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The Mullahs are jousting at windmills

Reader comment on item: Why the Death Edict on Salman Rushdie?

Submitted by Dave (United States), Aug 23, 2022 at 13:23

The Rushdie kerfuffle is an interesting example of intra-Muslim controversy. Yet, the dispute takes place within the context of generally accepted Islamic texts. Indeed, the great majority of people who have opinions on Islam, positive or negative, refer to the same canonical works.

Modern, leading-edge scholarship into the origins of Islam raises challenges to this orthodoxy, from authors such as Crone and Crook and Stephen Shoemaker. Robert Spencer has summarized some of these studies in his "Did Muhammed Exist". These works rely on ancient documents and adhere to scientifically rigorous methods. Their conclusions are iconoclastic.

A couple of items stand out. First, the evidence about Muhammed (assuming he existed), was that he was actually quite tolerant and inclusive when it came to his followers' religious beliefs. He called his group "believers", but that simply meant monotheists, as Islam was not formalized until long after his death. Years later, when Islam was formalized during the Abbasid Caliphate, a believer was defined as a Muslim, and non-Muslims were cast as inferiors (although Christians and Jews as People of the Book, were a little less inferior). Thus, the relgious intolerance of the Mullahs is very un-Muhammedan. Muhammed would never have condemned Rushdie - he wasn't even a Muslim and there was no Koran in his day.

The other research discovery really casts doubt on the physical setting in the Koran, of Mecca and Medina. It seems improbable that Muhammed came from the hejaz. Mecca was described as a thriving commercial center in the Koran, which was unlikely, and the vegetation and topology described there is more characteristic of somewhere in Jordan, in a richer urban setting. In addition, ancient mosques were oriented towards what is now Petra in Jordan, not Mecca. Placing Muhammed in the hejaz makes little sense in any case, as what is now Saudi Arabia was then outside the Roman Empire. It make little logical sense that Muhammed would have led a successful rebellion against the Romans from a sparsely populated backwater where recruits were few and anti-Roman sentiment was probably weak. For example, the American Revolution centered in cities like Boston, New York and Philadelphia, populated places directly affected by British rule, where discontent could be exploited and rebels recruited, not in the relatively desolate Ohio Valley.

The full impact of this research has yet to be felt. It is in its infancy and being politically incorrect, its popularization in woke academia may take a long time. But it's been said that the ultimate enemy of myth is circumstance, so one can hope.

It's a sad irony that Rushdie has to fear for his life over nothing, a fiction, but that's satanic human nature for you.

Submitting....

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Daniel Pipes replies:

Good points.

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Reader comments (22) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
12022 10-1 "Seminarians In Iran Challenge Khamenei, Say He's Unfit To Rule" [45 words]RobertOct 3, 2022 20:37287095
2Knee jerk. [37 words]AlbertE.Sep 7, 2022 14:54286096
Illuminating BLum VS Bishara BS [1393 words]GaliAug 29, 2022 18:11285749
Fascist Arab-Islamic Mohamed Dridi smashed the Eyal Haddad's skull with an axe and burned his body [103 words]CarlaAug 29, 2022 07:53285729
ask how rather than why [136 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
mythAug 27, 2022 18:51285661
A question [470 words]DavidAug 27, 2022 17:22285660
1A question [470 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
DavidAug 26, 2022 20:28285640
Conflicting Perceptions of Achieving Global Dominance without Dominant International Plan for Peace [357 words]M ToveyAug 27, 2022 13:56285640
3How to combat Islamism? [53 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
MatsuokaAug 24, 2022 01:15285564
1Entertaining Understanding Islam Without Going to Combat [346 words]M ToveyAug 24, 2022 17:57285564
1Just another day in the Islamic ways and means [93 words]Shmuel HaLeviAug 23, 2022 16:32285542
2The Indian experience is not very different. [68 words]PrashantAug 23, 2022 23:06285542
1Deeper Consideration of Why Any Religion Compells Belief Without Love [178 words]M ToveyAug 23, 2022 13:35285537
3The Mullahs are jousting at windmills [447 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
DaveAug 23, 2022 13:23285536
3The problem is not in the origins of Islam or Muhammad [106 words]PrashantAug 23, 2022 22:56285536
3No, the SOLUTION is the origin of Islam [189 words]DaveAug 24, 2022 12:13285536
2I can see Dave's point and will try to remember it. [186 words]PrashantAug 25, 2022 02:35285536
3Islam is like Shark Week [165 words]DaveAug 25, 2022 14:27285536
Ka'ab. [29 words]AlbertE.Sep 7, 2022 17:31285536
Islam in its current form is unsustainable [58 words]PrashantSep 8, 2022 03:55285536
5Massad and Salman Rushdie (JERUSALEM POST) [89 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Michael WeissAug 23, 2022 13:13285535
3Why do we have departments of ME studies in so many US universities [89 words]PrashantAug 23, 2022 22:39285535

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