With the diatribes, fulminations, and promulgations surrounding terrorist concerns I decided to make up my own mind. If I had known how long it would take to learn so little I would have headed for the golf course and let the debaters’ twaddle rage on without me. But (sigh) I pressed on consuming so much time writing the following notes that I refused to jettison them. So here they are. Bless your critical thinking brain if you read them.
Muhammad claimed that over a twenty-year period the angel Gabriel dictated the Quran (“the recitation”) to him. The illiterate Muhammad repeated the words from memory; they were later chronicled, reaching the final written form under the third Caliph, Uthman.
- Doctrinal passages concerned with death, resurrection, and judgment. Martyrs gain entry into paradise. Rewards go to those who fight against infidels. Hell consists of fire and acrid smoke.
- Prophetic stories many of which are adaptations of pagan customs. Others show evidence of Christian and Jewish influence with alterations to fit the Arabian point of view. For example, according to the Quran Allah commanded Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael instead of Isaac.
- Proclamations and regulations: The Quran prohibits alcohol and pork consumption, gambling, idolatry, image making, usury, and asserts that women are inferior to men. The Quran contains 109 verses calling Muslims to war with nonbelievers. Ethical admonitions include compassion and mercy. The contradiction between mercy and killing infidels remains unresolved.
- Religious duties, known as the Five Pillars of the Faith, consist of the following:
On June 8, 632 Muhammad died at Medina where his mosque became the second holiest worship site in the Muslim world. At Mecca rests the holiest shrine, a black stone monument known as the Kaaba.
- The Sunnites maintain that representatives of the believers should elect the Islamic leader. They believe that the Sunna –the traditions—supplemented the Koran as a valid source of belief. Sunnites make up more than eighty percent of the Muslims.
- The Shiites advocate that Muhammad’s successor, or Caliph, should be related to the Prophet by blood or by marriage. They hold the Quran to be the only source of truth. When Muhammad died, the Shiites rejected Abu Bakr, the Sunnite Caliph. They argue that Muhammad had designated Ali husband of his daughter Fatima as leader.
- The Sufis adhere to a mystical and ascetic ideal. They deny the validity of rational judgment, maintaining that truth comes from divine revelation released by torturing the body.
Islamic culture left a splendid legacy of original discoveries and achievements:
- Astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry and medicine advanced under Islam.
- Europe adapted the Arabic system of numerals.
- Muslims expanded algebra and trigonometry beyond Hellenistic times.
- They developed optics and the compass.
- Muslims found uses for alum, borax, sulfuric acid and sodium carbonate.
- Muslims made paper.
- They developed the art of weaving pile carpeting and rugs and making brocaded silks and tapestries.
- Muslims inlaid metal work, enameled glassware and painted pottery.
- They improved farming techniques, terraced slopes and irrigated barren land.
- They produced cotton, flax, silk, rice, wheat, spinach, asparagus, apricots, peaches, olives, banana, coffee and oranges.
- The songs of the troubadours and love poetry of medieval France were directly inspired by Muslim writings.
- The Book of the Arabian Nights influenced Boccaccio and Chaucer.
- The medical writings of Avicenna became the authoritative work in Europe until the late seventeenth century.
- Medical progress included the description of smallpox, tuberculosis, stomach cancer, eye infections, pleurisy and a variety of nervous conditions.
- The spread of disease through contamination of water and soil were described.
- Under the Muslims commerce and manufacturing grew to an extraordinary degree.
- Muslims developed checks, receipts, bills of lading, letters of credit, trade associations and stock companies.
- They developed domes, minarets, horseshoe arches and built magnificent cities.
At the close of the first millennium the Muslem Turks (Seljuks) won control of Asia Minor. The Turks defended Islamic civilization during the Crusades that began in 1096 as a series of military expeditions led by European Christians to drive the Muslims from Jerusalem. In 1099 the Christian crusaders gained control over Jerusalem. The Islamic warrior Saladin retook Jerusalem in 1187. Five years later Richard the Lion-Hearted and Saladin made a truce that allowed Christian pilgrims to enter Jerusalem.
Currently several hotbeds of Islamic conflict exist giving the news channel commentators something with which to agitate, fret, and unhinge their viewers.
Please comment to enhance learning and inspire interaction. We don’t know what you are thinking until we read what you write. Did the blog entry bring to mind a personal story you would like to share? Any ideas you would like to contribute? Any disagreements?