Chapter 6 / Islam on Heaven and Hell Summary

Just about every religion in the world teaches that there will be some sort of reward or punishment for our actions in the human world

Religion teaches about an afterlife so that we can feel the immediacy of the importance of our beliefs and actions in everything that we do

This life is like a dream, the afterlife is the true reality

Life in the grave lasts only until The Judgement Day. There are no dead souls that can rise from the grave and walk the earth as ghosts.

The only time a soul can get out of the grave is only after God has signaled for the universe to end in the Last Day

Through the test of life, we must try to get from our Animal Self to our Accusing Self and then hopefully passing to become a Restful Soul at peace

The Qur'an says that "We must police our own behavior if we are to have safe societies"

Qur'an is clear about the need for just retribution for those who did wrong and a repay for those who were wronged. These will all be fixed on Judgement Day

There is no given date for the Judgement Day

One day in the future Allah will initiate the end of the world. On this day an angel named Israfil will sound a note on a massive trumpet, and the shock wave will shake the entire universe. The earth will then begin to break apart violently. Then the earth will shut down just as immediatley as it started.

All beings that are alive at the time of Judgement will die, including the jinns and angels

The next stop is Judgement. All angels will be brought to life once more. Israfil will sound another note on his horn. All humans and jinns will then appear standing on one huge level plain. Everyone is naked and is without any symbol of status or power. This is called the Resurrection.

Muhammad said that the Day of Judgement will last 50,000 years because of how many people are there. Every human being who ever lived will be there

No excuses will be accepted by Allah on the Day of Judgement

When it is our turn to be judged, two angels will escort us; one in the front and one in the back. Our lifes record will be given to us in our right hand if we were a good person, and our left in we were bad.

After this, our entire record will be read in our presence. We can not blame Shaytan for he will disown all saying that he gave a suggestion but didn't force us to do anything.

Then our good and bad deeds will be placed on a scale and weighed. Our record of prayer will be weighed first, (if this is proven to be weak, all of our good deeds will be thrown away

Whatever the outcome, we will be persuaded to believe that this is what we deserve. Allah can also forgive extra sins simply because he wants to

Finally our descision is given: Innocent or guilty

From the Plain of Judgment we move to the brink of the pit of Hell. The intense heat will be felt and feared by all. The angels will throw the worst sinners into the flames

Those left after this process will have to take a tough journey over a bridge called the Sirat, this bridge spans the pit of hell and leads to paradise on the other side

Good people will fly over the bridge to the other side automatically. Good people with a few sins will be cut and bruised a bit by the razor sharp edges of the bridge to remind them that there are consequences (but they will make it over as well)

Sinful people will try to make it over but will trip and fall into the pit

Those people who are not good but not bad will find themselves in an elevated spot called the Heights. Those in this level will eventually make it to Paradise.

Jannah (Heaven) is a place where we are rewarded for listening to our fitrah.

At Paradise, there is a huge wall with eight gates. Each gate is named after one of the major religious rituals. We are sorted into the one that we were best at.

Heaven has seven layers but no one layer is better than the others

Paradise is forever, and nobody ever has to leave. We get to see Allah there.

Hell is temporary for some people, but permanent for others

Hell is a place created by God to purify

Hell has seven layers as well but the lower you get, the worse. Allah does not like to punish but only punishes those who have rejected him and commited evil actions. God however, is never unjust

Chapter 4/ All About Allah Summary :)

*Again, I kept the questions in mind while completing this summary

• Islam forbids making any representations of God
• God cannot be brought down to the level of human imagination
• In movies and Hollywood, God is portrayed totally wrong thus changing the publics views
• Portrayals of the prophets in movies, TV shows and such are considered blasphemous because in Islam any attempt to represent a prophet is wrong
• The Prophet Moses asked Allah if he may see Him and passed out before he saw Him
• Islam says the He is only one being without division, children or any partner
• The idea of God making any racial preference is ridiculous to Muslims
• The practice of idolatry is also blasphemous
• Every person has to face God alone
• They deny that Jesus died on a cross
• Islam denies the exsistence of Original Sin
• No need for sacrifice from anyone
• Allah is not remote and unconcerned with human affairs
• Taqwa- means awareness of God in your life
• Ninety-Nine Names of Allah. A list of Gods qualities that take away any need to know Gods physical appearance
• God is neither male or female
• Hoowa Allah negates all gender from Gods name

Chapter 3 (Looking at Life the Islamic Way) Summary

I have kept the questions in mind while creating this summarization of the chapter :)

Summary:

• Islam first looks inward as opposed to other religions
• We are all (for the most part) born good but have natural weakness because of our physical nature
• All humans have a desire for pleasure and extreme dislike for pain
• God will judge our conduct throughout life after our physical death on The Day of Judgement, and will be either punished or rewarded
• Three levels of self development: Animal self (Basic instincts and desires), Accusing Self (Higher order questioning our purpose), Restful Self (Focus on Transcending worldliness)
• We are all born sinless
• No child is born with sin, BUT if that childs every craving is fulfilled, and they never learn self-control then the child becomes impatient and unruly
• The aim of the fitrah is to over-ride this and make us want to seek God
• Shaytan= Evil jinn who seeks to corrupt and ruin us so that we will eventually forget God
• God won't allow anyone to change the Qua'ran
• In Islam there is a clear distinction between good and evil
• There are many "major sins" in Islam. For example, Commiting idolatry
• There are many "good deeds" in Islam. For example, Honoring parents
• When you commit a sin , it will be held against you on Judgement Day. The ONLY way to remove this sin is to follow the four-step process of repentance called tawba
• In Tawba you must:

- Feel bad about commiting the sin

- Repent the action to God by saying, "My Lord forgive me."

- Make up for the sin if at all possible

-Resolve never to commit the sin again

• You can save or curse yourself everyday by your belief or lackof, and your actions
• Our sins, if not repented will be held against us on Judgement Day
• The more good you do, the more rewards God bestows upon you
• We each have our own individual record where all of our good and bad deeds are recorded
• Either be sent to Heaven or Hell
• If we wish to enter Heaven but can't for some reason or another, our soul must be repaired before it can enter into Gods presence in the akhirah (next life) in order to be with God and recieve benefits for what true beliefs he/she had and any good done throughout their time on earth

Chapter 2/ Muhammad and the Founding of Islam

Muhammad and the Founding of Islam:

Arabia Prior to Islam:

-People earned a living from agriculture and trading

-Made up of sedentary and nomadic communities
-Society was organized according to clans; which in turn made up larger tribes
-Prior to the introduction of Islam, Arabia had no central government and tribes controlled government types jobs
-People looked to religion for comfort
-Believed in many gods: For example, jinn and Allah

The Town of Mecca:

-The most followed deities in Mecca and the surrounding regions were three goddesses that were rumored to be the daughters of Allah
-Every year, all tribesmen visited Mecca in order to visit the Ka'bah
-The pilgrimage was known as the hajj, and included a ceremonial procession around a sacred shrine
-Mecca was a commercial center, but served as a religious center as well

Muhammad's Early Life:

-In Mecca, the "merchant clans" were in control of the religious life of the town, and were careful not to let any new practices into their society
-Muhammad became a merchant, but found only some satisfaction with that way of life
-He began to question the route both his life and society was taking

The Coming of Revelation:

- Muhammad experienced strange visions. For example, the angel Gabriel appeared before Muhammad in human form

-At first he thought he was going CRAZY

- He was overwhelmed and only told a few friends and close followers at first

-Muhammad= "The Messenger of God"

-Muhammad declared that there was only one god; Allah. He preached of his power, and that the day of judgement was to come

-He also called on people to believe solely in Allah; not to break the oneness

The Opposition to Muhammad:

- The top Meccan families turned against Muhammad and threatened him in many ways, so he realized that he and his followers had to leave Mecca

-Asleep one night near the Ka'bah, Muhammad was woken by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel guided him to Jerusalem, then from a rock he ascended to heaven, and met with great prophets such as Abraham, Jesus and Moses

-Mecca---> =very important in Muhammad's life and the establishment of the Islamic community

- This journey (a.k.a Hijrah) also marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar

Muhammad: Politics and Prophethood

- Lots of responsibilies in Medina: stop fighting, find shelter for Meccans, going up against the merchant clans who wished to kick him out, and other Islamic preachings

-Medina was big on agriculture but the Meccans have NO idea how to. So Muhammad has them do something a little more familiar, RAID!!!!!!!!!

The Clash of Arms:

-Clash between the Meccans and Muslims

-Muslims win! They believe that it is the work of divine guideance

-"Allahu Akbar" - (God is most great)

Victory and the Final Pilgrammage:

-In 630, Muhammad controlled most of the peninsula

- On the 10th day of the pilgrimage, Muhammad spoke to the Muslims in his last great sermon

-He urged them to maintain the unity of Islam

- Muhammed left for Medina, and this is known as the "Farewell Pilgrimage". Shortly after his return to Mecca Muhammed fell ill and died. :(

-Pro: He brought Gods words to earth through the Koran. Con: He founded a community that was very dependent on his leadership. His death left them needing to find a new successor to Muhammad....

Rational and Preliminary research :) (draft)

Rationale and preliminary research draft:

For my last World Religions IA, I focused on 3 countries and why they were required to veil by their governments as a result of Islam. Soon after I was finished with that project I realized that I had chosen way too big of an area of focus. This time I am choosing to focus solely on Iran, and am switching it up a bit. Instead of discussing the issue of veiling, I will be discussing radical Islam. I have never really gone into depth on learning about Iran and radical Islam or even Iran really at all. This makes me excited to only focus on one country and go in-depth. The question I will be asking is "What part did radical Islam play in the Iranian Revolution?". In order to answer this question I will need a variety of sources such as an interview, and numerous sources both book and internet.

I will add more to this once I obtain more sources that can be cited within this section :)

Two World Religions OPVLS for IA

OPVLS:

OPVL #1:

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761588431/islamic_revolution_of_iran.html

This source originates from MSN Encarta. The purpose is to give an overview of the Iranian Revolution from start to finish. This resource is valuable in that it outlines the entire Iranian Revolution, also including what happened prior to and after the revolt; making it easier to clearly see where radical Islam was involved. Although this source is extremely valuable, it also has limitations. One of which is the fact that it shows absolutely no historical perspective.

OPVL #2:

http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/khomeini2.html

This source originates from the website of Time Magazine. It's purpose is to remind and inform people about the revolutionary leader from the Iranian Revolution; Ayatollah Khomeini whose name means "inspired of God". This source is valuable in that it gives an overview of Khomeini and an insight into a part of radical Islam. Though this an invaluable source it, like all sources, is limited. This is because it does not include any historical perspective at all.

IA Question :) Change of Plans!!!

Okay, so I am thinking more about this whole World Relgions IA thing, and have come to a HUGE conclusion.

Heres what I am thinking. Instead of doing 3 different places and their views on veiling as a result of the leniancy of their government, I was thinking about working with just Iran and doing a more in depth study. I would also like to tie in the Iranian Revolution and how relgion both effected the revolution and was effectivley changed as a result of it.

I am thinking just tracking Irans change in how relgion is viewed because of events such as the Iranian Revolution and government as well.

Thoughts on this?

Cool Religious Quote!!! :)

"My Religion is simple; My Religion is kindness"~The Dalai Lama

Potential IA Topic Entry

I would like to continue with the same IA Topic that I worked on last year. I would like to modify it a bit (the question, and focus) but continue with my subject area. Is that okay to do? Keeping the same sources from last year and adding on, including an interview would be my goal source-wise.

My previous research question had to do with women from Turkey, Afghanistan, and Iran and how much they covered up as a result of the leniancy of their goverments. I would like to narrow it down and do a detailed study of maybe just one.

Thoughts on this whole idea?