Week 4

SS HUM G111: INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGION AND BELIEF

SYSTEMS

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 Ave Maria College
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
School ID No. 402686 Gov’t Permit No. 0059 s. 2015

SS HUM G111: Introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems

To my students:

You are now on the 4th week of this course. Before you start working on the lessons for this
week make sure that you have submitted to your course facilitator the requirements of Week 3.

For this week you will learn Lesson 5. Read and watch the learning materials below then
answer Weekly Exam 4 and do Activity 4.
At the end of this week, you should be able to:
 answer correctly at least 85% of the questions in the Weekly Exam and;
 analyze Eastern religions by comparing Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

LESSON 5: ISLAM

A. TEASER
At times, when a person is in a dilemma, the piece of advice given is, “Don't think too much. Follow
your heart!” Such implies that one must trust one intuition. There are times, however, when following
this recommendation is not always sound.
What if you are told to trust, not in your own intuition or gut feeling, but instead to believe in one
specific person who claims to possess the secret of life, the complete and absolute truth? Would you
surrender your individual judgment and place unquestioning faith in that person even when Common
sense seems to indicate otherwise?
The Arabic term Islam means surrender, particularly putting faith in and entrusting oneself totally to the
will of the one God.
Keep the previous questions in mind as we go on a pilgrimage through the sacred space of Islam.

B. ORIGINS OF ISLAM
1. The Beginnings
The Arabian peninsula is an arid region of mountains, steppes, and deserts. While there are a few
well-established cities, fertile land suitable for farming lies only in the southwest, mostly along the
coast, and a few other places, such as scattered oases. Before the emergence of Islam, most Arabs were
tent-living nomads or Bedouin Arabic badawiyyīn "desert wanderers" who lived in male-dominated
tribal groups, following their herds and flocks, seeking food and water from well to well and from oasis
to oasis. Besides raiding each other and the people settled in oases and towns, these desert wanderers
also engaged in a limited kind of trade and sold protection to merchants transporting goods in can
caravans through the nomadic tribes' spheres of influence.
The largest social unit was the tribe, whose members claimed descent from a common ancestor.
Within a tribe, the clan was the key organization. Loyalty was to one's tribe rather than a geographic
area. As such, individuals identified not by place or citizenship, but by ancestry and kinship. Tribes had
no written laws, but lived according to the traditional rules [Arabic sunnah well-trodden path"] of their

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ancestors transmitted verbally from one generation to another. The leader of the tribe was its shaykh, a
man of ability and judgment who was first among equals and who received authority from a consensus
of the tribe's ranking males. Arabian tribes lived by honor and retaliation; individuals who were also
tribe members were expected to defend not just themselves and their property, but also their honor and
other tribe members. Except in the case of an intertribal alliance, such tribes felt no obligation to respect
the lives and property of people outside their own tribe.
Aside from water and vegetation, survival depended on the strength of a tribe. In such a hostile
natural and human environment, an individual or even family that was isolated would likely not survive.
Between the Bedouin tribes and the people settled in cities, there was some form of economic
interdependence. The largely independent Bedouin traded their sheep, goat, and camel wool to those in
oases for products from their trees and fields. Farmers could trade their dates and wheat for wool that
may be used to make clothing, carpets, and tapestries. There were also people, such as those in Makkah,
who produced little but did business buying and selling and providing markets where various tribes
could gather and barter goods.
Although lacking in natural resources, the city of Makkah [Arabic, probably meaning
"sanctuary:" Mecca in English], located on the central western coast of the Arabian peninsula, gained
economic and political importance by having a hold over the large caravans that traded with other
settlements between the Mediterranean Sea and the lndian Ocean, such as those in southern Arabia,
Damascus in Syria, and Ethiopia in Africa. Furthermore, Makkah was considered a holy place, famous
for a black meteoric stone that was venerated as a symbol of divine power and enshrined in a cubic
enclosure known as al-Ka'bah [Arabic "the cube"]. According to Islamic tradition, the first Ka'bah was
constructed by the patriarch Abraham and his firstborn son, Ishmael.
These pre-Islamic people likely worshipped a pantheon of local and tribal deities, who resided in
stones, wells, trees, and animals, but recognized one supreme god they called Allah who was separate
from and cannot be approached by human beings. They offered blood sacrifices to the carved images of
these local and tribal gods to appease them and to ask for their help. They also acknowledged the
existence of lesser divine beings, such as beneficent angels and harmful demons.
The Ka'bah contained about 360 images, most of which represented celestial beings and forces of
nature. There, every Arab tribe had images of its deities, to which they paid homage during religious
pilgrimages. As such, the city of Makkah established a custom of truce during part of the year to enable
pilgrimages as well as trade caravans. People from tribes that usually waged war among themselves
could, for a period of time, enter Makkah safely, worship their deities in peace, and engage in commerce
without fear of having themselives and their property taken by surprise.
In addition to their native animist religion, the people of these Arabian desert tribes had been exposed to
Eastern Christianity in the neighboring cities of Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Damascus, as well
as to Judaism. In fact, several of these desert tribes were Jewish, probably descendants of Jews forced
out of Judaea by the Romans. Many of the residents of Yathrib, that became the second most important
city in Islam, were also Jewish.
Like Jews and Christians, Muslims believe that God’s covenant with Abraham marked a new
stage in the relationship between God and humanity. The people of Israel, from which Judaism and
Christianity emerged, came into being through Isaac, the firstborn son of Abraham and Sarah. However,
Muslims claim that Abraham became the ancestor of the Arabs through his alder firstborn son [by the
Egyptian maidservant Hagar] Ishmael. Moreover, they believe that while Jews and Christians have
received the word of Allah from His prophets, they have eventually distorted and corrupted the original
divine message. The prophet Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allāh alone has revealed the undiluted truth from
Allah, which is expressed in the Qurän. This prophet would make use of his combined religious,
military, and administrative genius to fuse the Arabian desert tribes into a united community of
Muslims.
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 Muhammad [Arabic "worthy of praise"] was born around the year 570 C.E. into the prominent
Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe, which controlled al-Ka'bah in Makkah. A few months before he was
born in Makkah, his father 'Abd Allāh ibn Abd al-Muttalib died at the age of twenty-five during a
trading mission in Yathrib, a city north of Makkah. Following current customs, Muhammad was
supposed to live with a wet nurse, Halimah, until he was six years old. He spent his ealy childhood with
Halimah's Bedouin family, which roamed the countryside seeking provisions for themselves and their
flock of sheep.
At two years of age, Muhammad was returned to his mother Aminah bint Wahb. When he was
five, his mother brought him along on a voyage to Yathrib to visit her family. However, his mother fell
ill and passed away while journeying back to Makkah. The young orphan was raised first by his paternal
grandfather who died two years later, and then adopted by his uncle Abü Talib ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib,
leader of the Hashim clan.
The young Muhammad had the opportunity to work and travel with the trading caravans, bringing him
into contact with the various people and cultures of the Middle East, as well as with his future wife
Khadīja bint Khuwaylid, a caravan owner who had employed him. She was a wealthy widow of about
forty when she married Muhammad, who was fifteen years younger. Her love supplied what was
missing from his orphaned childhood, while her wealth enabled him to be free to reflect and meditate.
During their twenty-five year marriage, Khadija bore him two sons and four daughters, and Muhammad
never married another woman while she was living. Of their children, only the youngest daughter,
Fātimah, outlived her father and provided descendants, known as the Sayyid [Arabic "master, lord'].
Concerned about the idolatry practiced by his compatriots and their fate on the day of divine judgment,
Muhammad would often wander the hills around Makkah to fast. pray, and do religious meditation. It
was on one such occasion inside a cave on Mount Hira during a lunar month of Ranad in the year 610
C.E. that the forty-year-old Muhammad was visited by an angel later identified as Gabriel [mentioned in
both Jewish and Christian sacred texts], instead of being excited, Muhammad was worried that he was
either losing his mind or being possessed by evil jinn, and consulted with his wife who after conferring
with a Christian relative, reassured him and gave him her unqualified support
For the rest of his life, he frequently received divine revelations in this manner. According to the Islamic
tradition, such revelation would be like the painful sounding of a bell, making Muhammad break out in
sweat. Sometimes, he would receive visions in dreams. Certain that it was Allāh whom he encountered,
Muhammad did his duty and recited the messages exactly as he received them. He would memorize the
content of these divine messages and teach them to his companions, who would write them on leaves,
stones, bones, or parchment-what would later become the Qurān.
After several of these divine revelations, Muhammad became convinced of what will become the
first pillar of Islam: that there is only God, the one called Alläh, and that he, being the last of a series of
His prophets, had the complete and final revelation of His divine message. As the messenger of Allāh,
he started to preach his new Muhammad preaching religious understanding.
Khadija was Muhammad's first convert, followed by his cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, the adopted slave boy
Zayd ibn Harithah, and his wealthy and influential friend Abd Allāh ibn Abi Quhāfah [nicknamed Abu
Bakr]. There were also converts from the rival Umayya clan, also from the Quraysh tribe, such as Khālid
ibn Sa'īd and 'Uthmān ibn 'Affān [who would be the third successor of Muhammad, as well as his son-
in-law]. Others, mainly from the young and the poorer classes in Makkah, joined him also.
While they were not opposed to the idea of Muhammad being a prophet, the people of Makkah
immediately reacted with hostility to his preaching that the idols of the Arabs be destroyed. This
threatened the traditional livelihood of the Quraysh, that depended on pilgrims who came to the city to
worship these images. So, they simply ridiculed Muhammad to the point that nobody would take him
seriously. Not surprisingly, the older and wealthier can leaders opposed him, even to the point of placing

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a boycott on the Hashim, Muhammad's clan. Muhammad's uncle, Abu Talib with other clan members,
sought to protect him. In its infancy, Islam was maintained through strong family ties.
ln 615 C.E., around fifteen families who followed Muhammad fled Makkah to the safety of the Christian
kingdom of Abyssini [present-day Ethiopia], while he and other followers remained to continue
preaching and face persecution.
ln 619 C.E., Muhammad suf fered the death of his two greatest benefactors, his uncle Ab Talib
and his first wife Khadija. The death of Abū Talib left him without the protection of his clan. He
afterwards went on to have as many as fourteen more wives-one, 'Aishah, his favorite wife and daughter
of his best friend Abu Bakr, as young as six years old-and at least four concubines.
In 620 C.E., six men from Yathrib went to visit Muhammad to ask him to mediate as an impartial judge
to settie the disputes between the warring clans of their city. A year later, twelve delegates from Yathrib
visited him and invited the prophet to become the city's ruler. Muhammad advised his followers in
Makkah to get their affairs in order and be ready to leave the city for a new life in Yathrib.
His enemies in Makkah felt threatened by this development, because they were losing control over their
rival. So, forty men from different Makkah clans held a secret meeting and pledged themselves to act as
one person to murder Muhammad, doubting that the prophet's clan could retaliate against so many clans
in a blood feud. These forty surrounded and guarded the residence of Abu Bakr, where Muhammad was
supposedly staying. While his cousin Ali took the prophet's place in bed, Muhammad and Abu Bakr
slipped out of the city under the cover of night to hide in a cave in the south, with Ali following after
them later.
Due to this threat of assassination, Muhammad fled to Yathrib, arriving there on 24 September
622. This journey is now known as the Hijrah [Arabic emigration, flight"], which Muslims use as a
beginning to count their calendar years Latin anno Hegirae (AH) "in the year of the Hijrah"
In Yathrib-the city that was later called Medina or Madinah [from the Arabic al-Madinah an-
Nabawiyyah, "the city of the prophet'1-the leadership of Muhammad was not enthusiastically welcomed
by all, but was even challenged by Jewish monotheists. As a shaykh, it was his responsibility to lead,
defend, and avenge the members of his tribe. To identify with Muhammad in Islam is to give allegiance
to a new type of tribe. Without diminishing his spiritual leadership, he immediately had to add an
administrative-and even military-dimension to his leadership.
To support themselves, these followers of Muhammad who followed him to Yathrib began to
raid Makkah trading caravans. This war between the cities of Makkah and Madinah lasted for about a
decade, In 624 C.E., a Muslim ambush on a Makkah trading caravan at Badr incited a retaliatory attack,
A large military force from Makkah was sent to protect the caravan against the Muslims. Even when
they were outnumbered more than three to one, the followers of Muhammad suffered only few
casualties but killed a good number of their enemies. Seventy prisoners from Makkah were captured and
later ransomed in return for wealth. Ascribing victory in this battle at Badr to the assistance of angels,
Muhammad and his followers saw it as confirmation that Allāh was on their side. Success in warfare
strengthened Muhammad's position in Yathrib and dispelled previous doubts among his followers.
In 627 C.E., the enemies of Muhammad in Makkah made one last attempt to defeat the Muslims by
sending an overwhelming army of ten thousand to attack Madinah. The Muslims at Madīnah, at the
suggestion of a Persian slave, dug trenches around the city in. areas not already protected by hills,
neutralizing the attacks from Makkah cavalry. After a tvwo week siege of Madinah, the unsuccessful
Makkah army-now exhausted, running short of provisions, and demoralized-decided to return home.
Islam expanded over the coming years. Reciters of the Qurān were sent to convert the Bedouin tribes of
the Arabian desert. Muhammad sent messages to surrounding cities and nations, inviting them to join
the community of Islam. His followers who initially fled to Abyssinia returned. He married widows of
Muslims who had fallen in combat, while other marriages served to strengthen political ties.

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In the year 630 C.E., perceiving that the people of Makkah had broken a truce, Muhammad this time led
ten thousand men to march against the city.
When the Quraysh shaykh Abu Sufyan ibn Harb saw the prophet's army, he negotiated to ensure
the safety of the city's inhabitants. Muhammad granted amnesty to those who did not resist, but
destroyed the graven images of idols in al-Ka'bah. Despite now having control over Makkah, the prophet
continued to reside in Madinah.
In 632 C.E., the sickly sixty-two-year-old Muhammad led Muslims on another pilgrimage to Makkah.
Upon returning to Madinah, he delivered a farewell message to his followers and then died in the arms
of his favorite wife Aishah.

Watch/Listen:
Video Clip 3 – How Islam Began in Ten Minutes Video Clip 3 - How Islam Began - In Ten
Minutes.mp4
Video Clip 4 – Introduction to Islam Belief Video Clip 4 - Introduction to Islam Belief Oprah Winfrey
Network.mp4

C. Sacred Texts
For a Muslim, the will of Alläh, to which he/she must submit, is spoken through human messengers
or prophets, particularly the final one Muhammad. Divine guidance to humans is primarily a spoken
proclamation that must be heard. But the death of the prophet does not deprive humanity of divine
guidance, because the word of God is preserved in sacred texts such as the Qurän [Arabic "recitation").
Consequently, the Qurän is a written record of the words of Allah spoken through the divine messenger
(or angel Gabriel) to the prophet Muhammad that must be recited and heard unfailingly as Allah's final,
flawless message to humanity. Pious Muslims literally believe that there is a copy of the Qurän in
heaven that Gabriel had read to the illiterate Muhammad. This is one reason why many Muslims, fearing
the corruption of its message, claim that the Qurän cannot be translated from the original Arabic into
another language. The fact that such a beautiful message came to be expressed through an illiterate
prophet is also taken as miraculous evidence of its divine origins.
For the most part, the content of the Qurän, which was originally oral tradition, was written down-
not by Muhammad-but by his followers, such as his companion and secretary Zayd ibn Harithah. After
the loss of many "reciting officials" or "memorizers" of the Qurān in the battle of 632 C.E., Muhammad
himself had recently passed away. Abu Bakr, who was the prophet's immediate succesor or caliph
[Arabic khalifah] had all the existing texts collected and repeatedly copied. In 650 C.E, 'Uthmān ibn
Affân, the prophet's third caliph and former secretary, ordered the compilation of a standard version,
from which originated the current text of the Qurān.
Somewhat shorter than the Christian New Testament, the Qurän is divided into 114 portions called
súrahs, arranged in descending order or length, with the exception of the first sūrah, al-Fātihah. These
114 sürahs contain approximately six thousand verses called dyät [Arabic "signs, proof, evidence"1.
Being of unequal length, the shortest sürah has only three āyát, while the longest sūrah contains 286
āyāt.
Muslims believe that the example of Muhammad's life was the idealhuman response to Allāh and
provided an authoritative commentary on the Qurän. Muhammad's companions had transmitted a mass
of oral traditions [Arabic ahādīth "reports/accounts/narratives'] that described his daily life but which are
not found in the Qurän. These ahādīth have been compiled in an anthology known as the Sunnah [Arabic
"custom/tradition (as ina clear and well-trodden path)'].
There are several kinds of Sunnah: Muhammad's sayings or Sunnah Qawliyyah generally
synonymous with hadith (singular of ahãdith)l: Muhammad's actions, religious or otherwise (Sunnah al

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Filiyyah), and: Muhammad's approval of the actions of his companions (Sunnah Taqririyyah), either by
showing his pleasure or by not opposing it through his silence.
For most of lslamic history, the ahädith concerning Muhammad, which have been considered à
secondary form of revelation, have taught Muslim related to the ahädith than the Qur'än,

D. Major Divisions in Islam

After the death of Muhammad, Islam experienced a schism over who should be the propthet's
khalifah Arabic "successor"| A group of leaders from both Makkah and Madinah quickly held an
election, and the role of khalifah or caliph was given to Abu Bakr, the prophet's best friend and father of
his favorite wife, Aishah, Some disagreed, however, and felt that the prophet's cousin All ibn AbiTalib,
who was also married to the prophet's daughter Fâtimah, was the rightful khalifah, Unlike Abu Bakr, Ali
was related to Muhammad by blood. Furthermore, Ali (and all members of the prophet's immediate
family) had been excluded from the act of choosing the khalifah. Still, those who had chosen and sworn
allegiance to Abu Bakr coerced Ali to endorse Abu Bakr as the rightful khalifah.
In 656 C.E. after the death of the third Khalifah, 'Uthman ibn 'Affän of the powerful Umayya clan, Ali
was finally chosen as caliph. But, disappointed that one among them had not been chosen, the Umayya
clan refused to recognize Ali as the prophet's fourth khalifah and established their own caliphate. This
disagreement over the right of Ali as khalifah escalated until Islam broke into two main sects: Sunni and
Shia.
a. Sunni
The greatest majority of Muslims comprise the Sunni tradition [Arabic ahl as-Sunnahwa I-
jamāah "of the tradition (of Muhammad) and the community (of Islam)"), which is currently the largest
religious denomination in the world.
The term Sunni is derived from Sunnah, the "custom/tradition" of the prophet Muhammad as recorded in
the collections of ahadith. Sunni Muslims believe that, since Muhammad died without explicitly
appointing a khalifah, his rightful successor is elected by an electoral body of Muslim clerics. This
elected khalifāh, however, is not infallible nor will he have divine right.
Sunni Muslims are committed to following the Qur'än and the ahådith, both of which are the bases of all
Sunni religious educat ion and jurisprudence. This tradition strongly highlights the role of Islam in
political life, with the Sharia [lslamic law] as the standard for a broad range of social issues, such as
business, marriage, divorce, inheritance, and others.

b. Shi'a
The Muslims who Supported Ali ibn Abilalib as the rightful khalifa called themselves the Shřotu
Ali Arabic partisans of Ali (ibn AbITālib founded by the four companions who advocated the election of
Ali. After the Ummaya caliphate rejected and expelled Ali, he was granted the equivalent title of Imam
[Arabic "leader, pattern"]. In Shif'a Islam, these Imáms were highly respected scholars chosen because
of their descent from Ali and were regarded as politico-religious community leaders.
The younger son of Ali and Fatimah and the third imäm of Shīa lslam, Husayn ibn 'Ali, was highly
regarded because he, considering the rule of Umayya as unjust, refused to swear allegiance to their
second caliph Yazid ibn Mu'äwiya. The people of Kufa pledged allegiance to him instead and asked for
his help. Traveling towards Kufa, his caravan was intercepted by Yazid's army at Karbala, where
Husayn, along with most of his family and companions were killed and beheaded in the year 680 C.E.
His death and that of his family and companions are remembered by Shīa Muslims every year as a day
of mourning. Husayn's death was perceived as martyrdom and became a symbol that helped undermine
and ultimately overthrow the Umayya caliphate.
A line of historical figures who were highly respected scholars and later identified by the Shīa as
Imāms was put on hold when one of them went into seclusion. The various main Shīa subsects [Imamis
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or "Twelvers, Zaydis or "Fivers" and Ismailis or "Seveners"] disagree which Imām went into hiding and
when this took place. For many Shīa Muslims, the "Hidden Imam" is the Mahdi who appears at the end
of time and restores justice; he is also referred to as al-Qaim, "one who arises"
Today, Shīa Muslims are a minority that may be found prevalent in Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen.

E. CREED
1. The Understanding of God
[Arabic "god"] cannot be properly represented by a graven image, as the deity cannot be
compared to anything that can be perceived by the senses. Allah is the one deity who is complete,
eternal, undivided, and unchanging. In the Islamic tradition, Allah created the universe out of nothing,
sustains it will judge it. As the summit of creation, human beings were created by Allah to obey and
serve Him, and were endowed with the capacity to understand reality and to enter into a relationship
with God and other human beings.
In the Islamic tradition, Allāh has ninety-nine names, among them Ar-Rahman "the Exceedingly
Gracious, Al-Malik "the King, Al-Quddüs "the Holy Al-‘Aziz "the Almighty, Al-Karim "the Generous,"
Al-Hakim "the Al-Wise, and A-Rashid "the Guide to the Right Path.' Similar to the Roman Catholic
practice of the Rosary, pious Muslims use prayer beads called misbahah to recite these names of Allāh.
While Allāh alone is the Deity, just like in Judaism, Islam recognizes other celestial beings, such as
angels, who act as messengers [like Gabriel] and as warriors who fight on the side of believers, and the
jinn [Arabic "hidden (from sight)"], who are creatures made of fire halfway between angels and human
beings. Unlike angels and more like human beings, the jinn are physical in nature [i.e. they can interact
in a tactile manner with other creatures and can be acted upon) and have free will, meaning they can be
good or evil. The leader of the evil jinn is named lblis [probably from Greek didbolos "accuser', who
acts as a tempter, like a prosecuting attorney against humanity. In Islamic cosmology, angels, the jinn,
and human beings comprise the three known creatures of Allāh that are capable of self-awareness and
judgment.

F. BASIC DOCTRINES

THE FIVE PILLARS

The first of the so-called "Five Pillars of Islam" is a confession of faith, the Shahādah [Arabic
‘bearing witness/testimony”], which declares in Arabic: "lā iläha illä-lläh, muhammadur rasūlu-llah”
[There is no god but Allāh; Muhammad is messenger of Allāh]. This brief Islamic creed encapsulates
the fundamental beliefs of Muslims. First, there is only one God, i.e., Allah. Second, while Allah sent
many messengers and prophets-among them Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Moses, and Jesus of
Nazareth [Arabic sā ibn Maryäm "Jesus, son of Mary"]--Muhammad is the khātam an-nabiyin, the "seal
(i.e., last) of the prophets." Linked with Muhammad being Allāh's ultimate messenger is the related
belief that the Qur'än is Allāh's perfect and final message to humanity before He judges it.
The Arabic term jihad literaly means “struggle”, although it is commonly understood as "holy war." The
prophet Muhammad, upon returning from combat, was supposed to have said: "We now go from the
lesser jihad [Arabic al-jihad al-asghar) to the greater jihad Arabic al-jihad al-akbar" This seems to
acknowledge that, apart from a possibly justified armed their due struggle in behalf of lslam, there is a
more important individual interior struggle, one that is internal, constant, and spiritual. The greater jihad
is the daily struggle faced by each and every adherent of Islam to seek what is good and avoid what is
evil.
A Muslim is one who surrenders and submits him/herself to the will of Allah, has forbidden
except for a The Arabic word Islam means submission, understood less as succumbing to an from
orphans, oppressor, but more of trusting obedience to Allah who knows what is best for what He has
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created. Therefore, human beings cannot simply rely on mere human knowledge, but on divine
enlightenment in order to fully know what leads to well-being and ultimately, to everlasting union with
Allah, Consequently the primary source of ethical teaching tor Muslims is the word of Allah in the
Qur'än.
The secondary source for Islamic ethics is the Sunnah, the shining example of the prophet
Muhammad, which serves as a living commentary on the truth revealed in the Quran. His words and
deeds may be found in the official collections of ahādith or oral traditions. In the same way that
Siddhartha Gautama Buddha and the Christ Jesus of Nazareth serve as paragons for Buddhists and
Christians, Muhammad the prophet, perceived by Muslims as faultless in receiving the Words of Allah,
is the most perfect of models for the adherents of Islam.
However, Islamic ethics is most explicitly expressed in lslamic law, better known as sharīa [Arabic
"pathway"]. For a Muslim, daily behavior is an essential component of one's life of submission to Allāh
that is defined and shaped by the legal prescriptions of sharī'a, which expresses the eternal will of Allāh
in a definite way. Derived primarily from the texts of the Qurän and the Sunnah, sharï'a is traditionally
divided into two sections: al-ibadat, which concerns one's service of Allāh; and al-mu'amalat, which
deals with one's relationship with others.
Within this twofold structure, all acts are classified under one of these five categories:
compulsory acts (fard) (e.g., five daily prayers, fasting during Ramadan, paying the sacred tax); acts that
are recommended but not obligatory (mustahabb] (e.g. personal prayer and devotion, acts of charity
beyond zakāt, male circumcision); morally indifferent acts [haläl/mubah] (e.g. choice of food, clothing,
leisure); disapproved but permissible acts [makruh] (e.g., divorce); and forbidden acts [harām].
Halal [Arabic "permissible"], in a technical sense, refers to Islamic dietary laws-similar to the Jewish
kosher. Muslims assume that all food from plants and animals, being part of Allāh's bountiful
providence, is haläl unless explicitly identified as haräm--such as pork, blood, dead animals, and
alcohol. Concerning intoxicants such as alcohol, the Qurān states: "Satan's plan is [but] to excite enmity
and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of God,
and from prayer
Will you not then abstain?" (5:91). From an Islamic perspective-similar to Buddhism-the abuse
of psychoactive substances undermines mental clarity, moral responsibility, and spiritual health.
Most of the five pillars of lslam are prescriptions for action. The third pillar is almsgiving Arabic zakät),
which for Muslims serves as a "purification of their wealth and a reminder that they are merely stewards
of everything that has been entrusted by Allah. Muslims are obliged to pay this sacred tax amounting to
between 2.5 to 10 percent of one's possessions, as a way of supporting the poor, widows, orphans,
religious institutions, and scholars.
The fourth pillar is fasting [Arabic sawm]. While many religions require fasting during the year,
Islam requires the longest and most stringent fast. Every year during Ramadan, the month when
Muhammad first received divine revelation, Muslims are required to abstain from eating, drinking,
smoking, and sexual intercourse between sunrise and sunset, while there is sufficient light to distinguish
a black thread from a white thread. During the daylight hours of Ramadan fasting, Muslims may not
even swallow their own saliva, which is why they tend to spit a lot during this time. The only Muslims
excused from sawm are small children, nursing mothers, travelers, and the sick. It is believed that Allāh
will absolve the sins of all Muslims who complete the fast.
The word of Allah in the Qur'ān, the ahãdīth concerning Muhammad, and the legal details of the
sharïa comprise the threefold br sis for Islamic ethics. Nonetheless, one must keep in mind that, while
most Muslims are in general agreement on matters of ethics and religious practice, there is no single
central authority that provides interpretation and determines a singular Islamic stance on issues.

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 G. CULT
The second pillar of the Islamic faith is prayer [Arabic salät or saláh done five times daily: dawn,
midday, afternoon, evening, and night. The primary purpose and of salah is to make time holy by
remembering Allah, the source of all well-being to whom one fully entrusts oneseif, and expressing
gratitude for all His blessings.
Taking precedence over all other concerns, the pause for prayer is obligatory wherever they may be
for all adult Muslims, male and female, excluding those who are ill, menstruating or experiencing
bleeding within forty days after giving birth. While Muhammad directed his followers to face al-Ka'bah
in the holy city of Mecca [Arabic Makkah al-Mukarramah] when praying, the Qurän surprisingly offers
little guidance on how to pray.
Traditionally, Muslims remove footwear, wash themselves (feet, hands, face, ears, and hair) with
water [or sand, if there is no water) and, if outside a masjid or mosque, spread out a prayer rug before
praying. Standing erect with palms open and thumbs touching the earlobes, a Muslim recites "Allāhu
akbar” [Arabic "God is most great"] and then, with hands at the side or crossed over the chest, the Surat
Al-Fätihah (Qurän 1:1-7). Bowing from the waist with hands on knees, he says: "I extol the perfection of
my Lord, the Great One.” Standing up again, he says "Allāhu akbar" once more, while slowly shifting to
a kneeling position, then prostrating with forehead and palms touching the ground-a gesture of total
surrernder. Then, rising to a kneeling position while sitting back on his heels, he repeats the same deep
bow, touching the ground with forehead and palms. This is performed about two to four times,
depending on the time of day, as optional prayers are recited. It concludes with a greeting of peace to
those praying beside him or, if alone, to his two guardian angels on each side.
The fifth pillar of Islam is the haj or pilgrimage to Makkah, done yearly during the lunar month of
Dhū al-Hijah [Arabic "possessor of the pilgrimage. Every Muslim who can physically and financially
afford to make the journey should do it once in his/her lifetime. To remove the distinction between rich
and poor, pilgrims' clothing must be simple, with no head covering and only the briefest of sandals.
Pilgrims must abstain from food, drink, and sexual intercourse during daytime, and not cut their hair and
nails.
During the days of the hajj, pilgrims to Makkah visit the Zamzam well, make seven
circumambulations of al-Ka’bah and kiss the sacred black stone, then sacrifice a sheep or goat on the
feast of Eid al-Adha to remember Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael in obedience to
Allah’s command.

H. COMMUNITY
According to a hadith, salāh performed with other Muslims is twenty-five times more effective than
praying alone. Furthermore, adult Muslim males are required to gather in a mosque Arabic masjid "place
of prostration (in prayer to perform the midday salāh during every yawm al-jumah [Arabic day of
assembly. ie, Fridayi (Qurān 62:9-11). They are led in prayer by an imäim Arabic "lesder, pattern , who
is not a priest but a layperson well-versed in the Qurān. The main feature of Friday noon salāh is a
sermon or exposition of a particular theme or verse in the Qurän. It is customary for businesses in many
islamic territories to close for the day at Friday noon.
Contemporary feminism considers the institution of polygamy as an expression of patriarchy and
sexism and as promoting injustice through gender inequality. In primitive patriarchal societies such as
the one Muhammad lived in, polygamy was a common practice, especially among wealthy men.
Polygamy may also have been the only effective way to protect women from destitution and sexual
exploitation. Islam is well-known for its tolerance of polygamy, which cites the Quran (4:3): "If you fear
that you cannot treat orphans [i.e., orphan girls] with fairness, then you may marry other women who

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seem good to you: two, three, or four of them. But if you fear that you cannot maintain equality among
them, marry one only...This will make easier for you to avoid injustice."
Similarly, Muhammad's injunction to have women veiled and kept secluded may have been his way of
treating them with respect. In his own way, he challenged the established inferiority of women by
forbidding infanticide and demanding equal inheritance for all children, male and female maintaining
that women are not the property of men and that female infants also had value.
However, the Indian Muslim lawyer Amir Ali (1849-1928), believing that no man can possibly
treat four women equally, as stated elsewhere in the Qur'ān, interpreted Qur'än 43 thus: "You may marry
two, three, or four wives, but no more. But if you cannot deal equitably and justly with all, you should
marry only one.” Amir ‘Ali considered maintaining the practice of polygamy and the veiling of women
as outdated and abusive to women in a modern society and perhaps even contrary to Muhammad's
progressive message.
When worshipping together in a masjid, men and women are separated either by a curtain or
barrier or by placing the men in front of the women, who are usually outnumbered, because men find it
inappropriately distracting to see women bowing and prostrating before them.
Beginning in the eighteenth century, the spread of militant revivalism has been one response of the
second largest and youngest major world religion to the problems of modern human society. Reacting to
Western Cultural imperialism that has promoted materialism, individualism, amoral permissiveness, and
the breakdown of traditional family life, Muslims have heeded the call to return to a rigorous, literal,
pure form of Islam. This requires an extremely strict and traditional Islamic education that does not
necessarily reject modernization per se, but instills traditional Islamic values and discipline into
individuals, families, and communities, affecting the daily behavior and interactions of people [e.g.,
dress and speech].
However, this escalating militant fundamentalist trend in Islamic societies has caused much
tension both inside and outside the Islamic world. More recent examples are movements such as al-
Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant/Syria (ISIL/ISIS). Al-Qaeda was founded by Osama
bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (1957-2011) and claimed responsibility for the violence
perpetrated on September 11, 2001 against the United States. On the other hand, the Islamic State of
liraq and the Levant/Syria broke away from the al-Qaeda in 2014 and has since claimed to be a
worldwide caliphate. Some commentators have even gone as far as predicting that a potential Third
World War could break out as a result of the conflict between opposing hardline religious
fundamentalists.
In line with increased militant slamic fundamentalism, there is also the rising number of Muslim
immigrants into predominantly non-Muslim countries. Islamic jurists often discourage adherents of
Islam from leaving Muslim countries because of the very real danger of iosing one's faith. However,
Western nations such as France, Germany., and the United Stetes have been experiencing growing
numbers of immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. One possible reason is the instability in their
countries of origin caused by the spread of islamic militancy. Uniike the Pharaoh of Egypt in the Book
of Exodus, the increasing population of Muslim immigrants in these Western countries is ringing alarm
bells and consequent calls for stricter immigration policies.

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 Keep in Mind:
Like Jews and Christians, Muslims believe that God’s covenant with Abraham
marked a new stage in the relationship between God and humanity. The people of Israel, from
which Judaism and Christianity emerged, came into being through Isaac, the firstborn son of
Abraharn and Sarah. However, Muslims claim that Abraham became the ancestor of the
Arabs through his alder firstborn son [by the Egyptian maidservant Hagar] Ishmael. For a
Muslim, the will of Alläh, to which he/she must submit, is spoken through human messengers
or prophets, particularly the final one Muhammad. Muhammad [Arabic "worthy of praise"]
was born around the year 570 C.E. into the prominent Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe,
which controlled al-Ka'bah in Makkah.

REFERENCES
Book:
Manloto, Christian B. and Rapadas, Maria Teresita R. (2016), Pilgrimage to Sacred Spaces: An
Introduction to World Religions. Phoenix Publishing House Inc. Quezon City

Sites:
How is Islam Began to Islam Belief Retrieved on: May 29, 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=PDxKxnVZtgo
Introduction to Islam Belief Retrieved on: May 29, 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=wgP_OSOS3IA

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 Ave Maria College
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
School ID No. 402686 Gov’t Permit No. 0059 s. 2015

Weekly Exam 4- Life of Muhammad

NAME: ______________________________________ DATE: _________

PROGRAM & YEAR ___________________________ SCORE:________

I. Instruction: Create a timeline on the life of Prophet Muhammad.

TIME EVENTS

II. Instruction: Answer the following questions.

1. What makes Islam differ from Christianity?
2. What are the practices and traditions that Muslims preserved today?
Ave Maria College
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
School ID No. 402686 Gov’t Permit No. 0059 s. 2015

NAME: ______________________________________ DATE: _________

PROGRAM & YEAR ___________________________ SCORE:________

Activity 4: Comparative Analysis of Middle Eastern Religions

Instruction: Illustrate the similarities and differences of the three middle-eastern religions.

JUDAISM CHRISTIANY ISLAM

Origins
Major Division

Sacred Texts
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Creed

Code

Cult
Community

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Reminders:

Keep weekly Exam. 4 and Activity 4 and submit them to your Course Facilitator on Week 5.

Good luck!

End of Week 4

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