History of Islam from the point of view of a european (Two chapters)

ISLAM: FUNDAMENTAL RELIGIOUS IDEAS

«The Islamic religion is intimately linked to the country in which it originated. The Arabian peninsula, with its tropical climate, arid and inhospitable to a large extent, was the cradle of Islam, one of the most important religions in the world today. It was, in its western zone, adjacent to the Red Sea, located to the north of the mountainous region of Yemen, richer and seat of ancient cultures in decline at the time when the prophet of Islam lived. The divided area covers the north-western end of the Arabian peninsula, and had good oases and active cities, thanks to its privileged situation between Syria and the fabulous markets of India. The coming and going of the merchants, with the transfer of goods, took to this region … ideas of other countries and cultures that did not cease to influence the inhabitants of the urban centers-old Bedouins turned into sedentary for the most part- , While the tribes of nomadic shepherds were less conducive to contacts and innovations «(Cid and Riu).

These Bedouins, historical predecessors of Islam, were related to ancient beliefs of Semitic character. Thus, for example, «stones were the object of veneration». In this context, the initial cult of the Kaaba, or black stone, is still to be understood, and it continues to be worshiped in Mecca, one of the most important shrines for the Muslim community.

For its part, the god Allah (which simply means «God») was originally a protector god of tribal character, to which camels were sanctified:

«The faithful gathered in them, shaved their heads in penitence and participated in the ritual meal, eating from the flesh of the immolated animal. The processions and the turns around the sanctuary, the canticles and acclamations, constituted the supplement to these primitive ceremonies. There was no priestly class, though they were guardians in the sanctuaries, and soothsayers who foretold the future «(p.358).

In these lands inhabited the Bedouins, Jews and Christians. The Jews had their rabbis, synagogues and their own schools, although they were not recognized by the Bedouins as holy men, but as men and women of faith. The same was true of the Christians, who had spread through Syria and Persia, by the Bedouin encounters with Christian ascetics and hermits, and by the mercantile activities of Christianized Syrians. The Christians of that time did not recognize any nation.

As for the figure of the prophet of Islam, Mohammed, it is known that:

«At the age of thirty (601 AD) he experienced a spiritual crisis in which he received the Qur’an, after nocturnal visions in which» eternal wisdom sealed his eyes «(Quran, 44, 3).

«He is the lord of the East and the West; There is no God but him: Take him then, O Muhammad, for your patron. » This vision revealed a monotheistic belief, as well as a belief in reincarnation (which also appears in Judaism and Christianity). From this moment on, there is only one god and one belief for Muhammad: Islam.

Muhammad practiced preaching, but «collided with the indifference of his fellow citizens and very soon with the open opposition of the rich, who were disturbed by his message of social justice» (360).

A key date for Islam will be 622 AD, the date on which the Muslim calendar begins, and which marks the beginning of the emigration (Hégira) of Muhammad from Mecca to Yatrib, in order to convert the population to Islam . He had great success, but also suffered setbacks. However, as Cid and Riu point out

«Muhammad sought, at the moment, to temporize with the Jews, to arbitrate between the different rival tribes and to give unity to the Arab people, declaring the link of the Islamic faith superior to that of blood» (360).

Although this did not prevent some expeditions against the infidels: This was the case with the Jadeichites (624), with whom he had an arduous battle. This was the motive that brought Muhammad to the city of Medina, due to the thrust of the Bedouin of the desert and the Abyssinians. Finally, Muhammad reached a diplomatic agreement with these peoples, finally to die on June 8, 632 AD.

As for the ideas of Muhammad, and of Islam itself, they are included in the sacred book for Muslims: The Koran. According to Cid and Riu,

«The doctrine preached by Muhammad was collected in the Koran, the sacred book of Muslims, and in the Sunnah or Islamist tradition. The Prophet did not write any work, he had confined himself to preaching Islam, a new religion whose basic principle is full submission to the will of Allah, the one God. «

Likewise, «Islam was to triumph over the paganism of the Arabs, assimilating their traditions in part, and achieving rapid expansion by the West and the East.»

The Koran will be for Muslims, among many other things, «the moral, civil and penal code.» It also fixes the condition of the woman, prescribing her conduct. It regulates marriage (the Muslim is allowed to have four legitimate wives and the slaves he can support), adultery, repudiation, etc.

The set of regulations on the set of Muslim behaviors in the Koran is called Xahrah, which is the law of Muslims (Muslims are the believers of the Islamic religion) and expresses the will of Allah, which Is revealed. Other requirements mention the prohibition of wine and pork, games of chance, and others.

«In addition to the Koran, Sunni Islamists have tradition (Sunna) a second source of faith and law. Not always everyone agrees with its value, and its religious interpretation of the first century of the Hegira (7th-8th century AD).

The Sunna, on the other hand, sometimes finds itself against the Koranic precepts, reason why it is source of confrontation between those who accept its precepts and those that do not.

Yet, if anything all Muslims in the world have in common, it is the acceptance of the message of Muhammad, accepted as the one and only prophet of the law of God. Let us therefore dwell on his figure, since it is key to understanding the spread of the Muslim message throughout the world.

LIFE AND WORKS OF MAHOMA

«Muhammad was born in Makkah on the evening of Monday the 12th of the month Rabian al annal, of the year 51 before the Hegira, corresponding to AD 571. His father was Abdul-lah ibn Abdul Muttalib (tribe) of Quraich, the most distinguished of the region, members of which were in charge of guarding the temple of the Kaaba, the House of God (Bait-ul-lah) built By Abraham and his son Ismail, by order of the same God and that it housed the famous black stone.

At that time, Mecca was an important trading center on the Arabian route, from Asia, north, east and south, following the route of incense and myrrh «(Frade).

The family of Mohammed was famous in Mecca for being the only one who resisted the city in 570 (the year of the elephant), after the invasion of the Ethiopian army by an army of 40,000 men, and who were sent by a slave. It is said that God saved Mecca from being invaded by sending «a flock of birds carrying stones of clay cooked on their beaks, and that, when they were thrown against the soldiers, they produced a great pestilence, killing all.»

The infancy of the prophet of Islam is not well known, but it is known that Muhammad married when he was 25 years old with Khadijah, who at that time was forty, and with whom he had two children.

«The biographers also collect, as a premonitory sign, that shortly before God first descends upon him the first revelation, lightning destroyed the Kaaba and, after restructuring, the chiefs of the tribe determined that the true black stone would be placed in His site by the first person who happened to randomly in front of the house of the government. This was Muhammad, and a divine plan was seen in it «(Frade, 24).

In front of the cave of Hira, an angel appeared to Muhammad and said, «Read!» Muhammad replied that he could not read. Thus, «while Muhammad recites, the golden letters are kept in his heart. Impossible to forget them no more … When he has not yet walked more than a few steps, on the hill, he heard a voice from heaven, saying:

“Oh, Muhammad! You are the prophet of God. I am the angel Gabriel.

He lifted Muhammad’s eyes and saw the angel. Wherever he fixed his sight, no matter where, where, with the angle or direction, there was the same figure: Radiant, angelic. «

Then, Muhammad enters into ecstasy with the words transmitted to him by the angel. He is no longer a man: From now on he will be the prophet of God. For three years, Muhammad continued to receive revelations. Only his wife knew her secret, which was the first person (or rather the second person) to convert to the new religion.

Muhammad’s early preaching was not very successful. Frade tells us that, however, in spite of it

«Muhammad is still undeterred and begins to extend the circle of his preaching, and for this he summons all descendants of his common ancestor, Hachim (hence the name Hachekis given some descendants of the Prophet), among which are the Ab-del Muttalib. He does it in the house of Safa and the reaction of the listeners is violent and insulting against him, creating a hostile atmosphere whose main representative is Abu Sufim, head of the clan of the Umayyads. Despite this, the prophet is not discouraged and goes ahead in his work, decides to make public his beliefs and predictions, at the head of his community, choosing from among them the black slave Bilal ibn Rabah, symbolizing with it that the Islamic community understands To all humanity, without restriction of regions, nations, races or social classes. «

But Muhammad’s decision to make his beliefs public was also drawn to many enemies, so he was forced to hide.

After teaching him the gates of heaven (according to Ibn Ishaq’s «The Life of the Prophet»), Allah made Muhammad a new revelation: Every day 50 prayers were to be made. Moses, in heaven, so confirmed it. But the Lord of Muhammad said that there were five prayers a day, since each prayer was worth ten.

Shortly after suffering this revelation, and because of the hostilities perpetrated by the enemy of the prophet, Muhammad fled Mecca, since its leaders wanted to kill him. He stayed in the city of his grandfather, Iazarib. There he got all his inhabitants to follow him and to swear allegiance to Islam thanks to his preaching.

The march of Iazerib marks a new era for the Muslims: The Hégira, word derived from the Arabic «hiyera», that means emigration. This age also marks for Muslims the end of polytheism, and submission to the one God.

Muhammad was also found with the Jewish opposition, as they mocked his revelations and called him an impostor, for «they said that their beliefs were taken from the Old Testament, in an incorrect and falsified way.» These are the ones he will call «the hypocrites.»

Yusuf Ali, in one of his notes of the Koran, says the following:

«Islam puts the emphasis on social prayer to highlight our universal brotherhood and mutual cooperation.»

As Frade points out, «Arnold looks similar when he says,» It was really the beginning of the national life of Islam. He established the Kaaba in Mecca as a religious center for the entire Muslim people. «

It will be in Medina where mandatory prayers and rites are instituted for the first time, so it can be said that the first Muslim community was that of this city, «against the open opposition of the Jews» (Frade).

Meanwhile, Muhammad marches on Mecca with other faithful, «making the force of Islam grow everywhere and with it its strength.» Thus, when arriving at the valley of the city, already counts on 12000 men. Then, in the year 8 of the Hijrah (630 AD), he entered triumphantly, advising Muhammad not to use weapons.

When he arrived at the Kaaba, his guardian gave him the keys, and entering with his companions, he proceeded immediately to destroy the idols before the sad eyes of the idolaters, who saw their power destroyed.

At that time, the enemies of Islam were enshrined in the city of Taif («the city of sin»), which also fell shortly thereafter.

They then pronounce their prayer on the pilgrimage to the holy places of Islam: Mecca. The prophet then continued the pilgrimage, and taught the traditional practices (Sunna), according to Muslim and Abu Daud.

On his return to Medina, there was Mohammed to repel the Byzantine attacks of the emperor Heraclitus. This will be an arduous battle for the Eastern Mediterranean.

June 8, 632 AD His death is announced. When this happened, and due to internal tensions arising as a result of not having appointed a new leader for the community, Omar gets Abu Bakr to be designated caliph: The first caliph in history. But he can not avoid the schism of Islam.

Islamic countries in the 21st century

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Cid, C. y Riu, M: Historia de las religiones. Editorial Óptima. 2000.
• Frade, F: El Islam y su cuna. Fernando Frade. 1980.
• Gómez Motos. E-A: Historia del Islam desde el punto de vista de un europeo. Kindle Publishing. 2016. English version: History of Islam form the point of view of a e european.