Notes
Outline
Islam:  Its Life and Values
Islam:  Its Life and Values
Sufism
“Suf” – wool, ascetic’s wool robe
Influence from Eastern Christianity
Ibn al-Arabi – Spanish Moor Sufi
Jesus a prominent figure, model
Web Site: Jesus in the Qur’an
Sufism
Personal Relationship with God
Emphasis on Love – Devotion and Communion with God
Goal of Oneness with Allah – methods or techniques; “schools” or orders; Dervish
Iran, Syria and Turkey
1800s, Yemen – wandering preachers in East Africa:  Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan
Jamiya Mosque in Nairobi
"“Jesus will change your..."
“Jesus will change your brass into gold
“And if there is already gold in you, Jesus will make pearls from it.
“And if there are pearls within you, Jesus will make them
“Even more beautiful than the Moon or Jupiter.”
-- “Another Alchemy, Aflaki
"“Real repentance requires tears..."
“Real repentance requires tears and fire in the heart. …
“Before the heart has shattered into lightning
“And before rains of tears have fallen from your eyes,
“How can the fire and menace of God’s anger be appeased?”
-- “On Repentance” Mathnawi
"“In the name of..."
“In the name of God, see to it that you pray constantly, so that your worldly means and heirs and friends become numerous; when the Resurrection comes, you will console your friends through these prayers.
It is certain that, through the blessing that is attached to prayer, anyone who asks and begs will be granted their desires both on the Path and in the world.”
       -- “See to it that you pray constantly” Aflaki
"“Praising God is pure"
“Praising God is pure; when purity has come
“All filth packs its bags and leaves.
“Contraries flees from contraries; night flies
“When the Pure Name comes into your mouth
“Neither impurity nor griefs remain.”
-- “The Pure Name”  Mathnawi
Sufism
Sahu – permanent wakeful union with God; Jesus the primary model, guide
God fills him and works in him
Scholar of the Sunna, worked for social justice and reform
He was put to death on a cross, then decapitated
Sufism
Hallaj’s Death prayer from the Cross:
And these Thy servants who are gathered to slay me, in zeal for thy religion and in desire to win thy favor, forgive them, O Lord, and have mercy upon them. … Glory unto thee in whatsoever Thou doest, and glory to Thee in whatsoever Thou willest.
Sufism
A Prayer of Hallaj:
My God, I fear you, for I am a sinner,
And I hope in you, for I am a believer;
I depend upon your generosity, for I am inadequate in myself;
I have confidence in your mercy, for I ask pardon;
I continue my prayer to you, for I think well of you.
Islam:  Its Life and Values
The Western Incursions
Crusades – The “Cross Wars”
Medieval Frankish Kingdoms
Kurdish-Mamluke Empire (Egypt, Syria)
Ottoman Turkish Domination of Arabs
Western Colonization
British-Ottoman protectorates
The Western Incursions
WWI British-French occupation
WWI and WWII British Iraq
Western Missionaries followed the troops
North Africa – Italy, France
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Spanish territories in Morocco –
bits taken after expelling Moorish conquerors
The Western Incursions
“…Roman and Persian soldiers crossed the Muslim borders in various raids.  So by the time of his [Muhammad’s] death the Muslims were involuntarily at war with their neighbors.
“That state of affairs continued.... This meant at the time that all Christendom, including Spain and France, was at war with the emerging world of Islam.”
à
The Western Incursions
“…The fact that all Christendom was operating as one power is proven by the unquestionable authority of the Roman papacy over Christians.  It is also proven by the general mobilization of Christian powers against Islam during the Crusades of the Middle Ages and even of the first quarter of this twentieth century.”
  (italics mine – OBJ)
--Hammudah Abdulati, Islam in Focus, American Trust Publications, London, 1975.
Islam:  Its Life and Values
Concepts of Jihad
Jihad – “effort, struggle”
Jitihad~Ijtihad~Jitahid
Swahili Christian: jitihada =
revival, renewal campaign
Jihad = inner struggle for purity,
   outer struggle against enemies of Islam
“Holy War” is a Western concept, from the Crusades, used to translate the “jihad” in war context.
Concepts of Jihad
Many have expressed the opinion that those Muslims were motivated by religious zeal to spread Islam by force.
Many other consider this opinion silly and naïve, because Islam – by its nature – cannot be forced.
--Hammudah Abdulati, Islam in Focus, American Trust Publications, London, 1975, p. 146.
Concepts of Jihad
Another trend of thought [suggests that they] were simply motivated by economic needs and circumstances.  Those wars and adventures were not religious or spiritual but merely the outcome of pressing wants.
--Hammudah Abdulati, Islam in Focus, American Trust Publications, London, 1975 , p. 147.
Concepts of Jihad
Some interpret the more militant chapters as applying only to the time in Medina under pressure.
Others claim these were the later chapters after Muhammad’s more moderate early attempts.
Concepts of Jihad
Muhammad had a special dispensation for “Peoples of the Book – they could retain their faith and autonomy under a Muslim society, by paying a “tax.”
Modern views are more open and claim jihad is only for self-defense.
Sufis generally reject use of force.
Outcry against 9-11 from Muslims got lost in Western news
Concepts of Jihad
One writer defends the use of force and argues against those who say Islam allows violence only for defense, but explains it this way:
Islam does not force people to accept its belief, but it wants to provide a free environment in which they will have the choice of beliefs…., to abolish those oppressive political systems under which people are prevented from expressing their freedom to decide whether they accept Islam or not.
   --Sayyid Qutb, Milestones, Int’l Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, Salmiyah, Kuwait , pp. 78-79.
Concepts of Jihad
Islam never tolerates aggression from its own side or from any other side, nor does it entertain aggressive wars or the initiation of aggressive wars.  Muslims are commanded by God [in the Qur’an] not to begin hostilities.
--Hammudah Abdulati, Islam in Focus, American Trust Publications, London, 1975 , p. 142.
Concepts of Jihad
Church co-opted (willingly) as an agent of Constantine’s Roman State
Charlemagne’s troops baptized so they could win (though there are signs he took his faith seriously)
Serbian and other Slavic ruthlessness against Muslims in Europe (and even other types of Christians)
Concepts of Jihad
Visigoths contracting with the Iberian Roman Church to run the Empire in “Hispania” after they took it away from Rome
Roman Catholic intrigue and political network in Medieval Europe
Saxon Roman Catholics military impositions against the ancient Celtic independent church in Britain
Islam:  Its Life and Values
Conclusion?
We meet as humans to humans, painfully limited and fragile
Muslims are real people of various ethnic groups, struggling to care for their families, deal with the bewildering world and trust God within in the light they have
Many of them feel under threat – we can be their friend
Conclusion?
Faith is service to God and to others for God
We have the opportunity to witness
“Witness” is joyous and loving  testimony to what we have experienced with God as we have found him in Jesus
Conclusion?
Prayer should be a natural expression of your faith, and is a value in common with Muslims
Pray for and with your Muslim neighbors
Pray over the news you hear daily
Pray for the dictators
Faith serves God and others for God
Slide 31