Islam

Notes from the Video · 578 birth of Mohammad. A lot of tribal war. His parents died when he was 6. He was concerned for people left out of society. · Oral cultures in the sense that everything was told from mouth to mouth. Poets would link the people to their history. · Water would be the reasons for a lot of the fighting. · Kabah would be the center of the religion as it was filled with polytheistic figures. It would be foster economic prosperity and merchant stuff. · Mohammad would become a merchant. · All the people were equal, children, woman and men. · 619 Mohammad’s wife and uncle died and he was alone now. · 622 marks year 1 in the Muslim calendar. · The city became known as Medina. The community of believers. · Treats the Christians and Jews as people of the book. · Received a revelation telling them to pray towards Mecca. · 630 Mohammad’s army returned to Mecca 10,000 strong. He did not kill the people of Mecca. · Destroyed the idols of other gods. Broke the tribal system basically.

Summary: Mohammad was severely affected by his personal life as he was orphaned when he was 6. The surroundings of tribes and tribal warfare would also influence him. The Kabah in Mecca would serve as the only place of peace during all the tribal warfare as there were multiple icons of multiple gods there. This peacefulness would make it easier for merchants to establish business there. Mohammad would become one of these merchants and through that he would meet his wife. He would eventually receive a revelation from God and would establish the religion. They were banned from Mecca and they set up their own community in Medina. After a bloody war, Mohammad returned to Mecca and destroyed the icons surrounding the Kabah essentially calling an end to tribalism.

1. **Shahadah** - The statement that there is only one God and Mohammad is his messenger - "Ashud anna, La illaha illa Allah... wa Muhammad rasul Allah" which translates to "I witness that, there is no god but God... and Muhammad is the messenger of God" must be said by converts or anyone that wants to become a muslim or believes in the Islamic faith. 2. **Salat** - pray 5 times a day - Once between dawn and sunrise another between noon to mid-afternoon another between mid-afternoon and just before sunset another at sunset another after twilight until nighttime - If two or more Muslims pray together, one leads the prayer called the imam. 3. **Siyam** - fasting for the lunar month of Ramadan. No eating when the sun is out. -fasting as a community creates a greater sense of community. Everyone, no matter what the socioeconomic status goes through the same hunger. 4. **Zakat** - service to the poor or less fortunate. - 2.5 percent of your wealth is to be given to less fortunate - encourages interactions between different classes 5. **Hajj** - pilgrimage to Mecca - unifies 2,000,000 Muslims every Ramadan - includes very specific ritual (which includes circling around the Kabah, this symbolized the seven times Mohammad went around the Kabah before destroying the icons of other religions)
 * __The Five Pillars of Islam__**
 * Summary:** The Five Pillars of Islam not only encourage strict adherence to the religion but promotes the development of a tight knit community. It provides structure for the everyday lives of Muslims and through this, they find common ground to bond as a community. The Pillars have something to do with the actions of a prophet (Ramadan is a celebration of Abrahim's belief in god). They leave little room for interpretation and that can be seen as the Islamic faith isn't broken down due to interpretation. The Shia and Sunni split was political and even to this day they still recognize each other as muslims.