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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
THE CHOSEN PEOPLE OF THE DEMIURGE - V
'The Muslims'
'The Muslims'
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Just at the moment of apparently universal and permanent Orthodoxy and Catholicism, there fell an unexpected blow of overwhelming magnitude and force.
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| Muslim Warriors |
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| Yeshua Ben Yosef |
Now that Judaism was a spent force in the Levant, he created a strange synthesis, a syncretic teaching drawn from the myths of Judaism and the strange tales that had grown up around the Jewish teacher Yeshua Ben Yosef - who by then was known in the West as Jesus Christ.
This was to be a new Semitic religion, and its leader was to be an uneducated, illiterate orphan - a simple merchant called Mohammed.
Like Judaism and Christianity, the Muslim religion was to be based on the Word - for it was through messages, channelled to his chosen 'creatures', that the Demiurge would spread his lies and false teachings.
The Demiurge appeared to the hapless merchant, Mohammed, in the form of a divine being of light, a malāk - that called himself جبريل (Jibrīl)
ملائكة (malāʾikah; singular: ملاك or مَلَكْ malāk) are heavenly beings mentioned many times in the Quran and hadith. Unlike humans or jinn, they have no free will and therefore can do only what God orders them to do. An example of a task they carry out is testing individuals by granting them abundant wealth and curing their illness. Believing in angels is one of the six Articles of Faith in Islam. Just as humans are made of clay, and jinn are made of smokeless fire, angels are made of light.
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| The Demiurge - جبريل (Jibrīl) or a Dæmon ? © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
There are detailed and confirmed descriptions of Mohammed's behaviour when he claimed to receive communications from the Demiurge he called جبريل (Jibrīl).
'The Revelation is always brought to me by an angel: sometimes it is delivered to me as the beating sound of the bell (?) - and this is the hardest experience for me; but sometimes the angel appears to me in the shape of a human, and speaks to me.'
'Those who saw the Prophet in this state relate that his condition would change. Sometimes he would stay motionless, as if some terribly heavy load was pressed on him and, even in the coldest day, drops of sweat would fall from his forehead.
At other times he would move his lips.'
'He fell to the ground like one intoxicated, or overcome by sleep; and in the coldest day his forehead would be be-dewed with large drops of perspiration.
Inspiration descended unexpectedly, and without any previous warning.' |
| Al Qurʾān © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
They covered him, and then the state of fear was over'.
Muḥammad himself could not at first identify the spirit that possessed him, and the Qurʾān mentions the spirit by name only three times.
Muḥammad himself could not at first identify the spirit that possessed him, and the Qurʾān mentions the spirit by name only three times.
Jibrīl, however, became Muḥammad’s constant helper.
When Muḥammad recited a supposed revelation acknowledging the pagan goddesses al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzā, and Manāt, (the revelation subsequently known as the 'Satanic Verses'), Jibrīl chastised him for presenting as divine a message inspired by the devil.
Allāt or al-Lāt (Arabic: اللات) was a Pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. She is mentioned in the Qur’an (Sura 53:19).
Al-'Uzza is a goddess who was held in high esteem by the pre-Islamic Arabs, especially those of the Quraysh tribe. Her name means 'the Mighty One', and she was worshipped as a baetyl, or block of stone (carved or un-carved) in that area. She is closely associated with the Arabian Goddesses al-Lat (whose name means 'Goddess') and Manat ('Fate'); sometimes they are all called the daughters of al-Lah ('God').
According to the Kitab Al-Asnam, or Book of Idols, by Hisham Ibn-al-Kalbi (c. the 9th century CE) in Mecca the Quraysh would ritually circle the Ka'aba (a holy place long before the advent of Islam) and chant:
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| اللات - al-Lāt © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
Al-'Uzza is a goddess who was held in high esteem by the pre-Islamic Arabs, especially those of the Quraysh tribe. Her name means 'the Mighty One', and she was worshipped as a baetyl, or block of stone (carved or un-carved) in that area. She is closely associated with the Arabian Goddesses al-Lat (whose name means 'Goddess') and Manat ('Fate'); sometimes they are all called the daughters of al-Lah ('God').
According to the Kitab Al-Asnam, or Book of Idols, by Hisham Ibn-al-Kalbi (c. the 9th century CE) in Mecca the Quraysh would ritually circle the Ka'aba (a holy place long before the advent of Islam) and chant:
By Allat and al-'Uzza,
And Manat, the third idol besides.
Verily they are the most exalted females
Whose intercession is to be sought
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| Seal of Mohammed © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
The book that Mohammed eventually produced (supposedly based on the revelations provided by Jibrīl) describes a basically eclectic, syncretic religion.
Syncretic - Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. It is especially associated with the attempt to merge and analogize several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an underlying unity. Syncretism is also common in literature, music, the representational arts and other expressions of culture. (Compare the concept of eclecticism.) There also exist syncretic politics, although in political classification the term has a somewhat different meaning.
The Qur’an is a kind of cocktail of texts that were not all understood, even at the time of Muhammad, and many of them were a hundred years older than Islam itself.
The Qur’an is a kind of cocktail of texts that were not all understood, even at the time of Muhammad, and many of them were a hundred years older than Islam itself.
Even within the Islamic traditions there is a huge body of contradictory information, including a significant Christian substrate; one can derive a whole Islamic anti-history from them if one so chooses.
The Qur’an claims for itself that it is ‘mubeen,’ or clear, but much of it simply doesn't make sense.
(this is odd - the authors of most books do not feel the need to express views on the clarity of their own text - and this implies that even at the time of Mohammed the text was criticized for being muddled and contradictory.)
Many Muslims state otherwise, but the fact is that a fifth of the Qur’anic text is just incomprehensible, and this is what has caused the traditional anxiety regarding translation.
If the Qur’an is not comprehensible, if it can’t even be understood in Arabic, then it’s not translatable into any language.
That is why Muslims are afraid.
Since the Qur’an claims repeatedly to be clear, but is not - there is an obvious and serious contradiction.
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| Crusaders |
Quite rightly, Christian saw Islam as a heretical form of Christianity - hence the Crusades with regards to Islam - and in fact Islam is an eclectic, syncretic amalgam of various Jewish, Christian and Gnostic narratives and doctrines.
The Jews in the Arabian Peninsular
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
The first mention of Jews in the areas of modern-day Saudi Arabia dates back, by some accounts, to the time of the First Temple.
Immigration to the Arabian Peninsula began in earnest in the 2nd century CE, and by the 6th and 7th centuries there was a considerable Jewish population in Hejaz, mostly in and around Medina, in part because of the embrace of Judaism by such leaders as Dhu Nuwas (who was very aggressive about converting his subjects to Judaism, and who persecuted Christians in his kingdom as a reaction to Christian persecution of Jews), and Abu Karib Asad.
There were three main Jewish tribes in Medina before the rise of Islam in Arabia.
These were the Banu Nadir, the Banu Qainuqa, and the Banu Qurayza.
Banu Nadir was particularly hostile to Muhammad's new religion.
Muhammad's views on Jews were demonstrated through the contact he had with Jewish tribes living in and around Medina.
His views on Jews include his theological teaching, describing them as 'People of the Book' (Ahl al-Kitab), his description of them as earlier receivers of Abrahamic revelation; and the failed political alliances between the Muslim and Jewish communities.
After his migration (hijra) to Yathrib (Medina) from his home-town of Mecca, he established an agreement known as the 'Constitution of Medina', between the major Medinan factions, including the Jewish tribes of Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Nadir, and Banu Qurayza, that secured equal rights for both Jews and Muslims, as long as Jews remained politically supportive.
Muhammad later fought battles with these tribes on the basis of alleged violations of the constitution.
In the course of Muhammad's proselytizing in Mecca, he viewed Christians and Jews, both of whom he referred to as "People of the Book", as natural allies, sharing the core principles of his teachings, and anticipated their acceptance and support.
Muslims, like Jews, were at that time praying towards Jerusalem.
Many Medinans converted to the faith of the Meccan immigrants both before and after Muhammad's emigration, but only a few came from Jewish backgrounds, because most of the Jewish community rejected Muhammad's status as a prophet.
Jews would normally be unwilling to admit that a non-Jew could be a prophet - (despite the fact that Jews and Arabs were both Semites, and creations of the Archon Demiurge).
It should be noted that Muhammad was appearing centuries after the cessation of biblical prophecy, and couched his message in a verbiage foreign to Judaism, both in its format and rhetoric.
As Muhammad taught that his message was identical (?) to those of previous prophets (such as إبراهيم (Ibrahim), Moses, and Jesus), the Jews were furthermore in the position to make some Muslims doubt about his 'prophet-hood'; - the Jews could argue that some passages in the Qur'an contradicted their ancient scriptures.
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| Ismael and Isaac |
Now for those who wish to understand the teachings of the Æons - 'A gift to those who would seek - And to those who would know,' it must be understood that the Arabs are Jews - 'creatures of a lesser god'.
They are (as is explained below) the descendants of إسماعيل - יִשְׁמָעֵאל - Ismael - the illegitimate son of إبراهيم - Ibrahim by هاجر - הָגָר - Hagar, Ibrahim's concubine.
Their religion therefore is illegitimate, in that it is a spurious combination of Judaism and Christianity - both false religions of the Demiurge - and their enmity towards their legitimate brothers, the Jews, who are the descendants of إسحاق - יִצְחָק - Isaac is eternal.
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| Ibrahim - Abraham |
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| 'Hagar and Ismael' Jean Charles Cazin - 1880 |
While his knowledge of Ibrahim came from the Old Testament and material based on that, Abraham could be regarded as the ancestor of the Arabs through إسماعيل - יִשְׁמָעֵאל - Ismael.
It was also an undeniable fact, however, that Abraham was not a Jew or a Christian, since the Jews are either to be taken as the followers of Moses, or as the descendants of Abraham's grandson, Jacob.
At the same time Abraham had stood for the worship of God alone.
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| Ka‘bah at Mecca |
Despite being a Semite (a Jew) himself, Muhammad became increasingly hostile to the Jews over time, as he believed that there were irreconcilable differences between their religion (supposedly a distortion of the true Abrahamic faith) and his, especially when the belief in his prophetic mission became the criterion of a true Moslem.
When the Jewish community challenged the way in which the Koran appropriated numerous Biblical accounts and personages; for instance, its making Abraham an Arab (?), and the founder of the Ka‘bah at Mecca, Muhammad viewed it as a personal attack.
Muhammad and Christianity
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| Byzantine Arms © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
More significantly, at the age of nine, Muhammad went to Syria with his uncle, and had prolonged interactions with Christians.
It should be noted, however, that these Christians were Jewish orientated Christians, who rejected the Orthodox and Catholic Trinitarian doctrine and Christology, and embraced a Jewish, monotheistic approach to the nature of Christ, and the nature of the Godhead.
It should be noted, however, that these Christians were Jewish orientated Christians, who rejected the Orthodox and Catholic Trinitarian doctrine and Christology, and embraced a Jewish, monotheistic approach to the nature of Christ, and the nature of the Godhead.
One important contact was with the Nestorian monk Bahira in Bosra, Syria who foretold to the adolescent Muhammad his future prophetic career.
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| Nestorious of Constantinople |
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| Arius of Alexandria |
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius of Alexandria (c. AD 250–336), a Christian presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of God the Father to the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Arius asserted that the Son of God (Jesus) was a subordinate entity to God the Father.
What attracted Mohammed to Arianism was the fact that Arians do not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity.
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| The Story of Moses and the Exodus |
It was evident, however, from the Qurʾān, that Mohammed, due to his obvious lack of education, had understood neither the Jewish or Christian scriptures, or the beliefs that derived from those scriptures.
In much of Qurʾān which was not 'channelled' from Jibril, Mohammed recounts many of the stories he had poorly remembered from the Jewish Pentateuch (the 'Five Books of Moses'), including the story of Adam and Eve, the Story of Abraham, and the Story of Moses and the Exodus.
Also included, and coming from the Gospels is Mohammed's version of the Nativity Narrative, and details about the death of Jesus.
Islam was in fact an Arabic Christian sect (like Ebionism), based on the recorded 'Ebionite faith' of Khadija, Muhammad’s first wife.
The later hadith and biographies have are therefore, in large part legends, instrumental in severing Islam from its Christian roots, and building a full-blown, and supposedly new religion.
The Qu’ran itself is a redaction, in part, of other sacred scriptures, in particular the Judaeo-Christian scriptures.
Islam’s understanding of Jesus has strong similarities to Ebionism but also to Docetism.
In the Koran 4:156 it is stated that: “…but they did not kill him, and they did not crucify him, but a similitude was made for them…”
Islam was in fact an Arabic Christian sect (like Ebionism), based on the recorded 'Ebionite faith' of Khadija, Muhammad’s first wife.
The later hadith and biographies have are therefore, in large part legends, instrumental in severing Islam from its Christian roots, and building a full-blown, and supposedly new religion.
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| 'Crucifixion' © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
Islam’s understanding of Jesus has strong similarities to Ebionism but also to Docetism.
In the Koran 4:156 it is stated that: “…but they did not kill him, and they did not crucify him, but a similitude was made for them…”
It is obvious that Muhammad obtained his information about Christianity from various Gnostic Christian groups - (he refers to the monks in the desert) - who were 'Docetists', who were active in the middle East at the time.
Ἐβιωναῖοι - Ebionites - derived from Hebrew אביונים ebyonim, ebionim, meaning "the poor" or "poor ones", is a term referring to a Jewish Christian movement that existed during the early centuries of the Christian Era. They regarded Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity, and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish law and rites. They used only one of the Jewish–Christian gospels, revered James, the brother of Jesus, (James the Just), and rejected Paul the Apostle as an apostate from the Law. Their name suggests that they placed a special value on voluntary poverty. The Ebionites shared Islamic views about Jesus' humanity. One of the first men to believe in the prophet-hood of Muhammad was possibly an Ebionite monk named Waraqah ibn Nawfal, the distant cousin of Mohammed, whom Muslims highly honor as a pious man with a supposedly deep knowledge of the Christian scriptures. It is important to note that the Christianity Muhammad encountered on the Arabian peninsula was not the state religion of Byzantium, but a schismatic Christianity characterized by Ebonite and Monophysite views.
Docetism (Greek δοκεῖν/δόκησις dokein (to seem) /dókēsis (apparition, phantom), a sectarian doctrine, “Docetism” claimed that Jesus Christ had appeared as an illusion, that he had not had a real or natural body, and that his crucifixion had only been an illusion. It emerged in the 2nd century, mingled with gnostic schools and resurfaced in the 7th century in the Islamic view of crucifixion. Mohammed, as a result of his 'studies' with Christian monks, offered the Docetic theory that all the acts and sufferings of Jesu’s life, including the Crucifixion, were mere appearances. It consequently denied Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.
Docetism (Greek δοκεῖν/δόκησις dokein (to seem) /dókēsis (apparition, phantom), a sectarian doctrine, “Docetism” claimed that Jesus Christ had appeared as an illusion, that he had not had a real or natural body, and that his crucifixion had only been an illusion. It emerged in the 2nd century, mingled with gnostic schools and resurfaced in the 7th century in the Islamic view of crucifixion. Mohammed, as a result of his 'studies' with Christian monks, offered the Docetic theory that all the acts and sufferings of Jesu’s life, including the Crucifixion, were mere appearances. It consequently denied Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.
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| Crusaders |
This is one of the main reasons why Crusades were mounted against Muslims - and it is significant that Crusades, as such, were not mounted against distinctly non-Christian groups.
The Muslims, of course, perversely insisted that their new 'manufactured' religion was, in fact, the true Abrahamic Semitic Monotheism.
The Tribe
Both of the Demiurgic Semitic religions (Judaism and Islam) are fundamentally tribal religions.
Mohammed was a low status member (because he was an orphan) of the قریشی Qureyshi tribe (banu Quraish).
The tribe had its origins in the city of مكة المكرمة Mecca, in the Arabian peninsular.
The tribe was a branch of the Banu Kinanah tribe, which descended from the Khuzaimah.
The tribe was the premier (أنبل most noble) tribe in Mecca.
At the time of Muhammad’s birth, his grandfather Abdul-Muttalib was the tribal head.
The Ka'aba
At the time of Muhammad (570–632 AD) the Quraysh, was in charge of the Ka'aba, which was, at that time, a shrine containing hundreds of idols representing Arabian tribal gods and other religious figures.
The Ka'aba was important to the Quraysh as, being a centre of pilgrimage, it bought into Mecca money and resources which made the Quraysh rich and powerful.
Mohammed, however, wanted to make the Quraysh even more rich an powerful by creating a religion that would unite Jews, Christians and Arabs and bring them all to Mecca.
(It must be remembered that at the time there were many Jews and Christians living on the Arabian peninsular).
Mecca was originally a place called Macoraba, mentioned by Ptolemy, and found in a 3rd-century BC map.
The Ka'aba, situated in Mecca, was at some point dedicated to Hubal, a Nabatean deity, and contained 360 idols that probably represented the days of the year.
The Nabataean Kingdom (Arabic: المملكة النبطية), also named Nabatea, was a political state of the Arab Nabataeans during classical antiquity. Nabataea remained independent from the 4th century BC until It was annexed by the Roman Empire in AD 106, which renamed it Arabia Petrea.
Circumambulation was often performed naked by male pilgrims.
Circumambulation (from Latin circum around - ambulātus to walk) is the act of moving around a sacred object or idol. Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of devotions in Christianity and Islam.
By Muhammad's day, the Kaaba was venerated as the shrine of Allah (the God), - the High God.
Once a year, tribes from all around the Arabian peninsula, whether Christian or pagan, would converge on Mecca to perform the Hajj, thus encouraging the belief that Allah was the same deity worshiped by monotheists - Christians and Jews, as well as Arabs.
In order to bring Judaism into Islam it was claimed by Muhammad that the Ka'aba had been constructed by Ibrahim and Ismael.
Although certain Arab traditions recounted that آدم - Adam constructed the original Kabba, which was demolished by the Great Flood at the time of Noah, Ibrahim was held to have rebuilt it in its original form.
The Quran, in the Muslim perspective, merely confirms or reinforces the laws of pilgrimage.
The rites were supposedly instituted by Ibrahim, and for all Muslims, as they perform the pilgrimage, and the event is seen as a way to return to the perfection of Ibrahim's faith.
Just as Medina is referred to as the "City of the Prophet [Muhammad]" or simply the "City of Muhammad", Mecca is frequently cited as the "City of Ibrahim", because Ibrahim's reformation of the purified monotheistic faith took place purely in Mecca.
The Tribe
Both of the Demiurgic Semitic religions (Judaism and Islam) are fundamentally tribal religions.
Mohammed was a low status member (because he was an orphan) of the قریشی Qureyshi tribe (banu Quraish).
The tribe had its origins in the city of مكة المكرمة Mecca, in the Arabian peninsular.
The tribe was a branch of the Banu Kinanah tribe, which descended from the Khuzaimah.
The tribe was the premier (أنبل most noble) tribe in Mecca.
At the time of Muhammad’s birth, his grandfather Abdul-Muttalib was the tribal head.
The Ka'aba
At the time of Muhammad (570–632 AD) the Quraysh, was in charge of the Ka'aba, which was, at that time, a shrine containing hundreds of idols representing Arabian tribal gods and other religious figures.
The Ka'aba was important to the Quraysh as, being a centre of pilgrimage, it bought into Mecca money and resources which made the Quraysh rich and powerful.
Mohammed, however, wanted to make the Quraysh even more rich an powerful by creating a religion that would unite Jews, Christians and Arabs and bring them all to Mecca.
(It must be remembered that at the time there were many Jews and Christians living on the Arabian peninsular).
Mecca was originally a place called Macoraba, mentioned by Ptolemy, and found in a 3rd-century BC map.
The Ka'aba, situated in Mecca, was at some point dedicated to Hubal, a Nabatean deity, and contained 360 idols that probably represented the days of the year.
The Nabataean Kingdom (Arabic: المملكة النبطية), also named Nabatea, was a political state of the Arab Nabataeans during classical antiquity. Nabataea remained independent from the 4th century BC until It was annexed by the Roman Empire in AD 106, which renamed it Arabia Petrea.
Circumambulation was often performed naked by male pilgrims.
Circumambulation (from Latin circum around - ambulātus to walk) is the act of moving around a sacred object or idol. Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of devotions in Christianity and Islam.
By Muhammad's day, the Kaaba was venerated as the shrine of Allah (the God), - the High God.
Once a year, tribes from all around the Arabian peninsula, whether Christian or pagan, would converge on Mecca to perform the Hajj, thus encouraging the belief that Allah was the same deity worshiped by monotheists - Christians and Jews, as well as Arabs.
In order to bring Judaism into Islam it was claimed by Muhammad that the Ka'aba had been constructed by Ibrahim and Ismael.
Although certain Arab traditions recounted that آدم - Adam constructed the original Kabba, which was demolished by the Great Flood at the time of Noah, Ibrahim was held to have rebuilt it in its original form.
The Quran, in the Muslim perspective, merely confirms or reinforces the laws of pilgrimage.
The rites were supposedly instituted by Ibrahim, and for all Muslims, as they perform the pilgrimage, and the event is seen as a way to return to the perfection of Ibrahim's faith.
Just as Medina is referred to as the "City of the Prophet [Muhammad]" or simply the "City of Muhammad", Mecca is frequently cited as the "City of Ibrahim", because Ibrahim's reformation of the purified monotheistic faith took place purely in Mecca.
Subsequent Developments
Within 80 years of Mohammed's death in 632 A.D. his followers had spread the Muslim religion and kingdom throughout the Middle East, Egypt, North Africa and Spain.
The Demiurge wished to see Islam supersede both Christianity and Judaism.
Christianity had originally been intended to be an updated form of Judaism - spreading the worship of, and obedience to Yaweh throughout Europe (via the Roman Empire), and later the world.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
Christianity, however, with its doctrine of salvation and forgiveness, the doctrine of the Trinity, and the introduction of the feminine with the doctrine of the Theotokos, and the doctrine of the intercessory actions of the Communion of the Saints had strayed far from the original concept of the absolute sovereignty of the Demiurge Yaweh.
Islam, however, introduced the Demiurge as 'Allah' (the 'god'), - the one, all powerful and sovereign 'god' - identical to, but now distinguished from Yaweh.
While the Semitic Jews - the followers of Yaweh - were, after 70 AD, a spent force, living as a minority in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, the Muslims were potentially a world conquering Semitic power under the rule of the Demiurge 'Allah'.
Subsequent events, however, proved this not to be the case, and eventually the Muslim world sank into an era of decline and stagnation, while the Christians apparently went from strength to strength.
Subsequent events, however, proved this not to be the case, and eventually the Muslim world sank into an era of decline and stagnation, while the Christians apparently went from strength to strength.
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| © Copyright Peter Crawford 2014 |
