CONTINUED.... Islam Part II

With Dr. Nafez Nazzal - February 28, 2006

For Muslims, Muhammad is the embodied virtues of Islam such as piety, patience, humour, kindness, and generosity. Muhammad is considered to be the last of the prophets sent or chosen by God. When Muslims gather they often rally around the words "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet." Some Muslims suggest that this "muntra" inappropriately places Muhammad over and above all other prophets in importance, a positioning not intended in the Qur’an.

Followers of Islam are sensitive to the traditional views put forth by western scholars and teachers that Muhammad stands outside of the tradition of the prophets, that he was untruthful concerning the revelations given to him by God, and that he performed no miracles. From the Muslim perspective the great miracle of Humammad is his receiving and passing on the word of God in the Qur’an. At times western writers place undue emphasize on the fact that Muhammad was human, fallible and subject to every discreditable misfortune, accusing Muhammad of being a dreamer, a poet, and of fabricating the Qur’an to suit his needs and requirement in order to indulge his own sexual desires (because he married 14 times). Some writers have gone as far as to suggest that Muhammad’s success was due to his ability to organize, establish teaching, create a financial structure and to arbitrate tribal matters, and not due to his revelation of God nor God’s guidance.

If Muslims generally understand this to be the western view of Islam today, it is no wonder they have grown sensitive to most statements or media portrayal of Islam imposed from outside of Islam.