How did Muhammad unite the people of mecca to create one religion under Islam and follow one God
While deliberating on the religion of Islam, it is unmanageable not to mention Muhammad. This can be attributed to the fact that Islam has been equated to him and he as well has been equated to Islam. So, who is Muhammad? According to Karen Armstrong, Muhammad was believed to have been a messenger/Prophet from God and he is credited to the teachings of patience and love even at the times of adversity to his people the Muslims. He has also been revealed to be the mainstay of the religion as a result of his contributions for the religion as well as the imperative role he played to make the religion what it is to-date (Armstrong, 2007). It is from that background that this paper will be endeavoring at elucidating and giving further details on how he united the populace of mecca to create one religion that is Islam and following one god.
As it can be deduced from the works of Karen Armstrong in pages 15 and elsewhere, fewer details about the Prophet is known except that he was born in the city of Mecca at around 570 with both his parents being at the center of the Mecca politics. Much of him is started to be relieved when he started to receive revelations from God at the age of forty. It was such revelations that he gathered to form the book that is now known as the Quran. Worth noting early on is that fact that some of the revelations that Muhammad is said to have received did entails the cities of Mecca/Medina. For the duration of Muhammad’s stay in the city, corruption and greed took center stage something that did not impressive him since teachings were geared up towards love and respect for each other. Besides, the city was torn with war from time to time. The book notes that, ‘Muhammad to it upon him to bring peace to the war-torn city’. That is a clear indication that he did take a central part in the harmonization of the city (Armstrong, 2007).
In the initial stages, it can be deduced that Muhammad did face some resistance in the process of unifying the city of Mecca. Moreover, the populace of Mecca is record to have resisted his teachings of love and peace unlike Arabs of Yathrib who had instantly accepted his teachings. As Karen puts it, the inhabitants were unpersuaded by Muhammad’s claims and teachings in reference to the Quran that had not been written down at that period. The first thing that Muhammad did to the realization of one religion that followed one God was the peace initiatives that he undertook in the city. As a resulted, he did manage to bond the people who of Mecca as well as those of Medina with an exceptional accord (Armstrong, 2007). And for those that went against the treaty as Mecca did years later, he would gather a large army of Muslims to fight the rebels and that is what happened in the city. In the process, his teachings were accepted and adhered to devoid of query.
The other way that Muhammad managed to unite the populace of Mecca was through his preaching that Islam was the way of life rather than a religious faith as it was originally thought. In the process, Muhammad managed to put people together not only in a religious and political community, but also from an economical point of view (Armstrong, 2007). This can be as a result of the strategic position that the city of Mecca was situated. Form the book of Karen, it evidently can be seen that the people of Mecca were initially nomadic, but, they did transform tradesmen for all other tribes had to travel to Mecca for trade. As a result, a wealthy city was made and it used that influence to spread the religion that was later to be known as Islam following one God. The fact that Muhammad used brutal force to punish those who did not adhere to his teaching also can act as an instrument that was used to ensure that the people of Mecca remain under one religion worshiping one God who they called Allah.
In closing, despite the difference in culture and country, the religion of Muhammad was able to spread to the non-Arabic states. Even though they were not Arabs, they were treated with love just like any other Arabs would be according to the teachings of the Prophet himself (Armstrong, 2007).That as well explains why the people of Mecca were able to be united unlike in the initial periods where political greed was taking the center stage. Moreover, unlike the period of Muhammad’s parents, he was able to unite the city through his preaching’s of peace and love.
Reference
Armstrong, K. (2007). Muhammad: A prophet for our time. New York: HarperOne.
