Here are 22 questions that come immediately to mind, with the answers likely to be given:
1. What are the Five Pillars of Islam?
Shahada, Salat, Sawm, Zakat, Hajj.
2. What is “Sawm”?
The obligatory fasting, including the month-long daytime fasting during Ramadan.
3. What is the “Shahada”?
The Profession of Faith: “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger.”
4. What does someone have to do to become a Muslim?
Recite the Shahada, ideally in the presence of a Muslim witness. Nothing else is needed. Muslims do not want to make it hard for others to join them. That would be unfair.
5. How often, and in what manner, are Muslims required to pray?
Prayer, or “Salat,” refers to the five daily prayers, when Muslims repeatedly prostrate themselves. The first prayer begins before sunrise and the last one after sundown, at night. Worshippers are required to first perform ablutions, to ensure the cleanliness, especially of their hands and arms. The worshiper starts from a standing position, facing Mecca, bows three times, then prostrates himself, still facing Mecca, and ends in a sitting position. During each posture he recites or reads certain verses, phrases, and prayers. He then repeats this series, but now beginning from a sitting position,
6. How important is Mary to Muslims?
Mary, or Mariam, is held in great esteem by Muslims. She has an entire sura named after her. Another sign of her importance in Islam is that she is mentioned more often — 70 times — in the Qur’an, than in the New Testament.
7. What do Muslims think of Jesus?
They revere Jesus as a prophet. Jesus is the greatest prophet next to Muhammad.
8. How many Muslims are there in the world?
Between 1.6 and 1.8 billion people are Muslims.
9. How long have Muslims been in this country?
Muslims have been part of America’s history since the very beginning. Several Muslims are said to have accompanied Columbus on his voyages. It is estimated that one-third of the slaves brought to the New World from Africa were Muslims. As former President Obama said, “Muslims have always been a part of America’s story.”
10. What did Thomas Jefferson think of Islam?
Jefferson bought a Qur’an to read and study, which surely signifies his interest in, and respect for, the faith. Jefferson also gave the first Iftar dinner at the White House, for Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, an envoy from the bey of Tunis.
11. Who is required to make the Hajj, and how often?
All adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable are required to make the Hajj at least once in their lifetime.
12. What does the word “Islam” mean?
“Islam” means “submission” or “surrender” to the will of Allah. It is related to the word “salaam” which means “peace.”
13. When did Muhammad live?
From 570 to 632 A.D. And within a century of his death, the faith of Islam proved so attractive that it has spread from Arabia throughout the Middle East, and across North Africa, and into Spain, and even France. No other religion has spread so far so fast.
14. What is the world’s fastest-growing religion?
Islam. By far. It’s truly heartening to find so many people converting to our faith all over the world.
15. How many Muslims are there now in the United States?
About 3.5 million. As people look beyond the media scare stories and decide to find out about the real Islam for themselves, there are more converts every day.
16. How do Muslims traditionally greet one another?
By saying “salaam aleikum” — “Peace be with you.” The reply to which is: “Wa aleikum salaam” — “And peace be with you.” Peace is very important in Islam.
17. Who should pay the “zakat”?
The “zakat” is the obligatory charitable giving required of all Muslims.
18. What do “haram” and “halal” mean?
“Haram” refers to what is “forbidden” to Muslims, such as the eating of pork, alcohol, gambling.
“Halal” refers to what is permissible or lawful in traditional Islamic law. It is frequently applied to permissible food and drinks.
19. What do Muslims believe about freedom of religion?
Muslims learn from the Qur’an that “there is no compulsion in religion.” (2:256).
20. Why is Jerusalem — which Muslims call Al-Quds (“the noble place”) — the third holiest city in Islam?
It was from Jerusalem that Muhammad ascended to the heavens on his winged steed Al-Buraq. In one evening, the angel Gabriel took the Prophet, from the Sacred Mosque in Mecca to the Furthest Mosque (Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa) in Jerusalem. He was then taken up to the heavens, from the spot where the Dome of the Rock was built, to be shown the signs of God. After the Prophet met with previous prophets and led them in prayer, he was then taken back to Mecca. So Jerusalem is very significant in Islam. It’s a city holy to three faiths, but right now the Jews have full control. We think it should be shared.
21. Where is killing condemned in the Qur’an?
Killing is condemned quite clearly in Qur’an 5:32, which says that “If any one slew a person… it would be as if he slew a whole people; and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of a whole people…” That is unequivocal condemnation..
22. What is the Ka’aba?
The Ka’aba is the sacred structure, covered with a black cloth (kiswah), that sits in the middle of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and inside of which rests the Black Stone. Pilgrims performing the Hajj walk around the Ka’aba counterclockwise seven times. Muslims everywhere in the world turn toward the Ka’aba, while reciting their five daily prayers. It is the holiest site in Islam.
You can see just how much of significance has been carefully avoided in this test. None of the questions are going to be about the 109 verses in the Qur’an commanding Muslims to engage in violent Jihad, or about the verses telling Muslims to “strike terror” in the hearts of the Infidels. Nothing asked about the many antisemitic verses in the Qur’an, or about the verse condemning homosexuality. There will be nothing about Muhammad’s taking part in the killing of the 600-900 bound prisoners of the Banu Qurayza, or his ordering the torture and killing of Kinana of Khaybar, or his pleased reaction to learning that Asma bint Marwan, Abu ‘Afak, and Ka’f Bin Al-Ashraf had been killed by his followers. Nothing, of course, about his consummation of his marriage to Aisha when she was nine years old and he was fifty-four. Nothing about Muhammad’s insistence, in the Hadith of Al-Bukhari, that “war is deceit” and his claim that “I have been made victorious through terror.” Nothing about the misogyny in Islam, including the fact that a daughter normally inherits only half that of a son, and that a woman’s testimony being worth only half that of a man. Muhammad claimed in a hadith that such a rule is explained “by the deficiency of her [woman’s] intelligence.” Nothing about the Muslim husband being allowed to wed up to four wives, and to divorce any of them merely by uttering the triple-talaq. Nothing about a husband’s right to “beat” a disobedient wife (4:34).
Islam 101 will undoubtedly leave out much about Islam that is of real significance, and present much of what it does include in a highly misleading fashion. See, e.g., the questions, and the answers to them, about when Muslims came to the New World, about Thomas Jefferson and Islam, about freedom of religion in Islam, about the attitude in the Qur’an toward killing.
Don’t despair. This particular Islam 101 consisted only of two one-hour lectures by two Muslims. It could have been worse. It could have been a weekend-long course. Or worst of all, it could have been a required course, part of some new college-wide Diversity Training. It may come to that, in universities all over this great land. But it hasn’t yet. Just keep thinking about the food. Whatever else goes on at these events, there is always the free food. Masala Grill. What could be better?