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(Pictured above: Thousands of Muslim worshipers at one of Islam's most sacred shrines, the Ka'bah) Over the past several years,
ORIGINS AND GROWTH
Islam means ``submission'' to God, or Allah, and Muslims are those who submit to his will as revealed, allegedly, in the seventh century to the prophet Muhammad, a merchant from Mecca in what is now Saudi Arabia. Muhammad was dissatisfied with the polytheism (worship of many gods) and crude superstitions of Mecca, where he lived. Perhaps because of this, he became passionately convinced of the existence and transcendence of one god. He seemed to have been a gentle person, although at times could be cruel and vindictive in his rage. By the age of 40, he claimed to have had his first vision. Muhammad's "revelations" are recorded in the Quran, the writings revered by Muslims. The Cambridge History of Islam comments on these "revelations":
Muhammad supposedly received these visions during the following 22 years until his death in 632 AD. His views were not well-received in Mecca, so he and his followers withdrew to the city now known as Medina. A dispute over succession after Muhammad's death in A.D. 632 continues to split the Muslim world into Shiites, who make up about 10 percent of Muslims, and majority Sunnis. Shiites believe Ali, the prophet's son-in-law, was Muhammad's rightful heir; Sunnis believe it was Abu Bakr, the prophet's close associate. Most of the Arab world is Sunni, as is Afghanistan, while Iran is mostly Shiite. Despite the split, Islam flourished and spread into Africa, Asia and Europe within two centuries of Muhammad's death. Today, although most Arabs are Muslims, most Muslims are not Arab. The most populous Muslim nation is Indonesia, where about 90 percent of the population of 210 million is Muslim. There are an estimated 4 million to 6 million people in the United States who identify themselves as Muslims, about 2 million of them involved with mosques. Worldwide, Muslims number more than a billion. LANGUAGE BELIEFS It is claimed by some that Christians and Jews hold a special place in Islam; that they are called the "People of the Book;" that Muslims believe that the original Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible) and Gospels (the New Testament biographical accounts written about Jesus) were also divinely revealed; and that they share in the "prophetic tradition." However, Islam denies so much of what the Torah and the Gospels teach that this point can hardly be asserted with credibility. It is also purported that Islamic states have nearly always shown their religious minorities tolerance and respect and that such communities flourished under Islamic rule, but again, this is not exactly true. In Islamic states, it can be quite dangerous for one to reject the teachings of Muhammad in favor of their acceptance of Jesus Christ as He is proclaimed in the Bible. The revelations compiled in the Quran, Islam's holy book, are seen as a continuation of the ideas handed down by revered figures familiar to Jews and Christians, including Adam, Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus. While Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet, they abhor the Christian belief that He is God. There are five basic tenets, or "pillars," of Islam. These are: affirming there is only one god and Muhammad is his prophet; praying five times a day; giving alms; fasting from dawn to dusk during Ramadan (the lunar month during which the Quran was allegedly revealed to Muhammad); and performing the "hajj," the pilgrimage to Mecca. "Jihad," variously translated as "holy war'' or "holy struggle," is not one of the five pillars of Islam. But many Muslims believe it is their religious duty to fight to defend their faith or even to extend it into non-Muslim lands. Pre-Islamic cultures influence Islamic societies, just as pre-Christian cultures influence the Western world. Scholars trace many of the restrictions on women, for instance, to conservative tribal traditions. Muslim women in the most conservative societies, such as Saudi Arabia, only appear in public veiled completely head-to-toe. Elsewhere, they may choose to use a special covering for their hair, leaving their face uncovered, or choose to wear no special clothing as a concealment.
Politicians in countries with large Muslim populations, recognizing Islam's power to inspire and comfort in troubling times, have at times promoted fundamentalists whose ultimate goal is the overthrow of states they see as dangerously secular. When the fundamentalists begin to threaten their power, political leaders crack down, creating societal tension. Two non-Arab countries, Iran and Afghanistan, have seen modern attempts to rule by Muhammad's example. Ruhollah Khomeini, who bore the religious title "ayatollah," led a 1979 revolution that toppled the Shah of Iran and made Khomeini the first supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Today, moderate and hard-line Iranian clerics are struggling over the role of Islam in politics. Since 1996, the Taliban have ruled Afghanistan according to a strict interpretation of Islam rejected by most other Muslims. The Taliban ended schooling for girls older than 8, prohibit women from working outside the home or even venturing out unless accompanied by a close male relative, and punish thieves by chopping off their hands or feet in front of crowds. The Taliban provoked international outcry this year by demolishing two ancient and monumental mountain carvings of the Buddha on the grounds that they violated Islam's ban on idol worship. Taliban means ``students.'' The movement sprang up in conservative Muslim schools in Pakistan among refugees of the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Also, tensions are caused by a sense that the United States and Europe promotes secularism, and that God's will is ignored as a result. Another sensitive issue is American troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest shrines. Osama bin Laden, the extremist the United States regards as its No. 1 terrorist threat, lost his Saudi citizenship over his criticism of his country's close alliance with Washington. The overriding concern, however, is the conflict that has been fought since the creation in 1948 of Israel as a haven for persecuted Jews on their biblical land. Israeli statehood made hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, most of them Muslim, homeless.
While some Muslims may have rejoiced over the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, very few would claim these were sanctioned by Islam. However,
while a great many Muslims would not approve of the violence perpetrated in
the name of their religion, the belief system of Islam itself has historically
tended to foster attitudes of violence and oppression toward outsiders and
even their own people, as well as forced conversions and adherence to
Islam. The political domination of Islam could be, and often was, spread
by the sword. Followers of Islam have often been urged to ensure that
the world was under the political control of those strictly devoted to Allah,
generally meaning whatever ruling military party exists (see Islam &
Government, above). Don't all religions lead to God anyway?
However, it matters if you are seeking the truth. Contrary to what
many people wish to believe, all religious belief systems do not teach the
same things. In fact, there are major differences. Take, for
instance, the statement quoted above from the Quran.
It comes down to a hard look at Jesus Himself:
Sometimes in an attempt to accept widely diverse religious teachings, truth is sacrificed. R.C. Sproul confronts this issue:
Is Jesus the only way to God?
Often we like to think that sincerity is the only criteria by which to measure one's faith. But sincerity alone is not enough. Assuming that all religions can at the same time accurately represent God is dangerous. Differing religions teach opposing views about spirituality and the nature of God. Therefore, such a god would be self-contradictory, and we would never be able to know anything about Him for certain, including in matters of our own spiritual welfare. Truth must be considered, not simply the sincerity of one's beliefs. After all, the hijackers on September 11 sincerely believed that they would be rewarded by Allah in the hereafter for their willingness to die in the attacks on the United States. The Bible makes it clear:
But the fact that there is only one way to God is not His way of excluding
anyone.
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Islam