chapters 11-13

I'm sorry that I have these in so late.. Pesach Seder ran way too late last night :)

Anyways,
Not being a part of the Islamic religion, I barely had any knowledge of what it entailed or what events in history have made Islam the religion that it is today. Chapters 11-13 were a whirlwind of new information. They served to explain what the Islamic religion stands for and how it has evolved through the course of history. Throughout these chapters, Armstrong did not speak very highly of Christianity. Some of the acts that the Christians did that were discussed in the book were pretty cruel. The Crusaders were terrible people and swept through an entire city and killed so many people. Anything that was left over was used for their own personal behalf and they claimed the city as their own after committing all those acts. "Crusader rule had damaged relations between Islam and the Christian West at a fundamental level" (294). It is unfortunate that this was the "Muslims' first experience of the Western world, and it has not been forgotten to this day" (294). This all acted to completely change the Muslims' view of their Holy City.

Aside from these events, I noticed throughout the chapters that there was a point in history when all three religions that I have mentioned had lived side by side where they did respect one another. It's amazing to me that this has happened through the course of history; it just goes to say that it is possible. It is just a matter of accepting one another regardless of one's beliefs.

It's so interesting for me to see the Islamic side of the story. Reading and learning about the prophet Mohammad and how my ignorant negative associations with the Islamic religion are quite false. He is a very similar message--much like my own God. Worshiping one God and only one God. I found it interesting that Mohammad did not intend to create a new religion, he just wanted to restore and potentially expand the old one. Living with others of the same faith is so important in order to maintain peace but if those of differing faiths just realized that in the end, most religions preach the same thing. By realizing this, peace can be achieved and maintained, knowing that different faiths have different reasons that Jerusalem is a holy city.

Before reading this chapters, I really knew nothing about the Muslim faith or Islamic religion. Being exposed to their ideas and beliefs have led me to a more open minded viewpoint believing in the harmony and coexistence of more than one religion together, in the same place.