When the untimely death of Mohammad occurred, he was replaced as Caliph by Abu Bakr who was Mohammad’s father-in-law and his constant companion in later years. Abu Bakr died under unknown circumstances a few years later and was followed by Umar, then Uthman, and he was followed by Ali, Mohammad’s own son-in-law, who broke away from the main body of Muslims and around whom was formed the Shiite Muslim community. All three died at the hands of assassins, as did also Ali’s two sons Hassan and Husayn who followed in their father’s footsteps and became Caliphs in their own right. All of the above occurred during the first thirty years of the Islamic movement.

The rest of the civilized world was relatively peaceful at that time, most nations in an expanded Middle-Eastern region being otherwise in a state of recovery from tumultuous centuries of conflict between the rival Byzantine and Persian empires, and what better time to launch a successful invasion of surrounding nations. Thus was born the great Arabian and Moorish empire.

The wars up to that period of time, all appeared to have strong religious overtones as the rulers had found it appropriate to share the responsibilities of justice and governance with their own God, whose characteristics they created to suit their own purposes. Constantinople and Adarshir adopted the doctrines of Manichean and Zoroastrian, but they stopped short of the earlier pretenses of Caesar and Alexander the Great who self-proclaimed themselves as Gods.

These were religions of acts, the Gods and leaders of those days being apparently satisfied with overt expressions of devotion such as the worshipping of idols, the sacrificing of animals and humans, the burning of incense, prostration, genuflexion, bowing and other traditional acts of devotion. Then evolved the concept of religions of thought, and thus was born Christianity.

Mohammad prior to establishing himself as a spiritual and sectarian leader at the age of forty, had traveled to and resided in the western part of the Middle East, was aware of their religions, their history and their cultures, and was therefore able to identify and assemble the elements most likely to assure success in the great enterprise which he and his “companions” were meditating for the future. They would combine the time proven course of God assisted governing and related social behavior, and enhance it to its ultimate potential with a plethora of specific beliefs, deemed to have found their origin with a till then unknown God, whose language of expression was, providentially, the one used in that region at that time. Thus were born the foundations of Islam, the principle documents known as the Koran (The words of Allah) the Sunnah (the words of Mohammad), the Haddith (oral accounts) and the works of biographers and historians Sira, Bukhari, Muslim and Tabari.

Belief in the absolute validity of Islam scriptures requires unhindered faith, which is only possible in the minds of a totally committed devotee. Independent scholars when undertaking a study on the origin of the Islamic documents and the circumstances of their creation, cannot avoid realizing that there are elements in the transmission of this knowledge which make it almost impossible for a logical and objective mind to accept at face value, the accuracy or perhaps even the authenticity of the scriptures. Of course many poeple have a similar view of the Old Testament as well.

Islam believes that the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mohammad and recited to him while in seclusion, revelations that are claimed to be the exact words of God himself. These were dictated in the Arabic dialect used exclusively by the Quraish tribe of Mecca of that time.

Mohammad could barely read or write, and verbally repeated these revelations to “companions”, who were numerous, but most likely also marginally literate.

The revelations were written on whatever was convenient, specific mention being made in the scriptures to “papyrus, flat stones, palm leaves, shoulder blades and ribs of animals, pieces of leather and wooden boards.” Mohammad’s “Companions” undertook it appears to memorize these revelations word for word and little effort was made to assemble or organize them till 30 years after Mohammad’s death. The recounting of that period’s history as it is affirmed today, including the biography of Mohammad, was not undertaken till 200 years following Mohammad’s death. The extent of the claimed Koranic revelations can be estimated by the size of their translation into the English language, which approximates 150,000 words.

No less than 23 of the personalities incorporated in the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Bible, are recognized as prophets in their own rights in the Koran, the appropriate historical notes and anecdotes concerning each, being also present in the Koran, with minor variations. The similarities between the Tanakh, the Bible and the Koran are explained as having been issued of a common divine source, the Christian or Jewish texts being separate authentic divine revelations provided to their prophets as well.

We are told that each prophet, with the exception of Muhammad, was sent to convey God’s message to a specific group or communities. Muhammad’s message however is the only one specifically destined for the whole of mankind and it was God’s will that he would be the last prophet the world would ever know.

We are therefore compelled to believe that extensive and complex writings which were provided verbally in an obscure language and are the equivalent of a 150,000 word book, were committed to memory for 30 years by an unknown number of partly literate people before being scripted provisionally for posterity.

There are schools of thought that see Mohammad, as a successful Arab merchant and formidable speaker, who gathered many followers, referred to as “companions. Mohammad they say became a kind of persona about whom legends are created, and these were initially made real over time by more literate groups of future generations of writers and scribes, who had no personal knowledge as points of reference.

Mohammad’s biography and the history of his times were effectively written 200 years later in the Sira, and it tells us that Mohammad became an outstanding General, and that in fact his troops initially financed by its conquests, were successfully involved in 26 battles during a period of 7 years between years 623 and 630. Abu Bakr his constant companion and successor, continued this mission, and he and other successors were subsequently engaged in more than 55 battles on their way to conquering a large part of the “civilized” world.

As we study the history and precepts of Fundamental Islamic Clerics over the years,we are struck by the absence of processes that could lead to peaceful conversions of non-Muslims, but we do find an abundance of threats of death, and other forms of violence, when Allah is not promptly accepted as their God. The words of Tabari IX:69 “We fight people until they believe in Allah”, though one of the scripture’s shorter sentences reflects much of the overall philosophy of Islam.

There are indications that Mohammad was immersed in self-doubt. He is said to have destroyed many revelations, which in his view may have originated from the devil pretending to be the Angel Gabriel. He admonished his “companions” for noting his sayings, and it is thought that he ordered the burning of many early revelations.

A change of direction to Mohammad’s original intent may have occured when more militaristic “companions” took over the reins of the Muslim movement in the earliest stages perhaps even during Mohammad’s lifetime, and years later authored a complete rewriting and editing of the Koran, with the intent of redirecting Mohammad’s original purpose to a path of violence, and conquests, that being their own agenda. Thus were born the evils of Al Qaeda which have been kept alive for fourteen centuries by fundamentalist Clerics and their restrictive authoritarian heritage which has provided all the excuses needed to justify the killing of innocents.

It follows that the writings of Islam, were scripted after the death of Mohammad, and were therefore never read to him or approved by him, and they appear to be the work of generations of his followers, who subjectively and progressively over centuries wrote texts designed to fulfill their own agenda of world dominance, total control of their adherent’s lives, and the subservience of women. A reading of the Sharia section in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia is required reading for any curious mind not familiar with the extent of the control being exacted by fundamentalist Clerics, particularly as it concerns the physically weaker gender.

 

It is the prevailing purpose of the Islam originator’s legatees, today’s Fundamentalist Clerics, to maintain this status quo indefinitely by any means possible including deaths, violence and of course their main weapon, fear, fear of fanatic fundamentalists and fear of God. There can be no improvement to this world problem till the Muslin Moderates overcome their fear of their Fundamentalist brothers and find a way to clearly distance themselves from them in a tangible and visible manner, for the whole world to appreciate.

 

Allah, God, Jehovah, the one Creator by any name, surely does not wish to dismantle that which he has miraculously assembled, nor could he or the Prophet Mohammad, possibly approve of those who presume to destroy any of his human creations said to be in his image. If not under God’s authority, or Mohammad’s, for whose benefit are the current acts of violence and self-immolation being perpetrated?

 

Paul Forest
PolForest@aol.com