Picture this. A Muslim leader reaches out to a group of Christians and invites them to his country. The Christians happily accept the invitation, while the Muslim leader prepares his people for their arrival. This is the first time the two communities have met in an official delegation. Matters of state, politics and religion are the topics of discussion. The two groups see eye-to-eye on most issues, but also agree to disagree on theological issues. If one phrase can best describe their meeting, it is “mutual respect”.It doesn't fix everything wrong with Islam's vision of how it relates to Christianity, but this understanding would mark a significant change for the better.
At the end of their talks, the Christians tell the Muslims, “It is time for us to pray”. The problem for the Christians is that there is no church nearby to worship. Instead of letting the Christians pray on the dirty street, the Muslim leader tells the Christians, “You are followers of the one true God, so please come pray inside my mosque. We are all brothers in humanity.” The Christians agree to use the “Islamic space” as their own. A bridge between these religious communities is made in the name of peace and goodwill.
This story is not some fairytale. It is a historical fact (I did, however, make-up quotes based on how the interaction might have played out). The Muslim leader of the story is Prophet Muhammad and the Christians are from Najran, or modern-day Yemen. The event happened in Medina in 631 AD. This moment in time represents one of the first examples of Muslim-Christian dialogue, but more importantly, one of the first acts of religious pluralism in Islamic history.
Now fast forward to 2016 in Damascus, Syria. The city – and much of the Middle East - has plunged into darkness. Pastor Edward Awabdeh leads a prayer in a Church despite threats on his life by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) militant group. Pastor Awabdeh maintains the Christian faith, although many of his religion have fled a country which is now ranked the fifth most dangerous country in the world to be a Christian.
The militant group regularly persecutes religious minorities in the large swathes of Syrian territory it has taken, and its ultimate aim is to destroy all traces of Christianity in the Middle East.
But to put it bluntly, the daily abductions, murders, beheadings and destruction perpetrated by IS fanatics on the vulnerable Christians of the Middle East directly contradict Prophet Muhammad’s vision of an Islamic state.
But to put it bluntly, the daily abductions, murders, beheadings and destruction perpetrated by IS fanatics on the vulnerable Christians of the Middle East directly contradict Prophet Muhammad’s vision of an Islamic state.
ReplyDeleteThis is a result of people being intentionally stupid and ignorant.
Mohammed attempted the peaceful co-existence, it didn't work. So he tried jihad, and it worked. They should look up what happened to those Christian and Arabic tribes that resisted the sexual slaver Mohammed, after 631 AD. The Story Does Not End there.
Muslim reformers -- a group I sincerely wish to encourage -- have a big problem with the timeline. The fact is that Muhammad's life got much more warlike and conquest-oriented later, whereas the peace-and-love parts were earlier. Thus, there's a clear dramatic arc in favor of war and conquest.
ReplyDeleteIt's even more pronounced if you have the metaphysics that Avicenna brought into Islamic philosophy, which endorses a forward-looking arrow of time for God as well as the world. Muhammad speaking for God said that he never abrogates anything, but sometimes replaces something with something better. Thus, chronologically later statements by Muhammad are better than chronologically earlier statements insofar as they conflict.
As a result, that dramatic arc takes on theological significance. It's a very hard problem for those Muslims who really would like to cut themselves off from the violent aspects of the faith, and focus on the harmonious parts from Medina.
A person that recognizes Mohammed as a prophet of God is a Muslim, or an apostate/heretic.
ReplyDeleteAs a Muslim, they are commanded and required to follow in Mohammed's foot steps. Which means Jihad produces more worthy achievements. They may also follow Mohammed's early time period of peaceful proselytization. The thing is in Islamic hierarchy, a Jihadist follower of Mohammed is always ranked higher than a follower of Mohammed's earlier time period of using Jews/Christians as allies.
No Christian church is allowed to be higher than an Islamic mosque. Preying in a mosque to Islam's god, is an interesting doctrinal decision. As it would be to reinforce Islam's belief of Allahu Akbar=God is the Greatest god of them all. Greater than the god of the Jews and greater than the god of the Christians.
And as it so happens, the 3 religions had several differences, and were significantly different at the time. By their fruits you shall know them. And the fruits of Mohammed's conquests are well known by all.
An Islamic Caliphate allows the existence of Jews and Christians... as slaves or as the ones who pay the religious tax. 25-75% of their assets. So long as Christians pay the tax and recognize the Supremacy of Allah, they are allowed their lives. Except their daughters and sons may be taken as part of the tax, so they are literally culled generation by generation, until the Middle East is majority Islam.
Islam has a lot of propaganda online and offline. In that fashion, they convince people that they are not a threat. It is similar to Mohammed's strategies of winning military victories by dividing his enemies and by fooling them, as well as by killing anyone that tells the truth or ridicules Mohammed or Allah.
As a result, that dramatic arc takes on theological significance. It's a very hard problem for those Muslims who really would like to cut themselves off from the violent aspects of the faith, and focus on the harmonious parts from Medina.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the timeline, Mohammed died in 632 AD. The author, probably Muslim or sympathetic to the cause, picked one of Mohammed's later life events on purpose. As that has a higher priority and cannot be easily dismissed as one of his early failures to convert Arabs.
However, that does not mean Christians and Muslims were supposed to live as equals. As I mentioned above.
For Muslims, the only way they can cut themselves off from jihadist violence is to win a civil and religious war against pro Mohammed Muslims, become Caliph over a Caliphate, and then reimpose different doctrines concerning Mohammed, as being divinely inspired now, which overrides the previous interpretation of their prophet.
ReplyDeleteMohammed was first and foremost, a believer in might makes right. Had little to nothing to do with Abraham, or Isaiah of the Jewish tribes, or the Jesus prophesied Messiah that would Replace the 10 commandments of Moses with something more in line and better for the people living there now.