Where are we at ….?

1. Where are we at ….? • This week – Islam • Next week (begins 2 June) – Last lecture • Week 15 (begins 9 June) last week of tutes

2. Looking ahead …. • Your Preparation for next week’s tutorial and forthcoming assignments: •  Reading 8.3 Bowen • Video qs: My Journey, My Islam •  Assign.: All done! • Revision: In the next two weeks, revise examinable readings (13 of them) and select at least 4 videos to write on.

3. Islam and Interpersonal Relations There is only One God, Allah, And Muhammad is His Prophet

4. Coherence Systems - Objectives On successful completion of this module, you should be able to: •  identify the principal religious traditions of Australia, Asia and the Pacific, and those countries where each is practised • describe key ideas of each religious tradition included in this module – today’s focus is the religious tradition of Islam

5. Coherence Systems - Objectives • identify the central source books or written record (if any) of Islam • identify the ways in which a particular religious tradition can affect the behaviour of believers

6. Overview of today’s work • Brief survey of Islam as a world religion • Introduction to Islam and interpersonal relations • Interpersonal relations traced through a fictional consultancy in Indonesia • Now for some terminology ….

7. Some terminology Getting it right, being well informed • Islam (an Arabic word), is the name of the religion. It means ‘submission to God’ • Muslim, is a follower of the faith of Islam

8. Islam on the World Scene ’Civil Islam’ is … • Pluralist • Respects universal human rights • Promotes free and public speech • Believes that the Islamic religion has a role to play in public life, but as one of many traditions

9. Islam on the World Scene • If you are interested in following up information about Islam, this web sites will be useful: http://www.Islamic-World.net • The Australian National University Coombs library described this site as ‘a remarkable and expertly managed site that is an essential academic resource’

10. The Consultancy in Indonesia • Your company has been hired as consultants to an Indonesian gold mining operation • Mr Ibrahim Hasan is your Indonesian counterpart

11. Your anxieties …. • Diet – you are vaguely aware that Muslims have a special diet. Will it suit you? • Social customs – you are vaguely aware that some Muslims have more than one wife, and you are not sure how to relate to them .. • Thin ice – the media has represented Islam as a militant faith, and you are worried that you might offend someone …

12. The Jakarta Office • In Indonesia, about 80% of the 200 million population are Muslims • Hasan’s office is in Jakarta, a city of about 9 million people

13. Ramadhan • Ramadhan is one of the twelve lunar months of the Islamic calendar • It is the fasting month • It commemorates Muhammad’s experiences in the wilderness

14. Id ul Fitri -A moveable festival • 1998: 30-31Jan • 1999:19-20 Jan • 2000: 8-9 Jan • 2001:17-18 Dec • 2002:6-7 Dec • 2003:26 Nov • 2004:14 Nov

15. Surah 2 • O Believers, prescribed for you is the Fast, even as it was prescribed for those that were before you - haply you will be godfearing - • for days are numbered; and if any of you be sick, or if he be on a journey, then a number of other days; and for those who are able to fast, a redemption by feeding a poor man. Yet better it is for him who volunteers good, and that you should fast is better for you, if you but know; ...

16. Friday Plans • You propose lunch on Friday, but Hasan explains that it won’t be suitable as he has to attend noonday prayers at the mosque

17. The Rules for the Fast • Permitted to you, upon the night of the Fast, is to go in to your wives; they are a vestment for you, and you are a vestment for them. God knows that you have been betraying yourselves, and has turned to you and pardoned you. So now lie with them, and seek what God has prescribed for you.

18. The Rules for the Fast • And eat and drink, until the white thread shows clearly to you from the black thread at the dawn; then complete the Fast unto the night, and do not lie with them while you cleave to the mosques. Those are God's bounds; keep well within them. So God makes clear His signs to men; haply they will be godfearing.

19. Recreation Plans Changed • Hasan can’t make the tennis, the Fast is too tough

20. Breaking the Fast • After fasting the body requires easily digested, sugary food • Fruit and sweet drinks are ideal • A full dinner is eaten later

21. The Daily Routine of Prayer • Dawn • Noon • Afternoon • Evening • Night

22. The Call to Prayer • The call to prayer is broadcast from tall towers attached to the mosque • The call begins with a statement of God’s greatness, and then the declaration that there is only one God, Allah

23. The Five Pillars of Islam 1. The Declaration of Faith, that there isonly one God and that Muhammad was His prophet.  2. Salat, or the obligatory prayers.  3. Zakat, or alms giving.  4. The Fast.  5. The Haj, or pilgrimage.

24. Celebrating Lebaran • Celebrating Lebaran is very enjoyable, with lots of speciality foods and gifts shared around

25. The Fatihah • In the Name of the merciful Lord of Mercy.The praise is to God, Lord of the worlds, the merciful Lord of Mercy, ruler of the judgement day. You it is we worship, You it is to whom we come for aid. Guide us in the straight path, the path of those upon whom your favour rests, not of those who incur anger, nor of those who are astray.

26. Answering the Three Organising Questions from an Islamic Perspective • From What? What is the nature of the human predicament? • Answer: The human situation is one of ignorance. Humans seek liberation from ignorance and superstition, from belief in idols, from anything which takes away from the understanding that there is only one god, Allah

27. Answering the Three Organising Questions from an Islamic Perspective • To What? Is answered by saying that men and women aspire to submit to the will and law of God. The faithful also aspire to the bliss of paradise

28. Answering the Three Organising Questions from an Islamic Perspective • By What? Is answered by saying that men and women will follow the word of God revealed in the Quran. The answer can be extended by saying that the faithful try to fulfil the works of religion, the obligation to witness, to perform prayer, to give alms, to perform the fast, and to perform the pilgrimage if possible

29. Thinking about our objectives .. Can you now …? • identify the principal religious traditions of Australia, Asia and the Pacific, and those countries where each is practised? • describe key ideas of the Islamic tradition?

30. Thinking about our objectives .. Can you now…? • identify the central source book or scripture for Islam? • identify the ways in which a particular religious tradition can affect the behaviour of believers ?

31. My Journey, My Islam • What reasons do the Australian university students give for their conversion to Islam? • Is Islam practised in the same ways in each of the countries mentioned in the video? • Are there good reasons for women to wear the veil? If yes, what are they?