It is in the 2010 paper that there was a question

Battle of Masraha is the Second Marj-Rahat? Discuss

though Marj-Rahat was the Battle of Yarmuk, which was fought between the Banu Ghassan and Umar-I period, its commander was Khalid bin Waleed, in this battle Byzantine empire were completely blocked to enter in Arabia, how we relate this battle with Masrah, which was fought between AR-I and Yousif al-Fihri. in which Abdur Reham-I raised the banner of Umayyads in Spain.

how Masrah and Marj-Rahat(Yarmuk) are related ?

"Muawiyah, the founder of the Umayyad Dynasty, raised his Syrian throne on Yamanite shoulders. His son and successor, Yazid, whose mother, Maysun, belonged to the Kalbites of the Yamanite party, contracted a marriage with a kalbite woman. Jealous Qaysites refused to recognize his successor, Muawiya II, and declared the pseudo-caliph ibn al zubayr. The decisive victory of the kalbite over the qaysites at Marj Rahit (684) secured the throne for Marwan, the father of the Marwanid branch of the Ummayad house." History of the Arabs, P.K.Hitti. Page. 281.
At Marj Rahit in Syria the Umayyads under Marwan had defeated their enemies and secured their caliphate. In battle of Massara, Abdur Rehman I refered to those circumstances and vowed to restore caliphate to his family.

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38th Commons

"Ingratitude is prerogative of people." Raza Shah Pehlvi

Islamic spirituality in Sufism
7th and 8th century: asceticism and mysticism
9th-10th centuries, elucidation of a Sufi identity
11th-12th centuries, Sufism integrated with Sunnism
12-13th centuries: great Sufi poetry
12-16th centuries, institutionalization of Sufism
Quranic inspiration
2:185/6: “If My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close: I listen to the prayer of every supplicant, when he calleth on me”

50:15/16: “We are nearer to him [man] than his jugular vein”

2:144/5 “Whithersoever ye turn, there is the Face of God”

The institutionalization of Sufism
6th/12th century onwards: the rise of the tariqa
The primacy of the shaykh-murid relationship
Spiritual hierarchy and reverence for Sufi saints
The potential political/military relevance of the tariqas

Living without Self (al-Qushayri (d. 1074) on Bayazid (d. 874 )
“Dhu n-Nun al-Misri sent a man from his circle to Abu Yazid to report back to him about Abu Yazid’s circumstances. The man came to Bistam, asked directions for the house of Abu Yazid, and went to visit him there. Abu Yazid said: “What do you want?” The man said: “I want Abu Yazid.” He replied: “Who is Abu Yazid? Where is Abu Yazid? I am seeking Abu Yazid myself.” The man departed, saying to himself: “He’s mad.” When the man returned to Dhu n-Nun and reported what he had seen, Dhu n-Nun wept and said: “My brother Abu Yazid has gone the way of those departed to God.” (Sells, 123-4).

Al-Hallaj (d. 922): Turning Revelation Inside Out


“From Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Nahrawani: I saw al-Hallaj in the mosque in Nahrawan, praying, and completing the Qur’an in two prostrations. When he finished, I greeted him, saying: Oh, Shaykh, grant me a word on tawhid. He said: Know that if the worshipper proclaims the unity of God, he has established himself, and who establishes himself engages in secret polytheism. Instead, God the Most High, He is the one who proclaims His own unity through the tongue of whomever He chooses from His creation. If He unified Himself through my tongue, then it is His affair. Aside from this, my brother, I have no knowledge of tawhid.” [from Akhbar al-Hallaj, 91]


Sufism, Colonialism, and Islamic Reform movements


In the 19th and 20th centuries Sufism has come under attack both from reformers such as the Wahhabis, and from Salafis such as Abduh and Rida
Sufism perceived both as a potential danger by colonial powers (ex. Algeria) as well as forbidden by some nascent Muslim nation states (Turkey), or brought under the purview of the central government (Egypt)
Academic tendency to relegate “true Sufism” to the past
Western tendency to de-Islamize Sufism
Despite all this, Sufism remains vibrant and important

Framing Sufism and Islam Today


With the growing domination of European culture through colonialism, the modern Western concept of religion was applied to categorize what we now familiarly call the religions of the world. . . Nineteenth-century European Orientalist scholarship played a key role in developing this “religionizing” concept of Islam, which excluded many of the intellectual and spiritual dimensions of the tradition; at the same time, colonial policy marginalized and privatized the institutions that had supported and transmitted these aspects of Islamic culture in Muslim countries.” (Ernst, 191)


A Golden Age of Sufism in the Past?


“The exclusion of Sufism from Islam was paralleled by the new concepts of Islam that were being introduced at the same time by Islamic reformists, forebears of today’s fundamentalists. What both Orientalists and fundamentalists failed to acknowledge was the way in which Sufism, broadly defines, had characterized most of the leading Muslim religious thinkers of the premodern period . . . In spite of appearances generated by the media, if Sufism is defined broadly to encompass a range of devotional practices including the intercession of saints and reverence for the Prophet Muhammad, it may fairly be said that the majority of Muslims today still adhere to a Sufi perspective.” (Ernst, 192)



New technologies .
The publicization of Sufism occurred at precisely the time when Sufism was becoming an abstract subject, separated from Islam in Orientalist writings and condemned by reformists as a non-Islamic innovation. Some of the Sufi publications in turn responded directly to presentations of Sufism by Orientalists, fundamentalists and modernists . . . Since all of these books were available commercially, the new trend amounted to a mass marketing of Sufism on an unprecedented scale . . . Sufis were not without ambivalence regarding the use of print for their purposes . . .” (Ernst, 196-98)

and their dangers
“Now that Sufism has been publicized through mass printing, what are the changes in personal relationships that the new media entail?” (Ernst, 199)
open to mis-interpretation?
the effect of the internet?
the presence of Sufism in pop-culture

• 571 Muhammad born in Mecca.
• 610 First revelation in the Harraa cave (27 Ramadan).
• 622 “Hijra”or Escape. Muhammad and followers escape prosecution
and go to Almadinah (Yathrib).
 Year 1 in the Islamic calendar
 ‘Missionaries’ sent all over Arabia
– building peaceful coalition
• 629 Muhammad conquers Mecca peacefully (NO REVENGE)
 destroys idols in Alqaaba.
 single-handedly, brings peace to war-torn Arabia
• 632 Muhammad dies in Almadinah. Unmarked grave (his will)

Abu-Bakr - 632-634
• The first elected official. Wise leader, crisis manager
Omar Ibn Elkhattab - 634-644
• A first-rate statesman. Honest, modest and just.
• Conquered the Levant, Egypt, Iraq, Persia
 Damascus (9 / 635) and Jerusalem (5 / 638) surrender peacefully
– Omar’s pledge to the Jerusalemites
• A modern state: Treasury, communication, defense. Engraved currency.
Othman bin Affan - 644-656
• Collected and compiled the Quran
• Emergence of power struggle
Ali Bin Abitalib - 656-661
• Power struggle escalated to armed conflict
• Emergence of political parties
• End of democracy. Ummayah Dynasty in Damascus, Muawyia (661-680)

• Empire center and capital move to Damascus
• Expansion: All N. Africa (Atlantic), W. Europe, much of C. Asia, the wall of China
 711: Conquer of Spain and Portugal. Tariq Bin Ziyad
• Expansion into W. Europe blocked in France by Charles Martial, 732
• Power Struggle continues, but the Caliphs brutally liquidate all rivals
 Karbalaa in S. Iraq (10 Nov, 680) and the emerge of the Shiha
• Addelmalek builds Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem (691)
• Massive translation of Greek and Indian writings
• Arabization of the empire
• Bloom of architecture, arts, agriculture, and science

• The center of the Empire moves to Iraq and Iran
• Baghdad, built 762 AD by Almansur (2nd Caliph).
• With over 2 M, Baghdad becomes the glamorous center of the world
 Science, art, architecture, learning, and wealth
 Lighted streets, public baths, public libraries and hospitals everywhere
• Other dynasties in Egypt, Spain, and parts of the Levant.
• A 2nd Ummayah dynasty in Spain, 9th century
 Qurtoba (Cordova) competes with Baghdad
• Cairo, built 968 AD

Islam:
• ”Surrender”, related to ‘salaam’, or peace.
• Abraham, father of all prophets, is the first Muslim
• Islam is also a code for social conduct
• Quran plus the authentic statements of Muhammad (Hadith) = Shareeha (constitution), as Interpreted by Islamic scholars
• Muhammad is the last prophet (33: 40).
• Gabriel highest ranking angel
The Quran:
• Islam’s holy book, an inspired scripture. God’s word inspired to his messenger,
• 114 Chapters (chapter = Surah), 4 to >200 verses/chapter (verse = Aiyah)
• Confirms most narratives and prophets of the Jewish and Christian faiths
 Special place for Virgin Mary, the only female (the Chapter of Mary)
• Allah is the word for God used by Christian and Muslim Arabs
 God = Allah (Arabic) = Eluhim (Hebrew) = El (Aramaic)
• One and only one God, no trinity
• Arabic as the language of the Quran
The framework for Muslim life. Essential practices

The 'Five Pillars' of Islam


1. The declaration of faith:
• "There is no deity but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God"
2. Prayer:
• Five obligatory prayers each day.
• A direct link between the worshiper and God.
• No hierarchical authority or priesthood
3. Zakat:
• Obligatory charitable giving.
• Wealth belong to God and it is held in trust by humans.
• Zakat, or, "purification" by setting aside a portion (2.5%) for the needy
4. Fasting:
• From sunrise to sunset during the holy month of Ramadan
5. Pilgrimage:
• A pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca, Arabia. Only those who can

Jihad and the Conduct of War

• Islam is not addicted to war, and jihad is not one of its "pillars”
• Jihad in Arabic does not mean "holy war”. It means "struggle” or “strive”.
• It is the difficult effort needed to put God's will into practice at every level
• The "greater jihad” in the Quran is that of the soul, of the tongue, of the pen, of faith, of morality, etc. The "smaller jihad" is that of arms.
• Many directives in the authentic statements of Muhammad (Hadiths):
 He told his companions as they go home after a battle "We are returning from the lesser jihad [the battle] to the greater jihad, at home"
 Three levels:
– Personal: That of the soul
– Verbal: Raising one's voice in the name of Allah on behalf of justice.
"The most excellent jihad is the speaking of truth in the face of a tyrant" (Hadith)
– Physical: Combat waged in defense against oppression and transgression.
» Profoundly misunderstood in today's world.


Jihad and the Conduct of War

• Much of the Koran revealed in the context of an all-out war imposed on early
Muslims by the powerful city of Mecca, and many passages deal with the conduct
of armed struggle.
 While one finds "slay [enemies] wherever you find them!" (e.g., 4: 89),
in almost every case it is followed by something like "if they let you be,
and do not make war on you, and offer you peace, God does not allow you
to harm them" (2:90; 4: 90; 5: 2; 8: 61; 22: 39)
ã Since good and evil cannot be equal, repel thou evil with something that is
better, and love he between whom and thy self was enmity may then become
as though he had always been close unto thee, a true friend" (41:34)
• God does not allow harm of civilian, and requests the protection of women,
children and the elderly during war (4:96; 9: 91; 48: 16,17)
 “If any one slew a person--unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief
in the land--it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if anyone saved
a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” (5:32)
• You shall feed and protect prisoners of war, and you shall not expect a
reward (4: 25,36; 5:24)
Thus, the only permissible war in the Quran is one of self-defense, you
cannot kill unarmed (civilian), and you have to protect prisoners of war

Jihad and the Conduct of War


• Warfare is always evil. Sometimes you have to fight to avoid persecution. e.g., the one Mecca inflicted on early Muslims (2: 191; 2: 217), or to preserve decent values (4: 75; 22: 40)
• Muslims may not begin hostilities
 "Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loves not transgressors." (2: 190).
– Notice: Defensive war, fight back
• Hostilities must be brought to an end as quickly as possible, and must cease the minute the enemy sues for peace (2:192-3; 41:34)
• ‘Martyrdom’: Those killed during fighting or while doing civic duties (martyrs) are promised a place in heaven (several passages, e.g., 2:154; 3:169-172)
• However, suicide is not allowed; it is forbidden and condemned (e.g., 6:151, 17:33, 25:68)
• One of my favorite Hadiths
 'Do not attack a temple, a church, a synagogue. Do not bring a tree or a plant down. Do not harm a horse or a camel’



Relation with other Faiths
• Like the Torah, the Quran permits retaliation eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
But, like the Gospels, it says “it is meritorious to forgo revenge in a spirit of charity (5: 45)
• Acknowledges Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses,
David, Solomon, Zacharia, Jesus, John the paptist, and others as the “the good prophets of God”
• A special place for Jesus and Mary (e.g., 3:45,46; 4:156-158; 19:1-98)
• Accepts that Mary’s conception is from God’s soul.
• Rejects the divinity of Jesus (no trinity).
• Jesus was not killed (e.g., 4:155-159; 5:17-19)
Relation with other Faiths
• Islam did not impose itself by the sword.
 "There must be no coercion in matters of faith" (2: 256)
• Muslims have to respect Jews and Christians, the "People of the Book,"
who worship the same God (e.g., 2:62; 29:46).
 "And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better,
unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong: but say, 'We believe in
the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down
to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one; and it is to Him we bow.”
• In one of his last public sermons Muhammad said
 “God tells all human beings, "O people! We have formed you into nations
and tribes so that you may know one another" (49: 13). Do not conquer,
convert, subjugate, revile or slaughter but to reach out toward others with
intelligence and understanding”
• The Levant remained mainly Christian for almost 200 Yrs.
 No one was forced to convert to Islam
• The right of all faiths to warship was respected
• Sites of warship, holy places and shrines of all faiths were protected
Social Justice
• Charity, Charity, Charity ….
 On top of the Zakat. Help the orphan, the poor, the ill, the lost, the homeless, the elderly
 Endless times in the Quran (16 times in Chapters 2-5 alone)
• Freedom, Integrity, Equality, Justice ….
 “An hour of justice by a ruler is better than sixty days of hard work” (Hadith)
 Endless request for justice in the Quran (e.g., 2: 282; 6; 152)
– “O mankind, We’ve created you from a male and a female and have made
you nations and tribes that you may know and interact with each other.
The noblest of you in the sight of God is the best in conduct” (49:13).
– No Arab is privileged over non-Arab but by his or her conduct (Hadith)
– All people are equal like the teeth of a comb (Hadith)
– “You are not considered faithful in the sight of God unless you like for
your brother (read, others) what you like for yourself” (Hadith)
– when you are greeted with a greeting of peace, answer with an even better greeting, or at least the like thereof" (4: 86).

Other Values
Right and Status of Women
• Eliminated many pre-Islamic discriminatory practices
• Gave women rights (e.g., inheritance) and equality to men, both were made
from a single soul (e.g., 4:1)
• Limited the number of wives a man can marry
• Treat women with kindness and respect their rights as equal to men
The hijab or head scarf
• Modest dress apply to women and men equally (Quran and Hadith).
• Women are required to cover their bodies so that their figure is not revealed.
• Women are not required to cover their faces.
• The forbidden or ‘taboo’ (muharramat) include pork, blood, improperly butchered
animals, baby animals, gambling, and charging interest
• Alcohol drinking was gradually disallowed
Science and Civilization
• A dedicated quest for knowledge and a burst of scientific innovation
in a multi-ethnic and multi-faith society
• Lasted for over 8 centuries, and produced a plethora of knowledge and
discoveries in all disciplines
• Induced the later European renaissance
• The Arabic tong, invigorated by the Quran, was the vehicle, and tolerant,
inclusive, and knowledge-advocate Islamic faith was the culture
• Repeated requests in both the Quran and the Hadith for seeking
knowledge, and application of rational thinking
 Seek knowledge even in China
 Seek knowledge from crib to grave
 On judgement day, the ink of scientists is valued by God higher
than the blood of martyrs
 The two important disciplines of science are theology and Biology
• Initially, massive translation of Greek and Indian writings
 preserved all literary and scientific works and transmitted them to Europe

• Medicine and Pharmacy
• Chemistry and Physics
• Mathmatics
• Astronomy
Medicine and Pharmacy
• Institutionalized and regulated the practice of Medicine and Pharmacy
 The modern concept of clinics
 Board exams and license to practice. Regulatory boards (FDA's!!!)
 Classification of plants and Algae for their medical use, and outlined possible side effects (PDR’s!!)
Hospitals:
• Tens, including specialized, in each of Baghdad, Qurtoba, and Damascus.
• Mobile hospitals for emergency.
• Departments and University Hospitals.
• Patients records and vital signs, urine tests, family history.
Surgery:
• Threads from animals intestine.
• Opium and Hashish for Anesthesia.
• Alcohol as disinfectant.
• Treatment of cataract, and removal of kidney and gallbladder stones
Autopsy !!!
• Students training (Anatomy)
• Cause of death
Known Physicians
• Abu-bakr Elrazzy; 9th Century
• Father of Physicians, great clinician and experimentalist
• Many books including “Smallpox and Measles”
• Ibn-Elhaytham: 10th Century
• Multidisciplinary scientist. Ophthalmologist
• Mechanism of sight. Function of the eye
• Over 100 books in Med. and Math.
• Ibn-Seena (Avisai): 10th Century
• The “Qannun”, the medical text book in Europe till 19th Cen.
• Described the medical use of over 2700 plants
• Light has a finite speed, which is much faster than the speed of sound
• Ibn-Rushd (Aviros): 13th Century
• Philosopher and Physician. Many books
• Ibn-Elnafees:
• Blood circulation and the role of lungs
• Abulkassim Alzahrawi (Abulcasis or Albucasis): 11th Century
• One of the greatest surgeons. A good dentist and GP.
• Removal of breast cancer.
• Hemophilia and its hereditary transmission (female to male)
Chemistry and Physics
• Arabic terms and methods of preparation for Alkali, Alcohol, Tartarate
• Discovered and prepared in pure form 28 elements (Ibn Elhaytham)
• The processes of crystallization, fermentation, distillation, sublimation,
• Preparation of acids (H2SO4, HCl, HNO3) and bases (NaOH)
• Light travels in straight lines. Laws of refraction, reflection and illusion of light.
• Eluded to the Magnetic properties of some objects
Mathematics
• Arabic numeral and the decimal system of numbers.
 Right Û Left. English. But 1000
• Arithmetic. Roots and powers
• Algorithm = Alkhawarismi
• The mathematical ZERO
• Algebra (combining fractions).
• The Use of (x, y, z) to solve complex arithmetic/geometric problems
• Trigonometry (Albairuni and Albuzjani), differential and Integral.
• p = 3.141596535898732.
Some known Mathematicians:
• Abu-bakr Alkhawarismi
• Thabit Ibn Qarra (9th Century). Calculus.
• Ibn-elhaytham
• Albairuni (10th Century)
• Albuzjani
• Omar Elkhayam (2° & 3° equations)
Astronomy

• Astrology (myth) Þ Astronomy (science)
• Movement, path, and location of planets and stars
• The Asturlab
• Earth is spherical and rotates along its axis and around the sun.
• Calculated earth circumference (Albairuni)
• Calculated the time needed for one rotation around the sun (solar year), with
an error of 2’ 22” only (Albattani)
• Calculated the equinoxes
• Current names of most constellations, and many stars are from Arabic
Some known astronomists:
• Alkindy (9th Century)
• Albattani (9th Century)
• Ibn-elhaytham (11th Century)
• Thabit Ibn Qarra
• Almajreeti


Sunni and Shiha

Sunni
• 90% of Muslims
• Follow the Quran and the Hadeeth as we have them today,
and as interpreted by the Sunni scholars
Shiha
• Came to be as a sect after 680 A.D.
• Believe in the Quran and Hadeeth, like Sunni
• However, they place Ali very high as a holy figure, and think ‘main stream’
Islam discriminated against him
• Today Shiah is mainly in Iran (90%), Iraq (55%) and Lebanon (~40%)


Important Holidays
Al-adhaa (the sacrifice)
• Symbolizes Abraham attempt to sacrifice his son Ishmael by God’s request.
• Should sacrifice an animal and give the food to the poor.
• The pilgrimage to Mecca
Alfetr
• Observed at the end of the holy month of Ramadan (the fasting month)
The Islamic New Year
• Yr 1, Islamic calendar = 622 A.D.
Alisraa Walmaaraj
• Symbolizes the ascending, in Jerusalem, of Mohammed's soul to heaven
The Birthday of Muhammad
Ashuraa day (Shiha only)
Islam Today
• 1.3 Billion worldwide, three continents
 0.3 Billion Arabs
 Indonesia (200 M) > India (180 M) > Pakistan (160 M) > Bangladesh (120 M) >
China (80 M) > Egypt (70 M)
• There are about 20 M Christian Arabs
 Egypt > Syria > Lebanon > Palestine > Iraq
• About 7 M Muslims in the USA, 3-4 M are Arabs
 Roughly half of the Arab Americans are Christians
Arab Americans


• Farouq Elbaz (Egypt), NASA, the moon mission
• Ahmed H. Zewail (Egypt) Winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry,
Cal. Tech.
• Saleh Wakeel (Iraq), member of the Nat’l Acad. Sci., Biochemistry
• Qais Elawqati (Iraq), member of the Nat’l Acad. Sci., Microbiology
• Majdi Yacub, first open heart surgery
• Michael Debakee (Lebanon), chief cardiologist of the White House
• Ralph Nader (Lebanon), consumer advocate, Green Party founder,
• and 2000 presidential candidate
• John Sununu (Palestine), White House Ex-Chief of Staff
• John Sununu JR., current state governor
• Donna E. Shalala (Lebanon), Ex secretary of HHS
• Helen Thomas, Ex dean of the White House press corps.
• Edward Attiyeh (Syria), Ex governor of OR
• Spencer Abraham (Lebanon), Secretary of Energy
• George Mitchell