INTRODUCTION OF ISLAM

Jahiliyya: The Middle World Before Islam

Before Islam – two big civilizations: the European and the Chinese. They communicated
through a series of land routes that crossed the Middle East.
The Middle East: trading route between Asia and Europe, East and West.

The Mediterranean –centre of world history (Greeks, Romans...).

However, the “real centre of the world” – roads and routes that connects China and India with
Europe: The Iranian highlands, Mesopotamia and Egypt The Islamic World (Middle East or
the Middle World)

Arabia was a poor and underdeveloped region between three powerful empires and cultures:
the Christian Byzantines, the Monophysite Christians of Abyssinia and the Zoroastrian Persians.
The Arabian Peninsula did not contain a power to be reckoned.
Arabia´s economy had flourished during the Roman Empire (trade of incense from
Yemen) but with the fall of the Roman empire: economy deteriorated.
Pagan deities convived with Judaism and Christianity in Arabia. (The Ishtar cult worship Athtar
(male god), The Venus Star (female god), the moon god... they believed in spirits inhabiting
rocks, trees, etc.

The Pre-Islamic Period – “Jahiliyya”(the opposite of “Islam”): the ignorance of God, the era of
ignorance. With Islam came the light and the world entered a new era. For Muslims, Islam had
accomplished in transforming society from one of Jahiliyya to a God fearing (taqwa).
Nowadays – Jahiliyya: Muslims have forgotten the real Islam.

Muhammad and the Birth of Islam

The basic point of Muhammad biography is: god has revealed the Quran to Muhammad. He
has been taken by all Muslims to be the ideal man, the perfect Muslim, a role model. He has
lived in his live in a state of sinlessness (isma).

Muhammad was born in 570 in Mecca. With the age of 6 he lost his parents, so he went with
his uncle. Later, he started thinking and coming up with missionary thoughts. When he was
25 we married Khadija, who was involved in the trade business. He started going to the
mountains to meditate in order to speak with God.

On 610, Angel Gabriel reckoned him as the recited and the speaker of God´s word. He
returned with his wife, Khadija, who would become the first women Muslim.
At first he didn´t success in converting people. It was hard because Meca´s society was
pagan and they believed in dozens of gods, divinities and he was saying that there
were just one god, Allah. (MECCA WAS PAGAN).

In 622 Muhammad and his followers left Meca and went to Medina. Muslims consider
this year 0 because it´s when the first muslim community was created (ummah). In
Medina, Muhammad emerged as a religious al politican leader, leading the Medinan
community under the Contitution of Medina.

Mecca and Medina started a fight in order to convert the rest of the people to the new
culture, religion. Finally, Muhammad prevailed over the forces of Mecca, so he was able to
lead on the rule of God´s word.
Muhammad died in the 632 in Medina.

The Quran
The Quran is – the word of God as revealed to Muhammad, the focal point of Islamic faith. Is a
text to make decisions about law, theology. Is a miracle, “inimitable”, “unique”, divine. There is
no errors or emissions.

The structure – it consists on 114 chapters, “suras”. The first one is called “The opening”. Each
chapter is divided into verses, “ayas”.

It has three major topics – law, the previous prophets and the final judgement.
The Quran is an amalgam (union) of Jewish and Christians beliefs and local Arabian beliefs. It
was written during Muhammad´s life and after his death.

Point of reference in all of the themes – the figure of God, Allah: he has sent messages to his
creatures to guide them, has given them the law by which they should live and will bring about
the end of the world where all shall be judged strictly according to their deeds (or
experiences).

The jinns - The Quran accept the existence of this mythical figures or divined powers.

The moral – God will triumph over the unbelievers and this message will always remain in the
world in one form or another.
- The final judgement: shall determine the ultimate fate of the individual.

In matters of law – prohibition of pork and the institution of ritual slaughter, some purity
regulations (women), regulation of marriage, divorce and inheritance.

Abrogation of suras in the Quran

Allah says that he has the power to “erase” what he said before to Muhammad, to substitute a
different teaching, or to take away what was said before. Muslim scholars variously count the
number of such abrogations in the Quran, running from 5 to 247 or higher. They explain that
some truths are universal, but that other address the temporal circumstances of an earlier
revelation that are no longer applicable to a later one.
Most scholars divide the Quran into verses revealed by Muhammad in Mecca when his
community of followers was weak and more inclined to compromise, and those revealed in
Medina, where Muhammad strength grew.

The centrality of the figure of Muhammad in Islam: The Hadith and the Sunna
Muhammad is the perfect muslim, an example to every muslim. Thus, knowing his life
and how he behaved and acted in important for muslims in order to have a guide
through their own lives.

The sayings and anecdotes of Muhammad constitutes the hadith (second in

importance for muslims after the Quran). It´s believed that the information of
Muhammad´s life has been transmited from the people that knew or hear about
Muhammad to the collectors of these books. Such transmissions are known as the
Isnad, a “chain of transmitters”.

However, the tendency to fabricate hadith reports extended (many hadiths are false).
To stop this there is the creation of hadiths that condemmned false hadiths.

Muhammad´s practice or Sunna became a source of law in Islam. If you want to act
correctly act like Muhammad. If you insult/attack Muhammad you are
insulting/attacking Islam and the way of life of the muslims. Hadiths embodied the
Sunna.