Last week I listened to an address by a noted authority on Islam. He told us that this religion was growing at such a pace world-wide that in 25 years Muslims will outnumber Christians.
I’m not sure if I’ll still be here in 25 years, but I’m working on it.
The Western view of Islam has been understandably distorted by the 9/11 attack on America and reports of terrorism and suicide bombings we read about or see graphic images of most days on our television sets.
On the other side of the coin Muslims claim that Westerners are immoral, materialistic and flaunt their sexuality. They also believe we seek to undermine the political stability of the Middle East in favour of Israel.
Radicals and jihadists aside, no doubt the vast majority of the followers of Muhammad are peace-loving people and I decided to delve into the religion itself given that in time it may overwhelm us.
I could find very little reliable information about the Prophet Muhammad’s birth and formative years as a Meccan youth. The earliest accounts of his life were written at least 150 years after his death. He was born in A.D. 570 into the Hashim family of the powerful tribe of Quraysh in Mecca, a great city of commerce in the Arabian Peninsula. Muhammad’s father, Abdullah, passed away before his son’s birth and his mother Amina died when he was only six years old.
Muhammad became a wealthy trader, making caravan trading trips that took him into contact with Jews and Christians. He became interested in spending uninterrupted meditation on religious matters and during these periods he claims he heard the voice of Allah or the Archangel Gabriel who gave him messages to preach to mankind. During the following years Muhammad developed a strong regional following and his armies gradually took control of the whole of Arabia. Muhammad died in A.D. 632 at the age of sixty-two and was succeeded by Abu Bakr, one of his earliest followers.
The Qur’an is the Islamic equivalent of the Bible. It contains about the same amount of content as the New Testament. The Qur’an is divided into 114 “Surah’s” or sections. According to tradition, different parts of the Qur’an were revealed to Muhammad verbatim by the angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years.
Islam teaches that the true god is the Muslim deity, Allah. All other views of God are false. The Qur’an records: “The true religion with God is Islam.” The Qur’an also stresses that Allah is one person only: “They are unbelievers who say God is the third of three.”
Muslims mistakenly believe that Christians believe in three Gods. This idea is a clear misrepresentation of Christian belief. Christians are not polytheists, who accept three Gods, but monotheists who believe in one God.
Jesus, referred to as “Isa” in Arabic, appears in the Qur’an in a total of 93 verses scattered among fifteen Surah’s. Although the Qur’an concedes He was born of a virgin the Islamic holy book says He is not the son of God. Surah 10:68-69 states: They say: “God (Allah) has begotten a son! Glory be to Him! He is self-sufficient! His are all things in the heavens and on earth!” No warrant have you for this! Do you say about Allah what you do not know? Say: Those who say a lie against Allah will never prosper.
Muslims must adhere to a number of disciplines.
They must bow towards Mecca and say their prayers 5 times a day. This is set by tradition and is not in the Qur’an. The preferred location is in a Mosque. There are prescribed ablutions that involve washing hands, mouth, face, nostrils, arms and feet up to the ankles.
Followers are expected to give money to community welfare programmes to promote Islam. The common guideline is 2.5% of earnings.
Islamists must fast for one month each year. This is the ninth month in the Muslim lunar calendar known as Ramadan. Fasting means abstaining from all food, drink and sexual relationships during sunrise to sunset.
Every Muslim is expected to visit Mecca at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able.
Perhaps Islam’s Achilles’ heel is that it has two opposing and often-times deadly factions.
The Shi’ites are known as “The Party of Ali” because they broke away from the main body of Muslims in the 7th century. They insisted that Ali, the son-in-law of Muhammad, should have become leader after the Prophets death. They number about 10% of Muslims and are mainly in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and India.
The second group are the Sunnis. The word Sunni refers to the customary practice of the Prophet. This community includes a variety of theological attitudes and outlooks. They comprise about 90% of Muslims.
You can’t help but wonder if there might be a collision course in the offing. The Shi’ite-Sunni divide is not unlike the once bloody division between Catholic and Protestant, now thankfully in the distant past, but if the two Islamic factions can find peace amongst themselves Christians may feel threatened.
Perhaps I’ll set aside that desire to live for at least another 25 years.
Since 622AD, the murderous totalitarian ideology, "islam," that both calls itself and demands (of everybody - your grandchildren included, Mr Long) SUBMISSION! -- has been responsible for some two-hundred and twenty-seven million documented genocidal murders -- all in the name of the hostilely-colonizing, enslaving, raping, sexually-mutilating and mass-murdering death cult kicked off by the false fuhrer, Mumhummud, directed by his Mein koranpf -- and at the hands of islamic jihadists, the first of them, the insane pedophile, Muhummud, himself.
ReplyDeleteIt is sufficient, surely, that we but recognise evil -- and rid ourselves of it.
So what's to understand, Mr Long?
Brian Richard Allen