Quiz on Islam. 1. What does Islam mean? 2. What are followers of Islam called? Mohammadins Muslims Allah Muhamadians

Transcription

1 1 Tom Coop Genesis 16:1-16 July 14, 2013 Introduction to Islam This morning we begin our two-part series on Islam. But before we go any further and I give away any of the answers let s take this week s quiz Quiz on Islam 1. What does Islam mean? It has no meaning Pray hard Total submission to God Rules 2. What are followers of Islam called? Mohammadins Muslims Allah Muhamadians 3. What does Jihad literally mean? To wage war against non believers Struggle There is no such word It's a person's name 4. What is the definitive sacred text of Islam? Analects Qu'ran Bible Torah 5. How many times do followers of Islam pray each day? Six Three They don't pray Five 6. What is the symbol for Islam, dating from the time of Muhammad? It has no symbol Bell Crescent Wheel 7. What is the month of fasting called? Lent Passover There is no fasting Ramadan 8. Which of the following does Islam prohibit?

2 2 Watching television Going to co ed schools Having fun The drinking of alcohol 9. What kind of food is a follower of Islam forbidden to eat? Halal Kosher They eat whatever they want Haram 10. Where do followers of Islam pray towards? The Ka'ba The moon Jerusalem They don't pray Quiz on Islam ANSWERS 1. What does Islam mean? Your Answer: Total submission to God 'Islam' has also sometimes been translated as 'Peace'. 2. What are followers of Islam called? Your Answer: Muslims 'Mohammadins' and 'Muhamadians' is an incorrect name, as followers do not worship Muhammad 'Allah' is Arabic for God. 3. What does Jihad literally mean? Your Answer: Struggle Contrary to popular belief, Islam abhors violence in any form. Jihad is an Arabic word meaning 'struggle'. In Islam, it means struggle for the sake of Allah. 4. What is the definitive sacred text of Islam? Your Answer: Qu'ran Confucisim has the Analects. Christianity, Bible. Judaism, Torah.

3 3 5. How many times do followers of Islam pray each day? Your Answer: Five Five times a day. Once in the morning, then at lunch, then afternoon, evening, and night. 6. What is the symbol for Islam, dating from the time of Muhammad? Your Answer: It has no symbol The crescent moon only signifies the new month, or other holy days, as Muslims follow the lunar calendar to keep track of days. Also, the reason the crescent is on many flags of Muslim nations is because it was the symbol of the Byzantine Empire. When the Ottomans overtook them, they took the crescent as their symbol as well. Since the Ottomans controlled many of those nations, they chose to keep the same symbol. 7. What is the month of fasting called? Your Answer: Ramadan Ramadan comes near the end of the lunar calendar. Afterwards, there is a celebration called 'Eid Al Fitr'. 8. Which of the following does Islam prohibit? Your Answer: The drinking of alcohol Muslims cannot eat pork as well (this includes gelatin made from pigs), or the meat of an animal that catches it food with claws (i.e. eagles), or eats raw meat (i.e. some sharks). 9. What kind of food is a follower of Islam forbidden to eat? Your Answer: Haram Haram is something that is forbidden to eat, like meat that has not been cut in the name of God. Halal is food that can be eaten. 10. Where do followers of Islam pray towards? Your Answer: The Ka'ba Muslims once prayed toward Jerusalem, until the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was sent with a revelation to pray toward the Ka'ba.

4 4 Islam comes from an Arabic root word meaning "peace" and "submission." Islam teaches that one can only find peace in one's life by submitting to Almighty God (Allah) in heart, soul and deed. Any person who believes in and consciously follows Islam is called a Muslim, also from the same root word. Islam has over 1.3 billion followers worldwide. It is considered one of the Abrahamic, monotheistic faiths, along with Judaism and Christianity. Although usually associated with the Arabs of the Middle East, less than 10% of Muslims are in fact Arab. The country with the most Muslims is Indonesia, with 210 million. However, Muslims are found all over the world, of every nation, color and race. Over fifty countries have Muslim-majority populations. There are about 2½-3 million Muslims in the United States. So, how did Islam come to be? Although Muslims claim that Adam was the first Muslim, the origins of the Islamic world properly begin with Muhammad. Mohammed was born in 570 A.D. in Mecca, a city which is located in what is now Saudi Arabia. Mohammed s early life was marked by tragedy. His father died just before he was born and his mother died when he was only six years old. So he went to live with his uncle, Abu Talib, who was the head of the Hashim clan to which Mohammed belonged. Although respected, they were poor and so Mohammed never learned to read or write. Now, Mecca, where he grew up, was a center of commerce and also a center for pagan worship. In the city there was a shrine called the Ka bah which housed the idols of 360 different deities that the Arabian people worshiped. The Ka bah was believed to have been originally built by Adam and then later rebuilt by Abraham and his son Ishmael. To be clear, Christians and Jews trace their lineage through Abraham and his son Isaac. Muslims also trace their lineage through Abraham, but then through Ishmael, his son born by Sarah s handmaiden Hagar.

5 5 Okay, back to the story: As an adult, Mohammed was known for his integrity and honesty. His nickname was the trustworthy one. At the age of 25 he married a woman, Khadija, who was fifteen years his elder. Mohammed had been in charge of her business affairs and ultimately they developed a relationship and married. They had six children, two boys and four girls. Once more tragedy struck as both boys died in infancy. In addition to being an adept businessman, Mohammed had a contemplative side. Once a year he would leave Mecca and spend a month privately in a cave on Mount Hira. There he prayed and meditated. One night while he was sleeping in the cave, when he was forty years old, an invisible angel, he later would identify as the archangel Gabriel, entered the cave and began squeezing the life out of Mohammed and telling him to read a parchment that he was holding. Mohammed told the angel he didn t know how to read. But the angel continually repeated his command over and over reading the verse himself. Mohammed began reciting the verse after the angel, until he knew it perfectly, word for word. Finally, Mohammed woke up and found that the angel and the parchment were gone, but the words stayed in his memory. Terrified, he went back down into the city to find his wife. I ve either seen a demon, or I ve seen an angel, or I m losing my mind, he told her. I don t know which. His wife assured him it was an angel. Over the next twenty-three years Mohammed would have visions like this over and over again. He came to believe that Gabriel was communicating God s words to him. At his wife s urging, he preached to the people of Mecca and told them there was only one God and to stop worshiping their pagan idols. This did not go over well with the people in Mecca. Mohammed hated the idolatry and immorality of the Arabs who lived in Mecca or came there to trade their goods. The rich lorded it over the poor. Greed and selfishness were everywhere, and even infanticide was practiced

6 6 among the Bedouin tribes. Continually, he was met with bitter opposition, but for many years his influential uncle was able to protect him. Then, tragedy struck again and his wife, Khadijah, died, as well as his uncle. With his uncle no longer able to protect him, plots were hatched to kill Mohammed and his followers. In response, in the summer of 622, Mohammed fled Mecca at night. He went north and joined others who had heard about him and offered him safe haven in a town called Yathrib, some 250 miles from Mecca, a town later to be known as Medina. This journey to Medina by Mohammed is known as the Hajj and marks the official beginning of the Islamic calendar year. Thus the Muslim calendar begins in AD 622. In Medina, Mohammed continued to have visions, but now they changed. Now Gabriel told Mohammed how God wanted him to order society, how inheritances should be governed, and what constituted right and wrong in God s sight. Mohammed also received instruction on how to lead an army and wage war. In Medina, Mohammed now set up the first Islamic state where Islamic law prevailed and its inhabitants worshiped Allah and only Allah. Over the next several years, Mohammed and his growing army battled with the Meccans and other tribes with varying success. Eventually he prevailed and was able to return to Mecca victorious in 630 AD now as their ruler. Upon his return, one of his first acts was to destroy all the idols at the Ka bah, except two those of Jesus and Mary, in reverence to the Christians there. Then he consecrated the ancient shrine to the worship of Allah. Two years later, in 632, he died at the age of sixty-two. Following his death, his followers collected all the sayings that had been written down based on the prophet s visions over the previous 23 years by his disciples. The compilation of those sayings became the book we know as the Qur an.

7 7 Within a hundred years of Mohammed s death, Islam had spread like wildfire across North Africa and the entire Middle East and into southern Europe and today Islam claims over 1/6 th of the world s inhabitants. So what exactly do Muslims believe? To understand, we must turn to what are known as the six Articles of Faith. First, is belief in GOD. Islam s most fundamental concept is a rigorous monotheism, called twhid. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension. Muslims believe that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God s sheer command and that the purpose of existence is to worship God and God alone. He is also viewed as a personal God who responds whenever a person in need or distress calls him. The second article of faith is a belief in ANGELS who are the faithful servants of Allah. Angels do not possess free will, but worship and obey God in total obedience. Their duties include protecting and communicating God s message to human beings. Muslims believe that angels are made of light, with two to four pairs of wings. According to many Muslims, each person is attended to by two angels who record the person s daily actions, which will be the source of that person s judgment on the last day. There are no fallen angels as in Christianity, but instead there are jinn (demons) the most famous of which is Iblis, who is known as Shaytan, the Arabic word for Satan. The third article of faith proclaims a belief in PROPHETS. Muslims believe that God chose humans to be his messengers. Islamic theology says that all of God s messengers preached the message of Islam submission to the will of God. Those messengers included folks like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. They also believe that God finally sent Mohammed to sum up and finalize the word of God to humankind.

8 8 Next is a belief in REVELATION. The Islamic holy books are the records which most Muslims believe were dictated by God to the various prophets. Compared with Hinduism or Buddhism, Islam has few religious writings. Muslims believe in the Gospel of Jesus, the Psalms of David, the Torah of Moses, and the Scrolls of Abraham but only as far as they have not been corrupted. The only book of revelation which remains in its complete and unaltered form is the Qur an. Thus when the Qur an disagrees with the Bible, the Qur an is correct. The Qur an, for example, recognizes Jesus as a great prophet from God who gave the Gospels to this community. Jesus is regarded as being born of the Virgin Mary and is a miracle worker filled with the Holy Spirit. But, the Qur an also asserts that Jesus was not crucified (some Muslims contend that it was Judas on the cross) but was taken up to heaven never having tasted death. And that he came only to deliver the message of Allah and was certainly not God s son. The Qur an is not only the source for theological beliefs and ritual practice but also for such things as Arabic grammar and language, calligraphy, the arts and sciences, law, philosophy, and politics. The Qur an is thought to be God s definitive and final revelation. The Qur an contains 114 chapters of varying length, with interspersed themes describing God s nature, guidance for daily living, stories from history and their moral messages, inspiration for believers, and warnings for disbelievers. In addition, for Muslims, the Qur an is only the Qur an if it is in Arabic. They believe that the Arabic words were the actual words that God used. Thus the book is held in the highest esteem. You would never set the Qur an on the floor and you would never even set in on a coffee table just to gather dust. The other text that is revered by Muslims is a body of literature called the Sunna or the Hadith. These are stories about Mohammed s life that were

9 9 collected and circulated orally until being written down decades and even centuries after the prophet s death. The Hadith is important to Muslims because of its focus on Mohammed. Whereas the Qur an contains the words of God and no one else for example, Mohammed is rarely mentioned in the book and did not write it or add anything to it the Hadith is focused on the stories of the prophet s life. According to pious Muslims, Mohammed lived a virtually perfect life, and his words, actions, habits, and customs should be imitated by Muslims today. In other words, the Hadith is the Qur an in action. So you might say the Hadith is the primary source for the correct interpretation of the Qur an. A central doctrine of the Qur'an is the LAST DAY, called Youm al- Qiyama, on which the world will be destroyed and Allah will raise all people and jinn from the dead to be judged. Until the Day of Judgment, deceased souls remain in their graves awaiting the resurrection. However, they begin to feel immediately a taste of their destiny to come. Those bound for hell will suffer in their graves, while those bound for heaven will be in peace until that time. The resurrection that will take place on the Last Day is physical. Interesting side note: one of the signs before the Last Day is that Jesus will return to earth to help Mahdi, known as the guided one, defeat a false messiah figure known as al-dajjal. Some stories even have Jesus getting married during this time. Heaven, or more accurately, Paradise, in the Qur an, is described as an eternal afterlife of peace and bliss, where folks will rest in the presence of God. Marriage, sex and certain kinds of animals are all described as being present in paradise. Every person that enters paradise will have a perfect body that does not age past 33 years. Their life is to be one of bliss including: wearing fancy robes, bracelets, and perfumes as they partake in exquisite banquets, served in priceless vessels

10 10 by immortal youths, as they recline on couches inlaid with gold or precious stones. They shall get all that they may desire and all that they can ask for, as a gift from God. It is said that one day in paradise is considered equal to a thousand years on earth. This Islamic Paradise, called Jannah in Arabic, is also described in great sensual detail in the Qur an and while promising Muslim men voluptuous virgins, doesn t specify their exact number. More on that next week! On the other hand, Hell, called Jahannam awaits those who reject Allah or cause mischief on the earth. Jahannam is described in the Qur an as a miserable existence of constant suffering and shame. It is a place which is scary, dark, and unfriendly. The Qur an describes Jahannam as a blazing fire, using vivid imagery as a warning to those who disbelieve in God. It is also said that Zaqqum (a thorned tree) grows in Jahannam, which has a bitter fruit shaped like a devil s head, which the damned are compelled to eat to intensify their torment. It is said that Jahannam has seven levels that a sinner can go to depending on their deeds. The most severe level is said to be reserved for religious hypocrites. Unbelievers are most likely going to Hell. However, being a Muslim does not automatically save an individual from Hell. When a Muslim comes before Him, Allah can choose not to forgive his sins and send him to Hell instead. The Qur an suggests, though, that when Muslims are sent to Hell, it is only for a temporary period of punishment and they will eventually be taken to paradise. The Qur an also states that the majority of the people in hell are women who were ungrateful to their husbands. In the Islamic religion, there is no way to guarantee whether or not you will go to Heaven or to Hell. The one exception to this rule are enemies of Islam, who are automatically sent to Hell and martyrs of the faith who automatically go to Paradise.

11 11 The final article of faith is that of PREDESTINATION. According to Islam, God is the master and people are his servants. But, although God determines or predestines all things, human beings still exercise free will and can choose to worship him or not. In Islam, a mere verbal declaration of faith, though, is not enough. Muslims consider everything they do in life to be an act of worship, if it is done according to Allah s guidance. There are five formal acts of worship which help strengthen a Muslim s faith and obedience. They are often called the Five Pillars of Islam. Due to time constraints I will merely mention them this morning and will talk in more detail about them next week. The first deals with faith that there is only one God. The second deals with prayer. Muslims pray five times a day, kneeling with their heads on the ground facing Mecca. The third pillar is that of Alms-Giving. Muslims are required to give 2.5% of their abundance to the poor and the like. The fourth is Fasting and occurs as a month long fast from sun up to sun down during the month of Ramadan. And the final pillar is that of PILGRIMMAGE. It is a requirement of each physically healthy and financially able Muslim to make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in his or her lifetime. Now, that you know a bit about Islam, I want to highlight what we can learn from Muslims. Next week I will go over what they can learn from us and some of the differences between our two faiths. First, I think we can learn respect for scripture. For Muslims, the Qur an is treated like the holy book it is. It is rigorously memorized and in Islam those who know it cover-to-cover receive the highest honor. In contrast, we Christians often use the Bible as a coaster to protect our laminate countertops.

12 12 We bury it in book shelves rather than giving it a place of honor. We often interpret our Scripture carelessly and flippantly with little regard for the Author s original intent though studying the culture, genre or audience it was written to. We can also learn the importance of memorizing scripture. Memorizing the Qur an is a high priority for Muslims. Not just passages, but the whole book. Boys will often go to a special school to focus on memory work. This is because Islam sees the essential human condition as one of forgetfulness. We all fall short of prioritizing learning about God and His will through this method. We can also learn to reverence God during prayer. When Muslims pray they humble themselves on the ground and bow their head to the floor. Their prayers may be repetitive and ritualistic, but their posture is one of humility and submission to one greater than themselves. We often fall asleep while praying and rarely even kneel before God. And then finally, we can also learn consistency in prayer from our Muslim brothers and sisters. Muslims make prayer a priority, we fit it in when we have time after all of our other priorities are crossed off the list. God often seems to only get the leftovers. Unlike Islam, though, our salvation is not based on our works, but by grace through faith in Jesus. Still, we work out our salvation as a thank offering to God, so it behooves us to be serious about our disciplines and reverence toward him. But in doing so to always remember that God wants us to have true joy. Now and forever! Don forget, part two of our introduction to Islam will be next Sunday. You won t want to miss it. Amen.