THE QUR’AN 

   The Quran sacred text of Islam , is believed to be the literal word of Allah. They
begin learning it at an early age; the Quran is read to babies , and toddlers who can
already speak are asked to memorize and recite Qur’anic verses. They learn to write
by copying verses of the Qur’an by hand. People who manage to memorize the book
are held in the high regards by the communities. Since the Qur’an is written in Arabic,
the language is respected by the Muslims. For them, the book is unique event in the
history of human kind, held as eternal and unchangeable, just like Allah ( Gordon
1991,44-45)

The Qur'an consists of 144 chapter or surahs, each composed of verse or

ayahs. The shorter chapters are called Meccan surahs because they are believe to
have been revealed to Muhammad in Mecca, while the longer ones are called
Medinan chapters, believed to have been revealed later when Muhammad was in
Medina. The Qur'an is believed to be the last in a series of revelations by Allah
himself, which includes the Hebrew revelations recorded in Torah , and Jesus'
teachings recorded in the Christian New Testament. These messages are held in
high esteem , but Muslims believe that they have been corrupted by the
interpretations of men and women (Gordon 1991-46).
 Islamic Calendar

The Islamic calendar, also called the Hijra calendar, is a lunar calendar used in
Islamic religious worship. The calendar began in the year 622 A.D., celebrating the
journey of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina.

The Islamic calendar indicates the proper days of Islamic holidays and celebrations,
including the period of fasting and prayer known as Ramadan, which occurs during
the ninth month of the calendar.
 Islam Symbols

As in many religions, there is no single image or symbol of Islam that is universally

accepted by all Muslims worldwide.

The crescent moon and star has been adopted in some predominantly Muslim
countries as a symbol of Islam, though the crescent moon and star image is believed
to pre-date Islam and was originally a symbol of the Ottoman Empire.  
In some other applications, such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent
 humanitarian aid movement, a red crescent indicates that followers of Islam are
respected and treated accordingly.

The color green is also sometimes associated with Islam, as it was reportedly a
favorite color of Muhammad's and is often featured prominently in the flags of
predominantly Muslim countries.
 Muslim Holidays

The two major Muslim holidays are:

Eid al-Adha: celebrates the Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son for
Allah.

Eid al-Fitr: marks the end of Ramadan—the Islamic holy month of fasting.
Muslims also celebrate other holidays, such as the Islamic New Year and the birth of
Muhammad.
 Sharia Law

Islam’s legal system is known as Sharia Law. This faith-based code of

conduct directs Muslims on how they should live in nearly every aspect of
their lives.

Sharia law requires men and women to dress modestly. It also outlines
marriage guidelines and other moral principles for Muslims.
 Muslim Prayer

The prophet Muhammad is credited with building the first mosque in the

courtyard of his house in Medina. Mosques today follow some of the same
principles he established in 622 A.D.

Muslim prayer is often conducted in a mosque's large open space or outdoor

courtyard. A mihrab is a decorative feature or niche in the mosque that
indicates the direction to Mecca, and therefore the direction to face during
prayer.

Men and women pray separately, and Muslims may visit a mosque five
times a day for each of the prayer sessions. In addition to hosting prayers,
mosques often function as public gathering places and social centers. 
 Time Events
570-632 C.E. Life of Muhammad

610 C.E. Muhammad’s first revelation

622 C.E. Hilra: Muhammad’s flight from Mecca to

Yathrib (Medina):Muslim year 1

630 C.E. Muhammad’s gain of control over Mecca

680 C.E. Death of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of

Muhammad

732 C.E. Battle of Tours: Muslim incursion into France is

halted

922 C.E. Execution of the mystic al-Hallaj

1068-1111 C.E. Life of the Sufi scholar al-Ghazali

 Time Events
1099 Conquest of Jerusalem by Crusaders

1207-1273 Life of the Sufi poet Jalal-ud-Din Rumi

1291 Muslim expulsion of the Crusaders from Israel

1453 Muslim capture of Constatinople

1492 Expulsion of Muslims from Spain

1592-1666 Life of Shah Jahan, builder of Taj Mahal

1947 Independence of Pakistan as a Muslim nation

1966 War Between Arabs and Israelis

 Life of Muhammad

Muhammad was the prophet and founder of Islam. Most of his early life was spent as a
merchant. At the age of 40, he began to have revelations from Allah that became the basis of
the Koran and the foundation of Islam.
 
Muhammad's first revelation

Muhammad’s first revelation took place in AD 610, when the Islamic prophet, Muhammad was
visited by the angel Jibril, known as Gabriel in English, who revealed to him the beginnings of
what the Qur’an would become.

hijra Muhammad's flight from mecca to Yathrib

On September 24, 622, the prophet Muhammad completed his Hegira, or “flight,” from Mecca
to Medina to escape persecution. 
 Muhmmad's gain of control over mecca

The Battle of Uḥud in 625 CE was the second military encounter between the Meccans
and the Muslims, but the Muslims suffered defeat and retreated.
After eight years of fighting the Meccan tribes, Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000
followers and captured the city of Mecca, destroying the pagan idols at the Kaaba.
 
death of husayn Ali grandson of Muhammad
He was killed and beheaded at the Battle of Karbala on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram 61
AH), along with most of his family and comrades, including Husain's six-month-old son Ali
al-Asghar, including women and children taken as prisoners.
 Five pillars 

The five pillars of Islam is the foundation of the faith of the Muslim.

Shahadah ( creed ) 

"There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger." This creed summarizes
the faith of a Muslim." It is the first sentence whispered into the ears of a new born infant; it
is recited daily in prayer; and it is written in Arabic everywhere inside the domes of mosques
and over their doors "In this very short and simple creed we see its contrast to the Christian
creed, which is long and emphasizes belief in the Trinity, and belief that Jesus is DeVine,
Muslims reject this, because for them there is only one God and Muhammad is just a
messenger and not DeVine.
 Salat (Prayer) 

Muslims pray five times a day; before dawn, midday; mid afternoon; sunset, and night
time. Before prayer, there is an individual cleansing ritual with water, washing the  hands,
arms, face, neck, and feet. Muslims pray facing Mecca and early Muslims prayed facing
Jerusalem, but later  revelations to Muhammad instructed them to pray facing Mecca."
Friday is a day of public prayer. On other days, people may pray privately, at home or at
work, as well as in a  mosque.

Zakat ( charity)Muslims donates certain percentage of their wealth to the poor.in Islamic
countries the conferment is involved in imposing taxes for  zakat. in addition to established
yearly donations, a good Muslims is expected to perform isolated acts of generosity and
charity 
For the poor when such acts  are called for in every day life" ( Melloy 2005,442).
 Sawn ( Fasting on Ramadan) 

Ramadan is a period of shared fasting among Muslims.  Ramadan is the ninth month in
the Muslim calendar, which commemorates Allah's first revelation to Muhammad. During the
month long Ramadan, people abstain from food,. Drink tobacco and sex from sawn until
dust , expect for travelers, pregnant women, and the sick, " the purpose of fasting is to
discipline One self, to develops sympathy for the poor and hungry, and to give to others what
one would have eaten. Fasting is through to be good for individual spiritual growth " ( Molloy
2004, 432-443).
Battle of Tours:

At the Battle of Tours near Poitiers, France, Frankish leader Charles Martel, a Christian, defeats a
large army of Spanish Moors, halting the Muslim advance into Western Europe. Abd-ar-Rahman, the
Muslim governor of Cordoba, was killed in the fighting, and the Moors retreated from Gaul, never to
return in such force.

Charles was the illegitimate son of Pepin, the powerful mayor of the palace of Austrasia and effective
ruler of the Frankish kingdom. After Pepin died in 714 (with no surviving legitimate sons), Charles
beat out Pepin’s three grandsons in a power struggle and became mayor of the Franks. He expanded
the Frankish territory under his control and in 732 repulsed an onslaught by the Muslims.
Execution of the mystic al-Hallaj

An-al-Haq’ (I am the truth) – this statement would be the death of Mansur Al-Hallaj. A Sufi poet,
teacher and philosopher, Hallaj was executed on the orders of an Abbasside caliph for uttering these
words, taken to mean Hallaj as claiming himself to be God. After more than a decade of
imprisonment, Hallaj was eventually executed publically in Baghdad in the year 922.
He is seen by many as a revolutionary writer and teacher of his time, when practices of mysticism
were not meant to be shared publically. Yet he remains a controversial figure, revered by Rumi, hated
by many, he was labeled an intoxicated Sufi and is still read today.

Soon, Modern Times Stage Company in Toronto will be presenting the last night Hallaj spends in
prison. The play is written by Peter Farbridge and Soheil Parsa and directed by the latter. “He is given
a choice to recant his beliefs or be executed. We try to work out his dilemma,” explains Farbridge.

The play will explore Hallaj’s quest. “Was he inspired by a spiritual notion or was he more of a mad
man?” asks Farbridge, a question he says is never answered in the play. – Video by Modern Times
Stage Company.
Life of the Sufi scholar al-Ghazali

First published Tue Aug 14, 2007; substantive revision Fri May 8, 2020 Al-Ghazâlî (c.1056–1111)
was one of the most prominent and influential philosophers, theologians, jurists, and mystics of Sunni
Islam. He was active at a time when Sunni theology had just passed through its consolidation and
entered a period of intense challenges from Shiite Ismâ’îlite theology and the Arabic tradition of
Aristotelian philosophy (falsafa). Al-Ghazâlî understood the importance of falsafa and developed a
complex response that rejected and condemned some of its teachings, while it also allowed him to
accept and apply others. Al-Ghazâlî’s critique of twenty positions of falsafa in his Incoherence of the
Philosophers (Tahâfut al-falâsifa) is a significant landmark in the history of philosophy as it advances
the nominalist critique of Aristotelian science developed later in 14th century Europe. On the Arabic
and Muslim side al-Ghazâlî’s acceptance of demonstration (apodeixis) led to a much more refined
and precise discourse on epistemology and a flowering of Aristotelian logics and metaphysics. With
al-Ghazâlî begins the successful introduction of Aristotelianism or rather Avicennism into Muslim
theology. After a period of appropriation of the Greek sciences in the translation movement from
Greek into Arabic and the writings of the falâsifa up to Avicenna (Ibn Sînâ, c.980–1037), philosophy
and the Greek sciences were “naturalized” into the discourse of kalâm and Muslim theology (Sabra
1987). Al-Ghazâlî’s approach to resolving apparent contradictions between reason and revelation was
accepted by almost all later Muslim theologians and had, via the works of Averroes (Ibn Rushd,
1126–98) and Jewish authors, a significant influence on Latin medieval thinking.
Conquest of Jerusalem by Crusaders

The siege of Jerusalem Not far from Beirut, the army entered the territory of the Fāṭimid caliphs of
Cairo, who, as Shiʿi Muslims, were enemies of the Sunni Seljuqs and the caliphs of Baghdad. In
August 1098 the Fāṭimids had occupied Jerusalem. The final drive of the First Crusade, therefore,
was against the Fāṭimids of Egypt, not the Seljuqs.

siege of Jerusalem in the First Crusade siege of Jerusalem in the First Crusade The Crusaders' siege
of Jerusalem in 1099, miniature from Descriptio Terrae Sanctae (“Description of the Holy Land”) by
Burchard of Mount Sion, 14th century.
On June 7, 1099, the Christian army—by then considerably reduced to perhaps 1,200–1,500 cavalry
and 12,000 foot soldiers—encamped before Jerusalem, whose governor was well supplied and
confident that he could withstand a siege until a relief force arrived from Egypt. The Crusaders, on
the other hand, were short of supplies and would be until six vessels arrived at Jaffa (Yafo) and
managed to unload before the port was blockaded by an Egyptian squadron. On July 8 a strict fast
was ordered, and, with the Muslims scoffing from the walls, the entire army, preceded by the clergy,
marched in solemn procession around the city, thence to the Mount of Olives, where Peter the Hermit
preached with his former eloquence.
Life of the Sufi port Jalal-ud-Din Rumi

Traveling over the centuries have been the works of Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273). He is
especially accepted by Muslims for his spiritual insights. However, non-Muslims have
enjoyed the poetry of this theologian and Sufi mystic. For such work to still have poetic merit
there must be something within the works that is relevant to the time in which it is read.
Otherwise, the poetry would be seen as archaic which is generally dismissed as readers
want to directly relate to the poetry they read.

An interesting note about Jalauddin Rumi is that his name seems to change dependent on
the territory in which his works are being read. This should not be seen as uncommon.
Moses’s father was known as Jethro and Amram. It is especially essential to this poet to
understand such. Rumi in some countries is the translation of Roman. Being as the Roman
conquered a great portion of the ancient world, these countries do not associate the word
Rumi with Jalauddin, but rather use a different name for the poet altogether.
 Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca)

  Pilgrimage is a religious journey by a believe to a sacred city or site. All

Muslims (unless prevented by poverty or sickness) are expected to visit Mecca at
least once in their lifetime (Molloy 2005, 443)  Hajj is already a practice before
Muhammad 's time. When he went back to Mecca after preaching in Medina , he
continued several practices of the pilgrimage , including veneration of the black
meteorite- which is believed to be a special gift from Allah , carried to earth by the
angel Gabriel"(Molly 2005, 443).