Figure 1.--.

Non-Muslim scholars would say that Mohammed founded Islam. A HBC reader tells us that this is not how a Muslim would describe Mohammed. A Pakistani reader tells us, "Any learned reader will immediately know that this is a wrong fact and might question the credibility of your website. For, if Muhammad indeed founded Islam, then he has to be the "first muslim" as well? Right? If so, then how come Muslims consider Adam and Noah and Solomon and David and Moses and Jesus--as MUSLIMS--as part of their faith and as clearly mentioned in Holy Quran?" This may seem like a minor point, but we believe is important and leads to a larger discussion about the nature of Islam.

Foundation

Non-Muslim scholars would say that Mohammed founded Islam. A HBC reader tells us that this is not how a Muslim would describe Mohammed. A Pakistani reader tells us, "Any learned reader will immediately know that this is a wrong fact and might question the credibility of your website. For, if Muhammad indeed founded Islam, then he has to be the "first muslim" as well? Right? If so, then how come Muslims consider Adam and Noah and Solomon and David and Moses and Jesus--as MUSLIMS--as part of their faith and as clearly mentioned in Holy Quran?" Muslims indeed view Islam as existing from the creation. Thus it would be incorrect for a Muslim to say Mohammed founded Islam. As it would be incorrect to say that Mohammed wrote the Koran. Muslims believe that the holy texts were brought to Mohammed by the Angel Gabriel. Our Pakistani reader adds, "Yes I totally agree with you, learned or unlearned, some Muslims and most of non-Muslims (almost everyone) tend to see Muhammad as the founder of Islam whereas, in fact, Islam has existed since times immemorial."

Universiality

Part of the appeal of Islam is its universiality. Our Pakistani reader writes, "There is another logic behind the claim that Islam has existed since time immemorial. It is pertinent to point out that Islam is the only religion in the world which is not attributed to any person, tribe, or race; Christianity is attributed to Christ, Judaism to a tribe, Hinduism to a race and so on. It is for this reason that Muslims take strong objection to be called as Mohammedans. The word 'Mohammedan' is not mentioned anywhere in Holy Quran or in any of Islamic Literature since the birth of Muhammad 1400+ years ago but is unfortunately wrongly used in Western Literature by some ignorant non-muslim writers. Islam means 'entering into Peace by obeying the Will of Allah (the God)' and as such Islam becomes timeless. This cannot be claimed by Christianity as Christianity came into existence on the day the Christ (Jesus) was born. The question to ask here is: what about the people born and died BEFORE Jesus who never saw him or heard about him to proclaim his divinity as a part of their salvation? Does this not mean that their lives were spent in vain? This argument is almost valid for all the religions other than Islam as Islam was never founded by Muhammad but by God Himself and the first Muslim was the first Man ... Adam!"

Mohammed and the Arabs

We tend to agree with our Pakistani reader that there is string strain of unversiality in Islam and that it has veen less tainted by in particular racism then Western Christianity. However we also tend to disagree on the extento which Mohammed (an individual) and the Arabs (a tribe/national group) have influenced Islam. Now the extent to which Mohammed has influenced Islam does not need to be discussed. A Muslim believes that the Koran was divinrly inspired just a Christian believes the Bible was divinely inspired. HBC has a historical site believes that Mohammed wrote the Koran just as we think the Bible was written by indivual Jews and Christians. And we think differences can be seen in the thrust of Koranic verses based on when they were writtenm especially before and after Mohammeds military victories. This is simply a issue on which we will differ. The more interesting topic is we think the extent to which the Arabs has affected Islam. Is is true that Islam has expanded beyond the Arab world, but we believe that the religion has been strongly influenced by the Arabs. Many aspects of the Koran it seems to us are like the Old Testament written for a nomadic war like people. In the case of the Koran it was the Arab tribes which for centuries had carried out armed struggle with each other and the surroundin more sedentary, richer civilizations. One example here is Sharia Law. It seems like a legal system perhaps suited to 7th century nomadic Arab tribes than the complex modern urban world.

Limits of Universiality

We admire the universiality of Islam over time. Islam does seem to have tolerated racial and religious differences to a greater degree that was the case in the West. Of course this was not absolute. The history of Islam includes that of many intolerant rulers. We think that the claims to universiality can be overstated. Often not addressed, for example, is the role of Muslim Arabs in the African slave trade. In more recent time, how can the killings in Darfur be viewed other than attacks by Arab Muslims on non-Arab Muslims. And we suspect that many Pakistani workers in the Gulf States do not feel they have been fairly treated by Arab employers or that they have received inpartial treatment in the local courts.

Created: 9:29 PM 2/2/2007
Last updated: 9:29 PM 2/2/2007