Early Interactions between Muslims, Jews, and Christians Under Islam

Islam in two Americas is a delayed thesis argument about the state of Islāmic/American relations in the US, post 9-11. As a delayed thesis, the author, Ross Douthat, opens the debate with a brief explanation of the “two Americas” as he sees it. Within the current political climate that is America today, it would be hard to argue that this divide does not exist.

Though the religion started in Mecca, Islam spread far and wide. Under the rule of Muhammad, the Four Caliphs, and the Umayyad caliphs, lands from Spain and North Africa to the Middle East became Muslim territory. (Document C). The expanding of Muslim lands exposed more people to the religion. Previously they may not have heard of Islam until the areas in which they lived in came under Muslim control. Later on, a golden opportunity for the Muslims came from their neighboring kingdoms, "Persia and Byzantium had both been engaged for decades in a long . . . series of wars with one another. Both were exhausted. (Document D). With both kingdoms, Persia and Byzantium, weakened, Muslims had a quick and effortless victory and were able to double the size of their kingdom. Altogether, the expansion of Muslim territory resulted in the spread of Islam due to more people being exposed to the Islamic

Islam is an empire that expanded greatly, but they didn’t expand by people just joining them they did it by battles and other ways. Muhammad guided a small group of people who followed him in 622 CE. Then died in 632 CE, because there was no one who took charge some Arab tribes started leaving Islam. But Abu Bakr used military force to get back some Muslims. People who were Jew or Christian liked how Islam thought of how people can be equal. But in 656 the third caliph was killed and 661 the fourth was killed and they Umayyad dynasty started to take place. They did what Abu Bakr did and used military forces to expand; they expanded it to Persia, Central Asia, and Spain. By 732 a battle started and Christians stopped Muslim armies. The Umayyad’s

hostility from Meccan tribes. After 8 years he had gained up to 10,000 followers who

When Muhammad died, Muslims faced the challenge of creating institutions to preserve the community. This is the Middle period of Islam. Muslims believe that the revelation was completed with the work of Muhammad, who is described as the seal of the prophets. The leaders after Muhammad were described only as caliphs, or successors to the Prophet, and not as prophets themselves. The first four caliphs were companions of the Prophet and their period of rule (632-661) is described by the majority of Muslims as the age of the Rightly Guided Caliphate. This was an era of expansion during which Muslims conquered the Sasanid (Persian) Empire and took control of the North African and Syrian territories of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. The Muslim community was transformed from a small city-state controlling much of the Arabian Peninsula into a major world empire, in this case the Umayyad empire, extending from northwest Africa to central Asia. The emphasis

Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.

It answers, as far as it can, questions as “Is Islam against the West?” and “Who defines moderate Islam post 9/11?”. In one of the case studies presented in the book, the author discusses the impact of 9/11 has had on British Muslim Identity, giving an overview of the presence of British Muslims, then looks at 9/11 and the impact it has had on the British Muslim community.

The expansion began with Muhammad’s ten year reign from 622 to 632, accumulating the western part of the Arabian Peninsula. Through military campaigns, the first four Caliphs that ruled for twenty-nine years after Muhammad’s death gained territory in northwestern Africa, all of the Arabian Peninsula, and areas that cover modern-day Iran and Iraq. By the year 750, the Umayyid Caliphs added territory in Spain, northwestern Africa, and modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan, allowing the Islamic Empire to span across the western world (Document C). Despite being known as a peaceful religion and civilization, Islam had a strong army that defended its territory. In the year 636, the Muslims formed an alliance with the Hims to defeat the Byzantine Empire’s army, who resisted Islam’s expansion. In al-Baladhuri’s account of the Battle of Yarmuk, he claimed that, “By Allah’s help, some 70,000 of them [the Byzantine army] were put to death” (Document F). The Muslims fought and conquered, all while keeping faith in God, and gained a larger population, increasing the amount of

Many Muslims knew the cause of Utham’s death and were angry at Ali, for he had not brought Utham’s killers to justice, one of whom was Mu’awiya, who had been the governor of Damascus and cousin of Utham. When Ali was assassinated in 661 A.D., Mu’awiya felt great pleasure in his death and found his revenge in stealing Ali’s old position; there was, yet again, another Sunni leader. Mu’awiya lead the Sunni Muslims through a prosperous time, the Umayyad dynasty. This period of growth played a huge role in the power, control, and population of the Sunni Muslims while the Shi’ttes remained uninvolved. In the year 661 A.D. many converted to the Sunni ways, for they were very successful.

Despite current misconceptions of the tensions between Muslims and Jews, the current political conflict began in the early 20th century. The Palestinians, both muslims and christians, lived in peace for centuries. Control of the city had historically, since 637 AD, been under Muslim control with guarantee of Christians’ safety, right to property, and right to practice religion. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire led to European nations colonizing many of its former lands, and the British gained control of Palestine. Social and political issues prompted European jews to flee from political unrest from their homes in Europe, and migrate to Palestine. Seeing the influx of Jews as a European colonial movement, the Arabs fought back. The British couldn’t control the violence, and in 1947 the United Nations (UN) voted to split the land into two countries. The continued political unrest in the Middle East is the cause of United States involvement.

September 11th holds many hard and upset feelings around the world today. The harsh actions of Muslim extremists unfortunately completely changed the way Muslims are treated, especially in the United States. These events, exacerbated islamophobia. Unfortunately, “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, connect Muslims and Islam to terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States.” (Byng) Although it has been over a decade since the attack, many still feel racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims. Muslims are the targeted minority in the United States, “the 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted the social and political context for Muslims in the United States. Terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States carried out by Muslims places an identity at the center of national and global politics.” (Byng) The blame of the horrible terrorist attacks, rather than be placed on terrorists or religious extremist, has been placed on Islam in America. After September 11th, hate crimes towards Muslims skyrocketed, “the most dramatic change noted by the report was a more than 1,600 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Muslims -- a jump from 28 hate incidents in 2000 to 481 last year.”

The information provided by Hutchinson from Islamic Empire (2016) in Age of Conquests says that the history of Islamic conquest begins with the rise of Muhammad in Mecca where he shared his experiences with others which gained him followers of this new faith, while being persecuted by Meccans, therefore he had to flee to the Arabian City of Medina. While in Medina, Muhammad gained more followers and established an army that he led against Mecca. This battle began with raiding each other’s camps, or ghawz, until Muhammad’s forces outnumbered the Meccans, defeating them in 624. Afterwards, Muhammad rose in power in Mecca as leader and converted most of the citizens into Muslims. As the leader of Mecca, Muhammad was aided by tribes of Bedouin against Meccans who had not converted and Arab tribes until 630, when Mecca surrendered to Muhammad thus many Meccans converted. After the death of Muhammad in 632, the Muslims were prepared for a rapid territorial expansion and spread of

Ever since September 11, 2001 Americans along with the majority of the world’s population have been skeptical of Muslims. It’s a sad reality but it’s hard for people to think of a Muslim without linking them directly to terrorism. But these assumptions aren’t totally out of the blue—the Muslim’s religion, Islam, teaches a low tolerance for other religions and the Islamic government has no separation of church and state, so it’s only normal to assume that their government shall have a low tolerance as well—some however, immediately translate this into terrorism. Through the Islamic government and religion, relations with foreign countries, and separation amongst themselves it can be concluded that Islamic Fundamentalism is clearly a threat

A current cultural conflict taking place in America today is religious. Many Americans discriminate against the Islamic faith and there have been countless acts of mistreatment of Muslims in the work place, at school, in public, and in the media. Negative feelings and acts toward Muslims have become so prevalent that in 1991 the Runnymede Trust Report coined a term for it. The report defined the “unfounded hostility toward Muslims, and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims” as “Islamophobia” (Defining “Islamophobia”). There has always been some religious cultural conflict with Muslims in the United States, but since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, conflict has escalated significantly.

The objective of this work is to examine Islam, a highly controversial sensitive issue in today's world and specifically to examine the misconceptions, beliefs, and values of those of the Islamic faith. Most people think that the majority of Muslims live in the Middle East, while in reality there are more people of the Islamic faith living in Indonesia. Islam, just as Judaism and Christianity, is practiced in various cultures, serves to shape, and is shaped by those cultures. This study examines the perceptions of those of the three faiths in various countries and how they view one another and seek to answer how a level of threat is felt by those belonging to these three religious groups in various countries. Countries examined in this study include those of the United States, Great Britain, India, Pakistan, and the Middle East. The depth of understanding or the teachings of Islam among the various religious groups in these various countries will also be examined in terms of how these understandings impact the ways that Muslims and non-Muslims interact and communicate with one another.