ISLAM125Soren Kierkegaard employed irony to
better articulate his arguments. Kierke-
gaard wrote many of his works using
pseudonyms. Interestingly though, he did
not always completely agree with what
his pseudonyms said. He would articulate
their view points, but Kierkegaard’s deeper
lessons actually came from the ironies
that rose when those viewpoints were fol-
lowed to their logical conclusions.
More recently, irony has been used to
describe perceptions of reality by philo-
sophers such as Richard Rorty. From an
ironic view point anything can be made
to look good or bad through redescrip-
tion. For example, Billy says it is good that
it is sunny out because he is tired of bad
weather, but Suzy says that it is bad because
she is distracted from her homework.
It is philosophically ironic that both Billy
and Suzy are right depending on how
one describes the situation. Some ironists
reject the idea of any ultimate truths.
ISLAM. The second largest world religion,
with over 1.5 billion followers. Islam
asserts shared roots with Judaism and
Christianity, acknowledging a common,
Abrahamic past. The Qur’an (from Qu’ra
for “to recite” or “to read”) was, according
to tradition, received by the Prophet
Muhammad from the Angel Gabriel as
the literal speech and revelation of God
(in Arabic, Allah). In addition to the
Qur’an, Islamic teaching was forged
by the sayings (hadith) of the Prophet
Muhammad (570–632). Islam proclaims
a radical monotheism that explicitly
repudiated both the polytheism of pagan
Arabia and the Christian understanding
of the incarnation and the trinity. Central
to Islam is God’s unity, transcendence,
and sovereignty, God’s providential con-
trol of the cosmos, the importance for
humans to live justly and compassion-
ately and to follow set ritual practices of
worship.
“Islam” in Arabic means submission,
and a follower of Islam is therefore called
a Muslim, “one who submits” to God. The
Five Pillars of Islam are (1) witnessing
that “There is no god but God and
Muhammad is his messenger,” (2) praying
five times a day while facing Mecca, (3)
alms-giving, (4) fasting during Ramadan
(the ninth month of the Muslim calen-
dar), and (5) making a pilgrimage to
Mecca. The two largest branches of Islam
are Sunni and Shi’a; their differences
began to develop early in the history of
Islam over a disagreement about who
would succeed the Prophet Muhammad
in the leadership of the community.
Sunnis comprise a vast majority of
Muslims. Shi’ites put greater stress on the
continuing revelation of God beyond the
Qur’an as revealed in the authoritative
teachings of the imams (holy successors
who inherit Muhammad’s “spiritual abili-
ties”), the mujtahidun (“doctors of the
law”), and other agents. Like Christianity,
Islam has proclaimed that a loving,
merciful, and just God will not annihilate
an individual at death, but provide either
heaven or hell.