Buddhism

Main Beliefs

Buddhists believe in the “four noble truths”:
1) Existence is suffering (dukkha)
2) Suffering has a cause, namely craving and attachment (trishna)
3) There is a cessation of suffering (nirvana)
4) There is a path to the cessation of suffering, the “eightfold path” of right views, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

Buddhism lives in terms of process and relation rather than entity or substance.
Experience is analyzed into five groups (skandhas).
1) Rupa: material existence
2) Sensations (vedana)
3) Perceptions (samjna)
4) Psychic Constructs (samskara)
5) Consciousness (vijnana)

All groups are interrelated and dependent on 12 causes and conditions, which are ignorance, predisposition, consciousness, name-form, the senses, contact, craving, grasping, becoming, birth, old age, and death.

Buddhism is rooted in views of cause and effect. Therefore, Buddhisms believe in samsara, which means that living beings are trapped in a continual cycle of birth-and-death, with the drive to rebirth dependent on one’s previous physical and mental action (karma). The release from this cycle of rebirth and suffering is the total transcendence called nirvana.

Meditation and observance of moral precepts is the foundation of Buddhist practice. The five basic moral precepts are to refrain from taking life, stealing, acting unchastely, speaking falsely, and drinking intoxicants. These precepts are followed both my members of monastic orders and also by the laity. In addition to these precepts members of monastic orders refrain from eating at improper times, from viewing secular entertainments, from using garlands, perfumes, and other bodily adornments, from sleeping in high and wide beds, and from receiving money.

Members of the monastic order (sangha) are further regulated by a large number of rules known as the Pratimoska. The sangha are recognized as one of the “three jewels,” along with the religious teaching (dharma) and the Buddha.

History of Buddhism

Buddhism takes its name from Siddhartha Gautama, the “awakened one,” or Buddha. Gautama was born in 566 BCE to royal parents in what is now known as southern Nepal. He was born with a series of good omens. Before his birth, his mother (the queen) dreamt of a white elephant painlessly entering her side and when he was born he was said to have sprang from his mother’s side, taking 7 steps and said “I have been born to achieve awakening (Bodhi) for the good of the world-this is my last birth.” In addition sages saw wheels on his hands and feet and prophesized that he would grow to be a chakravartin (wheel-turner), meaning he would be a mighty king or great religious teacher.

As Gautama grew he wanted to see outside of the palace walls and when he did he saw three sights that brought home the reality of human suffering. He saw an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. On another occasion he saw a wandering ascetic (shramana) who was wandering in order to seek release from the world of suffering. This encounter inspired Gautama to take on the life of a wanderer and he went forth practicing a life of the “middle way.” Gautama avoided extremes of self-indulgence and self-denial.

Gautama’s wandering took him to the Bodhi Tree, or tree of awakening. He sat beneath it in order to win freedom from death and rebirth. While underneath the tree, the evil God, Mara, sent his daughters to seduce him and his sons to frighten him, but he did not waiver. He reached perfect enlightenment (parinirvana) and became enlightened about Dharma (truth or law) of human existence and became a Buddha.  He found the answer to the deepest dilemmas of human life.

Buddha traveled to Sarnath near Varanasi and met five former companions. He taught them a sermon (sutra), known as the first turning of the wheel of Dharma (law). The companions became the nucleus of the Buddhist Samgha. For the rest of his life, 45 years) Buddha wandered North India and preached the Dharma. While in Kushinagari he gave his last discourse and died while lying down between two trees (486BCE). He had reached his “final nirvana” and was never to be reborn.

Structure

To be a “sacred person” in the Buddhist tradition is, above all, to imitate the example of the Buddha. The most basic way to do this is to embark on a monastic life in pursuit of nirvana (perfect enlightenment).

The Buddhist community or samgha has four divisions: monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen. The monks and nuns renounce the duties of ordinary lay people and live lives of simplicity. They laity marry, have families, grow crops, accumulate and distribute wealth, maintain order, and do everything to enable the inhabitants of the monasteries to pursue nirvana.

Different Sects

Theravada (Doctrine of the Elders): Also called Hinayana (the lesser vehicle), Theravada, is the earliest form of Buddhism and is probably the closest to the original doctrine of Shakyamuni. Theravada Buddhism stresses moral discipline and the idea that enlightenment can only be achieved by closely following the Buddha’s path. Therefore, enlightenment is only possible to a devoted few (usually members of the monastic community. Theravada imagery revolves around Buddha’s past lives and his life before reaching enlightenment. Theravada became popular in the Southeast Asian countries of Sri Lanka (2nd Century), Thailand (3rd Century) and Burma (Myanmar; 5th Century).

Mahayana: Also known as “The Greater Vehicle” regards Gautama as only one emanation of Buddhahood and holds that other cosmic Buddhas inhabit other worlds into which the faithful could be reborn. Elements of worship and devotion developed so that salvation could be open to all through the intervention of bodhisattvas (a being who elected to postpone entrance into nirvana in order to help others achieve enlightenment. Mahayana Buddhism grew popular in India after the time of Christ and spread to China (1st Century AD), Korea (early 6th Century), Japan (mid-6th Century) and Tibet (7th Century).

Vajrayana: A form of Esoteric Buddhism, Vajrayana incorporates many different practices, including some sexual rites, to induce the state of enlightenment. Vajrayana includes the worship of folk gods as well as Hindu Deities and stresses the transmission of mantras, mudras (gestures) and mandalas (diagrams) from master to pupil.

Zen Buddhism: Zen Budddhism adopts the majority of Mahayanist practices, as well as stressing an individual’s efforts to achieve enlightenment through meditation (inspired by Gautama who first achieved enlightenment while seated in meditation.

Religious Symbols and Texts

Buddhist texts are often recited or copied as acts of devotion, and it is not uncommon for texts to be placed on altars as objects of worship, along-side, or even instead of, images of the Buddha.

Amitabha: (Infinite Light) The celestial Buddha who is said to have established a paradise, the “Pure Land,” on becoming a Buddha.

Avalokiteshvara: A bodhisattva who has been called the personification of the compassionate gaze of the Buddha. One can invoke Avalokiteshvara’s compassion by pronouncing the mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum” (“O Jewel in the Lotus”), which is a popular meditation mantra.

Bhaishajyaguru: The physician-buddha (Teacher of Healing).

Dharma Body: Gautama’s teachings.

Form body: objects, images, and sites sanctified through their association with events in the Buddha’s life. For example, the funerary mounds (stupas) where Gautama’s ashes were distributed.

Hum: An untranslatable syllable that represents the spirit of enlightenment.

Jataka: A body of traditional texts full of tales that describe how Siddhartha Gautama received teaching from previous buddhas, how he exhibited many of the moral virtues of the Buddhist tradition, and how he prepared for his final awakening.

Kshitigarbha: the Consoler of the dead and protector of travelers, pilgrims, and children.

Mahayan Sutras: Mahayana Buddhism also considers the Tripitaka as a sacred text, but adds to it the Sutras, which reflect distinctively Mahayana concepts. The Sutras bear the direct authority of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Different divisions of Mahayana Buddhism emphasize different Sutras, but texts like the Lotus Sutra and Heart Sutra are important to most branches of Mahayana.

Maitreya: The Buddha of the future age, who will be the next bodhisattva to enter the world and become a Buddha. Maitreya is said to rescue people in danger.

Mandala: symbolizes the relationship between the macrocosm and the microcosm: it represents the entirety of the cosmos and also the mind and body of the practitioner. Mandalas are used in Tantric ritual and meditation to help the devotee unify his or her vision of the cosmos; to contemplate the integration of the self and the world; and to overcome the distinction between nirvana and the realm of death and rebirth.

Mandala of the Five Buddhas

Manjushri: the bodhisattva of wisdom.

Om: An untranslatable syllable that is said to be the sacred sound from which the universe was created and is believed by some to contain the essence of true knowledge.

Pali Canon: A traditional Theravada text, the Palicanon contains ancient material from earliest stages of the oral tradition alongside texts possibly composed in the second century BCE. The Palicanon contains the Tipitaka (“three baskets”) of the Theravada tradition. The three baskets are the three sections of the Pali canon: the sutta (Sanskrit, Sutra) Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka, and Abhidhamma (Sanskrit, Abhidharma) Pitaka. The Sutta Pitaka generally consists of the Buddha’s doctrinal discourses and rages from short poems to long prose narratives about the Buddha’s previous lives. The Vinaya Pitaka is concerned with rules of discipline and includes stories that illustrate Buddhist moral principles. The Abhidhamma Pitaka provides a systematic analysis of the categories of Buddhist thought.

Sanskrit: Classical Sanskrit is a language in which South Asian kings, literary theorists, philosophers, playwrights, poets, religious seers, scientists, and theologians often chose to express themselves.  It is, therefore, an indispensable tool for understanding classical South Asia and the ways in which classical traditions and ideas influence and explain the present.

Tibetan Book of the Dead: “The Great Liberation upon Hearing in the Intermediate State” is traditionally believed to be the work of Padma Sambhava in the 8th Century A.D. The book acts as a guide for the dead during the state that intervenes death and the next rebirth.

Vairochana: The sun Buddha (radiant).

Buddhism and the Vietnam War

In the midst of the Vietnam conflict, Vietnamese monks in Saigon immolated themselves–an act the entire world witnessed through press coverage. Secretary of State Henry Cabot Lodge then met with Vietnamese and Japanese Buddhist leaders, and the State Department established an Office of Buddhist Affairs headed by Claremont College Professor Richard Gard. While Americans were reacting to the monks’ acts of self-immolation, another Vietnamese monk, named Thich Nhat Hanh, came to the United States to speak about the conflict. His visit, coupled with the publication in English of his book, Lotus in a Sea of Fire, so impressed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that King nominated Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Buddhism mid-20th Century North America

Buddhism made its debut in the Western world in 1850 and was actively spread by 1900. By the mid-20th century almost all of the major Buddhist schools of tradition had come to be represented in the west.

Sources:

“Buddhism.” Infoplease. Columbia University Press, 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.

Coogan, Michael David., and Vasudha Narayanan. Eastern Religions: Origins, Beliefs,
Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Places. Ed. Michael D. Coogan. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005.
Print.

SoHare, John Bruno. “Sacred Texts: Buddhism.” Internet Sacred Text Archive. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.

Hinduism

Main Beliefs

Brahman: the Supreme Being.

Dharma: The Sanskrit word derived from the root meaning “to sustain” in truth righteousness, duty, law, & justice. This includes following a non-violent, compassionate, and generous path. There is specific to one’s caste and situation in life and another that leads to liberation from the cycle of life and death. There are four sources that act as the foundation of Dharma: Vedas (epics), puranas (texts of lore), the behavior and practices of good people, and the promptings of one’s mind.

Devotionalism (bhakti): the intense personal worship of & surrender to the Supreme Being. Devotionalism is a common feature of Hindu communities.

Karma: The process whereby the good and bad deeds performed by human beings in the present determine the quality of their lives both now and in future births.

Moksha: means “liberation,” as in liberation from the cycle of life and death that every soul is believed to undergo, which is repeated endlessly until the soul achieves liberation into a state of bliss.

Sadharana and Sanatana: Virtues common and eternal to all human beings.

Hindus believe in many manifestations of the divine. Although most say they are monotheistic, their temples and domestic altars have multiple deities. In some Hindu texts, the Supreme Being is said to be ineffable and beyond name, gender, and form. Others perceive of the supreme as the perfect man or as a primordial mother. Some worship the divine being as half man, half female, or as a family of deities.

Not only is the divine beyond gender and name, but also beyond number and has resulted in its manifestation in many shapes and forms: as human or animal, as trees, or as combinations of those things.

Some Hindus acknowledge many deities and consider one to be supreme, or consider all gods and goddesses equal, but worship one who is their favorites. Many consider all divinities to be manifestations of a single god.

There are also different beliefs to how brahma relates to atman (the human soul). Some consider brahman and atman as identical, but others see them as inseparable, but not identical.

Many Hindus also believe in various routes to liberation. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna describes three ways to liberation: the way of action; the way of knowledge; and the way of devotion. Some view these as multiple paths to the divine, others as aspects of one discipline.

1. 1. The way of action: Karma yoga, is a path of unselfish action. A person must do his or her duty, such as studying or good deeds, but not out of fear of blame or punishment, or hope of praise or reward.
2. The way of knowledge: Jnana Yoga, by attaining scriptural knowledge one may achieve a transforming wisdom that destroys one’s past karma. This knowledge may be acquired through the learning of texts from a suitable guru, meditation, and physical and mental control in the form of the discipline of yoga.
3. The way of devotion: Bhakti yoga, whereby a devotee “yokes” his or her spirit to the divine.

Most Hindus believe in the immortality of the soul and in reincarnation. A person’s death is followed by rebirth, and the cycle of birth and death continues until one attains liberation (moksha). Rebirth is perceived as suffering, and the happiness one has on earth is said to be temporary. Liberation as a loving union with the supreme being; as losing one’s consciousness in the supreme being; and as being in the heavenly abode of Vishnu, called Vaikuntha.

History of Hinduism

Hinduism has no single founder, creed, teacher, or prophet that is acknowledged by all Hindus as central. There is also no book of primary importance. Hindu refers to the people of “Hind,” an Indian subcontinent. In the Muslim-ruled empires of medieval India, it was used for many non-Muslim Indian communities. Ancient roots of Hinduism can be seen in the cultures of the Indus Valley, Sarawati River civilizations, and Indo-European people.

In the Late 18^th Century it became a popular name for the religion, but Hindus identify themselves with reference not only to religion, but also to their caste, community, region, and language. Hindu has 100s of internal divisions created by caste, community, language, and geography. The term Hinduism is a religion, culture, and a way of life and the religion itself is a cumulative collection of communities, faiths, beliefs, and practices that have come together.

Communities have entered Hinduism through processes of “Sanskritization,” where a regional deity becomes identified with pan-Indian gods, and “brahminization,” or the adoption of “high” caste rituals by many communities.

Structure

The text below is  from Eastern Religions: Origins, Beliefs, Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Places.

“In the Hindu tradition, deities descend to the earth as human beings and human beings ascend to a divine status. Salvific truth is said to be mediated by these holy persons. The earliest holy men and women who “saw” the truth and compiled the Vedas were called “seers.” Although the many lineages of holy teachers in Hinduism were composed of men of the Brahmin caste, hundreds of saints and charismatic people considered to be “gurus” have come from all castes of society. In many Hindu communities, the sacred teacher is considered to be as important as the deity and is venerated, and even worshipped; other communities, however, do not consider the teacher to be so significant. From the 20^th Century, women gurus took on an increasingly significant role and many are now viewed as deities.

For many Hindus the primary religious experience is mediated by a teacher who may be called archarya, guru, or swami (“master”). The term archarya usually denotes the formal head of a monastery, sec, or subsect, or a teacher who initiates a disciple into a movement.

There are also thousands of ascetics, individuals possessed by a deity or spirit, mediums, storytellers, and sadhus (“holy men”), who all command the veneration of their followers.

The caste system is incredibly complex and is based on multiple factors. The initial four broad varnas (classes) were the priests (Brahmins), the rulers and warriors (Kshatriyas), the merchants and producers (vaishyas), and the servants (Shudras). Members of the priestly, warrior, and merchant groups were sometimes known as the “upper” castes, and their male members were known as the “twice born” because of their traditional initiation ritual of spiritual rebirth called upanayana. Through this, they become invested with a “sacred thread” that grants them the power to study the Vedas.

The dharmashastras outline the duties and privileges of the four main varnas (classes) of society. The Brahmin retained sole authority to teach and learn the Vedas, many of them teachers, priests, and ritual specialists. The former kings and princes of India belonged to Kshatriya (“royal,” or “warrior”) class that traditionally held the reins of secular power. The mercantile class (vaishyas) were in charge of trade, commerce, and farming, and were thus potential possessors of great wealth and economic power. Shudras (servants) are not allowed to accumulate wealth, ever if they are able to do so. Their duty is to serve the other classes.”

Religious Symbols and Texts

The earliest compositions in the Hindu tradition are the Vedras (Sanskrit, “knowledge”) which form the core of India’s ancient “proto-Hindu” religion and constitute manuals of poetry, rituals, and philosophy.

1. Rig Veda
2. Sama Veda
3. Yajur Veda
4. Atharva Veda

Some Hindus consider the Vedas to be transhuman, not authored by human beings. They are considered eternal in nature and the Vedic reciters saw or envisioned the Vedas and. The reciters passed them on in oral tradition with accurate pronunciation, rhythm, and diction.

The Aranyakas and Upinshads were composed around the early sixth century BCE. Upanishads sought to liberate one from the cycle of life and death and introduced the notion of immortality as reality. In Hindu tradition, a follower strives to achieve the immortality of the soul and happiness and peace in life. The idea of the “supreme being,” or Brahman was conceived in the Upinshads.

Epic narratives such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata have also become crucial texts to Hinduism and promote the Hindu Dharma, which illustrates “righteous behavior,” “truth,” and “law.” The Bhagavad Gita (“Sacred Song”) is eighteen chapters in the Mahabharata and emphasizes that dharma should be performed without expectation of reward but with devotion to one God, or “supreme being.” The Mahabharata is around one hundred thousand verses long and is considered the world’s longest poem. Few Hindu households will have the Mahabharata, but many will have a copy of the Bhagavad Gita.

Devotionalism became popular for many reasons. One was the emerging use of vernacular languages, rather than Sanskrit, a second factor was its appeal across all social classes, and thirdly, a culture of building temples came about in the 4^th and 5^th centuries. Poet saints such as Nammalvar and Tukaram, who came from lower castes, composed devotional works in a common vernacular language that everyone could understand. Other bhakti poets who came from wealthier social castes also wrote about their devotion to one god. For example, Mira, the Gujarati Princess wrote about her love for Krishna.

Temples became centers of devotion, rituals, poetry, music, dance, scholarship, economic distribution, and were centers of art and astronomy. Because of the various manifestations of the Supreme Being one can see various iconographies in the temples and in artwork.

Hindus have a long history of venerating the divine in female form often referring to it as the Goddess. The Goddess can be seen as a manifestation of Parvati, the wife of Shiva, sometimes called “Amba or Ambika (“Little Mother”). She can also be seen as Kali, the dark Goddess, or as the warrior goddess, Durga. The Goddess also manifests as Shri Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and good fortune. Anjana, a name mentioned in the Brothers K, was the mother of Hanuman, one of the heroes of the Ramayana. She is worshiped as a family deity.

Vishnu is portrayed as having a multiplicity of incarnations. It is believed that over the ages he has descended to earth several times in various animal and human forms to overthrow evil and establish dharma, or righteousness. One of Vishnu’s incarnations is Rama (the hero of a great epic, the Ramayana and another is Krishna who is celebrated in the Bhagavad Gita.

The manifold aspects of Shiva’s power are expressed in his often paradoxical roles: he is both fierce and benevolent, creator and destroyer, exuberant dancer and austere yogi, ascetic and husband of the goddess Parvati.

Vishnu, Shiva, and the Goddess are the most important deities in Hindu texts, but there are still many other deities throughout India. There is Ganesha, the elephant headed son of Parvati, who is known as being able to overcome all obstacles. There is Kartikkeya/Murugan, a son of Shiva, and Hanuman, a divine monkey-devotee of Rama and incarnation of Vishnu.

All of these Gods and Goddesses have their own iconographic characteristic and every position of their hands or feet, every associated animal, plant, or bird, has a special significance.

Sources:

Coogan, Michael David., and Vasudha Narayanan. Eastern Religions: Origins, Beliefs,
Practices, Holy Texts, Sacred Places. Ed. Michael D. Coogan. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005.
Print.

Bhakti Poet Saints

The Bhakti movement derives from the marginalized segment of Hindu society decentralizing the hierarchy imposed by the Brahmin fraternity. The saints who led the reform movement were mystics and poets of a high order and from its very inception the Bhakti ideology was guided by an emotional fervor and a thirst for the divine essence and experience.

The foundation of the Bhakti movement came from 8th century Tamil Nadu with the Shaiva and Vaishnava Bhakti cults. It spread in the 11th and 12th centuries to the Lingayats of Karnataka and then to the Warkari Panth of Maharashta in the 13th century. Karnataka and Maharashta are located in the Deccan Plateau, which is the specific area Peter studies in relation to Bhakti poets.

 By the time of the Gupta Dynasty in North India (320-540 A.D.), Hindu culture had become firmly established. The Gupta called themselves Bhagvatas (devotees of God) and royalty, at the time, wanted to claim divine origin and lineage. They stifled the lower castes and encouraged snobbery among privileged Brahmin and Kshatriya communities.

At the same time, Buddhism and Jainism (the popular competitor to Hindu) had gained a stronghold in India where Brahman traditions were weakest. Buddhism and Jainism appealed to the lower classes as they discouraged animal sacrifice, opposed the caste system, used common vernacular for spreading their message, and protested the Brahmins and their systems.

Bhakti religion was the response to the growing popularity of Buddhism and Jainism in India and to the elite Brahmin and Kshatriya communities. It acted as a safeguard for Hinduism, giving it a breath of fresh air and promoted an emotional route to God that came from within. It recognized no middle man between the devotee and God. The Bhakti religion had a casual style, enlivened with poetry, wit and satire written by poet saints and spoken to the mases in a language they could understand. . Two major Bhakti cults emerged: the Shaiva Cult and the Vaishnava Cult.

Shaivism had, and still has a wider base of support than Vaishnavism because of its incorporation of the Mother Goddess. It is also more popular because Shiva is considered the deity of the groups belonging to lower classes. On the other hand, Vaishnavism was the Bhakti form accepted by the ruling elite and worshiped Vishnu.

At first Bhakti ideology in the South came mainly from the upper strata of society and of the 12 Vaishnava Saints (the 12 Alvars) only two belonged to lower castes. Although the majority of Alvars came from the upper caste they included members of lower castes in activities such as prayer and temple participation. They considered themselves poet saints first and then Brahmins. In addition, those of the upper castes were literate, had access to education, and the leisure that was required for scholarship and writing.

The 12 Alvars (Poykai, Putam, Pey, Tiruppan, Tirumalicai, Tontaratippoti, Kulashekaran, Periyalvar, Antal, Tirumankai, Nammalvar, and Maturakavi) were the pioneer poet saints of Bhakti. Their work is preserved from the Tamilsangama Anthology (Paripada).

Virashaivas, the Vaishnava Cult of the Karnataka from the tenth-twelfth centuries, took on an even more radical and reformist approach. It challenged the Hindu caste system, questioned and dismissed the role of Brahmins and Brahmin ritual, and sacrifice and superstition in worship. Basavanna, a poet saint from the 10th Century Karnataka, initiated the Virashaiva movement which traveled from Tamil Nadu to the Deccan Plateau.

The Wakari Bhakti Cult of Pandharpur in Maharashtra in the 13th Century was initiated by Saint Pundalik. The major saints of the Wakari Cult are Jnandev, Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram, and Ramdas. Jnandev and Namdev wrote in support of castelessness, non-hierarchy, family centered life and caring human fellowship and criticized Brahminical narrowness.

The Bhakti poet saints were reformers and religious radicals. They broke away from binding ritual and ceremony and redefined divinity based on brotherhood and equality. The poet saints advocated the cause of the marginalized and initiated the humanizing of Hindu social structure. The achievement of the Bhakti Movement and the poet saints is the creation of extensive literature in vernacular languages, continuing to appeal to marginalized social segments.

Other Poet Saints of Importance:
Dasimayya
Allama Prabhu
Mahadeviyakka
Appar
Kabir
Ravidas
Nanak

Sources:

Sadarangani, Neeti M., Bhakti Poetry in Medieval India: Its Inception, Cultural Encounter and
Impact. Darya Ganj: 2004. Web.

Islam

Main Beliefs

The Six Articles of Faith      

1. Belief in God
2. Belief in His Angels
3. Belief in His Books
4. Belief in His Prophets and Messengers
5. Belief in the Day of Judgment
6. Belief in God’s Divine Decree

The Five Pillars of Islam

1. Profession of faith (Shahada)
   1. “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God”
   2. One becomes a Muslim by reciting this phrase with conviction and it is central to Muslim.
2. Prayer (Salat)
   1. Muslims pray facing Mecca five times a day: at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and after dar.
   2. Recitation of the opening chapter (Sura) of the Qur’an.
   3. Performed on a small rug or mat.
3. Alms (Zakat)
   1. Muslims donate a fixed portion of their income to community members in need.
4. Fasting (Sawm)
   1. During the daylight hours of Ramadan (the 9^th month of the Islamic calendar), Muslims abstain from food and drink. Through this temporary deprivation Muslims renew their awareness of and gratitude for what God provides.
   2. The Qur’an was revealed during this month.
5. Pilgrimage (Hajj)
   1. Every Muslim whose health and finances permit it, must make at least one visit to the holy city of Mecca in present day Saudi Arabia.

History of Islam

The history of Islam is closely linked with the Prophet Muhammed who is considered the last in a long line of prophets, including Moses and Jesus. Muhammad is considered the chosen recipient and messenger of the word of God through divine revelations. Therefore, everyone practicing Islam strives to follow his example. Muhammed’s teachings (hadith) and the descriptions of his way of life (Sunna) are the most important Muslim texts after the Qur’an.

Muhammad was born into the most powerful tribe in Mecca, the Quraish around 570 A.D. When he was 40, Muhammed began hearing voices and having visions. He often meditated at Mount Hira, near Mecca and on one occasion the Archangel, Gabriel appeared to him and told him the first of many revelations that became the basis of the Qur’an and which pointed to the existence of one God.

Muhammad’s teachings angered the citizens of Mecca, who practiced Polytheistic religions. When his wife died he fled from Mecca to Medina to avoid religious prosecution. His flight is known as the Hijra and marks year one of Islam on the Hijri Calendar.

While in Medina, Muhammad continued to receive divine revelations and continued to expand Islam’s community. Muhammad and his followers returned to Mecca when the people of Mecca surrendered after several years of violence. Muhammed and his followers destroyed the city’s pagan idolatry and further spread their faith in one God.

While Muhammad was sleeping one night, the Archangel Gabriel came to him and took him on a journey from the Ka’ba in Mecca to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (believed to be the “Farthest Mosque”). At Al-Aqsa, Muhammad prayed with Moses, Abraham, and Jesus and was led by Gabriel through Paradise and then Hell. After facing God, he returned to Earth to spread what he had learned. According to Islam, Muhammad was the only person to see Heaven and Hell while still alive.

Structure

Islam broke into two factions after Muhammed died in 632. He had not named a successor and one faction, the Shi’a, thought ‘Ali, Muhammad’s closest surviving blood male relative, should be the next leader (Caliph) and the Sunnis successfully elected three of his most trusted companions by consensus to lead the Muslim community. Ali succeeded the first three as the fourth caliph.

The two factions of Islam still remain today. The Sunnis venerate all four caliphs and the Shi’is considers ‘Ali as the first spiritual leader. The split between the two groups has resulted in different ways of worship as well as religious and political views. The majority of Muslims are Sunnis and the Shi’is are concentrated mainly in Iran and Iraq, but also in Pakistan, Turkey, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

In Islam, there is no formal clergy, ordaining body, or hierarchy. Individuals have a direct relationship with God and no one besides God can declare what is sinful or what is lawful. Individuals are directly accountable to their own Lord and Creator. A scholar is one who devotes years of their life to study Islam, but they do not bless people, or forgive sins. They are only able to impart information they have learned from the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Religious Symbols and Texts

This text is directly taken from http://www.metmuseum.org/learn/

“The Qur’an is the final, infallible, direct, and complete record of the exact words of God, brought down by the angel Gabriel and firmly implanted in the heart of His final Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad.

Muslims believe that the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, was revealed to Muhammad over a period of twenty-three years, starting with the initial revelation at Mount Hira. After the Prophet’s death, his successors compiled these divine revelations in a manuscript.

The Qur’an contains prayers, moral guidance, historical narrative, and promises of Paradise. It opens with a short prayer called the Fatiha, the most widely recited passage, and is divided into 114 chapters (suras) organized in descending length. For binding and reading purposes, manuscripts of the Qur’an are often divided into thirty equal parts, called juz’.

Every chapter of the Qur’an (except one) begins with the bismillah, the collective name for the invocation “In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” Muslims often repeat this phrase at the start of an event or task—before giving a speech, beginning a meal, or even boarding a bus. The calligraphic bismillah is frequently written on both religious and secular objects. 

The Qur’an places Muhammad at the end of a long line of prophets that began with Abraham. Although narrative is not central to the Qur’an, it includes the stories of Noah, Moses, and Jesus. It recognizes Jews and Christians as “People of the Book”; as a result, Muslims accept many of the teachings of the Jewish Torah and Christian Bible. Many of the great Islamic empires (like those in Spain, Iran, India, and Turkey) were tolerant of religious minorities.”

Sources:

http://www.metmuseum.org/learn/for-educators/publications-for-educators/art-of-the-islamic-world/unit-one/the-quran