What a shame such an insightful piece of writing hasn't had a single review! Well, that's about to change! This piece is brilliant!
As a Muslim, it really opened my eyes to matters that I already thought I understood, but did not fully grasp. I feel like this is in a way the introduction to what could be a whole book. I love Barnaby's (umm...forget his surname now) book - "the roots of the shia/sunni schism" for its detailed historical analysis of the rise of Islam. This reminds me of that book in a way.
In the seventh century, nearly 1400 years ago, Muhammad, a respected businessman turned nomadic religious leader, started a new religion in Arabia.
I was tempted to right-off your work after reading this opening line, but I'm glad I read on. Was he really a respected business man? He was famous for being a shepherd, and then doing some trade for Khadijah (who later became his wife, may Allah's pece be on her). And, yes - he was very good at it. But, I think being an excellent employee for a businesswoman hardly equates to being a good businessman yourself.
Secondly, Muslims strongly disagree that Islam was a new religion started by Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Allah says in the Qur'an:
Or do you say that Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants were Jews or Christians?
Muhammad was on the religion of Abraham. Did Abraham worship a trinitarian god?
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the last prophet in a line of prophets that all called to the belief in One God.
His instructions were to teach his followers the proper ways to worship God, conduct prayer, and perform ablution, the often religious ritual act of washing or cleansing the body, or some part of it.
You've touched on the most fundamental aspect of worship - praying to God, but you've made too much of the abulution which is simply a condition for prayer. Yes, it is an excellent thing, but as you're limited by space, why not concisely summarise the most important teachings like: being good to parents, the orphans and the needy, giving in charity and dealing with people justly?
I really would love to discuss the rest of the essay with you, but I fear my review will be as long as the piece. Why and how did you research this? Some really excellent points have been made here, not least the closing argument:
To realize that Islam has spread through non-aggression, one has only to consider that Islam has spread rapidly on the East Coast of Africa and Indonesia, with ninety percent of its population practicing Islam, has the highest concentration of Muslims in the world, yet no Muslim army has ever set foot in either of these regions.
This really is an amazing point! I heard recently that no other religion is studied so deeply by non-followers as Islam is by non-Muslims. A great beauty of Islam is that people recognise that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a great person and leader, whether they choose to follow him, or not.
Keep up the great writing!
Regards,
Farhana
P.S. Please add references at the end. |
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I like the way you have contrasted the living with the non-living, like here:
Crisp and new, among remembrance’s brittle twigs -
"
