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100-183 Understanding Asia

The last lecture put emphasis on readings from week 1, 2, 3 and 12 for the exam. (defining Asia, Mapping China, Hinduism/Buddhism and Asian values)

Week 1 - Introduction/historical overview

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

The first emperor Qin Shi Huang and the Qin Dynasty

Sharia
Qu'ran
Prophet Muhammad, born in Makkah, later was forced to migrate to Medina. 622AD: Islamic calendar begins with migration of Muhammad. Community in Medina as a model of an Islamic state.
Islamic calendar: Ramadan
Muslim countries VS Islamic countries (=follows Islamic law and Islamic calendar)

Islamic world view
- Monotheism - see especially Tawhid
- God cannot be described, you cannot depict God
- No images of Muhammad, since it would give him divinity - but only God is divine. - Wahhabism (predominant in Saudi Arabia)
- Unity of God: no other being is glorified; there is only one God who has created the universe out of nothing

- Three concepts of God:
  - (predominant view:) God is a personal (= a person, self-conscious), transcendental being (= beyond space and time, because if God was not transcendental then he would be subject to change and limited - but God is unlimited - so God cannot be physical/material)
  - maybe God is impersonal (maybe God is not aware of individual beings, because God does not have perception, because perception requires a physical body and God does not have a body)
  - maybe God is not separated from the universe/nature - just as we cannot separate our souls from our bodies -> the whole universe is the body of God

- Unity of the prophethood: all prophets are considered to be true messengers from God (a Muslim has to accept all prophets)
- Unity of the scripture: 3 divine texts: Old Testament, New Testament, Qu'ran (they are not written by human beings but revealed by God)

Day of Judgement: Divine Justice (God will judge people according to their actions), Divine Retribution (and punish people accordingly) - so there has to be free will. How can God fairly punish someone if he "made" that person bad.

causa sui and causa immanence
Creation ex nihilo: God created everything out of nothing (supported by some Qu'ranic verses), time, labor is not involved
however, God needed 6 days to create the universe, so since time is involved, so is labor

Sharia - means "the way"
- more than a law; in civic society a law regulates public life - but Sharia regulates more than that (what to eat, what to wear, how to behave)
- family law has become a matter of debate nowadays: women's rights, structure of the family, status of family members, custody of children; e.g. polygamy - read it as it is written or interpret it historically?

Session 2 - Philosophy
- Muhammad died in 632 without appointing successors
- disagreement about successor
  - one group wanted to have an election/consensus - they later became the Sunnis - a successor should be elected, and should be from the same tribe as Muhammad.
  - another group believed Muhammad nominated his first cousin (and son-in-law) Ali, and that the successor should be from the same house as Muhammad - they later became the Shi'ites
- a number of successors, then a revolt against the Caliph, the rebels appointed Ali
- a committee was set up to see which group was right; they ruled against Ali
- a split-group of Ali's group, Kharijis revolted against Ali; most of them were killed, as a backlash Ali was killed; end of Medina period
Muslims defeated other empires, moved around, came in contact with other cultures - philosophical exchange

Theological/philosophical search for the truth
- who is responsible for moral corruption? is it the will of God?
- Traditionalists believe in predestination
- Mu'tazilites - rationalist school; Free will? Predetermination? how to resolve contradictions in the Qu'ran on this matter? Argue for free will. Another problem: if God's attributes are eternal and different from God, it would be polytheism. How can the Qu'ran be eternal?
- Ash'arites - moderate school; believe God is beyond human understanding

- Christian and Jewish thinkers translated philosophical works into Arabic - foundation of Muslim (not Islamic!) philosophy
  - conflicting view: Islam promulgates creation ex nihilo, but Aristotle argues that is not possible and that God is not a creator but more like an "engineer"
  - solution: Platinus (??) argued that like the sun emanates rays, God emanates (emits?) the universe. But if we all emanate from God, how can there be evil?