This document provides an overview of key terms in Islam, including: - Muhammad, the prophet who first received revelations from the Quran and established Islam. - The Quran, the holy book of Islam believed to be the verbatim word of God revealed to Muhammad. - The hijra, Muhammad's emigration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, which marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. - The Five Pillars of Islam, the core rituals and duties of Muslims including confession of faith, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage, and almsgiving. - Tawhid, the Islamic concept of divine unity and oneness of God and community.

1. Islam: some key terms
World Religions, March 20, 2013

2. Muhammad
● Who was he?
● His life story (highly abbreviated)
● The first revelation of the Qur'an
For discussion:
Why isn't he "the Islamic Jesus"?
Related term: rasul (messenger)

3. The Qur'an
● Literal meaning: "recitation" -- why is this
significant?
● Special characteristics:
○ Beauty
○ Untranslatability
○ According to tradition, Muhammad was illiterate;
consider why this might be an important belief
● The recording of the Qur'an spanned a long
period of time; the message varied
somewhat based on context
● Other important, related terms: sunnah and
hadith

4. The hijra
● Literal meaning: "emigration" (from Mecca to
Medina)
● Muhammad was both spiritual and political /
military leader
For discussion:
Why does the Islamic dating system begin with
the hijra and not with the birth of Muhammad or
with the first revelation of the Qur'an?
Related terms: dar al-Islam, caliph

5. Historical details to know
● Muslim power spread very rapidly from its
start in Arabia (see the map on the next
slide)

7. Historical details to know
● Muslim power spread very rapidly from its
start in Arabia
● By 1500, Islamic empires dominated much
of the globe from Spain to Indonesia
● Major conflict with the West began with the
Crusades
● In modern times, large Islamic populations
came under European colonial rule
For discussion: how would colonial domination
affect the Islamic religious worldview?
(Compare Esack and your textbook for ideas.)

8. The Five Pillars of Islam
● Confession of faith (shahadah)
● Prayer (salat)
● Fasting during Ramadan (sawm)
● Pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj)
● Almsgiving (traditionally 2.5% of net worth;
zakat)
What, if anything, do these concepts have in
common?

9. A concept to be watching for
tawhid (unity)
Can be understood in terms of:
divine unity (oneness of God)
unity of Islam (oneness of the umma or
community)
oneness of the human person
Look for examples of this idea in Esack's On
Being a Muslim and in Malcolm X's
Autobiography (excerpt on handout)

10. For discussion
Watch the music videos on the next two slides
and read the lyrics (the link is below). Can you
identify the theme of tawhid where it appears?
Review also the discussion of the "Little Sisters
of Mercy" in Farid Esack's On Being a Muslim,
pp. 96-7. How is Esack interpreting the idea of
tawhid here?

11. Aashiq al-Rasul, "Every Beat"

12. Kareem Salama, "A Land Called Paradise"
(video directed by Murad Aldin Amayreh)

13. Key terms from this presentation for review
(look these up in the textbook glossary)
Muhammad salat
Qur'an Ramadan
hadith hajj
sunnah zakat
hijra tawhid
caliph umma
Crusades hijra
sharia jihad
Five Pillars Shiah / Sunni

14. Just for giggles,
watch the first six minutes of this
From the Allah Made Me Funny tour