Summary 

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Muhammad, Prophet of Islam, ranks amongst the most influential figures in human history. For millions of Muslims around the world, the Prophet Muhammad has become the paradigm, or role model, who is worthy of being emulated. As God’s chosen prophet and messenger, he best embodied how to live a life in accordance with God’s will. In this sense, he and the prophets before him, including Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Jacob and Jesus, are  perceived as exemplary muslims, literally, those who have truly submitted [to the will of God]. Not surprisingly, Prophet Muhammad’s customary behavior (sunnah) is an important source, second only to the Qur’an, for determining the legal, societal and pietistic norms for Muslim societies. The hadith, or accounts recording the Prophet’s words and deeds, are an important source of Prophetic sunnah. For many Muslims, Muhammad is not only the guide but the intercessor, the helper in time of difficulty, the mystic, the friend, and even the beloved. For a better understanding of some of the roles in which Muslims have seen their Prophet, we need to focus not only on the historical figure of Muhammad, who lived in the seventh century Arabia (“the Muhammad of history”), but also on Muhammad as he has been interpreted by millions of Muslims over the centuries living in different geographic and cultural locales (“Muhammad through history”).  The readings in Session Two help us explore interpretations of the figure of Muhammad across historical time and geographic space drawing on examples from poetry, folk literature and visual arts. By using literature and the arts as cultural lenses through which to view the figure of the Prophet, we are better able to appreciate the role that literary and artistic contexts play in influencing the interpretation and expression of religious concepts and symbols. Such an approach also allows us access to the personal voices of poets and the artists as expressed in their works, voices that are often drowned out by the voices of formal and official religious authorities and texts.

The selections for this Seminar draw on two types of literature depicting the Prophet Muhammad:  poems from South Asia (the Indian subcontinent) and sub-Saharan Africa; and folk stories from the Hui, a Muslim community in China, which illustrate the manner in which the figure of Muhammad is interpreted within the framework of Chinese folkloric traditions.

From South Asia we have examples of poetry from Urdu and Sindhi, both Indo-Aryan languages written in a script based on the Arabic alphabet. In the course of their historical development, both languages have acquired significant vocabulary derived from Arabic and Persian. Spoken by over 150 million people, Urdu is the official language of Pakistan and also one of the national languages of India. Beyond South Asia, Urdu is routinely spoken as a first or second language in immigrant communities of South Asian origin in many parts of the world, including the United States. Urdu poetry includes a distinctive genre called na’t, or composition that glorifies Muhammad.  These na’ts may be written in various poetic meters and forms. The selections of na’ts, included in the readings, illustrate the special relationship that exists between the composers of the poems and Muhammad, their beloved Prophet, a relationship that in some instances has a somewhat romantic tinge to it.  Muhammad is portrayed as a helper and a friend, with poets seeking his intercession for the forgiveness of their sins. Such pleas reveal that Muhammad is conceived as having a mystical and spiritual dimension to his personality made possible by his special relationship to God. Writing na’ts, or poems glorifying Muhammad, was not confined just to Muslim poets; our sample shows examples of such poems written by non-Muslims as well.

Sindhi is spoken predominantly in the region of Sind, southern province of present-day Pakistan, home of the ancient Indus valley civilization. The language is also spoken by scattered groups of Sindhis living in many cities across India. Sindhi Muslims use their native language to express affection and high esteem for the Prophet Muhammad.  Many of the themes in Urdu poetry are also found in Sindhi poetry.  A distinctive feature of Sindhi poetry is the tendency to praise Muhammad and represent him in symbols familiar to the local culture and literature. This is accomplished by poets incorporating folk tales and romances as allegoric references or following certain local literary conventions. A particularly striking convention has male poets adopting the female voice to address the Prophet as a longed for bridegroom or beloved. While appearing strange to contemporary Western audiences, such usage is completely in keeping with the ethos of devotional poetry in many parts of northern India and Pakistan in which the human soul is always imagined to be in the feminine mode in its devotional relationship to the Divine.

The poetry selections from sub-Saharan Africa are composed in Hausa and Swahili, widely spoken in West and East Africa, respectively. Both  belong to the Bantu family of languages. On account of ancient cultural and economic ties with the Arabic speaking world, (Hausa through the trans-Saharan trade connecting West Africa to North Africa; Swahili through the trading networks across the Indian Ocean between the east coast of Africa and Arabia), both languages have absorbed a significant component of Arabic vocabulary. Historically, modified forms of the Arabic alphabet have even been used to write Hausa and Swahili. With the coming of European colonialism, however, the Latin alphabet was adopted as the official script. The spread of Islam among Hausa and Swahili speaking peoples has resulted in both languages becoming important vehicles for the expression of Islamic devotion.

The poem in Hausa is composed by Asma (d. 1865), daughter of the famous eighteenth century reformer of Islam, Usuman dan Fodio (d. 1817) (We will be learning more about Usuman dan Fodio and his reformist ideology in Session Eight.) Renowned for her piety as well as her learning, Asma wrote poetry in three languages, Arabic, Hausa and Fulfulde. She was particularly gifted in her ability to express Islamic concepts into local African idioms, writing as many as sixty works during her lifetime. Aside from her religiosity and literary abilities, Asma’s popularity rested also on her charitable works for the marginalized in her society as well as her contributions to furthering education for women. Her poem, “Ode in Praise of the Messenger,” an example of a type of poetry called madih, Prophetic panegyric, is one of her most famous compositions in the Hausa language.

The Swahili selection is a poetic account of the mi’raj or Prophet Muhammad’s ascension through the heavens. The traditional accounts narrate that one night, the Prophet Muhammad, mounted on a mythical creature called Buraq and with the Angel Gabriel as his guide, first went to Jerusalem, where after leading the other prophets in prayer, he ascended through the various heavens, culminating this journey in a face to face meeting with God. Muslims have differed among themselves as to the interpretation of this event, with the more mystically minded interpreting it as a spiritual allegory for the journey of the human soul, a kind of “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Muhammad’s mi’raj formed for the mystics of Islam the prototype of the ascent of each soul to higher spiritual realms. The mi’raj becomes a popular subject for Muslim poets in many languages, especially as it allows poets to imagine and depict creatively a highly esoteric experience. Incidentally, there is strong evidence to suggest that Muslim poetic accounts of the mi’raj, reaching Europe through the Arab courts in medieval Spain, inspired the Italian writer Dante to compose his famous work, The Divine Comedy.

As evident in the painting selections, the mi’raj has provided inspiration not just to poets but to artists as well. The illustrations included here are from a fifteenth century manuscript called the Mi’raj Nameh “Treatise on the Mi’raj.” It was one of the great masterpieces produced at studios attached to the royal court at Herat (currently in present-day Afghanistan). At these royal studios, calligraphers, illuminators and bookbinders produced lavish manuscripts for the vast and famous library of the ruler Shah Rukh (1396-1477), son of Tamerlane. It is believed that Mir Haydar, the author of the text, translated it into a dialect of Turkish from an Arabic original.  The artwork is very colorful and depicts various scenes during the Prophet Muhammad’s heavenly journey. While the artists and the patron associated with this manuscript tradition were evidently comfortable with a figural representation of the Prophet, depicting even his face, there are Muslims who consider these depictions as constituting idolatry and hence should be forbidden. As such, they would prefer aniconic representations of the Prophet perhaps through other art forms such as poetry and calligraphy.

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Guiding Questions

As you read and discuss the selections, consider the following questions:

1. Each of these poems evokes an intimate relationship with Prophet Muhammad. In reading them, consider the significance of this means of devotion. What are the elements that make this type of poetry an effective means of communicating religious affections and pious devotion? The intimacy expressed in the poems allows a window into the poet’s and the audience’s particular understandings of Muhammad and his mission to humanity. How is Muhammad’s prophetic role appropriated and acculturated in each of these traditions? In other words, how is the mission made personally meaningful to the poet and the audience?
2. Consider these same questions as you read the selections from Mythology and Folklore of the Hui. To what extent do the myths of the Hui reveal Islamic and/or Chinese identity? How are these identities negotiated in the stories?
3. What influence do local artistic traditions have on the illustrations of the mi’raj?  What can we tell of the aesthetic norms that have influenced the depictions of figures (the Prophet, the angels), their clothing, natural elements (the sky, clouds etc) and architectural features? How does this artistic tradition handle perspective? How do these illustrations reflect the intended audience (courtly and aristocratic circles)? How do cultural contexts and accepted aesthetic norms influence the representations of Jesus in Christian traditions around the world?
4. Why do some Muslims feel comfortable depicting the Prophet (especially his face)?  Why would others consider this to be offensive and hence forbidden?  What factors, aside from theological ones, could be involved in determining these attitudes? What is the difference between poetic and figural depictions of the Prophet?

Summary 

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Muhammad, Prophet of Islam, ranks amongst the most influential figures in human history. For millions of Muslims around the world, the Prophet Muhammad has become the paradigm, or role model, who is worthy of being emulated. As God’s …

Summary

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We can trace much of the diversity in the Muslim world to religious, philosophical, and political tensions that arose in the centuries after the Prophet Muhammad’s death.  Sunni and Shi’a communities, for example, were divided by disagreements on the succession of leadership after Muhammad, while the rise of a Sufi counterculture was in part a reaction to the un-Islamic lifestyles of political leaders.  The early Muslim communities struggled over the authority and legitimacy of community leaders, the relationship between political and religious leadership, and the correct interpretation of the Quran and Muhammad’s life.

One of the most decisive problems for early Muslims concerned authority and leadership.  By the end of Muhammad’s life, most of the Arab tribes had formed a united community of believers (ummah), with Muhammad acting as their leader both in religious and political matters.  But Muhammad was the Seal of the Prophets; the authority of his successor, therefore, would not be based on prophethood.  It was up to the early Muslims to determine the nature and function of leadership in their communities.  When Muhammad died in 632, many members of the ummah felt that the Prophet had not designated a successor, and by general consensus Muhammad’s father-in-law Abu Bakr was elected the first successor (calpih).  Others believed that Muhammad had appointed his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Ali Talib as his successor, and believed that Ali, as a member of Muhammad’s immediate family, was best qualified to guide the ummah. Ali’s supporters were known as the Shiat Ali, “the Partisans of Ali”, and agitated for Ali to become the caliph.  In 680, the struggle between supporters of the early caliphs and the Shi’a culminated in the battle of Karbala where Ali’s son Husayn was murdered by the army of Yazid.  The martyrdom of Husayn was considered a grave injustice by all Muslims, but was a profound tragedy for the Shi’a. The commemoration of Husayn’s martyrdom remains central to Shi’a religious identity.

In addition to the problems of succession and leadership, Muslims also debated how the teachings of the Quran and other scripture should be applied in practice. The Quran provided guidance on many aspects of religious and social life, but some felt that it did not contain clear instruction on all possible religious and legal questions.  To clarify the Quran’s practical teachings, Muslims relied on sunnah, the customs and practices of the Prophet as recorded in Hadith, extra-quranic quotations and eyewitness reports of Muhammad’s behavior.  Scholars traveled throughout the Muslim world collecting Hadith, while carefully scrutinizing their authenticity.  Only those Hadith which were transmitted by an unbroken chain of reliable sources were deemed acceptable. All members of the ummah strove to adopt the message of the Quran and emulate Muhammad, who was celebrated as the uswa al-hasana (the most beautiful model).

The Quran and sunnah, the most authoritative guides to religious and social life, were the primary sources for shari’ah, the path of right conduct and behavior as revealed by God.  Scholars studied the Quran and hadith in order to clarify shari’ah. Several schools of jurisprudence were formed, each with its own method for arriving at legal rulings.  Although all rulings were based on scripture, the ambiguity of the primary sources on certain issues required the use of systematic reasoning, based on methods sanctioned by each school.  Some jurists, and later theologians and philosophers, developed sophisticated intellectual methods, some drawing from traditions of ancient Greek philosophy; others became uncomfortable with the application of potentially fallible human reason to religious law and theology, and argued for a literal application of the Quran and sunnah.  Four major schools of Sunni jurisprudence were to emerge from these debates.  Each school attracted its own followers, and at times there were bitter rivalries between schools.   Muslims sought the opinions and guidance of religious scholars, the ulama, marking them as authorities on religious matters.  Political leaders also patronized the ulama, establishing endowments for centers of learning.  In areas where political authority was less centralized, the ulama fulfilled a number of leadership roles, and took on a degree of political power as well.

The Shi’a developed their own approaches to jurisprudence.  While the rulings of Shi’a jurists did not deviate significantly from those of the Sunni schools, their approach to authority was quite unique.  The Shi’a refused to accept the legitimacy of the early caliphs, remaining loyal to the descendants of Ali, whom they called Imams, spiritual leaders.  As a descendant of Muhammad’s immediate family, each Imam was believed to inherit special insight and authority in the practice of scriptural interpretation.  As such, the Imam was considered to be an essential intermediary between God and the Shi’a community.  In addition to hadiths of the Prophet, the Shi’a collected similar traditions from the Imams, extending the sources of shari’ah beyond those accepted by the Sunni jurists.  A dispute over the succession of the seventh Imam led to a further division among Shi’a, creating the Twelver and Ismaili communities.

With the success and territorial expansion of political dynasties, government officials began to accumulate unprecedented wealth and power, and at times their lifestyles were considered at odds with shari’ah.  Following the model of Muhammad’s simple lifestyle, some Muslims, called Sufis, renounced worldly gains and turned to lives of poverty and ascetic practice.  Sufis explored mystical and symbolic interpretations of Islamic rituals and scriptures to uncover their deeper significance.  Most Sufis had extensive training in Islamic law and its guidelines for ritual and social behavior, but strove to apply shari’ah to their inner lives as well.  They formulated a personal, emotional vision of Islam, internalizing the meaning of the Quran and Muhammad’s life.  The spiritual accomplishments of the Sufis attracted followers and students, and Sufi brotherhoods gradually spread beyond local political loyalties.  A Sufi master’s teachings and conduct could become the source of inspiration for followers.  This spiritual allegiance would continue even after a master’s death, with followers making pilgrimages to his tomb.

It should be clear that while early Muslims were unified in their belief in the Quran and sunnah, they came to interpret the meaning of Islam in diverse ways.  All Muslims agreed on the authority of the Quran, but they actively debated the authority of political and religious leaders, the limits of human reason, and the compatibility of spiritual and worldly aspirations.

Guiding Questions

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1. At the heart of many of the sectarian movements among Muhammad’s followers was the problem of establishing legitimate leadership. How did the early Muslims make sense of the shift in the leadership from Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets to his successors who could not claim the authority of prophethood? What were the Sunni and Shi’a solutions to this problem? How did the qualifications for legitimate rule differ according to these communities with respect to education, family and tribal identity, spirituality, wealth, and politics?
2. The readings for this session describe different approaches to scriptural, religious, and political authority. What were the important sources of authority for each sectarian movement? In the case where more than one source of authority was accepted, how were these sources reconciled? Think about the role of hierarchical structures of authority. Do you see similarities between authority in Shi’a and Sufi traditions, especially in their concepts of religious leadership?
3. Ernst distinguishes between philosophical ethics based on reason and religious ethics based on revelation (p. 110). How does this distinction relate to the early schools of Islamic law and theology, especially the Mutazilites, Asharites, and People of Hadith? What was the role of reason and revelation in establishing Shari’ah and practicing philosophy? Why did some jurists argue the necessity of reason to interpret the Quran and Sunnah?
4. Ernst argues that “the concept of what is called Western civilization should . . . include Islam” on the grounds of Muslim philosophers’ active engagement with ancient Greek thinkers. After centuries of neglect, European philosophers rediscovered Greek philosophy and translated the works of Plato and Aristotle, as well as the original works of Muslim philosophers, from Arabic into Latin. Greek philosophy, widely considered the foundation for Western philosophy, was preserved and developed by Muslims. Still, Muslim philosophers are rarely acknowledged for this work. Ernst calls this “one of the great areas of selective amnesia about the nature of Western civilization.” How is this selective amnesia “an argument for European superiority”? What are the implications of including Islam in the concept of Western civilization?

Summary

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We can trace much of the diversity in the Muslim world to religious, philosophical, and political tensions that arose in the centuries after the Prophet Muhammad’s death.  Sunni and Shi’a communities, for example, were divided by disagreements on …

Summary

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The centuries leading up to the Mongol invasions of the 13th century saw a culmination of Muslim spiritual and intellectual traditions, with masterpieces of literature, metaphysics, and theology. Sufi mystics, seeking a personal, subjective experience of God, gradually came to form networks of fraternal orders spanning the Muslim world. The language of their teachings was rich in symbolism and metaphor, inspiring poets like Jalal ud-Din Rumi (d. 1273) to compose literature of supreme beauty and vitality. Thinkers such as Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali (d. 1111) drew upon developments in Muslim intellectual traditions, as well as Greek philosophy and Neoplatonism, in their influential writings on mysticism and theology. They organized these ideas into comprehensive systems of faith, integrating objective and subjective forms of knowledge and religious experience.

Even during the Prophet Muhammad’s lifetime some Muslims were moved to express their deep devotion to God with special spiritual disciplines. Citing such hadiths as “poverty is my pride,” they turned away from worldly accomplishments to adopt a simple lifestyle of voluntary poverty. These renunciates strove to realize the spiritual significance the message of the Quran, and the virtues of the lifestyle outlined by the hadith and sunnah. These spiritual practices were firmly grounded in the Quran, with its allusions to the “Night of Power” when the Quran was revealed to Muhammad, as well as the miraj, the Prophet’s miraculous journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and ascension through the seven heavens into the presence of God. Muslims borrowed the language and symbolism of such events in order to express their own spiritual growth and experience of God, seeking the deeper, mystical meaning of the Quran and sunnah.

Muslim mystics were called Sufis, perhaps due to the coarse woolen ropes they wore (suf is Arabic for wool), in contrast to the lavish attire of political leaders and officials. Sufis considered the extravagant lifestyles of these officials to be at odds with the teachings of the Quran and shari’ah, and sought to turn away from worldly accomplishments, like wealth and political power, which were considered distractions from their devotions. Details from the lives of early Sufis are recorded in stories which exemplify a deep-seated devotion to the basic teachings of Islam. For example, Sufis strove to replace their own selfish desires with the love of God. This teaching was exemplified by Rabi’a al-‘Adawiyya (d. 801) who, with a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other, exclaimed, “I want to dowse the fires of hell and set fire to heaven so that people will love God—not out of their fear of hell or the hope of heaven—but for his own sake.” Likewise, the importance of tawhid, the affirmation of God’s unity, was famously dramatized by Husayn Mansur al-Hallaj (d. 922). In a state of mystical ecstasy, Hallaj extended the implications of tawhid by claiming to be a manifestation of the divine truth. Although Hallaj was executed as a heretic, in Sufi literature his martyrdom became a popular symbol for unwavering sacrifice and mystical union with God.

From the 11th century, Sufism began to take on a formal organizational structure. Sufis began to write systematic treatises and organize themselves into loose affiliations, on par with the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence. Often Sufi orders were structured around a spiritual master, one who had progressed through a number mystical stages, and, in the process, achieved the qualities of sainthood. These Sufi masters, called sheikhs (spiritual guides), attracted students who congregated at meeting houses to receive instruction. Even after the death of a sheikh, students and devotees visited the tomb of the master to receive his blessing (baraka). These tombs became popular centers of pilgrimage throughout the Muslim world, and the sheikh was thought to function as an intercessor between God and the pilgrims. The concept of intercession in Sufism is not unlike the special status of the Prophet’s family and Imams in Shi’ism.

Alongside the formation of Sufi orders, schools of theology and philosophy studied the scriptures and sunnah; some even began to consider their faith in light of neighboring intellectual traditions. The writings of Plato, Aristotle and the Neoplatonists were especially influential among Muslim intellectuals who questioned how these systems of logic, cosmology, and metaphysics could enhance Muslims’ understanding of the Quran’s teachings. Mutazilite theologians represented the rationalist position, arguing that the universe was arranged by certain principles that can be discovered by reason alone. Others felt that there were limits to the power of reason, and felt that God and his creation could be known primarily through divine revelation as conveyed in the Quran. A third group of theologians, the Ash’arites, adopted a compromise, accepting the use of reason as a tool in theological debates, but conceding that God ultimately transcends reason. Ash’arite theologians were thoroughly educated in logic and philosophy, and their positions reflect a synthesis of the major intellectual traditions current in the Middle East and surrounding areas.

Early Muslim philosophers wove ideas from Greek and neo-Platonist philosophy into their metaphysical teachings regarding the relationship between God and the universe. Ibn Sina (d. 1037), also known as Avicenna, wrote important commentaries on Greek philosophy which were to play a central role in the so-called rediscovery of philosophy by Christian scholastics like Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274). But Muslim philosophers like Ibn Sina did not merely preserve earlier traditions; they incorporated these ideas into Islamic intellectual traditions and made original contributions to philosophy and theology.

The various intellectual traditions outlined above, namely, Sufism, theology, and philosophy, were brought together by Ash’arite theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali (d. 1111), whose synthesis would be widely accepted as an integration of Sufi mysticism, shari’ah based religion, and philosophical methods. Al-Ghazzali’s biography is itself an embodiment of this synthesis. An accomplished professor in Islamic jurisprudence, al-Ghazzali gave up a prestigious professorship to devote himself to the search for a deeper faith. This search led to an elegant formulation of Islam, which reconciled the teachings of the Quran and the ritualism of shari’ah, with the personal experience of God found in Sufism. Al-Ghazzali argued for an integration of the objective knowledge of the scholars and the subjective knowledge of the Sufis. This fusion of reason and emotion, of outer and inner religious life, was the culmination of centuries of debates between mystics, theologians, and philosophers; to many, it would prove a satisfying solution to these debates, and a successful integration of shari’ah and mysticism.

Guiding Questions

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1. At one time Western scholars of Islam felt that Sufism was incompatible with Islam and tried to establish, unconvincingly, that it was the product of Hindu or Christian influence. To this day the artistic expressions of Sufis, such as Jalal ud-Din Rumi, are among the most popular expressions of Islam in the West. Is there a connection between these two phenomena? What about Sufism allows it to transcend the generally negative image of Islam in the West? Are there similarities between Sufi and Western ideals, and if so, do they withstand scrutiny? What does it mean to say that Sufism is the internalization of Islam and Shari’a?
2. Occasionally one hears that Islam forbids music and representational art; this misconception fails to recognize countless examples of such art forms created by Muslim artists. In Ernst’s discussion of Islamic art, he makes a distinction between Islamic art which is directly connected to religion, and Islamicate art which is non-religious and may be created by both Muslims and non-Muslims. Try to apply this distinction to examples of visual art, architecture, literature, and music. What can you say about the differences between Islamic and Islamicate art, and, for that matter, the general usefulness of this distinction? Think about artistic traditions in your own community, and the role of religions in these traditions. To what degree is the Islamic/Islamicate distinction analogous to the distinction between sacred and secular art?
3. Both Sells and Ernst describe the relationship between the lives of the early Sufis and the teachings of the Quran and the life of Muhammad. Events from Muhammad’s life became spiritual models for Sufis; for example, the “Night of Power,” when the Quran was revealed to Muhammad, and the miraj, Muhammad’s ascension into the presence of God. How do these events lend themselves to mystical interpretations? How could Sufis model their own spiritual experiences upon these events without claiming the status of prophethood? What is the role of the Quran and sunnah in Sufism? How do the basic values of Sufism such as tawhid (affirmation of God’s unity), tawakkul (trust in God), and rida (contentment with God’s will) relate to the message of the Quran? Why did some Muslims reject Sufi practices and teachings? How do you account for tensions between Sufis and political leaders, as well as between Sufis and religious leaders?
4. Lapidus states that by the 13th century a “Sunni-scripturalist-Sufi orientation” had emerged as the “normative form of Sunni Islam.” Consider the variety of Muslim intellectual and religious traditions in currency prior to the 13th century. Which traditions played the largest roles in the formation of this normative consensus? Which approaches to jurisprudence, philosophy, theology, and mysticism did this consensus exclude and why? Compare and contrast the roles of intercession and pilgrimage in Shi’ism and Sufism. What was the intellectual and political context of al-Ghazzali’s synthesis of various strands of philosophy, theology, and mysticism? Why was this synthesis so successful?

Summary

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The centuries leading up to the Mongol invasions of the 13th century saw a culmination of Muslim spiritual and intellectual traditions, with masterpieces of literature, metaphysics, and theology. Sufi mystics, seeking a personal, subjective experience of God, gradually …