RLG204H5 Final: NEWRLG204ExamReview-1

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Denny 32-45
32 - 34
The pages 32-34 of Denny's book summarize the Arabian Peninsula's geography while highlighting the
area where Islam originated, categorizes the Arabs as Semites and explains what this implies, claims that
the arabs are split into two branches: the northern and the southern branches and finally states that
islam originated within the northern branch. The numbers in square brackets are page references.
The Arabian Peninsula's terrain is inhospitable desert or marginally habitable steppe, consequently the
population is proportionally sparse[32](in prehistory it was relatively fertile and thus capable of
supporting larger populations[33]). The southern region, afected by the Indian Ocean monsoons, has
known a complex civilization that is related to Mesopotamia.The western sector of Arabia, from below
the latitude of the Sinai Peninsula in the north to about the latitudeof al-Ta’if in the south, is known as
Hejaz. Islam originated and developed around this region[32]. Since early times Arabia has been a major
factor in trade between the east and the west. [33]
The Arabs are Semites; the Arabic language belongs to a large family of related tongues [33]. A modern
theory claims that Semitic peoples originated in the Arabian peninsula in prehistory, they then migrated
to the fertile Crescent (to the north) forming well-known civilaztions [33]. Alternative theories claim that
the Semites originated in Africa or southern Mesopotamia. The dry nature of the Arabian peninsula has
limited the size of the population.[33]
The Arabs' roots' major sources are the northerners(nomads) and the southerners(civilized). Islam looks
back to the pastoral-nomad dominated past of Hejaz which belongs to the northern branch[33]. No
outside power had succeeded in subduing the region due to the difficulty of the terrain, its remoteness
and the fierceness of its inhabitants[33-34]. Al-Ja¯ hili¯ya ("the ignorance") is applied to the pre-islamic
times surrounding Hejaz. The term is meant to discredit the life of the Arabs durring those times.[34]
34 - 38 (TUESDAY!)
Schimmel 1-9
· Islam was attacked and seen as a threat for Europe and so Muslims were regarded as
enemies of Christianity and western civilization.
· Politically, this threat began with the conquest of Spain by the Arabs at the beginning of
the 8th century and ended with the siege (a military operation in which enemy forces
surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling the
surrender of those inside) of Vienna by the Ottoman Turks in 1683.
· Islam came into existence after Christianity and so was unaccepted as a true religion. It
was considered to be a heresy of Christianity as expressed by the Byzantine apologetic
writings and the German theologian Adolf von Harnack.
· Prophet Mohamed was considered to be a kind of supreme god.
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· Islam is known for refusing even the smallest trace of idolatry and prophet Mohamed
regarded himself as nothing but a human being and a servant of the one and unique God,
however it was misinterpreted due to the lack of linguistic knowledge.
· The knowledge of Arabic, cultic and theological language of Islam became considered by
the southern European universities by the 14th century.
· In 1143, the first Latin translation of Koran was produced by Robertus Ketenensis.
> Four centuries later, this translation was printed in Basel by Bibliander at the instigation of
Martin Luther.
> Based on this translation, an Italian translation appeared in 1616, a German translation
appeared by Salomon Schweigger followed by a Dutch translation.
· In the 16th and 17th centuries, during the familiarity with Arabic history and the languages
of Islam, a number of books of anti-Islamic character were produced in relation to the
pressure of the Turkish presence in eastern Europe. Many poetical products were produced
reflecting the hatred of the ‘Turkish religion’.
· During the Enlightenment, emerged a new approach to religion including Islam. Henri de
Boulainvilliers portrayed Mohamed as a man who preached a religion based on and
conforming to reason.
· In 1734, a British translation of Koran by George Sale appeared.
· Johann Jacob Reiske, known as “the martyr of Arabic Literature” was the first to
undertake the task of integrating Islamic history into universal history.
· In 1818, Goethe attempted to describe prophet Mohamed’s personality in addition to the
essence of the Islamic culture, Arabic and Persian.
· It is possible to trace literary and artistic influences in medieval Spain, where
representatives of Arabic natural sciences brought invaluable treasures to medieval Europe.
· The Crusades supplied the west with goods and words that give evidence of the Arabic
origin of luxury items that reached Europe.
· Many names of stars and mathematical terms (algebra) as well as chemical expressions
(alcohol) are part of the Arabic scientific heritage.
· Friedrich Ruckert, a first-class orientalist, introduced to Germany an immense treasure of
Arabic, Persian, and Indian poetry in the closest possible adaptations to the original form.
· The colonial interests of both Britain and France during the 19th century helped develop a
rich literature descriptive of Muslim manners and customs and inspired various genres of
Orientalizing painting and architecture.
· In the 19th century, a scholarly approach to Islam began.
· Gustav Weil tried to describe the life of the Prophet by separating what appeared to be
historical events from later pious legends.
· William Muir tended to draw a negative picture of Mohamed, describing him as hysterical
and pathological, an imposer and a mere social reformer.
· Theodor Noldeke made fundamental contributions to the history of Koran.
· Ignaz Goldziher wrote admirable studies concerning the development of hadith, the
different methods of interpreting koran, and numerous other major and minor works that
have not been superseded.
Ø These scholars built the foundations of scientific Islamology; they and their
contemporaries and successors tried to discover the prophet’s true goal and how Islamic
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intellectual history unfolded. They tried to penetrate with ever new methods the
traditions, ideas, and developments that seems to surround the religion.
Arabia before Islam:
· South Arabia was known for its wealth until prophet Mohamed was born (570) and its
most glorious times were over.
· Ancient Polytheisnm has been replaced by Jewish and Christian influences.
· In Central Arabia, a “primitive” religion was maintained and the country boasted tribal
sanctuaries.
· Caves and stones were regarded as sacred and filled with blessing power, Baraka.
· The center of the stone cult was Mecca: there, the black stone in the southeastern corner
of the Ka’ba was the goal of annual pilgrimages.
· Such pilgrimages, performed at specific times, brought the wealthy trade center economic
advantages.
· Trade fairs and markets were held during the four sacred months, during which fighting
and killing were prohibited, and members of all Arabic clans and tribes would travel to the
sacred places.
· The life of Arabs during this period, which Muslims call Jahiliyya, “time of ignorance”,
showed little trace of religious feeling as reflected by literature.
· From the late 6th century A.D., Arabic poetry sang mainly of the virtues of the Bedouins:
bravery, hospitality, revenge, faith in an immutable fate, but does not display religious
consciousness.
· Women used to compose threnodies for those killed in war; the priests at sanctuaries
performed soothsaying in high-sounding rhyming prose.
· The Arabic language, in its poetic idiom, unfolded to perfection the finest tendencies
inherent in all Semitic languages, superseding the dialectical variants of everyday speech.
An inexhaustible wealth of words is combined with extreme syntactic brevity appeared.
· The perfection of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry has rarely been reached by writers at any
later point in history, and the language, with its possibilities, was the most important and
precious heritage which Islam received from its native Arabic soil.
· Christian motifs appeared in Arabic poetry: wandering monks, or the light that shines forth
from a hermit’s cell.
· The country was situated in the sphere of influence of Byzanz and Persia, both trade
partners of the Meccans, and this facilitated contacts with Jacobite, Melkite, and Nestorian
Christians; but there were no entire Christian colonies.
· There were Jewish settlements not far from Medina.
· There were seekers called hanif and it seems that the belief in a high God, Allah formed
the center of their religious attitude. Their religious interest intensifies by contacts with
Christians or Jew.
· Arabia could’ve been a Christian country if Mohamed haven’t appeared.
Article: Alexander
-Arabs claim descendent from Ishmael son of Abraham, by hagar his slave wife. (Greeks
called them Hagarenoi). Divided into two : Yamani, who spoke sabarean from south of
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Document Summary

The numbers in square brackets are page references. The arabian peninsula"s terrain is inhospitable desert or marginally habitable steppe, consequently the population is proportionally sparse[32](in prehistory it was relatively fertile and thus capable of supporting larger populations[33]). Since early times arabia has been a major factor in trade between the east and the west. The arabs are semites; the arabic language belongs to a large family of related tongues [33]. A modern theory claims that semitic peoples originated in the arabian peninsula in prehistory, they then migrated to the fertile crescent (to the north) forming well-known civilaztions [33]. Alternative theories claim that the semites originated in africa or southern mesopotamia. The dry nature of the arabian peninsula has limited the size of the population. The arabs" roots" major sources are the northerners(nomads) and the southerners(civilized). Islam looks back to the pastoral-nomad dominated past of hejaz which belongs to the northern branch[33].

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