Traditional Islam is a mixture of all obedience to Allah, and if that requires militancy, so be it. (Deepak Chopra)
Thinking about the musings from DAY 44: Islam is now 2-0…
I would submit to you that once you are aware of the history and original geography regarding the beginnings of Islam, the understanding of the current history and present geography of Islam makes more sense. There is no doubt that Islam is a unique belief system. There is no doubt that Islam confirms, like so many other of the world beliefs systems, that indeed:
Someone Upstairs Runs The Show.
Muhammad, the founder of Islam and rejected in Mecca, traveled north to the city of Yathrib, to try to convince those in that city as to the validity of his revelations. The revelations that he received from the angel Gabriel, who in turn were given these revelations by the ‘one, true god’, Allah.
The evidence that Muhammad was successful in converting Yathrib away from polytheistic/animism worship and led them to the monotheistic beliefs of Islam, can be found within the new name of the city itself. No longer known as Yathrib, it is now known as Medina, or the ‘city of the Prophet’.
After engaging in two battles against his family, the Quraysh tribe, Muhammad headed south returning to Mecca, after the back to back victories at the Battles of Badr and Uhud.
Once at Mecca, Muhammad laid siege with 10,000 Muslim followers, sometime between December of 629 and January of 630.
Muhammad and his Muslim followers captured Mecca and destroyed the idols held in the ‘very sacred temple…highly revered by all the Arabs’, the Kaaba. What was once a former holy shrine to over 360 polytheistic/animistic gods, Muhammad declared would now be the holy shrine of Allah.
I would submit to you that to better understand the belief system of Islam, one must understand the significance of the number 5. Known to Muslims as the Five Pillars, these expectations are at the center of the Islamic faith.
The Five Pillars are as follows:
1) Faith – Declare the Faith;
2) Prayer – Pray towards Mecca five times a day;
3) Alms – Help those in need;
4) Fasting – to focus on Allah during the holy month of Ramadan and;
5) Pilgrimage – To travel to Mecca at least once during their lifetime.
The Islamic holy book, the Quran, (Koran), is quite interesting. To Muslims, the Quran is the ‘eternal expression’ of Allah, which makes sense because they believe that their holy book was not physically written by humans.
At least, not originally.
The origin of the Quran is as follows:
1) The Quran began as the literal speech of Allah;
2) This literal speech was then inscribed on a tablet in heaven;
3) To which Gabriel had access to the tablet by reading it;
4) Who then dictated it to Muhammad;
In other words, Muhammad is the last of the Prophets because Allah choose Gabriel to bring the Quran to Muhammad, who would then bring the Quran to the rest of humanity.
In the Quran, there is a doctrine that once understood can help you to better understand Islam.
So what exactly is this doctrine?
That will be covered next time.
Do not feel discouraged if the Five Pillars, the Quran, Sunnah or Law of Sharia, still do not make sense. Do not feel discouraged if you still are on the fence regarding the belief system known as Islam. Instead, embrace the idea that soon, you will have gathered enough facts to come to a solid conclusion regarding Islam.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; (Matthew 5:44 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading Day 45: Five Pillars…And One Quran.
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began: