When he was around Forty years old, Mohammed started to
take month-long retreats, to pray and to perform the religious practices of the
Quraysh. He began to have visions where he was visited by the Angel Gabriel.
He
said that Gabriel would teach him scriptures. Gabriel then told him to recite these
scriptures so he could teach them to his followers. These would later be
written down by his followers and were compiled after his death into what is
known today as the Koran.
His wife Khadija supported him and became the first
convert to the new religion of Islam. In Arabic Islam means “submission”.
Khadija was soon joined by Mohammed's adopted son and other family members. Eventually
some other people outside of the family joined them too.
As Mohammed gained
followers he became more confident. Soon he began to preach quite openly from
his new religion.
In the beginning this did not cause a problem. The
Quraysh were very tolerant of different religions as that was how they made
their money. For them, more religion meant more money. If Mohammed's new
religion brought in more people to worship, it would be all the better.
Things soon began to sour however, as the tone of
Mohammed's teachings became steadily less tolerant. Mohammed began to teach that
his religion was the right one (which was okay) but that all the other
religions were false (which was not).
He mocked the other religions and
ridiculed their Gods. What was even worse for the Quraysh, was Mohammed’s claim
that because their ancestors were not Muslims, they were burning in hell. For
the Quraysh whose ancestors were sacred, this was intolerable. They begged him
to stop doing this and return to promoting his own religion without rubbishing
theirs.
When he refused, the Quraysh wanted to kill him.
Unfortunately for them, Mohammed still enjoyed the protection of his powerful
uncle, Abu Talib. The Quraysh tried to offer his uncle inducements. They wanted
him to hand over Mohammed so that they could kill him, but he steadfastly
refused.
Mohammed was clearly a charismatic preacher who
gradually gained more followers. This increased the divisions within the
community. There were quarrels and constant bickering. Mecca was a small town
and everybody knew each other’s business.
What had once been a peaceful and profitable community
was now split badly, between the Quraysh and the new converts who were known as
Muslims (which means those who have submitted).
Some of the less powerful Muslims and especially slaves
who had converted, were treated quite badly by the Quraysh. Fortunately for
them, Mohammed's uncle was able to protect them all from serious harm. Some of
the Meccans who converted were also among the strongest and most powerful
members of the community.
It gradually became harder for the Quraysh to do
anything about Mohammed. Although he had called them stupid, insulted their
gods and claimed that their ancestors were burning in hell, they were unable to
stop him.
The Quraysh tried to reason with Mohammed and even
tried to cut him a deal. They offered him money, or even the leadership of the
tribe, if he would just stop his preaching. Mohammed refused, insisting that he
was only the messenger of Allah and had no choice in the matter.
Author’s Comments:
Before I get too far into Islam, I want to give a very
brief overview of Christianity. Like it or not, if you grew up in a “Western” country
then your ethics, your sense of right and wrong, are based upon Christian
teachings, as are the laws which our society makes.
People who grow up in different cultures may have a
different definition of what is right and wrong. To give an example, what a
Viking might have considered to be “the right thing to do,” would probably be
seen as seriously anti-social in modern day Denmark.
Islam has a set of ethics. In order to explain these
ethics I will sometimes be comparing them to Christian ethics. This is not
because I’m promoting Christianity but because most Westerners, (including
myself) understand it far better than for instance Hinduism or Buddhism.
The basis of Christian (and Jewish) ethics is the Ten
Commandments which we are all probably familiar with. Don’t steal, cheat, lie,
kill, covet etc. These are then capped off with the Golden Rule which is:
“Do unto others
as you would have them do unto you.”
From the Golden Rule are derived the other principles
of freedom of speech, the rule of law, equality, tolerance etc. which underpin
the laws and customs of most Western countries.
Growing up in a society based
on this Golden Rule, we tend to believe that it is universal and not even
remotely a radical idea. Keep in mind however, that the man who popularized
this idea 2000 years ago, got nailed to a tree for it.
Despite this, the idea gained currency and continued to
spread. By the time of Mohammed’s birth, Christianity was the dominant religion
throughout most of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.
The Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments however, ARE
NOT the basis for every religion and society. As you will soon find out they
are definitely not the basis of Islam.
Islam is difficult to explain clearly. In some ways, it
is a bit like a giant jigsaw puzzle. I could show you a single piece of a
jigsaw and tell you for instance, that it is a tiger’s nose. Although it might not
look like a tiger’s nose, it is not until you see it surrounded by the other
pieces that you can tell what it really is.
Some of the things I write may seem
strange, or even ridiculous to someone who has grown up in a Western country
with Christian based ethics. Hopefully however, by the time you finish this
book you will be able to see each piece in the context of the whole picture.
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