Islam

• The 5 pillars of Islam:

  • Believing in one God, Allah, and reciting a quote stating Muhammad is the messenger of Allah
  • Prayer: Muslims pray 5 times a day
  • Alms giving: Muslims give money to help the poor
  • Ramadan: fasting during daylight hours for one month
  • Hajj (pilgrimage): traveling to Mecca if possible
• Definitions:

  • Islam means "submission"
  • Muslim refers to those who submit to God
• Mecca:

  • The city where Archangel Gabriel began telling about the One True God (Allah)
• Medina:

  • The city where Prophet Muhammad set up the first Islamic community
• Life of Muhammad:

  • Mystical visits from Archangel Gabriel
  • Preached and primarily converted families, poor people, and enslaved people
  • Fled Mecca due to growing concerns for his safety
  • Fled to Medina
  • Won over more followers in a trade war and returned to Mecca on Hajj
  • Converted most of Western Arabia to Islam by his death
• Main ideas about Understanding Islam:

  • After Muhammad's death, armies associated with him had military success in Jewish/Christian primary locations
  • Islam grew due to the attractiveness of its teachings and allowed for conversion
  • Stability of territories under Muslim rule led to cultural prospering
  • Influence by Greek, Persian, Syriac texts/information
  • Advances in sciences, medicine, philosophy, math, agriculture, literature, and architecture
  • eDstruction to Muslim and Christian culture of the east
  • Cathedral Hagia Sophia -> Mosque, Istanbul
  • Muslim territories under EU control
• Arguments about why Islam spread:

  • Trade
  • Migration
  • Social and political influence
  • Intermarriage
  • Da'wah (invitation to engage with faith and spreading the word)
• Sufis:

  • The Sufis: emotional/mystical unity/spirituality, direct path, search for state of grace through commitment to divine, trance through dance, greater tolerance of local customs
• • Sciences: ahead of western civilizations, specialized in pharmacology, physiology, anatomy, OPTHAMOLOGY, astronomy/astrology, developed and rationalized Hindu number system into universal Arabic number system
• Ibn Sina:

  • Muslim wide knowledge of many subjects
  • Doctor and philosopher
  • Founder of many modern medicine practices
  • Prevention of diseases
  • Herbal studies
• Studying history:

  • Historians discover the "truth" about history by checking for reliable sources, using primary sources, fact-checking, and understanding that all sources have a perspective
• The University:

  Muslim creation, value of Greek learning, spread Greek knowledge through takeover of Spain into Christian EU, House of Wisdom which translates science, math, medicine, etc. from Greek/Sanskrit into Arabic
• Sciences:

  • Much ahead of western civilizations
  • General practical application
  • Specialized in pharmacology, physiology, anatomy, OPTHAMOLOGY
  • Built and expanded on astronomy/astrology practices/traditions of careful observation
  • Developed and rationalized Hindu number system and translated into universal Arabic number system
  • Ibn Sina published very helpful book on clinical practice
  • Prevention of diseases v. curing diseases