Introduction
Islam means ‘to Submit’ or offer exclusive devotion to one God who is Allah. It refers to a religion that regards prophet Mohammad as God’s sent prophet whose role was to deliver his message which is recorded in the holy writings of the Quran. Believers in Islam or the Muslims adhere to the recordings of the Quran with special emphasis on the life of Prophet Mohammad and his teachings. A large percentage of Muslims are found in the Middle East.
Islam has its roots in Arab which is recognized by directing their faces towards Mecca during prayers and even devoting pilgrimages towards the city. The major practices that are universally practiced by Muslims include the Shahadah which means believe that Allah is God whose messenger is Mohammad.
Also, the sallat which translates into prayer should be practiced five times daily. Another practice is the Siyam which means observing the Holy month of Ramadan where Muslims deny themselves their basic necessities in the day. In addition, the practice of hajj is common which refers to the pilgrimage toward Mecca where a follower of Islam is advised to do this at least a single time in life. Finally, Muslims practice Zakat, meaning charity or extending one’s generosity to the poor by giving them a portion of riches (Sorenson, 2008).
Social conflict in Mecca
Prophet Mohammad was born in 570 CE in Mecca which was a commercial town. Being so contemplative, he could move to southern Mecca in a cave. It was in 610 CE that he was meditating and angel Gabriel revealed himself to him stating that he was chosen by God to deliver his message to the people. This persisted for a period of about twenty years where he managed to convince some few people who became his followers and who later wrote the Quran.
Prophet Mohammad had initially been sharing the message with his family members but was advised to spread the news to the community where he was supposed to gather them into a single group. The message was received well in Medina but many people in Mecca gave the prophet a deaf ear where conflicts arose so that his small group of followers could be protected from outside influence which was mainly Christianity, paganism and Judaism (Sorenson, 2008).
The people of Mecca who especially were pagans persecuted the converts although they were faced with a strong resistant. The prophet and his followers were chased away, separated from others and faced economic sanctions but were inspired by the Quran which specified conquering any form of injustice with dignity.
However, the persecutions persisted and Allah gave a directive to the converts and the prophet to move to medina where many became Muslims and a foundation of the religion was based strongly with Muslims enjoying their freedom. However, the Meccans tried to destroy the religion in medina but they faced resistance since it was strongly rooted and most importantly, they were guided to fight their opponents by the Quran (2:190).
Later, the prophet and his followers who had now increased in number attacked Mecca, conquered it and destroyed the pagan traditions and many of them were converted. The social conflict was aimed at eliminating any social injustice; achieve equality and a spread a message of serving one God (Sorenson, 2008).
Response to the Teachings of Mohammad in Medina and Mecca
When the prophet was given a directive in 613CE to go public and spread the message, he was received with opposition by the Meccans but residents of medina responded positively to his teachings.
Since he was opposed by fellow Meccans, he usually sought refuge in medina a nearby town where his fame had spread largely. The Yathrib or the 12 medina men went for pilgrimage to Mecca, returned home and spread the message from the prophet. Notably, an increased number of men i.e. 75 went to Mecca from medina for the following year’s pilgrimage.
The men invited the prophet to medina and assured to offer him protection. The prophet in turn sent his representatives to Medina and he moved there in 622 CE a migration called the hijrah. This migration caused accelerated Islamic developments where many people became Muslims.
The main reason that Meccans opposed the prophet’s teachings was because of their pagan traditions that were firmly rooted and to which the prophet was against. In addition the wealthy merchants that locally traded in Mecca were opposed to the message due to their economic interests. However, the prophet used raids to attack the opponents in Mecca some of which he directed in 623CE and failed. He then organized about 300 men to raid a Meccan caravan which had about 900 men in Badr where the Meccans lost i.e. the battle of badr.
This was not over since the Meccans retaliated in 625 CE in a battle at Ahud where both parties faced great losses with the wounding of the prophet which negatively affected his reputation. He later re-strategized and had to conquer Mecca with means that were more dignified. This was done as a way of secret planning with his men where the Meccans formally and peacefully surrendered (Nigosian, 2004).
Nature of the Revelations of the Quran
The Quran is the book where the holy writings of Islam are recorded and encompasses the revelations which were assigned to Mohammad by God whom is referred to as Allah. The scriptures contain revelations that involve laws and spiritual practices that guide the Muslims. The Quran is composed of a hundred and fourteen chapters also referred to as suras where the longest sura starts.
Believers of Islam insists that the Quran should be in Arabic since Allah used an Arab to pass his message which was initially recorded in scripts in Arabic. Therefore, it follows that Muslims are required to learn Arabic so that they are conversant with the recommended writings only achieved by reading Quran in Arabic.
Different interpretations of the Quran trigger heated and controversial debates as such regarding the jihad, apostasy among others. The contradictory meanings of the revelations cause opposing views toward Islam from the international community where the media especially criticize the religion and strongly relates it to inhumanity exposed in the acts of terrorism,
The Islamic revelations through the Hadith or the life of Prophet Mohammad is emulated by many Muslims where they regard the prophet as a great and perfect person, which explains the reason why he was chosen by Allah to deliver his message. In his life, actions and teachings are evident with strong moral lessons that are worth emulating.
The Hadith might sometimes contradict with the Quran texts which causes disputes among Muslims depending on interpretations. However, in such a case, the directions of the Quran are prioritized since they emanate directly from Allah (Sorenson, 2008).
References
Sorenson David. (2008).An introduction to the Middle East: History, Religion, Political Economy, Politics. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Nigosian, S.A. (2004). Islam: Its History, Teachings, and Practices. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press