World Religions

CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

Islam

Fundamental questions

1. What is the human condition?• Humans must strive to submit themselves to the will of God for, without

divine guidance, they are likely to stray from the path of prescribed and prohibited actions that God has set out in order to prevent moral error.

2. Where are we going?• For the faithful, to eternal janna (paradise), by obedience to God’s will• By disobedience to God’s will, to jahannam (hell), which is reserved for

those whom God has decided to punish for a time for committing grave sins and not repenting

3. How do we get there?• We attain salvation via submission to God’s will. This may be achieved

by:– acknowledging tawhid (the oneness of God) and submitting to his will, as

revealed to the Prophet

Learning Objectives

1. Become familiar with relationships between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

2. Learn about the life of the Prophet Muhammad.

3. Come to understand the differences between Sunni and Shi’ite Islam.

4. Study the growth of Islam.

5. Learn about the place of Islam in the modern world.

Key Names, Concepts, and Terms

Text• Qur’an• Ramadan• Ka’ba• Hadith• Wahhabi• Hajj• Sufism

 

IB• Monotheism • Iman • Islam• Tawhid • Shirk• Risalah • Yawm al-din• Akhirah• Umma• Ibadah • Akhlaq• Jihad• Niyya• Kufr

Timeline

c. 570-632 CEc. 610

622650

661-750680732

750-1258980-1037

1099-118714531492

1556-16051800s-1900s

1973

Life of Prophet MuhammadRevelation of Qur’an to Muhammad beginsThe hijrah (migration) from Mecca to MedinaWritten text of Qur’an establishedUmayyad caliphateMartyrdom of Husayn at KarbalaMuslims defeated at Tours, FranceAbbasid caliphate: Islam’s cultural peakLife of Avicenna, major rationalist philosopherCrusaders hold JerusalemTurks take Constantinople, rename it IstanbulGranada, last Spanish Muslim state, fallsAkbar, Mogul emperor of IndiaMuslim areas fall to EuropeansMuslim states cut off oil to America

©2011 PRENTICE HALL | Pearson Education, Inc. | Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

I) Introduction

A. The Youngest Major World Religion

B. One of the Largest World Religions1. Over one billion adherents

2. Growing religion in the developing world

C. Religious/Theological Roots in Judaism and Christianity

D. Muslim Literally Translated: One Who Submits to God

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II) Pre-Islamic Arab Religion A. Islam began among the Arabian desert people during the seventh century C.E.

B. These people had already been exposed to Christianity, Judaism, and possibly Zoroastrianism

C. The religion of the Arabian people before Islam was likely polytheistic

D. Native Religion of the Arab People1. Difficult to specify exact beliefs because only source is the Qur’an’s biased

description

2. Gods and spirits were found in items in nature

3. Those spirits could be placated or asked for help

4. Polytheists with supreme high god, Allah (“the god”)• Local and tribal deities received most of the daily worship• Images of gods and sacrifices to them common• Numerous spirits, angels, fairies, demons

5. Animism• The pre-Islamic religion was animistic • The city of Mecca became a place with holy animistic associations • Mecca known in ancient world for its animistic religions • Mecca also included the “black stone,” a holy object of veneration that was likely a meteorite• The black stone was surrounded by an enclosure and became an object of religious veneration

in shrine called the Ka’ba

III) The Life of MuhammadA. Early Life of Muhammad (570-632 C.E.)

1. Because Islam is a younger religion, there are more details available about its founder – Muhammad

2. Born in 570, Muhammad was raised by his uncle and was illiterate

3. Born into clan that controlled Ka’ba shrine in Mecca

4. Father died before birth, mother died when six; Muhammad raised by tribal chief uncle, abu-Talib

5. Muslims strongly claim Muhammad was illiterate

6. Muhammad likely traveled in trading caravans, went to Mecca, and encountered numerous Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians• Religions Muhammad encounters share same basic traits: one god, one set of revealed scriptures,

eschatology centered on a day of judgment and assigning people to eternal destiny based on ethical behavior in this life

• Muhammad feared for his polytheistic people

7. Met and married wealthy widow, Khadija, the owner of the caravan• Married for 25 years• One child survived: daughter named Fatima

8. Muhammad became concerned about the fate of his people, who worshiped a multitude of gods and goddesses

9. He also became concerned with social justice

10. Khadija’s wealth allowed Muhammad to spread his message.

III) The Life of Muhammad

B. Muhammad’s Religious Experience and Mission1. During retreat in mountains to meditate, angel (Gabriel)

appears to Muhammad

2. Gabriel appears at intervals throughout Muhammad’s life, gives him revelations from god• Muhammad began to preach this message • Muhammad orally reported revelations to companions• Later revelations written down as the Qur’an, which was the

holy message of God

3. Muhammad decides there is only one god, Allah

4. Muhammad decides he is the last in a series of prophets of Allah; Jewish and Christian prophets preceded him• All earlier prophetic preaching incomplete• Muhammad brings final, complete revelation

III) The Life of Muhammad5. Muhammad preaches in Mecca, meets hostility because

economy of Mecca based on idol worship and Ka’ba• First convert: wife Khadija• Second convert: disputed in Islamic tradition; either cousin Ali or slave

boy Zayd• Young and poor flock to join new religion• Opposition grows from wealthy established clan leadership• Muhammad urges some followers to flee Mecca for Abyssinia, Ethiopia• Dominant clans boycott Muhammad’s clan

6. 619 C.E. uncle and first wife die• Islam began to spread after the death of Muhammad’s wife• Muhammad marries second wife, the first of number of future wives• Muhammad tries to flee Mecca but unable to find secure location,

moves back to Mecca

III) The Life of MuhammadC. The Formation of Early Islam

1. The invitation from Yathrib (Medina)• 620 C.E. six men from Yathrib (later Medina) come to Mecca to confer with Muhammad• Yathrib torn by clan war and internal strife• Some Jews in Yathrib wondered if Muhammad was the Messiah • Muhammad invited to be judge and ruler of Yathrib• Muhammad delays leaving Mecca for fear of assassins, but flees Mecca for Yathrib,

arrives September 24th, 622 C.E.• The Hijrah (migration) from Mecca to Medina becomes the new reference point for Islamic

calendar; years dated by A.H. (anno hegirae)• Muhammad in Yathrib (Medina) 622 - 630 C.E.

2. Muslims become established clan, but religion not widely accepted• Three tribes Jewish, one Christian community

– Muhammad meets resistance from Jews, develops hostility towards Jews– The “Medina charter:” Muhammad receives political authority over city, guarantees religious freedom

for non-Muslims

• Muhammad marries Aishah, 623 C.E.• Full scale military conflict breaks out between Medina under Muhammad and Mecca

– Muhammad’s Muslim supporters attack caravans from Mecca– Battle of Badr, 624 C.E.: Muhammad’s supporters—with Muhammad present praying for his troops—

attack caravan, kill 70 men, take prisoners and loot– Next battle with Meccans in 635 C.E., Muhammad wounded, Medina forces take more losses than

Meccans; considered victory because not total rout

III) The Life of Muhammad2. Muslims become established clan, but religion not widely accepted (cont)

– Full scale military conflict breaks out between Muslims and regional Jewish tribes• Jews ridiculed Muhammad, supported Meccans against him• Muhammad gives Jews in Medina ultimatum: convert to Islam or exile• Jewish matron, Zainab, feeds poisoned lamb to Muhammad, he survives

– 627 C.E. 10,000 Meccans attack Medina, fail to take the city; Muslims increase support in Medina

– Truce with Mecca allows Muslims to visit on pilgrimage– Number of Muslims grows so large the people of Mecca too overwhelmed to resist

any longer– 630 C.E. Muhammad invades Mecca with a force of 10,000 men– Muhammad destroys idols and images (but not the black meteor stone or the Ka’ba

itself), earns respect as religious-political leader of Arabs– Muslim community grows in numbers– Muhammad continues to marry more wives to build political ties – Muhammad sends missionaries to convert Bedouin tribes in desert

http://streaming.factsonfile.com/play/GPM6AE

III) The Life of Muhammad

3. The last years of Muhammad– After final pilgrimage to Mecca in 632 C.E.,

Muhammad delivers farewell address in Medina– Muhammad dies without making any

arrangements for a successor, confusion in the community

– Abu-bakr, Muhammad’s friend and brother of wife Aishah, anointed by community as the representative (caliph) of Muhammad• Shi’ites doubt this version of history• Shi’ites believe Muhammad designated cousin and

son-in-law Ali as successor

IV The Qur’anA. Muslim Beliefs about Qur’an (Literally: Reading, Recitation)

1. The Scripture of Islam is called The Qur’an, which means reading or recitation2. Muslims believe that the Qur’an is a recitation of an eternal Scripture, written in Heaven and

revealed by God chapter by chapter to Muhammad• Muslims, unlike Jews and Christians, believe there was no human authorship involved in Qur’an at all• The Qur’an is the pure word god delivered by angel to Muhammad• Muhammad illiterate; he memorized exact (Arabic) words of god and conveyed them to slave boy Zayd• Zayd wrote exact, verbatim words of Muhammad on leaves, bones, stone, parchment • After Muhammad’s death, Zayd’s writings collected• Third caliph, Uthman, worked with Zayd to develop authorized version of the Qur’an

3. The Qur’an organized into 114 surahs4. Each surah contains approximately 6,000 verses, or ayas 5. Overall Qur’an slightly smaller than New Testament6. Text arranged according to length of surahs in descending order with no topological or

chronological pattern• The Qur’an is god’s last word to humanity, fulfilling but surpassing the Hebrew and Christian scriptures• Recitation of Qur’an a ritual act for Muslims • The Qur’an is central to Muslim faith, read and memorized as primary religious duties

7. Supreme act of religious devotion to memorize entire Qur’an 8. Those who memorize Qur’an given honorary title of hafiz

• First surah (chapter) begins with “recite: in the name of the lord who created …”

9. Reciting Qur’an believed a source of Allah’s blessing because it reproduces Allah’s divine speech

IV The Qur’anB. Nature of God

1. Muslims believe the Qur’an shows how God expects people to live and the eternal destiny of all humankind.

• Requires strict monotheism• Followers must say everyday “There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is

the messenger of Allah”

2. Allah’s role as an omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent creator of the universe is heavily emphasized.

• Allah has 99 names.• Although Allah possesses power, sovereignty and majesty, he also has

justice and mercy.

3. Allah is surrounded and aided by certain other heavenly figures.• Angels act as messengers• Jinn are either beneficial creatures who act as guardian angels, others

are demons Iblis is the leader of the evil jinn.

IV The Qur’anC. Predestination

1. Pushed to extreme, the Qur’an’s teachings about Allah’s omnipotent sovereignty could seem fatalistic, deterministic• Some Islamic groups read Qur’an this way• Christian Calvinists read New Testament this way

2. Islam stresses freedom and responsibility • Allah gives freedom and reason, judges people based on their decisions• Allah allows humans to make evil decisions, but Allah does not cause people to be

evil or good

D. Eschatology3. Allah’s judgment of humanity at end of time core belief

4. Body dies, soul sleeps until end of time

5. Bodies raised at the end of time, reunited with souls

6. Eternal destiny based on faith and virtue/infidelity and vice before death• Good and evil of each person recorded• Heaven/hell similar to Zoroastrian, Judaic, Christian versions, accent on the material

joys of heaven and torments of hell that desert dwellers would understand/appreciate

“Say: ‘Oh People of the book!Come to common terms as between us and you:That we worship none but Allah;That we associate no partners with Him;That we erect not from among ourselvesLords and patrons other than Allah.’”

Qur’an 3:64

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V) Religious Institutions

A. The Mosque1. Because of their originally nomadic life, Islam is not centered on gathering in a

temple for worship

2. No central temple or single holy shrine

3. Muslims began as nomadic people who needed to be able to worship Allah anywhere

4. Only formal-communal religious requirement: Muhammad decrees Friday—a workday—to be a day of prayer in mosques with fellow Muslims

5. Prayer led by an imam, a non-clerical figure chosen by community to lead prayers due to reputation for piety and knowledge of Islam

6. Sermon in Friday mosque meeting in Arabic or vernacular

7. Muslims are required to pray at the mosque one day per week

8. Mosques also serve as important places of study

9. Mosques function as schools and libraries • Islamic schools (madrashas) arise along major urban mosques• Teach Qur’an recitation and Hadith scholarship• Al Azhar in Cairo, one world’s oldest universities, began as madrasha; counted today as most

important theological school for Sunnis• The madrashas of Qom, Iran are centers for Shi’ite theology

V) Religious Institutions

B. The Five Pillars1. Repetition of the creed (shahadah)

• Most common religious act of Muslim is frequent repetition of the creed of Islam: La ilaha illa Allah; Muhammad rasual Allah. (There is no God but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah)

2. Daily prayer (salaht)• Five times a day Muslims pray facing east to Mecca• Muslims must wash before prayers• Men and women cannot pray together

3. Fasting (sawm)• Ramadan fast: abstain from food, drinking, smoking, sex during

daylight hours for one month• Ramadan commemorates time Muhammad received first

revelation• Travelers, nursing mothers, sick, small children exempt from

Ramadan fast

V) Religious Institutions

B. The Five Pillars4. Almsgiving (zakaht)

• Muslims expected to give 2.5-10 % of income• Begging is acceptable practice in Islam

5. Pilgrimage (hajj)• The Qur’an requires pilgrimage to Mecca as religious duty• Pilgrimage occurs in month called Dhu al-Hijah• Poor often use life savings to make trip• Before air travel the old and sick made journey without hope of

coming home• Muslims dress in common clothing so no way to distinguish

rich or poor• After pilgrimage, pilgrims may attach haji to their names as a

title of honor indicating piety

“When you live in poverty and isolation, one of the things you hold on to is religion for your sanity, to keep you going. When you hear people crying in suffering and pain, instead of asking, ‘Where is God?’, this is God crying out to you, ‘Why are you allowing this?’”

Farid Esack, South Africa

©2011 PRENTICE HALL | Pearson Education, Inc. | Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Wh alms

V) Religious InstitutionsC. Islam and Women

1. Muhammad raised status of women significantly higher than under pre-Muslim Arab religion

2. Muhammad forbade female infanticide

3. Muhammad allowed polygamy but limited number of wives to four, provided husband could afford them and treated them equally

4. Muhammad allowed divorce if husband repeated “I divorce you” three times• Woman is allowed to keep her dowry• Modern Muslim societies allow wives to divorce cruel or unjust

husbands

5. Women subordinate to fathers, brothers, husbands

6. Actual lives of women varies among different cultures

V) Religious Institutions

D. Islamic Taboos1. Foods allowed (halal)

2. Foods/things prohibited (haram)– Pork– Dogs– Birds, beasts of prey, donkeys, mules– Alcohol– Gambling

E. Jihad3. Most controversial issue within and about Islam

4. “Holy war” is not maximally accurate translation

5. “Struggle in the path of god” is more accurate translation• Struggle can mean physical labor• Struggle can mean interior battle with one’s own vices and temptations

6. Muslim scholars teach that only defensive wars justified• Muslims historically have used “jihad” as term for all kinds of wars, self-defensive or

otherwise• Most Muslims consider bin Laden’s use of “jihad” simplistic, inaccurate, self-serving

VI) The Spread of Islam

A. Reasons for Islam’s Rapid Spread1. Islam is a universal religion

2. Islam is a simple religion to practice with wide appeal to the common person

3. The world that surrounded the early Muslims was confused and corrupt• Arab people weary of strife, open to a religion capable of reconciling them• Byzantine Christianity tainted by corruption and misrule of the empire

B. Within a century of Muhammad’s death, Islam became a unifying force for Arabian people– Muslim armies swept across the Middle East, North Africa, and

Spain. They spread the faith as they went.– Islam Spreads to Palestine, Syria, Persia, Egypt, North Africa

through Combination of Military Conquest and Political Savvy

VI) The Spread of Islam

C. Islam in Spain– Enter Spain in 711 C.E. from Berber North Africa– Charles Martel stops Muslims at Battle of Tours,

732 C.E.

D. Islam in India and China– The eleventh century caliphs of Baghdad send

armies and missionaries east– Today Pakistan and Bangladesh remain Muslim– India and China have large Muslim populations

VII) The CaliphateA. Islam is not highly structured like the Roman Catholic Church

1. Most religious duties can be done privately2. Muhammad left no clear successor, assumed (perhaps) the Qur’an would be

the sole religious authority

B. The Caliphate as Central Unifying Force in History of Islam1. A caliph, from khalifa, was the deputy or representative in religious affairs 2. Originally caliph elected but later hereditary3. There are ongoing disagreements about the succession of caliphs 4. First caliphs friends and relatives of Muhammad

• abu-Bakr (632-634 C.E.)• Umar (634-644 C.E.)• Uthman (644-656 C.E.), murdered• Ali (656-661 C.E.)

– Husband of Muhammad’s daughter Fatima– Caliphate taken from him in power struggle with Umayyads– Murdered 661 C.E.– Martyr in Shi’ite Islam– Son Husayn challenged Umayyads– Husayn defeated at battle of Karbala in Iraq, 680 C.E.– Husayn and family murdered, considered Shi’ite martyrs

VII) The CaliphateC. Umayyad Caliphs (661-750 C.E.)

1. Based in Damascus, Syria

2. Worldly political rulers

D. Abbasid Caliphs (750-1258 C.E.)3. Ruled from Baghdad

4. Ruled with pomp and splendor

5. Encouraged cooperation with Jews and Christians on scholarly projects that laid groundwork for Renaissance

E. Mamelukan Turks Rule from Egypt

F. Ottoman Turks Make Caliphate Synonymous with Sultan of Turkey

G. Attempts to Renew the Caliphate6. After WWI caliphate ceases to exist

7. Hizbul Tahrir seeks to restore caliphate by peaceful persuasion

8. bin Laden seeks violent restoration of caliphate

VIII) Variations within Islam A. The Sunnis

1. The majority of Muslims are Sunnis• Eighty-five percent of Muslims are Sunnis (traditionalist)

2. They base their practices on the Qur’an and on traditions concerning the community• Base belief and practice on Qur’an and hadith (commentaries on the Qur’an by

Muhammad and his early followers)

3. Analogy and consensus used to arrive at conclusions to religious questions not explicitly treated in Qur’an

4. The four schools of Sunni Islam• Hanifites: follow teachings of Abu-Hanifah (d. 767 C.E.), found in western Asia,

India, Lower Egypt• Malikites: follow teachings of Malik ibn-Anas (d. 795 C.E.), found in North and West

Africa, Egypt• Shafi’ites: follow al-Shafi’i (d. 820 C.E.), found in Egypt, Syria, India, Malaysia,

Indonesia; most liberal and willing to balance Qur’an and culture• Hanbalites, follow Ahmad ibn-Hanbal (d 855 C.E.), found in Saudi Arabia; most

conservative

VIII) Variations within IslamB. The Shi’ites

1. Movement begins in political dispute over succession to Muhammad, develops into theological dispute• Followers of Ali and son Husayn• Known as Shia Ali, the party of Ali• Comprise 10-15 percent of all Muslims

2. Shi’ites believe imams divinely inspired leaders who speak on behalf of Allah3. Shi’ites believe in a series of imams after 680 (either seven or 12)

• Some imams did not die, but are in hiding• Hidden imams will return to earth

4. Shi’ites believe in existence of a Mahdi, a Messiah-like figure who will appear one day to establish era of justice

5. Shi’ites prize martyrdom6. Shi’ites believe Sunnis misinterpret the Qur’an

• Failure to mention Ali as Muhammad’s designated caliph suggests Sunnis tampered with text• The Qur’an has hidden meaning that can only be understood through allegorical interpretations

7. Based in Persia/Iran • Established religion of Persia in 1502 C.E.• Majority of Iraq is Shi’ite• Significant minorities in Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa

VIII) Variations within Islam

C. The Mystical Element and the Sufis1. Asceticism is a marginal element in mainstream Islam, but important to some

sects

2. The Sufis• Name Sufi from sufi, “woolen:” coarse wool garment worn by early Muslim mystics as

symbol of poverty and rejection of worldly pleasures• Reformers who teach that as tradition developed it became more worldly and less

spiritual• Probably origins in ninth century C.E. protest against ostentatious Abbasid rulers• Mansur al-Hallaj: early mystic experiences oneness with god, proclaims “I am the truth,”

executed as heretic in 922 C.E.• Spiritual reform movement moves underground, develops the emotional-mystical aspects

of Islam• Appealed to the common people• Abu-Hamid al-Ghazali seeks to unite legalistic and mystical schools of Islam

– Eventually gives up on orthodoxy, abandons family and lives as a wandering beggar – Writes Sufi classics The Revivification of the Religious Sciences, The Folly of the Philosophers,

Niche of the Lights – Maintained importance of ritual and held that even advanced Sufis bound by ritual duties

• Sufis begin to organize in twelfth century into fraternities centered on Sufi saints

IX) Islam in the Modern WorldA. Islam’s Inherently Conservative Nature Prevented it from

Developing Along Lines of the Modern, Technological Secular West– Following the caliphate of Baghdad, Islam settled down to a relatively

peaceful existence– While Europe was moving out of the medieval period, many Muslim

communities were still pre-industrial– Emphasis on fullness of truth in the Qur’an discouraged science and

exploration– Suspicious of changes originating outside Islam– Sense of superiority and self-satisfaction relative to European bred

complacency – Development of ultra-conservative groups that resist any and all change in

Islam• Muhammad ibn-Abd al-Wahhab and the Wahhabi movement associated with the

house of Sa’ud in nineteenth and twentieth century Saudi Arabia• Anti-Sufi, puritanical• Well funded by petrodollars, Wahhabi sect has established bases in most Muslim

countries

IX) Islam in the Modern World

B. The End of Islam’s Isolation1. Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in nineteenth century

2. Islam’s isolation from the rest of the world ended in the early part of the twentieth century

3. By the twentieth century, transportation allowed outsiders into Muslim areas

4. Ottoman Empire fights in WWI on side of Austria-Germany, suffers conquest by Western powers• Maps of modern Arab states drawn after WWI• Influence of West on Arab states

5. WWI caused the breakup of the Ottoman Empire

6. The discovery of natural resources of oil and other items furthered Muslim contact with the rest of the world

C. Contemporary Resurgence of Interest in Islam7. Reform movements within Islam practicing modern scientific study of the Qur’an

8. Reform movements with Islam seeking to reconcile Islam to science and democratic – pluralistic society

9. Rise of Islamic feminism

10. Missionary movements in southern Africa

X) Muslim Calendar and Holy Days

A. The Muslim Calendar1. Twelve lunar months of 29 or 30 days

• Total 354 days per year• 103 Muslim years equal 100 solar years

2. Calendar dates beginning from the Hijrah (date of Muhammad’s death is not 632 C.E., but 10 A.H.)

B. Feast of the Fast-Breaking (‘Id al-Fitr)1. This feast comes after the fast of Ramadan

2. First day of Shawwal, the month after Ramadan

3. Time of feasting, visiting family, exchanging gifts, sending cards

X) Muslim Calendar and Holy Days

C. Feast of Sacrifice (‘Id al-Adha)1. Held on tenth of dhul-Hijah, the month of pilgrimage

2. Commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael for God

D. New Year3. Month of Muharram, believed to be month of Hijrah

4. The tenth commemorates Battle of Karbala for Shi’ite

5. The tenth is a day of fasting for Sunnis

E. Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (Mawlid an-Nabi)6. The twelfth day of the third month

7. Recitations of prophet’s biography and prayers for him

XI) Islam Today

A. Islam Growing Around the World1. Islam has become an increasingly important political

force

2. Many emerging nations are also Islamic nations• Some of those nations are important to the world economy

because of their stores of natural resources• Missionary work in Africa is spreading the faith. Immigration

is another factor.

3. Western European Muslim population increasing due to immigration

4. American Muslim population increasing due to immigration and conversion, now second most popular religion in U.S.

XI) Islam Today

B. The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism1. Backlash against presence of Western culture and values

in Islamic societies

2. Secularism demonized as source of moral, political decay

3. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 galvanizes fundamentalists seeking to openly combat Western secularism

4. The Saudi Arabian model: Islamic fundamentalism publicly cooperating with secular West but quietly undermining it

5. It remains to be seen whether Islamic countries that rely on ancient religious traditions can continue in the modern world

XI) Islam Today

C. The Islamic Modernist Backlash against Fundamentalism1. In most Muslim societies, religious scholars are

engaged in a struggle to define a vision of modernity that is based on Islamic values, yet is compatible with contemporary concepts of human rights and democracy.

2. Similar debates are taking place in Hindu, Jewish and Christian communities.

Fundamental questions

1. What is the human condition?• Humans must strive to submit themselves to the will of God for, without

divine guidance, they are likely to stray from the path of prescribed and prohibited actions that God has set out in order to prevent moral error.

2. Where are we going?• For the faithful, to eternal janna (paradise), by obedience to God’s will• By disobedience to God’s will, to jahannam (hell), which is reserved for

those whom God has decided to punish for a time for committing grave sins and not repenting

3. How do we get there?• We attain salvation via submission to God’s will. This may be achieved

by:– acknowledging tawhid (the oneness of God) and submitting to his will, as

revealed to the Prophet