One Of The Strangest Facts In Today’s World Is That Islam, A Religion Which In Many Ways Is Almost Identical To Christianity And Judaism, Should Be So Poorly Understood In Europe And America. Since There Are Millions Of Muslims In The World, And Since They Control Many Strategic Areas Of The Earth It Is Essential That We Understand Them Better. Mohammed, The Inspired Man Who Founded Islam, Was Born About 570 AD At Mecca. Orphaned At Birth, He Was Always Particularly Solicitous Of The Poor, Needy, Widows, Orphan, Slaves And The Downtrodden. At 20 He Was Already A Successful Businessman And Soon He Became The Director Of Camel Caravans Of A Wealthy Widow. When He Reached 25, His Employer Recognizing His Merit Proposed Marriage. Even Though She Was 15 Years Senior, He Married Her And As Long As She Lived, He Remained A Devoted Husband. By 40 This Man Of The Desert Had Secured For Himself A Most Satisfying Life, A Loving Wife, Fine Children And Wealth. Then, Muslims Believe, In A Series Of Dramatic And Terrifying Events, He Began To Revive Through Archangel Gabriel A Revelation Of God’s Word. Like Almost Every Major Prophet Before Him, Mohammed Fought Shy Of Serving As The Transmitter Of God’s Word, Sensing His Own Inadequacy. But The Angel Commanded, ‘Read’. So Far As We Know, Mohammed Was Hardly Able To Read Or Write, But He Began To Dictate Those Inspired Words Which Would Soon Revolutionize A Large Part Of The Earth; “There Is But One God”.
Mohammed’s Message Infuriated Those Rich Arabs Whose Faith Required Many Idols, And He And His Few Followers Were Driven From Mecca, His Home. Forced Now To Fight In Defense Of The Freedom Of Conscience Which He Preached, He Became An Accomplished Military Leader. He Repeatedly Went Into Battle, Out-Manned And Out-Speared As Much As Five To One, He Won Some Spectacular Victories. Later He Became Head Of The State, And The Testimony Even Of His Enemies Is That He Administered Wisely. The Wisdom He Displayed In Judging Intricate Cases Became The Basis For The Religious Law That Governs Islam Today. In His Final Years, He Was Invited To Become A Dictator Or A Saint, But He Rejected Both Temptations, Insisting That He Was An Average Man To Whom God Had Sent Another Of His Periodic Messages To The World. By The Force Of His Extraordinary Personality, Mohammed Revolutionized Life In Arabia And Throughout The Middle East. He Preached A Religion Dedicated To One God And He Lifted Women From The Bondage In Which Desert Custom Held Them And Preached General Social Justice. Muslims Think It Particularly Ironic When Mohammed Is Charged By Western Writers With Having Established A Voluptuous Religion. Especially Considering The Fact That He Abolished Alcohol So That Even Today All Good Muslims Are Teetotallers. He Ordered Individual Prayers Five Times Each Day. In A Nation That Revealed In Feasting He Instituted A Most Rigorous Daytime Fast Lasting A Full Month Each Year.
Western Critics Have Based Their Charges Of Voluptuousness Mainly On The Question Of Women. Before Mohammed, However Men Were Encouraged To Take Innumerable Wives, He Limited Them To Four Only And The Quran Is Explicit That Husbands Who Cannot Maintain Strict Equality Between Two Or More Wives Must Confine Themselves To One. A Widespread Misunderstanding Arises From Mohammed’s Promise Of Paradise. In A Land Of Blistering Drought And Sandstorms He Predicted That Evil Men Would Suffer The Tormenting Fires Of Hell. Whereas Good Men Will Experience Cool Breezes, Comforting Streams And Beautiful Hours. Western Imaginations, Unfamiliar With This Last Word Hour, Defined It By Analogy With One Of The Ugliest Words In English And Jumped To The Conclusion That Mohammed’s Paradise Was To Be A Sexual Debauch. They Were Wrong. A Hour Is A Fair-Skinned, Blacked Woman Created From Musk And Spices, Incredibly Beautiful And Perpetually Virgin.
In All Things, Mohammed Was Profoundly Practical. When His Beloved Son Ibrahim Died, An Eclipse Occurred, And Rumours Of God’s Personal Condolence Quickly Arose. Whereupon Mohammed Is Said To Have Announced An Eclipse Is A Phenomenon Of Nature. It Is Foolish To Attribute Such Things To The Birth Or Death Of A Human Being. At Mohammed’s Own Death An Attempt Was Made To Deify Him, But The Man Who Was To Become His Administrative Successor Killed The Hysteria With One Of The Noblest Speeches In Religious History. “If There Are Any Among You Who Worshipped Mohammed, He Is Dead. But If It Was God You Worshipped, He Lives For Ever.” These Things Explain Why People Who Follow The Religion Of Mohammed Do Not Like To Be Called “Mohammedan”