• To believe in oneness of God

• To believe in all His angels

• To believe in all His books

• To believe in all His prophets

• To believe in the day of resurrection

• To believe in God’s plan (Destiny)

• Quddus (the Holy), means that God is beyond every imperfection and stain that is imaginable for created things. God is not imperfect.

• Subbuh (Glorified), means that His Glory and  Greatness are beyond all creaturely understanding. He is not in our capacity.

• Salam (Peace), means that God is free of every sort of disharmony. He is not a disorder

• Ghani (Independent), means that God does not depend upon anything in the universe. He is not in need of anything.

1. Scripture
2. Natural Phenomena

• Angels are created from light, but they have a body. 

• (1) Some angels carry the throne of God

• (2) There are some angels whose jobs are only to contemplate God

• (3)  Nakir and Munkar: Their job is to question the dead in their graves

• (4) Angels charged with every living thing: They keep things in good order and ward off corruption.
• (5) Guardian Angels

• Hidden and concealed
• They can see us, but we can not see them

• They are created from fire

• They have believers and non-believers, like humans. The non-believers of the jinn population are the opposite of angels

• They are, like angels, alive, knowing, and powerful

• Unlike angels, jinn also have desires

• There is a chapter in the Qur’an named after jinn.  This chapter indicates that the prophet of Islam accepted the conversion of a group of jinn to Islam.  These jinn came to the prophet and declared to their fellow jinn that they heard an amazing Qur’an

• They wondered why people didn’t believe in it

• The Torah, revealed to Moses

• The Psalms, revealed to David

• The Gospel, revealed to Jesus

• the Qur'an, revealed to Muhammad

Jews follow Moses

Christians follow Jesus

Mary (mentioned more than any other woman in the Qur'an)- 34

Jesus - 30

Describe:

• Nabi
• Rasul
• Mursal
• Ulu al-azm

• To remind people about God and their responsibilities.

• To convey the message of God;  they cannot compel people to faith.  God gives guidance to whom He wants

• Adam's enemy was Iblis

• Noah's enemy was the elite group of his people

• Abraham's enemy was Nimrud, who according to the Qur'an, threw Abraham into a fire. The fire did not burn Abraham

• Moses' enemy was Pharaoh

• Jesus' enemy was the establishment

• Muhammad's enemy was Abu Jahl 

• The Mother of Jesus, Mary, because she received revelation from God via angel Gabriel

• The mother of Moses who received revelation as well

• Truth-concealers

• The faithful

• The friends of God

• The Prophets

• The Messengers of God

• Suffering is not wrong

• God made eyes, ears, tongue wonderful. He wants to show the beauty of His names on humans, through making them sick, hungry, full, thirsty, and putting them through different situations

• Islamic tradition says yes and no.  Free will and predestination are complementary expressions. We have free will, that we can do something and we are responsible for our actions.  Many Qur’anic verses indicate that humans are responsible for their actions

• People are punished and rewarded for their bad and good actions.  This is the first principle in Islam;  we can do whatever we like, as we have free choice.

1. Death as a gift
2. Inescapable
3. Not eternal Seperation

Everyone is going to die so you should not fear death.

Suicide is also prohibited in Islam.

• The verse says, “Your creation and your resurrection is only like the creation and resurrection of one person for Me” (31:28)

• It comes from the command of God.  To God, one, or a hundred, or billions are the same

• Annihilation is not the end

• It is a period from the time of death to the time of the general resurrection

• This is known as the time when people spend in the grave.  

1. Al-Ash’ari’yya

2. Al-Maturidiyyah

Who established it 

Al-Ash’ari’yya?

• Established by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari  
• Al-Ashari woke up and understood that the Prophet asked him to be among the majority of Muslims
• He went to a mosque with his robe

What is the 

Al-Ash’ariyyah school of thought?

• The world was ordered at every moment by a direct intervention of God

• There is free will by the will of God

What is Al-Maturidiyyah and the school of thought?

• Founded by Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d. 938 A.D.)

• Humankind has free will, and God does not intervene in human actions

• Ash.:  Speech of Allah can be heard  
  Mat.: Speech of Allah cannot be heard; what is heard is that which points to it.

•  Ash.:  If God wants, God can burden more than what is bearable 
  Mat.: No, it is not possible

• Ash.: Laws connected to human responsibility can only be received directly from the text.  
  Mat.: Some such laws can be grasped by intellect, without a reference to the text

•  Ash.:  Possible for a believer to remain in hell forever and for a disbeliever to remain in paradise forever  
  Mat.: Not possible

• Ash.:  Being a male is not a condition for being a Prophet  
  Mat.:  Being a male is a condition

• They have a principle of “commend what is good, and forbid what is evil”

• THEY DENY  PRE-DESTINATION

• Every person creates his/her own actions

• Promoted determinism and pre-destination
• Judgment will be made in the afterlife

• acts of worship

• acts of transactions

• Ihsan has a relationship with intentionality
• Intention in Islam is like a light breaking through darkness

• Human regular actions are rewarded if they are accompanied by good intentions

• God rewards people according to their intentions

• Intention is more important than action itself. 

• “to be the same inside and outside.”

• acting solely for the sake of God.

• Not to be ‘two-faced.’

• Means “trying to sell oneself.” The opposite of Ikhlas

• One who tries to convince people that he is something he is not

• “to make a false show of something,”
• If a person says “I am a saint,” it is understood that this person is definitely not a saint, according to Islamic tradition

• The word salah is “good” or “wholesomeness.”

• In the Qur’an, it comes just after belief in God and the last day

• “He created the heavens and the earth with the real, formed you and made your form beautiful, and to Him, is your return” (64:3)

• A manifestation of Ihsan
• Supplication is an important aspect in the lives of Muslims

• Muslim saints do not speak of the relationship between themselves and God

• They open their hearts to God
• Muslims take their supplication examples from the Qur’an and the Prophet’s sayings

• It is another of manifestation of ihsan.

• The major counters of Islamic art are related to three aspects of the Qur’an:

1. The recitation of the Qur’an results in the arts of the voice
2. The copy or writing of the Qur’an results in the arts of the pen (calligraphy)
3. The embodiment of the Qur’an results in the arts of architecture

• Before recitation the highest possible respect is shown to God’s own words
• Every letter and every vowel must be pronounced impeccably

• Music has a powerful effect upon the soul

• The music which affects one’s spiritual development, and gives on a longing for eternity is encouraged

• The music which creates worldly desires, or promotes violence or profanity is discouraged

• Muslims write the Qur’an by hand in the most respectful way possible

• They use the art of calligraphy to show the beauty of the Qur’anic letters

• They believe that Islam is built on the Qur’an.  The form in which the Qur’an is presented is thus of utmost importance

• It demonstrates the beauty of the divine word. 

• Muslims have built many structures, inside of which the Qur’an will be recited

• According to Islam, human characters are not yet finalized.  Doing what is beautiful is being what is beautiful

• individuals must be what is beautiful

• Nasty and obnoxious characteristics have to be trimmed away

1. The soul which commands evil 
   • lowest stage of human beings
   • some will stay in this stage until the end of their life
2. The Blaming Soul
   • The conscience is awake
   •  observe and do what is beautiful;  however, they often fail to live up with the Qur’anic ideal
3. The Soul at Peace 
   • stage of Muhammad and the other prophets 
   • see God

• "Always being in the presence of God." 

• Sufism is the path followed by an individual who, having been able to free him/herself from human vices and weaknesses, in order to acquire angelic qualities, and conduct pleasing to God

What is the Etymology of Sufi?

• suf or wool.

•  
  • Early ascetic Muslims used to wear wool garments. 

•  
  • Served as an example of renunciation of worldly pleasures

• saf or purity
  •  "the one who is pure."

• Sufism was practiced as a way of life by many ascetic Muslims

• Theologians focused on belief and the evidence of faith

• Interpreters of the Qur'an dedicated themselves to studying the meaning of the verses

• Legal scholars focused on codifying books on Islamic law

• Written by al-Muhasibi, al-Wasaya 

• al-Luma' was written by al-Tusi

• Qut al-Qulub was written by Abu Talib al-Makki

• strict observance of religious obligations, an austere lifestyle, and the renunciation of carnal desires

•  spiritual self-discipline, the individual's heart is purified, and his/her senses and faculties are employed in the way of God

• It deepens individuals' awareness of themselves as devotees of God

• It helps people to develop the moral dimension of one's existence

• travelers on the way to God, who have purified themselves

• acquired inner light

• humble servants of God

• They turn away from the evil influences of their carnal selves.  

• They are spiritual  persons who try to be like the people of the Suffa 

• Those who stress knowledge, and seek to reach their destination through knowledge of God
  • Throughout their lives, travel toward God through the way of knowledge to attain knowledge about God.  The realization that there is no power and strength save with God

• Those who follow the path of yearning, spiritual ecstasy, and spiritual discovery

•  
  • Focused on asceticism;  however, they pursue hidden realities,  miracle working, spiritual pleasures and ecstasy

• The first group is known as the perfect ones who have reached the destination.  This group is made up of prophets and saints

• The second group are the initiates, or those who are following the path of Sufism.   

• The third group is known as the settlers or clingers. 

• Jahri (Audible). The audible zikr has  more power to focus  when the individuals  are extremely distracted. It is also physically energizing.

• Khafi (silent). Silent zikr has even more power and at a deeper level. A simple and fundamental silent zikr is: breathe out "la illaha," breathe in "illal Allah."

• Tawba (repentance) is the first station in the life of an initiate. 
  • one feels regret, and is filled with remorse for his/her sins.  These people turn to God for forgiveness.
• Muhasaba
  • Self-criticism and self-interrogation (muhasaba)
  • In a spiritual sense, to analyze one's deeds in the hope that correcting them will bring one closer to God 
  • It enables a believer to make amends for past mistakes, and be absolved in the sight of God

• France
  • 5 and 6 million Muslims reside
• Germany
  •  3 million Muslims

Twenty percent of the African slaves brought to America between the 16^th to 19^th centuries were Muslims.  They were forced to convert to Christianity

• They believed that it was their original tradition

• The egalitarian tradition of Islam promotes a brotherhood of believers, which transcends ethnicity and color

• Elijah Poole (1897-1975)

• He converted to Islam in 1930, and changed his name to Elijah Muhammad. 

• Started preaching in Detroit in the 1930’s

• Elijah Muhammad was considered as a black savior who would bring liberation.  He believed that white people were devils

• He is considered the early founder of the Nation of Islam, 

• They believed that God was a black man, and that Elijah Muhammad was the messenger of God

• Malcolm X converted to Islam when he was in prison and attached himself to the Nation of Islam

• He visited Mecca for a pilgrimage, and when he returned he changed his mind about his conception of white people

• He left the Nation of Islam in 1964, to create a new organization based on his new vision of Islam

• White people were no longer seen as being evil 

• He felt Islam was above all ethnic differences

• The Nation of Islam, headed by Louis Farrakhan
• Warith Deen Muhammad’s group

• Tajdid (renewal)

• Islah (reform)

• 1) State that the righteous community, guided by the prophet at Medina, is the norm

• 2) Focus upon the necessity for the removal of foreign, un-Islamic accretions, bid'a (innovation)

• 3) Cite the need for a critique of established institutions

What is the 

The Wahhabi Movement?

• A literalist movement

• A radical, puritanical movement, supported at the beginning by Britain against the Ottoman Empire

• It was established by Muhammad bin Abd al-Wahhab (d.1792)

• Uthman Dan Fodio (d. 1817) in Nigeria

• Sanusi (d. 1859) Sufi movement in Libya)

• Mahdi of the Sudan (d. 1885)

• Hasan al Banna's (d. 1949) (the Muslim Brotherhood) in Egypt. 
• Mawdudi's (d. 1979) Jamaat-i-Islami (the Islamic Society), in India

• They were both reactionary movements against secularism in the Muslim world.  They focused not only against Western hegemony, but also against secularism.  

• These movements believed that Capitalism and Marxism represented manmade secularism, while Islam represented the straight path of God

• If we take this verse literally, many governments around the world should be considered infidels

• Nursi promoted the concept of love among different traditions.  He felt that there was no time for hatred.  Modern Turkish Islam was greatly influenced by this teaching.

• “(And remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah)” (Q. 3:45).

• Three interpretations of  “a word from God”

•  
  • The angel’s verbal promise to Mary

•  
  • Allah’s intervention in the birth of Jesus

•  
  • The command of God, which is “Be!”   كن

• Jesus is one of the prophets with whom God made a covenant (33:7).

• He is born of a virgin (3:47).

• He is the only prophet who spoke from the cradle (3:46).

• He and his mother are protected by God from Satan (3:36).

• He is faultless and pure (19:19).

• He is illustrious in the world and in the hereafter (3:45).

• Isa ÚíÓì  is mentioned in 25 Qur’anic verses as the Arabic name of Jesus.

• The title, Son of Mary, ÇÈä ãÑíã is mentioned in 33 verses.

• Al-Masih (the messiah).

• Al-Nabi (the prophet).

• Al-Rasul (the messenger of God).

• Min al-muqarrrabin (of those close to God).

• Mubarak (the blessed one)

• Qawl al-Haq (the true word)

• Abd Allah ( the servant of God)

• Kalimat Allah (a word of God)

• Ruh Allah (a spirit from God).

• To proclaim the monotheistic-ethical message of God.

• He is an apostle to the children of Israel (3:49; 4:157; 5:75)

• God revealed to Jesus a special message, INJIL,  the Gospel (3:48; 5:46; 19:30; 57:27).

• In the Gospel, there is guidance, light, and admonition for the God-fearing (5:46).

• Jesus made lawful to Israelites certain things earlier forbidden (3:50)

• Jesus called upon the people to surrender themselves to God (to be muslims) (5:116-117).

• Jesus’ birth, itself, is a miracle

• Jesus spoke from the cradle. Unique to the Qur’an

• Allah gives Jesus the gift of revelation, i.e. the Gospel.

• Allah says, “And behold you did make of clay a bird by My leave and you breathed into it and it became a bird by My leave”(5.110).

• Jesus heals the blind and lepers.

• Raised the dead to life.

• At Jesus Jesus’ request, a table (maideh) of food is sent

• States that they did not kill Jesus

• He was taken to Allah.

• “And remember when Allah said: ‘O Jesus, I will take you and raise you to Myself and clear you of those who disbelieve.” (3:55)

• The word “Mutawaffika ãÊæÝíß has several meanings:

• I will take you from earth and raise you to Myself

• Your death is postponed until the second coming

• You will die your natural death after your victory over the Antichrist.

• First interpretation: “They crucified someone other than Jesus, whom they mistook for Jesus”  One of  the disciples made to look like Jesus, and Jesus disappeared and soldiers took one of the remaining men. Two candidates: Simon of Cyrene and Judas Iscariot

• Second interpretation: coma and revived

• Third Interpretation: When the soldiers entered the cottage, they could not identify him as everyone has taken his physical attributes, and so they picked and crucified someone at random.

• Two views on the ascension of Jesus in Islamic tradition

1. Physical and spiritual ascension 2. Only Spiritual ascension

• The majority believe that it was both physical and spiritual

     “I am taking you and raising you to My throne, away from the world filled with unbelievers and the sinful.”

• he traditional  approach: interprets the text in a literal sense. God is all powerful. He will bring Jesus, bodily and spiritually, to earth.

• The modern approach: does not accept the authenticity of the texts. They claim that the teachings of Islam on the second coming are influenced by Judaism and Christianity.

• The  middle approach: accepts the coming of Jesus, but in a different way. Jesus symbolizes spirituality. Therefore, the spirituality of Jesus will overcome disbelief at the end of the world. They focus on cooperation between Muslims and Christians in this regard.