The Greatest Reformer of All Time: Mohammed

Notwithstanding the sad state of the Moslem World today and brushing aside the mistaken association of a few Moslem extremists, who have been nurtured in so many misconceptions about Islam, to genuine Islamic doctrine, Islam still represents one of the greatest social reform movements of all time. Even with the gross biases that western historians have tried to disseminate about Islam, there is so much that one can say to make those biases not worth the ink they are written in. As a person educated in the United States from the elementary school to the university, this bias against Islam was very apparent and very real in all levels. Even at the university level, there was an effort by many professors (this was long before terrorism was made a synonym of Islam by the Bush clique and the Likudiniks of the International Zionist Establishment). One is not sure whether this attitude on Islam stems from a long history of entrenched western misconceptions about Islam or the fault of the Moslems themselves for not trying to shed light on their religion. I might venture to suggest that it is both of these factors together. However, in this age of relative ease in communications with the entire world, it has become imperative for faithful Moslems to dispel the misconceptions and let the West know that Islam is very easy to live with and has more to share, in terms of beliefs and heritage, than westerners are willing to believe. Today marks the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and it is only fitting that this blogger should begin contributing towards bridging the gap between the West and Islam. It is a humble effort, but this blogger is finding that the horrendous misconceptions in westerners' perceptions of Islam will not help further the cause of world peace. One might like to suggest to readers that they will be greatly helped by a reading of the Eternal Message of the Prophet Mohammed, by Abdurrahman Azzam (in English). There, one finds an interesting insight into how Moslems view faith, social cohesion and other fundamental issues that distinguish Islam, as well as how Islam perceives its relations with the other monotheistic religions. Oh sure, the Islamic World today is beset by many problems and difficulties, but Islam is not the reason! Viewers of this blog are encouraged to ask any questions they have about Islam as we proceed. This is only an introductory post. Others will highlight essentials of Moslem beliefs, perceptions of God and other fundamental issues of faith that hopefully will remove biases and shed light on the magnificence of a truly great religion. Bear in mind that the Quran says to Mohammed: "We have sent you as mercy to all the worlds!"