From: Tyagi@HouseOfKaos.Abyss.com Subject: Islam1:Arabia Date: Fri, 7 Jan 94 15:21:52 PST 940107 Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Assalam alaikum, my kin. ------------------------------------------------- On the Meaning of the Word 'Islam', Huston Smith writes: "Misunderstandings begin with the very name of this religion. It is often referred to in the West as Muhammedanism, after the prophet who gave it definite form. From the Muslim perspective, this is inaccurate and offensive. It is inaccurate, they say, because Muhammed didn't shape this religion, God did. Muhammed merely transmitted it from God to his people. The title is offensive because it gives the impression that Islam focusses around Muhammed the man instead of God. To name Christianity after Christ, they say, is fitting, for Christians beleive that the Christ was God. But to call Islam Muhammedanism is like calling Christianity St. Paulism. The proper name of this religion is Islam. Derived from the word *salam* which means primarily 'peace' but in a secondary sense 'surrender,' its full connotation is 'the perfect peace that comes when one's life is surrendered to God.' The corresponding adjective is *Muslim*." _The Religions of Man_, 1965, published by Harper and Row, (originally published in 1958); page 217. --------------------------------------------------------------- Pre-Islamic Conditions On Pre-Islamic Arabia, Geoffrey Parrinder writes: "Islam was born in one of the most desolate regions of the earth's surface - the Arabian peninsula. This area is made up of forbidding deserts, arid steppes and barren mountains, along with a few favoured oases and coastal areas where water is sufficient to permit agriculture and a settled life. Although several advanced cultures with great cities flourished in antiquity in the more blessed provinces around the perimeters of the peninsula, for most of its history it has been the realm of wandering nomadic tribes which alone have had the skill and endurance to survive its rigours. These tribesman eke out a bare existence by wandering from place to place with their flocks and herds, in search of life- giving water and pasturage. In the spring of each year they venture into the deserts where the rain briefly brings the plants into bloom. Then the nomads return to the high central plateau, and there each group stakes out part of the land for use by its own particular flocks and herds. "The key to this austere life is the presence of the camel, which supplies most of the nomad's need for food, transporta nd clothing. Flocks of sheep and goats are also kept, and sometimes the famous Arabian horses, but these serve only to enhance their owner's prestige, or for purposes of warfare, and they are often more of a liability than an asset in the conditions of desert life. "Because of the geographical conditions, life in Arabia has followed much the same pattern for many centuries. The untracked deserts and formidable mountains made a barrier which discouraged military adventurers from outside and, to some degree, insulated the people of the interior. Throughout antiquity not one of the great conquerors was able to exert control over the peninsula, nor were the Arabs themselves ever able to unite sufficiently to form a state oftheir own. Nevertheless, there was always some degree of contact between the Arabs on the northern borders and other civilizations and, as a result, trade flourished. Ideas and influences from the more developed cultures also found their way by such routes into the interior of the peninsula." _World Religions: From Ancient History to the Present_, Ed. by G. Parrinder, published in 1983, by Hamlyn Publishing Group (Facts on File); pages 463-4. -------------------------------------------------------------- Part 1 in a continuing series. Alaikum assalam, my kin. Love is the law, love under will. Haramullah Tyagi@HouseofKaos.Abyss.com