ISLAM
» Presented by Carlos Abanto
» InterAmerican Campus
Sources
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http://pizdaus.com/?sort=tag&tag=mohammed
http://tjic.com/archive/islam_expansion_map.jpg
http://www.schoyencollection.com/arabic.htm
http://www.islamicity.com/Culture/Mosques/Asia/damascus
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ZcDLt7ODHyzwKaeFfp8rKA
http://dekita.org/smielt/forum/gameplay/magical-chairs/welcomegameplay-magical-chairs
http://www.schillerinstitute.org/fid_97-01/013_andalusia
http://www.spanishvillarental.ca/villacasalomaphotos.htm
http://www2.ups.edu/physics/faculty/Spivey/Spain.htm
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1539987742051506574lwpTRd
Lawrence Cunningham, John Reich. Culture and Values: A Survey of
the Humanities.
MUHAMMAD
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Founder of Islam
Was born in Mecca. (570)
Received revelations from angel Gabriel.
He encountered opposition from the citizens of Mecca
because of his insistence on the worship of one God.
He flee the city in 622, year that Muslims mark as the
beginning of their calendar: the HEGIRA.
Years later he returned to Mecca where his religion was
already in place and made a pagan shrine called the
Qa’aba the focal point of his new religion.
Pure Monotheism was the main belief, rejecting
Christian’s Trinity of persons in God.
He died in 632.
The Sanctuary at Mecca
Pillars of Islam
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There is only one God and Muhammad is God’s messenger.
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To pray five times a day pointing to the Qa’aba.
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To donate a portion of the surplus of one’s wealth to
charity.
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Abstinence of all food and drink from sunrise to sunset
during the holy month of Ramadan.
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To make a pilgrimage to Mecca (called the Haj) at least
once in a lifetime.
Islam Expansion
The Qur’an
• It was written based on the revelations received by
Muhammad.
• Probably as long as the Christian New Testament.
• It is divided into 114 chapters, called sûras.
• It is organized with the first chapter containing a short
prayer invoking the name of God followed the longest
chapters starting at chapter two and the smallest(which has
two lines only) at the end.
• The language of this sacred text is Arabic, and cannot be
translated into other languages because Muslims believe it
came from divine dictation.
• Shari’a is the Islamic law referred by those Muslim
countries. This complex legal code was developed for jurists
from the living stream of the sacred text and tradition.
QUR’AN
10 lines in Naskhi
script, in black, 1 line
in gold thuluth script
outlined in black, 2
lines in muhaqqaq
script in black
outlined with gold, 1
line in white Kufic
script set within a
gold panel with
squares of gold
interlace, gold
rosettes between
each verse, gold pearshaped device with
floral motif.
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
• Mosque: a large covered space for faithful to pray, the
community gathers there. The michrab indicates the
direction of Mecca.
• The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem is an octagonal building
capped by a golden dome, which sits on a heavy drum
supported by four immense piers and twelve columns. The
interior is decorated with mosaics.
• The Great Mosque of Damascus which was built over a
former Christian church. Interior decorated by Byzantine
craftsmen with mosaics and depiction of palaces and flowing
waters. Also the absence of human figures reflects early
Islamic rejection of depicting the human figure.
The Dome of the Rock
Great Mosque of Damascus
Interior of Mosque at Damascus
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
• The Great Mosque in Cordoba (Spain), finished in the tenth
century after Muslims conquered Spain in the eight century.
The interior is a vast angle of columns supporting Roman
arches. Nearly 30,000 mosaic tessarae and workmen from
Constantinople were used to decorate this place.
Mosque of Córdoba
• Interior of
the Great
Mosque of
Córdoba,
built A.C.E.
786-787 by
‘Adb alRahman I,
and enlarged
three times
by his
successors.
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
• The Alhambra is another beautiful palace complex located in
Granada, Spain. The exterior has towers and walls. Actually
consists of two palaces: Palace of the Myrtles,used for
public occasions, and the Palace of the Lions,for private use.
Water runs through small interior streams making evident in
all parts of the palace its presence, as a result one gains a
sense of connection to the outside thanks to the sound of
water.
Court of Myrtles
Court of Lions
ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE
• The Taj Mahal located in Agra, India is one of the most
fabled buildings in the world. Built in the seventeenth
century in honor of Emperor Shah Jahan’s wife. The building
is made from highly polished white marble. The central
building is crowned with a great dome set on an octagonal
building, which is framed by four slender minarets. Exterior
decorations do little attempt to add any color beyond the
whiteness from marble.
Taj
Mahal
Islam culture and the West
• Despite antagonisms between these two worlds there is a
common exchange of goods and ideas.
• Thanks to the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, Aristotle texts
were preserved by translation into Arabic. When west
scholars read Latin versions of Plato for example, these
were translated from Arabic manuscripts.
• Algebra derives from one of Al-Khwarizmi books’ title, who
was a scholar at the House of Wisdom. Thanks to him we got
the current notational system (replacing 125 for CXXV).
West called Arabic’s “cifra”-cypher-, zero.
• Al-Hazen did a great work in optics and the technology of
making lenses.
• West learned how to make windmills from Muslims. Many
words come from Arabic sources including agricultural and
geographical words like orange, sugar, alcohol, zenith.