Islam’s Origins and Beliefs

A. Arab culture before Islam

1. Bedouins were nomads with a sacred shrine in Mecca.

a. worshipped hundreds of gods and spirits or jinn residing in natural objects

b. Black Stone in Mecca, most sacred of these rocks

c. It is embedded in a walled, square shrine, called the Kaaba.

1. contained idols representing 360 gods

2. people traveled there in holy months

3. Mecca became an important religious center.

B. Muhammad’s teachings

1. an illiterate businessman and trader

a. worked for a businesswoman 15 years older, named Khadijah

b. They married when he was 25.

c. He traveled to Syria for business and learned of monotheism.

2. He spent time alone in meditation and prayer.

3. At age 40, while meditating outside of Mecca in a cave, the angel Gabriel

appeared to him and told him he would be a messenger of God (Allah).

a. Muhammad believed he was the last and greatest of the prophets.

b. By 613, he began to preach publicly in Mecca.

1. People feared the loss of Mecca as a pilgrimage center.

4. Due to hostility, Muhammad fled from Mecca to Medina, called the Hegira.

5. In Medina, he attracted followers and gained political influence.

a. the religion was called Islam, meaning “surrender to God”

b. believers were Muslims, “the surrendering ones”

c. the first year of the Islamic era was numbered with the Hegira

6. Muhammad began to lead raids on Meccan caravans.

a. his followers’ army defeated the Meccans

b. within 10 years, almost all Bedouins accepted Islam

7. In 630, Muhammad and 10,000 followers entered Mecca in triumph.

a. went to Kaaba, destroyed the idols in it, and allowed the Black Stone to remain

8. Muhammad died two years later at age 62.

C. Islamic doctrine

1. While Muhammad lived, people listened and recited his words over and over.

2. Soon after his death, Abu Bakr ordered all the words of Muhammad to be recorded.

a. Koran - holy book of Islam

b. written in Arabic and only that version is considered the word of God

c. As a result, Arabic spread over the Middle East and North Africa.

3. Five Pillars of Islam

a. Faith - “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.”

b. Prayer - five times a day in the direction of Mecca

1. called to prayer by muezzin, or crier

2. removed shoes, and kneel with forehead touching the ground

c. Alms - give a portion of money for the needy

d. Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan

1. eat and drink nothing between sunrise and sunset

e. Pilgrimage once in a lifetime to Mecca

4. Other beliefs

a. Islam accepts Jesus, Moses, Abraham, etc. as prophets, but Muhammad

is the final one, “The Seal of Prophets.”

b. God is pure spirit with no body or physical description.

c. Followers are to enjoy possessions but not to excess.

d. No eating pork. No drinking intoxicating beverages.

e. No marriage to unbelievers.

f. Men can have up to four wives, if all are treated equally well.

g. Idolatry is forbidden- mosques (churches) and the Koran are decorated

with calligraphy, patterns, florals, or mosaics.

h. Men and women are considered equal, but wives should follow their husbands.

i. Slavery is allowed with fair treatment.

j. Fraud, slander, gambling, and money lending are forbidden.

5. Friday afternoon is set aside for communal worship and prayer.

a. mosque - temple with a minaret, a tower from which prayers are called

b. no formal priesthood

c. women and men lead separate lives

6. Judgment Day - believers would enter paradise and unbelievers would be cast into Hell

7. Koran taught wars fought for God were just.

a. jihad - holy war, battle by heart, language, hand, and sword

b. warriors killed in jihad enter paradise