Muhammad: A Warrior Reformer it

Muhammad: A Warrior Reformer

It is ironic that today even many of the more politically modest populations of Islam view themselves as being at war with both the Jewish and Christian faiths. This is because more than any other set of influences, these religions would have a determinant role in the inception and proliferation of the Moslem faith. Indeed, the prophet Muhammad, the figure at the center of the Islamic faith, would emerge as a reformer of already existing monotheistic traditions. In this regard, he would occupy a role in the scope of the Christian kingdoms not unlike that occupied by Jesus Christ in the Hebrew kingdoms.

In many ways, Jesus and Muhammad may be perceived as twin pillars on a single continuum. Indeed, "Muhammad regarded himself as the last prophet of the Judaic-Christian tradition. He adopted aspects of these older religion's theologies while introducing new doctrines." (Katz, 1) Thus, it is not surprising that upon its inception into the world at around 570 CE, the Islamic religion produced a legal code which was monotheistic, centered on the prescription of ethical law and applicable in both the theocratic and civil arenas.

This law would likewise predispose the Muslim people to many rituals which echoed those of the Judeo Christian ethic. Like Jesus Christ before him, Muhammad was fundamentally a reformer of theological law, and thus, the first prophet to a new religious entity. As a result, many of the laws contained in the Shariah are more conservative variations on existent Christian and Jewish law, such as with the heavy emphasis on the daily practice of worship and a highly modest set social, cultural and family value systems.

Much like the religious reformers that came before him, Jesus included, Muhammad would suffer heavy persecution for his role as a cultural antagonist. As the text by the MidEastWeb for Coexistence (2007) reports, Muhammad began preaching his faith in the shadow of an economically powerful cult of idolaters in Mecca called the Kaaba. Because Islam represented a threat to their power as a trading entity, Muhammad preached as a prophet faced with hostility by the established religious authorities of his time and place. His followers were gained under the threat of martyrdom, a fate spared Muhammad only by virtue of the protection of his uncle, a powerful regional leader. (MidEastWeb for Coexistence, p. 1)