Professor Malcolm Clark taught in the Department of Religion at Butler University for 30 years.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Conventions Used in This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 3

How This Book is Organized 4

Part 1: Understanding the Basics 4

Part 2: Muhammad: The Man, the Book, and Rules of Law 4

Part 3: Becoming Familiar with Muslim Daily Life 5

Part 4: Recognizing That All Muslims Aren't the Same 5

Part 5: Considering Islam's Concept of Abrahamic Religions 5

Part 6: The Part of Tens 5

Part 7: Appendixes 5

Icons Used in This Book 6

Where to Go From Here 6

Part 1: Understanding the Basics 7

Chapter 1: Approaching Islam 9

Getting an Overview of Islamic Origins 9

Summarizing Islamic Beliefs 10

Dividing into Branches 11

Counting the Numbers 11

Locating Islam on the World Map 12

Chapter 2: Tracing the Path of Islamic History 15

The Four Rightly Guided Caliphs 17

Choosing a successor: Abu Bakr (632-634) 18

Expanding out of Arabia: `Umar (634-644) 19

Gathering the Qur'an: `Uthman (644-656) 21

Rebelling against `Ali (656-661) 22

Expanding the state 23

The Golden Age 24

Umayyad rule (661-750) 25

Abbasid rule (750-1258) 27

Bridging the Gap 29

Three Great Later Empires 31

Ottoman Empire: The Turks 32

Safavid Empire: The Iranians 33

Mughal Empire: Islam in South Asia 35

Chapter 3: Submitting to God 37

Affirming the Unity of God: Tawhid 38

Clarifying the Terminology: Allah Equals God 40

Testifying to God's Supremacy 41

Defining the Attributes of God 42

Loving and Knowing God 43

Invoking the 99 Names of God 44

Dividing the names into categories 45

Remembering the names 46

Chapter 4: What Muslims Believe 47

Stating the Five Essential Beliefs of Islam 47

Believing in God 49

Believing in God's angels 50

Believing in God's books and in God's messengers 50

Believing in the last day and the resurrection from the tomb 52

Explaining the Faith to Non-Muslims 55

Expounding the Faith: Dealing with Difficult Faith Issues 56

Naming some theological issues 58

Defining a true Muslim 59

Relating faith to works 59

Degrees of faith 60

Anthropomorphizing God 60

Created or eternal Qur'an 60

Knowing what is good and evil 60

Rejecting Formal Creeds 61

Chapter 5: Standing Before God: Heaven and Hell 63

Understanding Other Beings beyond God and Humans 64

Gabriel and the other angels 64

Aladdin's lamp and the jinn 67

The Devil made me do it 68

Going to Heaven or Hell: From Life to Death to Resurrection 69

Dying and the grave 69

The resurrection and the final judgment 70

Facing the unresolved issues 71

Envisioning Heaven and Hell 72

Hell and its torments 73

Heaven and its delights 74

Women and the houris in heaven and hell 74

Part 2: Muhammad: The Man, the Book, and Rules of Law 77

Chapter 6: The Prophet: Muhammad 79

Setting the Stage: Arabia before Muhammad 80

Two key cities 81

Outside the cities: The beduin 82

Arabian religious practices 82

Telling the Story of Muhammad 83

Growing up 84

Summoning the people of Mecca 86

Facing opposition 87

Establishing the community in Medina 88

A chronology from 622 to 630 90

Thinking about Muhammad Theologically 92

Messenger, prophet, and seal of the prophets 92

Comparing Muhammad with Jesus and Moses 92

Living like the beautiful example 94

Reviewing the miracles of Muhammad 94

Exploring the sinlessness of Muhammad 95

Respecting Muhammad as intercessor 95

Relating Personally to Muhammad 95

Naming Muhammad 95

Exalting Muhammad in poetry 96

Celebrating Muhammad's birthday 97

Preserving the relics of Muhammad 97

Viewing Muhammad as the light of the world and the pole of the universe 97

Searching for the Historical Muhammad 97

Traditional biographies 97

Non-Muslim biographies 98

Chapter 7: The Book: The Qur'an 99

Introducing the Qur'an 100

What is scripture? 100

The basics of the Qur'an 100

Hearing the Qur'an 101

Treating the Qur'an with Respect 103

Gathering and Organizing the Qur'an 104

Putting the Qur'an into writing 104

Pronouncing the Qur'an 104

Organizing the Qur'an 105

Compiling the Qur'an: The Muslim view 105

Compiling the Qur'an: The view of non-Muslim scholars 107

Compiling the Qur'an: A radical view 108

The Style of the Qur'an 108

The Qur'an as evocative speech 109

The idiom of the Qur'an 110

The inimitability of the Qur'an (i`jaz) 110

Recurring thematic elements in the Qur'an 111

The problem of shifting perspectives in the Qur'an 112

Interpreting the Qur'an 113

The process of interpreting the Qur'an 113

Exoteric and esoteric interpretation 113

The abrogated verses 114

Using the Qur'an in Daily Life 114

Educating through the Qur'an 115

Reciting the Qur'an 115

Reproducing the Qur'an: Calligraphy 116

Opening the Qur'an: The Fatiha 117

Chapter 8: Islamic Tradition and Law 119

Imitating Muhammad 120

Understanding the two parts of a hadith 120

Uncovering the contents of a hadith 121

Collecting the hadiths 121

Reviewing the 40 traditions 123

Evaluating the hadiths 123

Using hadiths in more modern times 124

Understanding God's Law 125

Rooting out the four roots of law (usul al-fiqh) 125

Getting legal: The Schools of law (madhhab) 129

Making a decision 131

Reforming the law 133

Part 3: Becoming Familiar with Muslim Daily Life 137

Chapter 9: The Five Pillars of Worship: Foundations of Islam 139

Purification: Getting Ready for Worship 140

Removing impurity 141

Sources of impurity 141

The Shahada (First Pillar): Testifying 142

Salat (Second Pillar): Praying 143

When to pray 143

Where do Muslims pray? 144

Calling to prayer (adhan) 145

Doing the first rak`a (bowing) 146

Adding additional rak`as and voluntary prayers 148

Jum`a: Gathering for Friday congregational prayer 149

The mosque (masjid) 149

Zakat (Third Pillar): Helping the Needy 152

Saum (Fourth Pillar): Reflecting and Fasting 153

Dawn to dust 154

A day in Ramadan 154

The meaning of Saum during Ramadan 155

`Id al-fitr (feast of the breaking of the fast) 156

Hajj (Fifth Pillar): Making the Pilgrimage to Mecca 156

The center of the earth 157

The days of pilgrimage 158

Making the side trip to Medina (al-ziyarah) 161

Chapter 10: Observing Other Religious Rituals and Customs 163

Rituals linked to the Yearly Calendar 164

Celebrating Muhammad's birthday 164

Typical elements in the celebration of the maulid 166

Honoring the saints 168

Reviewing other rituals 170

Marking Life's Transitions 171

Born yesterday 171

Receiving a name 171

Offering the sacrifice 172

Circumcising (khitan) 172

Coming of age 173

Getting hitched 175

Knocking on death's door 177

Observing Everyday Customs 179

Finding food for thought 179

Dressing the part 180

Minding your manners 182

Looking at Women's Rituals 182

Chapter 11: Muslim Ethics: Living the Good Life 185

Reviewing the Starting Points for Islamic Ethics 186

The principles of Islamic ethics 187

Illustrative texts 188

Sources for ethical guidance 188

Dealing with sins, major and minor 189

Applying Ethics to Practical Issues 190

Understanding Sexual Ethics 190

Outlining Ethics Regarding Marriage and Family 193

The role of women 196

Medical ethics 198

Social and economic justice 199

Political issues 200

Other ethical issues 200

Part 4: Recognizing That All Muslims Aren't the Same 203

Chapter 12: Shi`ites 205

Locating and Counting Shi`ite Muslims 206

Keeping the Faith in the Family 206

Designating `Ali as Muhammad's successor 207

Shi`ite understanding of the imam 207

Reviewing Two Foundational Events of Shi`ism 209

The betrayal and martyrdom of `Ali 209

The martyrdom of Husayn at Karbala 210

Postscript: The march of the penitents 211

Following the Line of the 12 Imams 211

Shi`ism under the Umayyads 211

Shi`ism under the Abbasids 212

Iran becomes a Twelver Shi`ite state 213

Worshipping in Twelver Shi`ite Fashion 214

Remembering Husayn at `ashura' 214

Making pilgrimage to the imams' tombs 215

Some differences in Shi`ite rituals 216

Thinking like Shi`ites 216

Shi`ite religious law (shari`a) 216

Shi`ite clergy: The mullas 217

Shi`ite philosophers and theologians 218

Interacting: Shi`ites, Sufis, and Sunnis 219

Shi`ites and Sufis 219

Shi`ites and Sunnis 220

Chapter 13: Sufis 221

Searching for God 222

Sufism: An overview of its history 222

Textual and historical foundations 224

Believing in the Sufi Manner 224

Making a Contribution: Outstanding Individual Sufis 226

Organizing the Sufi Community...