John Allen Muhammad

city. In the first three years after his revelation and creation of the religion, Muhammad had only gained 40 followers, but he did not give up. (Muhammad) Muhammad was having a hard time gaining followers in mecca due to the fact that his new religion threatened the average Meccan moral and way of life. Not only did this make Muhammad's mission so much harder, but it also created a form of persecution for Muhammad and his followers in Mecca. At first it began with mocks and discrimination, but…

In the year of 2015, 31 states in the U.S. have declared Syrian refugees as “not welcome” (e.g. Fantz, Ashley and Ben Brumfield). There are many reasons to not allow any Syrian refugees into the United States of America. Some reasons not to allow them is the security of the country, scarcity, and the responsibility. There are also opposing views that make following through with this difficult, such as Syrians fleeing from war and security policies being tightened as a way around terrorist.…

pretty much the same God that Christians believe in. Where Islam differs from Christianity is that they believe that they are related to Ishmael, Abraham’s illegitimate sons. I learned that the Muslims believe that Muhammad is the only prophet that they worship. Also, that Muhammad got all of his revelation for the Angel Gabriel in a cave. I find it interesting that some Muslims throw out the 40 percent of the Koran that is not violent compared to the 60 percent. In geography I learned about…

Are the Taliban good? Or are they bad? There are several views on this “Islamic fundamentalist political movement,” in Afghanistan. In the western world we have developed an image about how wrong and dangerous the Taliban are which is why we may find it difficult to conceptualise any good of their intentions, myself included. This negative perspective from us outsiders may be due to our knowledge on their abhorrent enforcements of laws. Furthermore, this view could shield us from the intentions…

In Do Muslim Women Need Saving?, author Lila Abu-Lughod has challenged and discussed contemporary notions of culture, Islam, and universal human rights by addressing the structures, politics, and media that have influenced society, and more precisely, Western society’s understanding of these topics. The message she argues throughout the book attempts to change the ideas the post-9/11 mindset has created about predominately Muslim communities and subsequently, the role of Islam in the oppression…

Ali’s close partisan constitutes the Shi’at Ali, along with the general Islamic belief in Allah, Muhammad's message, and the Quran. The Shiites believe in the Imam as the true leader of faith and the veritable interpreter of the Quran. According to the Shia doctrine, the prophet-- shortly before he died, appointed Ali as the leader of the community and initiated him into the esoteric aspects and the mysteries of faith, and also his particular designated descendants, in turn, inherited this…

The Shi'ite faction and the Sunni faction are two branches of Islam that consist of different views on who should become the next successor to Muhammad. The major split of these two branches happened when Muhammad died. He did not have anyone to his heir, but Muhammad did have a daughter. Many of the Islamic people disagreed to have a woman to his heir. That was one of the biggest reasons why the Sh'ite faction and the Sunni faction, because they disagreed on who should be the rightful heir.…

Ibn Arabi is one of the most influential Sufi authors, as he is credited for combining the mysterious (such as alchemy and astrology) with Quranic teachings of the Prophet. He is known to be the “The Reviver of the Religion” by the great master, al-Shaykh al Akbar. Although he was not credited with founding a specific Sufi order, his influence still continued to be the one of the strongest within the Islamic realm. In his early years, Ibn Arabi served as a secretary for the governor of Seville…

In Islamic history, upon the death of Muhammad, his followers were faced with the decision of who should take his place as the leader of Islam. This leadership position was called the caliph. The empires of the caliphates in the Middle East began and expanded with imperial conquest, actively and passionately practice the conversion of non-believers to Islam, and ended with destructive civil wars. The empires started and expanded using imperial conquest. After the death of Mu’awiya, the Umayyad…

Joanne, we can with certainty agree that Israel is a resilient nation fueled by their national power influenced by a strong spiritual infrastructure.1 I do appreciate your illustrations of how the all those who assume various leadership roles in Israel work together to protect and serve the people by teaching them survival skills. The Middle East has been a tinderbox almost since the beginning of time due to original sin. I do agree that the animosity between Israel and Palestine is…