There is a lot in the news today about Muslims and the Islamic religion.
Some of it is true and some of it is incorrect; some of it is intended to incite fear and some of it is intended to provide propaganda to be used in combating terrorist groups like ISIS. Islam is one of the three monotheistic religions in the world, the other two being Judaism and Christianity. All three believe in the same one God and trace their beginnings back through Holy Scriptures.
Oversimplified, Judaism utilizes the Old Testament as its scripture, while Christianity utilizes the entire Bible. Islam also has its Holy Scriptures called the Qur'an. If someone is to correctly understand either of these religions, he or she must become familiar with their holy books and the methods used to understand them.
All three religions trace their roots back to the biblical Abraham, although Christians are far more concerned about Jesus than they are about Old Testament genealogy. When Abraham and his wife, Sarah, could not have children, Sarah suggested that he have a son through her maidservant from Egypt, a woman named Hagar, and after the appropriate time Ishmael was born. However, Sarah became very jealous and chased both Hagar and Ishmael away into the desert, and this hostility was conveyed to their descendants (see Genesis 16). Later, God allowed Abraham and Sarah to have a son themselves (Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah, 90 years old), and Isaac was born.
Muslims trace their lineage through Ishmael, while Jews trace their roots back through Isaac (Genesis 17).
Islam was founded by Mohammed in 622 A.D., when he established the first Islamic state, a theocracy in Medina, a city in western Saudi Arabia located north of Mecca. From this beginning, two branches of Islam developed. The Sunni branch believes that the first four caliphs -- e.g. Mohammed's successors --rightfully took his place as the leaders of Muslims. These heirs ruled continuously in the Arab world until the breakup of the Ottoman Empire following the end of the First World War. The Shiite branch believes that only the heirs of the fourth caliph, Ali, are the legitimate successors of Mohammed. In 931 A.D., the Twelfth Imam disappeared and the Shiites suffered from the lack of leadership until the ascendancy of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1978. Both branches believe in the Mahdi (a global caliphate), but the Shiites believe he is already here, while the Sunnis believe he is yet to come.
Approximately 90 percent of the Muslim world is composed of Sunnis in places like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other allied Arab countries. There is a mixture of Sunnis and Shiites in the Middle East, often fighting against each other, with Iran being predominately Shiite.
Normally, extreme Muslim hostilities are attributed to the Shiites, but interestingly enough, Osama bin Laden was a Sunni Muslim. It is wrong to attribute the terrorist activities of groups like ISIS to Muslims in general. The Arabic word "jihad" is often translated as "holy war," but it actually means struggling or striving. The Arabic word for war is "al-harb."
Almost all Arabs refuse to translate Qur'an 9:29 as meaning to go out and kill in the name of God. They insist that the basic nature of Islam is peaceful, although history does not always support this view.
Sufism is the inner, mystical dimension of Islam, and its adherents consider themselves to be the true proponents of Islam going back to the prophet Mohammad. I recently read a Sufi prayer for peace. It goes like this:
Send Thy peace, O Lord, which is perfect and everlasting, that our souls may radiate peace.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may think, act, and speak harmoniously.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may be contented and thankful for Thy bountiful gifts.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that amidst our worldly strife we may enjoy Thy bliss.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may endure all, tolerate all in the thought of Thy grace and mercy.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that our lives may become a divine vision, and in Thy light all darkness may vanish.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, our Father and Mother, that we Thy children on earth may all unite in one family.
Perhaps this should be the prayer of all believers in God and for the sanctity of human life on this earth. All religions have had, and have yet today, their adherents who use the name of God to justify their acts of terrorism, but the Almighty God of us all is a God of peace and love.
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Robert Box is the former chaplain for the Bella Vista Police Department and is currently the Fire Department chaplain. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Community on 02/03/2016