ISLAM UNIT

BELL QUESTIONS AND NOTES

• Bell Questions

From the State of the Union-2011• “We should have no illusions about the work ahead of us.

Reforming our schools; changing the way we use energy; reducing our deficit – none of this is easy. All of it will take time. And it will be harder because we will argue about everything. The cost. The details. The letter of every law.

• Of course, some countries don’t have this problem. If the central government wants a railroad, they get a railroad – no matter how many homes are bulldozed. If they don’t want a bad story in the newspaper, it doesn’t get written.

• And yet, as contentious and frustrating and messy as our democracy can sometimes be, I know there isn’t a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth.”

• Bell Question: Using context clues, what do you think President Obama meant by the word “contentious” in the third paragraph? A. Continuous B. Expensive C. frivolous D. Likely to cause quarrels

• “It's tempting to look back on these moments and assume that our progress was inevitable -– that America was always destined to succeed.  But when the Union was turned back at Bull Run, and the Allies first landed at Omaha Beach, victory was very much in doubt.  When the market crashed on Black Tuesday, and civil rights marchers were beaten on Bloody Sunday, the future was anything but certain.  These were the times that tested the courage of our convictions, and the strength of our union.  And despite all our divisions and disagreements, our hesitations and our fears, America prevailed because we chose to move forward as one nation, as one people. ”

Bell Question: In line 2, President Obama uses the word “inevitable.”

Which word is a synonym for “inevitable?”A. Allowable B. Certain C. Immaterial D. Impossible E.

unscrupulous

• HOMEWORK: 5 PILLARS ON BLUE FOLDABLE. BELL WORK IS BELOW.

• “To the many uninformed, it is an archaic system of beliefs, rooted in tradition and seemingly backward teachings. But to the billions who claim Islam as their religion, it is a beautifully simple way of life – one that emphasizes charity and caring/understanding of the most vulnerable members of society.” -Eman Ahmed, from “Growing Up Muslim in America”

• Using context clues, a definition for archaic would be

A. Belonging to an older timeB. Having a certain design featureC. Saved for a future point in timeD. Suitable for everyday use

HW: Be sure to study notes!!!!

• “So we want an Islamic state where Islamic law is not just in the books but enforced, and enforced with determination. There is no space and no room for democratic consultation. The Shariah is set and fixed, so why do we need to discuss it anymore? Just implement it! “-Abu Bakar Bashir Muslim leader in Indonesia

What does the speaker say should be done with Shariah laws? http://www.cfr.org/publication/10219/profile.html

•         ” The word jihad strikes fear in the West, where it is understood solely in terms of war, but it is a more benign word for most Muslims.  To them, the first jihad is the struggle against the ego. Then there’s the jihad against the devil.  There’s also the jihad of the tongue to spread the word of Islam.  There’s the jihad of charity.  There’s the jihad of the pen to spread knowledge.  These are all individual jihads.”– --Haroon Siddiqui, Indo-Canadian Journalist

A synonym for benign might be

A. Cancerous B. Favorable

C. Malicious D. Militant

Islam

Mrs. Barnette 7th Grade Pre-AP Social Studies

The Religion of Islam

• Beginnings• Life of Muhammad• The Abraham Connection• Islam Today

Beginnings

• Started about 613 AD when Muhammad was about 40 years old in the city of Mecca, a desert plateau city in the western Arabian Peninsula that was a trading crossroads .

• Mecca at that time was home to many religions, including Judaism and Christianity, but mostly to polytheistic religions.

Life of Muhammad

• Muhammad was born in 570 AD in Mecca.• He was orphaned at about age six, and

taken in by his Grandfather, a local political leader.

• In 578, the grandfather died, and he lived with his merchant uncle, who sometimes took him along on his caravan travels.

• When he was 25, he married Khadeja, a 40 year-old wealthy widow merchant. He handled her business dealings and prospered.

• Mecca was becoming more prosperous, too, but the society with its idolatry bothered Muhammad.

• He often retreated to a cave in the mountains for solitude and meditation.

• It was in the cave that he got his first revelation. He would continue to receive revelations for 23 years.

• According to Islam, Muhammad was told their scriptural teachings for the Quran by an angel (Gabriel) of God. Although it is believed by many today that he was illiterate, Muhammad made sure what he heard was written.

When Muhammad tried to spread his new teachings in Mecca, he was ridiculed by the tribal polytheistic leaders, and cut off from trade.

His wife and uncle died, and the persecution nearly became an execution.

According to Islam, in 620 AD, Muhammad was on a winged horse (at where the present-day Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem –atop the mount where the Jewish Temple had been). He was ascended into the heavens, met the prophets and saw God .

• The Dome of the Rock was built over the rock thought to be where Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son, and also where Muhammad left on his winged horse. The dome is a monument or shrine as much as a mosque, and sits on the mount where the Temple of Solomon stood.

• In 622 he was asked to come settle a civil war dispute for a tribe in Yathrib. He packed up a few hundred followers and went.

• Muhammad became more powerful, and Yathrib was named Medina “The City of the Prophet.”

• Over the next few years, he drew even more followers.

• By 625 he had an army that fought battles with the powerful Mecca in various places.

• In 630 they conquered Mecca.• Within a couple of years, the Arabian

peninsula had converted to Islam.

The Abraham Connection

In Judaism, their scripture says that Abraham was told by God that he would have to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

Although he was prepared to show his faith and go through with it, God stopped him and provided an animal for sacrifice instead. Abraham was the great patriarch of Judaism.

• In Christianity, the same story is told about Abraham. The covenant made with him refers to Jesus as his descendant and Messiah. So in Christianity, the willingness to sacrifice a son is a story of foreshadowing.

• In Islam, Abraham goes through the same test, but it is with his son Ishmael. Ishmael in Jewish and Christian scripture was not the favored son, but instead, his son with his wife’s handmaiden, Hagar. In Islam, Ishmael was the firstborn son to Abraham, and the mother was Hagar. *Muhammad is a prophet like Abraham, and he is Abraham’s descendant. In Islam, Muhammad is the most honored of several prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.

• *Understanding Islam and Muslim Traditions by Tanya Gulevich

Islam Today

Table developed by Candace Barnette 2010 from CIA Sourcebook figures

Islam has the 2nd largest number of adherents in the world after Christianity.Christianity has about 2.1 Billion, and Islam has about 1.5 Billion.

Although most of the Arab world is Muslim, not all Muslims are Arab. For example, look at the large numbers in Indonesia and Western Africa. There are 6 to 8 million Muslims in America.

Practicing Islam’s Five Pillars

• SHAHADAH. This Pillar is believing and saying the words. “There is no god except Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”.

• SALAH. This Pillar is praying five times a day. There are set prayers which Muslims should say. Muslims face Mecca, Saudi Arabia, when praying. Muslims should wash before praying, and pray on a prayer mat, which keeps them from the unclean surface. There are fixed movements, including kneeling with the forehead to the prayer rug. This expresses the servant status of the human being in relation to Allah.

• ZAKAH. Muslims are supposed to give a fixed proportion of their savings for endeavors, such as almsgiving, or giving to help the poor. They believe that their wealth is “made pure” by doing this.

• SAWM. Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan during daylight hours.

• HAJJ. This is making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your life, if it can be afforded.

• Ka’bah-the black box they circle as part of the Hajj. Click on the picture for a

short video about the Hajj and another one about Ramadan from National Geographic

• Some like to say the 6th Pillar is Jihad.• Jihad, in its original form, is meant to

signify a struggle within. If Islam is submission to Allah and his teachings, then an example might be that one of the Pillars is almsgiving. If a Muslim has a problem with being greedy, there is a struggle, a war within oneself to submit properly.

• More radical extremist groups use it to war against those who oppose Islam, or submission to Allah. (infidels)

• More conservative Muslims call Jews and Christians “People of the Book,” and have no reason to feel militant.

• The day of the week to meet in the mosques is Friday. The congregation meets at noon each week.

This mosque in Dearborn, Michigan is the largest mosque in North America.

Sharia Law

• After the time of Muhammad, many societies began to develop their laws by the Quran and other Islamic teachings.

• Today, in countries where Islam is the major religion, Sharia law is usually involved in its governing.

It might be entirely run by Sharia Law(“Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates, where the governments derive their legitimacy from Islam. In Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq, among others, it is also forbidden to enact legislation that is antithetical to Islam.” ), Information on Sharia from cfr.org- Council on Foreign Relations

It might be a dual system with partially by Sharia and partially secular(like Nigeria and Kenya).

It might be entirely secular.(Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Chad, Somalia, Turkey, and Senegal)

Sharia law usually is different from other legal codes regarding family law and criminal law punishments.

“Businesses are required to avoid transactions related to forbidden things, such as weapons, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pornography and pork, and investors are guaranteed that their money won't end up financing those industries.”Information on Sharia from cfr.org- Council on Foreign Relations

• Muslims , like Jews, find pork to be unclean, and they also are supposed to refrain from alcohol.