Muhammad (570 CE to 632 CE) was a prophet and leader who was divinely inspired to confirm and expound upon the monotheistic revelations of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the other prophets who spoke of the One Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.
Like many of the prophets, he would frequently retrace to the mountains and wilderness to pray.
When he was 40, in 610 CE, he was visited by the angel Gabriel in the cave at Hira, and he received his first revelation.
His basic message is the eternal Prophetic message that descends in a time of Chaos and corruption:
“God is One”.
He taught that submitting ones Self to the One is the right Way of Life.
After experiencing hostility and rejection from the polytheists Mecca, he migrated to Medina in 622, where he united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina. After sporadic battles with the tribes of Mecca, he marched on Mecca with 10,000 converts, was largely uncontested, and took the city. About 3 years later, he died.
While today many people around the world perceive the structures of Islam as oppressive and denigrating, many historians observe that for its age and time they were a positive revolution.
Similar to other (re)evolutions, the teachings:
1. Denounced aristocratic and nepotistic privilege. 2. Rejected unjust hierarchy 3. Adopted a stance of meritocracy 4. Promoted social security and safety nets 5. Improved the rights of women and children 6. Improved the rights of slaves 7. Initiated economic reforms to address the plight of the poor. 8. United society under the Oneness of God. 9. Promoted a universal spiritual law Sharia that all earthly authorities and rulers are subject to.
Like Jesus, Muhammad stated that his purpose was not to contradict, but to confirm and clarify what the other Prophets had previously spoken.
The believers in Islam say:
“Say: we believe in God and that which is revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him (the Lord) we have surrendered.”
Muhammad thought his disciples to use a greeting: “May peace be upon you.”
Between the followers of the tradition of Jesus, and the followers of the tradition of Muhammad, who both pointed back to the One the Jewish tradition pointed back to, are more that 55% of the world, some than 4.3 billion people.
In the scandals of history, the tragedy and co-opting of the legacy of Muhammad ranks right up there with the tragedy and co-opting of the life of Jesus.
It may be that what most people think of as Islam today is nothing like Muhammad intended, in the same way that what most people think of as Christianity today is nothing like Jesus intended.
I practice martial arts. What most people think of as martial arts today bears very little resemblance to what the founding teachers of each discipline intended.
A True understanding of the One that every Prophetic Voice points towards would reconcile and redeem All things.
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