Islam

Pages from the Koran, the foundational text of the Islamic ideology, dictated by a single 7th-century author who claimed to have been inspired by a supernatural being whom Muslims call 'Allah'. If the Constitution is the highest law of the United States, then the Koran is the highest law of Islam.

Islam (or Mohammedanism; archaic) is a major socio-political system based on the teachings of Muhammad (sometimes Mohammed), a seventh-century Arab. Muhammad claimed descent from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. Muhammad claimed to have received revelations from Allah, the entity which adherents of Islam claim to resemble the God of Judaism and Christianity, via the archangel Gabriel, which were written in the Koran – thus forming the core teachings of Islam. Many of Islam's traditions derive from moon-worshipping Pagan cults.

The Koran's singular authorship offers no corroborating evidence, as the four Gospels do for example, of testimony of independent eyewitness accounts to its claim of divine inspiration as the Mosaic Law requires, from which the Koran's author borrowed selectively.

Overview

The Muslim population of the world map according to the Pew Forum 2009 report.

The word "Islam" means "submission" or "surrender" in Arabic. Islam, as originally designed in the Koran, presents itself as an "Abrahamic faith" and has Moses in it, as well as Jesus as a prophet in Islam, and it specifically denies Jesus's divine nature.

The world’s Islamic population is expected to increase by about 35% in the next 20 years, rising from 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.2 billion by 2030, according to new population projections by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. In the United States, for example, the population projections show the number of Muslims more than doubling over the next two decades, rising from 2.6 million in 2010 to 6.2 million in 2030.

Islam has been criticized for some time because of its demanding of strict submissiveness (especially of women), its suppression and violations of human rights (also including those of women), and its predisposition to being violent toward those of true religious faiths and attacking those faiths deemed a threat to Islam. There have been over 23,000 terrorist attacks committed by adherents of Islam since the Islamic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A more recent strain of Islam has combined European totalitarianism and a virulent anti-Semitism. This version is called lesser jihad, Islamism, radical Islam, or militant Islam. Without the historic institution of the Caliph, this form degenerates into stateless terrorist activity that strikes at the heart of civilized man. Some who identify as Muslim have denounced the violent jihadism while others remain silent. Some Muslims and non-Muslims theorize that mainstream Islam has become corrupted over the years that there needs to be an Islamic Reformation similar to that of the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation movements were costly and bloody for well over a century.

Mecca, one of the holy cities of Islam.

There are small groups of largely Westernized Muslims who publicly reject Islamism. Such moderate Muslim conservatives are in the Republican Party, known as the Muslim Republicans. One of America's Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, who was a religious libertarian, declared: "freedom for the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mohammedan, the Hindu and infidel of every denomination."

Issues with Islam arose in the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that "Radical, violent Islamists pose a threat to Americans and others around the world." and that "they take a very different view of Islam than the Muslims I know." Romney said that when he lived in Detroit he knew Muslims, as Detroit has a large Muslim population, and says "They are peace-loving and America-loving individuals. I believe that very sincerely. I believe people of the Islamic faith do not have to subscribe to the idea of radical, violent jihadism. Former Republican presidential nominee candidate Ron Paul, a libertarian conservative, says that America should not fear Islam and said that America should just embrace people of all faiths. American conservative author Margaret Hoover believes that the Republican Party needs to recognize Muslim Republicans, noting an example of Muslim Republican youth Suhail Khan who she describes as "one of thousands of Muslim Americans who work to promote Christian-Muslim understanding". Candidates for the Republican nomination like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum strongly criticized Islamic extremism.

Multiculturalists ignore or minimize violence in the history of Islam and exaggerate Christian atrocities to advance a moral equivalence. Proponents of this view often cite the Great Crusades--an unsuccessful attempt by Western Christians to retake parts of the Byzantine Empire that had been conquered by Islamic armies--and various religious wars which were later fought in Europe between branches of Christianity. However, they brand critics of Islam "racists" (even though Islam is not a "race") and "Islamophobes" (a smear term invented for the purpose of censoring and silencing legitimate criticism of Islam) for exposing today's threats by jihadists.

A follower of Islam is called a "Muslim" (rarely "Moslem"), a term which means "one who submits (to Allah)." The older terms "Mohammedan" and "Muhammedan" ("follower of Muhammad"), have fallen out of use.

Because of its history of terrorism, mass murder and suicide attacks, Islam, and those who adhere to it, are sometimes generally perceived as having no regard toward human life.

Theology

Masjid al-Haram, the holiest site in Islam.

There are no clergy, but there are religious teachers, or Imams, who have their followings. All Muslims are supposed to follow the teachings of Muhammad, whom they believe to be Allah's last and greatest prophet (although Jesus, in Matthew 7:15-20, warned "Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will recognize them by their fruit", which serves to explicitly describe Muhammad and such like him). The teachings of Muhammad are transmitted through the Koran, the Hadith, and the Sunnah. The Sunnah is a general term for "the life and doings of the Prophet", which all Muslims are called on to replicate. Islam claims that the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad in a cave reciting verbatim a revelation from Allah. The first word that Gabriel says to Muhammad is "Iqra" or "Recite/Proclaim", which is found in the 96th Sura of the Koran.

Muslims believe that Allah revealed the Koran to Muhammad. The key miracle of Islam comes from the historical condition of the illiterate and uneducated Muhammad, as the Koran is composed in an erudite and complex form of Arabic prose and poetry. The Koran was not written down in a systematic fashion until a decade after Muhammad died, preferable transmission being through oral recitation. The Koran is claimed by Muslims to be the pure and holy word of Allah, uncreated and eternal. In Islamic belief, the term uncreated is very important, as it implies that there is no author for the Koran, only the delivering of the word to Muhammad who delivered it to the Sahab and the Salaf (The Companions and the Pure), who delivered it to the scribe delegated to record it in the reign of the Caliph Uthman bin Affan.

Islam teaches fundamental contradictions about the nature of Allah. Allah is said to be all-powerful, yet impotent to have a son (Surah 6:100-101). The idea of Allah having offspring is mocked, and this limitation of his power differentiates Allah from the Christian God. Allah is a very angry god who loves only those who swear allegiance to him, and hates non-believers. To serve Allah is to hate Allah's enemies with the same divine hatred that Allah hates non-believers (Surah 5:54). This stands in direct contrast to John 3:16.

In Islamic theology, Allah, the alleged maker of heaven and earth (Surah 6:100), is impotent to have a son (Surah 6:101). Human beings, with the ability to reproduce themselves, possess powers Allah is incapable of.

Divisions within Islam

Uthman was assassinated in 656 A.D. by soldiers who then installed Ali ibn Abu Talib, Muhammad's son-in-law, as Caliph. Ali's followers believed Muhammad had chosen Ali to be Muhammad's heir, and had disagreed with the selections of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman as Caliphs. Ali's claim to the position was challenged by Muawiyah, a kinsman of the murdered Uthman. Five years later, Ali was assassinated by Kharjites, dissidents who broke away from the main body of Islam because they rejected Ali's accepting arbitration to resolve his leadership dispute with Muawiyah. Ali's supporters, or the Shiah al-Ali (or Shiat Ali, partisans of Ali) believed that Ali was the true Caliph and was, in part, divinely inspired. Ali's sons, Hassan and Husayn followed as Shia Caliphs, Hassan dying in 669 or 670 A.D., possibly by poisoning, and Husayn slain by soldiers of his rival, the Sunni Caliph Yazid, in 680 A.D.

The Shia Islamic community has divided further as followers coalesced around several of Ali's descendants or successors, called Imams. The "twelvers," predominant in Iran, believe the twelfth Imam is in hiding and will reveal himself just before judgment day. Ismailis rejected the seventh Imam and practice a spirituality that seeks hidden meaning in scripture. Ismailis ruled much of North Africa as the Fatimid Dynasty of Egypt in the tenth through the twelfth centuries, and today are found primarily in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India. The Sunni majority reject the premise that men can be divine, including Muhammad, Ali, or Jesus, and did not accept any of the Imams who followed Ali. Sunnis remain more committed to traditions and less inclined to accept Shia mysticism. Today, about 15% of the world's Muslims are Shia and 85% are orthodox Sunni.

There are other factions within Islam. Sufis, a name possibly derived from the wool garments they wear, developed around mystical practices and trance-induced revelations. Sufis are found today in Turkey, Syria, and parts of Africa. One of the most famous modern followers of Sufism was American professional boxer Muhammad Ali in his later years. Other movements have taken reform tracks, such as the Unitarians of Saudi Arabia, also called Wahhabis after their 18th-century reformist founder Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab. The conservative Wahhabis are found today in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Today the Wahhabi line has a tendency to produce extremists, such as Osama Bin Laden. Some critics would argue that the Taliban of Afghanistan took conservative reform to an extreme. Other sects or break-away groups include, among others, the Alawis found in Syria and Turkey, the Druze in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel, the Ibadhis (Kharjites) in Oman and Africa, the Ahmadiya of Pakistan, and the Zaydis of Yemen.

Origins

Like Christianity and Judaism, Islam originated in the Middle East. Islam claims to trace its roots back to Abraham through his son Ishmael. Muslims do not believe that Muhammad was the founder of Islam, rather they claim that he restored the original faith of Abraham and the prophets that followed as recorded in the lost books of the Tawrat and Injil.

Based upon this belief, the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is claimed by adherents of Islam to have become corrupted through the translations and misinterpretations accumulated over several millennia. The criticism of the Torah centers around the reconstruction of the existing Biblical text required after the "Babylonian captivity". The criticism of the New Testament centers in the many disputed gnostic texts which contradict the orthodox biblical canon. Interestingly, Islamic jurisprudence accepts that the Injil was complete and whole up until the revelation of Muhammad. Therefore, there is some inconsistency in the claims made against the New Testament. For more information, see The Bible versus the Koran.

Muhammad spent many years attempting to unite disparate polytheistic Arab tribes in the power vacuum created by the fall of the Roman Empire through recitations of his epic poem, which borrowed heavily from Hebrew scriptures and dietary laws, meeting with only limited success. He was eventually driven out of Mecca by the powers that be for challenging state authority, an event known as the Hijra or "Flight from Mecca" which marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.

Eventually Muhammad was summoned back to Mecca by a faction of sympathizers, mainly tribal family members, as political chaos engulfed the city. Muhammad conquered the city after a prolonged siege with attacks on the civilian population and hundreds of beheadings to any who refused to accept his claims to a divine mission of carrying out the will of Allah. The doctrine of abrogation (nashk) in Islamic scholarship teaches that the later instructions of Mohammad supersede any earlier contradictory verses in the Koran. Hence was born political Islam, a doctrine of war, conquest, and vengeance, over any earlier utterances which teach Islam a religion of peace. Peace only exists in Islam insofar as all Islam's enemies are subjugated.

Terminology

Additional archaic terms for Muslims include, but are not limited to, "Hagarene" and "Saracen." The term Hagarene was more common in post-crusade Europe as it made specific reference to the Biblical mother of Ishmael. In Islam, Ishmael plays an analogous theological role to Isaac. Muslims do not use it today to avoid confusing worship of Muhammad with worship of Allah.

Islamic guidance

During his lifetime, Muhammad's companions learned and later transcribed the verses (surrahs) of the Koran as Muhammad spoke them. In Islam, the teachings of Mohammed were believed to be direct divine revelation from Allah.

The third Caliph, Uthman, collected and codified the various versions of the surrahs into one written Koran that became the standard Arabic text used by the world's Muslims today. The Koran is longer than the Bible and written in general order of longest chapters to shortest rather than in any order of when they were spoken, sometimes making the work appear to be confusing. In all there are 114 chapters. Most of the later recorded sayings of Mohammed, which were also more warlike, actually appear earlier in the text. Present-day Muslims look first to the Koran as a guide to life, then to the Sunnah, or the way of the Prophet (his life as an example for others) as recorded by his early companions, and then to the Hadith, a collection of the Prophet's sayings, comments, advice, and descriptions.

Frequently, Muslims disagreed over how to interpret certain passages in the Qur'an, the Sunnah, or the Hadith in their search for the ideal life and perfect path to heaven. From these interpretations Sunni Muslims developed four schools of law, or interpretations of law, named after their founders or early leaders: the Hanbali, considered the most strict school and predominant today in Saudi Arabia; Shafi, the school of widest acceptance, found in Egypt, parts of Palestine-Syria, south Arabia, and the Far East; Maliki, prevalent in North Africa, Sudan, and Nigeria; and Hanafi, considered the most moderate school, predominant in Ottoman Turkey and today found primarily on the Levant and Indian subcontinent. Frequently, Islamic countries have two separate legal systems, one for civil, criminal, or commercial law, and a second, and separate, system for religious law. Religious courts and their judges (qadis) might handle issues dealing with marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance, religious education, charitable or religious property (Waqf), or family matters. Among Middle Eastern countries, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen have Shariah courts serving alongside their secular courts or have adopted Shariah (Islamic law) as the basis of their legal systems.

Five pillars of Islam

• Shahadah (Profession of Faith) -The Shahadah is the Muslim profession of faith. 'ašhadu 'al-lā ilāha illā-llāhu wa 'ašhadu 'anna muħammadan rasūlu-llāh, a loose English translation reads "There is none worthy of worship except Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah" This testament can be seen as the foundation of all of the other tenets of Islam and swears off the divinity of Christ. For the Christian believer, the Shahada is essentially an oath renouncing the divinity of Christ, "But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven." (Matt 10:33).

• Salat (Ritual Prayer) -All Muslims are required to pray to Allah five times each day while facing Mecca. Praying six times a day is considered willful disobedience to Allah, per shariah law, an act punishable by death.

• Zakat (Charity) Zakat is often described as charitable giving. Able Muslims must donate to the poor based on the wealth one has accumulated. In current usage it is interpreted as 2.5% of net worth held for a full lunar year. However, funding violent jihad by wealthy Muslims has been ruled a form of zakat by Islamic scholars, a requirement to fulfill their Islamic duty under the five pillars. There exists the poor, unemployed, and unemployable jihadis, and the ignorant (jahiliyya) infidel masses in need if Islamic enlightening, hence funding terrorism is considered charitable work.

• Sawm (Fasting) All able-bodied Muslims (children, pregnant women, the elderly, and the ill are exempt) must not eat during the daylight hours of the entire month of Ramadan. According to Muslims, this purifies the body and soul. Although Muslims and their mainstream media surrogates refer to it as a "fast," this in no way aligns with traditional Christian and Judaic concepts of fasting, and indeed violates the basic concept. Torturing oneself in an outward display of piety is deemed hypocritcal by the monotheistic traditions of Christianity and Judaism. Some Islamic sects allow military, police and emergency services personnel to receive an exemption from fasting from an imam, on the grounds that their work supports the community or national good.

• Hajj (Pilgrimage) All able-bodied Muslims must make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives. Many without funds for a round trip never made it back, having been sold off in the slave auction market place at Taif.

Sharia

The Star and Crescent is a symbol of Islam. It is featured in the national flag of Algeria, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Mauritania, Pakistan, and Turkey, amongst others

Sharia is the body of Islamic law. The term means "way" or "path"; it is the legal framework within which public and some private aspects of life are regulated for those living in a legal system based on Islamic principles of jurisprudence. It is not actually part of the canonical Koran; that is to say, it is not believed to be the direct word of Allah by Muslims, but rather the interpretation of it.

Sharia deals with many aspects of day-to-day life, including politics, economics, banking, business law, contract law, sexuality, marriage, divorce, and social issues. Most Islamic scholars regard Sharia as the body of precedent and legal theory established during the early stages of the Islamic Empire, though a few scholars also believe contemporary legal cases can and should shape the law, though such thinkers may be subject to ridicule and even threats from Islamists and their liberal allies.

Sharia law proscribes often brutal punishments for acts, that, in the western world, are relatively minor. For example, under sharia law, turning away from Islam is punishable by death, while women found guilty of adultery is punishable by stoning to death, which often includes many rape victims, as Sharia courts often regard a rape victim as guilty of adultery unless she can provide four witnesses to the act of rape. In cases involving the death penalty of corporal punishment, methods of carrying out the punishment are often barbaric, and include public beheading, chopping off of the hand, and flogging. Many Islamic groups have been attempting to have Shariah courts set up in European countries, initially to rule over civil cases between Muslims in Europe.

The need by Islam's adherents to add to and retain followers in its ideology through Sharia, deceit, force and intimidation, particularly through threats of death against those who leave Islam or who levy legitimate criticism against it for its barbaric ways and history, would indicate that overall, Islam is a weak ideology that would not withstand criticism or exposure of the truth of its ways and history. To facilitate retaining its membership and to keep the truth about Islam under wraps, its adherents have formed convenient alliances with sympathetic liberals in politics, academia, the courts, the mainstream media and Hollywood to deceive the public about Islam and what it really is, as well as to censor and silence critics of Islam through ridicule, false accusations of "racism", "hate speech" and "Islamophobia" and the illegal use of the legal system to punish critics.

Ulemah

Sunni Islam does not have a priesthood or clerical hierarchy to conduct religious services or interpret scripture, but it does have prayer leaders, called Imams, and religious scholars, called Ulemah, who often are educated men familiar with the Koran and able to offer commentaries on Koranic verses. Sunni Muslims also respect the teachings and interpretations of scholars, judges, and academics who may interpret laws, write treatises on Sharia (religious law) or Hadith, and issue Fatwas, religious rulings or declarations intended to enlighten or guide Muslims. These religious scholars issue legal rulings on various questions in contemporary life, such as the use of toilet paper which Islamic law previously forbade, transgenderism, conjugal relations in marriage during the menstrual cycle or use of bug zappers.

Shia Islam has a hierarchy that resembles a priesthood. Mullahs are prayer leaders, but usually do not interpret religious law. Mujtahids are religious scholars who may interpret law or passages from the Koran or Hadith. The lower order of Mujtahids are called Hojjatolislam. Ayat Allah (literally sign of Allah, also Ayatollah) is a higher order of Mujtahid who may issue Fatwas, or religious edicts, in addition to leading Islamic schools, interpreting religious law and the Koran, and offering sermons or discourses on proper Islamic behavior.

Converts to Islam

People who convert to Islam from legitimate religions or from nontheism commit ideologically motivated crimes such as jihadist terrorism, hate speech, discrimination, anti-Semitism, anti-Christianity and fraud: A list of converts to Islam. As has been witnessed many times, people who convert to Islam become radicalized and divide the world into two groups: Muslims ("people who surrender to Allah") and non-Muslims (kafirs, i.e. people who think differently). Many people, especially men, who convert to Islam are also misogynists and pedophiles, since Islam allows and even celebrates misogyny and pedophilia.

Today

Some non-Muslims feel threatened by the unforgiving nature of the ideology of Islam.

Islam is the world's largest socio-political ideology, with over 1.6 billion followers, and is claimed to be the fastest-growing ideology in America. This rapid growth is mainly due to conversions, high birth rates, and convenient redefinitions of the term "Muslim". Conversions to Christianity (from any faith or lack thereof) outnumber those to Islam, but are keeping up with the birthrate discrepancy.

Islamic doctrine, including what is taught in North America, teaches that 1 John 4:9, "God is love", is a false doctrine. The doctrine of Al-Wala wal-Bara teaches true faith is measured in sharing Allah's hatred of the kufr, non-believers, or infidels. In other words, Islamic doctrine teaches that Allah hates his own creation, sinful man, which John 3:16 teaches, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son." Al-Wala wal-Bara, or divine hatred, is used to justify terrorist attacks. The believing Muslim feels he is carrying out Allah's will in killing Allah's enemies. Rather than the atoning blood of Jesus for sinful man, the murder of infidels and attacks on their societal institutions and national governments is aimed at blotting out evil in the world.

Even Orthodox Judaism teaches that Jehovah loves sinners. Psalm 138:8, for example, says, "The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands."

Indonesia has the largest Islamic population in the world.

Future of Islam in Europe and the desecularization of Europe

See also: Atheism vs. Islam and Secular Europe

In 2014, the Pew Research Forum indicated that Europe will go from 11% of the world's population to 7% of the world's population by 2050.

In April 2010, Eric Kaufmann indicated concerning the future of Islam in Europe:

“

I address this in some detail in the book, as well is in a recent article in the April issue of Prospect magazine here in Britain. The short answer is that I don’t foresee a Muslim-majority Europe in this century or in the next. Why? Mainly because Muslim birthrates are plunging both in Europe and the Muslim world. Already, Iran, Tunisia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and several other Muslim countries have replacement-level fertility or below. In the UK, Bangladeshi and Pakistani fertility has halved in a generation and is now under 3 children per woman. This means their long-term growth will begin to tail off. The other part of the equation is the rise of non-Muslim immigrant groups (African and West Indian Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and other Eastern faiths) who are also increasing and therefore making Europe more plural and, in the process, rendering it harder for Muslims to increase their share of the population. That said, Muslim membership retention and in-group marriage is exceptionally high (over 90 per cent) and they are a much younger population than the host society. So they are on course for steady growth. My colleagues and I expect their fertility to fall to host levels by 2030, but they will still make up 5-15 per cent of most West European countries by 2050 and 10-25 per cent by 2100. This is a major change from the 2-6 per cent levels of today

”

Due to the growing number of Muslims moving into secular Europe/Western World and the ideological differences between the atheist worldview and Islam, there has been growing tension between atheists/secularists and Muslims - particularly between militant atheists and militant Islam.

The New Atheists Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens have received multiple accusations of engaging in "Islamophobic" behavior. On the other hand, defenders of atheist criticisms of Islam/Muslims indicated that New Atheists should be able to criticize Islam without being accused of "Islamophobia".

For more information, please see:

• Atheism vs. Islam
• Atheism vs. Christianity

Growth of Islam in the United Kingdom

See also: Growth of Islam in the United Kingdom

According to the website Statista.com's article Islam in the UK - Statistics & Facts: "Like most major European countries, the United Kingdom has a significant Muslim population living within its borders. With the number of Muslims in Europe predicted to increase significantly in the near future, the UK's share of Muslims in the population could rise from 6.3 percent in 2016 to 17.2 percent by 2050."

Other aspects of Islam

Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem

Muhammad's home city of Mecca was the site of his earliest preaching and conversions, and is the location of the Kaaba, traditionally held to be the foundation stone of the first mosque built by Adam and later restored by Abraham, and now the focus of the annual pilgrimage (hajj). Some historians suggest that the Kaaba, a black stone probably meteoric in origin, was venerated by pre-Islamic polytheistic religions.

At first, Jerusalem was claimed by Islam to be its holy city and the focus of prayers, but Mecca became the center of Islam after Muhammad's return in 630. Medina, because of its early association with Muhammad and as the site of Muhammad's tomb, is second in importance to Mecca. Jerusalem is revered by Muslims as the site of Solomon's temple, Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son Ishmael, and the scene of Muhammad's miraculous midnight journey, the latter two now enshrined in the Dome of the Rock mosque. According to the Koran (Surrah 17:1, Isra) and Hadith, Muhammad and Gabriel were taken on winged mules from Mecca to Jerusalem, where they ascended through the seven heavens to the presence of Allah. During the visit, Muhammad learned, among other points, that Muslims were to pray five times each day and to honor Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and the other prophets.

People of the Book

Christians and Jews are called "people of the Book" in the Koran and are considered earlier forerunners to Islam and viewed as brothers as long as they pay an extra tax when under Islamic rule. Islam, which claims roots tracing back to Abraham through his son Ishmael instead of Isaac as the Jews did, believes that they are the descendants of Allah's promise. Islam claims that both the Old and New Testament were corrupted and corrected by the Koran (though in truth, it is the Koran itself which plagiarized from and corrupted Biblical scripture), but there is still an earlier link claimed between the two religions and Islam. The view of Jews and Christians varied within different parts of the Koran and Islamic history. Much of current Islamic culture, even in places that were once very tolerant such as Egypt, has seen an upsurge in persecution and violence against Christians and Jews.

Jihad

Jihad is the "struggle" each Muslim is called to against unbelievers (infidels). Participation in jihad in Allah's cause was the third most important good deed listed in the Hadith, after prayer and honoring one's parents. Jihad was a rallying cry for the military spread of Islam in the seventh through tenth centuries against non-Muslims, and is the same reason for Islamic terrorism and war today.
Some Muslim apologists in the western world say that jihad refers to the difficulties a Muslim faces in the everyday trials of life, such as the effort to get better grades in school, or the striving to achieve better results from a job, or the struggle to avoid sinful temptations. It is, they say, the internal struggle of good and evil, or the pure and the impure. However, this is simply a fabrication, which has been publicly labeled as such by Muslim scholars in the middle east. Nonetheless, even some mosques not teach this, fostering a more peaceful version of Islam. Unfortunately, it is not based on the Koran and the Hadith, but rather modern revisions. Any Muslim believing this peaceful version can be corrected based on these sacred books, and thus become "radicalized."

Violent passages of the Koran championed by Islam

In its passages, the Koran has advocated adherents of Islam to commit acts of violence, hatred and insurrection against those who do not follow that ideology (in particular, Jews and Christians) or are critical of it, to subjugate Judaism, Christianity and other religions to Islam and to force the followers of legitimate religions to submit and adhere to Islam. Not surprisingly, attempts at pointing out the violence advocated by the Koran have been met with denials and excuses by Islamic apologists, who engage in taqiyya by claiming that the critics of the violent passages took those passages "out of context" and that "critics only quote the part which (suits) them" while the apologists do exactly what they accuse the critics of doing. Among the more violent and hateful passages of the Koran are these:

• Koran 2:191 - “Slay the unbelievers wherever you find them.”
• Koran 9:123 - “Make war on the infidels living in your neighborhood.”
• Koran 9:5 - “When opportunity arises kill the infidels wherever you catch them.”
• Koran 3:85 - “Any religion other than Islam is not acceptable.”
• Koran 9:30 - “The Jews and the Christians are perverts; fight them.”
• Koran 5:33 - “Maim and crucify the infidels if they criticize Islam”
• Koran 9:28 - “The infidels are unclean; do not let them into a mosque.”
• Koran 22:19 - “Punish the unbelievers with garments of fire, hooked iron rods, boiling water; melt their skin and bellies.”
• Koran 47:4 - “Do not hanker for peace with the infidels; behead them when you catch them.”
• Koran 8:65 - “The unbelievers are stupid; urge the Muslims to fight them.”
• Koran 3:28 - “Muslims must not take the infidels as friends.”
• Koran 8:12 - “Terrorize and behead those who disbelieve (in Allah).”
• Koran 8:60 - “Muslims must muster all weapons to terrorize the infidels.”

Osama bin Laden and fundamentalists

Osama bin Laden, a follower of Wahhabism, stated that Islam is at war with the United States and its allies. Some observers claim that the number of Islamic fundamentalists is growing and poses a threat to the West. But other observers differentiate between conservative "fundamentalists" and the "extremists" who follow murderers such as bin Laden or other terrorists. In several major Islamic nations, bin Laden had the support of the majority of people in the early years after the 9/11 attacks. As he lost battles with the West and started to target fellow Muslims his popularity waned.

Islam and forced conversion

The Quran and the various Hadiths teach Muslims to fight Non-Muslims until they are killed, converted, or in a permanent state of subjugation.

• Quran (8:38-39) - “Say to those who have disbelieved, if they cease (from disbelief) their past will be forgiven... And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone [in the whole of the world ]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allah), then certainly, Allah is All-Seer of what they do.”

• Quran (9:29) - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."

• Quran (9:5) "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them..."

• Quran (9:11) - (Continued from verse 9:5) "But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then are they your brethren in religion"

• Quran (9:56-57) - "And they swear by Allah that they are most surely of you, and they are not of you, but they are a people who are afraid (of you). If they could find a refuge or cave or a place to enter into, they would certainly have turned thereto, running away in all haste."

• Quran (2:193) - "And fight them until fitna is no more, and religion be only for Allah. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrong-doers."

• Qur'an (3:83) - "Are they seeking a religion other than Allah's, when every soul in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or by compulsion?"

• Sahih Muslim (1:33) The Messenger of Allah said: "I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer and pay zakat."

• Sahih Muslim (19:4294) - "When you meet your enemies who are polytheists (which includes Christians), invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them ... If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them"

• Sahih Bukhari (84:59) - "Allah's Apostle said, 'I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.' And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally and their reckoning will be with Allah.'"

• Sahih Bukhari (53:392) - "While we were in the Mosque, the Prophet came out and said, "Let us go to the Jews" We went out till we reached Bait-ul-Midras. He said to them, "If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and I want to expel you from this land. So, if anyone amongst you owns some property, he is permitted to sell it, otherwise you should know that the Earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle."

• Sahih Bukhari (2:24) - "Allah's Apostle said: "I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform a that, then they save their lives and property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah."

• Sahih Bukhari (60:80) - "The Verse:--'You (true Muslims) are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind.' means, the best of peoples for the people, as you bring them with chains on their necks till they embrace Islam."

• Sahih Bukhari (60:40) - "...:And fight them till there is no more affliction (i.e. no more worshiping of others along with Allah)."

• Sahih Bukhari (59:643) - "Testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, or else I will chop off your neck!"

• Ibn Kathir v.4 p.133, Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 959 - "Then the apostle sent Khalid bin Walid… to the Banu al-Harith and ordered him to invite them to Islam three days before he attacked them. If they accepted then he was to accept it from them, and if they declined he was to fight them. So Khalid set out and came to them, and sent out riders in all directions inviting the people to Islam, saying, 'If you accept Islam you will be safe.' So the men accepted Islam as they were invited."

• Ibn Kathir (Commenting on Quran 2:256 in the unabridged version of his tafsir) - "Therefore all people of the world should be called to Islam. If anyone of them refuses to do so, or refuses to pay the jizya, they should be fought till they are killed."

Islam and slavery

• Quran (33:50) - "O Prophet! We have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; and those (slaves) whom thy right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has assigned to thee"

• Quran (23:5-6) - "..who abstain from sex, except with those joined to them in the marriage bond, or (the captives) whom their right hands possess..."

• Quran (4:24) - "And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess."

• Quran (8:69) - "But (now) enjoy what ye took in war, lawful and good"

• Quran (24:32) - "And marry those among you who are single and those who are fit among your male slaves and your female slaves..."

• Quran (2:178) - "O ye who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the murdered; the freeman for the freeman, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female."

• Quran (16:75) - "Allah sets forth the Parable (of two men: one) a slave under the dominion of another; He has no power of any sort; and (the other) a man on whom We have bestowed goodly favours from Ourselves, and he spends thereof (freely), privately and publicly: are the two equal? (By no means;) praise be to Allah."

• Sahih Bukhari (41.598) - Muhammad establishes that slaves are property. They cannot be freed if an owner has outstanding debt, but they can be used to pay off the debt

• Sahih Bukhari (62:137) - Gives an account of women taken as slaves in battle by Mohammed's men after their husbands and fathers were killed. The women were raped with Mohammed's approval.

• Sahih Bukhari (34:432) - Another account of women taken captive and raped with Mohammed's approval. In this case it is evident that the Muslims intend on selling the women after raping them because they are concerned about devaluing their price by impregnating them. Muhammad is asked about coitus interruptus.

• Sahih Bukhari (47:765) - A woman is rebuked by Mohammed for freeing a slave girl. The prophet tells her that she would have gotten a greater heavenly reward by giving her to a relative (as a slave).

• Sahih Bukhari (2:15:103) - "I was watching the display of black slaves in the mosque..."

• Sahih Bukhari (59:637) - "The Prophet sent Ali to Khalid to bring the Khumus (of the booty) and I hated Ali, and Ali had taken a bath (after a sexual act with a slave-girl from the Khumus). I said to Khalid, 'Don't you see this (i.e. Ali)?' When we reached the Prophet I mentioned that to him. He said, 'O Buraida! Do you hate Ali?' I said, 'Yes.' He said, 'Do you hate him, for he deserves more than that from the Khumlus.'"

• Abu Dawud (2150) - "The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) sent a military expedition to Awtas on the occasion of the battle of Hunain. They met their enemy and fought with them. They defeated them and took them captives. Some of the Companions of the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) were reluctant to have intercourse with the female captives in the presence of their husbands who were unbelievers. So Allah, the Exalted, sent down the Qur’anic verse: (Quran 4:24) 'And all married women (are forbidden) unto you save those (captives) whom your right hands possess.'"

• Abu Dawud (1814) - "...[Abu Bakr] He then began to beat [his slave] him while the Apostle of Allah (pbuh) was smiling and saying: Look at this man who is in the sacred state (putting on ihram), what is he doing?"

• Abu Dawud (38:4458) - Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib: “A slave-girl belonging to the house of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) committed fornication. He (the Prophet) said: Rush up, Ali, and inflict the prescribed punishment on her. I then hurried up, and saw that blood was flowing from her, and did not stop. So I came to him and he said: Have you finished inflicting (punishment on her)? I said: I went to her while her blood was flowing. He said: Leave her alone till her bleeding stops; then inflict the prescribed punishment on her. And inflict the prescribed punishment on those whom your right hands possess (i.e. slaves)”.

• Abu Dawud (1:142) - "Do not beat your wife as you beat your slave-girl"

Stealing from non-Muslims

The Koran and the various Hadiths encourage Muslims to steal from non-Muslims.

• Koran (8:69) - "So enjoy what you took as booty; the spoils are lawful and good."

• Koran (48:20) - "Allah promised you many acquisitions which you will take, then he hastened on this one for you and held back the hands of men from you, and that it may be a sign for the believers and that he may guide you on a right path."

• Koran (33:27) - "And he caused you to inherit their land and their houses and their wealth, and land ye have not trodden. Allah is ever able to do all things."

• Sahih Bukhari (53:351) - " Allah's Messenger said, "Booty has been made legal for me."

• Ibn Ishaq (327) - "Allah made booty lawful and good. He used it to incite the Muslims to unity of purpose. So enjoy what you have captured."

• Ibn Ishaq (503) - "Allah saw what was in their hearts [what they coveted] so he rewarded them with victory and with as much spoil as they could take. Allah promised that they would soon capture a great deal of booty.”

• Sahih Bukhari (44:668) - "We were in the company of the Prophet at Dhul-Hulaifa. The people felt hungry and captured some camels and sheep (as booty)..."

• Ahmad 4869 (also found in the original Hadith of Bukhari and Sahih al Jaami' AsSagheer 2828) - It is mentioned from Ibn ‘Umar from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “I have been raised between the hands of the Hour with the sword, until Allah the Exalted is worshipped alone with no associates. He has provided sustenance from beneath the shadow of spears and has decreed humiliation and belittlement for those who oppose my order.”

Contamination of food given to non-Muslims

There have been incidents where Muslims contaminate food given to Non-Muslims:

• In 2008, in the U.K, Saeed Hashmi and Jan Yadgari, the owners of a restaurant, sold chocolate cake sprayed with human feces.

• In 2015, a Pakistani Muslim owned restaurant in Britain by the name of "Khyber Pass Kebab" was found by health inspectors to be mixing feces in food given to customers.

• In July 2019, the local branch of ISIS in India planned to poison prasadam at a Hindu temple, to kill over 400 Hindu devotees. The suspects were arrested before they could do this.

• In August 2019, a Muslim vendor in the city of Meerut in India was caught mixing his Urine and Sperm in Biryani that he sold to Hindus.

• On April 3, 2020, a Muslim fruit vendor in India was caught licking fruits before selling them.

• On May 8, 2020, a Muslim man by the name of Abdul Nazim Sheikh Mahmood was caught on video licking bread while cutting it. The incident occurred in Maharashtra, India.

• On February 21, 2021, a Muslim man by the name of Sohail was caught on video spitting on Rotis while cooking for a wedding in the city of Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, India.

• On March 19, 2021, two Muslim men by the names of Sabi Anwar and Ibrahim were caught on camera spitting on Rotis that they were preparing.

• In September 2021, a Muslim owned company by the name of "iD Fresh Food" was found to be adding Cow Bones and Calf Rennet in Idli and Dosa Batter.

• In October 2021, a Muslim by the name of Tamizuddin was caught on camera spitting on rotis while working at a Dhaba in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Restrictions

Observant Muslims are not supposed to eat pork and in general do not have dogs as pets; both swine and canines are considered unclean. Muslims can have dogs for safety. Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcoholic beverages, gambling, and from collecting interest on financial transactions.

Women in Islam

Muslim girls at Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta.

In pre-Islamic times women's rights were defined by tribal laws which differed among the tribes. Some women had absolute equity and the ability to hold power, while some women were treated worse than chattel; bride prices, unlimited polygamy, and female infanticide were a common theme. Islamic law offered a path for which Muslim men could regulate women in a legal system based on Muslim principles of jurisprudence on the Arabian peninsula. Treated merely as individual sex objects, women were granted very limited rights but as distinct legal individuals; forced to marry who their parents tell them to, women are required not to directly object in order for the marriage contract to have some form of validity.

Unlike the pre-Islamic times where unlimited polygamy occurred, Sharia law limits polygamy to a maximum of four wives at any one time, though the use of "temporary" marriage in effect rendered this restriction meaningless. Once married, only men are entitled to divorce any time they please. The reality of traditional Sharia law as applied in the modern era has shocked the modern conscience. These restrictions on women were put into place over a thousand years ago, and there has been little progress since. Women are still not allowed to drive a car, they cannot ride bicycles, are unable to vote, have been prohibited from traveling abroad without permission, and they can't use public facilities when men are present.

Muslim woman tortured under Sharia law.

Women in Islam are treated as inferiors to men in almost every regard and women's rights are all but non-existent in Islam, a fact conveniently ignored by the ideology's liberal allies (including in feminism and the mainstream media). In Sharia, the testimony of one man equals that of five women. Women are required to cover the head and body in public, by wearing the hijab. Hijab is applied in different ways: a small scarf around the head and western street clothes may be acceptable in Cairo or Damascus but a full length opaque burqa was enforced in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. As of 2008, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan are the most significant Middle Eastern countries where the government requires women to wear some form of restrictive garb, though cultural pressure in most Islamic countries offers women little choice but to submit to the dictat of hijab. Women who are claimed by their husbands or family to have disgraced their family are put to death in "honor killings"; buried halfway or sometimes up to their neck so they cannot run, women, who are in most cases victims, are stoned to death.

Honor killings

Another violent practice continued in Islamic countries is honor killing, in which a brother, father, or uncle "restores" or "defends" a family's honor by killing the sister, daughter, or niece that "dishonored" the family through supposedly "promiscuous" behavior. This "promiscuous" activity often includes women from Islamic societies living in the West aspiring to a more open lifestyle. The "honor killing" is more ancient, and pagan in origin, but tolerated and practiced more or less openly in some Islamic societies.

Some apologists might try to excuse or justify this practice by putting down this verse:

'Because of that, We decreed...that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.' -5:32. [6].

Notice the ellipses between decreed and that? I hope you did, and if you followed the link you would know that this was decreed to the Children of Israel, who would be the Jews. Now, how could this be a defense against honor killing in Islamic countries if this wasn't even given to Muslims? The answer lies in the very next verse:

'Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment, Except for those who return [repenting] before you apprehend them. And know that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.' (5:33-34) [7] [8]

So what we get from that, unlike the Jews where it is a blessing not to commit murder, for Muslims, it is a deed for Allah to murder those who have "caused corruption". Among these that "cause corruption" could be one's daughter, sister, or wife who is not wearing the headscarf, praying five times a day, not fasting in Ramadan, becoming too Westernized, etc., and thus honor killing would be "justified" in their view. Of course if you look at the next verse, it says that you should be merciful to those who have repented -before you apprehend them. This implies that they will be terrorized, and then there self-preservation instinct will kick in and they will repent. But what about those who don't? What if one's female relative doesn't believe that the headscarf is necessary while you do? And what if she still believes the same way after you apprehend her? You follow 5:33. As Muhammed himself proclaimed:

I have been made victorious with terror.' -Bukhari 4.52.220 [9].

Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation (also known as "female circumcision") is mentioned in Hadith as an "honorable" condition for a woman, and act to carry out. It is a pre-Islamic tradition in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab world, though not in Coptic Egypt as some Islamic apologists claim. Female genital mutilation is not called for nor is it supported by the Koran.

Abortion

Muslims see abortion as haram (forbidden), but accept it if the life of mother is at risk.

Islamic dress is regular grounds for conflict in multicultural education

Treatment of women varies widely by country. In the Islamic state of Saudi Arabia women are forbidden from driving a car, traveling in public without their husband or a male family member as an escort, leaving their home without wearing Islamic dress, working or voting. Though not formally forbidden from owning property, they have no way of obtaining this as work is forbidden and only males are permitted to inherit – should a man die, his brothers, sons, and father will all inherit before his wife. These restrictions are part of Sharia law and enforced by the police and a special Islamic office. Pakistan has similar restrictions but to a lesser extent. In contrast, Turkey has a majority Muslim population and yet grants women some rights similar to those of men including property ownership, employment, and education to university level.

Islamic apologists suggest the extremely repressive policies of countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are cultural rather than religious, though these are the countries where traditional Islam is strongest. They point to the more moderate Islam practiced in Turkey as a demonstration that Islam and women's rights are compatible, ignoring the efforts of traditionalists in Turkey to end the few freedoms women were granted by men.

Islamic women's status is controversial. While Islamic men control and oppress Islamic women by compelling them to remain hidden behind the veil, sequestered in the home, and ignorant of the world by denying them access to education and worldly opportunities, Islamic apologists defend some practices. These men claim that many of the restrictions on women, such as the veil, are cultural traditions that pre-date Islam and are intended to protect women from predatory men. Unfortunately, such Islamic men ignore the fact that if a predatory man or group of rapists were to sexually assault an Islamic woman in Islam, she would be punished under Sharia law for "allowing" such an act to occur, and she would likely receive hundreds of lashes and years of jail time or be punished with death; the predatory man or men commonly go unpunished or only receive very light punishments at worst.

Atheism vs. Islam

From a global perspective, Europe is more secular/atheistic than the rest of the world although it does have a considerable amount of religious immigrants who have higher birth rates (see: Secular Europe and Atheist population and Global atheism).

Anti-science

Modern science started in Christian Europe, not the Islamic world, and not even China. The Islamic world has not accomplished anything major in the sciences, unless copying counts. The Muslims borrowed their architecture from the Byzantines. For example, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem was built and designed by Byzantine craftsmen. Thousands of years before Muhammad was born, the Greeks discovered algebra and the Persians built the first astrolabe, though no denying that the Arabs were influential in naming it. Ibn al-Haytham's Book of Optics borrowed from Greek philosophers. After Greece and China established academies with Syrian Christians starting the School of Nisibis, the first school of higher education to achieve university status was the University of Bologna, while Al-Ahzar University was established as a madrassa around 970 AD, but did not achieve university status until 990 years later; the first hospital was built by the heretical Nestorians. The Indian numerals were actually modified in Europe, but ironically, the Arabic language was the last one to adopt the modified version.

Taqiyya

Taqiyya (al-Taqiyya, also spelled Al-Takeyya) is a concept in (Shia) Islam of deception (- of the "infidel"). It encourages lying and deceit by "disguising one's beliefs, intentions, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions or strategies," especially when failing to do so may put the believer at risk. It is authorized under the Koran and Sunna.^{[Citation Needed]}

Taqiyya allows a Muslim even "to deny or denounce his faith if, in so doing, he protects or furthers the interests of Islam, so long as he remains faithful to Islam in his heart." Taqiyya further permits "lying under oath in testimony before a court, deceiving by making distorted statements to the media such as the claim that Islam is a 'religion of peace.'" It can be used to lure credibility and to advance Islam and its expansion.

Islam, in fact, generally teaches that it is acceptable to lie, so long as they know the truth and the lie will benefit the ideology, or keep them in, or get them into a position to advance the ideology, if only by stealth.

Historical background

According to Islamic belief, in approximately 610 A.D., Muhammad, a 40-year-old merchant of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca, located in the Hijaz (now eastern Saudi Arabia), was commanded by the angel Gabriel (or Jibreel) to "recite" the message of Allah (professed by adherents of Islam to be their god). Gabriel said mankind had lost sight of Allah's previous messages to earlier prophets, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Solomon, and Jesus, among others, and that Muhammad was to spread Allah's message to all people so that mankind would know how to live, how to show respect for Allah, and how to prepare for the judgment day.

Map of the expansion of Islam

The message to Muhammad was to be Allah's last and fullest revelation, a direct copy of the Umm Al Khitab, the mother of all books located in heaven next to Allah; Muhammad was the "seal of the prophets." Muhammad won some converts to Islam in his local area, but his monotheist preaching threatened to undermine the profitable polytheist pilgrim traffic supporting many Meccan merchants. In 622 A.D., the merchants drove Muhammad and his followers out of Mecca to the city of Yathrib (later renamed Medina, or the city – as in the city of the prophet). This flight (hijra) from Mecca to Medina marks the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar, and is celebrated each year in the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Muhammad's forces, composed of the sahaba (companions) from Mecca, and the Ansar (allied tribes from Yathrib) started attacking the trade caravans going in and out of Mecca, cutting off its economic lifeline. After a series of battles between the Meccans and Muhammad's forces, Mecca finally accepted Muhammad's ultimatum to succumb and convert to Islam. The city welcomed the prophet back in 630. Muhammad died in 632.

Tribal elders in a traditional council called the "Shura" elected Abu Bakr to be Muhammad's successor, or Caliph (Khalifa). Abu Bakr united the tribes of the Arabian peninsula during his two years as head of the new faith. Upon his death, the elders elected Umar ibn al-Khattab the next Caliph. During Umar's ten-year reign, Islam invaded and spread through conquest and negotiation into Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and parts of Persia (modern-day Iran). Umar was assassinated by a Persian in 644, and was succeeded by Uthman ibn Affan, who continued the invasions to spread Islam into North Africa, Cyprus, the rest of Persia, Afghanistan, and parts of India and Pakistan. Over the next two centuries, Islamic armies continued to expanded Islam's empire into sub-Saharan Africa, Spain, South-east and Central Asia, and Turkey.

The Muslim armies conquered and superseded the ancient Sassanid and Byzantine empires which had ruled before. Within a generation of Muhammad's death Islamic armies occupied an empire stretching from the Nile river to the far-off Persian province of Khorasan. Reasons for the rapid conquest are varied and obscure. The Arab armies were more akin to tribal war bands raiding and settling where and when they could. The Byzantine and Sassanid empires had been at war for centuries. The constant simmering conflict between Constantinople and Persia reached a climax in the early 7th century. The Sassanids conquered briefly Egypt and the Levant threatening the central Byzantine heartland of Anatolia. Under the military reforms of the emperor Heraclius, the Byzantine army consolidated and counterattacked, recapturing all that they had lost and capturing the Sassanian capital of Ctesiphon in 628.

This brief end of the Roman-Persian wars disrupted the frontier areas which had predicated their economies on raiding and mercenary activities. Two major areas in Arabia were directly affected. The Lackmid tribe and the Gassanid tribe both acted as mercenaries for the Persians and Romans. The official religion of both tribes analogically mirrored that of their overseers. Monophysite Christianity was common, particularly of the Jacobite sect. The death of Muhammad and the subsequent Ridda wars occupied these warrior tribes until the reign of Caliph Umar. Additionally, there was great religious unrest in the Levant and Egypt. These areas resented the ruinous taxes and the harsh orthodoxy imposed by the emperor in Constantinople.

The same climate was present in the Sassanid realm with the rise of the dualism of the Manicheans. Under the Caliph Umar, the Arab tribes which had concluded the infighting following the death of Muhammad were allowed to raid into the Byzantine and Sassanid frontiers. The weakened state of both regimes from both military and economic exhaustion and religious unrest made them fertile picking grounds for the tribal warbands. The Arabs were chiefly successful in holding these areas in that they upheld a lightweight regime of low taxes based on the Islamic laws and distant government. Rather than employing an army of bureaucrats and nobility, the early Arab empire was more favorable towards maintaining the existing government structures under the leadership of Arab tribes. In this atmosphere, it is hardly surprising to note the reports from both Islamic and Christian sources of peaceful capitulation and invitation of the invading forces.

Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (the Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina, Saudi Arabia, the site of Muhammad's tomb.

Islam and war

See also: Irreligion/religion and war and Islamic terrorism and Atheism vs. Islam

The book The Irrational Atheist notes:

“

It’s also interesting to note that more than half of these religious wars, sixty-six in all, were waged by Islamic nations, which is rather more than might be statistically expected considering that the first war in which Islam was involved took place almost three millennia after the first war chronicled in the Encyclopedia, Akkad’s conquest of Sumer in 2325 B.C. In light of this evidence, the fact that a specific religion is currently sparking a great deal of conflict around the globe cannot reasonably be used to indict all religious faith, especially when one considers that removing that single religion from the equation means that all of the other religious faiths combined only account for 3.35 percent of humanity’s wars.

”

Islam and Christianity

See also: Dhimma

While adherents of Islam do not believe Jesus to be the Son of God or in the Resurrection, they consider Him and His mother to be among Allah's most important prophets (Marian and Isa) otherwise known as Mary and Jesus. However, the Koran warns against worshipping Jesus, Muhammad, and other humans for fear of idolatry.

The Koran states that non-believers will be punished, though the nature of the punishment is not specified (same as similar statements in the Bible and the Torah):

“

Surely, disbelievers are those who said: 'Allah is the third of the three (in a Trinity).' But there is no god but One, Allah. And if they cease not from what they say, verily, a painful torment will befall the disbelievers among them. Will they not repent to Allah and ask His Forgiveness? For Allah is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful. The Messiah, son of Mary, was no more than a Messenger; many were the Messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a Siddiqah (i.e. she believed in the words of God and His Books ). They both used to eat food (as any other human eat). Look how We make the signs clear to them, yet look how they are deluded away (from the truth)."

”

(Koran 5:73-75)

However, Islam does recognize Christians and Jews as "people of the book" since both refer to one God only, and recognize Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic) as a founding prophet.

Critics

Most contemporary critics of Islam are either atheists or nominally religious: Ibn Warraq (author), Wafa Sultan (psychiatrist), Ayaan Hirsi Ali (author), Hugh Fitzgerald (of JihadWatch), Oriana Fallaci (author), Geert Wilders (politician), Sam Harris (author), Pamela Geller (blogger), Bill Maher (comedian) and the crowd at the Ayn Rand Institute. The notable exception is Robert Spencer, who while a devout Catholic, criticizes Islam as the socio-political ideology it is. Political critics include Winston Churchill, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, David Horowitz (author) and Pat Robertson (preacher). Neither Ronald Reagan (who helped mujahideen fight atheistic Communists) nor George W. Bush ("Islam means peace") saw Islam as the problem. Commentators note that the conservative response to fundamental Islam is a far cry from the complete and unequivocal condemnation of Communism during the heyday of the Cold War. Dinesh D’Souza argues that Muslims are "God-fearing conservatives", even though they have formed convenient alliances with liberals and several Islamic countries (particularly Iran) have formed alliances with the Communist regimes in China and North Korea and the Marxist regime in Venezuela to oppose the United States and its Western allies.

Ex-Muslims

Michelle Malkin highlights a group of Ex-Muslims hoping to change the terms of debate about Islam in Europe. Maryam Namazie, the head of the British group said "Too many things in the media and government policies have been geared to pandering to the political Islamic movements and Islamic organizations." Ex-Muslims include Ibn Warraq, Wafa Sultan, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Mark A. Gabriel, Walid Shoebat, and Mosab Hassan Yousef.

Evangelism - Christianity vs. Islam competition in Africa

See also: Evangelism - Christianity vs. Islam competition in Africa

In 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported:

“

Across sub-Saharan Africa, religion today is in ferment as different versions of Christianity and Islam vie for believers—a contest that is transforming both faiths and disrupting long-established terms of coexistence. Owing to population growth and the intensity of their religiosity, Africans are now one of the more important constituencies of both Islam and Christianity worldwide, and sub-Saharan Africa is one of the world’s most active and contested religious markets. The region was 59% Christian and 30% Muslim in 2020, according to the World Religion Database. “There is a new scramble for Africa,” said Sheikh Ibrahim Lethome of Jamia Mosque in Nairobi, Kenya, drawing an analogy with the colonization of the continent in the late 19th century. “Christianity is growing, Islam is growing, and there is competition.” On a continent where indigenous religions dominated just a century ago, Christian missionary efforts, associated with European colonization, have borne fruit in massive conversions. By 2020, there were 643 million Christians in sub-Saharan Africa, a quarter of the world total, up from 7.4 million in 1900. By 2050, it is projected that there will be 1.3 billion Christians in the region, or 38% of all the Christians in the world.

”

See also

Islam in Africa

• Arab American
• Islamic republic
• Islamophobia
• Qur'an
• Jihadism, an extremist, take on Islam
• Ramadan
• In the midst of a Maelstrom: the Holy Spirit and silence: an essay encounter of Israeli Messianic Jew and Egyptian Muslim in Alexandria
• List of countries by number of Muslims
• Civilization state‎‎
• Undercover Muslim
• Islamic worldviews
• Islamophilia
• Judaism and Islam
• Atheism vs. Islam
• Islam and Christianity

Further reading

• Armour, Rollin. Islam, Christianity, and the West: A Troubled History (2002) excerpt and text search
• Armstrong, Karen. Islam: A Short History (2002) excerpt and text search
• Berkey, Jonathan P. The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800 (2002) excerpt and text search
• Campo, Juan Eduardo. Encyclopedia of Islam (2009), basic introduction
• Esposito, John J. The Oxford History of Islam (2000) excerpt and text search
• Glasse, Cyril. The New Encyclopedia of Islam ( 2nd ed. 2008)
• Lewis, Bernard. Islam in History: Ideas, People, and Events in the Middle East (2001), by leading conservative historian excerpt and text search
• Martin, Richard C. et al. Encyclopedia of Islam & the Muslim World (2003), more advanced
• Newby, Gordon. A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam (2002) excerpt and text search
• Robinson, Chase F. ed. The New Cambridge History of Islam (Volume 1) (2009), summarizes advanced scholarship
• Ruthven, Malise, and Azim Nanji. Historical Atlas of Islam (2004)
• Schimmel, Annemarie. Islam: An Introduction. (1992)
• Sonn, Tamara and Mary Williamsburg. A Brief History of Islam (2004) excerpt and text search
• Wheatcroft, Andrew. Infidels: A History of the Conflict Between Christendom and Islam (2005) excerpt and text search

External links

• Islam and Christianity - excellent article comparing and contrasting the two.
• Qur'an online in English
• Sahih Bukhari (Hadith collection) online in English
• Sahih Muslim (Hadith collection) online in English
• Sunan Abu-Dawud (Hadith collection) online in English
• Malik's Muwatta (Hadith collection) online in English
• Congressional Research Service, "Islam: A Primer", Report for Congress (2003), a work in the public domain and the source of part of this article [10]
• Islamists Torch Pope in Effigy, Again
• Muslims Saving Jews During World War II. By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh.
• Difference Between Islam and Muslim
• A Turkish Delight: they think so in Israel too!
• Turkey's Islamic scholar, Rabbi Meir Lau, and Cain speechless before Abel