ISLAM. What is Islam?

Transcription

1 ISLAM What is Islam?

2 Islam is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur an and by the teachings and example of Muhammad, the last prophet of Islam. The word Islam means submission (to God) and adherents of Islam are referred to as Muslims. Islam is the second largest religious tradition in the world

3 The origin and development of Islam The Semitic roots of the Islamic faith

4 Abraham s son Ishmael and his descendants Monotheistic faith and the tribal religions of the Arabian peninsula

5 Mecca emerges as the center of religious devotion and commerce

6 Muhammad ( )

7 Muhammad worshiping at the Kabah in Mecca God s final (perfect) revelations to the prophet Muhammad

8 Recite in the name of the Lord who created created man from clots of blood. Recite! Your Lord is the Most Boun<ful One, who by the pen taught man what he did not know. Indeed, man transgresses in thinking himself his own master; for to your Lord all things return... Prostrate yourself and come nearer... The first revelation on Mt. Hira Muhammad s flight to Medina and victorious return to Mecca

9 The mission and legacy of the man Muhammad Muhammad did not consider himself to be divine in any way; rather he considered himself to be God s instrument to deliver the will of God to the people Muhammad died in Medina in 632 AH (a@er Hijra) All Muslims regard Muhammad as a man who showed perfecdon in his life, and they revere him as an ideal human being, a model for all believers to emulate Caliphate struggles, civil war and the first major division of Islam

10 The Golden Age of Islam ( ) A few important beliefs shared by all Muslims

11 The heart of islam is the belief in an all-powerful, transcendent God who created and continues to control the universe The nature of God in the Islamic tradition Muslims refer to God as Allah, which simply means the God. Allah is not God s name, but a rather a Dtle. In Islam, God has many names (e.g. the Merciful, the Just, the Compassionate ) that display his personal character Affirming God s absolute power over, total presence in, and complete providendal control of everything in the universe is a central tenet of Islam and something of paramount importance to all Muslims

12 There is only one destiny for all creatures... the will of God Islam is a prophetically oriented religious tradition

13 The five pillars of Islam All Muslims must accept and practice the five pillars because these pillars are supposed to provide the necessary support for one s faith and practice...

14 The five pillars of the Islamic faith (1) Creed - There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger. It is recited daily in prayer; and wriqen in Arabic everywhere inside the domes of mosques and over doors. (2) Prayer - Devout Muslims are called on to pray five Dmes a day: before dawn, midday, mid- a@ernoon, sunset, and nighwme. (3) Charity to the poor - Islamic pracdce demands that believers donate certain percentages of their total wealth to the poor. (4) FasDng during Ramadan - FasDng is thought to be good for individual spiritual growth, and it is also an important bond that unites Muslims in commemoradng Muhammad s first received his reveladons. (5) Pilgrimage to Mecca - All Muslims, both men and women, unless prevented by poverty or sickness, are expected to visit Mecca at least once in their lifedme (the Hajj). Only Muslims may visit the city. A few different schools of thought within Islam

15 The Sunni versus Shiite division within Islam The Sunnis and the Shiites are the two most dominant branches of Islamic thought. Both groups share and accept the authority of the Qur an, the Five Pillars of Islam and many other ardcles of Islamic faith and pracdce. However, there are important differences that separate these groups: Who was the proper successor to Muhammad? Different interpretadons of Qur an and authoritadve teachings of Muhammad on religious laws concerning marriage, inheritance, proper forms of worship Traditional Islam is theocratic, seeking the rule of God in every aspect of life

16 A few important religious practices and rituals of Islam A few Islamic dietary restrictions The Qur an forbids the consumpdon of pork on the grounds that swine are an unclean animal Alcohol is also forbidden because of it s common associadon with addidon and violent behavior

17 Prohibitions against usury and gambling Muslims are not permiqed to charge interest on financial loans because this is deemed as a form of exploitadon. SomeDmes a commissions charge is permiqed instead Gambling is prohibited on the grounds that it is a waste of Dme and resources The institution of marriage within Islam Generally speaking, Islamic marriages are social/civil contracts Most Muslim marriages are arranged and typically involve a wriqen agreement and the exchange of a dowery A@er marriage, a woman takes on a new, more responsible role as wife, mother, etc.

18 Gender roles and the rights of women In Islam, male and female social roles are taken to be very different, yet complimentary Women are expected to take on more tradidonal roles and expected to be modest and circumspect in public SomeDmes Muslim women are expected to remain vieled and only socialize with other females The importance of circumcision in Islam Male circumcision is a religious requirement in Islam, even though it is not expressly commanded in the Qur an In some Muslim countries, female circumcision is also pracdced One explanadon for the pracdce of circumcision is that it shows submission to God when it comes to procreadon and sex

19 Are there objective moral facts that are absolute and universal? Or is what s morally permissible a culturally relative matter? Cultural ethical relativism An act is right or wrong because the agent s culture (or society) says it is right or wrong

20 Relativism and the cultural differences argument... The general form of the argument used to support cultural ethical rela4vism (1) Different cultures have different moral principles and standards Therefore, (2) There is no objecdve, universal truth in morality. Right and wrong are only maqers of opinion, and opinions vary from culture to culture. What s wrong with cultural ethical relativism and the arguments used to support it?

21 Relativism and the subjectivist fallacy Confusing beliefs, percep4ons, or other representa4ons with reality (1) Beliefs vary from one person (or culture) to another Therefore, (2) Truth varies from one person (or culture) to another The conclusion doesn t follow from the premises. In fact the only way the argument would work is if an addidonal premise were added namely, the claim that belief = truth A powerful argument against cultural relativism (1) According to cultural reladvists, whatever a society approves of is moral, and whatever a society disapproves of is immoral (2) In Nazi Germany, society approved of sending Jews to concentradon camps and exterminadng them in horrific ways. Therefore, (3) According to cultural reladvists, Nazi Germany acted morally in sending Jews to concentradon camps and exterminadng them in horrific ways.

22 The muslim faith is a an extremely passionate faith and religious passion is often a good thing... However, sometimes religious passion can lead to bad things as well...

23 Could religion be the root cause of all of the world s woes? The so-called New Atheism

24 Understanding the socalled New Atheists... New Atheism refers to a 21st century movement in atheism. The term is typically linked to a series of six best- selling books by Sam Harris, Daniel C. DenneQ, Richard Dawkins, Victor J. Stenger and Christopher Hitchens. According to the New Atheists, it is Dme to take a far less accommodadng awtude toward religion, supersddon, and religion- based fanadcism than had been extended by moderate atheists, secularists, and some secular sciendsts. What the New Atheists share is a belief that religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises...

25 Christopher Hitchens God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007) made author and journalist Hitchens one of the four major advocates of the new atheism Religion is violent, irradonal, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hosdle to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children, and as such it ought to have a great deal on its conscience... Richard Dawkins In The God Delusion (2006), evoludonary biologist Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that belief in a personal god qualifies as a delusion, which he defines as a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence... When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity... and when many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion...

26 [Before 9/11] many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all suppor<ng evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consola<on, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that. Revealed faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense. Dangerous because it gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness. Dangerous because it gives them false courage to kill themselves, which automa<cally removes normal barriers to killing others. Dangerous because it teaches enmity to others labelled only by a difference of inherited tradi<on. And dangerous because we have all bought into a weird respect, which uniquely protects religion from normal cri<cism. Let s now stop being so damned respecxul! Richard Dawkins Bill Maher Religulous is a 2008 American comedy/ documentary film wriqen by and starring comedian Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles. According to Maher, the Dtle of the film is a portmanteau derived from the words religion and ridiculous the documentary examines and mocks organized religion and religious belief.

27 Responses to the criticisms of the so-called New Atheism The criticisms of the so-called New Atheists are not new and really not that good...

28 William Lane Craig William Lane Craig is an American ChrisDan apologist, theologian, and analydc philosopher. He is one of the most visible contemporary proponents of natural theology, pardcipadng in debates on the existence of God. Craig has earned a PhD in philosophy as well as ThD in theology. Craig has held numerous professorships at presdgious universides and has authored a tremendous amount of scholarly books and ardcles within his field.