PREAMBLE

By LTC Daniel Marvin USASF (ret)

This series of columns, devoted to a study of ISLAM, the religion of the Muslims, will attempt to bring you, using the KORAN itself as the primary source, the basic doctrine of ISLAM as set forth by Muhammad. It will permit you to know and understand for yourself if the religion of ISLAM has a doctrinal base of grace, peace, self denial and humility that you would want to prosper as it now does with great momentum in this nation or should be viewed with suspicion as a religious system with a doctrine that is intolerant of other religions, particularly that of all Jews and Christians.

The book, THE KORAN © 1994, published by Everyman of London and Vermont as an English translation for Arabic, is used by some academic institutions as their reference for religious instruction in Islam. It will be the sole source of quotes in these columns, unless otherwise specified. I believe it is very possible that few who live as a Muslim in a democracy with Islam as their religion have a complete understanding of the significance of the Koran's doctrine as it specifically relates to the treatment of Jews and Christians. My knowledge of THE KORAN is drawn from a cover-to-cover reading of that book. I urge you to follow this series so that you may be familiar with THE KORAN and have the knowledge to judge for yourself.

It would be ideal if the reader were to have available to him or her THE KORAN published in a language he or she reads and readily understands. There are many translations in the book stores and on line or available in your local library on a first come, first serve basis.

The Koran is divided into 114 chapters, called suras. Each sura is subdivided into verses and the verses are numbered only in the beginning of groups of ten verses. Thus, if you were wanting to look at sura 10:14, you would turn to sura 10 and go to the fourth unnumbered verse after the one marked ten and you would be there.

We will now review Allan Jones’ Foreword and Introduction to 2001 edition of THE KORAN published by Everyman Press. Allan Jones is a Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford where he has taught Arabic and Islamic Studies since 1957.

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FOREWORD

In his Foreword Alan Jones describes THE KORAN as the "sacred book of Islam." He continues, "For Muslims it is the word of God revealed in Arabic by the archangel Gabriel to the prophet Muhammad and thence to mankind. For [the Muslims]" he writes, "Muhammad is the last of the prophets and thus the Koran is the final expression of God's message to mankind. Non-Muslims are unlikely to share this view, but they too will recognize that the Koran is one of the most important and influential books known to mankind and that its influence is continuing to increase with the spread of Islam." The reader should be aware that Islam is the fastest growing religion in this nation, with a million practicing Muslims at this writing. "On that basis alone," Jones goes on to write, "the Koran is worthy of study..." If we are to understand any religion we would have to acquaint ourselves with the written underpinnings of their faith, lest we misjudge them - one way or the other.

INTRODUCTION

In his Introduction remarks, Alan Jones tells us "Muhammad is believed to have been born about 570 AD," going on to write, "At the time of Muhammad's birth, his home town of Mecca was the most prominent of the settlements in the Hijaz." "Very little is known of the first forty years of Muhammad's life," he relates, "Tradition has it that he was born into a respected rather than a rich family, that his father died before he was born and his mother passed away when he was six..." After her death the orphan Muhammad was looked after by his grandfather and uncle.

Muslim tradition (there were no records maintained then as we have now to rely on) has it that Muhammad was engaged in trade and travel to Syria before and after he married a rich widow named Khadija in 595 who bore him three children, only one of which, his daughter Fatima, was to survive him.

Alan Jones tells us that in the year 610 Muhammad was "convinced that he had been visited by the archangel Gabriel and ordered to preach God's message to the Arabs." A brief time later a similar experience and another revelation convinced Muhammad that he was a messenger of God, and his actions were based on that apparently unswerving conviction. He first preached in private to family and friends and in 613, he went public. "The response of the majority of the Meccans was hostile and was to remain so," Jones stated. After the death of his wife and uncle in 618, the Meccans situation worsened and Muhammad began to consider relocating the whole of the new community of Muslims. In 1621 he was received as a wise man who would be an "arbiter" between the two opposing and often clashing factions of the Aws and the Khazraj (Arab tribes). In 1622 Muhammad joined the 200+ members of his recently founded Islam religion in their new home.

Most of the Aws and Khazraj converted to Islam. The Jews, except for two or three who converted to Islam, disdainfully rejected Muhammad's claim to being a prophet. After intercepting and capturing a Meccan caravan at Nakhla and winning a pitched battle that saw his force of 300 Muslims triumph over a Meccan force of 1,000 at Badr, Muhammad succeeded in securing the consent of the two tribal chiefs "for the expulsion of the Jewish tribe from Medina." His leading a "large group of followers" in a confrontational pilgrimage to Mecca in 628 was a masterstroke by Muhammad, ending with a truce that granted to the Muslims the right for the next year's pilgrimage. Within a year he had led his people against Khaybar, taking it by force and driving out the Jews.

During the ensuing years and until his death, he led his people in fierce combat against

those tribes who would not negotiate allegiance to Muhammad, whose "basic condition was always that they should become Muslims." Jones concludes his portrayal of Muhammad by telling the reader, "As far as the Arabian Peninsula was concerned he had achieved his goal of bringing the Arabs within the fold of Islam."