General Basics of Islam

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General Basics of Islam

• Hisham Farajallah
• Islamic Center of Washington
• Idriss Mosque
• 206-363-3013

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General Basics of Islam

• Key Words
• Allah
• Islam
• Muslims
• Islam What Does it Mean?
• Pillars of Islam
• Articles of Faith

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Islam What Does is Mean?

• Islam is an Arabic word, it means submission,
  surrender, and obedience
• As a Religion
• Islam stands for complete submission and
  obedience to Allah.
• Islam does not have any association whatsoever
  with any particular person or people or country.

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Islam What Does is Mean?

• Islam is an attributive title, any one who
  possesses this attribute, whatever race,
  community, country or group he / she belongs to,
  is a Muslim

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Allah

• Allah is the proper name of God in Arabic.
• The term has no plural or gender
• Also, Allah is the personal name of God in
  Aramaic, the language of Jesus (PBUH) and the
  sister language of Arabic

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Pillars of Islam

• Declaration of Faith
• Perform Five Daily Prayers
• Fasting During the Month of Ramadan
• Zakah Obligatory Charity
• The fifth pillar of Islam is Hajj Pilgrimage.

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Articles of Faith

• Belief in the Unity of God
• Belief in all the Prophets with no distinction
  between them
• Belief in all Divine Scriptures
• Belief in the existence of Angels
• Belief in the Day of Judgment and life after
  death
• Belief in the Divine Decree

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Articles of Faith

• Belief in the existence of God, Knowledge of Him,
  and in His Unity are the essential foundations of
  Islam
• Muslims believe that the Oneness of God is the
  essence of the Divine Message brought by ALL the
  Prophets

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Basic Beliefs of the Qur'an

• The Qur'an
• Believed to have been revealed directly, word for
  word in Arabic, to Muhammad through the angel
  Gabriel.
• Its contents originate entirely from God, having
  no human component.
• Proper recitation and memorization of the Qur'an
  are a religious duties
• Responsibilities that Allah has taken about the
  Q'uran
• The collection, composition and arrangement of
  the Q'uran
• The Proclamation / promulgation of the Q'uran
• The Preservation of the Q'uran

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Basic Beliefs of the Qur'an

• The Noble Qur'an
• Alif Laam Raa. A book which we have revealed unto
  
• you so that you may lead mankind from out
• of the darkness into light. Qur'an 141
• The Qur'an is a Message from Allah to humanity.
• It was transmitted in a chain starting from the
  Almighty Himself to the angel Gabriel to the
  Prophet Muhammad.
• It was given to the Prophet in pieces over a
  period spanning approximately 23 years.
• The Prophet was 40 years old when the Qur'an
  began to be revealed to him, and he was 63 when
  the revelation was completed.
• The language of the original message was Arabic

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Basic Beliefs of the Qur'an

• The Noble Qur'an (Continued)
• The Qur'an is one leg of two which form the basis
  of Islam.
• The second leg is the Sunnah of the Prophet.
• What makes the Qur'an different from the Sunnah
  is primarily its form.
• Unlike the Sunnah, the Qur'an is quite literally
  the Word of Allah, whereas the Sunnah was
  inspired by Allah but the wording and actions are
  the Prophet's.
• The Qur'an has not been expressed using any
  human's words. Its wording is letter for letter
  fixed by no one but Allah.

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Basic Beliefs of the Qur'an

• The Noble Qur'an (Continued)
• Prophet Muhammad was the final Messenger,
  therefore the Qur'an is the last Message which
  Allah has sent to us.
• It is an obligation - and blessing - for all who
  hear of the Qur'an to investigate it and evaluate
  it for themselves.
• Allah has guaranteed that He will protect the
  Qur'an from human tampering, and today's readers
  can find exact copies of it all over the world.
• The Qur'an of today is the same as the Qur'an
  revealed to Muhammad more than 1400 years ago.
• There are 114 Chapters in the Qur'an

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Sunnah The Tradition of the Prophet

• About Prophet Muhammad
• Muhammad ibnu Abdullah was born in Mecca in the
  year 569 CE. He was known by his people as
  al-amin (The Trustworthy one).
• At the age of 40, the angel Gabriel came to him
  with revelations that established his prophet
  hood.
• He is the last Prophet of Allah.
• In the year 632, the year of his death, the
  Prophet delivered his famous last sermon.

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Sunnah The Tradition of the Prophet

• Sunnah and Hadith
• And whatever the Messenger gives you, take it,
  and whatever he
• forbids you, leave it. Qur'an 597
• The Arabic word sunnah denotes the way Prophet
  Muhammad lived his life.
• The Sunnah is the second source of Islamic
  jurisprudence, the first being the Qur'an.
• Both sources are indispensable one cannot
  practice Islam without consulting both of them.
• The Arabic word hadith is very similar to Sunnah,
  but not identical.
• In the 7th and 8th centuries, Islamic scholars
  confronted with a daunting task to preserve the
  knowledge of the Sunnah.
• Hence the science of hadith evaluation was born.

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Islamic Law The Shariah

• Islamic Law The Shariah
• It refers to the laws and way of life prescribed
  by Allah for man.
• It deals with
• the ideology and faith
• Behavior and manners
• All practical daily matters

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Islamic Law The Shariah

• The Shariah Rights and Obligation
• The Rights of God
• The Rights of Ones Own Self
• The Rights of Other Men
• The Rights of All Creatures

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Islamic Law The Shariah

• Sources of Islamic Law
• Primary Sources
• The Quran
• The Sunnah
• Secondary Sources (Dependent Sources)
• Ijma (Consensus)
• Qiyas (Analogy)
• Ijtihad (progressive reasoning by analogy)

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Islamic Law The Shariah

• Figh
• The legal rulings of the Muslim scholars based on
  their knowledge of the Shariah.
• Started in the Second century after Hijrah
• Four schools of thought
• Figh Hanafi
• Figh Maliki
• Figh Shafii
• Figh Hanbali

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Islamic Law The Shariah

• Rulings of the Shariah
• Prescribed (Obligatory, Required, Mandatory)
• Recommended (Desirable, Preferable)
• Permissible / Allowed
• Disliked (Offensive, Detested)
• Unlawful / Prohibited

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Islamic Law The Shariah

• The conditions which are required for a scholar
  to master Islamic jurisprudence and enable him /
  her to issue a judicial ruling (fatwa).
• It is not permissible for anyone to give a
  judicial ruling in the religion of Allah except
• A man who is knowledgeable in the Book of Allah,
  its abrogate and abrogated verses, its decisive
  and allegorical, its interpretation, the
  revelation of verses in Mecca and Madinah.
  Moreover, he has to have the knowledge of its
  absolute, unrestricted, and restricted verses,
  and the reason for the revelation, its general
  and detailed verses and various aspects of its
  Quranic recitation.

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Islamic Law The Shariah

• Conditions Continued
• He has to be very well acquainted with the
  tradition of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that
  he has committed it to memory, and he is
  knowledgeable with the abrogation in it, the
  authentic, the weak, and the good hadith. He has
  to be knowledgeable with the science of character
  of the narrators and the authentic chain of
  authority on narration
• In addition, he has to be knowledgeable in the
  Arabic language and its science of rhetoric,
  styles of meaning, and metaphors.

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Islamic Law The Shariah

• Conditions Continued
• He has to have depth of understanding of poetry
  and what he needs of it to interpret the Quran
  and the tradition (Sunnah).
• He further has to be well acquainted with the
  study of the current reality of society as well
  as the diversity of people of various cities and
  lands.
• When the scholars meet the above conditions, he /
  she will be qualified for derivations and
  deduction of judicial rulings (Issuing Fatwa).

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Islam vs. Culture

• Both genders are entitled to equality before the
  law. Justice is genderless
• There is sufficient historical evidence of
  participation by Muslim women in the choice of
  rulers, in public issues, in lawmaking, in
  administrative positions, in scholarship and
  teaching, and even in the battlefield

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Islam vs. Culture

• Anyone wishing to understand Islam must first
  separate the religion from the cultural norms and
  styles of a society
• The Quran is addressed to ALL, and for the most
  part, it does not differentiate between male and
  female
• Men and Women were created from a single soul,
  and are equals in the sight of God
• Women have the right to divorce, to inherit, to
  conduct business and to have access to knowledge

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Islam vs. Culture

• The search for knowledge is a duty for every
  Muslim male or female
• The Quran states categorically that men and women
  who practice the principals of Islam will receive
  equal rewards for their efforts
• According to Quran, men and women have the same
  spiritual human nature
• Both genders are recipients of the divine
  breath
• Both genders are dignified and are trustees of
  Allah on earth
• According to the Quran, woman is not blamed for
  the fall of man

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Islam vs. Culture

• Men and Women have the same religious and moral
  duties and responsibilities. They both face the
  consequences of their deeds
• The Quran makes it very clear that the sole basis
  for superiority of any person over another is
  piety and righteousness not gender, color, or
  nationality.
• The Islamic Shariah recognizes the full property
  rights of women before and after marriage
• Greater financial security is assured for women

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Islam vs. Culture

• Polygamy
• One common myth is to associate polygamy with
  Islam
• Islam did not originate nor outlaw polygamy but
  regulated it
• Options to reject marriage proposals or seek
  divorce is allowable

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Women In Islam- Myths

• Hijab imprisoned under burgas
• Rights none
• Education not allowed to go to school
• Marriage against their will

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Women In Islam -Hijab (body coverings)

• Muslim women do not travel in societies
  dressed-but-naked
• Women do not wear hijab because of coercion,
  custom, nor tradition
• Hijab is worn on belief that it is a command from
  Allah (swt) revealed to protect women, make their
  character distinct and keep them away from
  immorality
• Hijab is worn willingly and with conviction

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Women In Islam - Daughters

• The Quran effectively ended the cruel pre Islamic
  practice of female infanticide
• Parents are duty bound to support and show
  kindness and justice to their daughters
• Education is not only a right but also a
  responsibility upon all females and males

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Women In Islam - Wives

• Marriage in Islam is based on mutual acceptance,
  peace, love, and compassion.
• Women have the right to accept or reject marriage
  proposals
• The Quran, very clearly, urges husbands to always
  be kind and considerate to their wives
• Marriage dissolutions include mutual agreement

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Women In Islam - Mothers

• Kindness to parents (especially mothers) is next
  to worship of Allah
• Mothers are accorded a special place of honor in
  the sayings of the prophet

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Women In Islam

• During the life of the Prophet, many women were
  looked upon as vital custodians of knowledge and
  were consistently approached for guidance and
  instructions, by men and others
• Aishah, is one of the most important women, above
  some men in Islam and within the whole history of
  the Hadith i.e., Sunnah
• Women held important positions, in Islam and many
  men scholars were their students