A Book Review of "Lost History" by Michael Hamilton Morgan

“This world is a prison for the faithful, but a paradise for unbelievers”(Muhammed). One in every five persons on this earth firmly believes that the Prophet Muhammad is the last Messenger of God. He was a Muslim and there are more than 1.3 billion such Muslims today. Not only individuals but entire countries take pride in declaring their allegiance to him. There are 54 such Muslim states today, ranging from those as large as Indonesia and Bangladesh, with populations of 200 and 125 million. The prophet Muhammad has influenced a huge portion of the world’s population; in addition, he still has impacts on Islamic and Western world till this day this day. Therefore, this research paper will focus on muhammad’s biography, early life, early social changes under Islam, appearance, Family(backgrounds, traditions and ect….), legacy, Muhammad’s view on Jihad, and Muhammad’s last four years.

Chraibi’s book Muhammad: A Novel is a fantastic, powerful read because it is just that: a novel. It is a fictional story, but written by an author who had an unusual, mystical calling himself to write the book. By using original aspects from the traditional biographies of Muhammad and then adding his own personal, esoteric twist on these characteristics, Chraibi creates a work of literature that is truly compelling and shows Muhammad’s journey to becoming a prophet in a mystical light. Two central distinctions, namely Muhammad’s relations with Khadija and Bahira, add the spice in this novel that really help the reader grasp what is mystical about both this literature and most importantly, Muhammad himself.

In this book , Esposito provides a succinct, up-to-date survey of the Islamic experience, an introduction to the faith, belief, and practice of Islam from its origins to its contemporary resurgence. He traces the emergence and development of this dynamic faith and its impact on world history and politics. He discusses the formation of Islamic belief and practice (law, theology, philosophy, and mysticism), chronicling the struggle of Muslims to define and adhere to their Islamic way of life. Equally important is the essential information Esposito provides on the contemporary world of Islam, from Muslim responses to the challenges of

In June 1099AD, the Crusaders would begin to lay siege on Jerusalem. The city would fall the following month. The passionate, and sometimes leaderless movement made such an endeavor dangerous in its own right. Not every soldier or knight fought the good fight throughout the campaign. Some turned and ran, others would die from illness.

I think the Crusaders behaved the way they did, because no matter what they did they could repent and ask forgiveness and all would be well. The Crusaders were relentless and would do anything with little to no regard to the enemy’s wellbeing. The Christians were very violate in their means to obtain the territory and treasure. In the first crusade the Christians were needing to obtain Jerusalem. They felt that the city needed to be in Christian hands and not in Muslims hands.

Dawn Hayes, a professor at Montclair State University, defines the Crusades as a “series of armed military campaigns waged between two very different cultures that had developed separately, but along paths that eventually brought them into violent contact”(3). In 1096, Pope Urban II declared war on the Muslims, with the goal of reclaiming the Holy Land from the Muslim invaders. Preparations began in eastern and western Europe; Kings began to hire more knights and begin to gather armies, and knights in smaller states led their own armies of the people, with untrained peasants as their foot soldiers. After three years, the Christians had a clear shot at the Muslim city of Jerusalem, and marched on the city with more than fifteen-thousand soldiers. This Crusade was the only one where the Christians successfully captured Jerusalem from the Muslims. After the defeat of the Muslims, people rejoiced, and praised the crusaders. European economies boomed, and the Christian world was in peace for some time. It wasn’t until 1144, when the governor of Mosul, Zangī,

The first Crusades that took place in the 11th century that attempted to recapture the Holy Land of Jerusalem, called upon by Pope Urban II could be considered a Christian Holy similar to Muslim’s calling for Jihad. Jihad in Islamic practice is a Holy War fought by Muslims to guard and/or spread their belief as a civic duty. Through the effort to take back Jerusalem from the Muslims, the Pope was calling the Roman Catholics in Europe to militarily conquer the Holy Land and ultimately resulted in the Christians recapturing Jerusalem in 1099. The parallel seen between this Christian Holy War and Jihad is that both goals are to spread their respected religion. In An Account of Pope Urban’s Speech at Clermont, Pope Urban II broadcasts his call for the First Crusade in 1095 in France and in his speech Urban cites the need for Christian Empire to aid against Muslim empire. By doing this he is calling for Christian to rage a holy war against the Muslim to take back Jerusalem. The Chronicle of Solomon bar Simson, demonstrates the persecution that the Jewish community in the Rhineland in the early parts of 1096, the knights justification of killing the Jews were to support the focus on the goal of protecting Catholic interests in the Holy Land and that the Jews were always an enemy to the Christians. The Siege of Antioch discusses about Northern Syria whom is the largest and most formidable Muslim country on the way to Jerusalem was faced with hardship with god but through divine

Ansary, Tamin. Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes. New York: Public Affairs, 2009.

Islam was and is extremely encouraging of pursuing knowledge and learning. The medieval period was being undeniably free-thinking and the knowledge gained comes from a diverse blend of many different fields of knowledge (Habib, 2008: 55-56). Scholars have many different theories on what caused this rise in scientific activity and learning in Islam. Gutas puts forward two possible causes of the Islamic scientific flourishing in his monograph “Greek Thought, Arabic Culture.” One idea he proposes is that Christian scholars who were fluent in both Greek and Arabic decided to translate texts out of enthusiasm for the betterment of society (Gutas, 1998: 3). Gutas also puts forward the more popular theory that the rampant translation movement and scientific learning ought to be attributed to the rulers of Islamic society at the time. These rulers and caliphs were enlightened and enthusiastic of learning for the sake of learning (Gutas, 1998: 3-4). The encyclopedia entry in “The Muslim Almanac: A Reference Work on the History, Faith, Culture, and Peoples of Islam” credits Islam’s rise in scientific activity primarily to the construction of centres of higher learning, academies, and institutions, such as the House of Wisdom (“The Sciences,” 1996: 409). In “Modern Science and Islamic Essentialism,” Habib emphasizes that internationality and diversity are unique and distinct characteristics of Islamic science. He claims the reason behind the success of Islamic science is primarily the diversity and plenitude of the sources translated, rather than the cooperation of all Islamic citizens in translating as other scholars defend (Habib, 2008: 55-56). Habib conveys that science and learning will thrive in an environment which supports its study; he expresses that the Islamic prophet and the Qur’an encouraged followers to search for knowledge by whatever means necessary. Habib claims “A

The book What is History, has many great points of what Carr is trying to say therefore, the meaning behind it has to make an huge impacted on his purpose. In the beginning chapter, it starts off as facts that need to be understood to create history. Carr also notice that studying historian will determine the major role if its legit. Even though, society is important, because it influences people's behavior/believes it also has factors that respond to the environment. For an example, an inspiring philosopher will look deep into details to form a perfect equation that puts the pieces to the puzzle together.Where an imposter philosopher, will take little to none evidence to figure out the truth behind their points. Carr stated that, They both

Throughout civilization, religions have come a long way in impacting modern society and civilization. One of the major Abrahamic religions, Islam, has made many advances and has contributed a variety of concepts, ideas and inventions to western civilization. Most of these contributions have gone unnoticed throughout the years, and have been credited by various people, when in reality Muslim scholars have formulated these concepts. Although some may believe that these contributions are irrelevant, the reality is that most of the everyday concepts humans use all around the world, have been derived from a primarily Islamic school of thought.

Islam, meaning “submission”, is one of the largest religions in this world, reaching over a billion followers. It is a monotheistic religion originally started by the Prophet Muhammad in 7th-century Saudi Arabia. Muhammad united the Arabian peninsula and established the fact that there is one true god, “Allah”. Muslims, who are the followers of Islam, must follow the Five Pillars of Islam—faith, prayer, charity, fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca. The Islamic civilization is known for developing algebra and building religious structures called mosques. In this report, you will learn about the religion, social structure, location, history, and importance of the Islamic civilization.

For centuries, the sacred lands of the Middle East have been in tumultuous turmoil over religious and political contention. At the heart of these matters lies the ever-elusive city of Jerusalem. Each age old religion has some connection to that city. The Jews revere the temples of Solomon and Herod situated in the oldest parts of the city there, the Muslims believe that their prophet, Mohammad, ascended into heaven from there, and the Christians deem Jerusalem as the place where Jesus Christ spilled his blood and was cruelly crucified. The city of Jerusalem has been held by many political entities, one of the longest belonging to the Romans who occupied the city for nearly 400 years. After the Romans held the city, Christianity was the up and coming religion that had a strong political influence, but the Muslims seized the city in the 7th century. Jerusalem has been fought over ever since these ancient times all the way to present day, and has always been influenced by strong religious undertones. The Crusades is one of the longest and most memorable wars that has taken place over this great city. Spanning from 1095 to around 1500, a multitude of Western Europeans, from all walks of life, engaged in this penitential campaign (Riley-Smith, 1; 55).

Between the 9th to 12th centuries a Golden Age of Islamic Scholarship sprung from a flourishing Islamic Empire and laid the foundations for much of modern science. During this period, ancient texts from across the world were collected, translated to Arabic, and discussed. One notable example of how Islamic thinkers in this era built on scholars of previous eras and other cultures is how Algebra was invented by bringing together the ideas of Greek and Indian mathematicians to create a new way of thinking about numbers. This was motivated and enabled partly by Islamic principles to seek knowledge of the world and partly by the needs of a growing Islamic Empire. Perhaps what we can learn from this era is that knowledge is universal and collaborative,

The three most scientific contributions of Islamic culture are achievements in medicine, development of Algebra, and development of geography. Geography is a vital contribution, since it provided further understanding of how the world works and how it’s shaped. Geography also played a role in trade and further