Video Transcript: Islam Lecture 1
We now begin our brief survey of Islam as the last of the five religions that we will be considering in the course. And we start, of course, with the life of Mohammed, where else would you start? Mohammed was born in as near as we can figure in 571, about 570 years after Jesus. And we do know that he died in 632. He was born into an Arab tribe, and had a rough childhood. His father died before he was born, his mother died when he was six. He was raised by grandparents. They did not come from money they were they were not wealthy. And neither neither were they starving, but it's not a background, from which he was well off, or anything like that. During his younger years, he apparently had some contact with Jews and Christians. It's controversial how much there are traditions that say that he bumped into Jews and Jewish and Christian caravans and talked with them. And then other people say that those traditions aren't reliable. We do know though, that somewhere along the line, he acquired a great respect for scripture for the Hebrew and Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. And the Quran itself refers to Torah and Gospel. As he got older, he he married and was leading a perfectly normal life when it was suddenly interrupted by revelation from God. This is his reports of it. He was spoken to by the angel Gabriel. And the Quran defends the authenticity of this, in these words, by the star when it plunges your comrade his knee is not astray, neither errors, nor speaks he out of Caprice. This is nothing but a revelation revealed, taught him by one terrible Empowered very strong. He stood poised being on the higher horizon then drew near and suspended, hung, or nearer then revealed it to His servant, what he revealed, his heart lies not of what he saw. What will you dispute with him? When he tells you what he saw? The course Muhammad himself was terribly shaken up by this sudden approach of divine revelation. He went after the first one, he went home and said to his wife, Khadija, I'm worried about myself. Then I told her the whole story. She said, Rejoice for by Allah, Allah will never put you to shame. By Allah, you're mindful of your kinsfolk, you speak truthfully. And you render what is given you in trust, you bear burdens, and you are hospitable to guests. And you always do the right against any wrong. Then she took me to Urraca. And she said, listen to him. So he questioned me and I told him the whole story. This is the law, which was set down upon Moses. Another early tradition has Mohammed say about this event. Now it so happened that no creature of Allah was more loathsome to me than a poet, the sight of whom I could neither stand or bear. So I said, that one meaning himself has become either a poet or a man possessed by jinn. This is a kind of spirit. We often say Genie, but the Arab word is j i n n. Jinn. I will go down to some high mountain cliff and cast myself off, that I might kill myself and be at rest. And I went off for this in my mind, but when I was in the midst of the mountains, I heard a voice from heaven saying, oh, Muhammad, you are indeed Allah's Apostle, and I am Gabriel. And at that I raised my head to the skies, and there was Gabriel in clear human form, with his feet on the edges of the skies.
And I began to turn my face to the whole expanse of the skies. But no matter in what direction I looked, I saw him. So this is the beginnings of his call as Prophet. He receives this revelation from the angel Gabriel. And he becomes convinced that he's not crazy, but that it's genuine revelation. There was, of course, pagan religion, already rampant among the tribes in Arabia. And some of them some of that worship centered around a great rock called Ka'ba. It was a black meteorite, that had crashed into the desert, a long time before and had been regarded by the tribes as sacred spot. They used to sacrifice animals there and make prayers there. Nearby was a well called Zamzam that was also considered sacred, and Mohammed approach appropriates these things. He includes them in the genuine worship of God, he goes to the rock, and eliminates all of the idols to pagan gods, and once only the true Creator God, to be worshiped there. This is a message that he brings to all the the Arabs and to understand this, you must understand the way in which he looks upon the Jewish and Christian traditions. For Mohammed, the covenant that God made with Abraham, that went then, to Isaac and Jacob, and so on, was the covenant He made with the Jews. He made that covenant with Abraham. But there's an incident in the Abraham story in which Abraham's wife becomes envious of her maid servant, Hagar, and she sends Hagar away in the wilderness to die. And an angel rescues Hagar. In Muslim teaching, this angel mediates a New Covenant to people who are not Jews, to Gentiles. Hagar and her son Ishmael, are not Jews because the first Jew is Isaac, the first child of promise covenant promised to Abraham. But there's a separate covenant with Hagar and Ishmael for non Jews. And it is that covenant that Muhammad claims to speak for and so in Muslim doctrine, Jesus is the Messiah for the Jews, and they were wrong to reject Him. But for non Jews, the prophet that mediates that covenant is Mohammed and all Gentiles are wrong to reject Muhammad. This message is taken by Mohammed to the leaders in Mecca, which is the nearest city where he lives and and they laugh with scorn, dismiss him. So, he leaves Mecca, and goes to a nearby city that becomes later renamed Medina, which means that the city of the prophet and he preaches this same message to the men of Medina and they are converted, they believe this, they believe him to be them, the messenger, the Prophet, speaking for God, receiving messages from Gabriel, and they accept this, this new religion and Mohammed then puts together an army from Medina and goes back to Mecca and conquers Mecca and forces the people of Mecca to conform to the One religion, this one true religion. It's the only major world religion to have spread in that way that is, by the threat of force. By being conquered and then you're told, either you convert or you're beheaded. Muhammad only gave that choice that terrible choice to to pagans, however, Jews and Christians he regarded as what he called People of the Book. Jews are accepting the older covenants. Christians have a newer one. And mine is to be added to the Christian one, just as the Christian one was
added to the older one. But he respected that they were believers in the true transcendent Creator God and not in pagan deities. So Jews and Christians were to be treated in an exceptional way, they were not beheaded for not becoming Muslims. They were, however, considered second class citizens, and forced to pay what's called the infidel tax, a tax for being unbelievers and not following followers of Muhammad and they were forbidden from holding offices in public office. Muhammad is a very persuasive fellow, he's able to bring this message to these people in Medina and then in Mecca, and consolidate his hold there and his his rule. There's but one God, he says, not one among three. That's a misunderstanding of the Trinity. But Trinity doesn't say there are three gods three persons. In one God God replicated, but he missed, Miss that Miss Muhammad is his messenger, a prophet, but they're so are Abraham, and Moses and Jesus, they were prophets as well, according to Muhammad. And we've already talked about the parts of the New Testament say that the canon is closed, and that God has finished speaking in Jesus Christ. But Mohammed dismisses those parts of the New Testament, as later editions. They must have been sneaked back in there by Christians wanting to have a way to rule out Islam rule out him, Mohammed, of course, that's a wildly implausible reply, because there are 1000s of Greek manuscripts of the New Testament that include that part of the book of Hebrews, that are, that are date from way before Mohammed was born. He continues to get the revelations and consolidate them have them written down. And that is what the Qur'an is, it is the record of these revelations from the angel Gabriel Of course, they're also collections of sayings of Mohammed, and comments on the Quran, known as the Hadith. And these also are held in great esteem, and regarded by most Muslims as inspired by God. These doctrines include not only the doctrines about the God having revealed himself to the past and the covenants with Abraham, and so on. But then also, there are a great emphasis on the the late Jewish prophets and the New Testament teachings of a last judgment that there will be an end of time when God calls everyone before His throne and judges all people according to their works, whether they be good or evil and they're Very great emphasis for Mohammed in the, on the Last Judgment. Here's what the Quran says. God has cursed the unbelievers, and prepared for them a blaze there into dwell forever. They shall find neither protector nor helper. Upon the day when their faces are turned about in the fire, they will say, If only we had obeyed God and His messenger the companions of the left mid burning winds in boiling waters in the shadow of smoky Blaze, neither cool, neither godly. Then you erring ones, you that cried out lies, you shall eat of a tree called Zaqqum it's a tree that comes forth in the root of hell. It's spades are the heads of Satan's and they eat of it and fill their bellies, and on top of it, they have a brew of boiling water. The tree of Zaqqum is the food of the guilty, like molten copper bubbling in the belly, as boiling water bubbles, take him thrust him into the midst of hell, then pour over
his head, the chastisement of boiling water. Like by contrast, it says Surely the God fearing shall be in a station secure among gardens and fountains, Robed in silk and brocade set face to face upon close rot couches, Reclining upon them, set face to face immortal youths, going round them with goblets and Ewers and a cup from a spring, no brows, no intoxication, such fruits as they shall choose, in such flesh as foul as they desire and wide eyed Houri, as this young lady's as the likeness for that they labored recompense for which they worked, and we made them spotless, virgins chaste amorous like of age, for the companions of the right, so here we have the stark contrast between the fate that awaits those who reject the Prophet and his message, and those who believe it and are, and live right conduct of life. That right conduct is also important. It's not just belief. Here's what the Quran has to say about that. It's not piety that you turn your faces to the east of the West. True piety is this, believe in God and the Last Day, the angels the book of the prophets, to give one substance give money, however, cherished to kinsmen and orphans, the needy, the traveler, beggars, to give ransom to the slave, to perform prayer and pay alms has been given gifts giving to the poor, and they have fulfilled our covenant when they have engaged in the covenant, and endure with fortitude, misfortune, hardship and peril. These are the ones who are true in their faith, and the truly God fearing they are good parents, whether one or both of them attains old age. Do not chide them or speak words that are not respectful and lower to them the wing of humbleness out of mercy and say, My Lord, have mercy on them, as they raised me up when I was little respect for parents, and giving to the poor, and so on all this is practical advice. This is what Allah expects of his followers. Slay not your children for fear of poverty, we will provide for you in them. Surely, killing them would be a grievous sin and approach not fornication. It's indecency and evil as a way, give to the orphans, their property, and don't exchange the corrupt, the good, and so on. It goes on. Say it sounds, of course, very like is the kind of advice you get in the proverbs of the Old Testament. There are five pillars of religious duty that are crucial to Islam. And these five central teachings are first of all the Creed, in the Creed is to say, there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet, or disciple. And then there's the keeping of the prayers. That's the second thing. The prayers are to be offered five times a day. So Muslims keep a little prayer rug with them as they put can put down so they can kneel toward and pray toward Mecca. And then, the third thing is to give alms, we heard that already giving money to support the poor, and the needy. And the fourth and fifth things have to do with ceremonies. The month of Ramadan, is a month of fasting. You don't eat from sunrise to sundown you can eat after sundown, but you don't eat all during the day, to remind you of your, your sin, and to be repentant for your sin, and to pray for forgiveness. And then there is the pilgrimage, or hajj sometimes spelled with a D. And this is the once in a lifetime trip, to the Ka'ba, to the Sacred Stone, to worship there, since
Mohammed made it a special sacred place, himself. And so every Muslim is to travel there at least once in a lifetime. And to circle the hajj of the Ka'ba and to offer prayers. Those are the five main things if you if you acknowledge God, the transcendent creator, that Mohammed is his disciple. If you then offer the prayers five times a day, the keep almsgiving as a way of life. And then you record you practice observing Ramadan, and in addition, you make the pilgrimage, you've done the five central things required by Islam. So we've gotten to the central the core of this already, it's, it's in fact, relatively simple. There is nothing like the elaborate system of rites and rituals and holy days and laws that came out of the Jewish kosher law, for example. It's just relatively straightforward. And it in that respect, it's more streamlined compared to Judaism, and, in some ways, is closer, more organized more like Christianity, than it is Judaism. The five pillars are relatively simple to observe, and easy to do. And that's all one has to do to be a Muslim. So it has, it had great appeal among the Arab tribes, and it spreads great. My Mohammed did spread it by conquest. Having conquered Mecca, he puts together the armies of Medina and Mecca and goes to the next city and conquers that then puts that army together and goes to conquers the next, and it's spread by power of the sword. And by threat, it's the only major religion to have done that. Not saying that members of other religions have been at times given into something like that. But it was not a policy of the religion. And and was not the very means by which it initially spread. When we come back next time, we'll talk about some of the controversies and different schools of thought that have risen in Islam. And with respect to both doctrine and practice, and we'll be able to, to cover that in I think, two more lectures, will be able to give you this survey, again, I admonish you to do the reading because there's a great deal more in the reading that I'm covering. I'm covering some things not in the reading, but you can put the two together to get the entire picture and prepare yourself for the exam.