World Religions II Final

Question 1

Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258)

Answer 1

The Abbasid family claimed descendancy from Muhammad’s uncle, Abu Talib. During this dynasty the capital was moved from Damascus to Baghdad. “[This period] was one of wealth and continual advances in science, literature, and mathematics [along with] Muslim missions eastward into India and ultimately China.” Because of the vastness of the empire, control crumbled “and many regional caliphates emerged that took control of various regions in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.” (C 109) The Great Seljuk Empire (1037-1194) arose at this time as well as the Mongol Empire (1206-1368).

Question 2

Abu Bakr (632-34)

Answer 2

Muhammad’s first successor and his father-in-law “as well as his companion during the Hijira to Medina in 622.” (C 106) He expanded Muhammad’s empire after defeating tribes who had defected from their oaths to the Muslim Ummah.

Question 3

Abu Talib

Answer 3

the paternal uncle of Muhammad and the leader of the Hashim clan

Question 4

Ali (656-61)

Answer 4

the last caliph during the Rightly Guided Caliphate and the cousin, as well as the son-in-law, of Muhammad. The First Civil War (656-61) took place during his reign. He moved the capital of the empire from Medina to Kufa. He was murdered by the Kharijites in 661. His followers were called Shiites.

Question 5

Caliphs

Answer 5

successors to Muhammad in ruling over his empire.

Question 6

Eid al-Fitr

Answer 6

“The Feast of the Breaking of the Fast,” celebrated at the end of Ramadan. In this “Muslims pay a special tax to the needy and exchange presents with one another.”

Question 7

Five pillars of Islam: “the foundation of Islamic practice.” (C 122; table 123)

Answer 7

The Five points of Islam: CPAFP

1) Confession: Belief in Allah and the final prophet of Muhammed
2) Prayer: Five prayers a day facing Kaaba in Mecca
3) Almsgiving (zakat; “purification”): Giving 2.5 percent of wealth to the needy
4) Fasting: Fasting in the month of Ramadan
5) Pilgrimage (Hajj): Making a pilgrimage to Mecca once in one’s lifetime

Question 8

Fivers, Seveners, Twelvers

Answer 8

Three sects among the Shiites that each believe differently on how many rightful imams there were after Muhammad (five, seven, or twelve). The Twelvers “are the overwhelming majority.” (C 127) They believe in an Imam who went into hiding in 941 AD (the “Hidden Imam”). This Imam will return as the Mahdi, “the Guided One,” the Messiah, on Judgment Day

Question 9

Hadith

Answer 9

“traditions”; “technically a narration of [Muhammad’s] life.” (C 117) These focus on Muhammad’s life rather than on Allah (which the Qur’an does). [The Authentic Six are held in the highest regard.] “The Hadith is the Qur’an in action.” (118)

Question 10

Hijra (622 AD)

Answer 10

“[the] secret journey Muhammad took to Medina in AD 622. . . .It marks the official beginning of the Islamic calendar: year one.” (C 106)

Question 11

Iblis

Answer 11

a jinn also known as Satan; he refused to bow down to Adam and led many other jinn to disobey God. God cast him down from heaven and now allows him to roam the earth and lead into destruction those straying away from the straight path. He (or Adam) is to blame for Eve’s eating of the forbidden tree, not Eve (Hawwa).

Question 12

Jihad

Answer 12

“holy war”; this can either be spiritual (inner wrestling) or physical war (battle against polytheists and unbelievers - how it is usually known). The reward for sacrificial death in jihad is Paradise and it’s rewards (e. g. lots and lots of wine).

Question 13

Jinn

Answer 13

energy-based creatures of Allah made of fire. They have a free will as humans do. Iblis (Satan) is one of these. Good jinn do not interact with humans; bad jinn tempt humans. Jinn are the only creatures of Allah that have a free will besides humans.

Question 14

Kaaba

Answer 14

Mecca, regarded by Muslims as “the holiest of shrines in Arabia” (E 33); believed to have been built by Abraham with Ishmael at the command of Allah.

Question 15

Khadijah

Answer 15

the wealthy, older wife of Muhammad; she died soon before he was forced to flee to Mecca.

Question 16

Mi’raj

Answer 16

“ascent”; took place in Muhammad’s 12th year of ministry. In this year he was suddenly taken from the Masjid al-Haram to the Masjid al-Aqsa - that is, from the sacred mosque of Mecca to the sacred mosque of Jerusalem. Traditionally it is said that he took a trip to heaven before coming back to Mecca, being taken up by Gabriel’s horse through the seven heavens to the highest heaven of Allah, where the mandatory prayers for Muslims were lessened from 50 to five. He wasn’t man enough to ask for less.

Question 17

Muhammed (570-632 AD)

Answer 17

an orphan at birth and formerly a successful merchant, he was confronted by the angel Gabriel in 610 AD at age 40 and given revelation from Allah. He was allowed from 613 on to publicly reveal the revelations from Allah. He fled Mecca in 622 AD to avoid assassination and began an Islamic empire in Medina, which he ruled until his death in 632 AD.

Question 18

Muhammad’s first vision (610 AD)

Answer 18

in a cave on Mount Hira - which he would travel to once a year from Mecca - when Muhammad was 40 years old, while he was asleep, the angel Gabriel suddenly entered the cave and began to squeeze the life out of Muhammad, demanding him to “read” (or “recite”). After Muhammad had said multiple times that he could not “read,” the angel let him go and said what would become Sura 96:1-4 of the Qur’an. (Muhammad then woke up, ran outside of the cave, and saw Gabriel standing off in the distance. At this he fled home to the comfort of Khadija.) The year 613 is when Allah began to allow Muhammad to tell those beyond his family and friends of the revelations he had received.

Question 19

Muslim (meaning of the term)

Answer 19

“beings or things that are completely surrendered or submitted to Allah.” (C 103) So, a tree is a Muslim; a flower is a Muslim; a Muslim is a Muslim.

Question 20

Night of Power

Answer 20

celebrated toward the end of Ramadan, this is “the anniversary of the night Muhammad received his first revelation of the Qur’an from Gabriel.” (C 124)

Question 21

Qur’an

Answer 21

(Lit. “Reading”/”Recitation”) The highest authority for Muslims. It is comprised of the revelations of Muhammad (from 610-632 AD), collected together after his death. It is the source of not only Muslim ritual-and-theological beliefs, but the arts, philosophy, Arabic grammar and language, calligraphy, etc. as well. (C 115) Abu Bakr is believed to have had the first Qur’an written down; Uthman codified the Qur’an into the version we have today. It has 114 Suras (chapters; “rows”). It is organized from the shortest to the longest Suras.

Question 22

Quraysh

Answer 22

Muhammad’s tribal clan; they tried to kill Muhammad while he was in Medina because he denounced their goddesses, the “daughters of Allah,” and their worship of these goddesses. This led to the Hijira of Muhammad in 622 AD.

Question 23

Rightly Guided Caliphate

Answer 23

the succession from Abu Bakr to Ali.
“[It] was seen as the golden age of Islam when the Ummah or community was ruled by Muhammad’s religious principles.” During this Rule the Sassanid Empire was defeated in Persia in 651 AD. The capital was moved by Ali from Medina to Kufa during this Caliphate. (table C. 107)

Question 24

Shari’a

Answer 24

Islamic law. Shari’a law is divided into two sections:

1) . divine-human regulations and
2) . human interrelationships.

These are both split into two categories:

1) . laws dealing with personal, individual behaviors and concerns
2) . laws involving communal, public issues (criminal law); this includes a body of law concerning jihad. (E 151)

Question 25

Shia vs. Sunni (know the beliefs of each group and their key differences)

Answer 25

Shias (Shiite, The Party of Ali)

• Succession of leadership based on heredity
• Constitutes 15 percent of Muslims
• Mainly in Iran, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon
• Divided into further divisions based on number of imams after Muhammad through Ali: Fivers, Seveners, Twelvers.
• [Imam is clergy, and is infallible and inspired in his legal and theological declarations]
• • [Direct line of succession ended decades ago, though imams were historically descendants of Fatima and Ali]

Sunni

• Succession of leadership based on character and not hereditary
• Constitutes 85 percent of Muslims
• Have their own Hadith or traditions of Muhammad distinct from the Shia
• [No concept of clergy; imam is leader of mosque, but not clergy]
• [Religious authority comes from Muslim legal scholars (ulama) and community (Ummah)]

Question 26

Shirk

Answer 26

(“association”) “[The] linking of anything in creation with the eternal God so as to offer it worship.” (E 60) Attributing divinity to and worshiping Jesus is shirk.

Question 27

Sura (know difference between Meccan and Medinan suras)

Answer 27

A sura (lit. “row”) is a chapter in the Qur’an. There are 114 of these in the Qur’an. Each gets its title from a word or theme in its respective chapter. (C 116-117)
Meccan Suras:
Oldest parts of the Qur’an (before Muhammad made the Hijira to Medina)
Emphasize:
The unity of God (his oneness in the midst of a polytheistic Mecca)
The legitimacy of Muhammad as a prophet (he was not originally received as one by the Meccans)
Medinan Suras:
Written after Muhammad’s Hijira to Medina
Written when the Muslim Ummah was strong in Medina
Emphasize:
Communal laws and practices
Speak of “the People of the Book” (Jews and Christians), some of who lived in Medina

Question 28

Sunna

Answer 28

“the trodden path”; include, like the Hadith, stories about Muhammad’s life. Technically “is a custom or practice of the prophet in that narration [of Muhammad’s life in a particular Hadith].” (C 117)

Question 29

Umar (634-44)

Answer 29

the second caliph of the Rightly Guided Dynasty; he was stabbed to death in 644 by a Persian slave that had been taken captive. He developed the Muslim Calendar.

Question 30

Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 AD)

Answer 30

The first ruler of this dynasty was Muawiya of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca. During this dynasty the capital was moved from Kufa to Damascus (in Syria). Hereditary succession defined this dynasty, and the empire expanded “in all directions.” (C 108) The Second Civil War (680-92) came after Muawiya’s death.

Question 31

Ummah

Answer 31

the Muslim “community.”

Question 32

Uthman (644-56)

Answer 32

codified the official version of the Qur’an. He burned every other version of the Qur’an floating around at the time.

Question 33

Muslim belief about God

Answer 33

Allah (“the God”) is one, and there is no other divine being besides him. To ascribe divinity to any other is shirk.

Question 34

Muslim: Angels

Answer 34

these protectors of Allah’s message (and messengers themselves) were made from light, and have no free will of their own; thus, they are perfectly obedient to God. (note: these are different from jinn, who have a free will; so, Satan is a jinn in Muslim theology, not an angel.)

Question 35

Muslim: Scriptures

Answer 35

the Qur’an is the final authority of all Muslims, full of truth in contrast to the falsehoods of the Bible (which contains false messages of Moses and Jesus).

Question 36

Muslim: Prophets

Answer 36

the preachers of God’s word; Muhammad was the last of these, the one who “confirmed and completed all revealed messages from Adam’s day to the day of judgment.”

Question 37

Muslim: Predestination

Answer 37

while humans and jinn have free will, Allah determines the ultimate fate of each (for, being his creatures, they are his servants, and he is their Master).

Question 38

Muslim: Heaven and hell, divine judgment

Answer 38

Jesus Christ will determine whether one goes to the “Garden of Bliss” or to the “Hereafter” on the day of judgment, in accordance with their submission to Allah and their deeds in the body.

Question 39

Bismillah

Answer 39

literally, “in the name of Allah”; begins every Surah (except for number nine) in the Qur’an. On the whole it means, “In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate,” a crucial part of the five daily prayers of Muslims.

Question 40

Chapter of the Cow (Sura 2, longest in Qur’an)

Answer 40

“These verses summarize the central message of Islam and lead into a prayer for mercy and forgiveness.” A Hadith says that the devil runs away when this Surah (chapter) is read.

Question 41

Chapter of Purity (Sura 112)

Answer 41

“This chapter emphasizes the uniqueness and unity of the nature of God and serves as a polemic against both paganism. . . and Christianity.” It is known for its beautiful calligraphy.
It says, “He begot no one nor was he begotten.”
Equal to 1/3 of the Quran.

Question 42

Fatihah (Sura 1, most important in Qur’an)

Answer 42

“the opening one”; unique in the Qur’an, for it is a direct prayer to Allah rather than a message about him. It delineates the normal organizational pattern of the Qur’an, which normally places the Surahs from longest to shortest. According to tradition, if Muslims are to say Amin at the end of this in accordance with the angels, all their past sins will be forgiven. “Mother of the Qur’an” (it is pronounced over the sick for healing and over the dead for mercy).

Question 43

Mystery letters

Answer 43

these are one to five random letters of the Arabic alphabet put together to make a nonsense word that begin 29 Surahs of the Qur’an. These are thought to have a profound spiritual meaning that only Allah and maybe Mohammad knows.

Question 44

Proper handling of the Qur’an

Answer 44

the Qur’an is to have the highest place in the house, both spiritually and physically. It should be the highest in one’s heart, and the highest on one’s bookshelf. It is an object of veneration. It is never to be carried below the waistline when it is held. It is the last thing to be packed in a suitcase, lest it be covered by anything. It is never to touch the ground (there are special book-holders for those who want to read it while sitting on the ground). The common Arabian Muslim may believe that supernatural intervention keeps the Qur’an from being damaged or destroyed, and this is even according with some Hadith. One is also to perform the correct washings before opening it, should pray “I seek protection from Allah against the cursed Satan,” and then recite the bismillah. It also should never be left open and unattended.

Question 45

Satanic verses

Answer 45

“refers to an event in the life of the prophet widely reported in traditional Islamic sources.” In this event, Mohammed began reciting next to the Ka’aba (the most holy shrine in Arabia) “what would become chapter 53 of the Koran,” a chapter which talks about al-Lat, al-Uzza, and Manar. These were three goddesses of Mecca, esteemed and worshiped as daughters of Allah and protectors of Mecca. During this recitation he asked, “What then do you think of al-Lat, and al-Uzza, and Manat, the third idol besides?” He then said, surprisingly, that these “are exalted females, and truly their intercession is to be hoped for.” When Muhammad’s followers heard of this, they themselves knew something was wrong with this revelation. Mohammed then realized this as well. So, the revelation was abrogated - that is, corrected by a new revelation from Allah (see 53:19-23).

Question 46

Suras 113-114 (recited for protection)

Answer 46

these Suras are the last two of the Qur’an, and “are memorized and recited as defensive incantations” against the assaults of darkness from both demons and humans.

Question 47

Structure of the Qur’an

Answer 47

The Qur’an has 114 Suras (chapters). Each Surah begins with a title taken from a word or phrase within the text of that particular Sura. The majority of these titles, if not all of them, were added on after Muhammad’s death. Every Surah begins with the bismillah except for Sura 9. Each Surah is broken down into ruku’ah (“bowing”) marked by the Arabic letter ‘ain in the margin of the text; each Muslim is to bow in reverence at the end of the recitation of each ruku’ah. The whole Qur’an is divided into thirty juz, sections of about equal length for those who wish to recite the Qur’an during Ramadan (which is thirty days long); medallions in older manuscripts indicate these juz. The Qur’an is also divided into manzils, seven partitions (divisions of roughly equal length), and finally into three large blocks (for the really devout Muslim). Markers are also given in the margins of many editions of the Qur’an for proper cadence in reading it (e.g. when to make a slight pause in reading the text).

Question 48

The Throne Verse

Answer 48

Contained in Sura 2 of the Qur’an, this Surah declares the uniqueness and sovereignty of God. He is the only god, and he knows all things, and nothing can come to pass apart from his will and predestining. “His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and he feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great” (2:255).

Question 49

Translation of the Qur’an into languages other than Arabic

Answer 49

Muslims regard translations of the Qur’an as being imperfect interpretations of it, unable to carry the full weight of the original Arabic text. Translations approved by Islamic councils have the Arabic text alongside the translation.

Question 50

Whether Muhammad was illiterate (translation options for al-ummi)

Answer 50

The belief that Muhammad was illiterate springs from 7:157-58, which says that Muhammad is al-ummi, “the unlettered one,” as traditionally translated. This is the translation if the root word ummiyya is followed. However, if the root word umma (“community”) is followed in translating it, then it can mean “unscriptured prophet,” meaning that he may still have written down the revelations given to him by Gabriel from Allah but still have been ignorant of Jewish and Christian teaching. It would be surprising if Muhammad were indeed illiterate, for, he was “a successful merchant of international trade,” which would logically require literacy skills on his part.

Question 51

Ya-Sin (Sura 36, the “heart of the Koran”) Muhammad is reported to have said this concerning this Surah: “Everything has a heart, and the heart of the Koran is the chapter Ya-Sin [whose name is from “the mystery letters”]. Everyone who reads it, for him God will write rewards equal to those garnered for reading the Koran ten times.”

Answer 51

Muhammad is reported to have said this concerning this Surah: “Everything has a heart, and the heart of the Koran is the chapter Ya-Sin [whose name is from “the mystery letters”]. Everyone who reads it, for him God will write rewards equal to those garnered for reading the Koran ten times.”