Reading Response 6

In chapter 11 Armstrong opens up by giving us some background knowledge about Islam,  and how Muhammad ushered in a new Era of Islam by claiming that he was a prophet from Allah, the one and only God that should be worshiped in the practice of Islam.  For twenty two years Muhammad supposedly spoke with Allah, and in turn, informed the rest of his people what they should be doing to honor Allah appropriately.  I enjoyed chapter 11 because I learned more about Islam and what it means to be a Muslim.  I learned that within the religion of Islam, essentially what the people want, is to return to the state of living that was portrayed at the time of creation.  Where, as Armstrong writes, "The whole of islam, therefore, can be seen as a quest for wholeness, a return to the paradise that human beings had lost. (Armstrong 218). 

Another piece of information that stuck out to me while reading, was the fact that Muhammad, and many other families who began to follow Muhammad's teachings, were exiled out of Mecca because the older members of society looked at this new form of worship as blasphemy.  They believed this because Muhammad was asking them to reject all other gods besides the one God Allah.  The older members of society did not want to reject their longtime beliefs just because Muhammad told them too. This was all extremely interesting to me, because prior to this reading, I knew very little about Muhammad and the Islamic faith, and I will even admit, I had a slightly negative association with them. But now that I have learned just this small amount of information through our readings, I am already beginning to be more open to foreign ideologies.

As I continued my reading I made note during chapter 12 that at one point in time christians, jews, and muslims all coexisted together in the holy city, even if only for a short period of time.  This was something that I found amazing, because I had always assumed it was always just a power struggle over there.  I was even more surprised to find out that it was under Muslim control while this coexistence worked.  Once again throughout this course I have mistakenly made the wrong assumption due to lack of previous education, and personal bias towards Christianity due to my upbringing.  I love that I am learning so much that I had no idea about prior to enrolling in this class, and I am extremely excited for the next time a reading in this class can change my perspective on things.