Secret Squirrel
07-13-2004, 05:47 PM
It's a long read, but for those who are interested, it would be worth reading. I'll quote a small part here...
The Birth of Islam
The year Heraclius began his successful campaign against the Persians (622) was also the year in which an Arabian trader Mohammed, was forced to flee Mecca for the northern town of Yathrib (now Medina). From his early childhood, he was known for his abilities as an honest, reliable and good mediator. He came from the prestigious tribe of Quraish in Mecca. In the preceding period Mohammed had undergone religious experiences (believed by the faithful to be revelations) which led to him to denounce polytheism and embrace a belief in one God as the creator and mover of the universe. His followers, small in number at first, began to acclaim him as a prophet. His religious utterances were believed to be the actual words of God (Allah) and, as later recorded, they formed the text of the Islamic holy book called the Qur'an (commonly anglicised as 'Koran'). The belief system created by the Prophet was named Islam, which means both 'submission (to God)' and 'peace'. Muhammed's Allah was specifically identified with the God worshipped by Jews and Christians, and Jesus Christ was seen as a prophet, but not as the son of God. Muslims, emphasising the unity of God, reject the Christian Trinity.
Like primitive Christianity, early Islam appealed particularly to the downtrodden in society. Muhammed made no social, racial or economic distinctions among his followers: all Muslims were (and are) equal in the sight of God. Thus Islam also offered the Arab tribes a way out of the interminable blood feuds which characterised pre-Islamic Arabia. As he gained support in his hometown of Mecca, Muhammed became a threat to the established political and religious order there, because Mecca, with its sacred Black Stone (kaaba), was the centre of the traditional pagan Arabic religious and economic system. He and his followers therefore fled Mecca in 622 (1 AH) for Medina, a town riven by tribal feuds, to which he was invited as a mediator. This is the traditional date for the start of the Muslim era.
Muhammed successfully resolved Medina's internal troubles, thus gaining great authority for himself and credibility for his religious views. His religious and economic enemies in Mecca, seeing him established as a leader in a rival town, now sought to destroy him by military means. In a famous battle (at a place named Badr) fought in 624 (3 AH) the Muslims, though greatly outnumbered, defeated their opponents and gained further credibility for their religion. Six years later (630, 9 AH) they took Mecca itself and, purifying the kaaba of pagan associations, made it a central point of the new religion (it is to the kaaba in Mecca that all Muslims are enjoined to go on pilgrimage at least once in their lives if possible). By the death of the Prophet in 632 (11 AH) the Muslims were masters of the Arabian peninsula.
The entire article can be found here... http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/cib/2001-02/02cib07.htm#major
The Birth of Islam
The year Heraclius began his successful campaign against the Persians (622) was also the year in which an Arabian trader Mohammed, was forced to flee Mecca for the northern town of Yathrib (now Medina). From his early childhood, he was known for his abilities as an honest, reliable and good mediator. He came from the prestigious tribe of Quraish in Mecca. In the preceding period Mohammed had undergone religious experiences (believed by the faithful to be revelations) which led to him to denounce polytheism and embrace a belief in one God as the creator and mover of the universe. His followers, small in number at first, began to acclaim him as a prophet. His religious utterances were believed to be the actual words of God (Allah) and, as later recorded, they formed the text of the Islamic holy book called the Qur'an (commonly anglicised as 'Koran'). The belief system created by the Prophet was named Islam, which means both 'submission (to God)' and 'peace'. Muhammed's Allah was specifically identified with the God worshipped by Jews and Christians, and Jesus Christ was seen as a prophet, but not as the son of God. Muslims, emphasising the unity of God, reject the Christian Trinity.
Like primitive Christianity, early Islam appealed particularly to the downtrodden in society. Muhammed made no social, racial or economic distinctions among his followers: all Muslims were (and are) equal in the sight of God. Thus Islam also offered the Arab tribes a way out of the interminable blood feuds which characterised pre-Islamic Arabia. As he gained support in his hometown of Mecca, Muhammed became a threat to the established political and religious order there, because Mecca, with its sacred Black Stone (kaaba), was the centre of the traditional pagan Arabic religious and economic system. He and his followers therefore fled Mecca in 622 (1 AH) for Medina, a town riven by tribal feuds, to which he was invited as a mediator. This is the traditional date for the start of the Muslim era.
Muhammed successfully resolved Medina's internal troubles, thus gaining great authority for himself and credibility for his religious views. His religious and economic enemies in Mecca, seeing him established as a leader in a rival town, now sought to destroy him by military means. In a famous battle (at a place named Badr) fought in 624 (3 AH) the Muslims, though greatly outnumbered, defeated their opponents and gained further credibility for their religion. Six years later (630, 9 AH) they took Mecca itself and, purifying the kaaba of pagan associations, made it a central point of the new religion (it is to the kaaba in Mecca that all Muslims are enjoined to go on pilgrimage at least once in their lives if possible). By the death of the Prophet in 632 (11 AH) the Muslims were masters of the Arabian peninsula.
The entire article can be found here... http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/cib/2001-02/02cib07.htm#major