The Spectrum Of Islam PDF
Document Details
Uploaded by ASApricot
University of Waterloo
Tags
Summary
The document discusses Islamic thought, the history of Islam, and other related topics. It presents various dimensions of Islam and Islamic movements from a scholarly perspective. Key concepts such as unity, egalitarianism, and the scholar's role in Islam are covered in the text.
Full Transcript
# Less is More ## The Spectrum of Islam - Unity is an important element. - Source: The Quran, the Prophet, the "Abode" of Islam (Dar al-Islam) - Challenges: Political disunity and instability; Competing forms of nationalism; Sectarianism; Traditionalism/Modernism - Dar al-Islam: Abode of...
# Less is More ## The Spectrum of Islam - Unity is an important element. - Source: The Quran, the Prophet, the "Abode" of Islam (Dar al-Islam) - Challenges: Political disunity and instability; Competing forms of nationalism; Sectarianism; Traditionalism/Modernism - Dar al-Islam: Abode of Islam, free practice of Islam - Dar al-Harb: Dominated Islam, any place Islam can't be practiced. - Dar al-Sulh: Domination of conciliation, peace between Muslims and non-Muslims. - Islamic Egalitarianism: No ethnic group is superior to any other ethnicity. - A person's worth is based on one's proximity to God (virtuousness and piety) - Islam is the dimension of the scholar. - Faqih - Law - Jurisprudence - Scholar of Law - Tradition of Gabriel: Islam - Iman (direct experience with God?) - Five Pillars - Jurisprudence - Orthodoxy - Orthopraxy - Mysticism - Ethics - Spiritual Excellence - Kalam - Theology (Mutakallimün) - Faith - Mu'min - Faith is never fully secured - Munafiqün - Hypocrites - Mu'min - Real Believers - Pax Islamica - Madhhab - School (operationalize ones obedience in Islam) - Occultation - (Ghayba - Arabic) Hidden - Fasiq - Sinning Muslim (doesn't deny Islam, just bad at it [Not judging Faith]) - Raja - Postpone (God's decision) ## Scholastic - Someone trying to balance Faith with Reason ## Theological Spectrum in Islamic Thought - **Ahl al-Hadith** - People of tradition. - Traditionalist - Scriptural Superiority - **Mu'tazilism** - Those who leave (for success). - Rationalist - Intellectual Superiority - **Ash'arism** - (The Compromise) - Majority/Main Sunni Belief now. - Defending Ahl al-Hadith with Mu'tazilism. - Agree to disagree. - **History** - **Battle of the Pyramids:** - Napoleon invading Egypt, stepping stone to invade England. - Saw himself as a messiah to advancing civilization, not religion. - Al-Jabarti wrote a journal of the French occupation. - Prophet's Birthday celebration was going to be canceled, but Napoleon encouraged them to do it. - Taught them voting including the Quran. - Sow Institute of Egypt - French Scholars studying everything. - **Memesis** - **Hallāj** - **Hamman** - Bath house ## What is Sufism? - **Takfir** - Means Tasting. - **Zawg:** Seeing a ladder and associating it with Heaven. - **Prophet Muhammad (SAW) considered to be the first Sufi** (this is a stretch). - **Sufi** - Comes from word tasawwuf (means to cleanse) - Cleanse of the heart. - Suf = Wool in Arabic; see someone wearing wool, is a Sufi. - **Entropy** - **Hagf** - Islam world governed themselves through acts of the people. - **Suluk** - **Magam ** -**Fana and Baga** - **Yaqin** - To get there, do this. - **Nizam al-Mulk** - Organizer of state. - **Seljuk** - **Malik-Shah ** - **Fatimids** - **Nasir e Khusraw** - **Al-Ghazali** - **Dawa** - Call to religion. ## What is Islamism? - **Islamist** is someone who believes there is a political system inherent in it. - **Boon Companion** - A good friend to cut loose (none must be generals, doctors, astrologers). - Generals - Don't let loose in front of subordinates; they'll see weakness. - Doctors - Nag about health. - Astrologers - Talk about future (downer) "Stars aren't aligning". - **Political Theory** - Huge gap between Islamic ideals and political practice. - **4 Types of Islamic Revivalist Movements** - **Traditional** - Going back to a point before Europeans came; willing to wait. - **Messianic** - Await of the messiah - passive. - **Modernist** - **Fundamentalist** - Want action now. - **2 Primary Concepts:** - **Tajdid** - Revival - **Islah** - Reform - **Islamist:** Not all Muslims are Islamist, but all Islamists are Muslim. - **Salaf al-Salih** - The time of the pious predecessors/period of the pious. - **Sunnism:** Theology - Philosophy - **Shi'ism:** Philosophy - Theology - **Mu'tazilites fell out of favor; they turned to Shi'ism** - **Neo-revivalist era - No more Islamic government.** ## Exam Prep ### Terms: - **"Worth"** is based on their proximity to God and any other. - **Islamic Egalitarianism:** The teaching that no ethnic group is superior to another person's worth. - **Islamophobia:** Hostility, prejudice, fear towards Islam and Muslims. - **Mustafa Kemal Atatürk:** Founder of the Republic of Turkey, designed to embrace/modernism. - **Triadic Model of Religious Modes:** Scriptural, Rational, Mystical. - **Edward Said:** Palestinian Scholar studying Orientalism as a cultural and powerful political tool. - **Mu'tazilism:** "Rationalist (Intellectual Superiority)" TSIT. - Orthodoxy - Orthoprax - Mysticism - **Tradition of Gabriel:** Islam, Iman, Ihsan. - **Al-Ghazālī (d. 1111):** Influential philosopher, theologian, attempted to reconcile sciences/sciences of tasawwuf with more exoteric. - **Ash 'arism:** "The Compromise" Theological Spectrum in Islamic Thought. - Ahl al-Hadith: "Traditionalist (Scriptural Superiority)" TSIT. - **1.** Medina is the norm. - **2.** Removal of innovations. - **3.** Critique of current religious understanding. - **Tajdid (Revival):** Concept of Modernist and fundamentalist. - **Orientalism:** Used to describe the way Western people portray/represent people of the Middle East in a way reflecting colonialist attitude. - **Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya:** Early Sufi, woman, taught about love. - **Magām:** Waystation. - **Nasihat-nāme:** Persian Text meaning Joy or Delight. - **Jamal al-Din al-Afghani:** Afghani (Iranian) writer & activist, criticized perceived Western superiority among Muslims and laws into governance. - **Islamism:** Political ideology that seeks to implement Islamic principles in public life. - **Yaqin:** Certainty. - **Sulük:** Path. - Be cultures (civilizations) not ideologies. That will be the primary source of conflict (Samuel Huntington). - **A Clash of Civilizations?:** Thesis posits that in a post-Cold War world, it will. - **Rūmi:** Theologian and Sufi mystic. - **Sufism (Tasawwuf):** Cleansing of the heart.
