Once More, Blog 4

Posted by: snowmakesmehappy on: February 14, 2012

In: Uncategorized
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Last week in class we continued with the biography of Prophet Muhammad. The Quraysh were getting more and more annoyed of Muhammad as he continued to preach Islam in Mecca. Eventually, they decided that killing the Prophet is the best course of action to take. The attitude of the Quraysh eventually leads to Muhammad’s hijrah. I really enjoyed learning all the details behind the stories. Often I find myself confusing names and forgetting little parts of the tale. We also broke up into little groups and discussed the functions and problems of religion. Many of the suggestions were very interesting and ones that I would not have thought up on my own.

this week we had to read from a new text titled “The Story of the Qur’an” by Ingrid Mattson. A lot of what was said in the first chapter we had previously covered in class. For example, the story of Ishmael and Abraham. The building of the Kaaba was included in the first chapter as well. I really enjoyed this reading because of Mattson’s writing style. The stories were easy to read and all the ideas she presented were clear. I know many people find the reading from The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad to be difficult, but this text is a lot easier to understand.

I have been hearing a lot about the massacre that is taking place in Syria at this time. The President is executing masses of the Syrian population in order to exert control over the population. When the United Nations met to decide on a course of action regarding Syria’s politics, they chose inaction. Many believe that the UN’s response is causing the problems in Syria to escalate. I was asked to sign a petition going to Washington. If you would like to, here is the link to sign the petition:

https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/put-halt-assads-campaign-killing-and-crimes-against-his-own-people-now/cYMzWxKg?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl

In response to shibli6 I agree that the penalty for slander should not be execution. I always get angered when a Muslim population decides to take harsh, violent action on behalf of Islam and the Prophet. For example, when the whole Muhammad cartoon issue happened. The responses that many had (threatening the writer, scaring him) were not necessary. It just does not make sense to me to respond with violence when you are trying to defend against that very claim. I like how you mentioned the Prophet’s character and past as evidence for why it is wrong to respond so harshly.