[Partly edited Spring 2008 and Spring 2016 and Spring 2026 ]
ISLAM


A slogan one hears all the time these days is the phrase "make a difference."  Donate blood: make a difference.  Volunteer in the schools: make a difference.  Help out with an election: make a difference.  I get a bit tired of the phrase, but there's a reason we hear it so often.  We *want* to make a difference.  We want to feel that our lives have some importance.  And the truth of the matter is that most of us can and do make a difference.  But, generally, the influence we have is limited to our family, our friends, and our local communities.  It's unlikely that any of us will change the history of South Dakota as a whole, or the United States as a whole, and very unlikely any of us will change the the course of world history.  In fact, with all the billions of people who have ever lived on this earth, one would think it impossible for any one of them to truly change the course of history.

And yet occasionally it happens.  There are a handful of individuals who did in fact change the course of history: Abraham, Moses, Alexander the Great, Augustus Caesar, Jesus of Nazareth, and the man we talk about today, Muhammad. Muhammad would at first seem an insignificant historical figure, but he turned the Arabs into a force to be reckoned with and created one of the most compelling and attractive of religions, Islam.

I.  Life of Muhammad

Muhammad was born in AD 570 in Mecca in what is today Saudi Arabia.  Mecca was hardly the kind of community that one would expect would produce a world-changing individual.  It was relatively important in the local economy as a center for the caravan trade and as a site of religious pilgrimage, but it was not a major player in international affairs.  It was not a place like Rome or Babylon or Athens, the kind of places that most typically produce world leaders.  Further, Muhammad was orphaned at an early age, and his family wasn't among the elite types that usually produce world leaders.

At age 25, Muhammad married a woman named Khadijah.  Khadijah was 15 years older than Muhammad, but she was a wealthy woman, and this marriage had several advantages for Muhammad.  It enabled him to join at least the local elite, but, still, he was by no means even close to being among the "world changers."

But at age 40 something changed Muhammad's life--and, eventually, the course of the world.  Muhammad began hearing voices--and, at first, he was troubled, even borderline suicidal.  But the voice assured him that he wasn't going crazy or hearing a demon.  No.  Quite the reverse.  This was the angel Gabriel speaking.  Muhammad had been chosen by Allah to be his messenger!

Muhammad told Khadijah about the experience--and she believed him, becoming the first convert to Islam, but not the last.  Muhammad preached his message in Mecca and brought in some additional converts. 

But Muhammad was creating trouble in Mecca for people in the religion business.  By teaching that there was only one god, Muhammad was undercutting those who made money from those involved in the polytheistic worship ceremonies that had, up to this point, been the main focus of Meccan religious life.  Things got  so tense in Mecca, that, in AD 622 (Year 1 by the Moslem calendar), Muhammad's followers left Mecca for a town to the north, a town at the time called Yathrib but later called "Madinat al Nevi," the city of the prophet.  We shorten that to Medina.

In Medina, Muhammad and his followers found wider acceptance and they were even able to take control.  From their base at Medina, they began attacking Meccan caravans, and the Meccans responded by sending out forces against Muhammad.  After a number of skirmishes, the forces of Muhammad were eventually triumphant, and, in AD 630, Muhammad and his men were able to take over Mecca as well.  Two years later (AD 632), Muhammad dies.

Small potatoes seemingly.  A footnote to history.  None of the battles fought involved more than a few thousand soldiers or more than a couple of hundred casualties.  Control of Mecca and Medina wasn't a particularly logical start to controlling a large part of the world.  But shortly after Muhammad's death, his Arab followers began an expansion nearly unprecedented in history.  Within eighty years, the Muslims controlled an empire that extended west across north Africa all the way to Spain, dominated Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor, and continued east almost to the Indus.

How could this have happened?  Well, Muhammad had created a religion that united and inspired the Arab people.

II. Strengths of Islam

What were the strengths of this religion, and how did it transform the Arabs?

One strength of the religion is the Koran (Qur'an), the holy book of Islam.  The Qur'an is about the same length as the New Testament.  It's language is apparently beautiful and poetic, making it easy to memorize.  But more important than the beauty of the language: the teaching of the Qur'an.

Muslims themselves often summarize the Qur'ans teaching in accord with what are called the Five Pillars of Islam.

[See this online summary of the Five Pillars of Islam]

The Five Pillars include the following:

1.  Faith.  To be a Muslim, it was essential to profess a belief in certain things.  The basic faith is summarized in what is called the shahada: there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.  The simple statement of faith is certainly a strength of Isalm. Note that the is none of the complexity  that goes with the Christian creeds.  Say: He is Allah, the One! Allah, the eternally Besought of all! He begetteth not nor was begotten. And there is none comparable unto Him. (Surah 62:1-4).

2.  Prayer.  A Muslim is expected 5 times a day to join public prayer toward the city of Mecca.  Public prayer is a powerful way of using social pressure to strengthen religions belief.

3.  Fasting.  A Muslim is expected to fast from sun-up to sundown during the month of Ramadan.  Fasting can be a powerful tool in making people focus on their religious faith and to help them feel they are drawing closer to God.

4.  Alms.  A Muslim is expected to give a percentage of their income to the poor.  This is an important way of helping alleviate class tension in the Islamic world.

5.  Pilgrimage.  A Moslem is expected to make a special pilgrimage to Mecca.  This pilgimage, the Haj, is often a life-transforming even for Muslims.  In addition, it brings together Muslims from all over the world and tends to be a force to unite them.  Whatever else might separate Muslims, they worship together with other Muslims when they make their Haj.

6.  Holy War.  Yes, that's more than five pillars, but holy war, Jihad, is so important to the growth of Islam that it is almost a sixth pillar of the religion.  Muslim men are promised that, if they die fighting for their faith, they go straight to paradise where all sorts of delights await.  George Bush talked of Islam as a religion of peace.  This really isn't true.  Islam is a fighting man's religion par excellence, and fighting peoples again and again have found it an especially appropriate religion. Sura VIII of the Koran is an entire chapter/book dedicated to instruction on how to deal with the spoils of war.  And while Muslim soldiers are told they are not to fight primarily for booty, they are certainly entitled to enjoy what they acquire in the process of extending dominion of Allah. Here's some of what Muhammad had to say to fighting men:

"Fight in the path of God with those who fight with you;--but exceed not; verily God loveth not those who exceed.--And kill them wheresoever ye find them, and thrust them out from whence they thrust you out; for dissent is worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they fight you there, but if they fight you, then kill them: such is the reward of the infidels! But if they desist, then verily God is forgiving and merciful.--But fight them till there be no dissent, and the worship be only to God;--but, if they desist, then let there be no hostility save against transgressors."

"Fighting has been made obligatory upon you believers, though you dislike it. Perhaps you dislike something which is good for you..." (Surah 2:216).

Fighting against pagans continues until they submit or die.  But for people of the book, the choice is a bit different.  Christians and Jews are required only to submit and pay an extra tax.  But Muslims are still commanded to fight against them until they submit.


III.  Expansion of Islam--Rise of the Caliphate

Shortly after the death of Muhammad, Holy War began in earnest.  Muslims pushed into Syria and Iraq (633), Egypt (639), Persia (640) and eventually Spain (711).  How were the Muslims able to expand so rapidly?

1.  The Muslims were lucky enough to have a series of capable men at the top, "caliphs."  Caliph is short for a longer phrase that means "successor of the prophet of God."    The Caliphs were both the secular and spiritual leaders of Islam, and, in this case, the "one strong man at the top" thing worked pretty well--as long as the Muslims agreed on who that man should be.  Not surprisingly, agreement wasn't always easy, and, relatively early, the Muslims split over who the rightful Caliph was.  This is where the Sunni/Shiite division starts, with the Shiites believing that only the successors of Ali should have been recognized as Caliphs.  For the Shiites (like the current rulers of Iran), there's a bit of a change to the Shahada.  They add "Ali is the friend of God."

[The Sultans of the Ottoman Turkish empire claimed to acting as Caliphs.  After the fall of the Turkish empire, the Caliphate was abolished (c. 1924).  Groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and Isis want a restored Caliphate.  Supporters in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Nigeria regarded Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the rightful Caliph, and they say the same about his successors.  ISIS member adhere to the Sunni version of Islam, and they want submission for all other Muslims including the Shiites. The Shiites, meanwhile, believe that there is a "hidden Imam" who will one day come out of hiding to right all wrongs.]

2.  The Muslims were able to expand in large part because the two great powers of the eastern Mediterranean had exhausted one another in years of fighting.  The Persians and Byzantines fought each other for years, and these struggles left both so weakened that they had a hard time fending of the Muslims.

3.  Christian resistance was often half-hearted.  Iconoclasts and Monophysites preferred the rule of Muslims (who would at least tolerate them) to the rule of "orthodox" Christians that they regarded as heretics. Iconoclasts in particular preferred the "no images allowed" policy of the Muslims to the "idol- worshiping" orthodox.   Further, Christians were allowed by the Muslim rulers to keep their faith: no need to fight and die when one could remain a Christian if one wanted.   Eventually, however, many of the Christians converted to Islam because of social/economic pressure.  A Christian paid more in taxes than a Moslem, and many Christians eventually changed their faith just to lower their taxes.

4.  The Muslims had a great knack for adapting what they could from other cultures.  The Persian bureaucratic set up, for instance, was well designed for governing a large, diverse empire, and the Muslims found it useful to adopt that set up for their own purposes.

5.  Islam had the ability to absorb/assimilate new converts easily.  Even some of the early Caliphs had initially opposed Muhammad.  An enemy, once converted, became your friend and ally.

6.  Islam is exactly what *men* want in a religion.  It's a challenging religion, but not too much of a challenge.  It sets the bar exactly where we want it: not too high, not too low.  Examples:

A.  Revenge.  Where as Christians are told they must turn the other cheek, Muslims are permitted revenge if they want to take it, although showing mercy is to their credit:
And We prescribed for them therein: The life for the life, and the eye for the eye, and the nose for the nose, and the ear for the ear, and the tooth for the tooth, and for wounds retaliation. But whoso forgoeth it (in the way of charity) it shall be expiation for him. Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers. (Surah 5:45).
B.  Treatment of women.  Whereas Christian men are told to love their wives as Christ loved the church, Islam puts men clearly in charge:
Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excell the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High Exalted, Great. And if you fear a breach between them twain (the man and wife), appoint an arbiter from his folk and an arbiter from her folk. If they desire amendment Allah will make them of one mind. Lo! Allah is ever Knower, Aware. (Surah 4:34-35).
C.  Divorce.  Where as Judaism allows divorce but looks on it as a great negative and Christianity forbids divorce altogether (or, at least, allows it only very rarely). Islam allows a man to divorce his wife for any reason just by saying three times "I divorce you."

[I give more examples in class.  I compare/contrast how Islam and Christianity deal with giving, lust,  etc.]