This is a first of a series of essays on the prophet who founded Islam. I've been studying the history of the guy for the past few months with a central question in mind. How did this mans life affect so many people and what is the relationship of this mans life to present troubles. What I found was highly interesting. Islam has it's opponants. Many of them are former Moslems. I don't want to take that route. I'd rather offer a more friendly critique. That might be dangerous too. But I offer it in the spirit of "all teachings lead to the same place." But first I have to start by examining the relationship of Islam to other religions. Specifically with Judaism. The relationship of the founder of Islam with Judaism is troubling on more than one level.
Mohammed appears to have been deeply impressed with Judaism. Jews and Isreaelites appear to have been living among other arabic speaking peoples in the Peninsula since at least the time of the Babylonian Captivity. One group even traced it's lineage to the time of Moses, claiming decent from a group of Jews sent to attack Amalek who were punished for bringing back their king. The story seems to mix up a story set in the time of Saul with stories from genesis, but like all stories told by people, it's mythic quality was meant to convey the ancientness of the time with which that tribe had lived in the Arabian Peninsula. Due to the highly mobile character of the various peoples living in the Peninsula, it appears that Jews were as basically indiginous to the area as the Arabs. According to their own legends the Arabs descened from Abraham and his son Ishmael. They were brothers to the Jews. This was the "archetypical" source of their later conflict. As the bible states:
"Those who bless you I will bless, those who curse you I will curse. All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you....Your issue shall be kings. I will establish my covenant between myself and you, and your descendants after you, generation after generation, a covenant to you and your descendants after you." (Genesis 12:3, 17:3)"
The various tribes of arabic speaking peoples living in the Peninsula were basically the same people, except in religion. The Beduin were still believers in a very personal and traditional religion of local spirits, while the folks in the towns and oasis were attracted to the teachings of Judaism. Some even believe that Mohammed started as a Jewish Proselyte. The peoples were always feuding with one another; "Hatfield and McCoy" style, often shifting alliances and eventually making peace one with another. But they didn't feud over religion. They feuded over land, power, trading rights, the usual economic stuff.
The Arabs were not united, and with the help of Geography had avoided being forcibly included in the great Empires around them. There had been great kingdoms in Arabia. One of the most famous was that of "Sheba" which embraced also lands across the Red Sea in what is now Somalia and Ethiopia. The Arabs were not that different from other East African and south Asian people. It was into this world that Mohammed was born.
Posted by cholte at August 10, 2004 12:17 AM