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 The
Qur'an and the Hadith
 The
Five Pillars of Islam |
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The Qur'an
At the point of Muhammad’s death Islam was a comprehensive religion and social code. This code was built on two key foundations. The first and foremost of these was the Qur’an, which was a holy book (approximately the length of the Christian New Testament) compiled by Muhammad’s followers soon after his death. The contents of the Qur’an are the various recitations which Muhammad claimed were given to him over a period of 20 years by the archangel Gabriel. These were considered therefore the literal Word of Allah (Arabic simply for "God"). Thus translations of these verses into languages other than the original 7th century Arabic of Muhammad earns such translations the reputation of being merely "commentaries" on the Qur’an – and are not considered the Qur’an itself. The Qur'an was organized into 114 suras ("chapters") – arranged, not as one might expect chronologically with the earliest recitations first and the latest last, but simply on the basis of size with the longest suras first and the shortest suras last. The Hadith
The second of these foundations is the Hadith – a supplementary collection of thousands of sayings and doings of Muhammad told by his original followers or "companions" – and passed down orally from generation to generation. These were finally gathered into one or another collection (of which there are a fair number) the earliest dating from around 870 or nearly two and a half centuries after Muhammad’s death. The Hadith is considered an important supplement to the Qur’an – explaining the meaning of some of the Qur’anic verses or elaborating further by Muhammad’s personal example the moral or social code of Islam. Various legal schools within Islam have developed further interpretations or commentaries on the Hadith. Shi’ite Muslims do not recognize any of these collections but have developed their own Hadith, transmitted by their own Imams, descendants of Muhammad through his nephew/son-in-law Ali (and daughter Fatima). The Qur'an and the Judeo-Christian Bible
Much of the religious content of the Qur’an would be recognizable to the Christian and Jew – though in very different form. Muslims believe that Islam was the original religion of man as God intended it. The primal man Adam is found in the Qur’an. But Adam is not viewed by Islam in the Jewish and Christian manner as being not only the primal man but also the primal sinner. To Islam, Adam was simply the first prophet of the true faith. That faith was passed on to Abraham and then through the Arab Ishmael – not as the Jews claim through Isaac, the father of the Israelites. However Israel's leader Moses and Israel's king David are recognized as prophets – as are the Israelite prophets themselves. And Jesus is given high honor second only to Muhammad – though as a prophet and not as the Son of God (similar to the Unitarian view of many Arab Christians of the time). Mary also comes to even higher honor than the Christian Bible affords – having even a full sura named after her. Also the Qur’an depicts the Christians as having Mary as the third member of the Christian Trinity – very odd since this clearly was not the understanding of the Christian community itself ... but not so odd considering how Muhammad would have heard Christians of the time venerating her as the "Mother of God." How Muhammad (or the archangel Gabriel) could have made this error is answered with the Muslim understanding that the Christians and Jews themselves live a lie of distortions. The Judeo-Christian Bible is a departure from the Truth, Truth as revealed by Gabriel, and though the Bible is of some value, it is not to be trusted as Truth. This supposedly then holds true of the Christian Trinity: Christians are supposedly confused about the nature of their own Trinity ... which the Muslims emphatically reject, claiming that the concept of the Trinity violates horribly the idea of the singleness of God: "there is only one God: Allah"! Shari'a
As for the social code of the Qur'an and the Hadith – the Shari'a or Law – it looks amazingly like the social code of the world of Arabia of the 600s. In the Arabian context it makes a great deal of sense in how this code settles conflicts and organizes the all-important life of the family, clan and tribe. Life in the desert world is harsh and survivable only through the rigorous exercise of certain social practices. Outside of Arabia this harshness seems excessive. Thus as a religion of "peace" there is a certain ambiguity about how the "peace" of Islam is achieved and maintained. The number of infractions of the code requiring the death of the perpetrator is extremely large by modern standards – though in line with the practices of Arabia in Muhammad’s time. To the true Muslim, there can be no softening or reform of these penalties – for they were pronounced by God (Allah) through his messenger Gabriel. What gives Islam its most violent aspect is the understanding that death experienced by a warrior or mujahid in the struggle or jihad to spread the rule of Islam is the most noble action a Muslim may perform – and guarantees the martyr massive sensual pleasures in the heavenly afterlife. The Muslim is however commanded to protect Christians and Jews (termed dhimmis or "protected peoples") ... at least those who have been brought under the full authority of the Islamic empire or ummah – and as long as they pay the required jizya ("tribute") to the Islamic state. They possess this privilege because they too are "People of the Book." Followers of other religions (such as the Persian Zoroastrians) were not accorded such a privilege ... and upon being conquered were given the option simply of accepting Islam – or death. However – as we shall see – the Persians registered their highly resistant spirit ... by accepting forced conversion to Islam ... but also taking up a dissenting form of the faith in doing so: Shi’a Islam. |
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| Islam
is theologically very simple – in strong distinction to the complex
Christianity formulated by the Councils which took place during and
after the reign of Constantine. The shahadah (creed, confession or "testimony"). To announce oneself as a Muslim, a person needs only to recite (in Arabic) the Shahadah: “There is but one God, God; and Muhammad is His prophet.” The shahadah is repeated in the Muslim prayer offered five times a day. The salah ("prayer"). Prayer is performed ritualistically (a recitation of the shahadah and verses drawn from the Qur’an) at a precise time five times a day, with the shoeless worshiper standing and kneeling on a prayer rug facing the direction of the Ka’bah in Mecca. The zakat (tax or alms). Muslims are required to pay a portion of their wealth to help the poor and support Islam in the spread of the faith. They are encouraged to contribute more (the sadaqah) as an expression of their faith – though this is entirely voluntary. The sawm ("fast"). Once a year, during the month of Ramadan, Muslims are required to refrain from eating, drinking (and other activities) from sunup to sundown – to encourage a focus or meditation on their faith walk: how well they are doing and what they need to improve it. The hajj ("pilgrimage"). Although pilgrimage to various holy sites located in the land of Islam (the Ummah) is extremely important to the faithful, the most important is definitely the Hajj to Mecca during the special month of Meccan pilgrimage, the Dhu al-Hijjah. As one approaches Mecca a very precise set of rituals takes effect – which gives the appearance of a sea of people moving from place to place, all performing the same actions. This is a pilgrimage that every Muslim hopes to make at least once during his or her lifetime. A life-time of savings are set aside for this grand purpose. It affords the Hajji (pilgrim) not only a chance to demonstrate his or her devotion to God – it affords that person considerable social standing in the community. |
Miles
H. Hodges
