The Religion of Peace!

Often touted by Muslims is the phrase ‘Islam is a religion of Peace’, this being the rallying cry against Islamic terrorism.  

Islam: Believed by different sect of Muslims to come From the root word saalim(submission) or Salaam(peace). 

Muslim: One who submits to Allah and His messenger prophet Mohammed(Rasoul-Allah). 

If Muslim means one who submits wouldn't it be logical to come to a conclusion that root word Islam would most likely mean SUBMISSION? Islamic scholars generally agree but laymen disagree.  

Brief history of Islam: When prophet Mohammed started getting his revelations in a cave, he felt he was possessed, his wife(Khadijah) had an uncle who was of a heretical Catholic Cult, she introduced Mohammed to him and he told Mohammed it was a divine call from Allah to become his messenger and so did Mohammedanism(original name before Islam replaced it) begin. Over the course of 23yrs Mohammed received several revelation or recitations now penned on the book called THE NOBLE QURAN. The word Koran literally means recitation, it is believed to be the ACTUAL WORD OF ALLAH unlike THE BIBLE(Word of God written by men UNDER HIS Inspiration) thus it is clear, for the Arabic speaking nations' and CANNOT be changed(reformed) or questioned.  

MECCAN ISLAM: Truth be told, in the early days of Islam it was largely peaceful but grew so fast even a snail would outrun it, throughout the peaceful days of Islam Mohammed got no more than 150 converts of which most were family and friends, Sura 109 and other peaceful Suras were written within this period also called The MECCAN VERSES. Concepts like ‘no compulsion in religion’, ‘freedom of worship’, ‘friendship with everyone’, ‘defensive jihad’ etc. were established. Unfortunately none of these grabbed the interests of Meccans(they were hyper paganist serving plethora of gods{360} with the moon god[Hubal] being the chief god and his place of worship THE KAABA MECCA), and eventually they chased Mohammed out when he started to play tricky games with them especially in areas of business treaty(Hudna).  

MEDINAN ISLAM: In Medina he grew his membership via trickery and politics, Mohammed moved from a paltry religious leader to a wealthy political, military and religious leader, Islam became violent(convert or die),  his number of followers skyrocketed, they raided caravans of Arab Merchants', pilfered, robbed and psychologically abused them. Violence by Mohammed and his followers increased as the followership increased since often their means of livelihoods were subject to attacks by Muslim Raiders, the doctrine of abrogation(canceling out earlier commands) was revealed to Mohammed, Muslims could no longer live Islam(apostasy), Jihad was commanded on non-Muslims, whilst Jews and Christians had a special status(pay the Jizya and live as subdued folks), Muslims who rejected Jihad or avoided it were called Hypocrites with curse and death pronounced on them(Mohammed even went as far as telling them even if your conscience is against an act it is okay to do so).  

When Mohammed grew a sizable number of followership after winning a decisive battle against Meccans, the Kaaba was cleansed and all idols taken out but core practices of Meccan Pagans were integrated into Islam(kissing the black stone, stoning the devil, walking round the Kabba, praying 5times daily towards the Kabba etc.), his belief of being a special prophet was galvanized and the hard verses started pouring out, toward the end of his life, HE NEVER PREACHED PEACE OR TOLERANCE WITH non-Muslims, Suras 5, 3, 8 and 9 considered to be strong Medinan Verses attest to that. 

FYI: The Koran isn't arranged chronologically, instead it is arranged in order of decreasing verses(ayat) e.g. Sura 2(256 verses) while Sura 3(180 verses) in-between we can find few changes. 

Given the brief history let us consider caliphate succession in Islam, since leadership is the best way to understand how an organization or ideology works. It might surprise you(Muslims Included) to know succession to Islam's top leadership position was replete with blood. Below I outline how earliest leaders of Islam died.  

HOW DID ISLAMIC LEADERS DIE 

1. Prophet Muḥammad ibn `Abd Allāh(570AD): Poison complications' in 632AD(62y/o), the poison in a lamb meat by a Jewish woman killed most of his top lieutenants but he was lucky to have survived for 3 more years. Some of his Last recorded words were: “I have been victorious with terror” and his word on his deathbed "Narrated 'Aisha: May Allah curse the Jews [and] Christians because they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship." By that he warned his follower of imitating them, by doing that which they did." Al-Bukhari Vol 1 number 427. 

2. Caliph Abu Bakr: started the Apostasy/Ridda wars(caused the Shia and Sunni initial split), most early Mohammedans felt Ali(related to Mohammed via marriage) was the rightful Caliph and Abu Bakr was an usurper, he died in 634AD of alleged poisoning. 

3. Caliph Umar: Pushed for more Jihad in North Africa and the Middle East, was very aggressive in expanding Islam to other continents and nations, found daggered to death 💀 in 644AD. 

4. Caliph Uthman: Responsible for compilation of the Koran as we know it currently, burned versions he found untenable, much ado about Allah Quran(recitation) being divinely preserved, and a goat also ate a part of it. Engaged in more Jihad in North Africa, decimated Iran and Cyprus, was assassinated while praying 🙏🏾 in 656AD. 

5. Caliph Ali: The only caliph to reconcile Shia* and Sunni** Muslims under one banner, believed by the Shias to be the one-true rightly guided caliph after Mohammed and a direct line since he married Mohammed's daughter{Fatima}, he defeated Aisha(Mohammed's child-bride 👰🏾 cum wife and mother of all Muslims) in the “Battle of Camel” in  656AD, was assassinated in 661AD by Muawiyah 1 for not avenging the murder of Caliph Uthman. 

6. Caliph Muawiyah 1: The only caliph to die 💀 naturally in 680AD after taking out all competition, he arranged for Caliph Ali’s eldest son, Hassan, to be poisoned by his own wife. 

7. Caliph Yazid: Son of Caliph Muawiyah, began his reign by beheading the youngest son of late Caliph Ali, Hussein at the Battle of Karbala, marking the official split between the Shi’a and Sunni. The anniversary of Hussein’s death is called “Ashura.” Hussein’s infant son, Ali, survived and was able to continue the Ali bloodline***. Yazid conquered Spain and southern France. After another era of in-fighting, or Fitna (civil war), Yazid and his son Muawiyah II met an untimely death in 683 AD. 

8. Caliph Ibn al-Zubayr: he faced uprisings in Iran and Iraq by Shi’a wanting to avenge the death of Ali’s son. He was killed in 685 AD by the next person to claim the Caliphate. 

9. Caliph Abd al-Malik Ibn Marwan: Responsible for killing Caliph Ibn al-Zubayr, and proclaimed himself to be the new Caliph just like all other caliphs' before him.  

DYNASTY BEGINS 

1. The Umayyad dynasty was replaced in 758 AD 

2. by the Abbasid dynasty, followed by numerous other splits, until the 

3. Ottoman dynasty in 1258AD. 

Abd: Slave. 

Ibn: Son(adopted or spiritual akin to godson). 

Walad: Biological Son(blood related). 

*Shi’a or Shi’ite is an abbreviation for “Shiat Ali” or “party of Ali”. 

 **Sunni, means “well trodden path,” has no hierarchy of clergy, just scholars and jurists whose interpretation of the Qur'an are considered inerrant. 

*** Ali bloodline: Ali’s blood line ended in 878 AD with the mysterious disappearance of the 4-year-old descendant, referred to by Shi’a as the 12th “Hidden” Imam, or Mahdi, who will return to conquer the world. The mysterious 12th Imam never returned after several centuries, Shi’a spiritual authority passed to the “ulema,” a council of twelve scholars who elected a supreme Imam, known officially by the title Grand Ayatollah(āyat allāh sign of God) and is considered to be 'Infallible' akin for the Catholic Pope when he speaks “ex-cathedra.” 

Too much bloodshed for leadership of the “religion of peace”.