The Difficulty with Islam

1.What are the basic theological principles of Islam?

“Islam means “submission to God’s will”. When Muhammad was visited by the Angel Gabriel who commanded him to proclaim his role as the prophet of the one and only Allah (Arabic word for “God”), Muhammad declared himself the final messenger in a history of religious revelation that had begun with Abraham. With little success in Mecca where he was born in 570, Muhammad abandoned his native city, with 70 Muslim (“those who submit”) families, and emigrated to Medina-a journey known as the hijra (emigration). He returned to Mecca, conquered it and destroyed the idols in the Kaaba (a sanctuary in Mecca that housed the previous god’s of the Arabic people) and kept the black stone (ancient meteorite) and assumed spiritual and political authority, forming a theocracy similar to the Hebrew Kings” (Fiero 46-47).

Like the Christian religion, Islam was a religion born as a military and a government, which conquered, destroyed and took political authority over Islamic lands. There is a mention in our text about the infidel (a non-believer is a person who is not a Muslim), whose destiny is to be sent to the burning fires. I believe there is mention about getting points for killing them as well. Militant Islam is a great threat to the peace of other lands, since, like Christianity, they are suppose to go out and spread their religion. Islam is particularly zealous about spreading their religion with the use of a militant element, which is a command of their religion. In my mind, any religion that actively tries to intrude on the rights of others, to manipulate and convince them to join their particular religion, even unto torture and killing, is not right nor is it healthy. It is not appropriate to invade other’s homes and lives with religious dogma that is not asked for. To assume that any Religion has a corner on the truth is incorrect and dangerous. Actually, none of them do.

Although Islam doesn’t have dogma, they do have their beliefs and are told to actively try to get others to convert to the point of a military action. And, when people do not want their brand of religion, they are seen as lost or infidels, doomed to end up in the fires of hell! In my relationship with Spirit, I can tell you that I do not believe that Spirit would operate this way. In fact, I do not think Spirit is in any of these religions. But for the hearts of the people who genuinely are seeing a connection with Spirit, they are empty. It is the heart that reaches to Spirit, not the contrivance within which the person happens to be seeking Spirit in. However, these contrivances of religious form hinder the free flow of Spirit to individuals trapped within them. No person has to make anyone believe as they do because we are all individually responsible for our own spirituality. It should be made illegal to invade other’s privacy about spiritual matters. If that were so, the Indians would not have jumped over the cliffs to their deaths out of sheer despair of their forced entrapment in the Christian religion. This could be true of Islam or any other religion that presupposes they have the truth and no one else does and they have to tell them what to believe about God and pretty much force it on them. It is just not OK with me.

“Islam was identical to the God of the Jews and Christians, offering deliverance. I was impressed with how similar the two religions are. The basic theological principles of Islam are found in the Five Pillars of Muslim religious practice: 1) The message of Muhammad to all people was, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” (Confession of faith) 2) Recitation of prayers five times daily, 3) Charitable contributions to the welfare of the Islamic community, 4) Fasting from dawn to sunset during the sacred month of Ramadan (during which Muhammad received his calling), and 5) The hajj (pilgrimage) to the holy city of Mecca and to the kaaba, making the ritual procession to circle it 7times, at least one time in the Muslim’s life” (Fiero 47)

Islam, unlike Christianity, has no dogma and liturgy. It is a very simple religion, concise and to the point. Anyone can practice Islam, but it takes a lot of work to practice Christianity because of the amount of dogma and details of liturgy. Whether it is complicated or not, a militant, governmental religion is unhealthy and leads to problems down the road. Spirituality has nothing to do with religion, government or the military. In fact it really has no connection to anything temporal except that all living things have spirits and that these spirits are here to learn through this medium to be more like Creator. This planet is "boot camp" for the spiritually growing! I am not sure why these religions are so appealing because once you figure out that they are contrivances of man for the purpose of some agenda or goal, you realize that what you are seeking isn’t in them. It’s in you! Any religion that is so confused as to claim to be a military/government/political authority over the people, isn’t offering spirituality. They are offering their brand of religious, political and military control over you, which you might better follow if you want to live.

2.What functions do the Quran and Hadith perform in Islam?

The function of the Quran (recitation) is to consolidate the beliefs and practices of Islam. “The Quran is the Holy Book of Islam, the Muslim guide to spiritual and secular life. It contains 114 chapters (suras) that reveal the nature of God and the inevitability of judgment and resurrection. The Quran is the supreme authority and fundamental source of the Muslim creed, rituals, ethics and laws and it gives guidelines for worship and specific moral and social injunctions for everyday conduct. It supports equality between men and women before God, but it also describes men as being a “degree higher than women.” Women were also required to veil their bodies from public view. The Quran calls all Muslims to undertake Jihad, aggressive religious struggle, “holy war”, and requires them to put everything into attaining spiritual and religious perfection, including militant defense and spread of Islam. Islam is both a religion and a government. The Quran is considered the eternal and absolute word of God. It is chanted and its contents are considered so holy that it is untranslatable. Written in Arabic, many non-Arabic-speaking Muslims learn the language. It is the foundation for all Islamic sciences, law and astronomy, as well as the primary text for the study of the Arabic language” (Fiero 47-48).

“The Hadith is a compilation of Muhammad’s sayings and deeds compiled after his death. Both the Hadith and the Quran together provide the all-embracing code of ethical conduct known as the sharia (“the path to follow”) Spiritual supervision continues to lie in the hands of prayer leaders (imams) and scholars trained in Muslim law (imullahs) whose duty it is to interpret the sharia” (Fiero 50).

Islam unified the tribal population of Arabia and spread to East Asia, Africa and the West in militant expansion into the Islamic Empire. It was very large and had a high membership among its populations that were conquered. At this point, one doesn't have to wonder why!

Fiero, Gloria K. The Humanistic Tradition Book Two. New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2006. (pg. 46-47, 50)