Islam= Submitting

Iman=Faith

Ishan=Virtue

Din=Religion

1. There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God
2. You must perform a ritual prayer
3. Pay the alms tax
4. Fast during the month of Ramadan
5. Make the Pilgrimage to the Ka'ba

1. Faith in God
2. Faith in His angels
3. Faith in His books
4. Faith in His messengers
5. Faith in the last day
6. Faith in the meausring out, both its good and it evil

• It is the soul
• Prone to evil (Ammara bi'l-su)
• Soul that does evil things but tries to change it (al-nafs al-lawwanna)
• Soul at peace

Dunya: Lower realm, Earth, Now, Negative, Worldly and materialistic

Akhira: Hereafter, Heavens, Later/Longterm, Positive, spiritual, piety

Barzakh is the barrier that stops souls from going back to Dunya

1. Believing that the creatures that torment the dead are real, even if you can't see them
2. It doesn't have to be a physical pain, it can be what is happening in the mind
3. The sins bring the pain, not the scorpions or snakes or poison

In the Sunni belief, believers will one day be able to view god and they will be content for life.

Shiites believe you cannot see God because that means that God has a form and is not absolute

The Mahndi is the 12th Imam (According to the Shiites).

Abu Safyan opposed the Prophet by leading a battle against him, his son Muawiyya fought against Ali, Muawiyya had two sons, one son killed Ali's son (Husayn) and Husayn is now seen as a martyr

How do we know what we know about Islamic personal and cosmic eschatology, the apocalypse and the afterlife? What are the various challenges to our knowledge of Islamic eschatology?

• Qur'an
• Fatwahs
• Eschatological manuals
• The Siva
• Challenges are people outside of the religion, as well as the different sects within the religion

Drawing on your readings of the Qur'an, summarize Qur'anic anthropology. Who are human beings, what's the purpose of human life, and what is deemed as a successful human life?  Paraphrase relevant evidence from the Qur'an in support of your answer.

• Human beings are made of clay and are on this Earth to give praise to God and to live in God's image.
•  A successful life would be one that follows all of the laws set out by the Qur'an and the Hadiths and that properply gives praise and glory to God.

 Is intercession possible? Discuss the debate surrounding intercession within Muslim eschatological sources, scriptural and otherwise. What is the significance of this debate?

  Explain what authors mean by the statement, "...to take these descriptions too seriously as actual predictions of in-the grave or eschatological events is to miss the point" (Haddad and Smith, p. 45). What has been missed? Does that mean that the eschatological manuals should not be taken seriously? Does Ghazali agree with this statement?

On pages 63 and 64 of The Garden and the Fire, the author speaks of the linking of the ethical, topographical and architectural and that this linking "reinforces the importance of decisions in the earthly world". Please explain author's view of the three categories, the link between the three and its implications for decisions in the earthly world.

   Employing all the relevant readings thus far this semester, write a short essay explaining the Muslim conversation on the "houris" in the Garden. Also mention the debates, if any, that Muslim scholarship has had on the subject. What makes this topic controversial for many?

"As a point of doctrine and an answer to Muslims' questions about the moments after death, the idea of the afterlife was one of the easiest ways to mark what was both central and innovative about the new faith" (Rustomji, 20). Drawing from various readings (i.e., without limiting yourself to Rustomji text), explain to the reader both the centrality of afterlife and innovativeness of Islam. 

Write a detailed essay outlining and explaining the key moments in the Islamic chronology of human life, from its beginning to death and afterlife (personal eschatology). What is the significance of this chronology for Muslim religious life? 

1. Birth
2. Hajj
3. Daily life ritual and prayers
4. 40 Days before a person's death a leaf on the tree next to the throne of god falls
5. Death- Soul comes up through throat, death (Izra'il) asks that the soul be handed over to him, 4 angels come, his provisions, his breath, his drink and his term of life, then two scribes come, one with his good deeds, one with his bad deeds, then the 4 angels pull your soul out of your body, can be tempted by the devil
6. Time over your body- Can be agonizingly painful if your body is prepared incorrectly
7. Time in the grave (For the believer, it opens up wide and welcomes them in, possibly a vision of the garden, the non believer has a place of desolation and isolation. The good soul is led through the 7 levels of heaven, the bad soul is not allowed in and is immeadiately tossed back down. Munkar and Nakir come to question the soul, they ask who their lord is, their prophet is and what their religion is. You then see your deeds personified, good beautiful/bad ugly.
8. You then remain in a state of either peacful sleep or torment for the rest of your time in the grave until the horn rings and you rise from the grave

     Compare the Sunni and Shi'ite accounts of apocalyptic and messianism. Whence come these differences? Why do you think understanding these differences is important?

• The Sunni have 4 Caliphates (4 Rightly Guided Caliphs), They can be Imams but they are not infallible, after the 4 RGCs was the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, not wrongly guided but not rightly guided
• The Shiites have only one rightly guided Caliph 'Ali, Ali had a wife(Fatima), 2 sons Hasan and Husayn, Ali was the first Imam, Imams are infallible. Believed Abu Safyan opposed the prophet, his son Muawiyya went against Ali, Muawiyya's son killed Husayn, Husayn's death is seen as a great martyr
• Shiites believe there are 12 Imams, 12th is Mahdi (Guided one), Mahdi comes back to fight the Sufyani, he avenges history and sets the story straight, he will have 313 followers, his center will be in Kufa, after he rules, the other 11 will rule in order and fix the loss of their rule
• Sunni believe the Mahdi will have a huge army of regular people, captial in Jerusalem, the end is about triumph and success

Drawing from all your relevant readings, paint a comprehensive picture of "the Garden" and "the Fire" and what goes on there. What conclusions in regards to the study of Islamic eschatology do you think your classmates need to draw from these descriptions of the afterworld?

• The garden is a place of absolute bliss, there is no want, no need, no desire. There are streams of milk, wine and pure water. The garden is based on human landscapes, has beautiful trees, rolling hills, markets, open tents, however, it is beyond anything we could ever imagine. There are 7 levels, with God being at the top. There are pearly gates that you must pass through. 
• There is a bridge one must cross that for believers is huge, it is easily crosseable and you arrive on the other side safely. For the non believers, it can range in size, but you will always fall off. The really bad, the bridge is as thin and as sharp as the edge of the sword. The sinner falls off and can fall for 70 years
• The Fire can only be compared to the worst desert in the world, it is so incredibly hot that there is no respite from the heat. There is no contact with other people, no escape from the solitude. You are stuck in tiny cells. It is so dry and there is no water. The severity of your punishment is based on the severity of your sins. There are 7 levels of hell as well, each level is worse as they go down. The least tormented man will think that no one is suffering more than he.

List and briefly describe the various major debates within Muslim tradition surrounding both Islamic personal and collective eschatology. Why do you think these debates exist?