No God But God— The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam
I read the above wonderful book by an Arabic knowing , Iran born Reza Aslan, a professor in California University. The writer is a proud Muslim with open mind and is also in favour of reform in Islam. He is acutely aware of Samuel Huntington’s theory of clash of civilisations in which the West considers the Islamic world as barbaric and autocratic society of the Middle East. He has cogently put up his defence of Islam. For him religion is not faith, but the story of faith.
The book has a large spectrum from pre-Islamic Arabic society to the present day terrorism. It gives vivid details of history of Muhammad and his revelations of Quran, history of Caliphs, rapid expansion of Islam, internecine violent fights among Muslims, rise of Shia and Sufi cult and, of course, formation of Sharia. It also discusses at length the present day Islam and its future and need for reforms.
In The pre-Islamic Arab society various tribes called Beduine wandered in desolate Desert. In a tribe three major functionaries were chosen by consensus and not heredity. Their paganism had a range of beliefs and practices. In contrast, the sedentary people in Mecca had their own paganism and they believed in creator God called Allah. They had a host of divine and semi-divine intermediaries, who stood between the creator and God. Kaba in Mecca was a roofless cube of stones. There were 360 idols housed in and around the Kaba. The pagan Arabs gathered annually around the Kaba for pilgrimage and rotated around it seven times.
Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 AD in Mecca in Quraysh tribe and clan of Hashim. His birth was accompanied by signs and portents. His father Abdullah died before his birth and his mother Amina died when he was only six years. He grew in difficult circumstances. Things changed when he was 25 and attracted the attention of a remarkable and rich 40-year-old widow named Khadija. They married and Mohammad became a successful business. When he was 40, Muhammad received his first Revelation at Mt. Hira. For the rest of his life, he recited the entire text of the Quran (The Recitation) and henceforth be known as Rasul Allah- the Messenger of God.
The moralist preachings of Mohammad were not liked by Quresh of Mecca. When his life became vulnerable, Muhammad migrated to Medina with his disciples- a group of about 70 men and women. He had to fight three battles of Badr, Uhud and Trenches with Qureshi of Mecca. Finally when he was 60 he defeated Quresh and started Muslim transformation of Mecca. He destroyed the idols kept in Kada and after restoring the order in Mecca returned back to Madina. He died after two years.
After his death in 632 AD, Abu Bakr became the first Khalifat Rasul Allah ( Caliph) without a clearly defined role of caliphate. He consolidated the Muslim domination by some military expedition. After him and the next two Caliphs Umar and Uthman, Ali became the Caliph who is considered the first Imam of Shi’ism. After the death of Mohammed only within a century and a half Islam ( mostly Sunni) spread from the North Western corner of Africa to Sindh in India. In next few centuries, Sharia- The Core of Islam- was developed by the Ulama as the basis of the judgement of all actions in Islam as good or bad, to be rewarded or punished. The school of Sufism also emerged. In 18th century Wahhabism spread in Arabian Peninsula, which was to promote a very puritanical Islam
The writer deals at length with the modern history in Muslim world. He feels that democracy should be the norm in Muslim world. However, this democracy will not be of the western variety but having essentials of Islam. The advent of technology, especially the Internet, has reduced the the importance of Ulama and a new breed of preacher have emerged on internet. Amer Khaled today is a highly popular Islamists preacher on TV, Facebook, YouTube and DVD. He has not studied Islamic Law and is not a cleric. He is an accountant. These self styled gurus have begun redefining Islam by taking its interpretation out of the iron grip of Ulama. However, sadly Jihadists also use Internet to reach out to young Muslims. Osama bin Laden used Internet to present himself as religious authority and his own fundamental Quranic interpretation.
Reza Aslan is confident that the next chapter in the story of Islam will be written solely by those willing to look forward. “ it will take many more to cleanse Islam of its new false idols – bigotry and fanaticism – worshiped by those who have replaced Mohammad’s original vision of tolerance and unity with their own ideals of hatred and discord”.
