What kind of dynasty the umayyads (main features): Expanded Islam Went to spain Favoured the Arabs - nepotism Father son Navy Destroyed:

o 750 o The Abbasy's destroyed them

Abbasy'so Persians o From the family of the prophet < claimed to be -lured in

the Shi'as and then abandoned them o First abbasyd caliph > Safaah (the blood-shedder) o The successor > established Baghdad > Mansoor

Al Mansoor:o Commissioned the first book of law - Muwatta o Established Baghdad o Moved the Capital from Damascus to Baghdado Created the office of the Wazir (prime minister)

Most of the work Haroon Al Rashid (Caliph)

o Did not punish homosexuality o Development of cultureo Abu Nuwwaz o Muslims excelled in scienceso The Arabian Nights and the flowering of the culture

Main issue regarding the Abbasids o They favored the Iranians and their culture because they

were persian - calling the caliph the shadow of god, bowing to him, etc

Haroon al Rashid dead, what happened?o Divided the empire to two because he had two sons - one

arab one persian o East > Mamuno Western > Amin o Amin refused to share, so a civil war between brothers o Mamoon killed his brother and ruled the entire empire

Mamun

o Intelligent < different than other caliphso Promoted scienceso Established the house of wisdom in Baghdad in which

debates and issues will be discussed - greek works translated into Arabic

o Flowering of intellectual sciences o Wanted to appease the Shi'as

He asked the 8th Shi'a imam (lived in Madina), Mamun (lived in Merv - Iran), forces Ali Al Ridha - asked him to become his successor

Shi'as disappointed with Abbasids because they betrayed them

o The Sunnis turned against Ali Al Ridha o The 8th Imam was poisoned

Shi'as claimed Mamun poisoned him o Mamun - continued to live in Baghdad till thenn - died in

833o Succeeded by Al Mu'tasim - his brother

Mu'tasimo Capital moving again because he did not feel secure in

Baghdad - his people threatened him o Moved it to Samarra - in the Sunni triangle (where

majority of Sunni's live)o Samarra had the largest mosque in Islamic world (with a

unique Minarate) o 12th Shi'I Imam (The Mahdi - born in Samarra, so

important place for Shi'a - both 10th and 12th imams buried there)

o Occultation: state of hiding (?) o In order to be safe, the Caliph gets Turkish guards

(occupied an important position) - large numbers Became very powerful, started to kill the caliph

whenever they thought he was not right Abbasys 1258 empire thrown by the Mongles (from Mongolia)

o End of the classical period of Islam which began in 570 (when the prophet was born) - 570-1258

o Mongrels destroyed millions of people, Baghdad (burned) -from central Asia

o Later they became Muslims - the Medieval period 1258 until 1798 (the period of modernity starts - Napoleon setfoot in Egypt) - period of colonization starts (British, French, and Russians)

End of Classical Period of Islam Theology (Kalam)

o Theo > God, Divine o Study of the Divine o Why study it?

Aqida, Creed > your central beliefs < it is importantto establishing boundaries

To be able to stand in a challenge Creed > statement of what you believe, it draws

boundaries around what you believe and people around you, expressed to create an orthodox (?)

Kalam > Speech o The science of disputation where by you defend your

beliefs often in a dogmatic way o Affects the people's belief and also how they live o Connected to religion and to politics o Khariji's (those who abandoned Ali):

Strong connection between belief and action People of heaven and people of hell Sin > out of the community if you do no repent Raising the important theological question regarding

the connection between belief, fate and action: Connect - if we act evil, our fate is impacted

Sins drove people out of the community, started with Ali and continued through the Umayyad period

The umayyads were not good rulers they believed During this time (720 and 730) another group came and

they were supported by Umayyads Murjites > postpone a decision - we as humans

should not decide who is a believer and who is not. Why umayyad support them> to protect themselves

Murjites: Theological group Suspended judgment

For them, belief is enough, action is important, but as long as you are Muslim you go to heaven

Belief in God is enough - action deemphasized - no connection between belief and action

Faith does not increase or decrease Promoted the idea of predestination - Qadar

(destiny) In Ramadan, nights of destiny (Qadar) Predestination or Freewill (both kinds of

versus in Qur'an) God predetermines our acts - if you are evil,

deal with it < what they believed God is perfect and plans things out for us -

wants to see how we act  

o Qadaris (another theological group) Against Qadar (destiny) Believe in freewill God did not plan everything Hasan Al Basri Pejorative term (others gave it to them) Umayyads playing with religion in order to justify

their actions Hasan Al Basri insisted that God is just and was a

strict ASCETIC < detached from the world - Like Yehya(John the Baptist)

o Mu'tazilis (main group to talk about) To isolate and seclude yourself Grew out form the Qadari group Became a big and major group Flourished under Mamun - in Baghdad and Basra What is important to them is reason and rationalism -

even God is subject to it - tying God to reason Reason tells us the God is one, must be merciful,

etc... Not because he is just, and merciful, only cuz Reason says

How do we know what is right or wrong according to them?

Reason - in other words, we do not need prophet Religion just gives the details Something is good in itself - not because God says

it is - cuz our intelligence says so Our reason is shaped by our culture not within us

<<<< not what they believe Had Five main principles:

Tawhid > oneness of God God is one and only God can exist infanintly,

nothing co-exist with God Problem> The Qur'an: is it the speech of

God? Yes. Is it infinite or not? Was therea time the Qur'an did not exist?

Duality > two things existing, God andhis speech

Is it created or not? For Mu'tazilis, the Qur'an was created

They believed that God and his speech are separate, others argue differently

Believe Qur'an was created in time To them, this is a Mihna > a test

inquisition - in Mamun's time, everyone had to believe that Qur'an was created

Is the speech of God the same as God? o Issues we are dealing with:

The story of the three-brothers (evil, good and nice, and an infant)

Where does the infant go? Heaven - layers in heaven or no?

The infant goes to a lower level compared with theother one

Moral > we cannot judge God

Life is an essential attribute of God. You cannot have a God that is powerless. Similarly you cannot have a God who doesn’t have knowledge.So these are attributed of his essence. There are other attributes of his actions. Example, he is given the name of creator. But it is not an essential part of his power. Even if he doesn’t create he is still God. Similarly God sometimes sustains sometimes he doesn’t but they

are not part of his essence.

Principles of God include; the oness of God, God is just (he has to bejust). By saying he HAS to be just we are telling God he HAS to be just which is the problem with this statement.

The idea that whoever has done bad has to be punished and whoever has done good has to be rewarded. We expect this of God’s justice that there is no room for mercy. The principle of justice is true, is reduces the mercy of God. When the mercy of God is downplayd it makes people dispairful. If one sins, and he knows he will go to hell he will think I might as well enjoy myself here as I have already sinned.God is more merciful than he is just. Because the Quran says never ever dispair of Gods mercy. One of the major sins in Islam is to despair in God’s mercy.

If God is just than why is their suffering.

-In other words, the hands of God means the power of God-the face of God means the sovereignty, that God is everywhere-you shouldn’t take it literally but some Muslims do -Ibn Hanbal-take everything literal, they believe that if the Qur’an that if God has a face of God- then he really does have a face & if he has hands then he really does have hands -God has certain attributes- God is the creator, he is the sustainer, he has knowledge- the issue is- are those attributes part of him or separate from him?-they described 2 types of attributes-those which are attributes of essence (essential to him i.e. life, knowledge) & those which are attributes of actions (sometimes God has them, sometimes he

does not i.e. create- sometimes he creates, sometimes he doesn’t,sustains; sometimes God sustains sometimes he doesn’t)-reason tells us that God has to treat everybody alike-God is just but it abuses the mercy of God, the mercy of God is downplayed. It makes people despair. For example, if I do wrong &I know I am going to hell because I sinned, I might as well sin more because “I’m going to burn anyways”-Evil was an attribute to human beings & God was spared from evilby the Mutalizi’s (spelling?) -they also rejected intercession (shafa’a)-for the Mutalizis, if you see a ruler do something evil then youhave to intervene, you have to take action- you must support goodrulers

Ahl al Hadith: the people of hadith Reports, narrations from the prophets The hadiths are their main source of knowledge, that is

what tells us what the Prophet says Even though the Quran is primary, they emphasis

the traditions of prophets Ahmad b Hanbal: the main source of knowledge was

hadith and for him reasoning was wrong because it is human and because of that it is faulty and therefore we cannot rely on it

It is better to rely on a weak hadith than human reasoning because there's a possibility it may come from the prophet

Sunni's were based on against it Literalist: taking the literal meaning of the

Quran Bela Kayf: Don’t ask how, if god has a hand, god

has a hand For Ahl hadith: all companions of the prophets

must be respected and even though they fought eachother, we just respect them. We leave the decisionmaking to god.

Mu'tazilis issue of createdness of Quran not created – ahl al hadith say it was not created

Mamun imposed the idea that the Quran was created and he asked Ahmad b Hanbal and he said no

And Ahmed said that he doesn’t see any indication that it was created

He was later locked up and hit He then became a martyr and become a hero

Ash2ari: he is Mu'tazilis but based on reasoning asked his teacher about the 3 brothers and then sh2ari moved toAhl hadith, the Sunnis now follow the ash2ari views

Revelation: what god tells you Good and evil are not objective Good is good because god says its good Killing someone is evil because god says its evil Ash3ari said that he could put all the prophets in

hell and no one can question He creates the notions of good or evil We don’t have a say God creates light but doesn’t create darkness We cannot apply good and evil to god because god

creates them Hadiths say that god has human features Ahl el sunna believe in the literal understanding

of the Quran and the literal understanding of the Hadith

Good and evil is based on what god tells us, not reasoning

Who are we to tell him what to do Justice is not part of god's attributes, they

believe that god can be seen In reality, god doesn’t have a gender God is the author of everything, he is the

originator, he creates our actions They believe in free will and pre-destination=

Mu'tazilis He is the creator of acts but he does not make

us do them We earn these acts

Who is the originator of evil? God does not create evil but when you

remove the good, you get evil But when someone kills innocent human

beings, If god programmed a person to be evil, why

punish the person? The Calvinist idea: god is the creator of

all acts Talked about intersession

Shafa'a: based on reason, there is no intersession

You do good, you are good You do evil you re punished Gods mercy is displayed through

intersession Satan was made out of fire, he was a jin

Jin have free will Angels are pre-programmed Satan was a good guy and out of

arrogance refused to listen to Adam Some jins are good and some are bad

Ash3ari the attributes of god are eternal, co-exist with god

Sunni beliefs are based on ash3ari views Mutawakkil (a caliph) followed ash3ari

views, he persecuted the Talked about intersession

The shi'as mostly follow Mu'tazilis views Good and evil are independent of revelation:

We know what is good and evil even if we don’tknow god

Independent of religion, we know killing is evil

Obedience to parents is good, something withinus

Mu'tazilis tell god that he must do something They believe that god is the creator of good

and evil

Mu'tazilis tell god that he must  

Islamic Law Islamic is law centered, dos and don’t does Laws are important because they put ethical commands into

action through the law God wants us to be good human beings, we have to follow the

law of god Islamic law is called shari'a: place where there is water,

oasis When Muslim's follow law, they go to shari'a, they

quinish the spirit of god Islam is like Judaism in a sense

Jews don’t consume pork, so don’t Islam The goal of Islamic life: live by the commands of god,

revealed by the Quran and implanted by the laws of god You pray because you become spiritually connected with

god and become a better person, awareness with god For Muslim's, their fate is connected with the shari'a , this

seen is comprehensive and uniform and covers each part of your life, private and public

Islamic law will tell you how to go to the bathroom, how to enter the mosque

Islamic law will teach you how everything about life, what towear

To create a law that cover a person No such thing as secularism in Islam ( a place that is free

from religion – in a public place) – domain that separates religion and politics

Four sources of law: Quran

No muslim disobeys the Quran cuz it is the word of god The problem is the Quran is not a book of law

600 verses only are about law General – no great details

Hadith/ Sunna (most important) The way of life/ practices of the prophet The Quran brings together obedience to god with

obedience of the prophet

Extension of revelation – what the prophet says becomespart of God's message to us

Three components/aspects of the Sunna Speech Consent (keep silent – acquiesce)

Someone said something in front of the prophet and the prophet does not object, meaning it becomes part of the Sunna

Action (what he did or did not) Problem is the Sunna in the beginning was not uniform

Fluid and was not fixed at the time Varied according to where you went As Islam spread, people brought with them

their own understandings of the law Urf (local custom) also influenced Islamic law Ali moving the capital – three centers of law:

kufa, madina, and Damascus Hanafi school - Abu Hanifa (key figure in

law) Used his reasoning/opinion a lot Issues arose that were not in the

Hadith, so he used his own reasoning

(do not need permission of father) A husband that disappears, how long

does the wife have to wait until she can re-marry

After 120 years, she can re-marry

Maliki school was the dominant school in Madina (Malik b. Anas)

- The sunna of Madina is the sunna of the prophet*** - The practices of Madina reflected those of the prophet - Very Arab – non-Arabs not allowed in there (arab character) - So it was patriarchal (so girl needs permission of her

father) – male dominant - If the patriarch dies, the patriarch becomes the brother,

grandfather, cousin, etc… - So the law varied wherever you went

- In Tunisia, Morocco now - Ex: if a guy disappears, she waits 4 years then she can re-

marry - Shows how Islamic law was sometimes not in touch with

reality

- There is a different terms > Shari'a and fiqh

- FIQH > UNDERSTAND AND COMPREHEND the will of God (what he wants us to do)– jurisprudence

- Shari'a > Islamic law – values, ways and principles of the Qur'an and traditions

- Abu Hanifa and malik had the same shari'a but not the same fiqh

- Shari'a cannot change because it comes from god, fiqh can and has to change with time

- E.g. of the Muslim astronaut – in space, prayer time, no qibla, ka3ba etc… you cannot be on the floor, and your day lasts for 19 minutes (24 earth hours = 16 space days) – whatdo you do? (never would have envisioned back then) so you apportion your prayers according to the 24 hours which equal16 days

- Also pregnancy issue > eggs and semen in a tube thingy / Canyou or no? depends on the school – implantation > god is giving you another way so you are not changing your destiny

- Islamic law was in turmoil because of the differences between all four schools

- Misinterpretations and different thought processes - Muslims came up with Islamic legal theory > how to interpret

and come up with newer rulings and understandings - Islam emphasizes private ownership – do not want to rent my

building, but people need them, government has the right in this case to manage your private property < private ownership vs needs of people

- Because of this, a problem in Islamic law > chaos because ofthe different rulings in the different areas

Abu hanifa depended on opinion- Maliki depended on the Suna - Another school, Hanbali (ahmad b. hanbal)

Ahl al-hadith Relied on traditions and said reason is wrong – even in

terms of law, he would go by traditions even if they are weak

School founded in Baghdad Many traditions (hadith) were invented and fabricated

by the Muslims - weakness of the Hanbali school The two main traditions/ texts Muslim's followed most

are the books by Bukhari and Muslim (a person) Were not written at the timeConsidered authentic by Sunni Muslims

- Muhammad b. Idris al Shafi'i died in the year 820 – buried in Cairo

Saw the problem > too much disputation You cannot have different laws in

different cities If it is truly God's law, then there won't

be variation Tried to systemize Islamic law and

established Usul al-fiqh (the principles of Islamic law)

Lay out ways to derive the law - even if the law was silent

The Shafi'i school used two sources to systemize the Islamic laws

- The Qur'an (even if it is brief)- Two laws (verses) on a particular issue = take the newer one

because circumstances change with time - progression of Islam - so the laws alter with time as well

- God's laws change according to the wellness of people - Sunna - Shafi'i found there are too many traditions - which is a

problem - Obeying God and the prophet so we follow Hadith - He said that for every tradition (hadith) there should be an

Isnad [IMPORTANT] an Isnad is an evidence to the chain of transmission telling who is reporting the tradition and how reliable they are (i.e connected to someone who met the prophet)

- Shafi'i said that every person in this chain should be checked out

- As a result, a new science came out > ilm al-rijal (science of men)

- Science of transmitters of traditions and how reliable they are

- Classifying a tradition depending on the Isnad - if cannot be proven (Isnad found) do not follow the tradition

- Also, use aql - look at the content of the tradition and seeif it makes sense

- Shafi'I was able to remove traditions deemed weak - Bukhari collected 600,000 traditions - his book contained

only 7000 that were strong, although by removing repetitions, only 2700 are left

Women in Islamic Law: Types of marriage before Islam

o Permanent o Temporary - Mut3a (pleasure)o Polygamy

Polyandry: (andry Greek root = man) more than one husband

Polygyny: (gyn Greek root = woman) more than one wife When Islam came, some were eliminated, some stayed:

o Polygyny stayed but practiced in different ways: No limit before Islam, now only 4 Limit to who you can marry

o Permanent: only one accepted by Sunnio Temporary: accepted by Twelver Shi'a o Their significance (in historical context):

Permanent Marriage of political convenience (tribes, alliances, etc...)

That is how tribes flourished through permanent marriages

Love marriage was the temporary (pleasure marriage) All prophet's marriages were permanent (11 wives), most were

older or his age (Aisha exception) Sauda (second prophet wife)

o Had 6 children before marrying o Was older

Sunni's banned the temporary, Shi'a accepted Man is liable to the wife and child in temporary marriages as

well Political significance (Game of Thrones) New rulings (changes) in Islam regarding women (that time): -

permanent fmarriageo Four schools of law in Sunni Islam

Maliki's In marriage a man has to provide maintenance -

shelter, food, etc... Man obligated/responsible to provide his wife with

cosmetics, perfumes, shampoos Medical treatment < the man does not have to pay

for that Objectifying women In depth analysis of this:

How was medical treatment in pre-modern era? Was not like now - cut off body parts,

potions that would kill you = medicine baaaaaddddd

= historical nuance is important All laws agree that men are the maintainers, do not

own the money, money the wife makes is only hers - during ottoman period, many women worked at home and outside, they would make clothes and sold them, average wealth of women in ottoman empire was more than the average man in Europe (changed with the Industrial revolution in Britain - machines) WW1 attacking the ottoman empire = economic pressure, British flood the market with cheap clothing = women became dependent on men and lost their income < poverty, family problems, land changes, starvation, etc... Because of British economic policies in the ottoman empire

Islamic law is dynamic ***o General Islam Responsibilities:

Nafaqah - sustenance > food, shelter, cook, clean, children etc... Man to woman

Ta'ah (duties she needs to submit to and follow for her husband):

Sex (unless on period, sick, valid excuse) Asking permission to leave the living quarters

(controversial) - not everyone agrees with it If wife works and pays for the house she does not

have to follow the sex duty Maintain a physical appearance, good mannered, not

foul mouthed (obligatory for woman) otherwise she can reject him

If she refuses: Nushuz (rebelliousnous) / if she keeps refusing >

Admonish her (talk to her) Separate beds (sleeps somewhere else, turns his

back against her) Lightly strike her (hitting: forbidden on the

face, bruise, pay with gold fees after going tocourt) - toothpick or a broom stick

Last thing is divorce What if husband says he would not sustain her (pay for

shelter, clothes, food, etc...)? Nushuz also applies to the husband Punishment:

Taken to court - warned by the judge - if he does not listed, he gets 79 lashes

All from the legal nuances > hadith, etc... *** e.g. Nursing (can ask for a wage - not a duty)

Another thing that Islam introduced new idea > Divorce o Limit of three times with the same person (pre Islamic

Arabia they did not have a limit, which created a hazard for women) - consequences

Married to another man, intercourse < this is called Tahlil

o Can women divorce? Yes by: Khule3

Mahr (dowry) > usually given after divorce to insure her rights (large sum of money)

She gives up her dowry in order for him to divorceher

If he is abusive of some sort, she can divorce himwithout giving up her dowry = divorce + dowry

Tafwid (delegation) In the contract when getting married she can say I

have the right for divorce Even without his consent

o Waiting period called Idda > three months and 10 days Inheritance

o Before they were not allowed to inherit o Now they do inherit - the man gets double the girl (tied

to nafaqa) o Men are legally obliged to help their parents, siblings,

etc... < women do not Witnessing (court testimonies)

o Two males are enough - if a male is missing, you get two females

o 2 females = 1 maleo Nuance: if a woman makes an oath her testimony is equal to

a man Hanbalis

Because financial dealings in court were not the everyday experience for women, and because of restrictions into going to court, if one of the women cannot make it, you will have another

Other hanbalis > if a woman is just as competent for dealing with court issues then her testimony is equal

All about competence Sharia vs Fiqh:

o Sharia > divine law form God = Way Gods eternal will on humanity, Law is one part of it

<<< Does not o Fiqh > is man's interpretation of how to apply it -

thinking of it Struggle trying to derive what God wants from us <<<

Changes o You are tested on the effort because you never know what

God wants 100%

Quiz > concentrate on facts and main terms instead of dates **** < multiple choice

Shafi'I IMPORTANT o One of the schools of lawo He tried to introduce a system where the law will be

unified between all areas o Ahmad b. Hanbal relied on tradition instead of reasoning,

the guy who relied on reasoning was Abu Hanifa - Malik talked about the Sunna of Madina IMPORTANT

o How did he try to systematize the law? Sources of law > Qur'an 1 > take out the later verse <

this is called Naskh (abrogation)o Shafi'I main concern was Sunna, primarily the Hadith 2

Why? Because there were fabricated Hadith - liabilityissue

How? Isnad IMPORTANT > chain of transmition/narrators -

you follow each and every narrator to prove the liability of the Hadith

Based on this traditions were categorized > reliable = Sahih / not very reliable (but still good) = hasan / weak = da'if / not reliable at all = batel

o Based on this, a new science came up > 'ilm al-rijal (meaning transmitors of traditions)

o To create an even more systemized order > created a system to determine which hadith was reliable or no - notmuch proof

o Matn > content of the tradition - if it goes against the Qur'an it is not reliable / and intelligence > would the prophet do say anything beyond our intelligence? No

o He also talked about Ijma' 3 Consensus/agreement Agreement of the scholars > if you do not find a

solution to a problem in the Qur'an or Hadith then you go to the third source (scholars)

Issue > consensus of the community or scholars? Shafi'I meant the scholars - but if the community agrees that is called binding

Scholars hardly agree on anything (different schools)- Wudu' (abolition) after sex/period, etc... Without shower or with < Ghusul

o Four source of law > Qiyas (Analogy) 4 Seeking something similar between two things

(intoxicating drinks - beer vs wine) Therefore since anything intoxitaing is haram = beer

AND wineo He put Islamic law in proper view by systematizing

Ahmad b. Hanbal came after Shafi'I o Islamic law became rigid with little room for argument o Islamic law did not develop much o Some laws became irrelevant (e.g. Determining prayer time

= watches now) Islamic Mysticism

o Spirituality o Purpose of the rituals such a prayer, fasting, etc >

bring a person closer to God and make them aware of the spirituality

o Before doing these rituals you have to have an intention (niyya) > the ritual lead to the spiritual (get closed toGod) otherwise your act is void

o Problem with rituals they become repetitious Loses its meaning Become monotonous Lose interest Unless you are able to awaken the inner and be led to

the spiritual Hearing Qur'an you become spiritually uplifting

o According to Qur'an we are not human beings, we are spiritual beings who came from the spiritual realm and are going back to it - this earth is just an experience

e.g. When someone die > Inna le allah wa ena elay raje'oon

o Mystics > Suffis They emphasise the inner

Travel within rather than outside of ourselves - journey is to God

Conversation near the Ka'ba > the one who is spiritual points to the Ka'ba and says to ritualists you see the house of the lord, I see the lord of the house (outside vs inside)

Class of traditions in Islam that are called traditions of God > Hadith Qudsi (from God)

No one knows if they are accurate "The heaven and earth cannot contain me. If you

want to search for me, look inside the heart of a believer you will find me there" - Hadith Qudsi

They were revolting against the Shari'a (law) emphasis

They forgot the whole idea of experiencing God notonly obeyed

The Suffis talk of the law as the path (tariqa) to God = Shari'a is the outside, Tariqa is the inside > which leads to the Haqiqa: the inside of the inside <experience God himself

Mysticism means to be God conscious and this involvesa struggle (true Jihad) within you

Experience God and be at one with him < Goal The Qur'an has verses which can be seen as spiritual

in nature e.g. > "God is closer to you than your own veins"

"He is with you wherever you may be" "wherever youturn, you will find the face of God" "God is the light of the heavens and the earth"

Creation separated us from our creator in the eyes ofthe mystics and we need to go back to our origins

Suffisim > the person who practices this spirituality o Islamic not borrowed from anything else o They derive the spirituality from the prophet himself

because he used to meditate a lot and was simple o Early caliphs of Islam were also simple people o The word Suffi means > saf (pure), Suf (wool), or they

say it came from a bench that was near where the prophet was buried names Safu

o Began as an ascetic movement < people who leave this worldy life/ renounce the world in order to look for God (not encouraged in Islam, Live in it but not too in it)

o They were reacting to the Umayyad Dynasty (Arabising, riches) - 8th C. - The suffis felt that muslims had forgotten their origin and became materialistic

o Hasan Al-Basri Part of the Qadaris who were before the Mu'tazilis Was an early Suffi but a different kind (not all

suffis are the same) Dreary weeping suffi emphasizing Gods punishment

and chastizing Talked of the fear of the day of judgment

Long visions (stay awake) and lived poorly life < gave upthe luxuries of this life

They believe that God was a hidden treasure - whole purpose of creation was to discover God

They emphasize discovering God rather than what Muslims believe to worship him

Rabi'a (one of the greatest suffis) Born around 1713 - 801 Basra Orphan and sold to slavery - was freed by her master No man could ever match her so she never married Legends around her of her purity emphasizing her

spirituality Life of Self-denial of worldy luxuries and lived in

poverty and had very little in her home Changes the safe of suffisim completely from mourning

and sadness to passionate and in love with God - ecstatic and pure unconditional love

Worship God because he is worthy of worship not because of heaven or hell

Wrote poems Be at one with God

Mansur Hallaj was one of the eccentric mystics Went to India His mysticism wasn't a passionate one but a suffering

in love one - lonely and rage within him - found guy through his mysticism

In my death is my life **** < 2M03 Was eccentric because of some of the things he did

and said Had lice because of living so poorly

Reacted to the dry faith in his time (Mu'tazilis and Ash'aris time - Qur'ans creations, etc...) - who cares - just experience God

He said I am the truth < most outrageous thing he said - only God is the truth for that he suffered

912 imprisoned and executed in 922 also condemned bythe ulama (scholars) < his role model was Satan because he said look at Satan: god you can do anything to me, but I will not bow to anyone but you

Paradigm and pure and best mystic < thought Satan was He tried to rid himself of lust, etc... He talked of Ishq (dynamic love) as opposed to the

other love - intoxicated with this love - wanted to be at one with God and love him

Books written about him GOOGLE Biased and some accused him of magic - he was

unpopular because he believed people should revolt against the government and became politically involved but was quiet in the face of corruption

On the day of his execution he did not walk to the place but he danced there and people were stoning him

His last prayer " oh one who glows in all places yet you are not in any place. Oh my lord make me gratefulfor what you made me. Oh god you hid form others but you unveil to me. You showed me the raging fire of your face" "Oh god have mercy on those who are willing to kill me. If you would have shown them whatyou showed me, they would not have done what they have done to me"

They cut his arms and legs and hung him for the night- next day he was still alive and talking and said that it was ecstatic then they cut of his head an puthim on the cross and burned him then threw him into the river