The Mystery of the Middle East

(So far as I understand, the information below is accurate.)

With the situation in Iraq and surrounding countries in some peril due to the aggression of the ISIS forces (Islamic State of Iraq and Afghanistan), it seemed like a good idea for me to review the whole picture.

And it is interesting.

In 610 A.D. (after Christ), a businessman named Muhammad who went to the caves each year to fast and pray received a revelation and this began the Quran or "recitation," which he began to preach.  He was 40 years old when the revelation came.

Then in 622 A.D., Muhammad and his followers migrated founding an Islamic state in Medina.

By the time of Muhammad's death in 632 A.D., Islam had spread through the Arabian Peninsula to the borders of Jordan and Iraq, and then within 100 years to India, the Caucasus (mountains), Turkey, the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa.

Abu Bakr succeeded Muhammad, because he was a designated caliph, the most pious of Muhammad's followers.  These individuals became the Sunnis.  However, some thought succession should be by blood line only and after assassinating the fourth caliph they made Ali the new prophet.  These individuals became the Shiites.

So here are some interesting points about the two groups and the religion as a whole:

• Muslims believe that there is no God but God and that Muhammad was his prophet.
• They believe that they must offer prayers five times a day.
• They believe that they must fast and pray during Ramadan.
• They believe that funds permitting, Muslims should make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetimes.  This is called hajj.
• Sunnis believe that the first four caliphs were the rightful followers of Muhammad.
• The Shiites believe that the imams or clerics are divinely inspired and that they are descendants of the prophet.
• The Islamic law to Sunnis is loosely defined and rather than to the clerics defers to the state.  The Shiites believe in their clerical hierarchy and as in Iran, the ultimate authority is the imam.
• Both Sunnis and Shiites have different sects, some very puritanical and some very mysterious.
• Sunnis make up the majority of Muslims in the following countries:  Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
• Shiites make up the majority in the following countries:  Bahrain, Iraq, Iran,

Many scholars believe that the inability of the Shiites and Sunnis to get along is rooted in age-old inabilities to communicate their differences to one another.  Now as we are seeing on our TV screens, the battle continues to rage and in most part it is due to the divide between the Sunnis and the Shiites.

Who are the Kurds?  They are a minority ethnic people that first appeared in medieval times.  They are alleged to be of a number of different ethnic origins including semetic, and they have their own language.  They live in parts of Syria, Armenia, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran.  Some Kurds inhabit the mountains that border Pakistan.

The concern about the situation in Iraq as ISIS forces and Iraqis battle is that the winner will take over the entire region and form a caliphate, a word that comes from caliph.  A caliphate is an Islamic state, presumably led by one leader as was Medina long, long ago.

This is very basic, but I hope it gives both you and me a better understanding, so that when I listen to the news, I can understand more fully.

Christians differ from the Muslim religion and the Jewish faith in this sense.  Both Muslims and Jews believe in one God, a monotheistic system of belief.  Christians, however, differ in a very significant way.  We believe in the trinity, the three persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in one God. 

We'll talk again tomorrow.  Keep cool!! It's a sauna out there.