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Section 600: Theology & Eschatology

Islam’s Three Holy Books (Qur’an, Hadith, Sunnah) And Other Scriptures

The revealed books are the records which Muslims believe were dictated by Allah to various Islamic prophets throughout the history of mankind – all these books promulgated the code and laws of Islam. The belief in all the revealed books is an article of faith in Islam and Muslims must believe in all the scriptures to be a Muslim.

Part I: The Qur’an

The Qur’an, literally meaning “the recitation,” is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims regard the Qur’an as the most important miracle of Muhammad, and proof of his prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam and ended with Muhammad.  They consider the Qur’an to be the only revealed book that has been protected by Allāh from distortion or corruption.

Part II: The Hadith

The Hadith literature is based on oral reports that were in circulation in society after the death of Muhammad.  Islamic scholars then compiled these Hadith together in collections.

Part III: The Sunnah

Since pre-Islamic times, the Arabic word sunnah has referred to a body of established customs and beliefs that make up a tradition.  In Muslim legal and religious thought, the term became associated more specifically with the actions and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Inspired by Allah to act wisely and in accordance with his will, Muhammad provided an example that complements Allah’s revelation as expressed in the Qur’an.  His actions and sayings became a model for Muslim conduct as well as a primary source of Islamic law.

Reliance Of The Traveler

The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law ‘Umdat al-Salik by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (d. 769/1368). It is a manual of fiqh rulings based on Shafi”i School of jurisprudence and includes original Arabic texts and translations from classic works of prominent Muslim scholars such as al Ghazali, al Nawawi, al Qurtubi, al Dhahabi and others. It is an indispensable reference for every Muslim or student of Islam who needs to research on Islamic rulings on daily Muslim life.

Understanding The Qur’an

The Qur’an is not easy to read, even in translation: its chapters are out of order, and its contents often obscure; verses do not follow logically one upon another, and some contradict each other

Theology: Part I

Theology focuses on III questions that concern Allah, divine will, and other articles of faith.  Referred to in Arabic as kalam (speech), theology developed in the Islamic world when early Muslim scholars defended their ideas against Christians, Jews, and other Muslims.

Theology: Part II

The highly technical scholarship found in theological works composed under the religious discipline of kalām (literally, “the speech”), which also includes philosophical and mystical theology, differs from the commonly taught Muslim creed.

Islamic theology begins during the reign of the last two “rightly-guided” (rāshidūn) caliphs, ʿUthmān and ʿAlī (r. 644–661).  Salient features of the tradition as developed in various schools of thought are outlined in this section.

Ahmadiyah

AḥmadīyahA messianic movement in modern Islam, the Aḥmadīyah has been one of the most active and controversial movements since its inception in British India in 1889.  It has sustained its activities for more than a century and has been unrivaled in its dedication to the propagation of the faith.

Heaven

In the Qurʿān, heaven is very much linked with the sky (al-samāʿ, pl., al-samāwāt).  Allah is referred to as having sent down his message to Earth.  Originally, heaven and earth were united, and Allah separated them (Qurʿān 21:16).  There is a reference to seven heavens in the Qurʿān (2:29), each with specific roles, often connected with climate. 

Hell

References to hell, in one form or another, are ubiquitous in the Qurʿān, as part of its general eschatological message.  Hell is linked with fire and heat in its various forms, and is firmly part of the Prophet ’s message as the eventual residence of those who are wicked and who disregard Godʾs instructions.

Al-Dajjāl

Al-Dajjāl or the Antichrist or False Messiah does not appear in the Qurʿān, but is a popular figure in Islamic eschatology.  He will appear just before the Day of Judgment. Al-Dajjāl will impress many people since he will bring wealth and can perform miracles, but eventually he is killed in Palestine by either Jesus (according to the Sunnī tradition) or the Mahdī (according to the Shīʿī tradition).

Mahdi

The term Mahdī or al-Mahdi (divinely guided one) has come to denote a messianic figure whose presence will usher in an era of justice and true belief immediately before the end of time.  The theme more or less is similar to that of Christianity, complete with seven years of tribulation.  The word, Mahdi, does not occur in the Qurʿān but is a strictly honorific title applied by the earliest Muslims to the Prophet and first four caliphs.

Mahdi – Qualifications

Mahdi will not rise up except at a time full of fear and dread. Prophet Muhammad said, “After me the caliphate will rule; after the caliphs, the emirs will come, followed by kings, and after them tyrants and oppressors will rule, then the Mahdi will reappear.”

Mahdi – People Claiming To Be The Mahdi

There have been at least 18 persons that have made the claim of being the Mahdi. The most famous is probably Muhammad Ahmad (1845–1885), a Sudanese Sufi sheikh of the Samaniyya order, who declared himself Mahdi in June 1881 and went on to lead a successful military campaign against the Turko-Egyptian government of Sudan. Charlton Heston played the role of General Charles “Chinese” Gordon in the 1966 movie, “KHARTOUM” which depicted Ahmad as the Mahdi.

Mahdi: False Claimnants

Even a cursory examination of people throughout history who have claimed to be the Mahdi will reveal that the conditions prior to his return and the appropriate actions, knowledge, and behavior of the real Imam have not been met. However, many people have been deceived, and more will be deceived by false claimants in the future.

Signs Of The Appearance Of Imam al-Mahdi

The signs of the appearance of Imam al-Mahdi are the collection of events that will occur before the coming back of Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi, The signs are classified as uncertain or certain signs. The hadith of Ja’far al-Sadiq mentions that the face of Imam al-Mahdi will be visible on the Moon.

Islam’s Three Holy Books

The Qur’an, Hadith, and Sunnah make up the three holy books of Islam. Shari’a, Islamic law, plays a part in each book but Shari’s also gains it’s strength from each book.

Qur’an

The Qurʿān is a unique phenomenon in religious history. It is held by its adherents to exist beyond the mundane sphere as the eternal and immutable word of Allah, “a glorious Qurʿān in a well-guarded tablet” (85: 21–22). It is also an earthly book whose history is intimately tied to the life and history of an earthly community.

The Hadith

Hadith are reports of the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad and other early Muslims. After Muhammad’s death, his companions carefully noted all of his teachings and actions, which they studied as the ideal model for Muslim behavior.

The Sunnah

Established custom, normative precedent, conduct, and cumulative tradition, typically based on Muhammad ‘s example. The actions and sayings of Muhammad are believed to complement the divinely revealed message of the Quran, constituting a source for establishing norms for Muslim conduct and making it a primary source of Islamic law. In the legal field, Sunnah complements and stands alongside the Quran, giving precision to its precepts

Mary

Mary (Ar., Maryam), the mother of Jesus (Ar., ʿĪsā), ranks among the most revered women in Islam, along with Khadījah, the first wife of Muḥammad, and Fāṭimah, his youngest daughter.  Through the Qurʾān, its exegesis, ḥadīth, and hagiography, Mary emerges as a model of feminine piety, motherhood, and unquestioning submission to Allah’s will.

Jesus

 It is not widely known that the Christian scriptures are not the only ones that discuss Jesus: the Qurʿān too contains several significant references to him.  In particular, his miraculous conception and birth (19:16–33), his status as a prophet sent by Allah (5:46), and his role as a miracle-worker (3:49) are all affirmed in the Qurʿān.

Moses

Moses (Ar., Mūsā), the most frequently mentioned of the Qurʿānic prophets, is attested to have lived during the pre-Islamic Pharaonic era of ancient Egypt.  He also figures in Old and New Testament texts, and many Qurʿānic descriptions of his life complement their counterparts in the Bible.

Who Are The “People Of The Book?”

The Qur’an presents itself as the Bible’s sequel and always refers to the biblical Torah (al-tawrat), Psalms (al-zabur) and New Testament (al-injil) with honor and respect.  It says it confirms, clarifies and guards them from misinterpretation.  The Qur’an asserts that it was revealed by the God of the Bible, which it claims predicted Muhammad’s coming.  The Qur’an also suggests that the Bible was revealed in the same manner and form as it was.  All these things imply a trustworthy “Bible.”

The Status Of Non-Muslim Minorities Under Islamic Rule

Dhimmitude: the Islamic system of governing populations conquered by jihad wars, encompassing all of the demographic, ethnic, and religious aspects of the political system.  The word “dhimmitude” as a historical concept, was coined by Bat Ye’or in 1983 to describe the legal and social conditions of Jews and Christians subjected to Islamic rule.  The word “dhimmitude” comes from dhimmi, an Arabic word meaning “protected.”  Dhimmi was the name applied by the Arab-Muslim conquerors to indigenous non-Muslim populations who surrendered by a treaty (dhimma) to Muslim domination.

ESCHATOLOGY

In this section, several views of eschatology will be presented – Islam, Christianity (dispensationalists, reformed, and various millennial views) and Judiiasm.

Islamic Eschatology

The study of “last things incorporates two related concepts: the afterlife and world’s end. The Qur’an emphasizes the inevitability of resurrection, judgment, and the eternal division of the righteous and the wicked. On the day of resurrection, humans will be judged by their faith in Allah, their acceptance of Allah’s revelations, and their works. The wicked will be consigned to eternal torment; the righteous will enjoy paradise.

Christian – Dispensationalist

This is a video presentation: Dan Starcevich of TheoFaith.org presents a Chrisrian dispensationalist view of eschatology.

Part 1 of 8: The End Times In Order

Part 2 of 8: The Rapture

Part 3 of 8: Bema Seat Judgment of Believers

Part 4 of 8: The AntiChrist

Part 5 of 8: The Tribulation

Part 6 of 8: The War of Ezekiel 38 and 39

Part 7 of 8: The Return Of Jesus

Part 8 of 8: The Millennial Kingdom

COVID-19 And The New Normal

As we continue to find our way through the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the questions I’ve heard most often is, “What will the ‘new normal’ be like?”  Though quarantines and pandemics aren’t unprecedented in history, it’s the first time at least since 9/11 that we’re recognizing that life isn’t going to be the same when this is all said and done. experts are wondering if this marks the end of the economic problems just fear driven paranoia or is there substance behind the concerns?

Making America Muslim . . . All America

The video is from the August 1989 Muslim Americans Political Awareness Conference. The full video of the conference is available on C-SPAN. In the video, Alkhateeb advocates for herm peers to “look at all of the other people who are sharing this country with us as potential Muslims” and refers to a “long-range process of making America Muslim, all of America Muslim.”

631 – 001 – Islamic Views Of Sin & Ethics (Work in progress)

A dozen years ago, a sign outside a Toronto mosque bore this message: “Everyone welcome and no one told he is a sinner.” Islam’s view of sin explains why many Muslims reject the Christian doctrine of atonement.

Ithaca Ashariyah

The followers of the twelve imams regarded as the rightful successors of the Prophet, the Ithnā ʿAsharīyah, or Twelvers, constitute the major subdivision within Shīʿī Islam. The Ithnā ʿAsharīyah are also known as Imāmīyah because of their main tenet regarding the necessity of the imam force the establishments of the ideal Muslim community under divine revelation.

The Mahdi: The 12th Imam And Iran

The followers of the twelve imams regarded as the rightful successors of the Prophet, the Ithnā ʿAsharīyah, or Twelvers, constitute the major subdivision within Shīʿī Islam. The Ithnā ʿAsharīyah are also known as Imāmīyah because of their main tenet regarding the necessity of the imam force the establishments of the ideal Muslim community under divine revelation.

Iran’s Supreme Leader

Iran’s supreme leader is promising a world free of infidels and nonbelievers with the coming of the Islamic messiah, al-Mahdi, a 9th century descendant of the prophet Mohammad whom the Shi’ites refer to as the 12th Imam, also known as al-Mahdi.

Tawhid

Although tawḥīd has traditionally been recognized as a fundamental doctrine of Islam, its popularity as Islam’s defining characteristic is a modern development. Indeed, the term is not mentioned in the Qurʿān. hi Early theologians used it in their interpretations of the relationship between divine essence and divine attributes, as well as in their defense of divine unity against dualists and trinitarians.

Allah: Part I

The word Allah has been used by Arabic people of different religions since pre-Islamic times. More specifically, it has been used as a term for god by Muslims. The word Allāh itself, is a variation of a word used by pre-Islamic Arabs throughout Arabia as. part of the many gods worshipped, including the moon, by the various nomadic tribes.

Allah: Part II

Etymology and religions of the near-east.

Ideology And Islam

In Islam, as in other world religious traditions, there is a historical trend toward “objectification,” making religion into an entity alongside other aspects of social and personal life. As a result, religious beliefs and practices, once central to a coherent vision of the world and often taken for granted, emerge as merely one facet of a person’s life.

Rites Of Passage

Rituals conducted at different stages of life, from conception until death and after, are means through which human beings live and act as religiously. The terms “life-cycle rituals” or rites de passage, as described by Arnold van Gennep, embrace ritualistic ceremonies associated with conception, birth, puberty, marriage, death, and other significant events.

Afterlife

The reality of the afterlife is integral to the Islamic views of both the individual life cycle and the flow of human history. It is also the basis for the structure of ethical responsibility in Islam: one’s condition in the afterlife, felicitous or painful, is determined by the degree to which one has affirmed the unity and justice of God and, because of 7that affirmation, has acted with justice and mercy toward one’s fellows.

Angels

Angels are mentioned in the Qurʿān both as individuals and as a group and appear to have been known to Muhammad’s listeners. They are described in the Qurʿān,(35:1) as having two, three, or four wings, as having hands (6:93), and as not eating (25:7). They are sent as messengers from God, and may intercede with God, but only with his permission (53:25). Besides acting as messengers, individual angels have specific functions.

Beatific Vision

The ocular vision of Allah is a Sunnī doctrine that postulates that the believers will see Allah with their eyes on the day of judgment as ultimate reward. This doctrine is based mainly on the literal reading of the verse “Some faces, that Day, will beam (in brightness and beauty), looking towards their Lord (75: 22–23); and on the ḥadīth, “You will see your lord on the day of judgment in the same way that you see the moon, on the day when it is full, you will not be challenged in your vision of Him.”

Cosmology

In Islamic cosmology, the cosmos or universe (al-ʿālam) is defined generally as “everything other than Allah.” This definition, universally accepted in Islam, has its basis in the Qurʿān in which it is asserted repeatedly that Allah is “lord of all the worlds” and that to Allah belongs “everything in the heavens and the earth” and “what is in between.”

Death

In the Islamic Faith, physical death is not the end of existence. There is a developed understanding of judgment in the grave, a waiting period until the Day of Judgment, and a final reward or punishment in heaven or hell.

Messianism

In the sense of divine intervention in human histo — through the appointment of a mahdī (rightly guided person) to deliver the people from tyranny and oppression at the End of Time messianism is a salient feature of Islamic soteriology.

Philosophy

From its genesis twelve hundred years ago, Islamic philosophy (al-ḥikmah; al-falsafah) has been one of the major intellectual traditions within the Islamic world, and it has influenced and been influenced by many other intellectual perspectives including scholastic theology (kalām) and doctrinal Sufism (al-maʿrifah; ʿirfān).

Prophets

Narratives about prophets and messengers are found throughout the Qurʿān and Muslim religious literature in general. Prophets and figures ranging from Adam to Jesus and the apostles are dealt with at length in the Qurʿān.

Satan

The English name “Satan” is derived from the Hebrew word for “adversary,” which has as a cognate Arabic shaytān “Satan” has several meanings in the Islamic traditions. When the word is used generically, it refers to a class of jinn with exceptional powers; this is the case in stories about Solomon, for example, who uses jinn and Satans to do his work.

Final Judgment

The final judgment is God’s last and complete assessment, not only of all humankind but of all creation. It is little wonder the final judgment is one of the most repeated themes of the Qurʿān; the final judgment made belief in the unity and oneness of God not merely an issue of theology but an issue of one’s eternal fate. Thank goodness

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Last Update: 07/2021

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