No god but God
The Origins and Evolution of Islam
Reza Aslan 2005/2011Beaverton 297 ASL
- 001 prophets reformers of existing religions, not creators
- 001 Muhammed brought Christian/Jewish religion to Arabs
- 002 Jahiliyyah, Time of Ignorance 6th century C.E.
- 002 Ka'ba (cube) housed 360 idols for every Arabian Peninsula god
- 003 stories say built by Adam, rebuilt by Noah, rediscovered by Abraham
- 004 pilgrim's 7 turnings may mimic planets and stars
- 005 nomadic Bedouin vs urban sedentary tribes
005 creator god Allah (al-ilah "the god")
- 006 minor gods: daughters Allat, Uzza, Manat
006 no priests or scriptures, Kahin poet soothsayers
007 henotheism single high god with subordinate gods
- 007 Jews from Babylonian Exile, 009 Christian proselytizers (Yemen, Najran, Sana', Ghassanid tribes).
- 010 Zoroastrians (prophet Zarathustra) in Sasanian empire (later Iran)
- was monotheist, evolved to Ohrmazd God of Light and Ahriman God of Darkness
011 Hanfism monotheists, return to Abraham, from Arabic hnf, to turn away from
012 flourished in western Arabia, Hijaz
013 Bedouin tribalism - egalitarian with Sayyid or Shaykh mature tribal figurehead embodying conduct
014 Qa'id war leader, Kahin cultic official, Hakam settled disputes
015 Law of Retribution (an eye for an eye and nothing more), Crimes defined only within tribe
016 accumulated arbitrations became Sunna tribe's legal code
016 The Quraysh most powerful tribe in Mecca controlled Ka'ba since 4th century Qusayy gained control
- 017 Muhammad's clan Banu (sons of) Hashim
- 020 Muhammad birth traditionally 570 CE, but pre-Islamic birthdays were not recorded
- 021 traditional first prophetic experience, angels removed/cleaned/replaced his heart
- 022 age 6 orphaned, age 8 uncle Abu Talib employs him for caravan
- 022 age 9 passing Basra, Christian monk Bahira calls Muhammed the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds
023 these are prophetic topos literary themes
- 025 usually orphans and widows borrowed; debt, poverty, slavery
025 Muhammed as merchant considered upright and pious, al-Amin "the trustworthy one", occasionally served as Hakam
- 025 age 25 married widow Khadija
026 M. went on tahnnuth self-justification solitary retreats
027 610 CE (age 40 or 43?) meditating on Mount Hira, crushing embrace, "Recite" iqra (96:1-5)
029 an-nabi al-ummi, "Prophet for the unlettered" (successful merchant Muhammad must have been literate)
- 031 M. at first rejected messages, considered Kahins reprehensible charlatans
034 God al-Rahman the most merciful, al-Akram the most generous
- 036 Abu Talib's son Ali (M's young cousin and closest ally) and Quarayshi merchant friend Abu Bakr become followers
- 037 for a few years, 30-40 followers "Munammad's Companions"
037 613 CE sha-hadah There is no god but God, and Muhammad is God's Messenger ... monotheism
- 042 Quraysh impose boycott on Muhammad, Companions, Banu Hashim, removed after a few months
- 043 deaths of Abu Talib and of Khadija, new Banu Hashim Shaykh Abu Lahab withdrew M.'s clan protection
044 invited by Khazraj"' clan of Yathrib 400 km north. Hijra emigration a few at a time
046 622 CE becomes Year 1 AH, Yathrib becomes Medinat an-Naby City of the Prophet or Medina
- 051 Constitution of Medina, traditionally 1 A., probably after 624 CE or 626 CE after majority of Aws tribe converted
052 Ummah followers, becomes qawm "tribe" in Quran after 625 CE
- 055 equalized blood worth, outlawed usury
056 zakat ("purification") tithe, collected and redistributed to poor
- 057 women given right to dowries and inheritance
- 058 marries nine women during 10 years in Yathrib, political unions.
- Aisha (9 yo, consummated much later) daughter of Abu Bakr, Hafsay daughter of Umar. Jewish Rayhana, Coptic Christian Mariyah
059 veil and seclusion (hijab) not enjoined anywhere in Quran, was a sign of social status
627 CE
061 no other women in Ummah observed hijab
063 M. declares Yathrib haram sanctuary city for pilgrimage and trading, send followers to raid Meccan caravans
064 624 CE Badr raid becomes battle against 1000 Qurayshi warriors
065 jihad new constraints for warfare: killing women, children, monks, rabbis, elderly, or other noncombatants strictly forbidden
- enters Ka'ba, carries idols out one by one, and smashes them, except protecting Jesus/Mary statue
071 dhimmi: Chrstians, Jews, and other non-Muslims protected by Muslim community
075 shura (tribal consulation) appoints Abu Bakr Khalifat Rasul Allah "Successor to the Messenger of God"
079 Riddah Wars 632-634 CE to maintain unity and establis control
- today, some assert both deserve death (no Quranic support for this)
- 086 nepotism, corruption, self-aggrandizement. Fiercely hated.
087 650 CE: collected and canonized Quran, previously memorized by scholars called Qurra or Quran readers
092 Aisha (Muhammad's sister) leads Meccans to attack Ali in Medina, Battle of the Camel, first fitnah civil war
094 Shi'atu Uthman the Party of Uthman, maintain secular Caliphate.
095 Shi'atu Ali (later Shi'ite) preserving Muhammad's original Ummah regardless of social or political consequences.
095 Kharijites small Shi'ah faction claiming Ummah must be lead by the most pious person regardless of lineage. those who disagreed considered
kafir unbeliever and expelled from the Ummah
100 some claimed Ali was M.s sole successor, the first Imam, Proof of God on Earth