AHSS 2360 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Banu Hashim, Hoyland, Quraysh
28 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Week 4: Islam
Qur’an
-First revelation in 610 and would continue until Muhammad’s death
-Revealed to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel; Written in Arabic
-Received in both Mecca (more “eschatological” in Mecca—concerned with the Day of
Judgement) and Medina
-Plays a similar role to Christ in Christianity
-Later comes to be seen as “uncreated”—that is, existing for all time
-The Caliph Uthman fixed the final version of the Qur’an
-Not the only revelation, but the others are flawed; however, the Bible and its stories are
constantly referenced
-Ss the revelation of God’s will & not God’s self (as in Christianity)
-Meant to be recited from memory
-Muhammad is told simply, “Recite” by the angel—he is not the author of the Qur’an
-Like the Hebrew prophets, as Esposito notes, he tried to resist the divine command, as people
would claim that he was “possessed by jinns”
-The Qur’anic message was a call to repentance, to justice, to the end of oppression; and, most
important, a call to recognize the one God, ruler of all, whose will is supreme
-It is not a narrative—it is full of moral exhortations, revelations and visions
-Does not contain a biography of Muhammad
-Composed of 114 chapters (Suras)
-Fatiha (Introductory Sura): In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful. Praise be to God,
Lord of the Worlds. The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Master of the Day of Judgment. It is
You we worship, and upon You we call for help. Guide us to the straight path. The path of those
You have blessed, not of those against whom there is anger, nor of those who are misguided.
Major elements of this Sura:
-Majesty of God, who is owner of all
-The “straight path” is another name for Islam
-The Arabic is “al-sirat” which derives from the Latin strata (the English “street” also
comes from the Latin)
-God shows mercy and anger
-There are different kinds of people: the straight and the crooked, the believer and the
unbeliever (kafir)
Hadith
-Oral traditions about what Muhammad said, written down in the centuries after his death
-Some hadith are considered more legitimate than others, based on certification (isnad) and
divided among good, sound, and weak
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