Term Paper on "Rise of Islam"

Term Paper 10 pages (3166 words) Sources: 8

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Islam

Rise of Islam: An Overview

Religion

Mohammed (570-632)

Conquest (632-732)

Reasons for Success

Opposition to Papacy (600-1054)

Doctrine/Women and Iran

The Rise of Islam

This paper provides a historical and philosophical review of the rise of Islam. Provided is an overview of the core beliefs of the Islamic faith, a history of the prophet Mohammed, his conquests and the opposition Muslims have had with the papacy, especially during the time between 600 and 1000 a.D. It was during this time that many Christian leaders attempted to unify their own disjointed faith, without much success. Part of Islam's success may be attributed to the fervent belief and ardor followers have for the Qu'ran, the sayings of the prophet of Mohammed and their beliefs about their purpose here on earth. While there were groups that rose up in opposition to Islam, largely the faith is one of the more unified religions existing in the world today.

Most believers accept common tenants, and the religious doctrine outlined by the prophet Mohammed. This has led to greater unity, and is one reason the rise of Islam took the entire world by storm. A review of these key concepts and arguments is provided below.

Religion

To understand the relevance and influence Mohammed has had on Islamic history, one must first understand the Muslim faith he presented to his followers. Bainbridge & Stark (1984) note the beginnings of the rise of Islam started in the 7th Century, when, during its formative years, there were few records if any taken of its history. Islam is in fact one of the worlds' oldest religions. Many core concepts or critical beliefs form the foundation for the Muslim faith. The first belief is that all Muslims must agree to the oneness of Allah or God, so that everyone understands their role on this earth. The next belief focuses on angels, with Muslims agreeing that angels are messengers of God.

The Muslim faith also focuses on the teachings of the Books of Allah, or the Holy Qu'ran. Other books important to the faith include the Taurah, Zaboor and Injeel. These books reflect many parts of the Old and New Testament. Muslims generally accept the existence of prophets. People believe they come to this earth to worship God and live a life that is virtuous and respectable, guided by the divine light. Further, the faith concentrates on the belief that life on this earth is one of "trial" where individuals have the opportunity to test their faith and allegiance to God. Anyone following the full doctrine of God will be rewarded in the afterlife, while those who do not follow God's doctrine are condemned to live eternally in Hell. Muslim's believe in destiny and in the divine decree or ability of God to plan life and execute life in the best way possible.

In more recent times, many Muslims have engaged in holy wars more to protect their rights to land and property than to fulfill their role as divine beings on earth. With time the concentration has shifted from an internal exploration of one's purpose to an external proclamation of what Muslim's believe is right and wrong. Within Arabic countries today there is much strife and disagreement about who is entitled to what. Muslims following the Prophet Mohammed however, have remained firm in their beliefs and actions.

Mohammed (570-632)

According to Islam, there are individuals one may consider "messengers" whose purpose is to help those with a burning aspiration for truth, purity and justice to realize the path to righteousness. Among these men was Mohammed, whose mission included teachers others in their journey. Recognized as "the" great Prophet, Mohammed was among the first individuals during the early seventh century to help infuse people with a new sense of faith and truth. This was especially important given the period Mohammed appeared, a time where many national, social and religious issues fell into a state of chaos, as individuals sought out something more than what Judaism and Christianity had to offer. Among the Christians practicing during this time, many were disjointed in their beliefs, practices and the rules or laws that governed their faith. This is perhaps one reason Mohammed was successful in inspiring others, in that he preached a solid doctrine, one that did not give rise to varying sects or disjointed rules and systems of practice. Muslim is for many, a "what you see is what you get" faith.

The emphasis started to change toward one that incorporated more personal worship into ones regard for God and the higher authorities. This means many people instead of reflecting internally on God focused their attention on God himself and his servants, including the angels in heaven. More and more people felt their destiny was not to get to heaven, but to serve God or Allah well so they could be richly rewarded by admission to heaven. This fine line of distinction is very important to understanding Mohammed's teachings.

Many consider Mohammed to be the great deliverer of nations following the Islamic faith. During the time of Mohammed's arrival, many in the Middle East viewed Mecca as "a city of considerable importance and note among the townships of Arabia, from associations and its position." It was here that Mohammed was born in the "era of the elephant" as many describe, the period around 570 a.C. Many living during the time felt Mohammed's birth came with many signs that he would become the next big prophet and deliverer of the people. The rise of Islam indeed began when Mohammed or "Muhammad" as many new he was born in Mecca. During his life, between the ages of forty on, Mohammed provided revelations to the people of Western and Central Arabia from Allah, which he claimed were delivered direct from the angel Gabriel. Mohammed recorded all of his revelations in text, into a collection or compilation of suras now known as the "Qur'an" or the "sacred book of Islam."

Mohammed lived his life in a way that set the precedent for how the faithful Muslim should act. His sayings and actions were recorded by multiple agents in Arabia and recorded in the Hadith, or as some refer to, the "Sunnah" which provides Muslims general direction, they should use to conduct their life.

There are two distinct segregations of the Muslim faith appearing during the time of Mohammed. This include the Sunni and the Shi'a, with both accepting the fundamental message provided by the prophet Mohammed. They differ in their question of who should rule the Muslim people, with the Suni believing the people should rule, and the Shi'a suggesting authority should lie on the president or appointed vice-regent of the land, a fellow named Ali, who was Mohammed's cousin.

Islam is relatively uniform in its doctrine as mentioned earlier, with splits resulting more from disagreement about who should control or regulate the people of Islam and practice. In later times, sets did emerge primarily from those following the Sunni faith.

Most Muslims believe the Prophet led a life as perfect as possible and that people should aspire to live their lives as he did, one that is righteous and filled with concern for God and God's community. Many today attempt to emulate that life to enjoy all the heavens have to offer. Even today Muslims engage in jihad or holy war in an attempt to restore what the Muslims believe is their holy lands. Still others believe their purpose is to ascertain their relationship with God and their role here on earth.

Conquest (632-732)

Despite the Prophet's immense following it is not to say his leadership did not fall to war and disagreement. There were countless individuals that opposed Mohammed throughout his career, causing him to flee at one point and become a migrant with the Medinese. Still, even here Mohammed received many unwelcome attacks. It was during the battle of Badr in 624 a.D. In fact, that Islamic history makes a turning point, when the Prophet decided to attack a Mecca caravan. There are recorded in history many cases of such small-scale attacks, in an attempt many believe to harass recalcitrant parties or the enemy. Mohammed claimed the Qu'ran provided permission to attack, granting permission to fight because those following the true faith had suffered wrongly, and those who follow the faith of the true God, those who "have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right" have the right to fight back, to fight in the "cause of God, and know that God hears and knows all things."

The period of the conquest was one of consistent fighting where Mohammed engaged in many raids in an attempt to establish his authority and the true faith and doctrine of the Qu'ran. During this time, many believed Muslims to be in a state of "moral crisis." Mohammed continued in his conquests however, attempting to defeat and successfully defeating many pilgrimages and raids against the Muslim people and their holy lands. Mohammed inspired his followers by… READ MORE

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