Islam - An Introduction PDF

List of Maps and Figures Maps 1. The Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad’s appearance as a prophet 32 2. The early expansion of Islam...

List of Maps and Figures Maps 1. The Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad’s appearance as a prophet 32 2. The early expansion of Islam 52 3. The major Shi‘i communities of the world 169 Figures 1. The tomb of the granddaughter of Muhammad, Sayyida Zaynab, Damascus, Syria. (Source: Umbertod [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) 11 2. Pilgrims gathered around the Kaaba. (Source: Aiman Titi [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) 34 3. Buraq, the animal on which Muhammad was transported to the heavens. (Source: Brooklyn Museum [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) 46 4. A nineteenth-century qibla compass with an image of the Kaaba and the names of cities in the Muslim world, from Tunis to Samarkand. (Courtesy of the David Collection, Copenhagen, photo: Pernille Klemp) 53 5. The Qur’an as a sacred object. (Getty Images) 61 6. A woman signing a marriage contract (nikah). (Getty Images) 96 7. A prayer rug (sajjada). (Source: Walters Art Museum [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) 145 Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 00_Islam_An_Introduction_Prelims.3d Page 7 of 8 viii Islam: An Introduction 8. The basic spatial structure of a mosque. (Author) 147 9. A sixteenth-century ceramic tile from Iznik indicating the direction of prayer. (Courtesy of the David Collection, Copenhagen, photo: Pernille Klemp) 148 10. Members of a Sufi order in Pakistan in ritual garb. (Getty Images) 155 11. The turning ceremony (sema) practised by the Mevlevi order. (Source: Tomas Maltby [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) 161 12. A young man in Baghdad holding a poster of Ali, martyr, mystic and knight. (Getty Images) 171 13. Turbah, a clay tablet that connects the Shi‘i fellowship over time and space. (Courtesy of the David Collection, Copenhagen, photo: Pernille Klemp) 180 14. Muslim women in Oxford Street, London. (Source: Alfredo Borba [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) 200 15. A Halal counter in a modern supermarket. (Getty Images) 210 Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 00_Islam_An_Introduction_Prelims.3d Page 8 of 8  Chapter I The Muslim World: Past and Present This introduction to Islam is mainly intended to be a guide to the study of contemporary Muslim life in its many (and sometimes contradictory) forms, although the relevant historical background will be provided when necessary. Diversity and transformation will therefore be recurring themes throughout the volume, and several diverging answers to the question ‘What is Islam?’ will be presented. Examples from canonical literature such as the Qur’an and the narratives referring to the time of Muhammad (sing. hadith) will be quoted to give a sense of the character of the Islamic scriptures and to indicate how many possible interpretations the individual texts open up. Today, there are approximately 1.5 billion Muslims across the world. Nevertheless, the conventional stereotype of a Muslim is an Arab, despite the fact that only 20 per cent of the world’s Muslims live in the Arabic-speaking parts of the Middle East and North Africa. This fact should also be a reminder that all parts of the Middle East are not Arabic-speaking; Iran and Turkey, with Muslim majority populations, represent other cultural traditions and historical developments in the region. Of the 1.5 billion Muslims is it impossible to know how many practise Islam, to how many Islam is an issue of ethnic identity or family and community belonging, rather than personal faith, or how many regard themselves as secularized with a Muslim cultural background with or without personal piety. The problems of producing statistics on religious belonging are many. The methodol- ogy cuts through the private and the public spaces an individual dwells in, and does not grasp the identity shifts of individuals in various contexts or over time in different phases of life. Only 20 per cent of the world’s Muslims live in one of the 30 countries where Islam is the denomination of the majority, which means that encounters with non-Muslims are part of everyday life (and not necessarily without Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 1 of 28 2 Islam: An Introduction conflict) for the vast majority and not a particularity exclusive to Muslims in Europe. The Muslim world is therefore hard to define, and has been so for a long time. 1.5 billion Muslims in the world There are significant differences between countries where Muslims constitute a dominant portion of the population (in some countries in the Middle East and North Africa over 95 per cent) and countries that have the largest numbers of Muslims but are nevertheless multi- religious (such as Indonesia, India and Nigeria) in terms of how local life is lived. The four countries with the largest Muslim populations in the world (all of them outside the Middle East) are:. Indonesia: 210 million. India: 170 million (12–15 per cent of the population). Pakistan: 160 million. Bangladesh: 130 million followed by. Egypt 82 million. Turkey 74 million. Iran 74 million. Nigeria 40 million (50 per cent of the population). These figures are drawn from Pew Forum’s Mapping the Global Muslim Population, 2009. The institute is known to give conservative figures rather than over-estimations. Larger numbers for the statistics of the world’s Muslim population are therefore to be found in other sources.1 In various ways, the countries all represent cultural and religious amalgamations that have taken place over the centuries. Furthermore, they have extensive diaspora populations all over the world with transnational links at all levels of societal life, which adds to the picture of a majority of Muslims in regular contact with people of other faiths or living in countries with anti-religious traditions. Muslims in China are estimated to constitute 1.6 per cent of the population, which means 22 million people; and Muslims in countries of the former Soviet Union number approximately 76 million, 16 million of them living in Russia today. Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 2 of 28  The Muslim World 3 Both ‘the Muslim world’ and ‘the West’ are highly ideological concepts – disputed not only in the wake of the Orientalism debate, but also from the perspective of contemporary identity politics and diaspora culture. They are not the names of any distinct geographical places. Instead, the two terms carry an implicit dichotomy between ‘Christian’ and ‘Muslim’ and ignore the fact that many Muslims throughout history, as well as today, live in close contact with people of other denominations; neither do ‘Muslims’ constitute a homo- geneous category, considering how theology and rituals have developed over time – not to mention differences of gender, generation and social status within communities. Not only are the diaspora groups in countries with traditionally few Muslims increasing in numbers, but new living conditions are also having a steadily growing global impact, bringing about all kinds of identity alternatives and producing cultural blends that may, or may not, be regarded as a provocative alteration of Islam’s original message. These milieus are the breeding ground for pronounced reactions against traditionalism as well as for the construction of identities that integrate the local and the global, while retaining a link to Muslim history and the canonical texts. Although references to diaspora will be made frequently in this book, there are good reasons to question the underlining of diaspora when analysing Muslims in Europe and North America. There is segregation, prejudice and conflict, but there are also many examples of well integrated everyday religious life; perhaps most importantly, the Muslim presence in these regions now has a long-term history covering several generations and the members of the communities are in many cases not looking back to any homeland, but are citizens in their own right, no longer meriting a ‘diaspora’ label. The mosque is traditionally a prime location for Muslim community life as the local site for canonical worship. It has by tradition also been an important locus for the execution of local religious authority (in most cases performed by the imam) and it has long served as a meeting place for its regular visitors and constituted a nexus for local (male) networks. The question is whether the mosque and its premises will remain the most important place of Muslim community and, if so, on what conditions. The mosque is still an important site for Muslim religious practice – for prayer, education, social networking and political mobilization – in what is con- ventionally recognized as the Muslim world as well as in the Muslim Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 3 of 28 4 Islam: An Introduction Diaspora The term diaspora refers to the dispersion or migration of a specific group and was originally used to describe the Jewish exile. The term further implies not only a geographical spread, but also a notion of homeland and/or a shared origin that keeps the dispersed from being absorbed in other environments. Fellowship in a diaspora group can be based on the recognition of a common denominator, an identity, which is founded on a conception of a shared geographical origin, a spatial belonging. When it comes to the relationship between identity and belonging, Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities (1983) was influential in its discussion of how fellowships are based on narratives that construct collective memory. The book’s focus on nationalism could easily be applied to religious narratives too. diaspora. But the mosque has started to lose some of its local dominance in many Muslim contexts, especially since there are so many new forums in which take part in teaching, debates and socio- religious activities. The absence of women in traditional mosques must also be noted as something that is changing – in some places rapidly. This does not mean that the spatial separation between men and women is being eroded, but that alternative interpretive spaces are emerging. Today, Islam is practised, discussed and interpreted by agents and in settings that do not fit with the conventional image of ‘Muslims’. Orientalism After the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism in 1978, a long critical debate took place about what power structures academic writing reproduce in their representations of Islam and Muslims and how many images of Middle Eastern and Asian cultures were rooted in European colonialism. Following Foucault, Said’s work paved the way for a greater emphasis in Islamic studies on local expressions and individual voices that articulate contradictions rather than confirming the image of ‘Islam’. The ideological side of Said’s study soon became part not only of academic analyses but also of political discourse and merged with post-colonial perspectives and cultural studies. Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 4 of 28  The Muslim World 5 Orientalism is nowadays mostly a pejorative term pointing at the uses of stereotypes and dichotomies in the production of knowledge – often formulated from a post-colonial perspective or a self- reflective criticism of Eurocentrism in analytical concepts. The contrasting term occidentalism, ‘the Eastern’ view of ‘the West’, is not so much the label of a counter discourse to orientalism but has rather come to connote ‘anti-Westernism’ in a broad, but not necessarily academic, sense. Robert Irwin’s For the Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and Their Enemies (2006), like many other criticisms of Said, pointed to his lack of understanding of the academic contributions made over the centuries despite colonial power relations between Western scholar- ship and its objects of investigation. As pointed out by Said, and others before him, Islam cannot be referred to as an idealized, homogeneous system,2 a standpoint that has far-reaching consequences for the study of religion in general and certainly not only religions from the Orient. Leif Manger in Muslim Diversity (1999) stresses that differences and what appear to be inconsistencies can be useful tools for identifying variation in terms of historical and regional background and social and ecological structures. Local and regional traditions (ada) are determinants for ethics, rituals and social practice. The world in which Islam emerged Islam grew out of a specific context on the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century, which had various distant cultural influences, and the presence of Jewish and Christian communities is apparent in the canonical texts. Even though most Christians and Jews left after World War II, the Middle East has for a very long time been multi-religious. The current situation in Iraq and Syria, and the encounter with the refugees from the area have made the general public in the receiving countries aware of the long history of many different Christian churches in the Middle East. Muslims in other regions have for centuries lived close to communities of other faiths. The devotional traditions of Muslims in Southeast Asia and on the Indian subcontinent are clearly a consequence of long-term interaction with Hindu communities. Sharing pilgrim sites and visiting saints’ graves are not uncommon practices in this region – though attacked Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 5 of 28 6 Islam: An Introduction The Muslim majority and the status of the Arabic language Arabic has a special status among Muslims as a sacred language. The Qur’an refers to itself as a book in Arabic and the language of the daily prayers is Arabic. The beginning of the 12th section or chapter (sura) states: Those are the signs of the Manifest Book. We have sent it down as an Arabic Koran; haply you will understand. Even if only 20 per cent of the Muslims of the world are Arabs, the ideals of proper behaviour and a just society are based on the narratives of the early Muslim communities on the Arabian Peninsula during the time of Muhammad and the four generations after him. Basic Islamic education in local Qur’an schools provides proficiency in reciting a few suras, some of them embedded in canonical and local prayer genres. This training does not necessarily provide discursive access to the holy text. Reciting the Qur’an in Arabic can be as much a mode of prayer as it is a way of extracting religious knowledge from the text. by radical elements – as was the case in the Balkans before the war in the 1990s, after which such encounters became impossible. Early Muslim concepts make a distinction between Muslim and other domains. The term for the non-Muslim world ‘the house of war’ (dar al- harb) was formulated in relation to the territorial expansion of early Islam but later received a wider meaning, indicating cultural struggle and contrasted to ‘the house of Islam’ (dar al-islam). A decisive factor in Muslim/non-Muslim contacts throughout history is the un-centralized way in which Muslim communities are organized. There is no central authority with jurisdiction on legal or theological matters. It is obvious throughout history how empires and states (or dominating clans, for that matter) have tried by various means to organize, and thereby control, religion in public life. It was crucial from the early days of Islam to establish clear definitions to indicate who is a member of the Muslim community (umma) and to state what the believer is expected to submit to its moral codex and ritual practices. Who should be defined as a sectarian or heretic and on what terms has been controversial, and the various positions indicate diverging self-definitions. Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 6 of 28  The Muslim World 7 The traditional theological concept for a tolerated non-Muslim person is a dhimmi, meaning ‘protected’, and hence the expression ‘the protected peoples’ (ahl al-dhimma). The differentiation between monotheists with a holy scripture and followers of other religions has had an enormous historical impact on how Muslim rulers have related to their non-Muslim subjects. Being a tolerated monotheist implied a juridical status that made some non-Muslim communities pay a special tax (jizya), but it also rendered a certain civil autonomy. This categorization carries a distinction between Muslims – the followers of the completed religion Islam – and the tolerated religions whose followers are monotheists and accept a revealed book, and the broad category of unacceptable groups of pagans, polytheists, unbelievers and heretics; in short, followers of what is not included in the genealogy of true revelation. The Qur’an claims: But had the People of the Book believed and been godfearing, We would have acquitted them of their evil deeds, and admitted them to Gardens of Bliss. Had they performed the Torah and the Gospel, and what was sent down to them from their Lord, they would have eaten both what was above them, and what was beneath their feet. Some of them are a just nation; but many of them – evil are the things they do.3 (5:65–66) The People of the Book (ahl al-kitab) are identified in history through a line of earlier prophets (al-anbiya), of whom 28 are mentioned in the Qur’an. The third sura says: ‘People of the Book! Why do you disbelieve in God’s signs, which you yourselves witness?’ (3:70). The People of the Book constitute a category separated from local and distant pagans. On the one hand, these are clearly non-Muslims; on the other, is there a similar shared genealogy indicated by the definition of the People of the Book as monotheists with a canonical script; that is, Jews, Christians and, to some extent, Zoroastrians. The Qur’an refers to itself as ‘the Book’ or ‘the Script’. By tradition, the People of the Book have been granted limited freedom of religion and autonomy, as long as the minorities did not challenge Islamic law. Muslim tradition has not accepted revelations more recent than Islam, which would go against the fundamental Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 7 of 28 8 Islam: An Introduction definitions. The Zoroastrians of Persia constitute a source of dispute, as they fulfil the criteria of being followers of a canonical text but their monotheism is disputable and their rituals are rejected. Hindus and Buddhists have never qualified, as they are considered polytheists. Groups considered Muslim apostates, such as Ahmadiya and Bahai, have likewise never received protection (dhimma). The millet system The Ottoman Empire developed an administrative structure for the governance of religious minorities. As early as the fall of Constantinople in 1453, non-Sunni minorities were given the status of ‘nations’, in which each nation (millet) in the meaning religious community in the empire to some extent carried out its own jurisdiction (at least in civil matters). The minorities occupied particular blocks (sing. mahalle) and therefore to a large extent led their lives in restricted urban areas, specializing in certain trades and handicrafts. The internal autonomy of the group could be consider- able, but individual autonomy was limited to what was considered customary. Membership of a religious community was therefore of greater importance to a subject of the sultan than individual citizenship. To some extent, this understanding of identity lives on in large parts of the old Ottoman Empire, where only religious (not ethnic) communities are officially recognized as minorities (in Greece, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina, for example). In Ottoman times, outward signs were demanded of the different groups (such as special clothes, colours and headgear) and restrictions were placed on the economic and civic interaction between millets. The appearance in public of non-Muslim signs such as crosses was also regulated. In many ways the millet system provides a historical mirror for the discussions of multiculturalism and power relations between majority and minorities today: similar questions, different living conditions. Umma: a mode of living in the local and the worldwide community The concept of umma has always had a double meaning, indicating the worldwide, unified fellowship of Muslims as well as the immediate Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 8 of 28  The Muslim World 9 local congregation. The idea in both understandings of the term mirrors the image of the community established by Muhammad as the moral norm. In the contemporary world, umma has acquired a broader meaning of Muslim diversity, visible in everyday encounters as a consequence of national and international migration. Migration and media reporting have made variations between Muslim groups more visible, a fact Islamic leaders must relate to irrespective of whether appreciating or rejecting these cultural differences. Since the early expansion of Islam, umma has been an inclusive worldwide concept. Umma tends to have another global meaning nowadays, offering other modes of being Muslim than the customs of the local community. In many respects – politically, socially, artistically, to mention but a few areas besides the obvious communicative and economic as well as lifestyles – the impact of globalization has been a parallel process of smoothing out differences as well as strengthening local identity. A virtual umma Social media not only offers websites and debate forums of various Muslim groups and organizations, it also provides new modes of piety. The combination of text, imagery and sound is an effective tool for communication. Also in alternative worlds, congregations are formed and prayers performed. Virtual daily prayers are offered on the web as a way of building community irrespective of distance and redefines the umma when the internet is not only a tool for education, mission or debate. Today, the traditional umma is contested, or at least facing competition. Modern living conditions, new lifestyles and changing authority structures, as new groups have access to religious knowledge, have an effect on young people and gender relations. These could be argued to be processes that have had a worldwide impact since the second half of the nineteenth century, and are now spreading globally with increasing speed. Their impact on Muslim social practices and Islamic theology is considerable and lessens the importance of regional and ethnic diversity in favour of difference in terms of social and virtual networks, education and political orientation. Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 9 of 28 10 Islam: An Introduction Traditionally, local and regional leadership has been conducted by the imams, in most cases sharing a background with the community, fulfilling the expectations of the role and following the given paths of authority. On the one hand, these changes have a tendency to make the imam a more pronounced community leader with more formalized ties to his community (the congregation, often community-based) and a particular place (the local mosque). One the other hand, the position of the local imam is being challenged by new professional groups. World migration and transnational lives is not only an issue of the contemporary Muslim diaspora in Europe. The Islamic world has always been characterized by mobility and long-distance commu- nication between groups, though the impact on large groups of Muslims of increasing world migration over the last three or four decades cannot be overestimated. Some of the larger communities of refugees with Muslim backgrounds are to be found in Pakistan, Iran, Sudan and Jordan as a consequence of the long conflicts in the Afghanistan-Pakistan, Palestine and Sudan-Somalia regions. The conflicts in these areas have been the breeding ground of violent radicalism, with a worldwide impact, and the conflicts have been iconic in arguments relating to other debates and disputes. Along with urbanization, which has caused major changes in demography, new lifestyles and labour patterns have been decisive factors in the construction of alternative Muslim identities. Mobility is a key concept in this context, as it indicates both mobilization within movements and that of humans and ideas over national and other borders. Transnational individual lives are in many cases lived between several places called home, and family and community might well be connected to yet other sites that are of importance to identity and belonging. A Lebanese Shi‘i family in London might have links through travel and social media to certain blocks in Beirut that they recognize as home, but also to sites of worship in Syria, Iraq and Iran that confirm their religious affiliation. A special condition for life in diaspora is that these places are often difficult or impossible to visit (for political or economic reasons). Nevertheless, emotional links are maintained through narratives, rituals and artwork – and by political discourse. At the mausoleum of Sayyida Zaynab, (see Figure 1 next page) the granddaughter of Muhammad, just south of Damascus, thousands of pilgrims gather each day to pray and touch the latticework in front of Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 10 of 28  The Muslim World 11 Fig. 1 The tomb of the granddaughter of Muhammad, Sayyida Zaynab, Damascus, Syria. (Source: Umbertod [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) her coffin. They come here to perform the ceremonies that provide a tactile link with the Muslim genealogy and transmit a blessing to the visitor. Groups of pilgrims listen to recitations of the tragic legend of the descendants of the prophet. The mausoleum is heavily decorated; imagery, sounds and architecture create an intense atmosphere and strong emotions connect past and present, places of devotion and families scattered as a consequence of regional and international politics during the last decades. The establishment of new Muslim spaces under novel conditions, and the links to what is conceived as the ‘homeland’ (sometimes even by the third generation of migrants), should not only be interpreted in negative terms – in terms of loss – although this can be a fundamental sentiment in individual lives. Transnational living conditions can very well constitute openness to creative spaces of hybridity – not always appreciated by the older generation – and have influences in both directions. The French Sufi rapper Abd al Malik uses contemporary performance forms to depict alienation in the banlieues as well Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 11 of 28 12 Islam: An Introduction as classical Sufi thinking about love and the ultimate unity of everything. Everything is mixed-up confusion between the important and the futile Everything has a meaning to be understood; it is a question of opening its heart Do not surrender to horror, get back on your feet after making a mistake When I am scared of not being at my best I hear A voice telling me I am loved and the lover Love my only vestment like the robe of the Prophet. (Malik, 2009: 154) This text voices flux and confusion, but also refers to the protection afforded by the mantle of Muhammad, an old and much loved metaphor for the protecting qualities of belief and divine support in the life of the individual. Hybridity Hybridity has been a term frequently used in cultural studies to analyse the domains where cultural and religious expressive forms mix and merge. The observed cultural fusions are often controversial, as religious communities (and certainly not only Muslim ones) define themselves as the keepers of heritage and tradition. The generational conflicts are apparent in terms of both form and content. In Muslim hip hop the pious intentions of the singers cannot be denied. Nevertheless, the songs have stirred controversy, as has the film The Taqwacores (2010), which depicts a fictitious Muslim punk collective in Buffalo, NY. This artistic expression is regarded by some as ill-willed blasphemy, but by others as an honest attempt to represent the many faces of Muslim life in North America. The local umma in diaspora, often with an emphasis on ethnic belonging, appears to be important to newly arrived and first- generation Muslims (work migrants, war refugees and other victims of forced migration), as is the case in all migrant environments. At this point, the ethnic and religious aspects of the life of the local umma are inseparable, as local communities offer a much-needed network and maintain what their members conceive as tradition while many factors Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 12 of 28  The Muslim World 13 push for the establishment of new identities in new environments. Attempts to balance the conflict between the two can cause discord for both individuals and communities. Furthermore, a local community offers children and youths access to tradition and a Muslim identity that is not always welcomed; neither the ethnic nor the religious identity is always attractive to the second generation. Muslim congregations across ethnicities sometimes compete by means of the theological orientation of a mosque and/or its social activities, and the new local vernacular becomes the shared idiom in conversations and sermons. The encounters in new congregational constellations open up to knowledge about other Muslim ways of living, in areas where Muslims constitute the majority as well as in the diaspora. They also open up new spaces of authority and processes of establishing legitimacy to interpret tradition and the scriptures. The concepts of religion as expressed in beliefs, practices and ideals There is a general tendency in the study of religion to limit the theological processes of change to the world of learning. In the Muslim world, this means to imams and scholars, who have traditionally had socially established authority to provide interpreta- tions, judgement and advice. In the wake of globalization and the eruption of new media, religious institutions worldwide are witnessing an apparent shift in authority, which is often beyond the reach of local leadership. This shift has been criticized by more conservative forces, but the changes have already taken place. Emphasizing the new Muslim voices is important, but it can also hinder the view of the alternatives to local hierarchies that have been posited throughout Islamic history. Eleanor Doumato’s study Getting God’s Ear (2000) provides a long-term analysis of women’s religious knowledge in an environment dominated by Sunni orthodoxy, where women had (and still have) limited access to Islamic learning. Drawing on written accounts produced by Christian missionaries in the Gulf region (in both Sunni and Shi‘i communities) and travellers’ accounts about women in charge of the holy words and with full legitimacy to take leading positions from the late nineteenth century onward, Doumato is able to discuss alternative ritual practices. These archive documents shed new light on how Sunni and Shi‘i Muslims have lived Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 13 of 28 14 Islam: An Introduction together in everyday encounters characterized by both conflict and cooperation. Perhaps the most important conclusion to be drawn from Doumato’s study is that ritual space is not only a question of gender, as is often assumed in the case of Islam; it is also to a large extent an issue of the choice of ritual forms and textual genres. Women’s engagement in mourning ceremonies, prayers at gravesites, celebrations of the prophet’s birthday or healing rituals by means of reciting the Qur’an indicates that alternative spaces such as shrines, burial grounds and private premises are neglected in overviews of where religion takes place. Religion has always been given interpretations at the local level by individuals who are not in general regarded as authorities, interpreta- tions which in many ways contradict conventional theological views of religion (views often reproduced in academic writing without any further reflection on whose image of Islam is being reflected). No doubt, processes like globalization, world migration, transnational lifestyles and the development of social media have had an impact on groups that have not been particularly visible when it comes to theological interpreta- tion. Among them are women, but also young people and in general those with no formal religious education, who nowadays by means of other professional skills come to grasp the canonical texts from their own points of departure and introduce other spiritual experiences. New people accessing the canonical texts mean that conventional categories in the study of Islamic theology need complementary tools, from comparative literature, art and semiotics. These challenges to the old interpretative domains are certainly not something unique to the Muslim world; they can be observed in all world religions today. The early history of Islam will be presented in Chapter 2, with a special emphasis on how the new teaching defined itself in relation to Judaism and Christianity. This is, however, not only an interesting historical fact with an impact on the theological development of the Muslim tradition; it is also highly visible in the canonical literature, where an understanding of what ‘Muslim’ indicated was formed in relation to the competing religious identities. Islam’s particular features were to be visible in social life, in order to make a difference in a multicultural environment; fasting during Ramadan, the mosque as a communal prayer hall for the (male) community and rules for moral conduct (sharia) were established during Islam’s formative period. These public practices manifested the presence of the new Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 14 of 28  The Muslim World 15 religion. The hadiths provided images of collective identity for the early community. The following example from one of the collections draws a scene where coherent ritual behaviour is emphasized. Once Allah’s Apostle fell off a horse and his leg or shoulder got injured. He swore that he would not go to his wives for one month and he stayed in a Mashruba (attic room) having stairs made of date palm trunks. So his companions came to visit him, and he led them in prayer sitting, whereas his companions were standing. When he finished the prayer, he said, ‘Imam is meant to be followed, so when he says “Allahu Akbar,” say “Allahu Akbar” and when he bows, bow and when he prostrates, prostrate and if he prays standing pray, stand.’ (Sahih Bukhari 1:8:375) The canonical texts of Islam show a great cognizance of other religions and define the only God in relation to other faiths that surrounded the early umma (see Chapter 2). The message brought by Muhammad is depicted in relation to other religions present when Islam developed as a specific community in terms of teaching, rituals and institutions. It positioned itself by means of reflection over other religions and moral stands in the early formative texts. Islam grew in an environment of trans-regional contacts and influences, introduced by trading in many directions; Islamic normative literature often defines the position of the umma through its encounters with other religious groups – a situation that is not so different from the living conditions many Muslims in the diaspora experience today. From its outset, Islam was conceptualized as a religion with universal claims, not knowing any regional or ethnic limits, and as a fulfilment of earlier messages delivered to mankind. The universality of the message goes beyond ethnic borders, embracing the followers of the final revelation and sets the limits for encounters with other denominations. Both Adam and Abraham have iconic status in Islam, the former as the father of mankind and the latter as the founder of monotheistic religion and the first believer, as the Qur’an recounts in 2:124–40 and 3:65ff. They shared the role of forebearers of the new religion. The Qur’an does not provide longer mythical narratives, but the second sura tells of Adam, with references to the Judeo-Christian myth: the fundamental split between Allah and his creation, which both Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 15 of 28 16 Islam: An Introduction theology and rituals seek to bridge in order to bring back a closeness between the Creator and his creation. And We said, ‘Adam, dwell thou, and thy wife, in the Garden, and eat thereof easefully where you desire; but draw not nigh this tree, lest you be evildoers.’ Then Satan caused them to slip therefrom and brought them out of that they were in; and We said, ‘Get you all down, each of you an enemy of each; and in the earth a sojourn shall be yours, and enjoyment for a time.’ Thereafter Adam received certain words from his Lord, and He turned towards him; truly He turns, and is All-compassionate. (2:35–37) As in the other two Abrahamic religions, the fall of Adam constitutes the beginning of the master narrative of humankind in search of salvation and its endeavour to return to the primordial order. The concept of religion is always difficult to translate between cultures. The term din, literally ‘way of life, custom or behaviour’ and conventionally translated as ‘religion’, implies a definition of Islam as primordial, unaffected by time and space. From this perspective other religions are thought to be misunderstandings or corruptions of the original religion. The canonical texts formulate requirements to be fulfilled by the believer, while institutional structures and rituals each provide their interpretation of how religion should be practised and what legitimizes certain behaviour. Islam is defined in the Qur’an as ‘the religion of God’ (3:19) and the text is at many points self- reflective over the role the Book holds in the process of transmission of the will of God, but it does not always prescribe in detail how Islam is to be lived; there is always space for interpretation. The way religions define themselves in their sacred scriptures is not always comparable to the actual organization of religious activities and claims of legitimacy. The anthropologist Talal Asad provided a conceptual view of religion in the wake of the discussions following Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978) when he wrote: ‘If religious symbols are understood, on the analogy with words, as vehicles of meaning, can such meanings be established independently from the form of life in which they are used?’, and he continued: ‘can we say much about them without considering how they come to be authorized?’ (Asad, 1993: 53). The history of Islam and Muslim life is therefore also to a large extent the story of how authority is claimed for leadership, scriptural interpretation and moral standards. The Islamic concept din Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 16 of 28  The Muslim World 17 involves a set of beliefs and ritual practices that function as the basis of a distinct community (umma). These doctrines of faith and ritual do not distinguish between private and public matters. The legal standards for this amalgamation of law and morality are referred to as sharia, which is not a written codex, but legal traditions argued from cases in the Qur’an and the hadiths in a form not so different from common law, which is based on precedent. The frequently recited ‘Throne Verse’ in the second sura (2:255) summarizes the theological basis of Islam: its absolutely monotheistic belief in the eternal and incomparable God. It offers a popular outline of Allah’s qualities and underlines at the same time how incompre- hensible he is in his greatness: God there is no god but He, the Living, the Everlasting. Slumber seizes Him not, neither sleep; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Who is there that shall intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows what lies before them and what is after them, and they comprehend not anything of His knowledge save such He wills. His Throne comprises the heavens and the earth; the preserving of them oppresses Him not; His is the All-high, the All-glorious. (2:255) The verse explicates the qualities of Allah and the linear timeline of earthly life in relation to eternity. The following is a brief outline of some of the basic concepts in the Muslim faith. All the concepts mentioned above and below have been interpreted and discussed throughout history; they have constituted the glue of communities and fellowships as well as being the source of conflicts. Al-Fatiha is the sura of the Qur’an and is regarded by many Muslims as a synthesis of the Muslim faith, pointing to its essential elements, such as the characterization of Allah (compassionate and still the judge), the relation of humans to Allah (servants in need of help) and the path that leads to Allah as well as the destiny of those who turn their backs on him. It would, however, be wrong to label it a creed, since the Christian equivalents were formally accepted at Councils of the Church and no such interregional institution to confirm dogma has ever existed among the Muslims. Authority to claim the correct Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 17 of 28 18 Islam: An Introduction Fatihat al-Kitab Fatihat al-Kitab, ‘The Opening of the Book’, is a chapter acting as the introduction to the Qur’an and spoken as a prayer. The chapter, referred to as ‘The Opening’ (al-Fatiha), is often treated as a statement of faith: In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, The Merciful, the Compassionate, Wielder of the Day of Judgement. Thee do we serve, and on Thee do we call for help; Guide us in the straight path, The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed good, interpretation of religion has been either local or connected with the state apparatus of an empire. The direction of communication here is different from the rest of the Qur’an, which represents the voice of Allah; in this opening sura it is mankind speaking to Allah. The basmala phrase ‘In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate’ (bismilllah-al-rahman-al-rahim) is not only an introduction to this sura and prayer, but also the introductory statement to all but one chapter of the Qur’an and is used as vocation when beginning recitations and during prayer meetings. The introductory sura constitutes a vital part of the five mandatory daily prayers and is repeated several times during each prayer session. Al-Fatiha, with its invocatory character, is frequently used during all kinds of prayer meetings, not only the mandatory, often indicating the opening or the closing of a section of prayers, blessing or praise. It is a prayer for the individual as well as the collective. Pronounced or inscribed on artefacts, the words are perceived to be protective. One of the hadith collections, Sahih Bukhari, relates the following: ‘Allah’s Apostle said, “Whoever does not recite al-Fatiha in his prayer, his prayer is invalid”’ (1:12:723). Al-Fatiha is therefore often claimed to be the minimum of Islamic and Arabic knowledge required of a Muslim. The essence of Islam is contained in the concept of ‘the five pillars’. These provide the common denominators of Islam and combine faith and practice in the claim of unity, but they have also served as excluding arguments, rejecting diversity. The ‘pillars’ are obligatory Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 18 of 28  The Muslim World 19 ( fard) according to sharia and go back to a saying of Muhammad that five things in religion are compulsory. The five pillars of Islam The five pillars of Islam (arkan al-islam) present the core of the Islamic faith, but with more emphasis on religious practice than al-Fatiha, quoted above. Both the pillars and the opening sura can be regarded as an indication of how Islam was profiled in relation to Judaism and Christianity, and it can also be noted that several of the demands imply social practice in one way or another that underline Muslim practice as public identity marker. The five pillars of Islam are:. Bear witness to the Muslim belief (shahada) that ‘There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his messenger’ (la ilaha illa Allah wa- Muhammad rasul Allah), a sort of creed;. Perform the five daily salat prayers and the accompanying intention and purification;. Give alms (zakat);. Fast during the month of Ramadan (sawm);. If possible, conduct a pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) once in your lifetime. These five imperatives are not made explicit by any formal act or institution, but are based on customary practice – as is sharia as a whole. The canonical literature of Islam does not include any doctrinal thesis. The Qur’an provides some distinct rules and prohibitions; the hadiths supply narratives about the judgements and choices made by the prophet and his first followers in the community. Efforts to codify the religion for pedagogical purposes are based on local tradition. Most Muslims would agree that the pillars constitute the basis of Islam, but when it comes to how to practise them, customs diverge. It should be noted that this traditional list starts with the declaration of faith and its conceptual framework, followed by the four other pillars, which are rituals and/or social practices. Islam, seen from this perspective, is a matter of practices and literally means ‘surrender to Allah’. A Muslim is, according to the Qur’an and the pillars, principally defined as a person whose belief in the origin of the Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 19 of 28 20 Islam: An Introduction world implies a certain ritual and social conduct as a community member. There is a long tradition in Muslim theology of systematizing the fundamentals of the faith (pl. aqaid) as extracted from the Qur’an and the hadiths, mostly with a pedagogical purpose. Local understandings of how to live according to these demands are consequences of living conditions and of the conventions of the four schools of law and regional diversity (see Chapter 4). A common understanding makes the following division in the organization of theological knowledge: belief (iman), practice (islam) and virtue (ihsan). Belief (iman), the conceptual content of religion, has its basis in an understanding of Allah’s unity (tawhid) and in the revelation in the Book, through Muhammad. A Muslim is one who falls down, and believer (mumin) literally means ‘faithful’. Much exegesis is made from the translation of Muslim: ‘one who submits’ or ‘one who surrenders’ – both being dogmatic statements accepting the sovereignty of Allah and acted out in the ritual performance of the daily prostrations. The following six fundamental beliefs (aqaid) are often put forward as the essential parts of iman and part of the absolute doctrines a Muslim must accept:. the monotheistic belief in the unity of Allah (tawhid) and. belief in his angels (malaika, sing. malak), created from divine light;. acceptance of the revelation (tanzil) in the books (the 104 divine books revealed to earlier prophets and the angel Gabriel (Jibril) and the final revelation, the Qur’an, through Muhammad);. recognition of Muhammad as God’s messenger (rasul) and prophet (nabi) and. recognition of the Final Judgement (yawm Al-hisab, lit. ‘The Day of Reckoning’) and the following resurrection, and finally. belief in divine predestination ( jabr) or providence (qadar) as recorded on ‘the well preserved tablet’, a metaphor for the Qur’an, which is assumed to be eternal, spotless and flawless. The first of these doctrines, the indisputable monotheism, is the same as the first pillar of Islam, and is represented in al-Fatiha, al-Ikhlas and other prayer-like formulas. In the witness of faith (shahada) from the Qur’an (37:35), which can be said to be the common denominator of the Islamic faith, ‘I testify, there is no god but Allah, and Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 20 of 28  The Muslim World 21 al-Ikhlas The short sura 112, al-Ikhlas, is referred to as ‘The Pure Faith’ (or ‘Sincere Religion’ in Arberry’s translation) and also formulates the pronouncement of the fundamental truths: Say: ‘He is God, One, God, the Everlasting Refuge, who has not begotten, and has not been begotten, and equal to Him is not any one.’ Muhammad is Allah’s messenger’ (ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa- Muhammad rasul Allah). The pronounced testimony constitutes the Qur’anic identification of those who believe and accept the message (al-muminun), a category that most often equates to practising Muslims in a broad sense. The absolute monotheism and the concept of God are illuminated in the name Allah, meaning simply ‘the God’ – in the definite singular. Not only is this a linguistic note, but it carries a whole theology. The One God does not need a name, as he is the only one of his kind. There is a general reluctance in Islam to give Allah anthropomorphic traits, even in the metaphoric language. Traditionally his transcen- dence is rather identified through characteristics that underline his essence as incomprehensible in every respect. The absolute character of Allah stands out in the following sura: That then is God your Lord; there is no god but He, the Creator of everything. So serve Him, for He is Guardian over everything. The eyes attain Him not, but He attains the eyes; He is the All-subtle, the All-aware. Clear proofs have come to you from your Lord. Whoso sees clearly, it is to his own gain, and whoso is blind, it is to his own loss; I am not a watcher over you. (6:102–104) The image of Allah in the Qur’an has many reflections. It is the image of a loving god, close to people’s hearts, who is still an avenger of disbelief and apostasy. The concept taqwa implies that God is to be Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 21 of 28 22 Islam: An Introduction feared as well believed in, and covers the all-embracing aspects of Allah. The theological basis of the reasoning around the nature of Allah is the concept of unity (tawhid, literally to unify). It refers not only to the character of the Utmost Being, but also to the very intention with his creation as coherent and harmonious at existential, social and political levels and therefore an important concept in political Islamism. Tawhid could therefore be said to be the essence of Islamic monotheism, although with wider connotations. As the Qur’an states: ‘like Him there is naught’ (42:11). Further, tawhid implies the greatness of Allah, his absolute transcendence over human deficiency, as he is absolute in power. The often-heard call: ‘God is greater’ (Allahu akbar), the phrase from the Qur’an known as takbir (greater), is in itself both a prayer and a creed, and is used in a number of situations. The act of pronouncing takbir summarizes the notion that nothing can be greater than Allah (not even as a conceptual speculation) and nothing should be placed at his side; Allah can therefore not have any offspring. Closely connected to the concept of unity is the role of Allah as the creator (the very reason behind history and individual destinies), the judge and the redeemer as represented in holy scriptures, prayer and theology. Eschatological concepts are very much part of early Islam and combine the image of Allah’s sovereignty and compassion. In Sufi tradition, which has developed elaborate rituals reiterating the various names, attributes and characteristics of Allah, the ritual repetition of the ‘names’ is connected with a theological viewpoint that both stresses the distance, described as a veil, between Allah and his creation and provides ritual means for believers to get closer to him. Only Muhammad is believed to have experienced the full presence of Allah – and that only through his mystical experience during his Night Journey, discussed in Chapter 2. God is beyond description and is by tradition given ‘the 99 most beautiful names’ (al-asma al-husna). The figure 99 indicates that the names, or rather characteristics, are ‘innumerable’, as the limited human mind cannot fully comprehend the greatness of God. It is only possible – by means of these verbal indications of essence and qualities – to grasp aspects of God and use them when contemplating him. Names, often nouns and adjectives, appearing in the Qur’an, such as the Truth (al-Haqq), the Living (al-Hayy), the Merciful (al-Rahman) or the Compassionate (al- Rahim), are used as repetitive parts of prayers. The hundredth name, Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 22 of 28  The Muslim World 23 the completion of the description of the absolute transcendental being, is reserved for Allah himself. This unquestionable unity is linked to the understanding of the message delivered by Muhammad as the final revelation, which is not regarded as accumulated progression of the previous prophets, but complete from the beginning. Islam is therefore thought of as the religion of the natural order (din al-fitra), in contrast to temptation or trial of faith ( fitna), which creates a world of social and moral disorder. But Muhammad is not a redeemer comparable to Christ in Christianity. Muhammad is human; he is good and the infallible example, but not divine. ‘The Light of Muhammad’ (nur Muhammadi) could be of comfort to the believer, but it can never replace the relationship to Allah. A human (insan) is different from other created beings, like angels and demons (sing. jinn), that inhabit the cosmos: intelligence, free will and strength provide the ability to choose, but also the predicament of being held responsible for acts and beliefs. A human is a servant (abd) in relation to Allah, and serves as keeper of the creation; in every respect subordinated to the will and grace of Allah. The very last sura of the Qur’an (114, al-Nas, ‘The Humans’, or in Arberry’s translation ‘Men’) has the character of a protective prayer and expresses a fundamentally caring god, strong but at the same time unbending. Humans are safe with the Almighty: Say ‘I take refuge with the Lord of men, the King of men, the God of men, from the evil of the slinking whisper who [Satan] whispers in the breast of men of jinn and men’. (114) There is no specific narrative of creation (khalk) in the Qur’an comparable to the Genesis story in the Bible or similar myths in other religions. The Qur’an simply states that Allah made the world in six days (3:59; 57:4). ‘Be!’ is Allah’s performative phrase to give life to his creation by means of the spoken word (36:82). The Qur’an differs in its information on what substance humankind is made of. It is said to be mud (38:76), dust or water (3:59; 25:54) and, in another sura, clotted blood (96:2). Allah is the sole creator and gives man spirit (2:30–33). He has also set the measured time for an individual (dahr). Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 23 of 28 24 Islam: An Introduction Predestination is described as a parallel to the eternal nature of the Book. Therefore, the celebration of Allah’s sending down the Qur’an at the end of Ramadan is associated with the fated events of the coming year. Defence for this view on the fates of the coming year being established this night is found in the second sura of the Qur’an: The Messenger believes in what was sent down to him from his Lord, and the believers; each one believes in God and His angels, and in His Books and His Messengers; we make no division between any one of His Messengers. They say, ‘We hear, and obey. Our Lord, grant us Thy forgiveness; unto Thee is homecoming’. (2:285) Various rituals of divination and fortune-reading are popular but controversial and are often condemned in traditional theology. In opposition to all that Allah stands for are the vices. Polytheism (shirk, ‘to assign Allah a partner’) is the absolute contrast to the prime characteristic of Allah, tawhid. The godless and therefore immoral are also to be counted among those who are excluded from the category ‘Muslim’; without Islam as their moral compass, people are evil. Heretic, freethinker or atheist (zindiq) is not a Qur’anic term, but was used to define unwanted Manichean and Gnostic tendencies in early Islam, dualism in general and later some Sufis and other groups were considered heterodox. These distinctions are not only historical features of the early days of Islam; the concepts are frequently used when Islamic history is used as a mirror to the contemporary world, as they serve as a useful political tool. To declare a fellow Muslim an infidel (kafir) is an act called takfir, a de facto excommunication from the umma. Historically, takfir served as a warning against intra-Islamic sects and against conversion to other denominations. As will be apparent in the coming chapters, formal theology has had difficulty in relating to piety established in local custom as expressions of acceptable rituals. Today, takfir can be a political strategy used by radical Islamists to dismiss unwanted opinions by defining them as un- Islamic and the people holding them as unbelievers, which puts them in a complicated situation in relation to sharia. The last four components of the five pillars (arkan al-islam), after the emphasis on belief (iman), point more directly to the correct practice Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 24 of 28  The Muslim World 25 of religion (ibadat) and will be dealt with in Chapters 5 and 6. The transactions between humans, or conduct (muamalat) of a legal, moral and economic character, can, outside the sharia system, be compared to civil codes. These ritual obligations and observances could be summarized as what defines a Muslim in social practice:. perform the five daily salat prayers and the accompanying intention and purification;. give alms (zakat);. fast during Ramadan (sawm);. go on the pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj) at least once in a lifetime, if possible. Belief and practice form the basis of moral judgements: good deeds and manners, including rules of conduct (adab) as well as a personal moral code and ethics (akhlaq). The status of Muhammad, represented in the hadith literature as the example to follow, forms the basis of the concept sunna. Being Muslim This chapter has dealt with some significant concepts in the Muslim faith and how the canonical texts and traditions present Islam as a religion distinct from other faiths, yet with a relation to Judaism and Christianity. Reference to unity are common in traditional discourse and are used in many metaphors when explaining belief and practice. Irrespective of this diversity and a long and complex history of interpretation, as well as the influx of local customs worldwide, there is a nexus most Muslims relate to. Islam is regarded as the ultimate religion, which conveys the eternal message from the only god, Allah; and his message is pronounced in the Qur’an as transmitted to Muhammad through the revelations he received, the last in a chain of prophets, by the angel Jibril. Even if varied over time and over vast areas, the unquestionable monotheism and the status of the sacred scripture constitute fundamental features in Muslim belief along with the conception of Islam as the ultimate message. Novel conditions in the modern world have brought new parameters for belonging and new identities to alternate between in relation to what it means to be a Muslim. Today, many define Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 25 of 28 26 Islam: An Introduction themselves as Muslims in terms of cultural background, but are not necessarily practising Muslims. This development can be taken in many rhetorical directions: as indicating cultural richness or an impending split. As the following chapters will show, references to a shared cultural history and collective memories are today as complicated an issue as ever. History, when used as a mirror, gives Muhammad’s Medina community a particular status. It is regarded as the embodiment of virtues and the model to follow in the endeavours to create a just society today. But from this vastly diverging conclusions can be drawn. In line with Talal Asad’s (1993) argument that religion is always a discursive tradition, Islam must be regarded from a contextualized perspective as a conceptual framework that can be given a multitude of interpretative and performative meanings in human interaction, and focus must then be directed towards how Muslims represent Islam through discourse and practice. John Bowen’s (1993) comment on how to analytically balance a focus on local custom with an open eye for the impact of the scriptural traditions epitomizes a view where the norms of scriptures and theology are not in conflict with the study of local multiplicity: ‘Muslims shape their rituals to local cultural concerns and to universalistic scriptural imperatives. Islamic rituals thus fit comfortably neither in an ethnographic discourse of bounded wholes nor in an Islamicist discourse of a scripture-based normative Islam’ (Bowen, 1993: 656). To get a view of contemporary Islam in its many facets, canonical texts, theology, performative practices and material representations must be taken into consideration as well as the consequences of changing living conditions for many Muslims in the world in terms of education, civil liberties, claims to authority and access to knowledge. The varieties of being Muslim in the world today are striking. Further reading Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities (London: Verso, 1983). Asad, Talal, Genealogies of Religion. Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993). Bowen, John, Muslims through Discourse. Religion and Ritual in Gayo Society (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993). Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 26 of 28  The Muslim World 27 ——, A New Anthropology of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). Doumato, Eleanor, Getting God’s Ear. Women, Islam, and Healing in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf (New York: Columbia University Press, 2000). Irwin, Robert, For the Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and Their Enemies (London: Allen Lane, 2006). Lugo, Luis et al., Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and the Distribution of the World’s Muslim Population (Washington, DC: Pew Forum, 2009). Malik, Abd al, Sufi Rapper: The Spiritual Journey of Abd al Malik (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2009). Rippin, Andrew, The Islamic World (London: Routledge, 2008). Said, Edward, Orientalism (New York: Pantheon, 1978). Sajoo, Amyn B. (ed.), A Companion to Muslim Cultures (London: I.B.Tauris, 2012). Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 27 of 28 Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 29/10/2014 01_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_1.3d Page 28 of 28  Chapter II The Early History of Islam and Muhammad as a Historical Person Muhammad is often described in sweeping terms as ‘the founder of Islam’. The historical individual active on the Arabian Peninsula during the seventh century did, of course, establish a strong and expanding community – and is hailed for this in Muslim tradition and historical writing – but the role of Muhammad in legendary narratives is quite different from that of the central characters in other world religions, such as Jesus or Buddha. To a pious Muslim the term ‘founder’ does not best characterize his activities. From a theological point of view, it is one of the central conceptions in the Muslim faith that Muhammad was a human being and strictly without any transcendental qualities. This is also why Muslims consider ‘Muhammadanism’ a less proper term for their religion. The strict monotheism of Islam does not place anything at the side of Allah; ‘Allah has no companions’, it is often stated, and no family-related metaphors are used to describe the relation between Allah and mankind, such as humans being the ‘children’ of God or God being depicted as a heavenly ‘father’. Despite this fundamental doctrine, Muhammad is the focus of much local piety, which will be discussed in the second part of this chapter. A tension is apparent throughout Muslim history between, on the one hand, the theological concept of Muhammad as solely a messenger and, on the other, the practise of veneration that expresses a personal closeness to the prophet (and sometimes to members of his family) – a custom not always appreciated by more orthodox Muslims. One point of departure in order to clarify the position of Muhammad in the Muslim faith is to place him in relation to the Qur’an, which is regarded to be in essence both eternal and unwordly, perfect and existing before Allah’s creation of the world. Muhammad’s historical mission was to be the bringer of this message (rather as Mary brought Christ, God’s gift, into the world in the Christian tradition). Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 02_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_2.3d Page 29 of 58 30 Islam: An Introduction Muhammad’s life is not accounted for in the Qur’an through a chronological sequence of events and he is not the main agent of the text. Muhammad in Islamic faith and in the Qur’an could not be paralleled with Jesus, who appears as an acting character as well as a saviour and mediator in the Gospels of the New Testament throughout a developing storyline. Muhammad is mentioned by name only four times in the Qur’an (and once under the name Ahmad, ‘the most praised’). Although his persona is embedded in the subtext as the prime receiver, he does not appear in any of the longer narratives.4 The 47th sura bears Muhammad’s name and the second verse defines the divine message sent down to him, marking the distance between eternity and earthly life. The Qur’an is not regarded by Muslims as the recorded words of Muhammad, but as a complete message directly from Allah. In Islamic tradition the words of the Qur’an are a verbatim transmission of the voice of Allah. Muhammad is the one who transmits the eternal, unchangeable words from Allah. He is therefore referred to in the Qur’an as the prophet (al-nabi), the messenger (al-rasul) and the seal of the prophets (khatam al-anbiya), the various aspects of his being the channel chosen by Allah to deliver the final message. The link between Muhammad and the Book is close. Nevertheless, there is no doubt about the origin of the text. This is one of the four passages in the Qur’an where Muhammad’s name is mentioned directly alongside a definition of his obligations and the origin of the message: It is He who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may uplift it above every religion. God suffices as a witness. Muhammad is the Messenger of God, and those who are with him are hard against unbelievers, merciful one to another. (48:28–29) The Qur’an makes frequent references to itself as the final revelation (wahy) and in the following two verses the text assures believers that it is the correct version that has been brought by the messenger, who can be trusted in his guidance. The diverse stands on Muhammad as a historical individual, as a prophet and the channel through which the Qur’an was delivered to mankind, and as a model for mankind and the focal point of piety have Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 02_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_2.3d Page 30 of 58  The Early History of Islam 31 promoted conflicting lines in Islamic theology throughout history and in legal and ritual practice: how ritualized can the devotion of Muhammad be without being in conflict with the concept of tawhid? This chapter will deal first with the historical milieu in which Muhammad emerged with his visions and claims of providing the fundamental elements of the fulfilled religion. It will then discuss what can be known about the person and in what respects the community he established constituted a radical change with pre-Islamic societal order. Finally, it will raise the question of the piety surrounding Muhammad as a model and guide, and the narratives about this ideal in legendary narratives and history writing.5 The pre-Islamic world and the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad The pre-Islamic world on the Arabian Peninsula is conventionally characterized as a nomadic tribal society, although substantial changes took place from the fifth century onward that deepened the social differences between the desert area of the north and the thriving trading areas in the south. The south was far poorer in terms of natural resources than the areas close to ‘the fertile crescent’ of the Near East, as it was dependent on oases to maintain productive communities. Nevertheless, it was, through trade, a prosperous area, situated between two struggling empires: in the west, the East Roman Byzantine empire and in the east, the Persian (with Zoroastrianism as its official religion), but societal power was not organized in any state formation in contrast to those of the surrounding empires and kingdoms. Rather than through an administrative structure, control was exercised through small mobile units – the tribes. The developing trading centres of the south and the growing importance of urban settlements that could handle the long-distance transmission of commodities were also instrumental in the introduc- tion of new ideas. The tribe Muhammad was born into, the Quraysh, played an important role in this development. With its caravans to Syria trading in silver and leather, it became an active part of the transit operations in the region. The Quraysh controlled the area of southern Hijaz, where the settlement called Mecca was situated. The site was not a fertile oasis but, typically for the southern area, dependent on supplies from the outside. Most importantly, the Quraysh was part of a regional Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 02_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_2.3d Page 31 of 58 32 Islam: An Introduction Map 1 The Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad’s appearance as a prophet. web of alliances and conflicts, and Mecca started to serve as a transit point between east and west in terms of trade and cultural contacts. Mecca is the indisputable focal point of the Islamic world: it is the direction for salat, qibla, and it is the destination of the mandatory pilgrimage. Since 1932, Mecca has been part of Saudi Arabia, but for many centuries before that it was part of the Ottoman Empire. It has remained, beside its religious importance, a meeting point and a centre for trade. The shrine at Mecca, the Kaaba, is a pre-Islamic construction, but today the grand hajj mosque includes the ancient Kaaba as part of its premises. Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 02_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_2.3d Page 32 of 58  The Early History of Islam 33 Mecca was not only a commercial centre. The local shrine, the Kaaba (meaning ‘cube’), attracted crowds of pilgrims, and even Christian Arabs found their way to the sanctuary. In pre-Islamic times, it was most likely dedicated to the god Hubal, who is said to have had a large statue erected at its centre. By the time of Muhammad, however, it had become the site of worship of a multitude of local deities, foremost among them being the highest god, Allah (al-Lah, the God). This god was of high importance, but he did not necessarily stand in opposition to other, lesser divine powers that were worshipped here. The area around the sanctuary was proclaimed a safe area (haram, literally forbidden or secluded) demanding certain behaviour, and the peace was to be protected, an honorary duty taken on by the Quraysh clan. The religious alliances of the tribe added to the success of the Quraysh’s trade as the commerce around the pilgrim site grew. Already before Muhammad, circumambulation (tawaf) of the Kaaba monument was an essential ritual at the location. The pagan gods were closely linked to the tribes and specific places, and Muhammad’s categorical rejection of polytheism was therefore an attack on the very nexus of the old power relations when faith in the one god was the fundament of fellowship. The sanctuary is known as ‘the holy house’ (bayt al-haram) and has been a place of worship since pre-Islamic times. It is a cubic structure, about 15 metres high and 12 metres wide. Today, the structure around the Kaaba is part of the grand mosque of Mecca. The cube is covered with a black cloth (kiswa), which is embroidered with quotations from the Qur’an and the shahada. The cloth is replaced every year and pilgrims cherish a piece of it as a treasured memento to bring back from the hajj. The eastern wall of the Kaaba features a silver-framed black stone (al-hajar al-aswad) of unknown but definitely pre-Islamic origin. An important moment of the obligatory circumambulation ritual during the hajj is the touching of the stone. This ritual goes far back in history. In the Qur’an, the Kaaba is spoken of as ‘the House’ (al-bayt) and as ‘the protected house of prayers’ (al-masjid al-haram). It is unquestionably the focal point of Islam, despite its pre-Islamic background. Ancient Arabian religion shared many features with other Near Eastern religions. The deities were connected with astral phenomena. Gods and goddesses were linked to specific tribes and special cultic sites for offerings, worship, divination and oracles. Although the Qur’an Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 02_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_2.3d Page 33 of 58 34 Islam: An Introduction Fig. 2 Pilgrims gathered around the Kaaba. Following the model of Muhammad, millions of Muslims go to Mecca every year. (Source: Aiman Titi [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) warns ‘Bow not yourselves to the sun and the moon’ (41:37), three of the goddesses, al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat, are mentioned in the Qur’an (53:19–20.); they are depicted as names to which hopes are attached, but having no influence.6 To Muslims, polytheism (shirk) represents the prime vice, as it contradicts the concept of tawhid in every respect. The core message of Muhammad’s preaching was from the very beginning that monotheism is unquestionable. However, features of the pre-Islamic worldview remained important conceptions in the new religion. The emphasis on providence in Muhammad’s early revelations is one such reminiscence of the beliefs and divinatory rituals connected with the concept of destiny or measured time (dahr) in ancient Arabic religion. Pagans are accused of being fatalistic, and Allah is all-knowing and has a path laid out for every human being. A second lingering feature is the belief in the djinns. These are spirits shaped by fire (in contrast to the angels, who are eternal) and associated with Iblis, the devil, who is capable of assaulting human beings and causing illness and distress. One of the suras in the Qur’an (72) even takes its name from these demons, ‘The Jinn’. It states that Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 02_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_2.3d Page 34 of 58  The Early History of Islam 35 some of the spirits have surrendered to Allah, and entered on the straight path, while some are on their way to Hell. Third, the role of poetry and trust in the spoken word are often emphasized as pre- Islamic characteristics. Whether the Qur’anic text is poetic has, however, been contested. Although some parts of the Qur’an rhyme, the poetic qualities should not be mistaken for a work of poetry (shir). The performance of the spoken word was cherished and the status of the speaker high. Thus, the call to attention in the Qur’an and the imperative tone of a strong speaker are reminiscences of an oral cultural background; the strong pre-Islamic poetic traditions lingered on and complex odes with a pre-Islamic background were written down in the ninth century. Both the Qur’an itself and Islamic tradition emphasize the importance of the spoken word: this was the medium chosen by Allah for communication with humankind. Muhammad’s skill in highlighting features familiar from the old religion, as well as references to Judaism and Christianity, and combining them with new religious and social ideas is an important reason for the early success of Islam. The ancient Arabic heritage is a complicated element in Islamic historiography. On the one hand, it is something that serves to define or distinguish Islam; on the other hand, the origin of Arabic culture is cherished. Similarly, the term jahiliyya has a dual meaning. It has a chronological dimension, as it refers to the pre-Islamic state/world of ignorance, and it relates to the arrogance of unbelievers in general. Jahiliyya is in both historical writing and theology depicted as the very antithesis of Islamic culture and its iconic vice is shirk, usually translated as polytheism or idolatry. The concept jahiliyya also has a general meaning of associating other beings with Allah. The use of the term has re-emerged in modern political Islam not only as a metaphor for contemporary ignorance of religion, but also as a rallying cry in the combat against godlessness and immoral lifestyles. In the eighth- century Book of Idols, Hisham Ibn al-Kalbi (d. 819) compiled an overview of pre-Islamic religion, including a catalogue of the old gods and a depiction of the activities surrounding the Kaaba: the ancient circumambulation and the worship of stone idols. The peak of the narration is, of course, when Muhammad clears the sanctuary, attacks the idols and ‘start[s] to pierce their eyes with the point of his arrow saying, “Truth is come and falsehood is vanished. Verily, falsehood is a thing that vanisheth [sura 17:81]”. He then ordered that they be Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 02_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_2.3d Page 35 of 58 36 Islam: An Introduction knocked down, after which they were taken out and burned’ (Ibn al- Kalbi, ed. Faris, 1952: 27). After this both symbolic and forceful action, the Kaaba served the one God. It thus confirms the link to Arab culture as well as the construction of the centre of the new religion. Muhammad as a historical person From a source-critical point of view, the accounts of the life of Muhammad are intertwined with the early history of Islam. The time of the prophet Muhammad and his deeds were central topics for the Muslim historians whose chronicles were written from a hagiogra- phical point of view, underlining the qualities of the creed and the person.7 No written biographical records exist from the time of Muhammad. Systematic histories began to be written only a full century later. Parallel with this, early theological doctrines were developed around the character of Muhammad and his roles as messenger, last prophet, leader and model man. Two traditional sources other than the Qur’an should be mentioned in relation to the life of Muhammad. In the hadith literature, the collections of ‘traditions’ from the early Muslim community in Medina, Muhammad stands out as a distinct character who speaks and acts.8 These texts focus on the deeds and judgements of Muhammad as a community leader rather than on theological doctrines; in other words, on the implementation of Islam in everyday life. Chains of orally transmitted knowledge constitute the authority of these guiding accounts, which are fundamental to the construction of arguments in Islamic theology and jurisprudence. Distinct sayings are attributed to Muhammad and chains of witnesses are presented. The Qur’an and the hadith collections constitute the textual ground for sunna. This abstract concept is based on the conception of Muhammad as a human who provides the matrix of belief and behaviour. The Qur’an repeatedly asserts the authority of the messenger and the trust to be put in him as the transmitter of the final message. There is an early biographical literature (sira) from some centuries after the death of Muhammad that compiles narratives of the life of the prophet and puts them into a chronological sequence. The structure of chains of authority is the same as in the hadiths, indicating who transmitted what to whom. Sira means ‘biography’ and refers to a Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 02_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_2.3d Page 36 of 58  The Early History of Islam 37 genre of literature telling the life of Muhammad as a historical person and as a prophet that has been produced in the centuries after Muhammad’s death. From a source-critical perspective, the coher- ence of Muhammad’s life as presented in legendary history writing is doubtful. Rather, this literature brings forward emblematic situations that form the ideal of a prophet and his message. The reading of them is very different from that of the Qur’an. In the sira literature, longer direct speech is attributed to Muhammad, such as his sermon during the final pilgrimage to Mecca, whereas the hadith collections provide only a few short sentences. These biographies also emphasize the choices made by the early Muslim community and the major events during its expansion. A second meaning of sira is ‘conduct’, and this genre, as well as the hadith literature, constitutes the basis of the abstract concept of sunna, which indicates proper behaviour and choices. The hadith literature are edited text collections, whereas what is considered sunna is always a matter of interpretation and reasoning. Sira texts can also include comments on Qur’an verses that relate them to the acts of Muhammad or the early Muslims, or present the circumstances surrounding a specific revelation. The sira literature – a vast and heterogeneous genre – is part of the corpus of historical writing that grew into the pious canon. Many modern sira accounts are to a great extent compilations of the classics in terms of content, but contemporary in form, and they may be presented as computer games, graphic narratives or summarizing booklets. The most famous biography of Muhammad is the sira by Muhammad Ibn Ishaq (d. 767). It is only preserved in a later adaptation, but it is generally considered one of the earliest biographies of Muhammad. It narrates all the important events in the life of Muhammad in detail, the construction of the community and its successes and failures, with references to the Qur’an to confirm the authority of the presentation. It must, however, be remembered that Ibn Ishaq lived more the a hundred years after the death of Muhammad, and the text has provided the master narrative for many pious narrations about the prophet rather than being a historical source in its details. The outline of a sira is similar to that of the hadiths, as can be seen in the examples given in the text boxes below; this genre makes frequent use of quotations from the Qur’an and provides interpretations and supplementary narratives that strengthen the moral argument. But where the hadith expositions are thematically arranged, Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 02_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_2.3d Page 37 of 58 38 Islam: An Introduction the sira literature follows the chronological sequences in the life of Muhammad. The early life of Muhammad Muhammad was born in Mecca around CE 570, which is sometimes referred to as ‘the year of the elephant’, as legendary history tells us that in this year the leading elephant of the attacking Abyssinian army stopped its march towards Mecca and peacefully knelt down in front of the Kaaba, thus preventing the intruders from destroying the holy site. The event is alluded to in sura 105, ‘The Elephant’, and is sometimes interpreted as indicating that the whole of Allah’s creation knelt in front of the Messenger and that his birth is therefore to be considered a matter of world importance. Many details in the theological literature on the life of Muhammad are of a hagiographical character, and therefore uncertain. The positions taken on the sources can serve as examples of the potential conflicting perspectives between cherished pious narratives and source criticism when it comes to outlining early Islamic history, including the life of Muhammad. However, sura 93 provides a hint as to Muhammad’s childhood and the hardships he had to face, and it shows how Muhammad is present in the text in relation to the demanding explicit speaker as the trustful implicit receiver of the message. Did He not find thee an orphan, and shelter thee? Did He not find thee erring, and guide thee? Did He not find thee needy, and suffice thee? (93:6–8) There are considerable difficulties in establishing a genealogy or a chronological biography of Muhammad, although some historical details from the scriptural tradition seem to be trustworthy. Muhammad was a member of a branch of the Quraysh tribe. Parts of the Quraysh tribe were very wealthy, thanks to their influence over the commercial routes that had developed in southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula, and they had also gained status as defenders of the shrine in Mecca, the Kaaba. Muhammad’s father died before the child was born and, despite the apparently patriarchal structure of Quraysh society, he is not a significant character in the stories about Muhammad’s background. A greater emphasis in the legendary texts Bourchier – Islam An Introduction Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset – 30/10/2014 02_Islam_An_Introduction_Chap_2.3d Page 38 of 58  The Early History of Islam 39 Muhammad’s life on film Local piety has always produced vivid imagery of the life of Muhammad in narratives, songs and pictures. The use of modern media is a far from surprising development along this line. Two commercially successful examples of ‘biopics’ to present the life of Muhammad are the action film The Message (1977), directed by Mustafa Akkad, and the animated Muhammad: The Last Prophet (2004) by Richard Rich. Both are aimed at Muslim as well as non- Muslim audiences. Depicting the prophet is, however, controversial. Neither film shows Muhammad or lets us hear his voice, and the directors have chosen two very different strategies in order to reach a contemporary audience. In the first, Hollywood star Anthony Quinn played Muhammad’s uncle Hamsa (who was mistaken by some audiences for Muhammad himself), while the second used cartoon imagery in order to combine the ambitions of a popular movie with respect for Islamic tradition. The world of computer games and virtual worlds has created new ways of spreading the Islamic message to the younger generation, but the old problem of depiction remains. is put on the influence of the two women closest to him in his early life: his mother, Amina, and his wet nurse, Halima. Amina, however, died when Muhammad was six years old. From then on the orphan was raised by his paternal uncle, Abu Talib (the head of the Hashim family), who would play a major role in the early days of the Muslim community. So would Abu Talib’s son, Muhammad’s cousin Ali. The status of ‘The People of the House’ (ahl al-bayt), Muhammad’s immediate family, is the root of the conflicting theological positions of Sunni and Shi‘i Muslims. The latter regard ahl al-bayt to be exemplary in conduct and include them in veneration practices while the former see these characters as humans who played important roles in the early history of Islam. The fact that Muhammad was an orphan has been pointed to as a possible explanation for the emphasis in the Qur’an and the hadith literature on care for the vulnerable as well as for the fact that Muhammad was free to establish a community based on a fellowship of faith rather than