RLG205H5 Study Guide - Summer 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Quran, Muhammad, Islam
RLG205H5
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
RLG204 – Intro to Islam and Muslim Civilizations
Lecture 1
Goal of course:
- To dispel myths
o That Islam is a religion of the desert and designed for a desert mindset.
o The notion that Islam was spread by the sword
o The history of Islam is the same as the history of Arabs
o That prior to the arrival of Muhammad, Arabs have very little history.
Functions of religion:
- To find important criteria in tragic situations where there’s a salle ad lage/shot-
term and long-term interest.
- Road map to salvation, meaning of life. All Abrahamic religions
- Success through certain restrictions. Ex Wolf of Wall Street sought success at any cost,
but religion is not like that.
- Happiness
Principles in Islam
- Spiritual Vision: the function and principle of Islam, Allah, day of judgement, prophecy
for life.
- Social Visio: Gloal odel fo ouit ua?
- Philosophical vision: why should we sacrifice, why try hard in life
- Political vision: the view on politics
- Personal vision: Islam trying to teach you between short-term interest and long-term
interest in daily life.
What do you achieve with these visions?
- Fidig the pope plae fo Allah ad the idea of da of judgeet
- Ritual is not important
- When you have interest, you choose your principle. Not vain/empty religion
- Guidelie fo lifestle of hoie. Peset i all Aahai eligio. You a’t use thigs to
humiliate others.
- Solidarity based on identity
- Dealing with everyday temptations: micro and macro level
- Fidig otol ad a isio he ou ealize ou do’t hae total otol oe ou life.
Achievements:
- To fight against hypocrisy, violence, and poverty
- Ahieig hope ad patiee. Without hope ou a’t fight agaist these thigs.
- Achieving compassion and kindness for others
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- The prophet Mohammad faced challenges in society and he tried to solve them.
Prophet: problem solver.
o Challenges he faced:
1. Violence: killing was a business and a way of life. Tribal relationships. An
estate of war: the did’t ae aout athig ut thei tie. Philosoph
of life is peset hee eause it’s oeted ith suial ad ou’e
living only in the now (no accountability).
2. Meaning of life:
3. Poverty and justice:
4. Women: widows, femicide (Mohamad was against it). Islam was the first
school of thought to say that women and men are equal.
5. “olidait: e eed it eause e a’t eate, suppot, potet, o
progress society without it.
- Pillars
- Hajj
Difficulty in Studying Islam
- Ambiguity in the text (all Abrahamic religions). Different interpretations
- The problem of politics. Catholics believing they own the land, but Muslims believing
they own the land.
- Islamophobia: hatred toward someone just because they are Muslim – especially after
9/11
- The problem of followers: extremists.
2 discourses in Islam: Islamic fundamentalism and colonial and Islamophobic discourse.
PreIslamic Arabia – The Era of Jahiliyya
Geographical Context:
- The Arabian Peninsula:
o Important town and cities: Mecca (center for trade and commerce); Yathrib
(Medina) which was an important agricultural settlement.
o On its coasts, there were numerous ports. They were part of the trade network
which linked India to Mesopotamia to East Africa, Egypt and the Mediterranean.
o Survival a huge achievement for those people.
o It is dominated by desert and steppe area
o Approximately 700 miles wide and 1000 miles long
o Mainly rock and desert
Important event that change the demographic structure of the peninsula
- The ustig ad suseuet ollapse of the geat da of Ma’i i the Yee.
- Formed a tribal society based on pastoral nomadism
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Rlg204 intro to islam and muslim civilizations. To find important criteria in tragic situations where there"s a s(cid:373)alle(cid:396) a(cid:374)d la(cid:396)ge(cid:396)/sho(cid:396)t- term and long-term interest. Road map to salvation, meaning of life. Ex wolf of wall street sought success at any cost, but religion is not like that. Spiritual vision: the function and principle of islam, allah, day of judgement, prophecy for life. Social visio(cid:374): glo(cid:271)al (cid:373)odel fo(cid:396) (cid:272)o(cid:373)(cid:373)u(cid:374)it(cid:455) (cid:862)u(cid:373)(cid:373)a? (cid:863) Philosophical vision: why should we sacrifice, why try hard in life. Personal vision: islam trying to teach you between short-term interest and long-term interest in daily life. Fi(cid:374)di(cid:374)g the p(cid:396)ope(cid:396) pla(cid:272)e fo(cid:396) allah a(cid:374)d the idea of (cid:862)da(cid:455) of judge(cid:373)e(cid:374)t(cid:863) When you have interest, you choose your principle. Guideli(cid:374)e fo(cid:396) lifest(cid:455)le of (cid:272)hoi(cid:272)e. p(cid:396)ese(cid:374)t i(cid:374) all a(cid:271)(cid:396)aha(cid:373)i(cid:272) (cid:396)eligio(cid:374). Dealing with everyday temptations: micro and macro level. Fi(cid:374)di(cid:374)g (cid:272)o(cid:374)t(cid:396)ol a(cid:374)d a (cid:448)isio(cid:374) (cid:449)he(cid:374) (cid:455)ou (cid:396)ealize (cid:455)ou do(cid:374)"t ha(cid:448)e total (cid:272)o(cid:374)t(cid:396)ol o(cid:448)e(cid:396) (cid:455)ou(cid:396) life. To fight against hypocrisy, violence, and poverty.
