Big Ideas Simply Explained - The Islam Book

["","52 THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: HAJJ IN CONTEXT T he fifth pillar of Islam is Islamic tradition also holds that it the Hajj, or the pilgrimage was Ibrahim who first built what SOURCE to the sacred city of Mecca. is now the Kaaba. He incorporated The Five Pillars of Its origins lie in Muhammad\u2019s a black stone into the structure, Islam: Hajj journey from Medina to Mecca and which had been given to him by his cleansing of the Kaaba, making the angel Jibreel (Gabriel). This WHEN AND WHERE it once again the center of worship remains set into a corner of the 630, Mecca of the one God. By participating Kaaba, and pilgrims attempt in the Hajj, Muslims are leaving to kiss it or gesture toward it BEFORE behind their daily, earthly bonds as they circumambulate during 5th century The Quraysh and physically returning to the their Hajj pilgrimage. tribe control Mecca and the spiritual center of Islam. It is both Kaaba is the site of pilgrimage a voyage inward to one\u2019s self and Preparing for the Hajj for Arab tribes worshipping a a way of getting closer to God. Hajj begins two months after the number of gods. end of Ramadan. It is considered The prehistory of the Hajj obligatory for every adult Muslim, AFTER Many elements of the pilgrimage who is physically able and has After 631 The Hajj is made predate the time of Muhammad, the financial means, to make compulsory after Muhammad and are intimately linked to the the pilgrimage at least once in captures Mecca. Future story of Ibrahim (the Abraham of his or her lifetime. To make the Muslim rulers in Syria, Egypt, the Book of Genesis). It tells how he pilgrimage, Muslims travel to and Iraq will provide state left his wife Hajar (Hagar) and their Saudi Arabia by whatever means patronage for organizing large infant son Ismail alone in the desert possible. Numerous Muslim travel pilgrimage caravans. near Mecca. Having run out of agencies exist that offer special water, and concerned that she Hajj packages to groups and 2012 The number of pilgrims would not be able to continue to individuals, and work to make partaking in the annual Hajj nurse her baby, Hajar ran back and sure pilgrims have a memorable hits an all-time high of forth seven times between the two and enjoyable journey. Some 3,161,573. The numbers have hills of Safa and Marwa, looking governments even subsidize the since declined as Mecca for someone who might be able to cost of making the pilgrimage, undergoes expansion work. help them. Her search is echoed in and charities exist that help to the rituals performed by pilgrims support those unable to cover to Mecca today. the financial expense. A Muslim-only city While Muslims and non-Muslims Similarly, signs at Jeddah\u2019s The Great Mosque at Mecca is the alike may enter the country of main airport directing travelers focus of the Hajj. In Muhammad\u2019s time Saudi Arabia, only Muslims can to the special Hajj terminal for it was no more than a walled courtyard enter the sacred city of Mecca. onward travel to Mecca also around the Kaaba; now it can hold up This prohibition is specified in include the message \u201cMuslims to 1.5 million worshippers. the Quran (9:28). (Non-Muslims only.\u201d Attempts to travel to the may visit the country\u2019s other sacred city by non-Muslims holy city, Medina, but not will result in a fine, while non- the vicinity of the Prophet\u2019s Muslims discovered in the city Mosque.) Drivers approaching will be taken before a judge the holy city by car are met with and most probably deported. road signs directing \u201cMuslims Discerning religious identity only\u201d toward Mecca, while can be difficult, but entrance steering non-Muslims away into the city is monitored and toward the city of Jeddah. controlled by religious police.","MUHAMMAD 53 See also: Hijra, the flight from Mecca 28\u201331 \u25a0 The Kaaba at Mecca 34\u201335 \u25a0 The Five Pillars of Islam: Shahada 36\u201341 \u25a0 The Five Pillars of Islam: sawm 46\u201349 \u25a0 The birth of Saudi Arabia 232\u201337 Completing the Hajj typically takes about a week. Pilgrims follow a prescribed set of rituals, most of which relate to episodes in the life of the early prophet Ibrahim (Abraham). At the end of the Hajj, many pilgrims go on to Medina to visit the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad. Enter ihram Perform tawaf Perform saey Departure Day at Night at to Mina Arafat Muzdalifa Farewell tawaf Return to devil Return to Kaaba for Hair trim and Animal sacrifice Devil stoning in stoning tawaf and saey removal of pilgrim\u2019s Mina ihram Before embarking on the Hajj, a in any activity that might be Performing the Hajj number of preparations must be considered sinful. The intention is As pilgrims near the city of Mecca, made. Perhaps the most important to create a sense of communality they often shout, \u201cI am here, O Lord, is that all prospective pilgrims and unity. Women and men of all I am here!\u201d Once inside the Great must ritually cleanse and purify nations, colors, and social levels Mosque (which is also called the themselves. In order to do this they are rendered indistinguishable Holy or Sacred Mosque, or al-Masjid don the ihram, or pilgrims\u2019 garb. and equal before God. al-Haram in Arabic), they perform For men this is typically two white the tawaf, the circumambulation unhemmed sheets: one wrapped Make the sacred pilgrimage of the Kaaba in a counterclockwise around the waist, one thrown over and visit the Sacred House direction. They do this seven times, the shoulder. Likewise, many trying each time to get as close as women wear white robes, though for His sake. they can to the Kaaba. Pilgrims others choose to wear simple 2:196 who make it nearest to the clothing that reflects their countries structure will kiss or touch the of origin. Faces must be uncovered, Black Stone that remains exposed so no niqab (face veil) can be worn. in the Kaaba\u2019s eastern corner. The tawaf will be completed on three Once in this state of purity (also occasions during the Hajj. called the ihram), pilgrims must stop bathing and not wear any Throughout the weeklong ornamentation, such as jewelry and pilgrimage, Muslims will pray in perfume. They must abstain from the Great Mosque and participate sexual activity and from engaging in a variety of rites that can be \u276f\u276f","54 THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM: HAJJ completed within its precincts. Many pilgrims will also perform the also known as the Mount of Mercy, For example, they will drink water saey, the ritual walk or run between as it is also where Adam, Islam\u2019s piped from the Zamzam well that the Safa and Marwa hills in order first prophet, was forgiven by God. lies just 65 ft (20 m) to the east of to commemorate Hajar\u2019s search for Muslim pilgrims spend much of the Kaaba. According to Islamic help. These hills, like the Zamzam their time here praying for God\u2019s tradition, God miraculously created well, now fall within the precincts forgiveness for their sins and those this well in order to provide water of the Great Mosque. The distance of the entire Muslim community. for the baby Ismail when he and his between the two hills is about mother Hajar were stranded in the 500 yd (450 m), and a covered In Mina, pilgrims participate desert; Ismail lived to be a great walkway shelters pilgrims from the in the Stoning of the Devil. prophet, and Muhammad\u2019s forebear. heat and sun. It has four one-way According to tradition, it was in lanes, with the center lanes Mina that Ibrahim was tempted to Then let the pilgrims tidy reserved for slow walkers. ignore God\u2019s command and reject themselves, make their vows, his son Ismail. The Devil appeared and circle the Ancient House. Rituals outside Mecca three times and, each time, Ibrahim The Hajj can also include rites that threw seven stones to drive him off. 22:28 take place outside of Mecca. For Pilgrims reenact this event in Mina example, all pilgrims travel 5 miles by throwing pebbles, which they (8 km) outside the city to Mina aim at high walls (until 2004 and then a further 9 miles (14.5 km) it was three pillars), in order to to Mount Arafat. According to avoid hitting those on the other Islamic tradition, Arafat is where Muhammad delivered his Farewell Pilgrims perform tawaf, Sermon to those who went with which entails walking seven times him to Mecca on what would be his counterclockwise around the Kaaba. final pilgrimage. The mountain is Three circuits should be done at a fast pace, then more slowly for the next four.","MUHAMMAD 55 Muslim pilgrims throw pebbles as part of the symbolic Stoning of the Devil ritual at Mina, near Mecca. Many choose to gather their pebbles at Muzdalifa, between Arafat and Mina. side, who are also throwing pebbles. The rites at Mina are so popular that a tent city springs up, with well over 100,000 air- conditioned tents sheltering pilgrims who arrive from Arafat after sunset to pray and collect their pebbles on the plain of Muzdalifa before going to Mina. Eid al-Adha of Medina to see the Prophet\u2019s Exemptions of various kinds are Mosque, Islam\u2019s second holiest site, made for those who are ill or infirm, The high point of Hajj is a three- which holds Muhammad\u2019s grave. or who cannot afford to go. For day feast known as Eid al-Adha. those who do make it, the Hajj (and, This sacred feast commemorates The Umra to a lesser extent, the Umra) are an Ibrahim\u2019s devotion to God, when he important goal and experience for agreed to sacrifice his son Ismail There is a second pilgrimage to Muslims, helping to solidify and but was spared; God provided a Mecca, the Umra. It is a \u201clesser invigorate their identities as lamb to sacrifice instead, in a story pilgrimage\u201d that can be undertaken followers of Muhammad and of that is also common to the Hebrew at any time of the year, in contrast monotheistic worship. \u25a0 and Christian bibles. This feast is to the Hajj, which has specific celebrated by all Muslims, wherever dates according to the Islamic Safa and Marwa are two of they are, not just those who are on lunar calendar. The Umra is not a God\u2019s beacons. It shall be pilgrimage, and it is considered the substitute for the Hajj, and is not no offense for the pilgrim or most sacred time of the year. mandatory. It includes only the first the visitor to the Sacred House two rites of the Hajj\u2014circling the to walk around them both. Muslims typically celebrate Kaaba and hastening between the Eid al-Adha by carrying out a hills of Safa and Marwa\u2014and ends 2:158 sacrifice. Traditionally the animal with the ritual of shaving the head is slaughtered by the man of the for male pilgrims. While it requires house, but many these days prefer pilgrims to attain the same state of to have a professional butcher come purity, it can be done in a few hours and do it instead. The animal that rather than days. is sacrificed\u2014usually a goat, sheep, cow, or camel, depending on the Of course, there will be many family\u2019s wealt\u2014is then divided into Muslims who will never be able to three parts. At least one third of the visit the holy city of Mecca and meat is donated to the poor, and a take part in the rites and festivities third to relatives. Some Muslims of either the Hajj or the Umra. now choose a vegan eid; concerns about animal welfare and the need to consume less meat lead them to donate a fee to charity instead of making a sacrifice. Muslims who celebrate Eid al-Adha in Mecca will often end their pilgrimage by visiting the city","56 AMMTWHUEASAHNYSAEMABNEMMGFAEEODSRRSSIESEHHNNAIGMOVEEMRP:OAORSTESHEEDR THE QURAN, 3:144 IN CONTEXT F ollowing the conquest of to the house he shared with his Mecca in 630, Muhammad favorite wife, Aisha. Tradition THEME returned to Medina. There, has it that, feverish and weak, he The death of the Prophet he spent much of his time trying to rested his head on her lap and died. consolidate his power in Arabia by WHEN AND WHERE creating alliances and increasing Umar ibn al-Khattab, one of 632, Medina the number of followers of Islam. Muhammad\u2019s closest companions, In 632, the Prophet completed what was so shocked that he refused to BEFORE would be his farewell pilgrimage believe the Prophet had died, and 632 Muhammad delivers to Mecca, setting a precedent for claimed that he would return after his Final Sermon at Arafat, what would later became known as 40 days, just as the prophet Moses reminding his followers to treat the Hajj. That March, he delivered had gone to visit God and later one another kindly and to his Final Sermon, in which he returned to his people. Abu Bakr, abandon all blood feuds. urged Muslims to follow the Muhammad\u2019s close companion teachings contained in the Quran. and father-in-law, reminded Umar AFTER A short time later, he returned to that Muhammad had constantly 632 The umma elects the Medina for the last time. In the warned them against honoring him Prophet\u2019s companion and summer of 632, he fell ill and retired in the way that Christians honored father-in-law, Abu Bakr, to be Jesus; he was not divine, but a the first caliph, or leader of the mortal like themselves. To deny Islamic community. that he had died was to deny a basic truth. 634\u201356 Abu Bakr is succeeded as caliph by Umar If anyone worships From denial to acceptance and Uthman, and then finally Muhammad, Muhammad Abu Bakr spoke to the Muslim by Ali, who is the cousin and is dead. If anyone worships community in the mosque next to son-in-law of Muhammad. Aisha\u2019s house, and assured them God, God is alive. that the Prophet had indeed 661 Ali, the last of the four Abu Bakr passed. \u201cOh men, if anyone Rashidun (\u201crightly guided\u201d) worships Muhammad, Muhammad caliphs, is assassinated. The is dead. If anyone worships God, resulting rift will split Islam God is alive.\u201d He then recited verse into Sunni and Shia factions. 3:144 from the Quran, which had been revealed to the Prophet after the Battle of Uhud. The Muslims","MUHAMMAD 57 See also: The early life of Muhammad 22\u201327 \u25a0 A successor to the Prophet 102\u2013103 \u25a0 The rightly guided caliphs 104\u2013107 \u25a0 The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates 136\u201339 Prophet Muhammad\u2019s tomb at his mosque in Medina lies behind multiple screens. Millions of Muslim pilgrims visit the shine each year, often as a part of the Hajj. had suffered such heavy losses at On hearing these words, Umar bound by a shared faith. After the Uhud that it was rumored that finally accepted that the Prophet Hijra, the community Muhammad Muhammad too had been killed. was dead, and mourned. formed in Medina had grown to But verse 3:144 insists: dominate almost all of Arabia and Islam after Muhammad brought peace and stability in Muhammad is no more than The shock of Muhammad\u2019s death place of intertribal warfare. a messenger: other messengers was profound. He had guided every have passed away before him. step taken by the followers of Islam. Not everyone was committed However, he had not just left a set to the Prophet\u2019s religious vision, If he die or be slain, will you recant? of guidelines by which individual but he had established a large He that recants will do no harm followers could live their lives, but a enough core of dedicated Muslims politically strong and stable society that could now preserve and build to God, but God will on his legacy. recompense the thankful. While there were divergences of opinion on what to do next\u2014 and on who should succeed Muhammad\u2014the umma remained strong and powerful. This was largely because the Prophet\u2019s goal had not been his personal political power but the creation of a just society. Being a man rather than a divine figure, Muhammad had provided a role model all Muslims could attempt to emulate. \u25a0 The green dome After Muhammad died, there So Muhammad was buried was disagreement about where he beneath his bed in Aisha\u2019s should be buried. Some suggested house, next to the mosque. that he should be buried in his hometown of Mecca, where his Later, during the reign of relatives were. Others suggested Caliph Walid (r.705\u201315), the he be buried in Jerusalem, where mosque, which is known as preceding prophets had been al-Masjid an-Nabawi (the interred. Eventually, it was agreed Mosque of the Prophet), was he should be buried in Medina, expanded to include the tomb. although the exact location of a It has been further expanded burial site had yet to be settled. and rebuilt on many occasions, Some thought he should be buried most notably during the reign in the mosque where he preached, of the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay but Abu Bakr said he had heard (r.1468\u201396). Today, a green Muhammad say that prophets dome within the mosque should be buried where they die. complex marks the site of the Prophet\u2019s final resting place.","58 IWAMRHAEAGSTEOSARDTEEOVTWOHTHEESICDEH? YOU THE QURAN, 21:52 IN CONTEXT A key tenet of Islam is that man but as a divine being. The there is only one God. Prophet himself was aware that THEME Violating this belief\u2014 if people saw images of his face, Depicting the Prophet whether by worshipping another there was a risk that they would god, claiming God is not one, or soon start worshipping him. WHEN AND WHERE creating something to represent 630, Mecca Him\u2014constitutes the greatest sin. The text most often cited in Nothing should come between man defence of this ban is a hadith, BEFORE and God. So while nothing in the words reportedly spoken by the From 500bce In Judaism, the Quran strictly bans portrayals of Prophet, in which he is said to have only image of God is man. As God, Islam discourages any image- warned, \u201cWhoever makes a picture God has no visible shape, it is making to avoid the temptation will be punished by Allah till he absurd to make or worship toward idol worship. puts life in it, and he will never be images of Him. Man must only able to put life in it\u201d (Sahih Bukhari worship the invisible God. This prohibition extends to 3:428). This is taken to mean that Muhammad and all the prophets for a human, to try making a new 3rd\u20134th centuries ce of Islam. Here, early Muslims were being is usurping God\u2019s role and Although the Bible forbids idols reacting to Christianity, which they is in any case doomed to fail. or \u201cany graven image,\u201d frescoes believed had been led astray by and mosaics in early Christian conceiving of Christ not only as a Sometimes this concern can churches begin to depict the take extreme forms, as in the case life of Jesus and the saints with The Apostle of God, may of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. These figures instead of symbols. God bless him, is neither colossal statues of Gautama Buddha were carved into a cliff AFTER too short nor too tall. in Afghanistan in the 6th to 7th Today Even in the age of Ali ibn Abi Talib century ce, the biggest one standing mass media and streaming 180 ft (55 m) tall. After centuries across multiple formats, most Muhammad\u2018s cousin and son-in-law untouched under Muslim rule, they Muslims continue to maintain were dynamited by the Taliban in the prohibition on depicting 2001. In one account, Mullah Omar, God or Prophet Muhammad. the former Taliban leader, claimed he ordered their destruction in protest to a lack of global concern for Afghan humanitarian welfare, but in other sources he praised the act as a destruction of idols.","MUHAMMAD 59 See also: The emergence of Shia Islam 108\u201315 \u25a0 The divine art of Islamic calligraphy 190\u201391 \u25a0 Islamic art and architecture 194\u2013201 Islamic buildings are often decorated with intricate patterning and religious calligraphy in place of other imagery, as here in a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. Those who make these images will be punished on the Day of Resurrection. Prophet Muhammad A veiled or flaming face such images, along with arguments Sunni and Shia rulers. With rare The views of the Taliban are made for how such devotion may not exceptions, the Prophet\u2019s face is shared by the so-called Islamic constitute idolatry. As with other usually veiled in these depictions, State, whose destruction of ancient world religions, Islam has a complex or symbolically represented as a monuments in Syria, for example, and varying theology of religious art. flame as a way of honoring him. shocked the world, including many Even today, Muslims generally take Muslims. Such views are far from Shia Islam, in particular, has care to honor the Prophet by not representative of the whole of Islam. always been much more open to depicting his face. For this reason, the depiction of human figures, up non-Muslim attempts to render his Even in Muhammad\u2019s lifetime, to and including Muhammad. He figure in art are frequently perceived attitudes to imagery were less than featured as a central figure in many by Muslims as disrespectful. \u25a0 clear. According to one tradition, Persian miniatures, under both the Prophet criticized a tapestry that his wife Aisha had hung in The Jyllands-Posten affair their home, because it had images sewn into it; but when she turned In 2005, the Danish newspaper cartoons spread across global the tapestry into pillow covers, Jyllands-Posten published 12 Muslim communities, leading he made no complaint. cartoons under the title to protests, riots, and\u2014a decade Muhammads ansigt (The Face later\u2014terrorist attacks in Paris Similarly, during the conquest of of Muhammad). Almost all of and Copenhagen. Mecca in 630, all idols and images the drawings were caricatures were removed from the Kaaba and of Muhammad, and some were Muslim commentators at the destroyed. But when a painting of highly provocative. As the time compared the cartoons to Mary and Christ was brought out, newspaper\u2019s editor made clear, the issue of flag-burning in the Muhammad ordered that it should the caricatures were intended United States, noting that many not be destroyed, recognizing their as a critique of alleged Muslim Americans favor a legal ban value to the Christian community. hyper-sensitivity and resistance on flag-burning, which they see to criticism. Faith leaders called as an attack on their cultural Although there are many on the newspaper to issue an identity, or even on America examples of Islam\u2019s aversion to apology, as reactions to the itself. Muslims view disrepect religious imagery, there are also of the Prophet in the same way. examples of Muslim devotion to","THE QUR","AN","62 INTRODUCTION The opening sura of the The fourth sura, al-Nisa, The 12th sura, Yusuf, Sura 36, Ya Sin, is named Quran, al-Fatiha, is a key contains a number of retells the story of the for the two letters with text of Islam. It is recited legislative verses which it begins: Prophet Joseph\u2019s Y (Ya) and S (Sin). as part of daily prayers regulating interpersonal mistreatment at the hands It establishes the Quran and its first verse begins relations and marriage. as a divine source. every other sura in the of his brothers and his subsequent life in Egypt. Quran, bar one. THE OPENING WOMEN JOSEPH YA SIN THE COW REPENTANCE THE CAVE ORNAMENTS Sura 2, al-Baqara, is the The ninth sura, al-Tawba, The 18th sura, al-Kahf, The 43rd sura, al-Zukhruf, longest, with 286 verses. It is the only sura in the includes the story of the reminds believers that the includes the story of the calf Sleepers in the Cave, in goodness of God does not (or cow) that God told His Quran not prefixed by the which a group sleeps in a lie in material wealth, and verse, \u201cIn the Name of God, cave for 300 years to avoid to value instead their faith people to sacrifice when the Most Compassionate, Moses led them out of Egypt. religious persecution. and love of God. the Most Merciful.\u201d M uhammad began be the source of all creation. But it is hand\u2014palm fronds, scraps of receiving the revelations also filled with narratives about the parchment, even camel bone. that form the Quran patriarchs and prophets who can be Shortly after the Prophet\u2019s death, from the angel Jibreel in 610, found in the Hebrew Bible and the the fragments of the Quran were and continued receiving them Old Testament of the Christian collected together and codified into at intervals for 23 years. During Bible. In addition, it contains rules the Holy Book that we know today. this period, Muhammad fled from on how to regulate social life as well Handwritten copies of this book Mecca on the Hijra, or migration, to as prayers to God, and a description were then sent out across the Medina, then returned to conquer of how the universe was created. rapidly expanding Islamic empire. Mecca in 630, before finally ending In the space of no more than 120 his days back in Medina\u2014all while This was a scripture for the years since the first verse was continuing to receive God\u2019s divine Arabs in their own language and revealed, the Quran had become message. The revelations were the text in Arabic is elegant and the cultural, intellectual, emotional, passed to Muhammad verse by poetic, affecting the reader with and sociopolitical point of reference verse, chapter by chapter, and its beauty. The speaker throughout for a civilization that stretched from relayed by the Prophet to his small is God, who addresses the reader the Iberian peninsula in the west to group of followers. directly, showing His mercy but the Indian subcontinent in the east. also His harsh punishment for A book like no other those who stray from the straight Core message The Quran is hard to describe, path of faith. Despite the differences in approach because it functions on many and ritual that can be found among different levels. Foremost, it is an As the verses were revealed to the world\u2019s Muslims, the one thing account of God, who is believed to the Prophet, they were memorized on which all subsets in Islam agree and written down by his followers, recorded on whatever came to","THE QURAN 63 Al-Rahman, the 55th Sura 80, Abasa, was given The dramatic 99th sura, The 113th sura, al-Falaq, sura, chastises man for his to the Prophet after he was al-Zalzala, deals with the is a short chapter that is said to have frowned and Day of Judgement, when recited (often with the lack of gratitude toward turned away from a blind Earth will suffer a terrible 114th sura) to invoke God\u2019s God, who has showered protection against human him with an abundance man who interrupted earthquake and other and other kinds of evil. his preaching. calamities. of blessings. THE MERCIFUL HE FROWNED THE EARTHQUAKE DAYBREAK MANKIND THAT WHICH IS CLOTS OF BLOOD ONENESS COMING The ominously named The first five verses of The 112th sura, al-Ikhlas, Al-Nas is the 114th 56th sura, al-Waqia, al-Alaq, which is the 96th is one with which most and last sura in the Quran. contains indications sura, were the first ever to Muslims are familiar. Its It asks God for protection be revealed to Muhammad, four verses are profound of the inevitability signaling the start of his from evil spirits and the of the end of the world. statements of Divine unity evil among mankind. prophetic mission. and oneness (tawhid). is the Quran\u2019s central message of political theory\u2014are informed by that of Jesus Christ for Christians. divine unity, or tawhid. The Quran and imbued with the spirit of In the Christian faith, Jesus Christ introduces itself as a book that is divine oneness that runs through is described in the Bible as \u201cthe intended for those who \u201cbelieve in the Quran. Word made flesh.\u201d For Muslims, the unseen.\u201d As such, its central the Quran is the everlasting word message is not that God exists, Social justice is also at the heart of God, revealed not only between but that only one God exists: of the message. Followers are urged the covers of a book but also in the its mission is not to prove the to help the poor, treating them fairly nature and structure of the physical existence of the Creator, but to and with compassion, giving alms universe itself, which the Holy Book show that the Creator has no peers to those in need, and fasting in is said to mirror. involved in His creation of the solidarity with the hungry. These cosmos or in His constant support practices would help ensure a Muslims believe that the Quran and renewal of the world and all stable society that would endure. was revealed to Muhammad in the creatures in it. Muhammad did not set out to order to clarify for all humanity our found a new religion. Instead he position and role on Earth and to The message of divine oneness, sought to remind the Arabs of the help us understand why we are and the repudiation of the idea that old faith\u2014the time when society here. In short, the Quran is seen as nature, chance, or any other cause had one God and everyone was a divine aid that has been sent to has any part in creation, is key to treated fairly and equally. help mankind solve the riddle of understanding the revelations that human existence. As such, it was came to Muhammad and that form Living word of God received as the word of God by one the Quran. All other teachings in The Quran is at the center of Islam, man in Arabia some 1,400 years the Holy Book\u2014such as Muslim occupying for Muslims a position ago and by almost a third of law, theology, philosophy, and that is similar in significance to humanity today. \u25a0","DNTHOOISTUBTBOOTOKEBIDES THE QURAN, 2:1","","66 COMPILING THE QURAN IN CONTEXT F or Muslims there is no Early fragments from the Quran, question that the Quran such as this one discovered at Sanaa THEME was delivered to the in Yemen, which dates back to the 8th Compiling the Quran Prophet Muhammad in a series of century, are identical in content to the divine revelations. These began Quran as it is today. MORE ON THIS THEME when he was 40 years old and Sura 2 \u201cThe Cow\u201d (al-Baqara) continued until the end of his life, this should not be taken in a literal declares unequivocally \u201cThis 23 years later. What is less certain sense; the likelihood is that the Book is not to be doubted.\u201d is when those divine revelations \u201cbook\u201d existed only in the sense of It sets out the idea that the were written down and collected a body of revelations, delivered but Quran is constant, immaculate, together to form the book we not yet collected together. unalterable, and inimitable. know as the Quran. This view is corroborated by the Sura 10 \u201cJonah\u201d (Yunus) opens The majority of Muslim scholars scribe Zayd ibn Thabit. According with an argument between believe that the Quran was copied to Islamic tradition, Ibn Thabit was Islam and its disbelievers, who during the lifetime of the Prophet. a young follower of Muhammad and say \u201cGive us a Quran different They claim that as verses were one of those chosen by the Prophet from this, or change it,\u201d revealed, Muhammad would recite to write down the revelations, implying that the revelations them in the presence of his which he would also learn by heart. are a product of Muhammad\u2019s followers, one of whom would Ibn Thabit confirmed that at the own mind. The scripture transcribe the words. Muhammad responds by stating this is could not write them himself the word of God, there is no because, as the Quran tells us, he altering it. was illiterate\u2014several verses refer to the Prophet as \u201cunlettered,\u201d for Sura 25 \u201cSalvation\u201d (al-Furqan) example 7:157 and 7:158. Some has the unbelievers ask why scholars also point to the fact the Quran was not handed that toward the end of his life the down in a single revelation; Prophet declared, \u201cI leave among the answer is given, \u201cWe have you two things of high estimation: revealed it thus so that We the Book of God and my sunna.\u201d may sustain your heart.\u201d This leads them to suggest that the Quran existed in book form while Muhammad was alive. However, \u2026 is transmitted by \u2026 and transcribed God\u2019s angel Jibreel by his followers and collected in to Muhammad\u2026 book form as... The Word of God The Quran \u2026 and therefore \u2026 which retains its remains the perfect miraculous connection expression of\u2026 to its heavenly prototype\u2026","THE QURAN 67 See also: The early life of Muhammad 22\u201327 \u25a0 The death of the Prophet 56\u201357 \u25a0 The composition of the Quran 70\u201375 \u25a0 The rightly guided caliphs 104\u201307 time of Muhammad\u2019s death the This Quran the qurra as they worked. Each Quran had not yet been \u201cgathered could not have verse was validated by the oral together into a thing.\u201d The fact been devised by testimony of at least two qurra. that the verb \u201cgathered\u201d was used, any but God. Verses that existed in oral form rather than \u201cwritten,\u201d suggests that only with no written version were the elements of the Quran existed 10:37 subject to particular scrutiny. in written form but they had not yet been arranged chapter by leaves of Quranic scripture. The The order of the texts was set chapter into a physical book. It is Muslim leaders also made appeals by the Prophet. Islamic traditions possible that while the Prophet to anyone who might possess say that with each new revelation, was alive, the Quran was seen as a additional verses to bring them Muhammad always indicated work in progress. Verses, and even forward. Texts were collected that its place in relation to previous whole chapters, were continually were written on clay tablets, palm revelations. This order was always being revealed to Muhammad fronds, and even animal bones. maintained in prayers during the and he would not have known All of this material was handed to Prophet\u2019s lifetime, and was later when his prophetic mission was a compilation committee of four\u2014 adhered to by those who compiled to come to an end. some sources say five\u2014senior the Quran. Companions, who were instructed Collection and compilation to copy all the texts, comparing The codex The catalyst for the decision to them against the recitations of Once complete, the codex (a book compile the Quran was the Battle constructed of a number of loose of Yamama, which took place The word \u201cQuran\u201d sheets) was put in the safekeeping in 632, just a few months after of Abu Bakr, the first leader, or Muhammad had died. Yamama The exact linguistic meaning caliph, of the Islamic community saw the Muslims triumph over the of the word \u201cQuran\u201d (or Koran, following the death of the Prophet. Bani Hanifa tribe, whose leader, as it is sometimes written) is From Abu Bakr the codex was looking to emulate Muhammad, unclear. It has four possible passed to his successor, Umar. had also declared himself a new origins. One is the root word During Umar\u2019s 10-year rule, Islam prophet. However, large numbers qaraa, which means \u201cto collect\u201d spread well beyond the confines of the Prophet\u2019s Companions were or \u201cto compile.\u201d In this respect, of the Arabian Peninsula, carried slain. Many of these were \u201creciters\u201d the Quran is a book which was by a wave of Arab expansion. \u276f\u276f (qurra) who had committed the collected and compiled under entire revelations to memory and the protection of God. The form chapters, and so on. The whose job it was to transmit the second root word is qarana, third root word is qarain, which Quran to others. which means a \u201cunion\u201d or means \u201csymbol,\u201d \u201cevidence,\u201d \u201cconjunction,\u201d and indicates the or \u201cargument.\u201d In the context The Muslims feared that the joining of letters to form words, of the Quran, this is taken as loss of so many qurra put the words to form verses, verses to signifying the fact that one survival of the Quran in jeopardy. verse interprets, elaborates The leadership of the umma upon, and gives arguments and (Islamic community) decided that evidence for other verses. The the Quran needed to be collected fourth possible root word, and and written down. Different the one that is most commonly historical sources provide varying cited as the correct root, is accounts of how this was done and qiraat, which means \u201creading\u201d under whose direction. One of the or \u201crecitation,\u201d which makes widows of the Prophet, Hafsa, is sense because the Quran said in one account to have had in originally existed as a series her possession a great many loose of recited verses.","68 COMPILING THE QURAN The Birmingham Quran is not a As new territories were conquered, their own dialects (if they were complete book but two leaves of a Umar dispatched Companions well Arabic speakers) or in badly learned manuscript containing Quranic text. It versed in the Quran to spread the Arabic if it was not their native has been radiocarbon dated to roughly word. Ten Companions were sent language. As a result, differences the time Muhammad was alive. to Basra in Iraq,for example, while in pronunciation began to creep a senior Companion named Ibn into the recitations, and even We have sent you forth\u2026 Masud was sent to Kufa, also in disagreements over the correct with a Quran that We divided Iraq. Others went to Damascus, meaning of the text. Syria. One tradition says that into sections, that you Companions were also sent to The Muslim elders realized may read it to the people Yemen and Bahrain. that these discrepancies would only increase over time to threaten with deliberation. The Uthmanic recension the unity of the Islamic community. 17:106 Under the next caliph, Uthman, Reportedly in the year 653, Uthman there were more territorial gains. resolved to remedy the problem By this time, the Muslim nation before it got out of hand. Tradition was much more diverse than just relates that Uthman had multiple the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. copies made from the original In the new territories, many codex that had been compiled became converts to Islam, and they during the time of Abu Bakr. came from a multitude of different These were copied in the dialect provinces, peoples, and tribes. of the Quraysh, the main Meccan They recited the Quran in either tribe. One copy of what came to be known as the Uthmanic recension","(\u201crevised edition\u201d) was kept in We have revealed it an Arabic THE QURAN 69 Medina, while others were sent Quran, that perchance you out to every corner of the Muslim may understand it. It is a The Companions empire, along with orders that all of the Prophet other manuscripts and fragments transcript of the Eternal Book of prophetic revelations be burned. in Our keeping, sublime, and Known in Arabic as the The Eternal Book Sahaba, the Companions in That Abu Bakr compiled the Quran full of wisdom. the strictest sense are those and Uthman turned it into one 43:1 who were alive at the time of authoritative book is accepted by the Prophet Muhammad and the vast majority of scholars and Hagarism: The Making of the had personal contact with historians, certainly in the Islamic Islamic World (1977), in which they him, however slight. They world. Some scholars, mostly in the questioned the authenticity of are key figures in the history West, have proposed that the final Muslim accounts of the rise of of Islam because after the standardization of the Quran might Islam. However, in the 21st century, Prophet\u2019s death it was the have taken place at a much later the carbon dating of a number of testimony of the Sahaba, date than Islamic tradition claims. early Quranic fragments appears passed down through trusted In the mid-1970s, Professor John to back up the traditional view chains of narrators, that Wansbrough at London\u2019s School that the Quran was in existence provided the knowledge of the of Oriental and African Studies within about 20 years following life and sayings of Muhammad (SOAS) argued that the Quran the Prophet\u2019s death. Radiocarbon (hadith). These form the basis was written and collected not at analysis of Quranic texts held by for the Muslim way of life the time of the Prophet but over the University of Birmingham in (sunna), and its code of a period of 200 years. Historians the UK has dated the parchment conduct and law (Sharia). Michael Cook and Patricia Crone on which the text is written to the echoed this theory in their period between 568 and 645, with There are a number of 95 percent accuracy. This coincides different categories of Sahaba: In the absence of paper, parts of with the lifetime of Muhammad. for example, the muhajirun the Quran were inscribed on all kinds This dating is supported by the fact (\u201cimmigrants\u201d) are those who of other materials, such as these lines the Quran makes no mention of any followed the Prophet from from the Fatiha, written on the shoulder notable events in Islamic history Mecca to Medina on the Hijra; blade of a camel. beyond the Prophet\u2019s death. the ansar (\u201chelpers\u201d) are the people of Medina who took in The Uthmanic Quran is thus the Prophet and his followers. almost universally accepted as the collected revelations of the The names and brief Prophet Muhammad, as received biographies of some of the from God. The Quran consists most prominent Companions always and everywhere of the are recorded in several early same 114 chapters and the same works of Islamic scholarship\u2014 6,200 verses, presented in the one of these includes more same order. It has remained this than 3,000 entries. way, with not a word changed or modified, for almost 1,400 years. \u25a0","RA GIGUIHDETFEOORUTHSE THE QURAN, 2:1","","72 THE COMPOSITION OF THE QURAN IN CONTEXT A common criticism of But those that deny and reject the Quran concerns its Our revelations shall be the THEME form and structure. The inmates of the Fire, wherein The composition of \u201cchapters\u201d and \u201cverses\u201d that make shall they abide forever. the Quran up the Quran seem at first glance 2:39 to have been put together in an MORE ON THIS THEME arbitrary manner. There is no shelves, it is because most editions Sura 39 \u201cThe Throngs\u201d sense of linearity in the Quran, also include copious explanatory (al-Zumar) is a good example with no real beginning, middle, footnotes, which are frequently of a Meccan sura. Relatively and end. Scenes, themes, and longer than the text itself. Within short, it begins by restating protagonists seem to change with its text, the Quran covers a vast the authority of the Quran confusing frequency, making it range of topics, providing guidance (\u201cThe Revelation of the Book is difficult for the reader to follow on worship, the afterlife, marriage from God\u201d) and continues to the narrative. The first revelation and family life, care for the needy talk about Creation and the appears as verses one to five of and disadvantaged, and even role of the Quran (\u201cWe have the 96th sura\u2014the other 14 verses matters of hygiene, community given mankind in this Quran of the sura were revealed later. affairs, politics, and economics. all manner of parables\u201d 39:27). It constitutes a complete guide However, most of the criticisms to life and beyond. Sura 5 \u201cThe Table\u201d leveled at the Quran come from (al-Maida) is a prime example those who read it in translation. In presenting this information, of a Medinan sura. Running By contrast, the vast majority of there are two principal internal to 120 verses, it touches on a Arabic-reading Muslims view the divisions in the book, known in multitude of topics, including Quran as a miracle both of language Arabic as the sura and the aya. forbidden foods, ritual hygiene, and of style. They consider it a work the correct punishment for of sheer inimitability\u2014that is, a theft, the penance for breaking work so uniquely extraordinary an oath, the making of wills, that it can never be equaled. and many other issues of a practical nature. Chapter and verse The Quran is a relatively brief read, shorter than the New Testament of the Christian Bible. If the Quran sometimes appears bulky on library Rote and recitation to commit the entire book to Young Afghans read from the Quran memory. To learn the entire at a mosque. Some parents recite Western scholarship has added Quran by heart brings great the Quran to their children instead of numbers to the chapters and prestige and blessing, and nursery rhymes, and have them learn verses of the Quran for ease of a Muslim who has achieved to recite verses from the age of three. reference, but Muslims prefer this is known as a hafiz or a to use the names of the suras, \u201cguardian\u201d of the Quran. or quote the beginning of the particular passage under A hafiz keeps God\u2019s holy discussion. This method book alive and is given great requires not only considerable respect. They often become familiarity with the complete reciters of the Quran at daily text of the Quran but also prayers in the mosque and at considerable skills of memory. other important rituals and ceremonies. This skill is so Nonetheless, many Muslims highly prized that auditoriums memorize large portions of the are often filled to capacity for Quran, and some are even able recitation contests.","THE QURAN 73 See also: The early life of Muhammad 22\u201327 \u25a0 Compiling the Quran 64\u201369 \u25a0 The Fatiha: the first sura 76\u201377 \u25a0 What the Quran says about God 78\u201379 \u25a0 The physical form of the Quran 88\u201389 \u25a0 Tafsir, or the art of interpreting the Quran 90\u201391 The Letter Qaf Israelites while Moses was on Mount Sinai. But while the sura The Cow The Sun spans 286 verses, there are fewer than a dozen explicit references The Constellations The Mount to the calf after which the sura The Moon is named. The novice cannot The Pen The Elephant necessarily tell from the title of a sura what the main theme will Chapters or suras of the Quran often take be. Significant exceptions include their name from a story or theme contained within sura 4, Women (al-Nisa), which them. They are not arranged in any narrative or has a lot to say on wives, and chronological order. Opened at any point, they will sura 12, entitled Joseph (Yusuf), offer reassurance of God\u2019s will to the reader. which tells the story of the patriarch-prophet Joseph. This sura is also notable for having a distinct beginning, middle, and end. The aya That the word aya has traditionally been translated as \u201cverse\u201d reflects only the role it plays as the shortest unit of division in the Quran. But the Arabic word really means \u201cclear sign\u201d or \u201cevidence.\u201d This reflects the Islamic belief that the Quran presents the whole universe and so its constituent parts are all signs or evidence of the existence of God. Each of the numbered sections below is an aya: These are usually translated into topic but, broadly, by length. The [1] When Earth is rocked in her English as \u201cchapter\u201d and \u201cverse,\u201d longer chapters are found at the last convulsion; respectively. While not perfect, beginning of the Quran, with the these translations are adequate shorter chapters toward the end. [2] when Earth shakes off her in the sense that the sura and the The exception to this ordering is burdens aya function more or less in the the short sura known as the Fatiha, same way as the chapters and which opens the Quran. [3] and Man says: \u201cWhat may this verses of the Bible. mean?\u201d\u2014 All the suras have a title. The sura Generally speaking, these titles [4] on that day she will proclaim her reflect the main theme, or one of tidings, The word sura actually means the main themes of the sura. They a \u201crow\u201d or \u201cfence\u201d\u2014or anything function as a kind of thematic [5] for your Lord will have inspired that is used to section off one abstract. For example, the second her. thing from another. There are 114 sura of the Quran\u2014\u201cThe Cow\u201d suras in the Quran, all differing in (al-Baqara)\u2014is a reference to the [6] On that day mankind will come length. They are not arranged golden calf that was fashioned by out in broken bands to be shown chronologically or according to Aaron and worshipped by the their labors. [7] Whoever did an atom\u2019s weight of good shall see it, [8] and whoever did an atom\u2019s weight of evil shall also see it. \u276f\u276f","74 THE COMPOSITION OF THE QURAN Together, these eight ayat (the the divisions is an age-old practice, We have sent down to plural of aya) make up the whole of numbering the verses is a habit you clear revelations; none sura 99 of the Quran, called \u201cThe adopted later, but one that is Earthquake\u201d (al-Zalzala). The ayat more or less standard now in will deny them except do not necessarily each constitute the Muslim world. the ungodly. a self-contained sentence; in this 2:99 particular example, a single Given that the suras come in sentence straddles the first five different lengths, it follows that ayat. Other ayat, however, may they also have a widely varying be no more than a few words. number of verses. For example, sura 108, \u201cAbundance\u201d (al-Kawthar), In most Arabic-language has only three ayat. The longest of Qurans, readers can see the the suras, \u201cThe Cow\u201d (al-Baqara), number of ayat because each one has 286 ayat. is followed by a small rosette, and each rosette contains the number Beginning the sura Mecca, who remained opposed of that verse. In English-language to Islam. The mercy of God is translations of the Quran, the verse Each sura begins with the withdrawn from them. numbers are more usually noted Bismillah: in Arabic, Bismillahi in the margins. While the habit l-rahmani l-rahim (\u201cIn the Name Following the Bismillah, 29 of of dividing the verses and marking of God, the Compassionate, the the Quran\u2019s suras are then prefaced Merciful\u201d), which is also the first with a combination of letters. Historical Qurans are often lavishly line of the Fatiha, the first sura These letters are written combined, decorated with beautiful framing in the Quran. The exception to but each of the letters is supposed devices. In this 14th-century example this is sura 9, \u201cRepentance\u201d to be pronounced separately. For from Cairo you can see the rosettes (al-Tawba). This is an ultimatum example, The Cow (sura 2) begins marking the verses of the Fatiha. from God to the nonbelievers in the recently captured city of","THE QURAN 75 Reading the Quran on a tablet is becoming more common, and there are dedicated Quran apps for this. Color is used to add diacritical pronunciation marks to the standard Quranic text. and full of imagery. Many begin with oaths. For example, sura 95 is introduced with, \u201cBy the fig and by the olive! By Mount Sinai and by this inviolate city\u2026\u201d Later Meccan chapters are more serene and contain frequent illustrations of the truth of God\u2019s message drawn from nature and history. They are more formal than other suras and often discuss matters of doctrine. God is frequently referred to in these chapters as \u201cthe Merciful.\u201d with the letters alif, lam, meem, their Medinan counterparts. Medinan suras or A, L, M. Several chapters are They tend to deal with subjects actually named after the letters connected to the fundamentals of The Medinan chapters are quite with which they begin, such as faith, and communities and events different from the Meccan ones sura 20, which is called Ta Ha, or of the past. So if a sura seems to because, by this time, Muhammad \u201cT H.\u201d The meaning of these letters focus more on metaphysical issues, was no longer leading a fledgling is unknown, which has sparked on God\u2019s oneness, on stories of the group of followers, but had become considerable speculation and many patriarchs and prophets of old, or the head of a large, independent different interpretations. Classical on heaven, hell, and the hereafter, community of Muslims. As a result, Quranic commentators tend to take it is likely to have been revealed the Medinan suras are less about the view that these letters stand in Mecca. The earliest of these establishing the credentials of the for words and phrases related to revelations are often very rhythmic Prophet and the evidence of God\u2019s God\u2019s various names or attributes. signs. Instead, they focus on the Others are not overly concerned by duties and norms of behavior, explanations and are content with through discussion of legal and the general claim that God alone social matters, with advice on how knows what the letters mean. such rulings should be applied in order to regulate life within the Meccan suras With measured tone growing Muslim community. recite the Quran, Another important Quranic division for we are about to An example is in sura 24, where may be of less significance to the Muslims are told to gather four ordinary worshipper than to Islamic address to you words witnesses in order to corroborate scholars and historians. Scholars of surpassing gravity. any accusation of adultery. This was will distinguish between those an important safeguard for women suras revealed to Muhammad during 73:4 in a society in which even the sight the years he lived in Mecca\u2014early of an unrelated man and woman in his prophetic career\u2014and those together might be cause for revealed to him later, when he was suspicion. Accusations by those based in Medina. The Meccan who do not supply four witnesses suras are generally shorter than should be rejected and such persons dealt with harshly, according to this Medinan chapter of the Quran. \u25a0","76 ICTNHOTEMHPMEAESNRSACIMIOFENUAOLTF, ETGHOED, THE QURAN, 1:1 IN CONTEXT The one and only God exists on a cosmic scale as Lord of the Universe. THEME The Fatiha, the first sura God relates strongly toward God can also display anger mankind, to whom he is (wrath) toward mankind. MORE ON THIS THEME merciful and Sura 16 \u201cThe Bee\u201d (an-Nahl) compassionate. warns against worshipping gods other than God. It speaks There are two kinds of people: those on the straight path of the favored and those who and those who have gone astray. have gone astray. \u201cHad God pleased, He would have united Both kinds of people will be called to account you into one community. But before God on the Day of Judgment. He confounds whom He will and gives guidance to whom T he opening sura (chapter) introduction to the Quran\u2014despite He pleases.\u201d of the Quran, prosaically the fact that it was not the first entitled \u201cThe Opener\u201d chapter to be revealed\u2014the Fatiha Sura 36 \u201cYa Sin\u201d, sometimes (al-Fatiha), is arguably the best is also an invocation that is an called the \u201cheart of the Quran,\u201d known of all Quranic narratives integral part of everyday prayer. emphasizes the oneness of and occupies a special place It is usually recited silently\u2014 God and reminds Muslims, in Islamic liturgy and Muslim either individually or in a group it is \u201cby the Wise Quran, you faith. As well as serving as an \u2014whenever believers feel the need are surely one sent forth on a straight path\u201d. Sura 55 \u201cThe Merciful\u201d (al-Rahman) describes some of the resources that God has provided for man and chastises him for his lack of gratitude toward God.","THE QURAN 77 See also: The Five Pillars of Islam: Shahada 36\u201341 \u25a0 The Five Pillars of Islam: salat 42\u201343 \u25a0 The divine art of Islamic calligraphy 190\u201391 to praise or thank God. The Whoever does not recite they embark on any particularly seven verses that comprise the Fatiha in his prayer, difficult task, and even\u2014because it the Fatiha may be translated is encouraged in a hadith\u2014before as follows: his prayer is invalid. sexual intercourse. In the Indian Prophet Muhammad subcontinent, a Bismillah ceremony In the Name of God, the is held to mark a child\u2019s initiation Merciful, the Compassionate. The Bismillah into Islam. Praise be to God, Lord of the The opening aya, or verse (\u201cIn the Compassion and mercy Universe, Name of God, the Merciful, the The Fatiha is significant on Compassionate\u201d), appears at the account of its emphasis on an The Merciful, the Compassionate, beginning of every Quranic sura aspect of the divine that is often Sovereign of the Day of Judgment! except one. Referred to commonly overlooked, namely the compassion You alone we worship, and to You as the Bismillah (literally, \u201cin and mercy of God. To describe the the name of God\u201d), the aya is a Creator as compassionate (rahman) alone we turn for help. formulaic utterance that is spoken is to underscore the mercy that Guide us to the straight path, before any significant undertaking. God shows to creation as a whole. The path of those whom You have While it is heard most commonly To describe the Creator as merciful at the start of a meal, believers (rahim), however, is to emphasize favored, not of those who have utter it before they leave the house, the compassion that God shows provoked Your ire, nor of before they go on a journey, before to each and every created being, those who have lost their way. separately and uniquely. The fact that the Bismillah should precede The Fatiha is a declaration of every sura except one demonstrates divine oneness, and it is an the importance given by the Quran acknowledgement of God\u2019s to divine compassion. This finds \u201cbeautiful names\u201d and attributes an echo in the later Quranic verse of perfection. It can be used as that hails Muhammad and his a petition for guidance, help, message \u201cas a blessing to and mercy. It also serves as an mankind\u201d (21:107). \u25a0 affirmation of divine power and lordship, and an admission of humankind\u2019s absolute dependence on God for succor and salvation. The Mother of the Book The Fatiha encapsulates much of The Fatiha goes by many is called al-Saba al-Mathani Islam\u2019s core message. As such, it is alternative names. According or the \u201cSeven Oft-Repeated frequently rendered in decorative to Islamic tradition it is Um Verses\u201d and the \u201cGreat Quran\u201d. calligraphy, as here, on the dome al-Quran, or the \u201cMother of The historian al-Tabari said that of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. the Quran\u201d, or Um al-Kitab, the this is because the meaning of \u201cMother of the Book\u201d\u2014Arabic the entire Quran is summarized speakers tend to add the qualifier in the seven verses that make \u201cMother of \u2026\u201d to anything that up the Fatiha. summarizes something or comprises its most important The Fatiha is occasionally part. It is also named Mother of referred to as al-Shifa or \u201cthe the Book because it is the first Cure\u201d because, according to chapter written in the Quran and Islamic tradition, Muhammad the recitation in the canonical said \u201cThe opening of the Book prayer begins with it. The Fatiha [meaning the Quran] is a cure for every ailment and every poison.\u201d","78 TAHLLE BLOEIRNDGOF THE QURAN 1:1\u20137 IN CONTEXT Humankind is told that We do not know all bounty is in the how, or in what sense, THEME What the Quran says hand of God. this is true. about God We can think about We must just believe MORE ON THIS THEME God, but we cannot and accept it. Sura 23 \u201cThe Believers\u201d comprehend Him. (al-Muminun) tells of God\u2019s role in the creation of humankind: T he overarching emphasis the earth in six days before \u201cWe first created man from an of the Quran is that God is \u201cresting\u201d on the seventh. God, essence of clay\u201d (23:12\u201314). It transcendent, or beyond according to the Quran, is engaged also confirms God\u2019s creation human comprehension. He is in an act of \u201ccontinuous creation.\u201d of the heavens and earth. remote in the sense of being completely unlike anything that No need for proof Sura 24 \u201cLight\u201d (al-Nur) He has created. However, He is The Quran does not attempt contains the ayat al-nur, a at the same time, in the words of to use any strong rational or lyrical\u2014verging on mystical\u2014 the Quran, closer to man \u201cthan his philosophical arguments to prove group of lines on the nature of jugular vein\u201d (50:16). In stressing the existence of God. In fact, the God: \u201cGod is the light of the God\u2019s presence in the physical Quran does not really attempt to heavens and the earth. His world, the Quran also reveals that prove the existence of God at all. light may be compared to a God is constantly and continuously In keeping with the mission of niche that enshrines a lamp, engaged in the creative act. The the patriarchs and prophets who the lamp within a crystal of God portrayed by the Quran is in a preceded Muhammad, the Quran starlike brilliance\u201d (24:35). sense a \u201chands-on\u201d creator, and not sets out to prove not that there one who created the heavens and is a God, but that God is one. Sura 25 \u201cSalvation\u201d (al-Furqan) says that it is God \u201cwho has created all things and ordained them in due proportion\u201d (25:2).","See also: Compiling the Quran 64\u201369 \u25a0 The Fatiha, the first sura 76\u201377 \u25a0 THE QURAN 79 The Six Pillars of Faith 86\u201387 The names of God 43 21 \u201cAllah\u201d is a universal name The word \u201cAllah\u201d is for God and does not refer made up of the Arabic to an exclusively Islamic letters alif, (1), lam (2 and 3) God. Allah is the same God and ha (4), read right to left. that appears in the Christian The diacritical marks above Bible and Jewish Torah. modify the sounds, but they are not always written. Philologists believe the word Allah is derived from a The Quran stresses the unity no partner\u201d (25:1\u20132). Sura 2:255 contraction of al-ilah, which of God\u2014He is indivisible, and so tells us, \u201cNeither slumber nor means \u201cthe god\u201d in Arabic. cannot have any kind of body, made sleep overtakes Him\u201d, while sura It is etymologically related up of parts as humans have. The 6:59 emphasises His omniscience: to the Aramaic and Hebrew Quran reveals those aspects \u201cHe knows all that land and sea names for God, Allaha and of the divine \u201ccharacter\u201d that are contain: every leaf that falls is Elohim. The word \u201cGod\u201d\u2014 accessible to the human intellect known to Him.\u201d or Allah\u2014appears more than and power of reason. For instance, three thousand times in the on the subject of oneness, the Yet there are passages in the Quran, and there are countless Quran explicitly states that God Quran that specifically refer, for passages where He is \u201chas begotten no children and has example to God\u2019s hands and eyes\u2014 described in terms of various \u201cThe Hand of God is above their \u201cattributes of perfection,\u201d Beware, for God hands\u201d (48:10), for example. Most including al-Rahman (\u201cthe cannot be described with Muslims consider this allegorical. Compassionate\u201d); al-Rahim In fact, to take descriptions such (\u201cthe Merciful\u201d); al-Malik any attribute. as these literally would lead to (\u201cthe Sovereign\u201d); al-Qudus Ali ibn Abi Talib anthropomorphism (attributing (\u201cthe Holy\u201d); al-Salaam (\u201cthe human characteristics to God) and Source of Peace\u201d); and so on. Son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad might be seen as comparing God Contrary to popular opinion, with the beings He created, which the divine names do not is a great sin. At the same time, number 99, but are in fact there are literalists who refuse any innumerable: wherever interpretations of the Quran and perfection exists, such as insist it be taken at face value. beauty, wisdom, or power, God possesses that attribute While God in His absolute absolutely. Thus, the Quran essence is unfathomable, He can asserts, He is omniscient, be seen, as it were, through the omnipotent, and omnipresent. \u201cveil\u201d of His creations, which are deemed to be \u201csigns\u201d (ayat) that point to Him. The Quran\u2019s exhortations to meditate upon the countless creational signs that make up the universe are not made merely so that humankind might acquire knowledge of His universe for the sake of knowledge alone. Instead, humankind is encouraged to study itself and the world in order to better know and understand the Creator. \u25a0","80 INTNHORECREOLEMIGSPIHUOALNLSLIOBNE THE QURAN, 2:256 IN CONTEXT W hile Islam does not patriarchs of the Old Testament, accept the Christian such as Noah, Abraham, Job, and THEME Bible in its entirety as a Moses, appear in the Quran, where Tolerating the beliefs divinely revealed scripture, certain they are lauded as prophets and of others key parts of it are revered: these messengers. Jesus, too, is revered are the first five books of the Old as a prophet, but not as the son of MORE ON THIS THEME Testament, the Psalms of David, God, an idea the Quran rejects. Sura 22 \u201cThe Pilgrimage\u201d and the Gospels. Many of the Biblical figures such as Joseph, for (al-Hajj) says, \u201cFor every community, We have ordained Comparing the Abrahamic religions a ritual which they observe. Let them not dispute with you Moses Jesus Muhammad concerning this. Call them to 1391\u20131271 bce 3 bc\u201333 ce 570\u2013632 ce the path of your Lord: you are rightly guided. If they argue Judaism believes with you, say: \u2018God knows in Moses but deny best all that you do. On the the prophethood Day of Resurrection, God will judge your differences.\u2019\u201d of Jesus and Muhammad. Sura 109 \u201cThe Unbelievers\u201d (al-Kafirun) is a short sura Christianity that argues against religious believes in Jesus as the intolerance, it states: \u201cSay: son of God and revere \u2018You blasphemers! I do not worship what you worship, Moses as a prophet, nor do you worship what I but do not recognize worship. I shall never worship what you worship, nor will you Muhammad. ever worship what I worship. Islam honours You have your religion, and I Moses, Jesus, and have mine.\u2019\u201d Muhammad as prophets sent with the message of monotheism.","THE QURAN 81 See also: The umma, the community of Islam 32\u201333 \u25a0 The example of Islamic Spain 166\u201371 \u25a0 The Crusades through Muslim eyes 180\u201381 \u25a0 Islam in Europe 210\u201315 Believers, those who follow far as the stories of Jesus and and the early Muslim community. the Jewish Faith, Sabaeans, the Old Testament patriarchs Initially, Muhammad sought the and Christians\u2014whoever are concerned the Quran is full acceptance of Christians and believes in God \u2026\u2014shall have of references and allusions to the Jews, but when their leaders nothing to fear or to regret. Christian texts. This suggests rejected him as a false prophet, that its original readers were, like he received revelations that 5:69 Muhammad himself, very familiar commanded him to distance with the Bible. himself from them. In the example, to whom a whole sura is Constitution of Medina, which dedicated, are mentioned far more The protected peoples Muhammad negotiated with the in the Quran than Muhammad. The Quranic verses, \u201cThere shall be Jews of that city, Jews were no compulsion in religion\u201d (2:256) included in the umma. The general perception among and \u201cYou have your religion, and I Muslims is that the scriptures have my religion\u201d (109:6) would As the Muslim armies revealed to the Jews and Christians appear to guarantee every human encountered more communities (known as the \u201cPeople of the Book\u201d) being\u2019s right to adhere to the of Jews and Christians, they have somehow been corrupted\u2014 practices of their own faith\u2014or were accorded the status of ahl hence the need for an incorruptible, even to not believe in any god at all. al-dhimma, or \u201cprotected peoples.\u201d and final, revelation, namely the What this meant in practice varied Quran. While there are clear These verses would also appear with time and place, but typically doctrinal and theological differences to sanction the peaceable existence dhimmi were allowed to practice between Islam and Christianity, as of minority faith communities their religions, even if they within Islam. However, other enjoyed fewer privileges than verses in the Quran present more Muslims. They were subject to ambivalent attitudes toward Jews a special tax known as jizya. The and Christians. Christians are said largely harmonious coexistence to be \u201cnearest in affection\u201d to of Muslims and the so-called Muslims (5:82), and yet Muslims People of the Book in Medina at are not to take Jews or Christians the time of the Prophet, in Muslim as \u201cfriends\u201d (5:51). This reflects the Spain, and in the Ottoman Empire, varied experience of Muhammad is reflective of the Quranic ideal. \u25a0 The Quran and the Bible Readers of the Quran and Jesus, in a miracle unreported The Jews say the Christians the Hebrew and Christian Bibles in the Bible, speaks up from are misguided, and the will find many characters and the crib to defend his mother\u2019s Christians say it is the stories in common. The words honor when ill-wishers accuse Jews who are misguided. of the Quran appear to assume her of fornication. The Quran God will on the Day of familiarity with Jewish and also says that the Jews did Christian texts, while offering not kill or crucify Jesus\u2014it only Resurrection judge what they some gentle correctives in appeared to them as if they had. disagreed about. certain details. In the Quran, Instead, Jesus was raised up by 2:112 for example, Adam and Hawwa God to heaven, which Muslims (Eve) are forgiven by God before believe he entered alive. They being sent from Paradise, believe he will return in a because they begged for His Second Coming to fight the mercy, rather than cast out and False Messiah and establish cursed as in the Bible. Infant peace on earth.","82 IN CONTEXT IWANNEPDAHAIARLVSLETMHAINDGES THEME Women in the Quran THE QURAN, 51:49 MORE ON THIS THEME Sura 4 \u201cWomen\u201d (al-Nisa) is the most quoted chapter regarding women and Islam. It addresses mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, divorc\u00e9es, widows, orphan girls, slave girls, and women accused of adultery, and sets out legal frameworks for matters such as inheritance and marriage. Sura 24 \u201cLight\u201d (al-Nur) concerns female modesty: \u201cEnjoin believing women\u2026 to preserve their chastity; not to display their adornments (except such as are normally revealed); to draw their veils over their bosoms\u2026.\u201d Some have translated this as \u201clet their headscarves fall over\u2026 and cover their necklines.\u201d T he fourth sura of the Quran is called al-Nisa, or \u201cWomen.\u201d It begins: \u201cYou people! Fear your Lord, who created you from a single soul. From that soul He created its spouse, and through them He bestrewed the earth with countless men and women.\u201d This single verse embodies a basic and important theme of the Quran\u2019s teachings on the subject of men and women, which is that the sexes are complementary\u2014they are created \u201cfrom a single soul.\u201d The idea is reinforced in sura 51: \u201cThe heaven We built with mighty hands\u2026 And all things We have made in pairs\u201d (51:49).","THE QURAN 83 See also: Compiling the Quran 64\u201369 \u25a0 The modern Sharia state 266\u201369 \u25a0 A feminist Islam? 292\u201399 \u25a0 The hijab and niqab 300\u201303 At times in Islamic history, women rights. In this cultural context, the called \u201cThe Cow,\u201d explicitly states have been encouraged to pray at home, Quran\u2019s teachings on equality that it is unlawful for any man to but in most mosques today they pray in were unprecedented, and heralded take from a divorced wife anything a designated space, as here at al-Barka a marked improvement in the that he has given her, and adds Mosque in Bekasi, Indonesia. position of women in Arab society. that she should be treated with kindness, with no harm or wrong The Quran also reveals that reward The Quran prohibited outright done to her. Nor are former wives in the hereafter awaits believing certain practices that were common to be prevented from remarrying: men and women alike: \u201cBe they at the time, such as female \u201cThese are the bounds set by God; \u276f\u276f men or women, those who are infanticide and sexual abuse of Muslims and have faith; who are slave girls. It also gave women The true believers, devout, sincere, patient, humble, marriage, divorce, inheritance, both men and charitable, and chaste; who fast and property, and custody rights that are ever mindful of God\u2014on these they were unlikely to have enjoyed women, are friends God will bestow forgiveness and a prior to the advent of Islam. While to one another. rich recompense\u201d (33:35). the Quran permits a man to take 9:71 multiple wives (\u201cyou may marry It is clear that, according to the other women who seem good to Quran, men and women are two you: two, three, or four\u201d), it goes equal elements in the eyes of God. on to stipulate that they must be properly and equally supported, Protected rights and that any man who cannot do The Quran was compiled in 7th- this must \u201cmarry one only\u201d (4:3). century tribal Arabia\u2014a society in which women were seen very much These and other teachings as possessions, with few formal guarantee the financial security of divorced women: the second sura,","84 WOMEN IN THE QURAN Maryam, the Arabic name for Mary, is held in high honor in the Quran, and the 19th sura bears her name. This 17th-century Persian painting is thought to show her with her son Jesus (Isa). Maryam, mother of Jesus do not transgress them\u201d (2:229). The same sura enjoins: \u201cThose of you The Quran mentions about Other female figures in the who die leaving wives behind shall 25 female characters, but Quran include the Queen of bequeath their widows a year\u2019s only Mary (Maryam in Arabic), Sheba, the mother of Moses, maintenance without causing them the mother of Jesus (Isa), is the wives and daughters of to leave their homes\u201d (2:240). It also identified by name. The name Muhammad, the daughters of states that a wife shall inherit one- \u201cMaryam\u201d occurs more times Lot, and the wife of the Prophet quarter of her husband\u2019s estate. in the Quran than the name Joseph\u2019s master in Egypt. Of \u201cMary\u201d in the New Testament these, the Queen of Sheba stands There are, however, two areas of the Christian Bible. The Quran out as the only woman whose in which the Quran may appear to even names sura 19 after her. primary role is not that of wife favor men over women. One is that While Muslims revere Maryam, or daughter. In fact, she is often of legal witness. In some legal scholars have stopped short of cited by feminists as a historical situations where witnesses are recognizing her as a prophet, example of female leadership required, the gender of the witness although some medieval Muslim and of the entitlement of women is immaterial, but where witnesses writers did so. to political rule. are needed for financial contracts, the Quran stipulates that one male witness is equal to two females. Some scholars suggest this merely reflects the fact that women in 7th-century Arabia were less experienced in financial matters\u2014 although the Prophet\u2019s first wife Khadija, a respected merchant, is a notable exception. The other area of seeming inequality is inheritance, with daughters receiving only half what their brothers inherit. The usual explanation for this is that men had the extra burden of supporting the women in their household. As progressive as the Quran may have been, it also reflects the reality of its time, acknowledging the different roles of the sexes in the family. Patriarchal authority One of the most contentious passages in the Quran is the 34th verse of sura 4, \u201cWomen\u201d. These few lines are some of the most debated in Muslim scripture, and are often held responsible for the patriarchal nature of many","THE QURAN 85 The man and the woman be understood as conditional\u2014the Moroccan Asma Lamrabet is an are both from God\u2019s creation only basis for a husband\u2019s authority Islamic feminist who challenges the is his provision of financial support. dominance of men in interpreting and God \u2026 never intends Scholars also note that the verse as religious texts. She argues for the right to oppress anyone from a whole deals specifically with of women to be religious authorities. His creation. matters between husband and wife Sayyid Qutb rather than all men and women. oppressed, disempowered, or disenfranchised\u2014and if they Egyptian thinker The latter part of the verse, continue to be so today\u2014it is describing increasingly punitive as a result of the persistence of Islamic societies and for the sanctions to be taken against a problematic cultural traditions, or restrictions imposed on many \u201cdisobedient\u201d wife, is even more the misinterpretation of Quranic Muslim women: controversial\u2014especially with precepts by jurists, or an regard to its final instruction. In unfortunate amalgam of both. \u201cMen have authority over women Arabic, this sanction is described because God has made the one by the verb daraba, which means, In essence, the Quran treats superior to the other, and because among other things, \u201cto strike\u201d or women as the social, political, they spend their wealth to maintain \u201cto beat.\u201d Many Muslims over the and metaphysical equals of men, them. Good women are obedient. ages have found this verse difficult considering them to be differently They guard their unseen parts to reconcile with the overall fashioned beings who originate because God has guarded them. message of the Quran, and indeed from the same source\u2014God. As for those from whom you fear with the actions of the Prophet, Notwithstanding their different disobedience, admonish them, and who is quoted in a hadith as saying roles over time, it teaches that forsake them in beds apart, and \u201cThe best among you is the one men and women were created to beat them. Then if they obey you, who is best toward his wife.\u201d supplement and complement each take no further action against them. other, to give each other ease, Surely God is high, supreme.\u201d Then and now happiness, and repose, and to aid While the disciplining advised in each other in cultivating this world The first phrase is often presented sura 4:34 reflects a vast improvement and bringing about salvation and as a definitive statement that men on the pre-Islamic situation, modern everlasting bliss in the next.\u25a0 are superior to women. However, translations have striven to suggest this is at odds with the message less sexist meanings. In 2007, of the Quran as a whole, which, for Iranian\u2013American Muslim author the most part, presents men and Laleh Bakhtiar completed the first women as equals. Modern theorists feminist translation of the Quran. question the interpretation of In this, she challenges the perceived superiority more closely. Do all men permission for beating wives by have authority over all women? Is offering an alternative meaning it restricted to the head male of the of the verb daraba, which is \u201cto family? Is it just the husband who go away from,\u201d not to strike. More has authority over a wife? conservative scholars continue to take the verse at face value, but Opinion leans toward the latter, with reservations, saying that it arguing that the sentence should condones striking a wife only as a last resort in order to preserve a marriage, and it is not a license for domestic abuse. Scriptures such as these are ultimately hostage to those who would interpret them. What is clear is that if women in Muslim societies have historically been","86 FBAEILTIHEVIENRGSO, DHAVE THE QURAN, 4:136 IN CONTEXT The creed (aqida) and ritual practices of Islam are clearly identified in the Quran and hadith. THEME The Six Pillars of Faith The Five Pillars of Islam The Six Pillars of Faith (arkan al-islam) relate to (arkan al-iman) relate to MORE ON THIS THEME ritual actions. indisputable beliefs. Sura 4 \u201cWomen\u201d (an-Nisa) is a long sura that aims at Taken with the social obligations and prohibitions protecting the newly formed described in the Quran and hadith, these pillars define Islam Muslim community by stating what is acceptable behavior as a religion and way of life. for Muslims. This includes the articles of faith (4:136). I n addition to the Five Pillars verse in the Quran (4:136), namely of Islam, observant Muslims belief in: the one God; His angels; Sura 50 \u201cThe Letter Qaf\u201d also accept six fundamental His scriptures; His apostles; and deals with Resurrection and \u201cPillars of Faith.\u201d While the Five the Last Day. The remaining pillar the Day of Judgment. It also Pillars of Islam are largely of the core articles of faith is includes mention of the \u201ctwin concerned with everyday ritual \u201cdivine destiny\u201d (qadar), which keepers\u201d (50:16\u201318), or kiraman practices, the Pillars of Faith are is sometimes translated as \u201cfate\u201d katibin, the angels believed more intangible and, as the term or \u201cpredestination.\u201d by Muslims to record a suggests, deal with matters of person\u2019s every action. belief, serving to define the religion. There are differences between Five of these Pillars of Faith are Sunni and Shia, and within other Sura 112 \u201cOneness\u201d mentioned together in one key schools, concerning the finer points (al-Ikhlas) is a short declaration of interpretation, notably regarding of tawhid, God\u2019s absolute oneness. It is made up of just four ayat, or verses.","THE QURAN 87 See also: Hijra, the flight from Mecca 28\u201329 \u25a0 The Five Pillars of Islam: Shahada 36\u201341 \u25a0 The Five Pillars of Islam: salat 42\u201343 \u25a0 The Five Pillars of Islam: zakat 44\u201345 \u25a0 The Five Pillars of Islam: sawm 46\u201349 \u25a0 The Five Pillars of Islam: Hajj 50\u201355 Say: \u2018God is One, the idea of communication, as it is said During the Miraj (ascension to Eternal God. He begot to be derived from laaka, which Heaven), Muhammad, on board his none, nor was he begotten. means \u201cto send on a mission.\u201d mount Buraq, was among the angels, And none is equal to Him\u2019. who are shown in this 17th century Muslims are called not just to Persian miniature. 112 believe in the final revelation\u2014 the Quran\u2014but also to recognize qadar, but the six articles are the texts that preceded it: notably not disputed. The belief that God the Torah and the Gospels. This is the sole divinity, a concept in recognition of earlier texts Arabic called tawhid, is the main demonstrates that God has never focal point in the Quran, and is a abandoned humanity but has sent principle on which all else depends. messengers at irregular intervals. He is unique, has no associates, According to Muslim tradition, and neither begets nor was there have been about 124,000 begotten. The supreme sin, which of these messengers or prophets, stands counter to tawhid, is the each giving the same message deification or worship of anyone or of divine unity according to their anything besides God; in other context and situation. Twenty-five words, practicing idolatory or messengers are mentioned in polytheism, which is known in the Quran, but scriptures were Arabic as shirk. The Quran states revealed to only five of these: that God will forgive everything Noah, Ibrahim (Abraham), Moses, else except \u201cthose who serve other Jesus, and Muhammad. deities besides Him\u201d (4:48). The Last Day Angels and prophets About a quarter of the Quran The Quran refers frequently to is devoted to life after death angels. They are invisible beings and matters of the soul, as belief of a higher order, which, according in God necessitates belief in the to a hadith, were created from light. hereafter. On the Last Day, also The role of the angels is to transmit known as the Day of Judgment messages from the Creator of (Yom al-Din), the universe will the universe to His servants. be destroyed. After this the dead The most obvious example of this will be resurrected to face God is the archangel Jibreel (Gabriel), and account for their actions. The who delivered the revelation of the righteous will be rewarded with a Quran to Muhammad. The Arabic place in Paradise, while unbelievers word for angel, malak, carries this and sinners will go to Hell. The sixth pillar, which is qadar, acknowledges God\u2019s omniscience. He knows everything that has happened and everything that is to come. This knowledge is preserved on an \u201cimperishable tablet\u201d (al-lawh al-mahfouz). A person\u2019s actions are not set by being in the book\u2014man has free will, but God knows his actions beforehand. \u25a0","88 NPEUXOCRNEIEFPIMTEADTYHTEOUCH THE QURAN, 56:79 IN CONTEXT M uslims believe that what it is trying to say is that only the Quran is based on those who are spiritually purified THEME a heavenly prototype, a will be able to \u201ctouch\u201d\u2014in other The physical form of book written in Arabic and existing words, access and understand\u2014 the Quran with God in heaven. It was given the true meanings of the book. to Muhammad in the form of The more popular and literalist MORE ON THIS THEME revelations and only later was it approach takes the verse at face Sura 2 \u201cThe Cow\u201d (al-Baqara) written down. The belief that the value, though the two readings is the longest sura in the Quran holy scripture exists in heaven are not mutually exclusive. and, among other things, it makes the handling of its earthly deals with injunctions related representations a matter of A book above all others to various matters, including great care and delicacy. In accordance with the \u201cnone purity. \u201cThey ask you about may touch\u201d verse, the majority menstruation: Say: \u2018It is an The Quran portrays itself as of Muslims treat the Quran as a indisposition \u2026 and do not a \u201cnoble\u201d book, which \u201cnone may sacred object. Consequently, those approach them until they are touch except the purified\u201d (56:79). who are in a state of ritual impurity clean again\u2019 \u2026 God loves More esoteric interpretations of due to not having made their those that turn to Him in the Quran favor a metaphorical ablutions, or women who are penitence and strive to keep reading of this verse, claiming that menstruating, are barred from themselves clean\u201d (2:222). physical contact with the pages It is a fearful offence for of the Quran. Sura 9 \u201cThe Repentance\u201d a man to sit, even unwittingly, (al-Tawba) includes two verses In many Muslim households, that reference the states of on the Quran. the Quran occupies an elevated purity and impurity: \u201cBelievers! Ogier Ghiselin position in the literal as well as the The idolaters are unclean. Let metaphorical sense, often being them not approach the Sacred de Busbecq, stored on the highest bookshelf in Mosque\u201d (9:28) and \u201cGod loves the house, a veritable \u201cbook above those that are purified\u201d (9:108). 16th-century Flemish diplomat all other books.\u201d Although the Quran is a message from God that was revealed in order to be read and pondered at all opportunities, in some households the bookshelf is often where the Quran remains. It is taken down and read only on","THE QURAN 89 See also: The Five Pillars of Islam: Salat 42\u201343 \u25a0 Compiling the Quran 64\u201369 \u25a0 The composition of the Quran 70\u201375 This Quran could not have been devised by any but God. 10:37 To pay respect to the Quran, not be thrown away, but instead alternative disposal method, or readers will often use a rehal, which should be wrapped in cloth and fastening the Quran to a stone is an X-shaped foldable stand that buried in a place where people and placing it in flowing water. cradles the holy book. The Quran would not normally walk. Typically, should never be placed on the floor. this is often on the grounds of a Understandably, not all Muslims mosque or even a graveyard. treat the Quran in this way. Many special occasions such as births, Some Muslims accept burning see it very much as a \u201cworking deaths, and marriages, or, in one or shredding as an acceptable book,\u201d one that is to be read, particular cultural custom, as a recited, and studied assiduously, charmlike object that travelers Created or uncreated? but without the need for it to be pass under when they leave the treated like some untouchable house on a long journey. The notion of the \u201ccreatedness\u201d object. For such Muslims, the Quran or \u201cuncreatedness\u201d of the Quran may well be a book that must be Muslims also believe the was a theological issue hotly revered, but first and foremost it is Quran should also be transported debated in the early centuries of a book that is to be lived. \u25a0 very carefully, preferably in a bag Islam, with repercussions that to avoid damage. If it should are still felt today. Clearly the Those who asserted the eternity accidentally fall, then it is honored, ink and paper with which the of the Quran believed that sometimes with a kiss. Some Quran is written, together with denying its eternity would mean Muslims will make a charitable the sounds of the words with denying the divinity of the donation in cases where they have which it is recited, are all created. revelation and its eternal handled a Quran carelessly. But what about the word of God validity. If the Quran was that is reflected in the Quran\u2019s created, some theologists Disposing of a holy book message? Was that \u201ccreated,\u201d argued, it must be the product The respect shown toward the or has it always existed and is of a particular historical context, Quran is maintained for old and therefore \u201cuncreated?\u201d and when that context changes, worn-out copies as well. These may the validity of the Quran disappears. They saw the notion of the createdness of the Quran as compromising the very foundations of belief and ultimately corroding the authority of Islam.","90 ENAVEGEWER, FYINRPEEESVOHEPRLFYEOR JAFAR AL-SADIQ (8th CENTURY) IN CONTEXT , tafsir have provided an enormous variety of Over time THEME nd practice. Tafsir, or the art of opinions... interpreting the Quran ... leading to Tafsir provides WHEN AND WHERE interpretations in 883, Baghdad order to unlock the Quran and give guidance BEFORE 610\u201332 Muhammad receives to the world. a series of revelations from God, which are committed to a wealth of diversity within Islamic thought a memory by his companions. T he Quran can be read and hands of Abu-Lahab perish!\u201d and 632 After Muhammad dies, understood on many levels. threatens his wife, who is \u201claden his successor Abu Bakr has Certain verses are relatively with firewood,\u201d and shall have \u201ca the revelations gathered into straightforward in their message rope of fiber round her neck!\u201d Here, a single volume\u2014the Quran. and are accessible to a general context is everything. reader. But the text was written 7th\u20138th centuries Muslim down a long time ago, and now To fully understand the layers scholars begin collecting oral contains much that is unclear and and nuances of meaning in the anecdotes of the Prophet\u2019s obscure. Sometimes this is because Quran, a reader has to be familiar sayings (hadith), including his words have multiple meanings and with the historical context of when comments on Quranic verses. the true meaning may have been and where the text was revealed, lost. Sometimes a verse is rooted in written down, and passed on. AFTER historical circumstance, such as A field of scholarship developed, 1972 Abul Ala Mawdudi sura 111, which begins \u201cMay the starting not long after Prophet completes his six-volume Muhammad\u2019s death, which is Tafhim-ul-Quran (Toward Understanding the Quran), a highly influential combination of orthodox and modernist interpretations of the Quran.","THE QURAN 91 See also: The early life of Muhammad 22\u201327 \u25a0 Compiling the Quran 64\u201369 \u25a0 Sayings and actions of the Prophet 118\u201323 \u25a0 The creation of Pakistan 242\u201347 Muslims read the Quran and may grammatical explanations and Al-Tabari even learn it by heart, but the meaning historical context, as well as of many verses can be unclear because personal opinions. Well-known Born in 839 in Tabiristan, Iran, of arcane language and references. mufassirun from the classical Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Tafsir offers guidance to meaning. period include al-Tabari (839\u2013923), Jarir al-Tabari spent most whose comprehensive tafsir of 883 of his life as a scholar in dedicated to interpreting and is the earliest major commentary Baghdad, where he died in commenting on meanings of verses on the Quran to have survived. 923. A prolific author, his within the Quran. This practice is reputation rests on two epic known as tafsir. According to Sufi historian and works in particular: an 8,000- theologian al-Suyuti (1445\u20131505), page history of prophets Scholars of meaning who came from Cairo and produced and kings from the Creation The word tafsir comes from the more than 500 works, a mufassir until about 914\u201315; and his Arabic root fassara (to interpret). must possess a mastery of classical commentary of the Quran. In the formative years of Islam, in Arabic, expertise in no fewer than the 7th and 8th centuries, Quranic 15 fields of study\u2014such as theology, Completed in 883, the interpretation was based mainly on jurisprudence, and linguistics\u2014 Tafsir al-Tabari is the earliest the explanations found in the many and knowledge of the historical surviving work to attempt a hadith, which cited the comments context in which the verses were comprehensive understanding made on the Quran by the Prophet revealed. Only a mufassir who met of the Quranic text. In more and his Companions. But early these and a host of other essential than 30 volumes, it condenses followers soon realized there was a requirements could be trusted to the vast wealth of hadith need for a more detailed verse-by- avoid misinterpretation or a too and commentaries of earlier verse explanation of ambiguities literal reading of Quranic text. Muslim scholars and classifies in the Quran, and this in turn gave them according to their rise to the wider scope of tafsir\u2014 An ongoing process compatibility with one covering linguistics, jurisprudence, The fact that tafsir is an ongoing another. It also gives lexical and theology\u2014and the emergence process, never producing one meanings of words and of a body of dedicated scholars authoritative commentary, was examines their use in Arabic known as the mufassirun. explained by the 8th-century culture. Both al-Tabari\u2019s scholar and sixth Shia Imam Jafar history and his tafsir are Schools of tafsir emerged in al-Sadiq: \u201cGod did not make [the considered the greatest various scholastic centers, from Quran] for one specific time or one examples of their genre. Medina and Mecca to Baghdad, for specific people, so it is new in every example. Their commentaries came age, fresh for every people, until He who says [something] to cover the entire Quran and were the Day of Judgment.\u201d concerning the Quran published in books containing without knowledge has The tradition of tafsir continues taken his seat of fire. to this day. Eminent mufassirun of the modern era include Abul Ala Prophet Muhammad Mawdudi (1903\u201379), better known as the founder of Pakistan\u2019s Islamic revivalist party Jamaat-e-Islami, who spent 30 years producing his six-volume translation and commentary, and Iranian Shia scholar Allama Tabatabai (1904\u2013 81), who began his 27-volume work of Quranic commentaries in 1954 and completed it in 1972. \u25a0","92 FEAONNRTDEEARVBEPIDRAERATDHIESREEIN THE QURAN, 39:73 IN CONTEXT A ccording to the Quran, all who were punctual in prayer; people shall die at their the Bab al-Rayyan, for those who THEME appointed time and return fasted; and the Bab al-Hajj for those The Quranic concept to God (6:60). After death, Muslims who went on the pilgrimage. of Heaven are buried: cremation is forbidden in Islam. At some point, the world will Opinions vary on whether non- MORE ON THIS THEME end, with the annihilation of all life, Muslims may enter Paradise. Sura Sura 9 \u201cRepentence\u201d (al- an event that is known as the Day 2:62\u2014\u201cwhoever believes in God Tawba) includes one of many of Judgment (in Arabic, Yom al-Din). and the Last Day and does what instances in which Paradise On this day, the fate of every person is right\u201d\u2014suggests they might. \u25a0 is described as a garden: will be determined by reference to \u201cGod has promised the men the Book of Deeds, in which every Paradise, depicted here in a Persian and women who believe in action, small or great, is recorded. miniature, is described as a series of Him Gardens watered by Those whose good deeds on Earth levels guarded by angels. The highest running brooks, wherein they outweigh their bad will proceed to level is known as firdaus. shall abide forever: goodly Paradise (Janna). mansions in the Gardens of Eden: and, what is more, they The Quran offers a number of shall have grace in God\u2019s descriptions of Paradise, including sight\u201d (9:72). sura 55, which speaks of well- watered gardens and the life of Sura 47 \u201cMuhammad,\u201d which bliss believers will spend there, relates to the Battle of Badr, reclining on \u201ccouches lined with describes Paradise as having rich brocade\u201d (55:56) with all kinds \u201crivers of water undefiled, of fruit in easy reach, and many and rivers of milk forever fresh; virgins \u201cchaste and fair\u201d (55:69). rivers of wine delectable to those that drink it, and rivers According to hadith, there of clarified honey\u201d (47:15). are eight gates to Paradise, each of which equates to a virtuous practice of Islam; so, for example, there is the Bab al-Salah, for those See also: The Six Pillars of Faith 86\u201387 \u25a0 Paradise on Earth 202\u201303 \u25a0 Rites of passage 256\u201359","THE QURAN 93 ICCNUOMRNASFTLEEDASGBROEFATTTHIHOEEN THE QURAN, 67:11 IN CONTEXT O n the Day of Judgment, Paradise is an uphill climb, those whose bad deeds whereas Hell is downhill. THEME outweigh their good deeds Hence, there is a struggle to The Quranic concept will be relegated to the torments Paradise and not to Hell. of Hell of Jahannam, or Hell. The Quran contains countless descriptions of Al-Ghazali MORE ON THIS THEME what sinners will encounter there, Sura 4 \u201cWomen\u201d (al-Nisa) with fire and flames being a Persian scholar (1056\u20131111) makes several references constant motif. to hell and its punishments, While a number of verses in the such as, \u201cThose that deny Our The Holy Book is also specific Quran refer to sinners\u2019 time in Hell revelations We will burn in fire. in identifying the sins that will lead as eternal, some Muslim scholars No sooner will their skins be to Hell: these include dying as a have argued that Hell is not only a consumed than We shall give disbeliever (\u201cSuch shall be the punishment; it offers the chance for them other skins, so that they tenants of the Fire, wherein shall redemption, as revealed in sura may taste the torment\u201d (4:56). they abide for ever\u201d\u20142:218); killing 6:128, which says \u201cThe Fire shall a believer (4:93); hypocrisy (4:145); be your home, therein to abide for Sura 37 \u201cThe Ranks\u201d (al- and blasphemy (39:60), among ever: unless God ordain otherwise.\u201d Saffat) introduces the Zaqqum others. The Quran reveals that There is also a hadith that has Tree, which \u201cgrows in the there will be different grades of Hell Muhammad expressing the wish nethermost part of Hell, according to a sinner\u2019s deeds that, \u201cVerily a day would come bearing fruit like demons\u2019 (6:132), with the hypocrites being over Hell when there shall not heads\u201d (37:62). cast into the lowest depths. The be a single human being in it.\u201d \u25a0 hadith introduce further sins and Sura 78 \u201cThe Tidings\u201d punishments, and more information (al-Naba) reveals that \u201cHell about Hell not found in the Quran will lie in ambush, a home for \u2014for example, the Sunan al-Nasai the transgressors. Therein reports Muhammad as saying there shall they abide long ages; are seven sins that doom someone therein they shall taste neither to Hell, including fleeing from battle refreshment nor any drink, and slandering a chaste woman. save scalding water and decaying filth...\u201d (78:21). See also: Hijra, the flight from Mecca 28\u201331 \u25a0 The Six Pillars of Faith 86\u201387","IADNENISTLITA 632\u2013786","MY IC","96 INTRODUCTION Abu Bakr is elected by During the reign of Son-in-law and cousin Ali\u2019s son Hussein a council of Companions Umar, Arab armies of Muhammad, Ali ibn is killed at Kerbala Abi Talib, becomes the on the orders of the as the first caliph, or capture the holy Umayyad caliph Yazid. successor to Muhammad. city of Jerusalem. fourth caliph. 632 638 656 680 661 633 641 Abu Bakr fights the Arab armies conquer Ali is assassinated Wars of Apostasy against the territories of the and the governor Persian Sasanian of Syria, Muawiya, secessionist tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. Empire. seizes power. T he Prophet Muhammad After Muhammad death of the Prophet, Arab armies achieved remarkable The first 30 years after the death had taken Damascus, Jerusalem, things. As conduit for of the Prophet were spent ensuring Egypt, and much of the old Persian the word of God, he spread the that the community he had built did Sasanian Empire. message of the Quran initially to not disintegrate, and the lessons just a handful of followers\u2014mostly he had taught were not forgotten. Beyond the zeal and ferocity of his family\u2014which eventually grew When the Muslim council selected the Arab armies, the conquests into a community of believers, the a successor to Muhammad\u2014his were successful for other reasons. umma, that numbered at least close friend and father-in-law Abu The Muslims left intact most of the 10,000 by the year 630. Bakr (r. 632\u201334)\u2014the new leader bureaucracy they inherited in the was immediately faced with revolt Byzantine and Persian territories, Muhammad transformed by Arab tribes who considered the and were content for business to himself into a political leader who death of the Prophet to have severed continue mostly as it had before. united people of different faiths in their ties to Islam. In the Wars of They also pursued a policy of Medina, and by necessity became Apostasy, Abu Bakr quashed the religious freedom, and did not seek a military leader who then led those rebels and brought the Arabian to impose Islam on vanquished communities to war against the Peninsula under Muslim rule. peoples. Instead, they imposed a powerful merchant clans of Mecca, tax on non-Muslims, which served and prevailed. He offered his Abu Bakr\u2019s successors, Umar to keep the Islamic war coffers full. followers a vision of a fairer, more (r. 634\u201344) and Uthman (r. 644\u201356), charitable, more spiritually fulfilling who had also been among the A lasting split way of living, and he presented close Companions of the Prophet, The choice of who should succeed himself as the model for Muslims continued the expansion far beyond Muhammad had not been wholly to follow. Then, in 632, he died. Arabia. Within a decade of the unanimous. Some championed the","AN ISLAMIC IDENTITY 97 A Muslim army led by Spanish Muslim armies Surviving Umayyad Abd Tarek ibn Ziad crosses advance northward al-Rahman establishes a new the Mediterranean into France until caliphate in al-Andalus from North Africa to defeated between Tours (Spain) with a capital at defeat a Visigoth army and Poitiers by Frankish Cordoba and secedes from leader Charles Martel. the Abbasid caliphate. in Spain. 711 732 756 692 717 750 786 Completion of the The start of the caliphate Caliph al-Saffa, first of Harun al-Rashid Dome of the Rock in of Umayyad Umar II, the the Abbasid caliphs, becomes caliph and Jerusalem, the earliest first caliph to encourage massacres almost all the Abbasid dynasty surviving example of conversion to Islam. reaches its zenith. Muslim architecture. the members of the Umayyad family. candidacy of the Prophet\u2019s cousin to Muhammad to provide answers and dietary restrictions. They and son-in-law, Ali, who was to their questions on all matters formulated a lunar calendar and passed over on three occasions. Islamic, the caliph Uthman had fixed dates for Islamic festivals. He eventually became the fourth already overseen the standardizing Institutions of Islamic law caliph, but was killed by fanatics in of the text of the Quran. Now, under proliferated, eventually producing 661. Leadership was seized by the the Umayyad caliphs, scholars four main schools of jurisprudence governor of Damascus, who passed pored over the reported words and \u2014Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, and it to his son. This was challenged deeds of the Prophet, together Hanbali\u2014that are named after by the family of Ali, leading to the known as hadith, and collected their founders. battle of Kerbala, where Ali\u2019s son them into authorized volumes. Hussein was killed. The death These became a source for Islamic Some Muslims reacted against entrenched the split between the law (Sharia) and a key for further this codification of the faith and supporters of Ali, known as Shia, interpretation of the Quran (tafsir). sought to return to what they saw and the greater Sunni community. as Islam\u2019s more spiritual roots. It is at this time that much These esoteric Muslims became Codifying Islam of what we understand as Islam known as Sufis. Frequently The schism between Sunni and was codified. Islamic scholars outlawed and persecuted, they Shia Islam was no impediment to established correct procedures would prove surprisingly resilient. continued expansion under the for such matters as how and new, Damascus-based Umayyad when Muslims should pray, and Meanwhile, the Umayyads who dynasty. Hand in hand with the obligatory giving of charity rose by the sword died by it too, expansion went consolidation. (zakat). They pronounced on rules slaughtered by the Abbasid clan, Since Muslims could no longer look regarding issues such as the who afterward sheathed their consumption of alcohol, gambling, weapons and ushered in a golden period of Muslim civilization. \u25a0","98 IN CONTEXT EAAALMRLOTTSHHQEIUSE THEME An Islamic place PROPHET MUHAMMAD of worship WHEN AND WHERE c. 622, Medina BEFORE Pre-Islam No one knows the origins of the Kaaba at Mecca, but it is likely that it is in use as a shrine from the earliest era of civilization in Arabia. AFTER 715 Umayyad caliph Walid I builds one of the earliest of grand mosques on the location of a Christian cathedral in Damascus, Syria. 1575 Mimar Sinan, Islam\u2019s greatest architect, completes his masterpiece, the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Turkey, for Ottoman sultan Selim II. M uslims are permitted to perform their five daily prayers almost anywhere, as long as the place where they pray is clean, or at least can be made clean by laying out a prayer mat. Just a few places are named where they are not allowed to pray\u2014these include the roof of the Kaaba at Mecca, graveyards, garbage dumps, slaughterhouses, bathrooms, the areas where camels rest, and main roads. These places aside, more than one hadith states that the whole world is a masjid, or \u201cplace of prostration.\u201d It is from this word, masjid, that we get the English term \u201cmosque,\u201d possibly via the Spanish word mesquita (mosque).","AN ISLAMIC IDENTITY 99 See also: The early life of Muhammad 22\u201327 \u25a0 The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates 136\u201339 \u25a0 The caliphate of the Ottoman Empire 186\u201389 \u25a0 Islamic art and architecture 194\u2013201 The mosque has very few essentials, The requirements of The minaret was to the main ones being a clean space in the prayer hall are that raise the muezzin which to pray, a mihrab to indicate it be large enough to high, so the call to the direction of prayer, and a source hold all worshippers prayer would carry of clean water so that worshippers and that it has a mihrab. as far as possible. can perfrom their ablutions. Other elements are optional or symbolic. The mihrab is an alcove set in the qibla wall that indicates the direction of Mecca and of prayer. Because almost anywhere can be The first mosques be the place where the mosque a place of prostration, the mosque During the Meccan phase of the would be constructed. The Prophet in Islam is not considered a sacred Prophet\u2019s mission, the area around settled in a house near the new space in the way that a Christian the Kaaba was often referred to as mosque for a little while, moving church is. For example, when a the masjid. However, for reasons later when a larger and more mosque is built there is no need of safety Muhammad and his permanent mosque could be built to consecrate the ground. followers performed their prayers in the center of Medina. in one another\u2019s houses. The mosque has become the That larger mosque was the central symbol of Islam in the wider The first proper mosque is Masjid al-Nabawi, or Mosque of world. Though it is not essential for traditionally said to be the Masjid the Prophet. It took the form of an prayer, it provides a place where al-Taqwa, or Mosque of Piety, open courtyard, large enough so Muslims can come together as a constructed by the Prophet and that the ever-growing community community, and it provides a his followers when they reached could meet in one place, and source of Islamic identity. In this Medina, in 622, after fleeing simple enough in construction that way, the mosque serves the cause persecution in Mecca. On arrival in it could easily be expanded as the of Islam, which is why another the oasis just south of Medina, the number of worshippers grew. hadith says, \u201cWhoever builds a Prophet untethered his camel and The walls were made of mud-brick; mosque for God, God will build for allowed it to wander, saying that palm-tree trunks were used for him a house in paradise.\u201d wherever the camel stopped would the columns, and palm leaves for \u276f\u276f","100 AN ISLAMIC PLACE OF WORSHIP the roof of a covered area that elements and characteristics that Mosques in Saharan Africa, such protected worshippers from the have remained constant even into as this one in Diafarab\u00e9 in Mali, seem midday sun. The direction of the modern era. to rise up out of the muddy earth as prayer\u2014known as the qibla\u2014was though they are part of it. Decoration indicated by a large stone. At this Since prayer must be performed is similarly simple and austere. early stage of the Prophet\u2019s time facing Mecca, mosques must have in Medina, the qibla pointed to some obvious way of indicating in rows at the front with women Jerusalem, until 624, when it was its direction. This is the mihrab, behind. Another option is for men to changed to Mecca. which typically takes the form of stand on one side of the prayer area a recessed alcove in the qibla wall and women on the other, divided by The Prophet and his followers of the main prayer hall. In larger a partition in the form of curtains or spent most of their time at the mosques, next to the mihrab, there screens. However, in some of the mosque, and not necessarily in is a pulpit, or minbar, a flight of smaller mosques, particularly in prayer. Muhammad was not only a steps leading up to a platform rural areas throughout the Muslim Prophet and a preacher; he was also where the imam (leader of Friday world, adequate facilities for women the political leader of the Medinans prayers) delivers his weekly sermon. wanting to pray in the mosque are and his fellow Meccans-in-exile, A second platform, called the dikka, sadly lacking. and he conducted the running of can sometimes be found at the the city from the mosque. It was rear of the prayer hall, or in the as much a city hall and place of courtyard; this is where another political administration as it was cleric stands to repeat the sermon a place of worship. and lead those worshippers too far from the minbar to hear. Mosque basics As Islam expanded throughout All mosques must have a place the Arabian Peninsula and then for worshippers to make their pre- quickly beyond, many more prayer ablutions; these wash areas mosques were built to emulate are sometimes located in a covered the mosque of the Prophet in area adjacent to the main prayer Medina. While form and styles area, or might take the form of a varied\u2014and still vary\u2014according courtyard fountain. Most larger to local building traditions and mosques provide a designated materials, the majority of mosques space for women to pray. While were united by a number of fixed layouts differ, the usual setup for mixed-sex prayer is that men stand The Dome of the Rock One of the earliest surviving It was the Umayyad caliph mosques, the Dome of the Rock Abd al-Malik who ordered the (Qubbat al-Sakhra) is completely building of the Dome. With no unlike any other Muslim building. established tradition of mosque It was built in 688\u201392 over the design as yet, the Dome was rock on Temple Mount, in built by Syrian craftsmen Jerusalem, from which the trained in the Byzantine style\u2014 Prophet Muhammad is said to its architecture and decoration have ascended to the heavens owe much to the building on his miraculous Night Journey. traditions of the Eastern Before then, the site was part Christians. Modest in size with of the Temple of Solomon, a no room for worshippers inside, structure of immense religious the Dome was never intended to significance to Jews. Ownership host congregational prayers\u2014 of this piece of ground remains a it was raised as a symbol of source of bitter conflict to this day, Muslim dominance in newly contested by Jews and Muslims. conquered Jerusalem."]