INTRODUCTION

    A. Islam is one of the most powerful social, political, economic and
         religious forces in the world today!

        1. It claims one billion adherents worldwide.

        2. It is the fastest growing religion in the world.

        3. Because the world’s richest deposits of oil are found in Islamic
            nations, adherents of Islam control a huge percentage of the world’s
            economy.

    B. Islam is becoming more aggressive and militant every year!

        1. Oil rich governments lavishly support efforts to make converts.

        2. Wealthy businessmen and governments sponsor Islamic terrorism.

    C. The number of terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists is growing:

        1. They are no longer confined to the Middle East and the effort to
            annihilate Israel, although these also continue.

        2. The September 11, 2001, attack on the US shows the boldness 
            and daring of radical Moslems who believe they are doing service to
            their god by murdering innocent people.

    D. Wars with Islamic forces are being fought in Afghanistan, India, and
         the Philippines.

    E. Believers in Christ are often the targets of Islamic sponsored violence.

        1. The government of Sudan has carried out a systematic war of
            extermination of believers in Christ for nearly twenty years.

        2. Christians have been attacked and killed in Nigeria and Ghana.

        3. Moslems in Indonesia have killed thousands and burned their
            homes.

    F. In order to face this threat to our nation and our faith, we must know
        our enemy.
 
 

DISCUSSION

  I. MOHAMMED, FOUNDER OF ISLAM, WAS BORN IN ARABIA
     IN 570.

    A. Mohammed’s father died shortly before he was born.

        1. Mohammed’s mother died when he was six years old.

        2. His uncle, Abu Talib, took him into his home and raised him.

    B. Mohammed found employment as a camel driver for a rich widow
        named Khadijah.

        1. He traveled from his home in Mecca to Syria where he came in
            contact with both Christians and Jews.

        2. When Mohammed was 25, Khadijah, who was 40, proposed
            marriage to him.

        3. She bore him three sons who died in infancy, and four daughters;
            only one daughter, Fatima, survived Mohammed and had children.

  II. WHEN HE WAS ABOUT THE AGE OF FORTY, MOHAMMED
       BECAME INTERESTED IN RELIGION. 

    A. Mecca was a center of idolatrous worship.

        1. A pagan god named Allah was worshipped there along with 360
            others.

        2. The Ka’aba, a shrine reputed to have been built by Abraham and
             Ishmael, housed a black stone which was worshipped.

        3. A powerful tribe, the Quar’ish, controlled the rich trade of Mecca
            and profited from pilgrims coming to worship.

    B. Mohammed was distraught with paganism, corruption, and the
         arrogance of the powerful and wealthy leaders of Mecca.

        1. He began going to a cave in the desert to meditate and pray.

        2. During one such time, he claimed the angel Gabriel came to him,
            gave him a book, and told him to read.

        3. Mohammed thought he was possessed by a demon and even
            contemplated suicide to be rid of it.

        4. He was prevented when he saw the form of a man who told him,
            “O Mohammed, you are the apostle of Allah and I am Gabriel.”

        5. Further visits from Gabriel convinced him that Allah was the one
            true god and he had been chosen to be Allah’s prophet.

    C. Mohammed began to preach his new faith in Mecca.

        1. His first converts were his wife, Khadijah; Ali, a cousin and later
            son-in-law; Zayd, a former slave; and Abu Bakr, a wealthy friend.

        2. Mohammed was opposed by the leaders of the Quar’ish who called
            him a “liar” and a “poet.”

        3. Mohammed and his followers were persecuted, but he continued
            preaching and making converts.

        4. According to Islamic tradition, one night Mohammed was taken by
            Gabriel from Mecca to Jerusalem where he ascended to Paradise;
            he journeyed through the seven heavens where he visited with
            prophets such as Adam, Noah, Joseph, Moses, Abraham, John the
            Baptist, and Jesus; finally, he came within God’s presence who told
            him he was the greatest man on earth.

    D. Khadijah died, and soon thereafter his uncle, Abu Talib, who had
         protected him, also passed away.

        1. In 622, Mohammed and his followers fled Mecca by night to go to
            the city of Yathrib (later named Medina – “the city of the prophet”).

        2. This flight is known as the “Hejira” and marks the beginning of the
            Islamic calendar.

        3. In Medina, Mohammed became the leader of the city and continued
             to develop his new religion.

        4. He was sympathetic to Jews and Christians at first, because they
            also believed in one God; he also accepted their Scriptures as being
            from God, but when they criticized his continuing “revelations,” he
            turned against them.

    E. Mohammed became a bandit; he supplied his needs and those of his
        followers by robbing the rich caravans that passed by Medina on the
        way to Mecca.

        1. On one occasion, his band of 300 men defeated an army of 1,000
             Meccans who had come out to capture or kill him.

        2. This victory was taken by the Moslems as a sign that Allah was with
            them.

        3. Many joined Mohammed in order to share in the rich booty to be
            taken from the caravans.

        4. Mohammed taught them they would go immediately to Paradise if
            killed in battle.

        5. Eventually, Mohammed had an army of 10,000 men which he used
            to capture Mecca, and later, all Arabia.

  III. WHEN MOHAMMED DIED IN 632, HIS FOLLOWERS
        DIVIDED. 

    A. Mohammed did not leave a male heir, nor had he chosen a successor.

        1. For several centuries, Moslems were led by men known as
            “Caliphs” which means “successor.”

        2. The first four caliphs were murdered and the Islamic Empire was
            racked with rebellions and civil wars.

        3. The Shi’ite sect arose at this time; they believed Mohammed’s
            son-in- law, Ali, who was married to Fatima, and their sons should
            succeed Mohammed; the murder of Ali and his sons by other
            Moslems is still a major issue with Shi’ites today.

    B. In spite of their internal problems, Moslems began a war of conquest
         that went on for over a century.

        1. They conquered the Persian and Byzantine empires.

        2. They conquered Egypt and all of North Africa.

        3. They crossed the Mediterranean and conquered Spain.

        4. They would have taken Western Europe had they not been
            defeated at the Battle of Tours in 732.

        5. At its greatest height, the Islamic Empire exceeded that of Rome
            extending from Spain in the West to China in the East.

    C. Moslems were ruthless conquerors; one historian wrote:  “Its primal
         wrong to humanity was in its method of missionary enterprise through
         the sword, promoting hate instead of love.  Whenever a city resisted
         their conquest, its men were put to death, the women were placed in
         the harems of the victors, and the children were brought up in the
         Moslem faith” (Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, The Story of the Christian
         Church, p. 92).

CONCLUSION

    A. For five centuries (from about 800 to 1300) Islamic civilization
         flourished.

        1. Islamic scholars built upon the learning of the Greeks.

        2. They excelled in mathematics, philosophy, art, literature, medicine
            and science.

        3. We are indebted to them today for Arabic numerals and higher
             mathematics.

    B. In our next lesson, we shall look at the major doctrines of Islam and
         examine their claims for the source of their authority, the Koran (Qua’ran).
 

Rod Rutherford
4700 Gold Mine Drive
Sugar Hill, GA  30518