Huston Smith Part 4

Chapter 8- Sufism

Question: What is Sufism and how did it come about?

Main Ideas:

1. Sufis are those within the Islamic Community that came after Muhhamads death.

2. Every message in the Quran is important

3. Sufis wanted to see God directly

4. Sufism is very complicated and only understood and practiced by few

5. In Sufism, symbolism is very important

Thesis Statement: Sufism came to be after the death of Muhammad and is the mystery dimension of Islam.

Summary: Sufism is a small branch of Islam. It is practiced by a few however its beliefs are hardly understood by those out of that denomination. Since Gods image cannot be replicated, symbols are used as centers of worship. This is important because the goal of Sufis is to encounter God directly.

 

Chapter 9- Whither Islam

Question: How has the importance of following Muhammad's teachings changed in Islam?

Main Ideas:

1. Islam has changed overtime in accordance with the world. So Muhammad’s teachings have changed overtime as well.

2. As western culture has continued to grow and become more important, Muslims have wandered from the words of Muhammad

3. Faithful prayer is still very important in Islam

4. God is good

5. Islam is a monotheistic religion. They believe Allah is the only God.

Thesis Statement: Muhammad is still very important in the religion of Islam, but his words have slightly different meaning now and Muslim's interpret them differently because of "mere profession".

 

Summary: As times have changed so have the customs and practices. This process has especially happened due to the growth and impact of western culture. Today, Muhammad’s words are not understood or practiced the way they would have been in the past. However, somethings have remained the same. This being the devotion to pray 5 times a day.

Huston Smith Part 3

Chapter 6-The Five Pillars

Question: What is the impact of the five pillars on a Muslims life?

Main Ideas:

1. Islam teaches people to walk the right path

2.  Islam believes the path is direct and explicit

3. The five pillars are principals that regulate Muslims' lives in their dealings with Allah.

4. Prayer is daily, around 5 times a day

5. Purpose of pilgrimage to Mecca is to improve a follower’s devotion to God

Thesis Statement: The five pillars help Muslims to make wise decisions based on what will keep them on a straight path.

Summary: The five pillars are a central aspect of Islam. The goal is to help Muslims find God and stay on the straight and just path. The first of the five pillars is that there is no god but God, and Muhammad is His Prophet. The second pillar states that a follower’s faithfulness must be constant. The third pillar of Islam is charity, the fourth is the observance of Ramadan, and the fifth Islam pillar is the pilgrimage to Mecca. All of these pillars help Muslims make the right decisions to lead them on the right path.

 

 

Chapter 7- Social Teachings

Question: What concepts within social teachings are taught in Islam?

Main Ideas:

1. Love your family

3. Society needs everyone to follow and nurture it for it to grow and develop

4. Family is a good foundation for society

5. Interracial marriages is a form of equality

Thesis Statement: Islam focuses on social teachings through race, sexual status, and economy.

Summary: Social Teachings in Islam are very important, as they display the importance of family love. Using the Quran as a spiritual guide, it becomes clear that family is key, as well as economy, the positive status of women, equality in race, and positive use of force in society. Family love is very important in society. The Quran states that family love is very important and the Quran can be seen as a spiritual guide. Also, for society to succeed there must be equality. Equality among gender and equality among race.

Huston Smith Part 2

Chapter 4: The Standing Miracle

 Question: Why is the Quran said to be the standing miracle?

 Main Ideas:

 1. The Quran is the most recited book in the world

 2.  “Salam” "Blessings and peace be upon him"

 3. The Quran was formed by 23 years of Muhammad’s teachings.

 4. "This is the scripture whereof there is no doubt"

 5. Quran regulates how every event in a Muslim’s life is judged

 Thesis Statement: The Quran is said to be a standing miracle because it still has great importance to this day and is a daily reminder for the right actions.

Summary:

Muhammad taught the word of God for 23 years before it was written down as the Quran. To this day the Quran shows religious significance and is seen as a daily reminder of right action in day to day life. The Quran is a guide on how to live the way the lord intended. Muslims are able to deepen their understanding and strengthen their connection with Allah through reading the Quran.

Chapter 5: Basic Theological Concepts

Question: How do the basic concepts of Islam compare with other religions?

Main Ideas:

1. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have similar basic concepts

 2. God is the focus of the religion

3. God cannot be portrayed in any way because that is not the true form of God

4. Muslims respect and fear Allah

 5. The Quran is read in hymn

Thesis Statement: The ideals of Islam are central aspects of Islam and are similar to other religions as well

    Summary:
Islam, Christianity, and Islam have similar basic ideals. One difference is, Muslims fear God while Christians have immense love for him. Muslims must surrender themeselves to God and also follow the right path in order to please God. In addition, the Quran is read in Hymns, unlike the bible.

Objective 1.7

How great is the impact of the prophet Muhammad on the different sects of Islam?

Objective 1.6

Objective 1.6

 

Salfasts believe the ideaology of Islam is not practiced the way it should be. Salfists believe in order to keep Islam authentic, they must revert back to follow the original teachings. Salafists that believe in jihadism can be described as extremists or even, terrorists. These extremists are here for one goal, to create a free Islamic state. The problem is that they try to gain their power by inflicting fear and terror. Also, they believe this is the way God intended, so they push take themselves to great extremes and believe it is the right thing to do because they believe it is God’s plan.

Objective 1.5

Objective 1.5

  Sufism: The Hear of Islam

•A sufi is a good Muslim who follows Sharia and seeks the internal meaning behind Sharia

•Because you are a Muslim, you are not required to follow Sufi

•There is a boundary between ones secular self and their religious self

•Most Muslims chose to live a secularist life

•The goal of Sufism is to lose your ego

•Finding God within oneself leads to a good life

If you do not allow God into your life you may become a vestitute

•Sufism is a journey that takes a lifetime

•Choosing to believe in Allah is a conscious choice

Objective 1.4

Objective 1.4
 

Part 1

·      1.3 million Muslims are Shia

·      Shia are minority

·      Concentrated in Iran and southern Iraq

·      The split occurred after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in the year 632

·      Shiites believe that Muhammad was the final prophet to proclaim the true word of God, Sunnis believe there are other prophets that followed

·      Shiites are looking for the coming of the Messiah.

 

Part 2

·      Shiites of Iraq and Lebanon were ruled by Sunni Ottoman sultans.

·      The Shiites of Arabia were under the authority of Sunni tribal leaders.

·     The name Iran was created by Pahlavi and the goal was to create a secular Government

 

Part 3

·      The Shiites although considered the minority they have become well known in the US.

·      Revolutions happened to try and spread Islamic beliefs throughout the Middle East

·      They encountered resistance from the Arab states led by Sunnis

·      Sunni is Islam's majority branch

·      Sunni and Shiites settled their differences violently

·      Their objective was to overthrow of secular governments and establishments of Islamic states

·      President Ronald Reagan sent U.S. troops to Lebanon to keep the peace

 

Part 4

·      The United States invasion of Iraq began on March 20th, 2003.

 

·      Thought the war was expected to be brief and islam would regain peace

 

·      The U.S. claimed that Iran was responsible for much of the violence in Iraq

 

·      Clerics took the lead because there's hardly any form of secular civil society in the country today that can act as the nucleus of an Iraqi political system

 

·      Shiite clerics in Iraq worked hard to pursue their own model of government

 

·      Shia never governed a modern Arab state.

 

·      Shia controlled Iran while Sunnis controlled most of the Arab states in the middle East

 

 

Part 5

·      Conflicts between Shiites and Sunnis are yet to be resolved

·      U.S. view Shiite forces as very dangerous and hostile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dailky check in 3/11

Daily check in
So far I have completed 4 of the objectives
I plan to complete objective 1.4 today
Today my effort was a 7. I did not complete my objective for the day because I did not finish my outline. Also, I had to finish something else in this class being reformatting my study guide

Wrenn and Robinson objective 1.9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njQz7diZg6c


https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ny3TLm7Hm0duuITOXKlHLzOfMB1ldjX9oGIahGXvrf4/edit#slide=id.ga8b1df8c3_037

Punishment and Equality Under Sharia

1. Hadd crimes: Unlawful sexual intercourse, false accusation of unlawful sexual intercourse, wine drinking, theft, highway robbery

2. Criminal laws are the most controversial because Sharia law me be different from criminal law which can cause conflict

3. Vigilante justice are really extreme ways of gaining justice in the eyes of a westerner or progressivist. These include honour killings and retaliated murder.

4.Shia law is the old time traditions of Muslim that describe the consequences of unlawful actions. Secularism is the laws that are deemed suitable from the eyes of a westerner. The discussion in the article is whether or not these two opposing viewpoints can coexist.

5. Sharia law has been integrated into the political system into the dual legal system where Muslims can chose if they want to follow their rules of Sharia or the rules of secularism. Also, in countries were Islam is the official religion, sharia law is declared to the source of laws. Some countries declare to be completely secular however, sharia law still influences local customs.

6. In my opinion, sharia law as it is supposed to be can not coexist ,with democracy. The reason for this is because the two have two very different views. In order to make it work, both would have to compromise and at that point I don't think it can be considered Sharia Law and/ or democracy anymore.

7. Sharia has a large impact on modern economics, esoecially in the banking industry. Sharia law impacts who and what you can get loans for

Daily check in 3/9/2015

1. Progress Monitoring: What objectives have I completed/mastered thus far? _3___ out of 9
2. Goal Setting: Which objectives will you complete/work on today? _____today I plan to complete the sharia law questions_____
3. Reflection:

Objective 1.3

Paper 2

To what extent do rules on dress reflect or inform communal identity?

The rules on dress is a key indicator of that community’s identity. In regards to Muslim woman, there is a large variety on the strictness of their modesty. Some communities are very strict and a full body covering is the social normality of that community. In less traditional communities only a Hijab is worn; and lastly in more modern communities no coverings are worn at all. From the words of a progressive American Muslim women, “She says that Islam teaches modesty — but wearing the Hijab is taking it a step too far.” These many different views really mix up the views of that community. For that reason, based on the style of dress, it can easily be seen the ideals of that community.

            Rules on dress are not limited to just Muslims. All communities reflect their views based on their style of dress. Quite simply, you can assume a general age range of someone and what community they associate with based on their style of dress. For example, a nine year old will dress much differently from a twenty-one year old. Also, clothing is a clear indicator because it is very identifiable, and it has clear borders. What I mean by this is that once you leave that community, the style of dress changes. Because there is so much variety in style of clothing it is a great indicator of that community’s identity.   

Objective 1.2

Objective 1.2

What is the focus of this article? The focus of this article is to explain the importance of the Hijab and what the women think about wearing the Hijab.

General points: Most woman think the veil strips them of their individuality and they think it is overly modest.

Felt wearing the veil was becoming mechanical

Wanted to see if taking the veil off would fix their problems

“She says that Islam teaches modesty — but wearing the hijab is taking it a step too far.

"I've done my research, and I don't feel its foundation is from Islam," she says. "I think it comes from Arab culture."”

 

 

Daily check in 3/6/2015

. Progress Monitoring: What objectives have I completed/mastered thus far? ____1 out of 9
2. Goal Setting: Which objectives will you complete/work on today? 1.2-1.3__________
3. Reflection:
today I believe I had an 8 in regards to effort. I was focused 90% of the time and I finished the objectives I set as a goal. I finished objective 1.2 and my paper 2 today.

• On a scale of 0-10 (0= no effor, 10= maximum effort), how much effort did you put into today's class? 
• Briefly describe what you achieved today. Also - post any questions you might have for the class/Mr. Beller.

At the start of the class you will need to do the following:

(Post to blog)

1. Progress Monitoring: What objectives have I completed/mastered thus far? __0__ out of 9
2. Goal Setting: Which objectives will you complete/work on today? _Today I will complete objective 1.1 ____
3. Reflection: my effort today was a 5 I was productive but u did not work to my greatest abilities

On a scale of 0-10 (0= no effor, 10= maximum effort), how much effort did you put into today's class? 

Briefly describe what you achieved today. Also - post any questions you might have for the class/Mr. Beller.

Today I read through the article and I was able to gain a basic understanding of the key vocabulary