No god but God

The Origins and Evolution of Islam

Reza Aslan 2005/2011Beaverton 297 ASL

• 001 prophets reformers of existing religions, not creators
• 001 Muhammed brought Christian/Jewish religion to Arabs
• 002 Jahiliyyah, Time of Ignorance 6th century C.E.
• 002 Ka'ba (cube) housed 360 idols for every Arabian Peninsula god
• 003 stories say built by Adam, rebuilt by Noah, rediscovered by Abraham
• 004 pilgrim's 7 turnings may mimic planets and stars
• 005 nomadic Bedouin vs urban sedentary tribes

• 005 creator god Allah (al-ilah "the god")

• 006 minor gods: daughters Allat, Uzza, Manat

• 006 no priests or scriptures, Kahin poet soothsayers

• 007 henotheism single high god with subordinate gods

• 007 Jews from Babylonian Exile, 009 Christian proselytizers (Yemen, Najran, Sana', Ghassanid tribes).
• 010 Zoroastrians (prophet Zarathustra) in Sasanian empire (later Iran)
  • was monotheist, evolved to Ohrmazd God of Light and Ahriman God of Darkness

• 011 Hanfism monotheists, return to Abraham, from Arabic hnf, to turn away from

  • 012 flourished in western Arabia, Hijaz

• 013 Bedouin tribalism - egalitarian with Sayyid or Shaykh mature tribal figurehead embodying conduct

• 014 Qa'id war leader, Kahin cultic official, Hakam settled disputes

• 015 Law of Retribution (an eye for an eye and nothing more), Crimes defined only within tribe

• 016 accumulated arbitrations became Sunna tribe's legal code

• 016 The Quraysh most powerful tribe in Mecca controlled Ka'ba since 4th century Qusayy gained control

• 017 Muhammad's clan Banu (sons of) Hashim
• 020 Muhammad birth traditionally 570 CE, but pre-Islamic birthdays were not recorded
  • 021 traditional first prophetic experience, angels removed/cleaned/replaced his heart
• 022 age 6 orphaned, age 8 uncle Abu Talib employs him for caravan
• 022 age 9 passing Basra, Christian monk Bahira calls Muhammed the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds

• 023 these are prophetic topos literary themes

• 025 usually orphans and widows borrowed; debt, poverty, slavery

• 025 Muhammed as merchant considered upright and pious, al-Amin "the trustworthy one", occasionally served as Hakam

• 025 age 25 married widow Khadija

• 026 M. went on tahnnuth self-justification solitary retreats

• 027 610 CE (age 40 or 43?) meditating on Mount Hira, crushing embrace, "Recite" iqra (96:1-5)

• 029 an-nabi al-ummi, "Prophet for the unlettered" (successful merchant Muhammad must have been literate)

• 031 M. at first rejected messages, considered Kahins reprehensible charlatans

• 034 God al-Rahman the most merciful, al-Akram the most generous

• 036 Abu Talib's son Ali (M's young cousin and closest ally) and Quarayshi merchant friend Abu Bakr become followers
• 037 for a few years, 30-40 followers "Munammad's Companions"

• 037 613 CE sha-hadah There is no god but God, and Muhammad is God's Messenger ... monotheism

• 042 Quraysh impose boycott on Muhammad, Companions, Banu Hashim, removed after a few months
• 043 deaths of Abu Talib and of Khadija, new Banu Hashim Shaykh Abu Lahab withdrew M.'s clan protection

• 044 invited by Khazraj clan of Yathrib 400 km north. Hijra emigration a few at a time

• 046 622 CE becomes Year 1 AH, Yathrib becomes Medinat an-Naby City of the Prophet or Medina

• 051 Constitution of Medina, traditionally 1 A., probably after 624 CE or 626 CE after majority of Aws tribe converted

• 052 Ummah followers, becomes qawm "tribe" in Quran after 625 CE

• 055 equalized blood worth, outlawed usury

• 056 zakat ("purification") tithe, collected and redistributed to poor

• 057 women given right to dowries and inheritance
• 058 marries nine women during 10 years in Yathrib, political unions.
  • Aisha (9 yo, consummated much later) daughter of Abu Bakr, Hafsay daughter of Umar. Jewish Rayhana, Coptic Christian Mariyah

• 059 veil and seclusion (hijab) not enjoined anywhere in Quran, was a sign of social status

  • 627 CE verse of hijab was specifically for Muhammad's house becase it was also the community mosque

• 061 no other women in Ummah observed hijab

  • enforced generations later by male scriptural and legal scholars reasserting dominance lost to Prophet's egalitarian reforms.

• 063 M. declares Yathrib haram sanctuary city for pilgrimage and trading, send followers to raid Meccan caravans

• 064 624 CE Badr raid becomes battle against 1000 Qurayshi warriors

• 065 jihad new constraints for warfare: killing women, children, monks, rabbis, elderly, or other noncombatants strictly forbidden

  • forbidden: mutilation of the dead, rape, molestation, sexual violence, killing diplomats, destruction of property, religious or medical institutions
  • 066 Fight in the way of God those who fight you, but do not begin hostilities; God does not like the agressor" (2:190)
• 067 after Badr, M. lost a dozen men, while the Quraysh were routed
• 067 628 CE M. announced pilgrimage to Mecca, instead signs Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and returns tne next year 629 CE
• 069 630 CE M. returns with army of 10,000 , Mecca's inhabitants welcomes him, M. declares general amnesty
  • enters Ka'ba, carries idols out one by one, and smashes them, except protecting Jesus/Mary statue

• 071 dhimmi: Chrstians, Jews, and other non-Muslims protected by Muslim community

• 072 632 CE Muhammad dies, without written Quran or clearly designated successor
• 075 many Muslims believe M. designated Ali (cousin married to M.s daughter Fatmima as successor

• 075 shura (tribal consulation) appoints Abu Bakr Khalifat Rasul Allah "Successor to the Messenger of God"

  • Ali and many others not present, Umar threatened violence against those who did not accept this
• 076 Caliph: community leadership without prophetic authority, first 4 Caliphs traditionally considered Rightly Guided Ones
• 077 in reality, religious discord and bloody conflict

• 079 Riddah Wars 632-634 CE to maintain unity and establis control

• 080 in 7th century CE, apostasy and treason nearly identical
  • today, some assert both deserve death (no Quranic support for this)
• 082 634 CE: Abu Bakr dies, Umar ibn al-Khattab becomes second Caliph, captures Damascus, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Jerusalem
• 084 644 CE: Uthman ibn Affan appointed third Caliph. Umayyad clan of Quraysh tribe
  • 086 nepotism, corruption, self-aggrandizement. Fiercely hated.

• 087 650 CE: collected and canonized Quran, previously memorized by scholars called Qurra or Quran readers

• 088 destroyed other variant versions, revolts broke out in 655 CE
• 089 power hungry cousin Marwan incites dissidents to kill Uthman
• 090 656 CE: Ali ibn Abi Talib becomes fourth Caliph

• 092 Aisha (Muhammad's sister) leads Meccans to attack Ali in Medina, Battle of the Camel, first fitnah civil war

• 094 Shi'atu Uthman the Party of Uthman, maintain secular Caliphate.

• 095 Shi'atu Ali (later Shi'ite) preserving Muhammad's original Ummah regardless of social or political consequences.

• 095 Kharijites small Shi'ah faction claiming Ummah must be lead by the most pious person regardless of lineage.

  • some claim they were the first Muslim theocrats, but they were small and rejected by other factions

  • those who disagreed considered kafir unbeliever and expelled from the Ummah

• 099 661 CE Ali murdered by Kharijite

  • 100 Shi'ah claimed Ali was M.s sole successor, the first Imam, Proof of God on Earth

• 100 661 CE to 750 CE Mu'awayah establishes Umayyad Dynasty in Damascus
• 100 750 CE to 10xx CE Abassid (Muhammed's uncle al-Abass) Dynasty in Damascus
• 101 Fatimids in Egypt 990-1171 CE, Turkish Ghaznavid (977-1186 CE) Iran to Northern India, Saljud (1038-1194 CE) east of that

Author's observations about "jihad"

• 106 stereotype of Islam as warrior religion from papal propaganda of the Crusades
• 107 ... "religion of the sword", as though there were in that era a means of territorial expansion other than war.
• 106 Muslims joined the existing fracas, neither created nor defined it, though they quickly dominated it
• 108 all religions were defined by ethnicity, culture, and social identity, defining politics, economics, ethics, citizenship.

• 108 every religion was a "religion of the sword"

• 109 There are a host of words in Arabic that can be definitively translated as "war"; jihad is not one of them.
• 109 jihad is best defined as a primitive "just-war theory"
• ... et cetera ...
• 111 Chiragh Ali (1844-95) pushed Quranic shcolarship towards rational contextualization:
  • Muhammad's Ummah developed when world was in permanent conflict, not a legitimate example for a more peaceful world
• 112 Osama Bin Ladin's teacher Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941-89) promoted beligerent interpretation of jihad
• 113 jihad is defensive response outlining ethical conduct in battle
• 116 S.D. Goiten - "nothing repugnant to the Jewish religion in Muhammad's preaching"
• 117 conflict was political and economic, not theological
• 117 ... written when Jewish minority was Islam's only remaining theological rival ... (authors) planted their words in Muhammad's mouth

  • KL: what wasn't planted in Muhammed's (or Jesus' or Moses') mouth? Without direct autheticated writing, what constitutes proof?

• 117 Quran "confirmation of previous scriptures" derived from Umm al-Kitah Mother of Books concealed in heaven (13:39)

• 117 Muslims believe Muhammad "the Seal of the Prophets"
• 125 men and women created simultaneously together from a single cell (4:1l 7:189)

• 128 marry those women who are lawful for you, up to two, three, or four, but only if you can treat them all equally (4:3)

• 129 no matter how you try, you will never be able to treat your wives equally. (4:29)

  • for most Muslims, this combination is interpreted as a rejection of polygamy

• 129 hadith oral anecdotes supposedly about the words and deeds of Muhammad

• 130 two centuries later, 700,000 hadith, many borrowed from all over
  • some Muslim legal scholars divided them into two categories: lies told for material gain and lies told for ideological advantage.
• 131 many invented by the powerful to regain power taken away by Prophet's reforms

Three developments

• 138 Quran now being translated into vernacular, wresting it from the clerics
• 139 Muslim immigration adds rationalism, pluralism, and individualism
• 139 Internet allows Muslims to draw on more opinions, including activists

Overall, an interesting book. My interpretation is that much scholarship remains, to remove the overburden of self-serving misogynistic crap that has accreted over the centuries, and adapt the remaining reforms to the future. Islam, stripped of centuries of added dogma and heresy, won't be a rigid specification for a complete life, but an important inspiration for a modern life. For now, it is up to intelligent and forward thinking Muslims to teach the boorish faux Muslims how to Muhammad actually asked them to behave, so they can join together to restore their legacy and join all of us to contribute to a peaceful and prosperous future for everyone.

I hope I can help create the tools to help Muslim girls learn They will become the educated Muslim mothers who will make sure all Muslim children are educated. Two billion liberally educated Muslims, two generations from now, will be a powerful force for good.