June 16, 2015




Strayer says, " Submission to Allah("Muslim" means "one who submits") was the primary obligation of believers and the means of achieving a God-conscious life in this world and a place in paradise after death.  According to the Quran, however, submission was not merely an individual or a spiritual act, for it involved the creation of a whole new society.  Over again, the Quran denounced the prevailing social practices of an increasingly prosperous Mecca: the hoarding of wealth, the exploitation of the poor, the changing of high rates of interest on loans, corrupt business deals, the abuse of women, and the neglect of widows and orphans.  Like the Jewish prophets of the Old Testament, the Quran demanded social justice and laid out a prescription for its implementation.  It sought a return to the older values of Arab tribal life--solidarity, equality, concern for the poor--which had been underminded, particularly in Mecca, by growing wealth and commercialism,"(415/416). Reminds me of the story in Christianity there was similar things happening and the tax collector was collecting taxes and their were people in the temple stealing and gambling and God destroyed the Temple. There seems to be some symmetry here with the stories even though the religious figures differ. Both Messengers attempt to send messages in similar styles. And when I think about Jesus Christ and my submission to HIM im supposed to do the same thing.  Put my trust in God and rely on his blessings. We use words like Jesus is my rock, my salvation, my strongtower, my keeper my Deliverer etc. Religion seems to be what people need and look to for motivation to enter into a better or different life. I can relate because it was the catalyst for me.

Strayer shows on page 527 how this line, "One possibility, apparently considered by the Great Khan Ogodei (ERG-uh-day) in the 1230s, was to exterminate everyone in northern China and turn the country into pastureland for Mongol herds,"  this guy sounds like the Dictator Adolf Hitler of Germany seeking to destroy all Jewish people.  I guess Genocide was not unfamiliar to most dictator' and men of conquest and acquisition.