Monday, April 23, 2007

Learning about Islam Part 2

Sources:
Same as the previous post.

Important points and passages:
"The roots of their division can be traced back centuries. When the Prophet Muhammad died in 632, two groups couldn't agree on who would be his successor. The group now known as Sunni believed the new leader (or caliph) should be Abu Bakr (who led from 632-634). The group known as Shia believed Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali (who led from 656-661), was the rightful successor to the Prophet and that Sunnis usurped Ali's rightful leadership."


-Why should the Prophet Muhammad have a successor to begin with? Isn't he made a prophet by God, and not the people? Why did the people feel that they had any say in who "succeeds" the Prophet Muhammad?


"
Al Wahhab advocated another of Taymiya's more controversial tenets - that some self-declared Muslims were really unbelievers and it was the duty of orthodox Muslims to conduct jihad against them.

In Taymiya's time, it was Mongol invaders. For al Wahhad and bin Saud, it was the Ottoman Empire, which ruled most of the Arabian peninsula. Bin Saud believed that his campaign to bring pure Islam to the Arabian peninsula justified his wars with other Muslims.
"


- The CBC website also says that for modern Muslims, this jihad is of a personal nature whereby individuals have to wage their own struggle between harmonizing their faith with their modern lifestyles.
- This might be especially true for Muslims who are living in the West and are raised on Western beliefs and customs


"
In 1932, the kingdom of Saudia Arabia was established."
- The history if worthy of more exploration.

I am particularly interested in the history section of the BBC website. It includes the following topics:








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