Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 allows us to look closer at Islam as religious movement, and the foundation it is built upon. While we also examine the social consequences that have occurred as a result of said movement.

A thing of note is that the book labels pre-Islamic Arab culture as “Bedouin” this is at best a half truth. As non muslim bedouins existed before and after the founding of Islam, and to this day still exist in a variety of middle eastern countries. However their lifestyles closest modern parallel is that of the bedouin people, who live and embody the nomadic ideals of a loyal, close knit, hospitality crazed, clan/ tribe or family. These clans controlled the Arabian peninsula, and its valuable oasis in piecemeal. The prophet Muhammad was able to unify these clans, and tribes through various forms of conversion, ultimating unifying the the peninsula.

The man and the message to unify the peninsula, was the the Quran, and the man was the prophet Muhammad. Muhammad's message was strictly monotheistic, and drew from the Abrahamic tradition of Judaism and Christianity. To be a follower of Islam better known as a muslim, one must “submit to allah” as that is the literal translation of Muslim. However it was not just personal submission that was called for, but societal, and world. It called to end the “wicked ways” seen in pre Islamic Mecca, of corrupted religion, and the hoarding of wealth. Social and economic justice is the obvious overarching theme of the Quran. It's very noteworthy that the cannon of prophets is very familiar to the older Abrahamic religions. So much so that both older religions most important prophets of Moses, and Jesus, are considered to be the most important prophets in the Quran after Muhammad himself.

Following its establishment and the expansion under Muhammad, Islam came to world stage later. As the new Arab state slowly expanded across what is now known as the middle east, effectively creating “the Arab world”, the includes parts of Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. Later expansions included Spain, and the entirety of the Iberian peninsula. During the initial part of Empire a tolerance with historical ties to the many empires to rule the Middle East emerged. Similar to Cyrus the Great of Persia, who wrote the first documented argument for “human rights” within an empire. Arab leaders followed a similar line of thinking as  non Muslim “believers” were allowed to keep their religion, and even be a part of the empire. As Jerusalem's first governor under Arab rule was in fact a Jew.

Things to note, as unpacking the complexity of Islam in a single blog is as possible as teaching Quantum mechanics by way of a pamphlet. The tolerance of the early empire did not last wholesale, and the idea of “conversion by the sword” became a phrase fairly or unfairly associated with later Islamic expansions. Another important note is, that while an emphasis on the equality of men. The equality of genders is much more complicated. On a spiritual level the Quran is very clear, in the eyes of god, there is not difference between men and women. However through the writings of the Quran a social and cultural framework was created that did and does limit women. Another cultural difference between Islam and the west that has made understanding each other more difficult. Finally, Islam played a massive role in the expansion of the world into Sub Saharan Africa. As the religion not only found many homes but devoted followers, who began making their “Hajj” to Mecca yearly. Meaning that the black sub Saharan Africans were the first spiritual tourist, and some of the first tourist period. Increasing the level of cultural and continental exchange across the globe.