A Student's Notes and Comments on
Understanding Islam
James A. Beverley. Nelsonwood Publishing Group, 2001

Caveat

These are notes taken (and comments occasionally added) by a student (albeit an aging one). I am not a scholar of this complex subject. But if you find these notes of use, feel free to browse.

Introduction

We all bought this required book on registration for our 'Understanding Islam' course. Most of you, like me, have no doubt read it by now. I found it very useful.

My Notes, Quotes, and Comments

Contents

• Four Foundations
• Five Pillars of Islam
• Seven other major beliefs
• Muhammad
• Three views of Muhammad
• The Quran
• Eight major themes of Quran
• History of Islam
• Branches of Islam
• Global context
• Customs
• Women
• Jihad and Terrorism

Four Foundations

1. total belief in Allah as the one supreme creator, an infinite eternal power
2. Muhammad, the final and greatest Prophet (not divine but held in high respect)
3. Quran is absolutely fundamental (revealed to Muhammad, to be recited in original Arabic)
4. a religion of law (Shariah) -- detailed

Five Pillars of Islam

1. Confession (shadadah: 'There is no God but Allah, and Huhammad is His messenger')
2. Discipline of prayer (salat) (before sunrise, after midday, at midafternoon, just before sunset, and in the fullness of night) = Shias do same 5 rituals but in 3 time slots = before dawn, just after noon, just after sunset
3. Almsgiving (zakat) -- not charity since an obligatory act
4. Fasting (sawm) -- from sun-up to sun-down during month of Ramadan
5. Pilgrimage (haji) -- pilgrimage to Mecca once in lifetime (2 mln per yr) -- Kaba is temple built by Abraham & Ishma'il

Seven other major beliefs

1. Islam began before Muhammad -- began with Adam and Eve (and was the religion of faithful Jews and Christians)
2. do not believe in original sin -- Adam disobeyed and humans are prone to temptation but not predisposed toward sin
3. total sovereignty of God -- some say that this omnipotence leads to predestination
4. universe is home to angels, devils, and jinns -- jinns can be good or evil -- believe like Christians in Satan
5. definite views about Day of Judgment (no purgatory) -- [RJA comment: I find it obscene that people should burn in hell for eternity for failing the short test of life -- the punishment doesn't fit the crime -- and I can't believe a compassionate God would do this -- of course, Christianity believes the same, though the Pope now describes hell more metaphorically ]
6. heaven is the eternal home of the righteous
7. Jesus is a prophet of Islam (though not the Son of God) -- was not crucified but went to heaven -- was born of the virgin Mary

Muhammad

• 570 -- approx -- born in Mecca (tribal Arabia believed in many gods)
• 595 -- married Khadijah
• 610 -- divine revelations through mystical experience (Gabriel [Jibril] on Mount Hira, near Mecca)
• 613 -- begins to preach monotheism
• 619 -- after deth of Khadijah, marries Sawdah (first of many other wives)
• 620 -- Angel Gabriel takes Muhammad to Jerusalem and ascends to 7th heaven on a ladder (mraj)
  • believe spoke to Jesus, Moses, & Abrham -- "Dome of the rock" is where he ascended
• 622 -- escapes to Medina to avoid persecution in Mecca (Hegira = exodus)
• 624 -- defeats Meccan enemies at battle of Badr
• 630 -- conquers his enemies at Mecca and removes idols from city
• 632 -- dies of ill health

general view that should look at Muhammad's life whole (not compartmentalized) -- vs. separation of church & state

Three views of Muhammad

1. orthodox Islamic adulation of Muhammad (parallels Christian adoration of Jesus, Hindu love of Krishna, Sikh reverence for Guru Nanak, Buddhist focus on Buddha) -- hence death order on Rushdie
2. high regard but not the prophet and Islam not the one true religion - Vatican II urges great respect for Muslims since "they worship the one true God who has spoken to man"
3. some popes and crusaders viewed Muhammad as the Antichrist (Dante's Inferno puts M in the lower realms of hell) -Luther was strongly against M

The Quran

• many Muslims have memorized all its 6,000 verses
• dictated by gabriel, then recited by M to his wife
• story that Satan fooled M into thinking could worship 3 Arab deities -- was in once chapter -- then Allah pointed out and M removed -- termed "the Satanic verses" (Rushdie used name)
• contains 114 surahs (chapters) ,li>usu short chapters at end (= earliest ones from Medina) and longer ones at start (later from Mecca)

Eight major themes of Quran

1. Allah
   • Creator
   • eternal
   • guardian
   • holy
   • all-knowing
   • Lord of All
   • merciful
   • the Revealer
   • the Sustainer
   • worthy of worship
2. Muhammad
   • they teach that Jesus foretold the coming of "Ahmad"
3. Quran
   • talks of itself a lot
4. Biblical material
   • gives a lot of attention to Old and New Testaments - says Islam started with creation and Allah revealed himself to Jews and Christians but both groups altered their scriptures (which is why Quran accounts differ from)
   • most info on Moses, then Noah, Abrham, Joshua, Daivd, Jesus, Mary & others
5. Jesus
   • treats with great respect as a prophet, teacher, and as a Sign from God - but not crucified
6. True believers
   • many passages deal with behaviour - some say more a religion about the right path than the right ideas - but Quran focuses on larger principles behind the law
   • to avoid gambling and drinking, pork - usury is a sin
   • can't have more than 4 wives sexual lust is wrong and therefore female believers are to dress modestly [RJA question: then why all the virgins in Paradise -- or maybe simply wrongly directed lust?]
7. Unbelievers
   • spends a lot of time talking about
8. Heaven, Hell and Judgment Day
   • Heaven is a garden paradise with food, drink, sexual pleasure [RJA question: so how connect with sexual lust being wrong?]

History of Islam

• spread, at least in part, through military might
  • within 100 yrs of M's death, empire from edge of Chinca, across upper Africa, to Spain (military conquest unmatched in world history)
• but also conquest of Muslims by others
  • Richard I, later empires of British, French, Germans, & others
• Islam has offered a rich intellectual heritage to the world
  • art, philosophy, architecture, medicine, law, theology, mathematics, science
• Muslim leaders often politically astute
  • e.g., Ottoman Empire lasted over 6 centuries
  • but some sense of decline since the "golden age" and question of reasons for (Israel & U.S. or other?)

Branches of Islam

1. Sunni (1 bln)
   • imam is the person who leads prayer in the mosque
2. Shia (Shiite) (170 mln)
   • Ayatollah Khomeni in Iran
   • imam here means also leaders like Ayatollah and Allah-chosen leaders in early year
   • give much significance to martyrdom of Husein (whose father ali was the son-in-law of M)
3. Sufi (240 mln)
   • mystical side
   • whirling dervishes
   • emerged when Islam became decadent, materialistic, and lazy
4. groups usually considered heretical
   • Bahai
   • Ahmadis
   • Druze (1 mln) -- mainly in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine

Global context

• Muslims view world as 2 parts: Islamic and non-
• Islam is majority in 48 countries, signif minority in 26 -- hence powerful presence in 1/3 of 234 countries in the world
• is a minority in India and yet has 100mln there
• 40% of world's Muslims in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, & Pakistan
• 6 mln in U.S. -- within 15 yrs will bypass Judaism

Customs

• in a Muslim house, don't comment on possessions (since indicates want them)
• vs abortion, suicide, homosexuality
• don't show bottom of feet, or greet with left hand

Women

• extreme difs of opinion -- hard to believe same subject ,li>orthodox Muslims believe women gain true freedom, M liberated females, & non-Muslims misunderstand
• at other extreme, critics aruge women are in bondage, M was chauvinist, Quran contains offensive material, women abused as 2nd-class citizens
• orthodox Islamic ideals:
  • Quran vs view that women inferior to men
  • Islam stopped practive of female infancticide
  • women are equal but have dif roles
  • women allowed to receive education like men
  • women have freedom of expression
  • marriage and family life are sacred
  • motherhood is given incredible honour
  • husbands are to love wives and treat them kindly
  • husbands are to make sure wives are satisfied sexually
  • separation of femailes in worship is done for reasons of purity [RJA question: because men can't obey the injunction to avoid lust?]
  • divorce allowed only when absolutely nec
  • women receive just inheritance [RJA comment: as interpreted then]
  • veiling is done for protection and purity [RJA question: because men can't obey the injunction to avoid lust?]
  • seclusion of women is for social purity [RJA question: because men can't obey the injunction to avoid lust?]
  • polygamy allowed only if all wives can be supported and loved
  
  
• the Quran on women:
  • affirms unity of males and females in original creation (made from a single person)
  • women will be rewarded for their labout by Allah -- just like men
  • but critics point out:
    • testimony of women worth only half of males
    • more power to husbands than wives in divorce
    • greater inheritance rights to males
    • Quran grants men access to female slaves for sexual purposes
    • allows polygamy
    • Quran actually teaches that husbands are superior to wives and can beat them
    • [RJA comment: the critics seem right to me]
    • either Quran or some M's sayings lead to female circumcision
  
  
• Taliban on women incredible:
  • cannot receive education
  • cannot be employed
  • must remain home unless abs nec
  • no female doctors
  • can't assoc with male not a relative
  • can't wear nail polish or makeup
  • cannot have haircut
  • must wear burqa outside home
  • violation of dress code results in public lashings
  • breaking of sexual rules results in stoning
  • transported by special buses with covered windows
  
  
• diversity of status of actual women:
  • in Britain, some women turning to Islam as altrnative to a materialistic culture treating women as sexual objects
  • in Jordan rape victims sometimes killed because of the shame brought to the home because of the loss of virginity
  • Sister Power! website to bring skilled Muslim women together re job opportunities
  • in Saudi Arabia, rich princesses obey Muslim law at home and adopt western mindset when jet to Paris or London
  • in a Middle East country, a woman had acid thrown in her face because allowed a wisp of hair to appear
  • Farrena Alam (Bengali) starts website "Islam - The Modern Religion" because feels dream come true for feminisits
  • a Cdn woman converts to Islam -- loses her children in custody battle
  • Karamah, an org of Muslim female lawyers, monitors human rights abuses
  • Muslin woman in Middle East converts to Christianity and is tortured -- flees to Canada to escape threats of death
  • in Jan/00 Taliban relaxed some rules to permit private schools for girls

Jihad and Terrorism

• jihad orig meant spiritual struggles -- but now taken to mean Holy War (but Quran uses in both senses)
• Feb/98 Osama bin Laden issued fatwa calling on Muslims to kill Americans ("the great Satan") and their allies
• but many countries condemned Sep 11 (incl Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, etc.)
• seem to be 2 Islams -- some say Quran supports bin Laden, others say not