Muhammad lived in
570 A.D - 632 A.D.

Islam begins after
Muhammad’s first
revelation around
609 A.D.,
revelations that
continue for 23
years until his
death.

​Note: not on notes sheet

Islam: The Way of Submission

Basic Terms

● Arabic Root – S-L-M
● Islam = “submission” or “surrender”
● Islamic describes things
● Muslim = “one who submits to the will of Allah"

● Allah – from al + ilah – “the God”
● Salaam= “peace”
● Goal of Islam = finding peace through submission to God's will

Islam: The Way of Submission

How Does One Serve God?

●The problem, according to Islam: men feel they
are self-sufficient - pride

●They have forgotten God

●Action divides believers from non-believers

●Islam’s attractiveness comes from its simplicity
and practice

●Orthopraxy > orthodoxy
○Right practice > right belief

●A Muslim is a servant- worshipper (abd)

●Muhammad is considered the most excellent model

Islam: The Way of Submission

The Five Pillars

●Shahada (Confession of Faith) – “There is no God but
Allah and Muhammad is his prophet”

●Salat/salah (Prayer) – 5x/ day towards Mecca

●Friday in mosque/ masjid – includes wudu (washing)

●Sawm (Fasting) – sunrise to sunset during Ramadan
(yearly feast; 30 days). May eat before sunrise (Suhoor)
and after sunset (Iftar).

●(Sawm = “parched thirst”) – commemorates the month
when Muhammad first received the Qur’an

●Hajj (Pilgrimage) – to Mecca 1x during life – 12th month,
ends of 12th day (does change from year to year), which
follows example of Muhammad - Ka’aba mosque

●Zakat (Almsgiving) – purifies the property of the giver
and the heart from selfishness and greed – 2.5%

Islam: The Way of Submission

Six Articles of Faith - belief in….

●Oneness of Allah – not divided, no partners, no 'son',
nature not comprehensible - Tawhid (singular unity of God)

●Allah’s Prophets – Muhammad was the final prophet

●Allah’s revelations – only the pure Qur’an exists – all
other books corrupted

●Allah’s angels - added Allah in revealing His will

●Qadar– if God wills it, it will happen, if God doesn’t
will it, it won’t happen – common phrase – “If God wills it"

●Day of Resurrection – a mahdi will be the redeemer
of Islam (in Shia Islam) – later Jesus will return and
reward and punish based on one’s deeds

Islam: The Way of Submission

The Qur’an (Koran)

●Qur’an (Koran) – “recital”, other names - “Criterion”,
“Standard”, “Glorious Book”

●From Allah through Gabriel to Muhammad – over 23 years

●Allah reveals his will, not himself (different from Judeo-Christian view)

●114 suras (chapters) – given titles based on elements
mentioned in the chapters

●Arranged based on the length of chapters

●Made up of verses (ayats) – “signs”, “miracles” – the
beauty of the Qur’an is his miracle

●Compiled by the 3rdcaliph (religious/ political leader of
Islam) - Uthman ibn Affan

●Arabic version is considered very words of God - no
translations can match it, interpret fully correct

●Many devout Muslims, known as hafiz, memorize the
entire text

Islam: The Way of Submission

Interpretation of the Qur’an

●What if there are seeming contradictions?

●Nullification/ Abrogation theory (Naskh)

○Allah cancels out certain revelations and substitutes
new ones for old ones - what was revealed last to
Muhummad wins out

○“Allah abrogates and confirms what he pleases” (Sura 13:39)

●Hadith– Muhammad's tradition, as told by his companions
(oral tradition akin to Mishnah and Talmud)

○not considered divine revelation (collected in 9th &
10th cent.) – apply the Qur’an to daily life

○Oral traditions recording the Sunna(h) (words and
deeds) of Muhammad

○The Qur’an commands Muslims to follow Muhammad’s example (Sura 33:21)

○Muslim scholars collected most authentic Hadith in 9th
century – led by “Sahih Bukhari” (810-870 AD)