrimage/ ritual Muhammad performed going to Mecca
- 2 million people celebrate together wearing white (to show equality and the expanse of Islam)
5
Q
Qibla
A
- direction of Mecca
- orienting the mosque toward Mecca
- worshipers face this wall during prayers
6
Q
Mihrab
A
- a niche that indicates the direction of Mecca
7
Q
Difference between qibla and mihrab
A
The qibla is the direction Muslims pray (toward Mecca), the mihrab is a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla. The wall in which the mihrab is built is known as the qibla wall.
8
Q
Minbar
A
- Pulpit
- the prayer leader is called imam which means “man of knowledge”
9
Q
Minaret
A
- Used to call Muslims to prayer
- never in sync
10
Q
Mosque domes
A
- some mosques have one or more large domes at the top of the main structure
- often highly decorated
- a crescent moon serves as a reminder of Islam’s lunar calendar
- stars are also common because the qur’an speaks of stars as one of the signs of Allah
11
Q
Apse
A
Generally in the shape of a half circle with a domed ceiling
12
Q
Chapels
A
Cathedrals often contained several smaller chapels in the honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and other saints
13
Q
Towers (Christian)
A
Some towers contained bells used to call Christians to worship
14
Q
Cathedrals
A
- often orients on an east-west axis
- early morning sun comes into Mary’s chapel first– a reminder of Jesus coming into the world though Mary
- in medieval times chairs only in choir (congegation stood while clergy, nuns, and monks sat)
- later Christian ritual placed benches in the nave
- cathedrals official house of the bishop
- the Orthodox Church has basilicas rather than cathedrals
15
Q
The ark
A
- the holy cabinet
- contains the Torah scroll
- because Jewish prayers are always meant to be spoken toward Jerusalem the ark is always placed on the wall which faces Jerusalem
16
Q
Torah scroll
A
- protected by the ark
- kept inside a case and behind an inner curtain and exterior doors
17
Q
Ner tamid
A
- the eternal lamp
- in front of and slightly above the ark
- symbolizes the commitment to keep a light burning outside the ark at all times
18
Q
Bimah
A
- readers desk
- Torah carried to bimah to be read in the preen sense of the congregation
19
Q
Amud
A
An additional lower lectern in some synagogues
20
Q
Orthodox synagogues
A
- men and women are in separate sections with the women either in the balcony, to one side of the room, to the back of the rooms, or in a section separated from the men by a wall or curtain called a mechitzah
- the separation is intended to keep all attention on god and prayers
21
Q
Jewish synagogue
A
- important gathering place for community
- central place of ritual and devotion is the Jewish home
- offers the community a place to gather for certain prayers and rituals, for education, for charity, a center for care of the sick and needy members of the faith
- often classrooms, a library, and a social gathering hall in addition to sanctuary
22
Q
Ka’aba
A
- the cube-shaped building In the center of the mosque
- embedded in the southwest corner of the cube is a black stone important to Islam
- this is the place Muslims face when they pray
- pilgrims required to walk 7 times around the ka’aba counterclockwise
- the circumbulation, the tawaf, is performed at other times but is most dramatic during haji when millions of people are gathered in this place on the same day
23
Q
Ihram clothing
A
The white seamless clothes pilgrims wear on haji which signifies that they are all equal I the eyes of god
24
Bar/ bat mitzvah
- The ceremony at age 13 acknowledging them as a Jewish adult in the community (count in a minyan)
- bat mitzvahs are a relatively recent tradition in Judaism and acknowledged only in the more liberal movements like reformed and reconstructionist but not orthodox)
25
Yamaka or kippah
The cap worn in reverence to The Lord
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Tallit
The prayer shawl, which signifies the wish to commune with The Lord
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Tzitzit
At the four corners of the prayer shawl they are long knotted fringes/ strings which remind the Jews of their religious obligations and the commandments of god (yahweh)
28
Icon
- religious image of a sacred person
- for orthodox or Eastern Christians is a kind of window into heaven, rich with religious symbols
- not worshipped, but venerated, and are a teaching tool
- seated figures are typical
- commonly painted on wood
- Orthodox Church prohibits 3-d figures (statues) of a Sacred person and does not allow pictures of god
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Russian Orthodox Church
- Cyrillic alphabet
- established by missionaries from the Greek Orthodox Church
- Greek alphabet resembles Russian
30
Kufic style (Arabic script)
- Arabic (like Hebrew) is a Semitic language
- Arabic considered holy to Muslims because it is the language of the Quran revealed to the prophet Mohammad
- prohibition of pictures led to an emphasis on calligraphy
31
Mohammad
- gods messenger
- performed no miracles
- only a man
- died a natural death
32
Creation story
- Jews and Christians both have the creation story from genesis
- emphasis of gods creation of the world in 6 days and resting on Shabbat (the sabbath)
- the idea of creation, making something out of nothing is unique to middle eastern religious thought
33
Jerusalem
- al quds by Palestrina Arabs
- holy to Judaism-- the last judgment will take place here and the Kingdom of Israel was here
- holy to Christians-- Christ lived part of his life and was crucified, buried, and arose from the dead here
- holy to Islam-- Mohammad ascended into heaven here on his Night Journey
34
Pictorial representation
- prohibited by Jews and Muslims
- less observed by Muslims outside Arabia after Mohammed's death
- most Muslims are eastern
- Indonesia biggest Muslim country by population
35
Circumcision
- practiced is Judaism and Islam
- Judaism baby is 8 days old
- Muslim usually from about 7 years old to puberty
- Muslim social event
- not a religious obligation for Christians
- common in some places for hygiene/ medical reasons
- practice is Semitic and middle eastern in origin
36
Wailing wall
- an ark at the western wall
- all that remains of the second temple (built in 516 BCE to replace the first temple which had been destroyed 70 years earlier)
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Teffelin
Leather straps wrapped around the head and arms with a box placed on the forehead with the verses from the Torah
38
Garden tomb
- outside the walls of Jerusalem
- thought to be one of the places Jesus might have been buried after he was crucified and from which he arose from the dead of Easter
- a circular boulder was placed in front of the tomb
- was a traditional Jewish burial
- Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet but do not accept the divinity or death or resurrection of Jesus, instead they believe he ascended into heaven
39
Santa Sophia/ Hagia Sophia
- once the holiest church in Christianity locate in Constantinople (now turkey)
- Byzantine empire defeated by Ottoman Empire in 1453
- city renamed Istanbul and church converted into mosque by plastering over mosaic images and adding 4 minarets to the outside
- after WWII the building became a museum and the mosaics were wonderfully preserved under the plaster
40
Masjid
- aka mosque
| - has 4 minarets (towers from which worshipers are called to prayer)
41
Muezzin
- calls worshipers to prayer
- one of Mohammad's companions, bilal, an Ethiopian African with a beautiful voice was the first muezzin
- mosque/ masjids usually have speakers mounted on the minaret so the muezzin can announce the call to prayer without having to climb the minaret
42
The last supper
- the evening before Jesus was crucified
- the origin of communion came from this
- Jesus and his disciples were gathered to celebrate Passover
- the name Passover comes from the last of the 10 plagues-- death of the first born, the Jews were instructed to mark their doors with lambs blood so The Lord knew to pass over
43
Passover sedar
- celebrating the barley harvest season and the deliverance of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt
- no leaven may be used in the bread, because the bread did not have time to rise when running from Egyptians
- un fermented wine is drunk because it did not have time to ferment
- salt water represents the tears of bondage
- horseradish represents the bitterness
- Apple and honey represents mortar and sweetness
44
Maronite (Christian)
- accept the supremacy of the pope but follow their our rite
- largest Christian group in Lebanon
- there are also important Christian Arabs in Egypt, Syria, and other places, therefore the term Arab does not mean Muslim
