Islam

What Non-Muslims Should Know

John Kaltner

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781506416663
• eBook ISBN: 9781506416670
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

Recent events have focused attention on Islam, the often- misunderstood faith of one billion people. Westerners are showing a new curiosity about Islam and other religions, in part, perhaps, because religion is arguably the single most important and volatile factor in geopolitics today. Islam needs to be understood on its own terms, apart from extreme expressions, John Kaltner argues. This revised and expanded edition of a trusted text offers updated information about Islam in an accessible and sympathetic presentation. Kaltner presents Islam as first and foremost a religion of practices. Showing the deep humanism of Islam and its most cherished commitments, Kaltner presents Islam through assertions that counter frequent misconceptions of the faith.

2

Islam Is a Religion of Orthopraxy

Act! God will see your actions, and so will His messenger and those who believe. For you will be returned to the One who knows the unseen and the seen, and He will inform you of what you were doing.

—Qur’an 9:105

Being a member of a religious community entails both holding certain beliefs and expressing those beliefs in action. In other words, the content of one’s faith and the way that faith is lived out are essential elements of any religion. But the relationship between belief and action is not the same in all religions since the expressed proportion of the two dimensions varies among them. This has sometimes caused scholars and theologians to make a distinction between religions of orthodoxy and religions of orthopraxy.

A religion of orthodoxy (literally, “proper belief”) is one in which the content of a person’s faith is the critical component in determining whether or not he or she is truly a member of the community. In such a religion, having proper belief is what ultimately indicates the individual’s status in relationship to its other followers. Christianity is often cited as an example of a religion of orthodoxy since adherence to particular beliefs, such as Jesus’ divinity and the trinity, is what most clearly identifies one as a Christian.

Islam, on the other hand, is a prime example of a religion of orthopraxy (literally, “proper practice”). In a religion of this type, proper belief is not the sole or primary indicator of faith—proper action is just as important as what one believes, and it is often considered the true mark of one’s membership in the community. This is not to say that correct action is inconsequential in a religion of orthodoxy or that proper belief does not matter in a system that stresses orthopraxy. Rather, it is a question of where the emphasis is placed in a given religion. The two should be thought of as existing on a continuum, with orthopraxy at one end and orthodoxy at the other—every religion gravitates toward one pole of the spectrum or the other, but it always contains elements of both. In religions of orthopraxy like Islam, actions express and articulate faith, and this is an important facet of the faith that non-Muslims should keep in mind. The Qur’an passage that opens this chapter communicates this idea very well. It states that faith-based actions are the means by which others recognize one’s commitment to Islam, and that those actions will also be examined by Allah to judge the quality of a person’s life. A Muslim’s fate after death is determined by how well he or she puts belief into action.

The Ḥadīth

Before considering some of the ways Muslims express their faith through their actions, it is important to first discuss the importance of the ḥadīth, a term introduced in the previous chapter. When looking for guidance on how to be a good Muslim, the early community naturally turned to the Prophet Muhammad as a model. The Qur’an offers much instruction on how people should conduct themselves, but it does not address every situation and circumstance a person might have to confront. It was therefore natural that early Muslims would often ask the question “What would Muhammad do?” when they sought assistance on matters not treated in their sacred text. During his life they could ask him directly, but after his death his family members and others who knew him personally shared their recollections of what Muhammad said or did while he was among them. Over time, these stories began to accumulate and circulate among members of the ummah. This material was extremely important since it set an example of what proper Muslim behavior should be.

Each of these prophetic traditions is called a ḥadīth, an Arabic term meaning “report” or “account,” and is composed of two parts. The first is a list of names that identifies the chain of transmission of the report in the form “A heard from B, who heard from C . . .” and eventually ends with Muhammad himself. The second part is the body of the tradition that recounts something the Prophet said or did. The following example contains a saying from Muhammad regarding the consumption of alcohol:

ʿAbd Allah ibn Yusuf told us that Malik informed him on the authority of Nafiʿ from Ibn ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, that the Messenger of God, may the prayers and peace of God be with him, said, “Whoever drinks wine in this world and does not repent of it will find it forbidden in the hereafter.”

Thousands of these prophetic traditions were in circulation in the centuries after Muhammad’s death. By the ninth century ce, some individuals began the tedious process of traveling throughout the Islamic world to collect and study the ḥadīth material. A particularly crucial issue for them was that of reliability—which traditions went back to Muhammad himself, and which ones were fabrications? On this matter, the chain of transmitters offered some important clues. If a list was comprised of trustworthy individuals and it had no chronological gaps, it was more likely to be viewed as authentic. On the other hand, if someone in the list of transmitters was known to be of dubious moral character, or two consecutive transmitters could not have known each other, the ḥadīth would be called into question.

A science of ḥadīth criticism and study emerged in order to address these questions, and each tradition was placed in one of several categories: sound, acceptable, or weak, with those in the third category being rejected as not authentic. The role of the prophetic traditions in Islam has been a point of contention, particularly in recent times. A number of Muslim scholars view them cautiously, and some have rejected them outright because of their questionable reliability. For example, at times reservations about the traditions have been expressed because it would have been easy for someone to create a ḥadīth by simply attaching an acceptable chain of transmitters to something Muhammad had purportedly said, and then pass it off as legitimate. Despite these occasional misgivings, the ḥadīth material continues to play a very prominent role in the lives of most Muslims, for whom they function as a window into the Prophet’s world and his understanding of Islam. Two of the most well-respected collections are those of al-Bukhari (d. 870) and Muslim (d. 874). Each contains several thousand ḥadīth and covers a wide range of topics. A popular Arabic-English printed edition of al-Bukhari’s collection is nine volumes in length, and treats matters as diverse as the proper form of communal prayer and the most intimate matters of personal hygiene. Many searchable websites containing the ḥadīth are now readily available, and one of the most useful can be found at the following link: http://sunnah.com/. The wide range of subjects discussed in the ḥadīth collections gives a clear sense of the important role Muhammad plays as a model for Muslims. The customary way he spoke and acted (the Arabic word for this is sunnah, which means “path”) is the example for all Muslims to follow.

The Five Pillars

Muslims live out their faith in a variety of ways, but five activities enjoy pride of place as the “pillars” of Islam. These five practices are required of all Muslims, and they are the most visible ways one expresses his or her identity as a member of the ummah. Each of these pillars goes back to the earliest days of Islam, and references to them are sometimes found in both the Qur’an and the ḥadīth.

1. Profession of Faith

The first pillar is the profession of faith (shahādah in Arabic). Like many religions, Islam has a creed that articulates its essence and summarizes its core beliefs. The Muslim creed is quite brief and consists of two parts: “I testify that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is Allah’s messenger.” This statement succinctly encapsulates two ideas that are central to Islamic theology. The first part expresses a monotheism that negates the existence of all deities but the one God. The unity of Allah is the defining feature of the Muslim understanding of God, and anything that disrupts that unity is considered to be the most serious of sins. The term commonly used for this offense is shirk (literally, “association”), which describes the attempt to join or associate something from the created world with the uncreated nature of Allah in a way that violates the divine unity. Examples of this would be worshipping an idol that has been fashioned by human hands, or ascribing divinity to a living being. According to the Qur’an, shirk is the only sin that God will not forgive (4:48, 116).

The second part of the creed underscores the critical role Muhammad plays in Islam. He is identified as a messenger, a status that very few individuals have attained. In the Islamic understanding of revelation, throughout history Allah has sent prophets to particular peoples in order to remind them of the divine will. The Qur’an identifies approximately two dozen prophets by name, most of them figures who are also mentioned in the Bible. Several of these prophets, like Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad, are also given the title “messenger.” It is unclear what the precise difference is between a prophet and a messenger in the Qur’an. Since the four messengers just mentioned came to their people with a written text, it has sometimes been suggested that this is the defining feature of a messenger. But this idea is incorrect since some individuals identified as messengers in the Qur’an, like Ishmael, were not given a book. Despite this uncertainty regarding what the office entails, it is clear that messengers like Muhammad have a special status within Islam. The relationship between Muhammad and the prior messengers will be discussed in the next chapter. For now, it is important to note that when the Muslim creed speaks of him as a messenger, it is giving him a title that has rarely been bestowed on an individual.

The profession of faith functions in a variety of ways in Islam. Like all creeds, it is often recited to express one’s membership in the community and personal assent to the teachings of the faith. It is also sometimes spoken at key moments in one’s life. Muslim parents whisper it into the ears of newborns in order to have them hear as early as possible what they hope will become the child’s own statement of belief when he or she grows up. Those who recite the creed with their last breath are specially blessed for dying with it on their lips. For converts to Islam, recitation of the profession of faith with the intent of becoming a Muslim is the way one becomes a member of the ummah. It is also included as part of the Muslim public call to prayer, which begins, “God is great! God is great! God is great! God is great! I testify that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s messenger.” Similarly, the prayer call ends by reciting the first half of the shahādah—“There is no God but Allah!” Consequently, even non-Muslims who live in an area with a strong Muslim presence hear the Islamic profession of faith at least five times a day. These and other ways in which the profession of faith is recited by Muslims indicate that there is a performative dimension to its proclamation that makes it an action expressing one’s belief and membership in the ummah.

2. Prayer

The second pillar of faith is prayer (ṣalāt). All believers are expected to pray five times each day, and most non-Muslims have seen images of Muslims engaged in this ritual. In the typical scene, rows of people are neatly lined up and making body movements in unison with such precision that they appear to be choreographed. The picture usually leaves a lasting and visually pleasing impression on the mind.

Islamic prayers follow carefully prescribed rubrics. The prayer times are determined by the position of the sun in the sky, and they take place over the course of the day at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and evening. Muslims are summoned by the call to prayer, and they are encouraged to fulfill their obligation at the mosque, or masjid (literally, “place of prostration”). Most, however, prefer to pray elsewhere, and it is common in Islamic countries to see people engaged in prayer in their workplaces and in public spaces. The only time prayer in a mosque is required is at noon on Friday, when the entire congregation joins together and, in addition to the usual ritual, hears a sermon preached by the imām, or leader of the local community. (This title is the same one that is used for the leader of the Shiʿi community, but here it refers to an entirely different office.) Attendance at Friday noon prayer is required only of men. Women may attend services if they wish, but when they do so they typically pray in an area separate from the men.

Attached to many mosques is a minaret (manārah in Arabic), a tower from which the call to prayer is recited. In earlier times, this was the place from which the man known as the muezzin would summon Muslims to the mosque at prayer times by climbing to the top and proclaiming the call in a loud voice. In most places today, this is now done by a recording that is broadcast over a loudspeaker. The call to prayer, or adhān, is the following:

Allah is great! (repeated four times)
I testify that there is no God but Allah (repeated twice)
I testify that Muhammad is Allah’s messenger (repeated twice)
Come to prayer! (repeated twice)
Come to prosperity! (repeated twice)
Allah is great! (repeated twice)
There is no God but Allah!

The call is the same for all five prayer times except the first one at dawn, when there is a gentle re...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Table Of Contents
• Preface
• Islam Is a Diverse and Complex Faith
• Islam Is a Religion of Orthopraxy
• Muslims Respect Judaism and Christianity
• There Is No Institutional Hierarchy in Islam
• There Is No Clear Separation between Religion and Politics in Islam
• Jihād Does Not Only Mean “Holy War”
• Resources