Segment 3-II brought us up to about 750 AD by which time the Muslim Empire extended over 4,000 miles east to west and included an area about 1.5 times the continental US. Considering that the primary mode of transportation was walking, it required 200 days for a person to travel from one end of the empire to the other. The empire encompassed hundreds of people groups each with their own existing cultures and languages. In that segment, I noted that Muslims have controlled most of that same territory ever since and I credited the Muslim’s tolerance of other monotheistic religions (for most of their history) as being a major factor for their success.
Most societies throughout human history have believed that a higher power (“God”) exists who in some ways holds them accountable, either as a society or as individuals. The degree to which the society believes pleasing God matters has varied greatly. More than most societies and certainly of large nations of people, Muslims from the start have believed that pleasing Allah was very important to their success and wellbeing. And the phenomenal expansion and success of their empire early on fortified this belief. In my opinion, it is this one firmly held belief in the importance of pleasing God/Allah that has united Muslims from so many disparate cultures for all these many centuries. A critical question becomes, how to know what God wants from a given society?
As I have thought about it, it seems to me that the Muslims have had a significant advantage over many other societies in this regard. The Quran is considered by them to be the actual words of God – not simply inspired. These words were given to a single man, Muhammed, over a period of about 23 years. Muhammed was illiterate so he did not write down the revelations he was given. When revealed to him, he memorized them and shared them with others, who also memorized them. Over time, many people around Mohammed who had initially been skeptical of his claims regarding the revelations, changed their perspective, believed that he had received direct words from the one Creator God of the Universe, and followed him. Perhaps the most famous was Mohammed’s father-in-law, Umar, who became the second Muslim leader after Muhammed’s death.
Some of the revelations were written down by others contemporaneously with Muhammed sharing them. Within 20 years of Muhammed’s death, around 650 AD, the third leader of the Muslims after him, Uthman, formed a committee that compiled and produced the version of the Quran that still is still used today. This one book is the primary source of what God wants from those humans who subscribe to Islam..
The Quran not only addresses spiritual and religious matters, it also has guidance on how to live one’s life and govern a society from a man who had lived a full life (died at age 62), had been a businessman, the head of a household with children and multiple wives, had been a military leader – eventually the commander in chief of a significant Arab kingdom – and of course, was also the undisputed spiritual leader leader of his society. So, he had multiple life experiences that his followers could relate to. Most of those who knew him best, his companions, attested that Muhammed was the real deal.
Contrast this to the mythological gods of ancient Greece and Rome. There was no single source and of course no single God. Such worshipers were easily converted to Islam.
Years ago, we “adopted” a brilliant LSU exchange student from the UAE – Abdullah. Abdullah and I had many long conversations about our respective faiths. When viewing our respective faith founders through his eyes, I could see why he preferred Mohammed over Jesus. Jesus died in his early 30’s, never had his own family, nor a business, nor was a military leader, and he never wrote anything down nor did any of his contemporaries write down his words as he spoke them. Jesus proposed turning one’s other check to his enemies. And the horrible death he died was supposedly to appease God/Allah. Abdullah could not accept that the magnificent merciful Allah would be so cruel to anyone, much less his only son. Abdullah found it much more logical and in line with human character to follow the advice of Muhammed than of Jesus. Needless to say, I did not convert Abdullah to Christianity and vice versa.
I am not trying to demean or discount Christianity or Judaism. My key point is that a substantial number of Muslims seem to take seriously the teachings of their faith, and act on them, and perhaps more so than do many people who claim to be Christians or Jews. Such adherence to their faith’s teachings has affected Muslims actions and interactions with other faiths and cultures. I think this may explain their success in retaining the loyalty of people whose ancestors were converted as much as 14 centuries ago.
I am by no means recommending that Christians opt for Islam. I am simply saying that Muslims have as much right to believe in and be proud of their faith as we do of ours. We of the Judeo-Christian faiths are not justified in looking down on Muslims for their religious beliefs.
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