Muhammad was contacted by the angel Gabriel in the year 610 A.D. to bring the word of God back into the Arabic world. The most important teachings he would give to Islamic followers were equality and the preservation of life.
In the beginning Muhammad and his small group of followers were persecuted by the Quraysh, those that ruled Mecca, and he was forced to flee one night to Yathrib later named Medina, a city that had steadily grown in support of the Prophet. Here he became the leader of the city both politically and spiritually. Within the city there were many different religions and all of them were able to live together peacefully.
From here Muhammad fought with the Quraysh as well as a Jewish tribe. During the Battle of Badr this tribe switched sides and when Muhammad's people won the traitors were put to death. The Jewish tribe asked for Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, whom they thought was sympathetic to them, to lay ruling and he was the one to decide upon the death sentence, not Muhammad. The decision was not meant to set a precedent for the future and was not based religiously; the punishment was simply in response to treason.
Overall Muhammad had preached equality between people of different races as well as different religions. His teachings eventually spread throughout the Arabic peninsula and Muhammad was able to see Mecca, his home, embrace Islam before dying. During his year, after completing the first Hajj (Great Pilgrimage) he gave a speech titled, The Farewell Sermon. This speech was intended for all people, not just Muslims.
Essentially Muhammad, as recorded in the Hadith, stated that all people deserved to be treated with respect and honour. Muhammad is also attributed with saying that all people come from Adam and Eve, while all humans are also made of dust, therefore, no person is better than another. Above everything life is to be preserved.
Following the death of Muhammad there were splits within the religion leading to Sunnism, Shi'ism, and Sufism. For the most part these groups would fight amongst themselves, but it was a fundamentalist group following Wahhabism, which was created in the 18th century, that became a radical sect. When it was first created it was not prominent and was believed to be something that would never last. However, during the 1990s two groups claimed to be Wahhabists including al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
These are the groups that are associated with terrorism today and have helped to create such stereotypes around the world of what a Muslim is. According to Reza Aslan in No god but God The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, one of the beliefs of Wahhabists is that the world is divided into two groups, "People of Heaven," themselves, and the "People of Hell," everyone else including other Muslims who are not a part of the Wahhabi movement.
With the attack on New York on September 11, 2001, an important question for Islam was posed to the Muslim world. What would the message of Islam be in the 21st century? Aslan remarks that there is an Islamic Reformation happening and will continue to do so until the religion is able to revert to Muhammad's actual message of tolerance and unity within the world. These two important ideals within Islam were somehow poisoned and replaced by hatred and discord amongst certain groups, even though they are supposedly going back to the Qur'an to confirm their beliefs.
It is important for people to realize the terrorist attacks that occurred in 2001 were done by a radical sect that has turned Muhammad's message from God into something other. Not all Muslims are terrorists, which is something that has become a common stereotype and people often fear those they see as being Islamic.
There is hostility between religions now that people feel was created when Islam first emerged. However, this is not the case as many Christians and Jews lived within Medina during the time of the Prophet. It is true that there have since been religious wars and will continue to be; but, it is important to note Islam as a religion is not actually violent, though it has become a belief associated with Islam.
Recently there was an attack on a soldier in London who was off duty. The man was killed by assailants who ran him down and killed him. The two suspects in the murder are Islamic, which has sparked much hatred in England resulting in a backlash against all Muslims in England including assaults and racist offences across the country.
But is this really the proper way to react or will it push more conflict between all Muslims and the rest of the world? If someone is following their religion, what Muhammad actually taught, could they become radicalized through this hatred?
It's a cycle that needs to stop; but, it's a cycle that seems to play out constantly throughout history. The French Wars of Religion and the Civil Rights Movement are both past examples of conflicts that led to radicalization through ongoing hatred.
Threatened with a Calvinist king in the late-16th Century the Catholic League of France was created and became embroiled in a crusade against all who opposed them; this included moderate French Catholics who wanted peaceful coexistence, not war.
Within the Civil Rights Movement there became extremists on both sides including the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan with members convicted of murder for an act of racial terrorism for bombing the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.
Whether in the 1500s, the 1960s, or today there seems to always be someone pushed to fight for what they think is right, while people are pushed to this cause through the repercussions of violence and hatred created by this group in the first place. Tolerance and acceptance is needed in order to try and stop this cycle.
