JESUS LOVES MUSLIMS TOO – SERIES 001 :- UNDERSTANDING THE ORIGIN OF ISLAM
Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity, with about two billion Muslims worldwide. Scholars date the creation of Islam to the 7th Century, making it the youngest major The Muslim calendar is different from our Gregorian calendar. It is a lunar calendar while the Gregorian one is a solar based calendar. It commemorates an important event when an arabic religious reformer successful escaped from Mecca to Medina in 622 A.D. and it is known as hijra{also spelled Hegira or Hijra}.Hijra marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. Thus the letters A. H. are abbreviation for anno hijra, which means “ in the year of the escape”.
So currently our calendar reads A.D. 2020 the Muslim calendar is A.H 1440. The Arab religious reformer was called Muhammad who was born in A.D. 570, and the escape was from the city of Mecca to to the town of Yathrib.
The Ancestry of the Arab People
A recent genetic study shows that many Arabs and Jewish are closely related. More than 70% of Jewish men and half of the Arabs men whose DNA was studied inherited their Y chromosomes from the same paternal ancestors who lived in the region within the last few thousand years.(reported by Ann Gibbons-Science Magazine). The Arab people can trace their ancestry to the second son of Noah – Shem. Hence are semetic like the Jews. According to Genesis 10:25 and 1CHRONICLES 1:19 , the semetic people developed into two major races from the seed of Eber. Jocktan became the father of the Arab people, and peleg became the father of the Hebrew people. Their commom lineage resulted in many similarities between the Arab culture and the Hebrew culture.
Abraham was a Hebrew who descended from Peleg: however, his descendents took on different identities because he had several wives. His children through Sarah became Hebrews. The bible notes that before Sarah gave birth to Isaac, she gave her Egyptian maidservant, Hagar , to Abraham in order to produce a son.
After Sarah’s death , Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah (Genesis 25:1). Keturah’s descendants became known as Keturahite Arabs. While they did not come from the pure line of Joktan, they gradually adopted Arabic culture and language. Jethro , Moses father in law who helps his, son in law, to manage and lead the nation of Israel in the desert (Exodus 18), is actually from the lineage of Abraham’s wife Keturah. Jethro in Islam is known as prophet Shu’ayb. It is apparent that the Arab Jethro and the Hebrew Moses worshipped the same eternal God. Abraham apparently taught all the members of his family about one true God. Sarah’s maid Hagar , bore Abraham his first born son Ishmael who is also an ancestor of the Arabs. Hence it is historically true to say that Arabs and the Hebrew people are closely related.
The Arabs of the sixth and seventh centuries believed that Ishmael married a female descendant of Joktan whom Muslims know as Kahtan. Thus he married into pure Arab Race. The Arabs became the nomadic tribes in North Arabia. The tribe of the Quraysh became prominent by the sixth century and established permanent settlements in Mecca. The Quraysh tribe traces its ancestry back to Nabaioth , one of the twelve sons of Ishmael, and it featured two major clans: the Umayyad clan and the Hashemite clan. Prophet Mohammed was a Hashemite.
THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT ARAB PEOPLE
Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included indigenous animistic{the worldview that non-human entities(animals, plants and inanimate object or phenomena)posses a spiritual essence; often practiced by tribal groups before organized religion} – polytheistic beliefs, as well as Christianity , Judaism, Mandaeism and Iranian religions of Zoroatrianism Mithraism, and Manichaeism. Most likely the early descendants of Ishmael knew about the one true God of Abraham; however similarly to what happened to the Israelites of old, the Arabs descendants of Ishmael began to practice idolatry(The worship of an idol or a physical object, such as a cult image, as a god). By the sixth century A. D . Mecca became a center of idolatrous worship. The main religious ritual focused on the sacrifice of animals to their idols. Arab polytheism was based on the belief in dieties and other supernatural beings such as djinn.(water spirits). Local shrines and the Kaaba were places where the gods and goddesses were worshipped.
According to tradition, these Arabs had a faint knowledge about a Supreme Being named Allah. However the true knowledge of this Supreme Being was lost over time, and the early Arabs instead worshipped their idols as their mediators with Him. The Quran , the sacred scriptures of Muslims, mentions three idols by name. They are Al –Lat, Al –Uzza and Manat. Pagan Arabs didn’t believe in resurrection and the hereafter; instead, they used these pilgrimages to indulge in the carnal pleasures of life before their deaths.
The Hashemite Clan became the custodians of the kaaba (the black stone ), while the Umayyad clan became the ruling class of the Quraysh. When prophet Mohammed was still growing up, Mecca was a centre of commerce apart from the rappant idolatry.
TRADE
The Arabian peninsula trade route was also referred to as the “incense trade route”. It included a network of major ancient land and sea trading routes linking the mediteerranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense,spices,and other luxury goods, stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant and Egypt through Northeastern Africa and Arabia to India and beyond. World merchants had established trade routes between Europe and China. Goods were moved from Europe eastwards over the Mediterranean Sea to the great commercial city of Damascus (ancient Dimashq). Then caravans carried the goods overland through Iraq (Babylon) and Iran (Persia) over the trade routes of the silk road that led into China.
The silk road trade became a source of great financial gain; so , whoever controlled the trade routes became wealthy and powerful. During the sixth century, two great empires fought for control of these trade routes. One was the Christian Byzantine Empire that was from Constantinople, Turkey, and the other was the Persian Sassanian Empire that was ruled from Ctesiphon Iraq.
This fighting disrupted trade between Damascus and the East; as a result, the trade routes shifted southward to the Arabian peninsula. Caravans stopped on their way at the water holes of Yathrib and again in the city of Mecca before proceeding to the ports on the Arabian Sea. From these ports, merchants shipped their goods to the East.
As a result the Umayyads gained a source of financial revenue. Initially Mecca was the Arabian centre of pilgrimage, but later it grew into a commercial centre. Its merchants hired people to lead the camel caravans, one of whom was Muhammad.
THE MISSION OF PROPHET MOHAMMAD
Muhammad was born in A.D. 570. Unfortunately , his father died before he was born and his mother died shortly after. It was his uncle Abu Talib , who raised him as a young boy. Abu Talib had a son named Ali, and in time Ali and Mohammad became close friends.
As a young man, Muhammad worked for a widow woman named Khadijah who owned a trade business. Khadijah became so impressed with Muhammad that she married him. For the next twenty five years she was Mohammad only wife. Khadijah bore Muhammad four daughters and one son who died in infancy. Two of the daughters, Fatima and Ruqayyah, became important in the early Muslim community, as we shall see.
While Muhammad worked for Khadijah, he travelled up and down the Arabian Peninsula. It is interesting to note that Jewish communities existed near Yathrib and Christian communities existed in Damascus in the north and Sana in the South. Christianity was also dominant in the Ethiopia and its influence spread into southern Arabia.
It appears that Muhammad learned about the teachings of the Jews and Christians. According to Islamic tradition, this knowledge caused Muhammad to become deeply disturbed about the pagan practices of his own Arab community. As a result , he periodically spent time in a cave near Mecca to meditate.One day he had a mystical spiritual experience that marked the beginning of his mission. This mission dramatically changed the Arabian peninsula and the entire world.
According to Islamic tradition, Muhammed’s mystical experience occurred in the year A.D 610 in a cave located in the hills of Mt. Hira outside Mecca. As Muhammed meditated, a voice suddenly spoke to him saying , “Recite!” The voice added “Recite in the name of the Lord who created…..” . The voice went on to say “ O Muhammad you are the messenger of God and I am Gabriel.” As Mohammed looked up he saw an angel in the form of a man.
Muhammed immediately went home to tell Khadijah what had happened. Khadijah then took him to her Christian Cousin Waraqah, who was acquainted with the scriptures of the Jews and Christians. After hearing Muhammed’s experience , Waraqah assured him that his experience was from God. He added that just as God called Moses to lead the Hebrew people out of idolatry. He was now calling Muhammed to lead the Arab people out of idolatry.
With Waraqah’s encouragement, Muhammad resumed his periodic meditation in the cave, where he continued to receive revelations from Gabriel. According to Muhammed this revelations came to him at different times and in different places for the next twenty – two years. After the first three years of these revelations ,Muhammed came to understand his mission. According to the Quran, God commissioned him to do the following:
To bear witness that the supreme God called Allah was the only God. There was no other God in the universe. Furthermore , humankind must worship this one true God and submit to His will.
To bear the good news that those who worship Allah alone receive a reward. Allah will raise from the dead and admit them into a heavenly paradise.
To warn his people that Allah would punish those who refused to worship Him. Allah would raise them also from the dead, but He would cast them into a terrible place of fire and eternal torment.
Mohammed as a lamp was to bear the light of Allah. This meant he would preach the revelation of Allah as guidance for humankind.
So Mohammed began to preach his message publicly to the Arabs in about 613 A.D., declaring that Allah was the only God worthy of worship. He insisted that his fellow Meccans must discontinue their idolatry and he tried to convince them about the resurrection. He also sternly warned them that Allah would punish them if they rejected his message.
The Meccans mocked him and called him a madman, but he persisted with His preaching. Gradually , more people became his followers and this angered the Meccans; so they began to persecute him and his followers. When the situation became desperate, Muhammed advised some of his followers to emigrate to Abyssinia,(where Christians treated them kindly). The situation in Mecca worsened.
One day during the pagan pilgrimage ceremonies, some Arabs from Yathrib came to mecca in search of Muhammed. Since they Had heard some Jews talking about a prophet who someday would come to restore God’s laws. They were curious about Muhammed; so they invited him to Yathrib. Mahammed accepted their invitation and established a strong relationship with them. Some of them became his followers and offered to help him.
While still in Mecca , Mohammed learned of a plot to kill him. So first he instructed his followers in Mecca to leave for Yathrib, and then he planned his escape. Under the cover of darkness he fled to Yathrib. In A.D. 622. Muhammed arrived safely in Yathrib to the joyous welcome of his followers. His successful escape became known as the hijra. It marked the beginning of the muslim calendar. It also marked the beginning of a unified Muslim community under the full leadership of its prophet. Prophet Muhammeds status drastically changed when he moved to Yathrib, from that of a religious preacher who warned Meccans of danger of rejecting Allah’s message to that of being a being a respected religious statesman who instituted laws to bring about social reformation. Since Prophet Muhammed became the central figure of Yathrib, the city became known as “the city of the prophet”, (al-madina un-nabi). In time the city simply became known as Medina.
STRUGGLES TO VICTORY
When persection became extremely great against Muhammed, tradition indicates that he received a special revelation from God.This revelation gave him a divine warrant to attack the Meccans, who were now worthy of revenge because of their aggression against the religion of God and His chosen messenger. So in A.D. 624 , Muhammed gathered his men to attack a caravan en-route to Mecca – even though he and his followers were outnumbered three to one.
In spite of his smaller force, Muhammed and his men won a victory at a place called Badr and this victory increased Muahmmed’s popularity and religious credibility. Two years later , he engaged the Meccan forces at Mt. Uhud. Although Muhammed lost this battle, the Meccans were not able to destroy his following.
The Meccans decided to lead their army of ten – thousand men against Medina, but a deep trench prevented them from advancing into the city of Medina; however they led the city in siege. Then one night under the onslaught of a fierce sand storm, Meccan soldiers retreated to Mecca. Many Arabs interpreted this retreat as another miraculous victory for Muhammad.
In A.D 630 , Muhammad was able to raise an army of ten – thousand Arab supporters and march to Mecca. Realizing the hopelessness of their condition, the Meccans ceded the city to Muhammad, fearing fierce retribution and saughter; however in an act of diplomacy, Muhammad granted them amnesty, which won even more converts to his cause. Upon entering the city , Muhammad went directly to the Kaaba, where he destroyed all the idols. Then he declared the Kaaba to be the house of none other than Allah, the true God of Abraham.
With the fall of Mecca , more Arab tribes gave their support to Muhammed and embraced his religion. The religion became known as Islam, and those who submitted to this religion were known as Muslims.
The Early Rise Of Islam
After his victory over Mecca, Muhammad spent most of his time with the growing and flourishing Muslim community in Medina. There he administered social change according to the revelations he claimed to receive from God. Khadijah , died around this time; Ali married their married their daughter Fatima; and Muhammed married eleven more wives. Some of the marriages were politically motivated and were arranged to establish alliances with other Arabian tribes.
One of Muhammed’s wife was A’ishah. She was the daughter of Abu Bakr whom he had given to Muhammad as a gift shortly after Khadijah’s death. She became Muhammad favourite wife, ofcourse after Khadijah had died. However there was trouble brewing. Both Fatima and A’ishah began competiting for Muhammad’s favour and attention. This contention grew between them and become especially apparent at Muhammad’s death.
Muhammed died in 632 A.D. only two years after his victory over Mecca. According to tradition many muslims believed Muhammed died of food poisoned by a Jewish woman. (some Muslims reject this idea, insisting that Allah would never allow an enemy to harm or kill one of His prophets.) After Muhammeds death , the community faced a major problem: who would succeed Muhammad as leader of the believers?
Arab culture demanded that the community elders elect from among themselves the individual most worthy to rule. However some Muslims, led by Fatima, insisited that the next ruler be from Muhammad’s family because they wanted Ali, Fatima’s husband to rule. A’ishah who disliked Fatima, wanted her father, Abu Bakr, to rule. The Arab tradition prevailed and Abu Bakr became the next leaderof the Muslim community. He bore the title ‘khalifa’.{ one who inherits authority to rule}
INFIGHTINGS WITHIN THE LEADERSHIP OF THE EARLY MUSLIM COMMUNITY
When Muhammad died , some of the Arab tribes that promised to follow him believed that his death released them from their oath of allegiance: as a result they reverted to their pagan religious practices. So Abu Bakr felt compelled to use military force to bring them back into the community of Islam. While Abu Bakr’s rule was cut short when he died unexpectedly two years later, under his leadership all of Arabia came under the banner of Islam.
Hostilities between the families of Fatima and A’ishah continued. The situation escalated when Fatima asked Abu Bakr for Muhammad’s property when he died, a request that Abu Bakr refused , asserting that the property of a prophet belongs to the religious community . Fatima died six months after six months after prophet Mohammed died and left Ali with two sons, Hasan and Husayn.
The Muslim community again faced the succession problem after Abu Bakr died. Ali was growing in influence and many felt that he should be the next khalifa, because he was the father to Muhammed’s grandsons. However Umar was elected with the elders according to Arabic culture.
Umar is credited with compling the Quran from the revelations that Muhammed received. He is also responsible for standardizing major Islamic practices.
After Umar the next Khalifa was Uthman . Who was the first Kalifa not from Muhammed Heshimite clan but from the Umayyad Clan. He standardized the Quran into an official text. He had more financial and political interest than religious interest, hence moving his administration to the more prosperous city of Damacus instead of Mecca. Many Muslims complained his lack of religious focus . On the other hand he is the one who instituted the Quran as the official Islamic text. Uthman ruled as khalifa for eleven years. Meanwhile Aishah(Muhammed wife) continue to grow influence in the upcoming Islamic community and because of the rivalry she arranged for Uthman to be assassinated.
Finally Ali became the fourth Kalifa. The first four rulers are known as the rightly guided ones by the Sunnis. The Shites however did not recognize the first three khalifas , they hold that Ali became their first legitimate ruler.
As we conclude that this teaching has given you a better understanding of Islam as a Christian so that you can better reach out with the love of Jesus Christ to your Muslim neighbor,friend and maybe even family without prejudice. May the Lord bless you as you shine forth His Love and share the good news.
Researched and Compiled by
Pst Willy Ochieng
Busia Lighthouse Church
Primary resource : Muslim Ministry in the African Context , by Harry Morin