Multiple Choice Questions on Living Religions of the West | REL 107, Study notes of World Religions

Download Multiple Choice Questions on Living Religions of the West | REL 107 and more Study notes World Religions in PDF only on Docsity! Islam: Introduction and Origins 11/03/2011
The Beginnings of Islam  Who?  What?  When?  Where?  Why?
Where and When  Western Arabian Peninsula (Hijaz)  More Specifically: Makkah/ Mecca  Around 600 CE
Western Arabia in the 600s CE  Mostly desert; people nomadic or settled in small villages or towns.  Various tribes, no central government  Loyalty through kinship: clan and tribe
Makkah/ Mecca  Ancient pilgrimage site: Ka’aba shrine.  Trade: near caravan route from Yemen to Syria.  Ruled by the Quraysh tribe (Wealthy from control of city and shrine).
The Ka’aba before Islam  According to the stories: Contained statues of every god worshiped in Arabia…  Including images of Jesus, Mary, and Abraham.  Part of the pilgrimage ritual (before Islam and still today): walking around the Ka’aba 7 times.
Religion in Arabia (before Islam)  Most Arabs polytheistic  Few Jews or Christians, but knowledge of Jewish and Christian (biblical) traditions  (At least some) Arabs traced origins back to Abraham’s son Ismail (Ishmael).  Allah (al-ilah, “the God”) = supreme deity
View of the Origins of the Ka’aba in Islam  Built by Abraham and Ismail as a shrine to the One True God  “Corrupted” by later polytheism: o “The sons of Ismail had obscured belief in the one true God plunged the Arabian Peninsula into the darkness of idolatry”
Who: Muhammad  Born ca 570 (or so)  Member of the ruling Quraysh tribe in Mecca  Raised by Grandfather and then Uncle  Ran a caravan company with his wife, Khadija What: The Qur’an  “Qur’an” means “recitation”; “that which is recited.”  Ora;, then written, record of the angel Gabriel’s revelations to Muhammad over a period of many years (610-632)  Divided into “Chapters” called Suras
Poetry in Pre-Islamic Arabia Qu’ran 11/03/2011
Basics  114 suras divided into Meccan or Medinan  Organized by length not chronological  No continuous storyline
Mecca and Medina  Mecca 610-622 CE (Before the Hijra) o Usually shorter, Hymnic or poetic o Broader themes: God, Judgment, Ethics  Medina: 622-632 CE (After Hijra) o Tend to be longer, less poetic o More specifics: regulations for the community
Early Meccan Suras (examples)  Sura 1, “The Opening”: recited in prayer, liturgy, everyday life.  Sura 90, “The Ground”: Care for the poor.  Sura 99, “The Quaking”: Judgment will reveal everyone’s behavior.  Sura 112, “Unity”: Radical Monotheism
Medinan Suras (Examples)  2:183-187: The annual fast  5:1-5: Dietary regulations  5:6: Washing before prayer  “Muslim, Islam”: Submitting to God
Abraham and Islam  Abraham and Ismail build the Ka’aba  Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob all were Muslims (Submitted to god)  Same revelation to Abraham, Patriarchs, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.  Jews and Christians have veered off the right path
Biblical traditions in the Qur’an  Adam in the Garden: Naming the animals, fallen angels (2:30-39) o Compare rabbinic midrash  37:72-148: List of “Believing Servants” o Abraham: Midrash again! (destroying father’s idols; son as willing sacrificial victim) o Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Aaron, Elijah, Lot, Jonah
Qur’an and the Bible  Refers to many as biblical figures  These figures seen as Muslims: True followers of Allah  Extra biblical traditions as well as biblical stories
Qur’an in Muslim Life  Recitation  Arabic language  Art
The Qur’an in Muslim Life  Recitation  Arabic Language (Historically speaking)  Art
The “Canonization” of the Qur’an  Muhammad died 632  Text standardized by third caliph Uthman, by around 650  Associated with a single person (Muhammad) and became authoritative scripture very quickly (Contrast from Christianity and Judaism)
Extending and Interpreting Scripture 11/03/2011 0 Shari'a: The “Way” 
Fixing of Sharia  Theoretically: continual change possible.  Consensus (by around 10th century): Everything important had been decided.  Four legal schools; relatively minor differences  New emphasis on adhering to tradition/precedent  “Closing of the gates of ijtihad”: no more independent legal reasoning.
The inevitable “but”…  Some further clarification of minor issues.  Shi’ites reject consensus and retain ijtihad  Individual Sunnis sometimes claimed right to ijtihad
Calls to re-open the “gate of ijtihad”:  Come from both ends of the political spectrum!  Reformers: want a more liberal or rationalist interpretation of Islamic tradition  Extremists: Want to overturn longstanding consensus (including for some consensus forbidding violence against innocents).
Judaism Compared to Islam  Judaism: Oral Torah comes from rabbis o Teaching authorized because they came from Mt Sinai  Islam: Hadiths come from Muhammad o The teacher is authorized because it is Muhammad o Consensus rulings go back to Muhammad because he said that consensus rulings are valid.  Christianity: Teacher is authorized because it goes back to Apostolic succession. o Protestantism goes back to scripture not teachers. Also individual interpretation.


Worship and Ritual in Islam 11/03/2011 0 Worship  Reenacting/recreating key events  Expressing and reinforcing convictions o Rituals=tools communities use to reinforce their basic values  Confirming community identity
The Five Pillars of Islam  The Shahadah: Witnessing to the unity of God and Muhammad  Salat: Ritual Prayer  Zakat: Almsgiving  Ramadan: Fasting  Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca
Service  Arabic ‘ibada (5 pillars= 5 ‘ibadat, “services/worships”)  Hebrew avodah comes from same root  Acts of worship as “service to God” (remember original context of avodah=temple)
The Shahadah (“Witnessing”)  “There is no god but God. Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”  Expresses fundamental doctrines of Islam  Only thing necessary for conversion  Root of other four pillars… al prescribed in Qur’an
5-times Daily Prayer (Salat)  Muhammad and first Muslims  Abraham, Hagar, Ismail o Running Ceremony: Hagar’s search for water o Drinking from Zamzam spring: Water God provided for Hagar and Ismail o Stoning pillars: Abraham stoning the devil o Sacrifice of animals (Eid al-adha): Abraham’s sacrifice
More Significances of the Hajj  Rite of Passage: Symbolic “death” and new identity: o Reminder of mortality (dangerous journey) o New title: “Hajji” (one who has nade the Hajj)  Community: “there is no identity whatsoever, save as Muslims”
Jihad  Root meaning: “struggle” or “exertion” Qur’an usually “exertion in the way of God”  Ijtihad (Independent legal reasoning): same root! (struggle for right meaning)  Violent sense secondary (“lesser jihad”)  Classically: violent struggle allowed only defensively; never allowed killing of innocents or other Muslims  Today’s global jihadism: rejected by most as un-Islamic
Shi’I Islam 11/03/2011 Shi’I vs. Sunni  Sunni: Short for “People of the Sunna and the community” (Self- designation)  Shi’i: From Shi’atu Ali, the “Party of Ali”  Note Shi’I is an adjective (“Shi’I Islam”); Shi’a is a collective noun (“The Shi’a”) Succeeding Muhammad  Muhammad did not clearly name a successor  Some supported Ali (Cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad)  But: First followers from Mecca (“The Companions”) gathered and selected Abu Bakr as new leader
The Caliph  “Caliph” : “successor” or “representative” or “deputy” (of Muhammad).  Caliph took over Muhammad’s political and military authority, not religious authority.  First Three (all companions) o Adu Bakr o Umar o Uthman
Ali’s Caliphate  Uthman assassinated; Ali finally becomes Caliph (656)  Rebellion: Uthman’s cousin, Muawiyah, proclaims himself Caliph (660)  Ali killed before he can react  Muawiyah becomes first Caliph of Umayyad dynasty
Ali’s Sons  Older son Hasan: Peace treaty with Muawiyah  Hasan dies (669)Rit  Muawiyah breaks treaty  Ali’s younger son Husayn heads to Iraq to start a revolt  Husayn intercepted and killed by Caliph’s troops at Karbala (680)
Origins of Shi’ism?  Shi’atu: Essentially a political party.  What made this group into a distinct religious movement??  Rituals
Commemorating Husayn’s Martyrdom  Shi’i idea of atonement through mourning  Ritual Re-creation: Events of month of Muharram o Lamentation Assemblies o Reenactments: “Passion Plays” o “Funeral Processions” (matam) including breast-beating or self-flagellation.
The Imams  Sunni Islam: “Imam” just someone who leads prayer  Shi’I Islam: “The Imams” were a special type of inspired religious leader descended from Ali.
Different Ideas about Muhammad’s Successors  Sunni: Caliphs have political and Military leadership  Shi’i: Imams have Religious and Spiritual leadership as well.  Esoteric  Otherworldly: Focus not on day-today life  Seeks more direct experience of God  Immanent God: o Humans have something in common with the divine o God/the divine pervades universe
Origins of Sufism  Ascetic practices (for example fasting, mourning, giving away possessions)  “Trust in God”: God will provide. Indifference to “worldly” things (like possessions)  Name “Sufi”: from woolen garment ascetics would wear (Arabic suf=wool)
“Classical” Sufism  Goal is union with God  Self-annihilation: Spirit (ruh), not Ego (nafs) takes over human soul (qalb)  Human completely swallowed up in/ dissolved in God: o Husayn al-Hallaj (10th century): “I am the Truth”= “I am one with God!”
Achieving Union with God  Need special knowledge of God  Not cognition (knowing something) but emotion/intuition (knowing someone):  Love! o Love as basis of creation o Love annihilates the ego o Compare Christian Mysticism (But in Chr. Less focus on love as self-annihilation.)
Tariqa: The Way to God  Spiritual journey towards unity with God  Allegorical description: The Conference of the Birds
Monism (ahadiyya, “One-ness”)  Qur’an: Go is all-pervading and all knowing  For Sufis: God is everywhere and everything; reality is God.  Monism: all things have a single essence.  Union with God: Awareness of this oneness (it exists whether you know it or not.)
More on Tariqa  Mot just one way: Like climbing a Mountain,  Different Sufi masters would have different “ways”  Fixed series of steps or stages  Always supervised: need a guide.
The Sheik/ Pir  Has authority as one who has completed the journey  Was one the disciple of another Pir.  All trace their “education” back to Muhammad  Muhammad’s Night Journey: Humans can experience God directly!
Sufi Orders  Disciples clustered around a master  Gradually: developed into “Orders” o Special tariqa o Tariqa passed down from founder/master to appointed successor  Reverence for founder as “wali” (friend of God): Saint veneration (very popular but also opposed by some traditionalists)
So Far…  Seeking immediate experience of God  Esoteric knowledge: need guide to Journey to God  Leadership structures: Pirs/ Sheiks o Regarded as specially holy o Pass on their spiritual authority to successors Sufism and Sharia  Most Sufis: Followed usual Muslim law and practice  But: to Sufis, law didn’t help in journey towards God  “Worldly” vs “Otherworldly”
Breaking down the dualities  Monism: God is everywhere and everything.  Dualities (paired opposites) have no place (“Love knows of neither faith or blasphemy)  Point is to get beyond earthly dualities (including traditional rules) and experience God’s one-ness!
Sufi Worship  Dhikr (roughly “zi-kar”): “Remembrance of god”  Many different forms: verbal, silent, music + dance, etc.  Help worshiper “Strip away ego” and become one with God.
 Modernists: Islam has changed in the past, and can change to adapt to new circumstances.  Traditionalists: Islam has basically been fixed from the beginning and has no need for major changes.
Modernists: Secular vs. Islamic  Issue: Role of religion in public life.  Secular Modernists: Religion should be a private matter o Did NOT advocate giving up Islam o Willing to adopt Western Ideas, ways of governing  Islamic Modernists: Islam is a complete way of life; can’t make it “private”!
Traditionalists: Revivalist vs. Conservative  Issue: Status quo or return to roots?  Conservatives: Traditional Ulama (scholars): wanted to just keep going as before (status quo)  Revivalists: Islam has turned away from the “straight path.” Back to roots! o Ulama may not always be right (promoted ijtihad –individual reasoning) o Back to Qur’an and Sunna! Strip away “unislamic” accretions (e.g. Sufi + Shi’i practices)
Secularists  (Sir) Sayyid Ahmad Kahn (India, 1817-1898) o Islamic renewal through European education o RATIONALIST: True Islam of Qur’an totally in accord with reason – Sharia mostly human product of Ulama o Accepted British rule in India  Many post-colonial rulers (e.g. Nasser in Egypt) accepted “western” secular forms of government.
Islamic Modernists  Common thread: Islam as a blueprint for public life  Muhammad Iqbal (India, 1875-1938) o No division between “sacred” and “secular” Sharia as proper basis for Muslim society o BUT Sharia is dynamic and open to change o Democracy as a core principle of Islam (elected representatives should determine law)  Jamal ad-Din Al-Afghani (Egypt, 1838-97) o Islam as way of life/ political system o Sharia is open to change o “Western” scientific principles really part of Muslim heritage Must reclaim reason and science!  Muhammad Abdu (Eqypt, 1849-1905) o Sharia must be subject to rational discourse o Reinterpret traditional ideas in light of modern thought
Revivalism in Islam  Importance of theme of restoration/reform: Muhammad himself restores religion of Abraham.  Revivalists always present throughout history o E.g. Al-Ghazali (11th c.), Ibn Taymiyya (13th-14th c.) o Return to “pristine Islam”: Prophet’s community at Madina the norm  Common argument: ijtihad (independent reasoning) permissible; ulama can be wrong.
18th-century Revivalism  Even before colonization: fragmentation of Muslim society called for reform!  India: Shah Wali Allah o Return to Qur’an and Sunna through ijtihad o Reform Sufism and purify Islam from “unislamic” accretions  Arabia: Muhammad al-Wahhab o Strip Islam back to its pure, Arab essentials o Violence against Sufis, Shi’a, any opponents o Cooperation with tribe of Saud
The Muslim Brotherhood  Founded in Egypt by Hasan al-Bannah (1928)  Originally a social movement: return to Islamic Values to address issues like poverty  Ideal (as for Modernists): Government according to the principles of Islam  Unlike Modernists: No interaction with Western thought necessary; Islam (in traditional sense) is self-sufficient.
Sum Up:  Role of historical circumstances: Western Colonialism!  All these different voices/ different models still present today!  Muslims in Europe and America have faced somewhat different challenges: assimilation, etc. Religion and Interpretation Part II: Christianity, Homosexuality, and the Bible 11/03/2011
Movie, “For the Bible Tells Me So”: Key Points  Both sides use the Bible to support their position.  Nobody is saying “don’t listen to the Bible.”  Instead: What tools should be used to read the Bible? How do we interpret?  Both Sides: “If you just read the Bible correctly (=my way) you’ll see that I’m right!”
De Bordenave’s Position on Consecration of Gay Bishops:  Clearly goes against the Bible.  The Bible is the eternal, infallible Word of God and no “new information has surfaced in the 21st century that contradicts God’s revelation.”  Those who support the ordination have abandoned the Bible- don’t see the Bible as God’s word.
Johnson’s Position on De Bordenave’s Position:  First: Inconsistent with Anglican tradition to imply declare Bible “infallible” o Anglicans have always seen revelation as an ongoing process o Role of church in interpreting Scripture (similar to Catholic idea)  Second: Accords Bible greater honor to read it in light of cultural context. o Use tools of reason and science to understand biblical author’s positions o Understand Scripture as record of interaction between divine and human
Anglicans/Episcopals and Openly Gay Bishops  Both sides see the Bible as important  But how should it be used? o Human record of divine revelation? o Or itself “Very words” of God’s revelation?  Both sides see themselves as representatives of the traditional Anglican position!  Religion and Interpretation Part III: Summing Up 11/03/2011
Religion as Interpretation  Core symbols shared by all  Debate over those symbols’… o Meaning o Significance
Example: Christian attitudes toward slavery (19th century)  Abolitionists: No authentic Christian can own slaves. The bible is about liberty.  Slaveholders: slavery is explicitly approved by the Bible!  Issue: not “Do you read the Bible?” but “How you read the bible”
Example: What Makes Something Kosher?  Both sides agree Oral Torah is important  But what’s the nature of Oral Torah? How much can it change? o Should kosher laws change to reflect new situations? o Or should they stay the same because “that’s how it’s always been”?  Both sides say their way is the most true to Judaism
Three “Take-Away” Ideas:  Context (historical, geographical, cultural): o Religions develop in certain contexts and change as context changes.  Diversity: o People in different contexts or from different backgrounds  Interpretation: o Interpretation helped create Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (doesn’t just come later).