Description
Book SynopsisFrom the Qur'an to Ramadan, this friendly guide introduces you to the origins, practices and beliefs of IslamMany non-Muslims have no idea that Muslims worship the same God as Christians and Jews, and that Islam preaches compassion, charity, humility, and the brotherhood of man. And the similarities don't end there. According to Islamic teaching, Muhammad founded Islam in 610 CE after the angel Gabriel appeared to him at Mecca and told him that God had entered him among the ranks of such great biblical prophets as Abraham, Moses, and Christ. Whether you live or work alongside Muslims and want to relate to them better, or you simply want to gain a better understanding of the world's second largest religion, Islam For Dummies can help you make sense of this religion and its appeal, including: Muhammad, the man and the legendThe Five Pillars of WisdomThe Five Essentials beliefs of IslamThe different branches of Islam and Islamic sectsThe Qur'an and Islamic lawIslam throughout history and
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1
About This Book 1
Conventions Used in This Book 2
Foolish Assumptions 3
How This Book is Organized 4
Part 1: Understanding the Basics 4
Part 2: Muhammad: The Man, the Book, and Rules of Law 4
Part 3: Becoming Familiar with Muslim Daily Life 5
Part 4: Recognizing That All Muslims Aren’t the Same 5
Part 5: Considering Islam’s Concept of Abrahamic Religions 5
Part 6: The Part of Tens 5
Part 7: Appendixes 5
Icons Used in This Book 6
Where to Go From Here 6
Part 1: Understanding the Basics 7
Chapter 1: Approaching Islam 9
Getting an Overview of Islamic Origins 9
Summarizing Islamic Beliefs 10
Dividing into Branches 11
Counting the Numbers 11
Locating Islam on the World Map 12
Chapter 2: Tracing the Path of Islamic History 15
The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs 17
Choosing a successor: Abu Bakr (632–634) 18
Expanding out of Arabia: `Umar (634–644) 19
Gathering the Qur’an: `Uthman (644–656) 21
Rebelling against `Ali (656–661) 22
Expanding the state 23
The Golden Age 24
Umayyad rule (661–750) 25
Abbasid rule (750–1258) 27
Bridging the Gap 29
Three Great Later Empires 31
Ottoman Empire: The Turks 32
Safavid Empire: The Iranians 33
Mughal Empire: Islam in South Asia 35
Chapter 3: Submitting to God 37
Affirming the Unity of God: Tawhid 38
Clarifying the Terminology: Allah Equals God 40
Testifying to God’s Supremacy 41
Defining the Attributes of God 42
Loving and Knowing God 43
Invoking the 99 Names of God 44
Dividing the names into categories 45
Remembering the names 46
Chapter 4: What Muslims Believe 47
Stating the Five Essential Beliefs of Islam 47
Believing in God 49
Believing in God’s angels 50
Believing in God’s books and in God’s messengers 50
Believing in the last day and the resurrection from the tomb 52
Explaining the Faith to Non-Muslims 55
Expounding the Faith: Dealing with Difficult Faith Issues 56
Naming some theological issues 58
Defining a true Muslim 59
Relating faith to works 59
Degrees of faith 60
Anthropomorphizing God 60
Created or eternal Qur’an 60
Knowing what is good and evil 60
Rejecting Formal Creeds 61
Chapter 5: Standing Before God: Heaven and Hell 63
Understanding Other Beings beyond God and Humans 64
Gabriel and the other angels 64
Aladdin’s lamp and the jinn 67
The Devil made me do it 68
Going to Heaven or Hell: From Life to Death to Resurrection 69
Dying and the grave 69
The resurrection and the final judgment 70
Facing the unresolved issues 71
Envisioning Heaven and Hell 72
Hell and its torments 73
Heaven and its delights 74
Women and the houris in heaven and hell 74
Part 2: Muhammad: The Man, the Book, and Rules of Law 77
Chapter 6: The Prophet: Muhammad 79
Setting the Stage: Arabia before Muhammad 80
Two key cities 81
Outside the cities: The beduin 82
Arabian religious practices 82
Telling the Story of Muhammad 83
Growing up 84
Summoning the people of Mecca 86
Facing opposition 87
Establishing the community in Medina 88
A chronology from 622 to 630 90
Thinking about Muhammad Theologically 92
Messenger, prophet, and seal of the prophets 92
Comparing Muhammad with Jesus and Moses 92
Living like the beautiful example 94
Reviewing the miracles of Muhammad 94
Exploring the sinlessness of Muhammad 95
Respecting Muhammad as intercessor 95
Relating Personally to Muhammad 95
Naming Muhammad 95
Exalting Muhammad in poetry 96
Celebrating Muhammad’s birthday 97
Preserving the relics of Muhammad 97
Viewing Muhammad as the light of the world and the pole of the universe 97
Searching for the Historical Muhammad 97
Traditional biographies 97
Non-Muslim biographies 98
Chapter 7: The Book: The Qur’an 99
Introducing the Qur’an 100
What is scripture? 100
The basics of the Qur’an 100
Hearing the Qur’an 101
Treating the Qur’an with Respect 103
Gathering and Organizing the Qur’an 104
Putting the Qur’an into writing 104
Pronouncing the Qur’an 104
Organizing the Qur’an 105
Compiling the Qur’an: The Muslim view 105
Compiling the Qur’an: The view of non-Muslim scholars 107
Compiling the Qur’an: A radical view 108
The Style of the Qur’an 108
The Qur’an as evocative speech 109
The idiom of the Qur’an 110
The inimitability of the Qur’an (i`jaz) 110
Recurring thematic elements in the Qur’an 111
The problem of shifting perspectives in the Qur’an 112
Interpreting the Qur’an 113
The process of interpreting the Qur’an 113
Exoteric and esoteric interpretation 113
The abrogated verses 114
Using the Qur’an in Daily Life 114
Educating through the Qur’an 115
Reciting the Qur’an 115
Reproducing the Qur’an: Calligraphy 116
Opening the Qur’an: The Fatiha 117
Chapter 8: Islamic Tradition and Law 119
Imitating Muhammad 120
Understanding the two parts of a hadith 120
Uncovering the contents of a hadith 121
Collecting the hadiths 121
Reviewing the 40 traditions 123
Evaluating the hadiths 123
Using hadiths in more modern times 124
Understanding God’s Law 125
Rooting out the four roots of law (usul al-fiqh) 125
Getting legal: The Schools of law (madhhab) 129
Making a decision 131
Reforming the law 133
Part 3: Becoming Familiar with Muslim Daily Life 137
Chapter 9: The Five Pillars of Worship: Foundations of Islam 139
Purification: Getting Ready for Worship 140
Removing impurity 141
Sources of impurity 141
The Shahada (First Pillar): Testifying 142
Salat (Second Pillar): Praying 143
When to pray 143
Where do Muslims pray? 144
Calling to prayer (adhan) 145
Doing the first rak`a (bowing) 146
Adding additional rak`as and voluntary prayers 148
Jum`a: Gathering for Friday congregational prayer 149
The mosque (masjid) 149
Zakat (Third Pillar): Helping the Needy 152
Saum (Fourth Pillar): Reflecting and Fasting 153
Dawn to dust 154
A day in Ramadan 154
The meaning of Saum during Ramadan 155
`Id al-fitr (feast of the breaking of the fast) 156
Hajj (Fifth Pillar): Making the Pilgrimage to Mecca 156
The center of the earth 157
The days of pilgrimage 158
Making the side trip to Medina (al-ziyarah) 161
Chapter 10: Observing Other Religious Rituals and Customs 163
Rituals linked to the Yearly Calendar 164
Celebrating Muhammad’s birthday 164
Typical elements in the celebration of the maulid 166
Honoring the saints 168
Reviewing other rituals 170
Marking Life’s Transitions 171
Born yesterday 171
Receiving a name 171
Offering the sacrifice 172
Circumcising (khitan) 172
Coming of age 173
Getting hitched 175
Knocking on death’s door 177
Observing Everyday Customs 179
Finding food for thought 179
Dressing the part 180
Minding your manners 182
Looking at Women’s Rituals 182
Chapter 11: Muslim Ethics: Living the Good Life 185
Reviewing the Starting Points for Islamic Ethics 186
The principles of Islamic ethics 187
Illustrative texts 188
Sources for ethical guidance 188
Dealing with sins, major and minor 189
Applying Ethics to Practical Issues 190
Understanding Sexual Ethics 190
Outlining Ethics Regarding Marriage and Family 193
The role of women 196
Medical ethics 198
Social and economic justice 199
Political issues 200
Other ethical issues 200
Part 4: Recognizing That All Muslims Aren’t the Same 203
Chapter 12: Shi`ites 205
Locating and Counting Shi`ite Muslims 206
Keeping the Faith in the Family 206
Designating `Ali as Muhammad’s successor 207
Shi`ite understanding of the imam 207
Reviewing Two Foundational Events of Shi`ism 209
The betrayal and martyrdom of `Ali 209
The martyrdom of Husayn at Karbala 210
Postscript: The march of the penitents 211
Following the Line of the 12 Imams 211
Shi`ism under the Umayyads 211
Shi`ism under the Abbasids 212
Iran becomes a Twelver Shi`ite state 213
Worshipping in Twelver Shi`ite Fashion 214
Remembering Husayn at `ashura’ 214
Making pilgrimage to the imams’ tombs 215
Some differences in Shi`ite rituals 216
Thinking like Shi`ites 216
Shi`ite religious law (shari`a) 216
Shi`ite clergy: The mullas 217
Shi`ite philosophers and theologians 218
Interacting: Shi`ites, Sufis, and Sunnis 219
Shi`ites and Sufis 219
Shi`ites and Sunnis 220
Chapter 13: Sufis 221
Searching for God 222
Sufism: An overview of its history 222
Textual and historical foundations 224
Believing in the Sufi Manner 224
Making a Contribution: Outstanding Individual Sufis 226
Organizing the Sufi Community 229
Lodges 229
The Sufi brotherhood 230
Acting in the Sufi Manner 230
Joining a Sufi brotherhood 231
Following the rules of the brotherhood 231
Remembering God: Dhikr 231
Hearing God: Sama` 232
Communal dhikr with sama` 233
Putting Faith into Verse: Sufi Literature 233
Establishing the Sufi Brotherhoods 234
Rejecting Sufism 237
Chapter 14: Exploring Lesser-Known Sects Linked to Islam 239
`Ibadis (the early Kharijites) 241
Zaydis (or Fiver Shi`ites) 241
Isma`ili (or Sevener Shi`ite) Groups 242
Qarmatians 242
Nizaris 242
Musta`li, Tayyibis, and Bohras are all the same — almost! 244
On the Fringes of Islam and Beyond 245
Druze 245
`Alawis (Nusayris) 246
Alevis 247
Ahmadiyya 248
Baha’is 249
Chapter 15: Islam in America 251
Getting an Overview 251
Looking at Muslim origins in the United States 251
Snapshot of American Muslims today 252
Calculating the numbers 253
Organizing the Muslim Community 254
Building mosques (masjids) 254
Establishing national Islamic organizations 255
Reestablishing a Black Muslim Community 256
Noble Drew Ali 256
Wallace D Fard 257
Elijah Muhammad 258
Malcolm X 258
Warith Deen Mohammed 259
Reviving the Nation of Islam 260
Shi`ites in America 261
Sufis in America 261
Facing the Future as Muslim Americans 262
Internal issues 262
External issues 264
Part 5: Considering Islam’s Concept of Abrahamic Religions 265
Chapter 16: Seeking Common Roots: Abrahamic Religion and Beyond 267
Belonging to the Same Family 267
Recognizing the same ancestor 268
Worshipping the same God 268
Sharing the same book 269
Reviewing family relations 269
Reading the Bible in the Qur’an 270
Why the stories in the Qur’an differ from those in the Bible 271
The Adam story 272
Abraham, Lot, Ishmael, and Isaac 272
Joseph: The “most beautiful of stories” 273
The Moses story 274
The death of Jesus 275
Muhammad in the Bible 276
Muslims Facing Other Religions 277
Two early treaties 277
Dhimmi (protected peoples) 278
Moving Toward Religious Dialogue 279
Principles of dialogue 280
The future of inter-religious relations 281
Chapter 17: Seeking Common Ground 283
Ascertaining Muslims’ Concerns 284
Uncovering internal problems in the Muslim world 284
Taking the pulse of the Muslim world 285
Listing Muslim complaints against the West and possible Western responses 286
Listing concerns of American Muslims 287
Hearing American Concerns Regarding Muslims 288
Facing the Major Issues 290
Clash of civilizations 290
Human rights 290
Democracy and Islam 291
Jihad 292
Terrorism 293
Knowing What’s Needed from the Muslim Side 294
Knowing What’s Needed from the Western Side 294
Chapter 18: Meeting the Challenge of Modernity 295
Considering Islamic Democracy 295
Reclaiming Identity as an Islamic State 296
Naming the Islamists 297
Leading the way: Three Islamist movements 297
Identifying what separates Islamist reformers from Islamist radicals 299
Forming a Shi`ite Islamic Republic 300
Coming of the revolution: Khomeini 300
Taking Iran in a new direction 301
Facing the future 302
Reviewing the Globalization of Islamic Radicalism: bin Laden and Afghanistan 302
Afghanistan 302
Bin Laden and al-Qaeda 304
Part 6: The Part of Tens 305
Chapter 19: Ten Muslim Contributions to World Civilization 307
Transmission of Greek Writings 308
Algebra and Mathematics 308
Arabic Numbers 309
Astronomy 309
Engineering and Technology 310
Medicine 310
Pharmacology 311
Physics, Specifically Optics 311
Architecture 312
Taj Mahal 312
The Alhambra 313
Chapter 20: Ten Noteworthy Muslims, Past and Present 315
Taking a Long Trip: Ibn Battuta 315
Gathering it All Together: al-Tabari 316
Wielding the Sword of Saladin 317
Glorifying the King: Akbar 318
Thinking Deep Thoughts: Ibn Rushd 319
Creating the First Philosophy of History: Ibn Khaldun 320
Becoming a Hero of the Revolution: Ali Shariati 321
Building Great Mosques: Sinan 322
Winning the Nobel Prize: Naguib Mahfouz 323
Listening to Umm Kulthum 323
Chapter 21: Ten Islamic Regions in the News Today 325
Africa 326
Nigeria 326
Sudan 327
Tunisia 327
South Asia 327
Bangladesh 328
India 328
Kashmir 328
Southeast Asia and the Pacific 329
Indonesia 329
Malaysia 330
Philippines 331
The Balkan States 331
Bosnia-Herzegovina 332
Kosovo and Albania 332
Iraq 332
Lebanon 333
Palestine and Israel 334
The Former Soviet Union 336
Syria 336
Turkey 337
Part 7: Appendixes 339
Appendix A: Counting the Years: The Muslim Calendar 341
Appendix B: Glossary 345
Appendix C: Resources: Digging Deeper 351
Academic Resources 351
The Qur’an 352
Video Resources 353
Computer Software 353
Islam on the Web 354
Islamic organizations 354
Islamic publishers and retailers 355
And Finally 355
Index 357
