Reading Response #6

The readings for this week in Armstrong were about Islam. I was really looking forward to these chapters because of my very limited knowledge about Islam, what it means to be Muslim, and the history and birth of the religion itself. These chapters (out of all of the previous ones that we have read) were my favorite so far. I felt that Armstrong did a good job of explaining some of the more complicated details as well as laying out the pillars of Islam in an easily understood way. I think that these chapters were the most interesting to me because I had so little knowledge and have had little to no exposure (except through film) to not only the Middle East but Islam. One particular area that I thought Armstrong sort of "failed" in was her depiction of this faith in relation to Judaism and Christianity. She was far less critical, and much more reverent when she was describing the beliefs that Islam was built on. However, I did learn many things that I did not know. For example, I did not realize that the name Allah was actually the name of the chief pagan god. I thought that Allah was the name for God coined by Muhammed himself or was the name that God gave himself through a revelation much like the experience Moses had with Yahweh and the burning bush. I also found it interesting to consider that Muslims (or Muhammed) thought that Christianity and Judaism was the same religion. I suppose this would be an easy misconception to make, especially if we're talking about the Orthodox sects of both. However, in the watered down versions that exist today, there are certainly minor differences in traditions and rituals, but the major difference is the belief that Jesus was the son of God (both divine and human).
I actually find Islam infinitely more appealing from what I have read in Armstrong. Some of the pillars like helping the poor and protecting the vulnerable are not specific to being Muslim, but the way it is described it seems like a non-self serving religion. Whereas being Jewish or Christian always comes with a note of self-service (or at least that is the negative image that has been created). I'm not saying I think that's true, there are "good" and charitable Christians, Jews, and Muslims. But I do think that Armstrong makes it very clear what Muhammed was setting out to accomplish when he left Mecca. The other part of these chapters that I had no idea about was that the government of Mecca actually exiled Muhammed and the Muslims for claiming to believe in Allah and renouncing the pagans. I guess I never considered the reason for the pilgrimage from Mecca to Medina other than assuming it was for the purpose of spreading the teachings of Muhammed and the Qur'an. I really appreciated these chapters and whether or not they are entirely factual, I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about Islam and it's history.