Islam: A Brief History

Frequently when we hear of terrorist attacks or barbarous acts committed by followers of the Muslim faith, we also hear the terrorists or barbarians described as "Muslim fundamentalists," as if there are Muslims who do not believe that the entirety of the Koran is literally true. One of the major tenets of the Islamic faith is that the Koran was written by God through Mohammed and is therefore without error and infallible. Heretics who suggest that the Koran may not be wholly true or erroneous are subject to all sorts of punishment, persecution and prosecution. There is no Muslim tradition of religious freedom or "live and let live," unless you count the brief time that Muslims were a minority people in an unfriendly country.

Islam began in 610 CE when a successful trader named Mohammed, living in Mecca, experienced visions and announced that he had been anointed by God. The pagan leaders of Mecca ignored Mohammed until he started attacking their gods publicly. Wealthy merchants were intimidated by Mohammed's power and therefore plotted to decrease his influence. As hostility rose, Mohammed found it convenient to preach tolerance for all religions so that his own could thrive.

As the climate grew worse, Mohammed decided that it was time for an emigration. In 622, he met some people from Medina who invited him to move to their city and offered to protect him while he preached God's word. At the time, Medina was inhabited by eight large clans of Arabs and three major clans of Jews, all of whom had been feuding for years. Mohammed sought to establish himself as a political leader by mediating between the various clans; through his efforts he arranged it so that all grievances and problems would be laid before him, Allah's representative on Earth. He continued to preach religious tolerance between the pagans, Jews and Muslims, although the Jews openly disputed his claims to prophethood. A new Constitution of Medina was written which guaranteed rights and duties to the Jews of Medina. It also granted the powers of war to Mohammed, who was eager to use them against his Meccan enemies.

After only six months in this new city, Mohammed sent out groups of raiders to attack Meccan trading caravans. His attacks succeeded only when he scheduled them during the Meccan sacred month, which shocked his supporters and detractors alike. Mohammed's relationship with Jews became more strained as he became more powerful. They criticized his teachings, calling them self-contradictory. Realizing that the existence of Jews in Medina threatened his goal of total power, he threw his claims of religious tolerance out the door and had all Jews in Medina killed or exiled, at one point declaring, "Kill any Jew who falls into your power." The sole exception was the tribe of Qurayza, supporters of the Prophet.

In 624, the Prophet Mohammed learned that a rich Meccan caravan was going to pass by Medina and accordingly sent out a large raiding party. The Meccans knew of Mohammed's plans in advance and had sent along a vastly superior army to teach the Prophet and his Muslims a lesson. Unfortunately for the Meccans, and for the rest of the world, the Muslims found great inspiration in Allah and won the battle decisively. Mohammed continued such raids for years, winning several battles, until the Meccans besieged Medina in 627. The siege was unsuccessful and when the Meccans withdrew, Mohammed had the remaining Jewish clan of Qurayza destroyed -- the men slaughtered and thrown in ditches, the women sold into slavery, and property divvied up.

By 630, Mohammed's enemies had had enough of the skirmishes and battles. That year, they signed a treaty with him that permitted the Muslims to make pilgrimages to Mecca. At first he went along with the treaty, but Mohammed was soon powerful enough to break the treaty and conquer Mecca. Shortly after this he commanded the allegiances of all the Arab tribes of Central Arabia and envisioned conquering Rome itself before his death in 632.

Mohammed sounds more like a successful warlord than a Prophet -- more like a Napoleon or Hitler than a holy man on a mission from God. His method of government did not rely on bureaucracy, secular ideology or police powers, but rather a cruel new religion that, like many young faiths, borrowed heavily from existing traditions and slapped a fresh coat of gibberish on it. Like Christianity, Islam expanded from a minor local phenomenon to a transcontinental death machine. Unlike Christianity, Islam is not on the wane. It is on the rise.

Copy And Pasted from Islamanics!

If you enjoyed this article, please visit: http://www.hinduunity.org