Relg SHORT ANSWER

• The “model”, prayer leader in the Salat who stands in front of the worshippers keeping their actions in unison as they pray.
• Used as a title name for the early leaders of the Shi’a, who are the sources of authority in the community.
• Founders of the Sunni schools of law and other significant religious leaders.
• A title of various Muslim leaders, especially one of succeeding Muhammad as leader of Shiite Islam.

• Prescribed 5 prayers a day, one of the 5 pillars required of all Muslims.
• Given to Muhammad in the “Night Journey”.
• Conditions must be met- cleanliness, clean clothes, place of prayer, modestly dressed, cover the stomach to knees E.g. Wudu: washing of the face, hand elbows and head (minor); Ghusl: full bath done after something made you impure (major).
• Salat contains cycles of standing, bowing, kneeling-sitting and prostrating, depending on the time of day, different cycles are performed.
• Five daily prayers:
o Daybreak-Farj prayer
o Noon- Zuhr prayer
o Afternoon- Asr prayer
o After sunset- Maghrib prayer
o Evening- Isha prayer

• The religious law derived from the four sources of law in Sunni Islam (qur’an, sunna, qiyas, ijma)

• Modern Islamists who hold the “pious ancestors”—the first three generations of Muslims as the ideal manifestations of Islam.
• Salafi and Wahhabis is interchangeable and it can be said that they formed out of the Salafi’s.
• Religion needs to be at the core of the state, this was an effort to “go back to the golden days” b/c ppl did not like secularism.

• Story of Muhammad travelling to Jerusalem on the back of a winged Horse.
• He ascended through 7 levels of heaven and encountered all the prophets of the past: Adam, John, Jesus, Joseph, Enoch, Aaron, Moses, Abraham.
• He was shown hell and then finally a vision of god.
• He and his ppl were commanded by god to perform 50 daily prayers which was reduced to 5.
• Muhammad then returns to Mecca with the news, he was able to prove his story by the arrival of the caravan in his home town when he returned to Buraq.

• Shihada:
o witness/testimony, intent in your heart that you believe.
o Combines the two phrases: 1. There is one god, Muhammad it he messenger from that god. All about intent.
• Salat:
o Worship/prayer performed 5 times a day.
o Conditions of cleanliness must be met, must be pure.
o Five prayers take place morning, noon, afternoon, after sunset, evening.
• Zakat:
o Alms giving and charity, one must give a percentage of their wealth to those who need it most (needy, ppl who cannot find work, new Muslims, in debt, captives etc..)
• Sawm/Siyam:
o Fasting during the month of Ramadan. There are exceptions: if you are sick.
o Must fast from sunrise to sunset, special foods are eaten when the fast is broken
• Hajj:
o Pilgrimage to Mecca
o Annual event, obligatory to those who can afford it.
o Ritual purity, white clothes are worn.
o Once there, many things that needs to be completed.

• “Religion”, the word is used in the Qur’an to refer to the specific beleifs and practices of ppl.
• Basis of Religion is the Qur’an, the Hadith (written reports of Muhammad’s life)
• Characterized by:
o Iman- “faith/conviction” what Muslims believe in.
o Islam- “submission” through law, beliefs, five pillars, how they live their lives.
o Ishan- performing good deeds, moral obligations.

• The way that Muhammad behaved is drawn form the collections of the Hadith, it gives context for the revelations and a basis for the normative behavior of Muslims.
• Two elements to every Hadith:
o Isnad- transmitter, very important to know who is saying what b/c there was a lot of poor transmission happening.
o Matn- actual narrative and the chains of narrators.
• Al-Bukhari is the most important Hadith.
• Source of material for the Sunna of Muhammad, six books of authoritative traditions.