Hvv

• Islam


  Acceptance, surrender, submission, or commitment
• Muslim


  Those who surrender to the will of Allah
• Prophet Muhammad


  • Born around 570 CE in Mecca
  • Belonged to a poor but respectable family of the Quraysh tribe
  • Tribe that controlled the sacred sites of Mecca, including the Kaaba
• At the time of Muhammad's birth, the culture of the Arabian Peninsula was generally animistic and polytheistic
• Muhammad's experience of a profound and disturbing vision

  1. Angelic being (later identified as Archangel Gabriel) appeared to him

  2. Commanded him to "recite" in the name of God

  3. Muhammad did not respond immediately

  4. Angel took him by the throat and shook him as he repeated his command to recite

  5. Muhammad agreed to do as he was told
• Quran


  • Most important holy book for Muslims
  • Written with Allah as the first person, speaking through Gabriel to Muhammad
  • Contains 114 chapters, called surahs
• Muhammad himself was never taught to read or write
• Hadith


  • Second most important source of guidance for Muslims
  • Records the Sunna, the custom of the prophet
  • Not scripture, but deemed as canonical and an essential source for culture and guidance
• The Pillars of Islam

  • Shahada (Testimony): to declare one's faith in God and belief in Muhammad
  • Salat (Prayer): to pray five times a day
  • Zakat (Charity): to give to those in need
  • Sawm (Fasting): to fast during Ramadan
  • Hajj (Pilgrimage): to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once during a person's lifetime
• Hijri calendar


  • Muslim calendar, a lunar calendar with 12 months
  • Consistently shorter than a solar year, shifts approximately 11 days every year compared to the Gregorian calendar
• Important Islamic holidays


  • Eid ul-Fitr: Commemorates the completion of Ramadan
  • Eid-ul-Adha: Commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son
  • Ramadan: 9th month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims fast daily from dawn to sunset
• Hajj


  • Annual pilgrimage to Mecca
  • Consists of several rituals that symbolize essential concepts of the Islamic faith
  • Rituals commemorate the trials of the prophet Abraham and his family
  • Required once in a Muslim's lifetime if financially and physically able
  • 2-3 million Muslims perform the pilgrimage annually
• Shi'a


  Faction that believed only individuals with a direct lineage to the prophet could guide the Muslim community righteously
• Sunnis


  Faction that believed the prophet's successor should be determined by consensus and successively elected three of his most trusted companions
• Hinduism has no known founder and was merely founded by the Aryans and the citizens of India roughly after the Aryans arrived in 1500 BCE
• The Trimurti in Hinduism

  • Brahman the Creator: creator of good and evil, source of all knowledge
  • Vishnu the Preserver: guardian of men and order, protects people against demons
  • Shiva the Destroyer: represents time and the end of all things
• The Four Vedas


  • Rig Veda: Oldest known Veda, presented truths via mandala
  • Sama Veda: Contains chants, songs, and melodies used in Hindu beliefs and rituals
  • Yajur Veda: Contains majority of worship rituals, serves as instruction for spiritual leaders
  • Atharva Veda: Contains day-to-day remedies, charms, and decisions on how to tackle daily life
• Samsara


  Cycle of rebirth afflicting the human soul (Atman)
• Purushartha


  • Dharma: Moral life, doing good deeds and what is expected of one's social class
  • Artha: Accumulation of material prosperity, a sign of accomplishing dharma
  • Kama: Emotional fulfillment, satisfying one's desires
  • Moksha: Freedom from the cycle of rebirth, achieved by fulfilling the highest social class
• Karma


  Belief that all deeds have consequences, good deeds achieve good karma
• Siddhartha Gautama

  • Prince prophecized to bring about a great kingdom or become a great king
  • Shielded from the world and lived lavishly in his palaces
  • Saw the Four Sights: an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a holy man
• The Four Noble Truths

  • Suffering exists
  • Suffering arises from craving/desire
  • Eliminating craving/desire reduces suffering
  • The way to eliminate craving and suffering is by following the Eightfold Path
• The Eightfold Path


  • Right understanding
  • Right intention
  • Right speech
  • Right action
  • Right work
  • Right effort
  • Right meditation
  • Right contemplation
• Theravada and Mahayana


  The two major divisions of Buddhism
• The Four Noble Truths


  Concepts that will help a practitioner of Buddhism understand the true source of suffering
• The Noble Eightfold Path

  Concepts that will help a practitioner of Buddhism end craving/desire by finding the balance in all things
• Buddhism is split into two major divisions, Theravada and Mahayana
• Hinduism


  Religion with no known founder, founded by the Aryans and the citizens of India roughly after the Aryans arrived in 1500 BCE
• Hinduism has no known founder as it is believed to have been created as the culture of the Aryans intermingled with the residents of India at that time (Dravidians)
• Important gods in Hinduism

  • Indra (chief god)
  • Trimurti (three gods who control reality)
• Buddhism


  Religion established by a prince named Siddhartha Gautama
• Siddhartha Gautama was prophecized to bring about a great kingdom or become a great king
• Siddhartha Gautama was shielded from the world and lived lavishly in his palaces
• Siddhartha Gautama saw the Four Sights - an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a holy man