The Muslim Religion @ A Glance

If you ever find yourself with time on your hands and want to take on a project sure to drive you crazy, go ahead and research the Muslim religion. I understood the basic tenants of the religion, that 1.8 billion people practiced it, and assumed that Mohammad had carefully written down exactly what he was said to have been told by the angel Gabriel. But as it turns out, only the 1.8 billion number is probably correct. Everything else is a quagmire of competing stories passed down in written and oral forms for one hundred and twenty years before a man first sat down to coalesce literally tens of thousands of remembrances into a somewhat cohesive whole that we know today as the Koran. 

FOR A QUICK OVERVIEW, PLEASE SEE CHRISTIANITY VS MUSLIM RELIGION CHART AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE 

Before I explain how the Koran came to be, I would like to take a moment to explain what I believe were the events and understandings that originally caused Mohammad to write a religious and civil doctrine that would become the dominant belief of the Arab race. This is the only Paper I know of that has revealed these facts in support of its conclusion.  

Mohammad was born in the year 570 A.D. in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. This was a country known as a major ancient pilgrimage site of idolatry. In the center of the city was a square shaped block stone room known as the Kaaba. It was thought by Arabs to have been built by Abraham and his son Ishmael around 2,000 B.C.. Thus, it is considered by Muslims to be the first house of worship. Inside the building were 360 gods worshipped by the Arab Bedouin tribes. On the Lunar New Year, all the tribes would put aside their grievances with one another and come to Mecca to worship their various gods. Muhamad’s tribe was responsible for caring for this pagan temple site. This is the black box we see today on TV, usually in the month of June, when hundreds of thousands of Muslims conduct a Hajj, or required pilgrimage to the site. There, a sea of worshipers are required to circle the box seven times in a counter clockwise direction. This number of seven trips around the box is most probably yet one of many Muslim rituals based on Old Testament Scripture. The Book of Exodus states that Joshua walked around the walls of Jericho seven times, and on the seventh day the walls collapsed. The Hajj crowd is so huge that each year, those who trip or faint, are literally slowly trampled to death. Between 1990 and 2015 there were nine such events killings an average of 555 people per episode. Practicing Muslims worldwide are required to pray towards the Kaaba five times a day.

Muhammad's father Abdullah died six months before he was born and his mother died when he was six. At the age of eight he was adopted by his uncle who made a living as a merchant organizing caravans that then traveled between Syria, the Mediterranean and India. Mohammad learned this trade and excelled. At the age of twenty five he began to work for a wealthy forty year old merchant woman. They married and Mohamad became a wealthy man of leisure. He had two sons who died young and four daughters. His favorite was name Fatimah who married Muhammad’s cousin. 

Mohammad had both Jewish and Christian friends. While he was illiterate, he  attended Bible study groups where he heard Scripture being read. He immediately picked up on and accepted the idea that there was only one true God of Creation. Mohamad also now understood that it was Ishmael who was the first born of Abraham not Isaac, and that his mother Haggar was an Arab from Egypt. He understood that God blessed Ishmael making him the Father of the Arab race that had in fact grown into a number of great nations (Genesis 17:20). He must have wondered how it came to be that his race chosen by God, had become such ardent pagan idol worshippers. But his anger was no doubt stoked when he learned that the Jews had apparently, in his opinion, stolen Ishmael's first born spiritual birth right and given it to Abraham’s second son named Isaac. He saw this as a grave injustice to his noble race. He reasoned that it was this act that ultimately led his race to become a pagan affront to God. His wrath was further inflamed when he was read that his race was so inferior to the Jews that it was considered as nothing more than wild donkeys in the desert. A race that was brutish, ill-tempered and destined for failure. The Book of Genesis states, “He will be a wild donkey of a man, and his hand will be against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; he will live in hostility towards all his brothers.” (Genesis 16: 11-12) 

Starting at the age of forty, Mohamed would regularly go up to a cave on Mount Hira located north of Mecca and meditate in a cave located there. He would consider the pitiful spiritual state of his people, and the fact that the Arabian tribes were always quarreling among themselves. These disagreements were almost always about territorial disputes and differing religious beliefs. He realized that the Jews and Christians were basically united in their religious beliefs concerning a One True Creator God. It occurred to him that Ishmael, as Abraham’s first born son, had actually and rightfully inherited the blessings of God. Thus, it followed that his offspring, the Arab race, were actually God’s chosen people. So now the plan to get God’s chosen race back on tract both nationally and religiously was relatively simple and straightforward. 

One day Muhammad returned home and told his wife that while meditating, he had a vision in which he heard God speak to him through the angel Gabriel. For the next twenty three years he said he received more visions, dreams and at times, voices talking to him in his head. For the first three years, he only told his wife and close friends about these revelations. Then, in 613 A.D. he announced that God had ordered him to begin to preach what he had been taught to the people of Arabia starting in Mecca. By 622 A.D. he had a significant number of converts following him as their spiritual leader. Apparently this caused the pagan temple leaders of Mecca to become aggravated because his growing monotheistic movement was reducing the profits they made from pilgrims visiting various shrines in the city. So, they sought to have Muhammad assassinated. Muhammad fled to the oasis town of Medina located 260 miles north of Mecca. There he was given protection by the Christians of the city. In 625 A.D. and 627 A.D., Mecca sent an army to expel or kill Muhammad, but were repulsed each time by his followers. By 629 A.D.  Muhammad had tens of thousands of followers and an army willing to fight in order to spread his new religion. He first drove the three Jewish tribes of Medina out of the city. He did this because the Jews refused to honor him as a legitimate prophet of God. While he let two of the tribes leave peacefully, he had all the adult males of one tribe executed. However, he allowed the women and children to leave unharmed. He then conquered Mecca and made it his capitol. For the next two and a half years, he led his army on missions that systematically replaced all pagan religions with the worship of only Allah, the name of the ancient Arab moon god of fertility. Sometimes the transition was peaceful and sometimes it involved war. But either way, he did not stop until the entire nation of Arabia accepted Allah as their only god.  

In late May of 632 A.D. he started having severe headaches along with a high fever. He suspected he was dying and gave several last commands. First, he declared that all non-Muslims should be expelled from Arabia. He next freed his slaves and commanded that all other slaves should be treated fairly. He then gave away all his financial wealth and donated all his weapons of war to other Muslims. On the morning of his death, he said goodbye to each of his wives and grandchildren. While the Koran states a man can have up to four wives, Mohammad is estimated as having between eleven and fourteen. The youngest was named Aisha who was six years old when they married and nine years old when the marriage was consummated. On an interesting note, Osama Bin Laden's father Mohammad, was married 22 times, but never to more than 4 wives at a time as per Sharia law. He sired a total of 55 children with Osama being number 15 by his 10th wife. Osama had 5 wives and 24 children. 

Mohammad died on June 8^th 632 A.D. in Medina at the age of 63. He did not leave a Will, nor oversaw the compilation of his many visions, nor gave instructions on who would succeed him, nor how leadership of his religious movement would transpire. Thus, at his death, a leadership confrontation immediately ensued. Initially leadership was given to Muhammad’s very close friend Abu Bakr who established a doctrine and sect known as the Sunni Muslims. However, others thought that the religion should be led by a blood relative of Muhammad. So leadership was given to Muhammad’s cousin who was married to Muhammad’s favorite daughter Fatima. This doctrine and sect is known as the Shia or Shiites. Each sects believes the other to be based on false and blasphemous doctrines in the eyes of Allah. This is why they have been in constant war with each other to this day. 

Muhammad was buried on the spot where he died. Today an elaborate mosque was constructed and houses his mausoleum on public display.

THE GROWTH OF ISLAM

So how was Muhammad able to grow his religious movement so quickly? First, he spent three years formulating his religious doctrine. The doctrine would contain parts of Judaism as found in the first five books of the Old Testament. He also included events in the life of Jesus. However, instead of relying on the Gospels, he also included information gleaned from recent Gnostic writings and biographies written by fiction writers looking to sell them to Christians. These texts were written between one hundred and three hundred years after the ascension of Jesus. Copies of all these writings still exist today, and generations of scholars have unanimous concluded that they are all works of fiction. But Muhammad did not know this when he was quoting them as part of his series of revelations. So, he apparently had been told of these stories, or had them read to him and considered them as true. This is why he included them as part of his supposedly Devine doctrine. His hope was that by including these Jewish and Christian writings in his cannon, he would attract members from these popular major religions. He then needed to include some traditions and legal statutes universally found in pagan rites and Arab society in order to attract pagan worshipers and the general public. Next, he needed to develop a logical way to best present his new and improved religion that would make it attractive to Jews, Christian and pagans living throughout Arabia. Attracting members from these three groups was essential if his movement was to have any chance of putting down roots. He knew that it was going to be difficult to replace the Arabian pantheon of 360 gods that had been worshiped since the time of the Tower of Babel. So, this is how he presented the idea of a one creator god using his well thought out religion of inclusion.  

First, he would be able to say to the people of Arabia that at one time he was a simple illiterate pagan worshipper just like themselves. Then, one day an angel sent from Allah appeared to him. He was then that he began to channel revelation after revelation concerning Allah’s plan for the Arab race who were always his chosen people. The angel explained to him that Abraham was originally of Arab decent and a pagan. Therefore, Abraham was in fact a patriarch of the Arab race and his god was also Allah. Next he would announce that Allah had appointed Abraham as the founder of His religion, and had now appointed Muhammad to continue the mission of spreading the worship of Allah to the people of Arabia. He explained that Abraham’s first born son Ishmael was conceived by an Arab woman from Egypt named Haggar. That Ishmael, as the first born son of Abraham, received the spiritual blessing of God. Then God blessed Ishmael telling him that he would father a great nation (Genesis 17:18-21). In this way, Muhammad would have informed the Arabs that they were a royal race and highly favored by God. However, he would explain that they had fallen into idolatry because the Jews had tricked them into thinking that Abraham’s second born son Isaac received the Spiritual Blessing. But in reality, it was Ishmael that had received the blessing all along. And the greatest news of all was that the angel had revealed this to Mahammad, and now commanded him in the name of Allah, to take these truths and reveal them to his brothers. Allah wanted them to turn from idolatry and thus have the opportunity to achieve an afterlife in Paradise. Interestingly, the name Allah was also a part of Muhammad’s father’s name. 

However, there was one big existential issue Muhammad needed to overcome, and His name was Jesus. Muhammad’s knew that the Christian doctrine of eternal life through faith in Jesus plus nothing else had become incredibly attractive. So, what would be the point of trying to establish yet another religion if it could not better than the one created by Jesus? He understood that this promise by Jesus of eternal life hinged on His death, burial and resurrection. He also understood that the Christian movement was slowly uniting the Jews and pagans under the idea of a Jewish Jesus as a universal Saviour. However, Muhammad wanted to create a monotheistic religion that was uniquely for the people of Arabia. To accomplish this he would need to convince the citizens of Arabia that they were God's chosen people and not the Jews. The Jews could become a part of God's plan, but it would require them to accept Muhammad as their prophet. The Christians could also be a part of Gods plan, but they too would need to accept Muhammad as their prophet. But in the case if Christians, Muhammad would need to explain away the last part of Jesus' mission which was His crucifixion and resurrection.

Jesus was not a problem for Muhammad as a virgin born Jewish miracle worker and prophet from God. But he had a big problem with Jesus when He declared God as His personal Father and that He was part of a Triune Godhead. Muhammad wrongly believed that the Triune Godhead consisted of God the Father, Jesus the Son of God, and Mary the Mother of God. He received this misconception from the doctrine of the early Catholic Church who even today refers to Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Mother of God. Further, Muslims are still taught that the Triune Godhead doctrine of the blasphemous Christians includes Mary.

On an interesting side note, Muhmmad wrote that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. That she was the most perfect woman to have ever lived with his daughter Fatima being the second most perfect woman. And, that Mary would become his wife in Heaven.

Muhammad's existential problem was the understanding that Jesus died for all the sins of Mankind. Therefore, if a person had faith in Jesus plus nothing else, they were guaranteed eternal life. Muhammed now found himself in the exact same position as the High Priest Caiaphas. Jesus had to be taken out of the 'salvation only through Him' equation. Caiaphas also understood that this existential issue of salvation through faith in Him as the Messiah would also make Judaism irrelevant. So, he devised a plot to have Jesus executed by the Romans. Now it was Muhmmad's turn to one up Caiaphas by trying to better explain away the crucifixion and resurrection events.

Muhammad understood that the hastily created Jewish scenario that somehow Jesus followers stole His body in the night was unrealistic. He knew that a Roman "watch" consisted of sixteen solders who would have camped in front of the tomb. Then, groups consisting of four soldiers each, would rotate every three hour guarding His tomb. Therefore, the idea that His body was stolen was ridiculous and easily rejected by Jesus followers. So, Muhammad was faced with trying to come up with a much better way to explain away what happened to Him. He would now reveal what he was personally told by an angel that identified himself as Gabriel. Remember, Satan can appear as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14). He said he was told that Jesus was not crucified. Instead, only a likeness of His crucifixion was shown to the crowds. Here is exactly what Muhammad said on this subject. "They said, we killed the messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the prophet of God … yet they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, only a likeness of that (crucifixion of Jesus) was shown (appeared) to them. Those who disagree concerning him (crucified) surly are in doubt regarding him (this event), they have no (sure) knowledge of him (crucified) except the follow (belief) of surmise (conjecture); they did not kill him of certainty... no indeed; (instead) God raised (raptured) him to himself" (Quran, Sura 4:156-159). Jesus is then said to have hidden Himself during the crucifixion event, and then after the supposed resurrection, later met with his disciples. Some clerics teach that Jesus later went to India to preach. But eventually He did ascended into Heaven to be with the other prophets of God. Muhammad never explained why the angel did not give him the exact details on how the crucifixion event was faked. One would think Muhammad would have been told this as the death and resurrection of Christ is the pivotal event and canon under pinning upon which the entire Christian belief doctrine relies.

Over the past one thousand four hundred years, Muslim clerics have created a variety of scenarios in order to better clarify how Jesus escaped crucifixion by way of "only a likeness" of the crucifixion event "was shown to the witnesses". Here are the current major theoretical explanations in no particular order: A person was crucified but God caused that person to look like Jesus. The person crucified was Judas as punishment for betraying Jesus. The person was Simon of Cyrene who was either confused by the guards as being Jesus when helping to carry the cross, or volunteered to be crucified. A Roman solider was misidentified as Jesus and was accidently crucified. One of Jesus' followers volunteered to be crucified after Jesus promised him he would go to Heaven. The Temple guards broke into a room to arrest Jesus and God made seventeen followers look like Him. Then, one in the group volunteered to be crucified saving the other sixteen and Jesus from this fate. When the guards burst into the room with Judas, God caused Jesus to fly out the window, and Judas to instantly look like Jesus who was then arrested and crucified. The Jews mistakenly carried only an empty resemblance of Jesus to Pilate to be crucified. The image of Jesus on the cross was a projected illusion, mirage or mass hysteria. But, no matter which scenario a Muslim selects on this issue, the point is that Islam insist that Jesus did not die on the cross nor was He resurrected from the dead. In fact, Muhammad personally dictated the shortest prayer in the Muslim prayer book and it states, "There is only one god and he has no son." He also stated, "I am the last and most perfect prophet of god".

We now know today that Muhammad got his idea that Jesus was not crucified from a very popular story written by a Gnostic around 200 A.D. The Gnostic movement was based on a philosophy of Plato. First, they believed in a pantheon of gods. There was one perfect or "higher god" and other lesser flawed gods. Because there was pain and suffering in the world, the world must have been created by an inferior god. Fortunately, the greater god endowed mankind with a piece of himself in the form of a 'spark' or soul. In order to grow this soul, a person would need to learn what was called secret or Divine knowledge. Because salvation was for each individual to achieve, this knowledge would allow the learner to break the chains of the corrupt evil body, and at death ascend to the godhead. There they would become one with god, and in some cases, become a god. There were many Gnostic writings being circulated in the second and third centuries based on this and other theories. Each claimed to contain the secret, Divine truths known to only a few enlightened ones. Buddha took part of this theory and used it in his religious doctrine when he was supposedly enlightened by God. The Mormons also believe that at death, 144,000 devoted male believers will become gods of their own planets.

The Gnostic text Muhmmad obviously had read to him was titled, "The Second Treatise of the Great Seth". In this factious story written by an author influenced by the tenants of Gnosticism, an agent is depicted as having been sent from the 'higher' god to give secret Divine knowledge to those on earth who would listen to him. This knowledge came from the higher god who exists outside of the evil material world. Further, the agent who brings this knowledge will be mankind's Saviour or Redeemer. Now here is the part that attracted Muhammad's attention. To accomplish this mission, this Saviour was given a body that appeared to be human but was in fact not made of flesh and blood. This was necessary because all matter including human flesh was evil and destined to rot. So, Muhammad could now explain that while Jesus was visible and could communicate, He was incapable of suffering pain or being killed as He was not truly human. Further, because of His Divine makeup, He was not actually on the cross, He did not die and so He was not resurrected. Also, the higher god who sent Him would never have approve of His Divine agent being put on a cross in the first place. Thus, what the people saw on the cross was either an apparition, or perhaps a person mistaken for Jesus the higher god's agent.

There can be no doubt that Mohammad took his idea on how to explain away the crucifixion of Christ from this document. And at the same time, he left out the part of the story that states Jesus, as the agent of god, was the Messiah and Savior of the world sent by the 'perfect' god to redeem mankind. He obviously only took the part that explained how Jesus could not and did not die for mankind, and left the rest behind. He also did not know that this Treatise would prove in modern times to be pure fantasy and rejected by scholars as are all Gnostic writings. He was valiantly trying to piece together yet another religious doctrine for yet another race of people who were yet another one of God's chosen people. This propensity of Muhammad to freely string together borrow texts and ideas from existing documents proven to be fictitious, has created hundreds of individual issues that have led Western scholars to seriously question the Divinity of the Koran.

But the bottom line for Muhammad was, he had to explain away the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that guaranteed eternal life. This was absolutely necessary if he was going to create a religious movement tailored to his nation of Arabia and be able to explain that it was superior to Judaism and Christianity. Muhammad simply wanted to establish one religion that united his people as opposed to the 360 gods that was currently dividing them. He had studied Judaism but could clearly see that the Jews saw themselves as superior to the Arab race. He liked the Christian doctrine of peace, but did not like the Jesus' connection with the Jews, and His claim of being the Son of God and Saviour of mankind. He thought he could piece together a theology that combined the best parts of Judaism, Christianity and even some pagan worship rites as a way to create a mutually satisfying religious experiences that everyone could unite behind.

But ultimately, all religions other than Christianity, boil down to their rule books and traditions. All these religions tout that only they are the religion of God. That only they have the rule book authorize by God, and that only the people who follow their rule book and traditions have any chance of being allowed into an afterlife. Thus, all the doctrinal rule books of all the world's religions have one thing in common. They cannot offer redemption because they have no redeemer. So, they can only say to their worshippers that, if they follow all the rules, and if they practice doing good works to others, then maybe they will be allowed into the afterlife. This is because an afterlife is only available if their good works outweigh their bad works. And, if this is the case, then God will be forced to allow that person into Paradise and eternal rest because they have earned it. When Jesus stated that no one can earn salvation through works as it is a gift from God, He became enemy number one of all false religions that have ever or will ever exist.

In the year 613 A.D. Mohamad begin to convert the people of Arabia to his new more perfect religion. Many Islamic scholars theorize that Muhammad may have created his religion exclusively for Arabia and not to be practiced by the surrounding pagan nations. He felt that he had cleverly and generously fused the Jewish Old Testament and Christian New Testaments together along with his own revelations. Thus, he had created an inclusive doctrine that would be attractive to Jews, Christians and Arab pagans. He would explain that the Old Testament including the Book of Genesis was correct except for the minor revision concerning Abraham's spiritually blessing Ishmael instead of Isaac. That the New Testament was also correct except Jesus did not die on the cross so He was not resurrected from the dead. And of course the inclusion of information about the Arabian race as God’s chosen people was sure to please the local pagans. These disparate groups would now come together under the one true religion known as Islam. Thus, Mohamad and his new better religion would have single handily brought the chosen people of God back to God and peace to a troubled nation.  

But immediately there were problems. First, the Arabs not only rejected Mohamad’s message of monotheism, they threatened to kill him. He was literally run out of his home town of Mecca and had to seek refuge 260 miles north in the oasis town of Medina. It was there that the Christians protected him. Next, the Jews who had initially embraced his retelling of the Old Testament would not go along with calling him a prophet of God. They also saw his doctrine as cherry picking stories from the Old Testament and retelling them with Arabs as the heroes. And of course, the Christians came to understand that, while they were for the destruction of the Arabian pantheon of false gods, they could not go along with the idea that Jesus was not crucified so He did not arise from the dead. Mohammad dreams of having cobbled together what he thought was the best of three worlds did not work. Even though he included one hundred and thirty references to the Old and New Testaments in the Koran. 

Muhammad now became extremely upset at the Jews. He originally had his followers pray on Saturday facing towards Jerusalem. But once the Jews rejected him as a “messenger of God” he had a new revised revelation that his followers should start praying on Friday and face towards Mecca his old home town. He also repealed his earlier revelation concerning the following of Jewish dietary laws with the exception of the consumption of pork {the cause of trichinosis}. He also revised his revelation concerning Abrahams connection to the Jews. Instead, he now stated that Abraham was the patriarch of Islam not Judaism, and that Abraham “surrendered himself to Allah”. He would later persecute the Jews by making inflammatory statements about them in the Koran. These statements continue to stoke Arab anti-semitic fervor to this day. However, he wrote that he was appreciative of the Christians who he saw as a kind if misguided people. And, he came to realize that Genesis was right about his people being stubborn in their beliefs and rancorous towards one another. He now understood that in order to get the Arabians to give up their false gods, they were going to have to be conquered by the sword and their gods physically destroyed. One of the great things about receiving revelations is that they can arrive just when you have a problem to solve. In fact, some of Muhammad’s wives use to tease him about his receiving inconsequential revelations about domestic disagreements that involved him getting his way.

 So, in 624 A.D., Mouhammad received a revelation that he needed to “take up the sword” to conquer Arabian cities that refused to accept his new religion. By 630 A.D. he and his military forces had complete control of the nation. Unfortunately, this ability to save people by military conquest continues to this day and plagues Islamic scholars who try valiantly to explain it away. Still, Islam is the only major religion that allows violence to both protect its practitioners and spread its doctrines. This legitimate and sanctioned violence is regularly cited by ultra conservative Muslims who use it in order to further their religious and political causes. Today we hear these groups referred to as extremist. But they are quick to point out that the Koran says that what they are doing is legitimate. Thus, they are not extremist, but instead should be seen as completed or fully Islamic in that their ideology and methodology are only taking advantage of those powers legitimately given to them by Muhammad by way of the Koran. And unfortunately, Muhammad is documented as using these exact methods in these exact ways to achieve these exact same results.  

As for later doctoral additions concerning Muhammad, the Quran does not say that insulting Mohammad is a punishable offence. However, in later centuries it was determined that this was an offence punishable by death. The Koran does not record Muhammad performing any miracles. But in later centuries, miracles were attributed to him. Mohmmad said that Allah told him that he needed to be forgiven of his sins (Koran 40:55, 47:19, 48:2). But in later centuries he was declared free from sin as are all prophets. 

On an interesting note, it was written that when Muhammad received a revelation, it was said he would sweat profusely even on cold days and emit a sound that was similar to snorting. He would also experience pain and a loud ringing in his ears. Today it is theorized by some medical professionals that Muhammad may have suffered from Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (SUDEP). Many people who have this condition display what is termed as “hyper religiosity” and begin to think that they are hearing voices in their heads. In some cases, they believe these voices are from God, and some come to believe they are God. This condition may also have ultimately been the cause of his death as it can become worse with age. One in one thousand who have this inflection die from it. While the Sunni Muslim sect blames a Jewish woman for poisoning him, Muhammad lived three years after this alleged event occurred. On the other hand, the Shiites say that two of his wives killed him so that their fathers could succeed his rule. In either case, Muhammad’s revelations were accompanied with pain, and he suffered a long and agonizing death. This would seem at odds with a man who is revered by Muslims as the final and "greatest of all prophets of Allah”. 

On June 8th., 632 A.D. Muhammad lay dying on his death bed. He told his favorite wife Aisha that he did not know what would happen to him in death. Meaning, he was not sure if he was destined for Paradise or Hell. This is because the only way Islam guarantees access to Paradise is to literally be killed while defending or spreading Islam. This is why jihadis are so excited to go into battle and the possibility of being killed. Muhammad obviously did not die in battle, so he was genuinely worried like all Muslims about facing the judgment scales of God. It would only be then that he would learn if his good works out weighted his bad. Muhammad’s exact words to Aisha concerning this great fear was, “I am not the first messenger sent, nor do I know what will happen to me or you” (Sura 46:9). He then asked God to, “forgive him of his sins and have mercy” (Sura 9:5).  

These final sayings of Muhammad are certainly not the most reassuring remarks from a spiritual leader concerning death and the afterlife. But this is the same understanding as with all major word religions with the exception of Christianity. Its founder uniquely self-sacrificed Himself for the redemption and eternal life of His followers. He then arose from death to prove He could honor His guarantee of God's forgiveness and the reward of eternal life. 

Bottom line, Muhammad appears to have been a man that became consumed with uniting the many pagan and quarreling Arabian tribes. He attempted to do this by establishing a unique national religion. Some understood the wisdom of this project while others did not. Therefore, Muhammad would say he was forced to brutalize some tribes and religions in order to bring order and peace. There is no doubt that Muhammad considered himself a prophet and that he saw himself in the will of his god. Otherwise, how could he have accomplished this major feat of ushering in monotheism to a pagan Arabia in only six years. But, if in fact what he said and did is recorded correctly in the Koran, then it is hard to explain away the many ill arranged inclusions of plagiarisms from the Old Testament, fictional gospel accounts some written hundreds years after Christ, along with innumerable contradictions and incoherencies. These issues make it difficult to believe that the Koran is, as the Muslims insist, “inerrant” let alone “final". A prime example is when Mahammad allowed some Meccan poly-theists to continue worshipping local deities. He later changed his mind on this issue stating that, for him to have made this mistake, he must have unknowingly been “channeled” by Satan. What?!  

The biggest issues with the fidelity of the Koran is that Muhammad received revelations in no particular order for twenty three years. Because he was illiterate, he had to rely on his friends and secretaries to accurately write down his revelations. Plus, he had domestic revelations that only his wives heard. While Muhammad died in 632 A.D., his revelations were not compiled for another one hundred and twenty years. This task was initially said to have been accomplished by Ibn Ishaq. However, his work was subsequently lost but was later found and recomposed by Ibn Hisham who died in 834 A.D. There is still no agreed upon account of exactly how the Koran was assembled nor how the tens of thousands of sayings that were collected were whittled down by way of some verification system.  

Also, because Mohammad died leaving no plan of succession, a major schism immediately occurred which created the Sunni and Shia Muslim sects. Each despises the other and says that the other’s doctrines are blasphemies. Therefore, we must assume that at least one version of the Koran must be very wrong, but which one? There is no agreement on who put together the final version of the Koran or when this occurred. But when the task of pulling together all the various writings was complete, Caliph Uthman ordered that all earlier and rival editions be destroyed. This abruptly ended any chance of modern scholarly research concluding how the Koran came to its final edition, who decided what was kept in and what was throw out, and how these decisions were made.  

Author Richard Carrier wrote that the Koran contains information taken from the Infancy Gospel of James a popular yet proven factious writing originating around 150 A.D. It also takes information found in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew another popular infancy yet factious writing from around 600 A.D. The Koran contains information taken directly from the Jewish Midrash and Talmud which often contain a blend of facts mixed with Jewish legends. And the Koran states that Jews and Christians should follow the Old and New testaments, but then goes on to state that Jesus did not die on the cross. The inclusions in the Quran of preexisting and proven fallacious sources is evidence of a purely human origin. And, Islam’s doctrine of monotheism, the history of creation and prophets up until the time of David is derived largely from the Torah.” (“Observant Sect of Christianity”, by Richard Carrier.info)

On a final note, the real question we need to ask ourselves concerning the legitimacy of Muhammad as a prophet of God is which is more likely. That a man should be used as a transmitter by God to deliver some already existing revelations, or that he should utter some already existing revelations and claim himself to have been ordered by God to do so for the sake of his people?

For more details on the trials and tribulations of Islam, please refer to the following article: Slate.com, "Was Mohammad Epileptic", by Christopher Hitchens, 4.26.07

See chart below detailing major differences between Christian and Muslim Doctrines.