Islam: Theme 1 (A)
- Created by: jackhegarty3
- Created on: 28-04-18 12:45
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- T1(A): The significance on the development of Islam of both the life and teachings of Muhammad in Makkah following the Night of Power
- The nature of Pre-Islamic Arabia
- Tribal system built upon extended families and clans
- The time before Muhammad was known as Jahiliyya which means ignorance in Arabic
- Heritage and codes of conduct shared through oral tradition
- Raid and trade
- Poetry
- Human rule, not submission to God
- Four goals of social justice: honour, generosity, hospitality and giving
- Tribes lead by Shayk
- Bravery and virtue passed down (Muruwa meaning manliness or honour)
- Desert land populated by Bedouin nomads
- Social injustice: inequality, human suffering, breakdown of social structures
- The impact of the Night of Power upon Muhammad
- Night of Power: vision of Angel Jibril, followed by a silk cloth with ‘recite’ written on it being given to Muhammad
- Muhammad had a preoccupation with God which took him a mountain cave for meditation
- Sent by the God of the Christians and Jews to recite the same revelation in Arabic
- Contemplated suicide struggling to come to terms with revelation
- Voice from Heaven told Muhammad not to commit suicide
- At first, those who joined Islam did so in secret
- Took Muhammad years to go public with message
- Time spent thinking about spiritual matters (preparation)
- 'Dark night of the soul’
- “Read in the name of the Lord and Cherisher who created, created man out of a mere clot of blood” (Sura 96)
- Revelation seemed similar to that of soothsayers; Makaans accused Muhammad of being inspired by spirits rather than God
- Muhammad’s early message
- Islam as correction of Judaism and Christianity
- Monotheism (Tawhid)
- Warn what would happen if they did not submit to Allah’s will
- Miraculous power of God’s character
- The Day of Judgement for everyone (Akirah)
- Bring Arabia back to the religion of Islam (Risalah)
- All humans have a responsibility to their fellow man
- Muhamad’s second revelation, Sura 74, ordered him to ‘rise and warn’
- Muhammad's early life
- during his childhood, his clan declined in importance
- taken care of his uncle, abu Talib who was the leader of the Hashemite tribe
- employed in the trading business
- His father died before he was born and his mother died two years later. He then went in to the care of his grandfather who died two years after that
- “Did we not find thee an orphan and shelter thee?” Sura 93
- born into the Hashim tribe - lower clan of the Quraysh tribe
- Muhammad’s interest in Makkan religions
- His own household consisted of two Chritians - a slave and his wife’s cousin
- As a result of this, Muhammad started to spend more time in prayer and meditation in the cave ‘Hira’
- Muhammad encountered a hanif named Zayd ibn Am’r
- Religion of Pre-Islamic Arabia
- Ancestors as stars
- Believed that Gods could be against them
- Pilgrimage to Mecca
- Bedouins believed in many Gods, including Allah, his wife Allat and their two daughters al Manat and al Uzza
- Jinn
- Religious differences: Judaism, Christianity, Hanifs (accepting the idea of one God, but not Christianity or Judaism) and Bedouin polytheism (the religion of most of the population of Arabia)
- Sooth-sayers
- Bedouin polytheism was animistic (belief that natural objects, like trees and rocks, were inhabited by spirits)
- Idols at the Ka’ba
- Muhammad’s open preaching
- Several underlying themes of Muhammad’s early message delivered to Makkah including Muhammad as Seal of the Prophets, Prophethood, Divine Unity, Bodily resurrection, Judgment Day, Shirk and Warnings
- The early message of Muhammad created a direct challenge on economic, social and religious grounds
- Criticism of the annual pilgrimage had implications on the economy
- Leaders and people of wealth were concerned that their power was under challenge
- Those selling idols felt that their businesses were threatened
- Conflicting views (mono/polytheism)
- Muhammad's marriage to Khadijah
- Muhammad and Khadijah got on so well that he married her
- By the time he was 21 Muhammad was employed as a trading manager by a wealthy widow, Khadijah
- Khadijah was fifteen years older than Muhammad - but bore him six children
- How was Muhammad prepared for Prophethood?
- He had a unique reputation, even before his prophethood, and was known as a good judge and referee in times of dispute
- He attended the inaugural meeting of the League of the Virtuous, a gathering to protect the honesty of the Makkan trade
- Muhammad earnt the names of al’Amin (the trustworthy) and as’Sadiq (the truthful)
- He was the only one who could replace the blackstone at the Ka’ba when it needed repairing, without any of the clans being offended
- He was involved in the ‘Wicked Wars’, in which the Makkans defeated the Central Arabian tribes of Hawazin, confriming Makkan dominance of Arabian trade routes
- He learnt the techniques of trading, dimplomacy and warfare
- the Makkan reaction to Muhammad's preaching and its implication for the development of Islam
- The persecution in Makkah
- His meetings were often broken up by hooligans
- Some of his followers were totured and killed
- Strengthened by the conversion of two great Makkan warriors, Hamza (the prophet’s young uncle) and Umar
- Attempts on Muhammad’s life
- The persecution became so bad that Muhammad sent 83 Muslims and their families to Abyssia to be protected and cared for by Christians
- Hostile campaign against Muhammad
- Muhammad and his family were protected by the ‘clan system’: as part of Abu Talib’s clan they were protected (despite Talib never becoming a Muslim himself)
- The boycott of Hashim
- During this time Muhammad received many revelations from God about previous prophets who had faced rejection, but in the end God’s will had triumphed (Yusuf, Nuh and Ibrahim)
- The clan were sent to Shi’b (mountain hideout) where they were smuggled food and clothes
- Some Muslims remained in Makkah but were unloyal to their Prophet, failing to visit him during the three years of siege
- abu Jahl (Makkan leader) and the Quraysh (powerful merchant tribe who controlled Makkah) made many attempts to isolate Muhammad from his clan
- The Quraysh turned to sterner methods, isolating Muhammad, his followers and the clan of Banu Hashim
- After three years, the clan returned to the city, however the boycott continued and they were unable to buy and sell things or marry
- Quraysh was rendered powerless before Banu Hashim
- Abu Talib ensured this did not happen by gaining the support of the Banu Hashim clan
- The persecution in Makkah
- The nature of Pre-Islamic Arabia
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