Early History of Islam

Reflection Paper: Early History of Islam"

By reading the history of Islam I have reached a greater understanding not only of Islam but of why certain problems in the Middle East exist today. A lot of these problems began with the empires like the Umayyad, Abbasid, and the ottoman and Safavid; not really with Islam itself. Also after Mohammed's death I feel the religion was changed by everyone struggling for leadership and control, and not for the presences of god. When Mohammed died there were arguments about who would succeed him, whether it should be through birth or merit; but I believe Mohammed wouldn't have wanted this and neither would god. Just because a prophet is born and he alone is chosen to be of holy representation doesn't mean you can pass that leadership down to anyone. God never spoke to any of the following Caliphs; so this is not really a fight over who is the rightful religious leader, but a fight of confusion because people had no idea what to do after Mohammed. I mean after Jesus died everyone wasn't struggling to see who could lead the Christian revolution; there was just people who wanted to spread Jesus' word. You don't need a leadership position to do that.

Also after the caliphate had begun and empires created, the Umayyad and Abbasid were too concerned with material wealth and not with religion. They were not really religious leaders at all; they just controlled a system and benefited from it just like the Quraysh tribe before them. I thought this is what Mohammed was trying to prevent. Also I have questions about the spreading of Islam. Some say it was a non-violent movement; which I also like to believe. But is this just compared to the Christians? Didn't Mohammed attack caravans and Mecca, and run the Jewish non-believers out of Medina? Isn't this violent action? I think Mohammed was a very different prophet compared to Jesus who said to turn the other cheek. Also after Mohammed's death it's said that the Umayyad and the Abbasids spread Islam so quickly but did not force conversion; this may mean they were not violent when it came to religion but who did they have to kill and fight to acquire and control such a vast expansion of land? How did they do this; did they fight armies? Because that is truly not peaceful it still took aggression; and I thought that Islam and the idea of Jihad was only to defend yourself against aggression not to attack and obtain new lands.

Also another thing I noticed was the problem when it comes to women. They may have made great advancements for women a thousand years ago in the Quran, but it's sad they have not come very far from there. Just like in the U.S. Constitution we have so many laws that were sufficient at the time of creation, but the founding fathers may not have been able to predict what's necessary today. This is why we add amendments