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Page 2 of 5
The Koran
The rules of Islam can be found in the Koran which are the instructions
given to Mohammed when he was visited by Archangel Gabriel over a
period of about 20 years. The "recitations" (not in date order in the
Koran rather by order of length) are beautifully written by Mohammed's
disciples in flowing "musical" Arabic poetry which of course looses
much of its magic when translated. The above rules come from the Koran.
Here are a few more from both the original Koran and other collections
of his (or better God's ) instructions written down over the following
200 years (The Hadith collections). Examples of the most topical ones
we hear of today have been selected. The origin of each extract has
been shown.
The Hadith
The six most important contributors to the Hadith collection were:-
- Sahih Tirmidhi
- Sunan Nasa'I
- Sunan ibn Majah
- Sunan Abu Dawud
- Sahih Muslim
- Sahih Bukhari
It should also be noted that whereas the teachings of the Koran are
cast in stone that other texts may be updated by the top religious
leaders of the day. An Ayatollah would fall into this category. (The
best known Ayatollah of recent times perhaps would be Ayatollah
Khomeini of Iran, 1900-1990)
The Koran and the Hadith collections contain thousands of instructions
so that a Muslim does not have to look very far to see how to behave in
the majority of day to day situations.
Common social rules spelt
out in the Koran and the Hadith.
Religious wars, Jihad.
What is permissible in the name of Allah?
Mohammed lived during tough barbaric times and had to defend himself
and Islam against many aggressors (like rich Arabic merchants.)
Further, in Medina some of the Jews he was living along side, although
they had signed their allegiance to Mohammed, organised a rebellion
with the help of some local Arab tribes. Mohammed and his followers
although outnumbered defended themselves successfully and held the
offending Jews in captivity. Mohammed allowed the Jews to appoint their
own judge and being a Jew handed out the punishment prescribed in the
ancient Jewish texts:- (Torah/Bible Deuteronomy ch7 v 2) "When the Lord
our God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must
utterly destroy them and make no covenant with them and show them no
mercy." All the Jewish rebels were then assassinated as instructed by
the scriptures. (Then over 1000 years old). As was customary in those
days, the victor took the wife of the vanquished and marry her to make
sure she was looked after permanently. Hence the man could acquire a
number of wives. This also demonstrates that he, Mohammed, had
absolutely nothing against the Jewish race. A general guide to when a
military Jihad is permissible under Islamic law is when:-
- In the defence of
Islam, but not in aggression.
- To restore peace and
freedom of worship
- When lead by an
Islamic spiritual leader.
- Women, children, old
and sick people are not to be harmed
Many Islamic theologians would argue that a Jihad is actually an
internal battle with one's self to get rid of evil thoughts but: -
Note also quotations from the Koran.
- The response to a
wound is an equal
wound back. (Koran Surah 42;40) note this is similar to the Jewish view
from the Torah/Old Testament "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth."
- Fight in the cause
of Allah those who
fight you, but do not go beyond the limits. (Koran, Surah 2:190)
- If two sides quarrel
make peace between
them. But if this fails then fight against the one that transgresses
until he complies with the laws of God. (Koran, Surah 49:9)
Islamic Punishment
Punishment meted out in some Islamic states seems pretty harsh or even
barbaric particularly in places like Saudi Arabia and in Afghanistan
under the Taliban. Is this supported by the Islamic texts? Whatever the
views on this tough Islamic justice, the fact is that such
misdemeanours as stealing, drunkenness or adultery are almost unknown
in Saudi Arabia. So does the end justify the means?
- Stealing:
The
punishment for theft is
the removal of the offending hand at the wrist! The fact that there are
not many one handed people in Islamic countries only goes to show that
this is an effective deterrent. (If your hand causes you to sin, cut it
off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to
go to hell; Hadith Mark 9:43)
- Drunkenness.
The
Islamic faith forbids
the drinking of any alcoholic drink. The punishment in some Islamic
countries (viz. Saudi Arabia) is a public flogging. However Mohammed
did not comment on the private drinking of alcohol only a public
display of drunkenness. Koran.
- Adultery.
This is a
very serious offence
in Islamic law but must be witnessed by four people for the sin to be
proved. (Note for comparison; adultery, to be proven, needed to be
witnessed in Christian England 50 years ago.) The penalty in some
Islamic countries (viz. Saudi Arabia) is dealt with either by stoning
or beheading!
Islamic rules in Marriage
- Polygamy. A man can
have more than one
wife under Islamic law. (Marry as many women as may seem good for you,
two, three, four. But if you feel you may not be able to act justly,
then marry one woman only. (Koran Surah 4:129). This perhaps got a bit
excessive under the Ottomans when one Sultan had over 1400 wives.
- Arranged and forced
marriages. A forced
marriage is forbidden but an arranged marriage is customary.
(Mohammed's first wife Aisha asked him, "was it necessary to consult
the girl involved" "Yes she must be consulted" Hadith, Muslim)
Islamic dress code.
There is no dress code for men other than when they go to a mosque. On
the other hand, Muslim women must abide by strict rules when outside
their house. These rules are designed to protect women from lecherous
glances or worse from men. The custom has two origins. Mohammed's wives
took to wearing a veil (hijab) to cover the face to give them some
privacy in public as they had become so famous. The habit of women
living in separate parts of the house to men (Purdah) coupled with the
rule that they must be completely covered from head to toe (with the
chador or burqua) when in public does not originate from Islam but from
countries like India and Persia. In both countries it was seen as a
kind of snobbish way for females to dress. In India for the high Hindu
casts and for rich Persian Christians. (Mohammed said to his wife's
younger sister, "when a girl reaches puberty it is not proper that
anything other than her face and her hands should be visible in
public." Hadith Abu Dawud.)
Islamic Rules relating to
food.
As we have seen, Mohammed lived along side Jews for some years and the
rules on forbidden foods and food preparation are virtually exactly the
same for both religions. Pig meat, that is pork and bacon are
considered unclean and must not be eaten. This is based on the observed
revolting eating habits of the local pigs, who being allowed to run
around the village were seen to scavenge and even to eat human
excrement. Most other foods available everyday in western shops are
allowed but the animal slaughter houses must use the Halal (or Jewish
Kosher) method of letting the blood drain from the animal as soon as it
is killed. (Oh, believers, eat of the good things that we have provided
for you and be grateful to God if it is him who you worship. He has
only forbidden you meat of an animal that has died by itself, and
blood, and the flesh of pigs. Koran Surah 2:172)
THE SPREAD OF ISLAM FROM
ARABIA TO SPAIN IN THE WEST AND INDONESIA IN
THE EAST.
The beginnings of the huge Islamic empire about 1300 years ago which
peaked some 400 years ago
After Mohammed died in AD 632 his mantle was taken up by his cousin,
Caliph Alu Bakr who completed the conquering of the rest of the tribes
in the Arabian peninsular and also advanced westwards into Palestine.
(The word Caliph is the title given to the head of the Islamic
movement. The title remained until the fall of the Ottoman Empire in
1924 some one thousand three hundred years later.) Arabia at this time
was flanked by the Roman Byzantine Empire to the west and the Persian
(now Iranian) empire in the east. Both these mighty empires and leaders
in civilisation were crumbling. Within 100 years the Caliphs had
brought Islam as far as Pakistan in the East (then called Sind) and
were ruling the whole of Spain and all countries of the North African
coastline to Morocco in the west. The Caliph's armies entered France
and marched north as far as Tours (only 200 miles south of Paris) where
they were stopped by Charlemagne's Germanic Frankish predecessor. (This
is why Charlemagne was made head of the newly formed Holy Roman Empire
by the then very nervous Christian Pope).
It was said that the Arabs
lost interest in the battle as they all agreed that the climate was too
inclement.
At this time a movement westwards on the north side of the
Mediterranean was stopped by the down but not out Roman/Greek
Byzantines with their headquarters in Constantinople (the name was
changed to Istanbul some 700 years later when the Islamic forces
finally conquered this natural fortress town guarding the sea lane
between the Black and Mediterranean seas).
The Islamic armies, as
rulers, had much to commend them.
Their territories prospered.
The Islamic Renaissance and Reformation.
When the Caliphs conquered a new country they followed the teachings of
Mohammed and did not try and convert "men of the book" (that is Jews or
Christians who like Muslims were working to written works/scriptures).
This had a number of very beneficial effects.
- At the time the
Muslims were expanding
westward the Jews were using much the same route across North Africa.
This resulted in a continuing cultural interchange particularly in
Spain and elsewhere for 700 years and of course the Arabs could make
use of the Jewish honed financial skills.
- On the borders with
the Byzantine Empire
the Muslim Arabs learnt much from the Greek/Roman classical scholars to
the extent that Islam had both a Renaissance and a Reformation more
than 700 years before the Roman Catholic Church. Constantinople was the
centre of much historical culture and learning particularly in the
study of Greek Mythology and Philosophy.(This was totally absent from
Rome and the rest of Western Europe as the Vandals destroyed all
written works when they sacked Rome and the rest of the Roman Empire
around 400 AD). This is a huge theological study in itself. The Islamic
Arabs were very interested in this Greek mythology and many of the old
texts were translated from the original Greek to Arabic for study by
the Islamic theological leaders. (These old writings typified by the
logic developed by Aristotle as to the reason why there should be a God
influenced Islamic thinking for the next 1000 years. These same
writings which kick started the Christian Renaissance and Reformation
did not reappear in western Europe until 1460)
Problems of succession
and Theological development
The problems the Caliphs had over the next few hundred years were
threefold:-
- How do you appoint
the next ruler in a religiously dominated empire?
- What is the
relationship between the Religious and secular rulers?
- What steps are taken
to bring a theology
up to-date as new ideas come to light and who is responsible.
None of these problems have been solved satisfactorily, even today.
Sunni and Shia branches
of Islam and theological agonies
Arguments about who should be the next Caliph resulted in a split of
Islam into two branches, Sunni, a mainstream sect and an elite more
fundamentalist Shia group. With such a huge empire there were further
splits as various centres of power and learning grew up 1000s of miles
apart. As well as Mecca, there were soon power bases in Damascus
(Syria), Alexandria (Egypt), Cordoba (Spain) and Baghdad (Iraq). This
resulted in a weakening of the Empire held together mainly with a
common religion and helped by a common language.
Theological debates.
All religions go through periods of self examination and trauma. Islam
is no exception. Muslims as well as Jews and Eastern Orthodox
Christians and much later Western Christians all came to the conclusion
that a belief in God relies on either a revelation or a logical
analysis which proves the case. (This excludes fear, for example "if
you don't believe in God you will go to hell and eternal damnation")
Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed were lucky, they all had
revelations. Aristotle and later many others relied on logic. There is
a third which is common to all religions around the world and that is
Mythology. The Muslims learnt of Greek logic and mythology from the
Byzantines.
Following the death of Mohammed the Islamic world first
used logic to satisfy themselves of the existence of Allah and when
this did not work tried mythology. As with all religions, mystics claim
that if you want to meet with God, one way of doing it is to prepare
the body and the mind for such an experience. The best known
preparation is Yoga, but the poor Muslims tried everything from fasting
to dancing. (The Christians did not go through this self examining
agony until around 1650-1750 some time after the Reformation. The
western Christian belief in God up to that time had been very often
through fear and coercion.)
Exposure to the ancient Greek world encouraged Muslims to study
Astronomy, Maths and Medicine and they became world leaders in this
field until the western scientific Renaissance around 1650.
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