By: Amil Shaban
All rights are reserved
Mesopotamia is an ancient Aramaic word, means the fertile land between two rivers, the land of milk and honey, the land of prophets and messengers, later in the modern history it was called the Fertile Crescent.
Today this land before it was divided by the allied imperialist countries; Britain and France after the second world war, it was called the Great Syria, and included according to the international modern geographical sets of boundaries by those colonialist occupying countries; Syria , Iraq , Palestine, with Jordan.
The new boundaries during the colonialization era of Britain and France had new demarcation for the countries of that region; from one nation to many nations with factional and ethnic separations to prevent the same people from obtaining any unity in the future. Lebanon , Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria. From Great Syria into chopped and broken provinces of Syria.
This Middle Eastern Region of Western Asia, at one time it was one of the Greatest Empires that ruled the world; from Spain West, cross Southern Europe, cross Asia, to the Great walls of China, and to the South Pacific Regions. That Empire had aroused within short period of time under the banner of Islam, and the message of Islam was spread throughout the world with three ultimatums, r conditions:
To convert into this faith without any pressure, or force.
To remain in the faith as the people like, and pay a portion amount of Jizya tax for protection.
To refuse and to continue the resistance, and till victory or defeat.
Very similar to what most of empires had done, except the issue of faith. That was forced on the inhabitants of the land by the colonialization, or occupation forces, in our modern history, and practiced by many nations who called themselves civilized.
Let us see how Islam had spread so quickly into Mesopotamia, by convention and not by swards as the orientalists claimed; and by peace not by wars. Islam for many learned scholars was not new in the human arena, it goes back to the first human being created by the Almighty Allah (God); the first Father of humanity Adam, peace be on him. He was created and planned to be the caretaker the vicegerent of planet Earth, after he was expelled out from Heaven, for breaking the first commandment given to the first human being Adam, by his Creator, this what most major religions advocate and teach its followers. Our Father Adam was the first prophet given two major commandments; to believe in the Singular Creator, Allah, Eel, Baal, Elohim, God. The Almighty to worship Him alone, and to follow the Master’s rule of not to eat from the forbidden tree. That of coarse should be taught to his children and their offspring’s, the message of submission to One Creator and the exclusive yield to the Oneness of the Almighty Allah (God).
From the dawn of the first written line of codes of the history of humankind, this faith of the submission (Islam) was glowing ever since, and along the history of all the prophets of Allah (God), the Almighty. It was the Faith of Adam down to all his offspring’s of major prophets and messengers. From Noah, to Ebrahim, passed on to Ishmael, Isak, Jacob, Moses, Jesus, and unto Mohammed the final messenger and prophet to be sent by Allah (God) the Creator the Almighty.
John one of the writers of the Gospel had written in his Gospel, chap 15 verse 26 and in chap 16 verses 5 – 15, had given clear declaration the coming of the one who holds the Whole Truth, and the faith of the full Submission to the One Almighty. According to John Jesus said: “he shall take of mine and show unto you”.
Around the 6th century Ad., and in Arabia a person by the name Mohammed. A descendant of Ishmael, the forgotten son of Abraham had received verbal words and revelation from the Divine through the Archangel Gabriel. He was ordered to guide his people in Arabia to quit the worship of idols and turn back to their Eternal God to worship and submit to, as their forefathers did as Abraham did, and
all prophets before him. No massage by any messenger would pass on safely without meeting harsh and bloody resistance from those who been traditionally accustomed to certain way of belief, and worshiping. The new message and its messengers must meet great levels of suffering, humiliation and sometimes assassination. The message of the Oneness of Allah, (God) delivered unto Mohammad was totally rejected by his people, comparatively to those prior prophets and messengers sent before him.
He was well known among his people as the ‘trustworthy’ and the most honest, this is what actually the name Mohammed means in Arabic. He called upon his people into large gathering and said to them: “if I tell you that there is a large army marching behind these mountains in the way to conquer you, would you believe me “? They answered: “yes we will “and we will start to mobilize to defend ourselves and to defeat them, for we had never recorded any lies from you “. He said then to them: “I am the prophet of Allah (God) to you “!. That’s when they refuse to believe him in that direction of the their idol worshipping.
In Arabia and in Mesopotamia, Judaism and Christianity were well known and were practiced in many parts of the region. The Arabs side; there were at the northern section of Arabia, a large tribe known by the name of “Al Ma’na’thira” had converted into Christianity, and some in the southern section of the Peninsula, at an area known as Jizan and Najran, and Yemen converted into Judaism, and that was before the arrival of the message of Islam. The Jewish tribes had scattered around the Peninsula in towns and villages, among the Arab tribes in the Arabian Peninsula.
The majority of the Arab tribes decided to worship idols, and were discouraged to follow either faith, because of major dispute and the quarrel between the two groups. the Christians were feuding the Jews for what they had done to Jesus, when the Romans accepted Christianity as their religion, they massacred the Jews and destroyed their temple in Palestine.
As far as the Jewish tribes in the Arabian Peninsula as; Beni al- Nazhire, and Beni qonainiqaa, and other tribes, they were waiting to avenge of what the Christians had done to them, and were waiting for a prophet whom they had learned that he was about to come from their cousins the Arabs, meanwhile the Arabs preferred not get themselves involved in either faith and expose themselves into suffering and agonies, and hate. the middle of that quarrel, that may expose them to more suffering and hate.
Mohammed in the other hand, had received a great deal of resentments , and rejections with chastisement along great deal of pain and agonies from his own people that lasted over thirteen years of bloody and dirty struggle, between Mohammad’s followers and the Arab tribes worshiping idols of various types and sizes.
Mohammed migrated to Medina 250 km. north of Mecca, and established there his first Islamic government and among the inhabitants of the city were Jewish tribes. He made a covenant with them, to half their own self -ruled society to practice their own religious freedom and faith without any interruption or disturbances from the rest of the inhabitants of Medina as the majority of them became Muslims’.
Mohammad succeeded to liberate most of Arabia from the worship of idols, to the worship of the One Eternal Allah (God) the Almighty, and the spread of Islam began, secured by many battles that raged between the forces of Submission to Islam, and the forces of the Submission to idolatry, the unbelievers and the hypocrites from the Arab tribes, and some Jewry groups.
The events developed to a point where a joint coalition took place between the Arab tribes feuding Mohammad and his message, and Jewish tribes, that was formed to get rid of that new power of Islam In Medina, that coalition believed they could destroy Mohammad and his followers, and to return the peninsula to their control. Close ten thousand strong horsemen and soldiers, well equipped well trained for this decisive battle. A battle that will decide the future of Islam and it’s followers and the future of Arabia as a whole.
How could they succeed? After Jesus had said: In John Chap.15 verse 26 and Chap 16 verses 5-15, that the Message of the Whole Truth is in its way.” Meanwhile the revelation of the Holy Quran, verse by verse, and chapter by chapter, was memorized and recorded instantly as it was revealed, and it was ordered to be spread among all the Moslems.
Later after the death of the prophet Mohammad, the entire chapters of the Quran were rewritten and safely protected from any alteration, or changing, and for every Muslim to have a copy of the original text. Muslims protected their texts of the Holy Quran and it was well preserved from any change or revisions, and contrary to what had happened to the previous revelations. There were no special prestige to any group from among the imams or the scribes to hold alone the text, and to prevent the masses of Moslems from having it and reading from it, away from what had happened to the Torah and the Gospel, when it were permitted to only certain groups of the scribes and the high priests to take charge of it, and the public were not permitted to hold it or to take it with them and to read.
Since Islam’s main concept and main principles of features has been universal, and very different from the other previous revelations, of the Torah unto Moses and the Gospel unto Jesus. Those previous teachings were delivered to the local tribes of the Hebrews, Israelites, and later to the Jews it was not held there with those who had received it, and it did not exceed to the others, yet they were told to spread it. The same message came from Jesus to the Israelite’s. What had made it exceeded its boundaries, was its rejection by those whom it was intended to, for Jesus declared to them that “He came to the lost children of Israel.” With nothing new of commandments or new laws.
Islam was crowned by its book the Holy Quran, to tell all humankind to come to the final revelation, the whole truth to the true faith of submission. It was not intended for the Arabs, the descendants of Abraham alone, they were ordered to spread the message of Islam, the religion of submission to living human, and to every corner of the world were a human being been.
Before the death of the Messenger in 630 A.D, he had sent messengers and emissaries to the surrounding countries and states, to the Roman occupiers of Mesopotamia westward, to the Persians in the Eastward, to the south west to the Abyssinians empire, and to the south of the Arabian Peninsula to the many Arab tribes in Yemen.
After the Prophet Mohammad death, the entire Arabian Peninsula was under the banner of Islam, and the leaders of the Muslims decided to spread the message of Islam throughout the world, from Persia in the East, to Mesopotamia in the West, and to Central Asia and the Far East China and India.
His successor the Abu- Bakr the (Caliph) in 632-634 Ad. , his reign was too short. He was engaged in fierce battles of apostasy against those Arab tribes who had turned away from Islam to worship idols right after the death of prophet Mohammad. They refused to fellow any other leader after the prophet himself, so they rebelled against the new leader, and they killed his messengers that he had dispatched to convinced them to remain loyal to Allah and His Message Islam.
After his victory over those apostasies of the rebellious tribes, he started to mobilized an army of ten thousand strong in the year 633 AD combined from three divisions to be dispatched into three direction; the first contact with the Romans took a place at the southern section of the “ Dead Sea “, a place called “ Wadi- Araba”, they overcome the Roman army lead by “Surgeons”, the Roman retreated to Gaza north, then “ Hercules” came with enforcement, he was a very famous commander and very knowledgeable in strategies and battles, and that was the first campaign to the west towards Mesopotamia.
The Moslems were enforced by an army led by another famous and knowledgeable commander from the Eastern Iraqi front, his name was “Khalid-ben Al-Walid”. He marched across Westward to a town on the border of Syria called “Bus-ra” it was a fortress he avoided to engage with it the fortress garrison and marched forward, crossing more dessert till he reached Damascus, and his army was right at the rear of the Roman army, he was successful in his campaign and he invaded and entered the city of Damascus the oldest in the World, after it was liberated from the Romans .
He issued the city a creed to the inhabitants of the city, were most of them were
Christian “Saying: In the name of Allah the Most Merciful Most Beneficial.” This is what Khalid-ben-Al-Waleed had given the people of Damascus.
1-They all will have the safety for themselves, their wealth their churches.
2-The wall of the city will not be destroyed”.
The message of Islam was completed to humankind, to spread it, never to hide it, to teach it and not to conceal it, to preach it and not to confuse it, and to be as witness to all humankind to make sure that every land, every house, every person, every mind to be told about it, should know about it. For this is the final trust of God to them to all Humankind. Very important to know that none of those mentioned prophets, before Mohammed peace be on them all, had declared, or uttered anything’s else, but the word of submission (Islam). Abraham the founder of the faith of submission and the father of all prophets, never said I am Jewish or Christian therefore; your religion should be called accordingly. Moses never uttered the term for Judaism. Read the Torah, he never said I am Jewish therefore your religion should be called Judaism!. He was always a Sub missioner to his Commander the Almighty.
Nor Jesus ever uttered the term Christianity to be the faith of his followers, he never said I am Christian, and your faith should be called Christianity. To the contrary he preached the Faith of Submission, and in every word he uttered. Never anyone among the prophets of Allah (God) the Almighty had invented their religion or labeled them the way their people wanted, their faith was always the faith of submission that means Islam.
What we are having today are fabricated terminologies, labels and names for religions. We all believe that all religions were diverted from the same source, and that there is One and Single Religion set by the Master Maker of all things. Why should there be three, four or five labels or terminologies for religions? This was the fabrication of the humankind, only to confuse themselves and the others, or to mislead others for the sake of fame and acknowledgment, or simply to deviate people attention away from the Whole Truth, and that is Islam.
The Almighty Allah God had not intended to confuse humanity or His prophets or His messengers! And He knows when and how and unto whom should He deliver His final Truth and the Final Message. He injected His messages into a gradual mode, for our developing minds. It would be impossible for Moses or Jesus to carry the entire message of the Whole Truth in a singular deliverance. Because people were not ready at those periods of time to bear it. The good news of the glad tiding delivered by Jesus was the coming of the ‘Whole Truth’, the whole Submission Islam.
For this Islam was not new at all, it was born by the birth of the firs human being Adam. It seemed that we in total ignorance of its stream, only accepting what was pushed to us from our forefathers, without searching or realization. We refused to look into the Whole Truth, not fearing Allah (God) the Almighty, but each other.
For anyone to understand what Islam is about, he or she must read the book of Islam, Al-Qur’an, the total containment of all the previous revelations, laws and commandments to govern individuals and societies, in relation to their Creator.
Islam is the total faith, for the total humankind, and it was not ever for the Arabs alone, they were the conduit to its spreading throughout the human family.