Islam is a collection of teachings and practices that were common in Arabia
during the time of Muhammad. There were several tribes of Jews preaching
monotheism in Arabia. These Jews had the Torah, along with tons of other
stories that were recorded in the Talmud, and other sources. Many of the
stories in these additional sources were based on Biblical characters, but
they were fictitious. Stories about Abraham being delivered from a fire,
or a bird teaching Cain to bury his brother, or Solomon talking to animals.
Muhammad heard the stories, and now they're in the Qur'an.
There were also a variety of tales about Jesus and Mary, that certain
heretical Christian groups believed, stories about Jesus speaking at birth,
Jesus giving life to clay birds; Mary giving birth under a palm tree, and so on.
No historian on the planet believes that these stories are authentic,
but they were popular in Arabia during the 7th century.
Muhammad heard them, and now they're in the Qur'an.
In Sura 18, Allah tells us that Alexander the Great traveled so far west
he found the place where the sun sets. This was a popular story during
Muhammad's lifetime; Muhammad heard it, now it's in the Qur'an.
The Qur'an even claims that Alexander the Great was a devout Muslim,
when we know historically that he was a complete pagan.
[video=youtube;Rxj41M-xwa0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxj41M-xwa0[/video]
During Muhammad's time, the Sabians, who are mentioned several
times in the Qur'an, recited a creed, "there is no God but Allah."
Muhammad heard this creed and simply added the words, "and
Muhammad is his messenger." The Sabians also prayed at all 5 of
the times Muslims pray during their prescribed daily prayers.
Some of the Persians believed that after death, a paradise of sensual
delights awaited them, complete with houris, the perpetual virgins
Muslims believe they will be awarded in Paradise.
It seems that Muhammad simply took a bunch of the beliefs and
practices the were popular in 7th century Arabia, gave them an
Islamic twist, and incorporated them into his new religion.
The pagans, by the way, thought this was hilarious.
They regularly made fun of Muhammad for believing
everything he heard, so they called him "the ear."
Let's read a passage from Ib'-- about Muhammad
and one of his critics a man named Nabtal bin al-Harith
I have heard that it was of him that the Apostle said, whoever wants
to see Satan let him take a look at Nabtal -- He was a sturdy man
with long flowing hair, inflamed eyes, and dark ruddy cheeks.
He used to come and talk to the apostle and listen to him, and
then carry what he had said to the hypocrites. It was he who said,
Mohammed is all ears. If anyone tells him anything, he believes it.
God sent down concerning him, in Sura 9:61 of the Qur'an, and of
them are those who annoy the profit, and say he is all ears, say,
good ears for you. He believes in God and trusts the believers and
is a mercy for those of you who believe; and those who annoy the
apostle of God, for them is a painful punishment.
So the pagans could tell that Muhammad was simply
adopting stories and practices for Islamic purposes.
Not surprisingly the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, is saturated
in paganism and idolatry. During the Hajj, Muslims walk circles around
the Kaaba, the cubicle shrine that they pray to. They kiss the black stone.
They run back and forth between the hills of Safa and Malwa and so on.
Where do they get these practices? Before Muhammad conquered
Mecca, the Kaaba was a center of pagan worship in Arabia. The
Kaaba was surrounded by three hundred and sixty pagan idols.
24:78 -- Narrated
The prophet entered Mecca, and at that time there were 360 idols
around the Kaaba. He started stabbing the idols with a stick he had
in his hand, and reciting, and say, truth i.e. Islamic monotheism or this
Jihad against polytheists has come, and Satan, or polytheism, has vanished.
This is when Muhammad took control of the Kaaba.
But why would he want to take control of a pagan
temple and make it the center of Islamic worship?
Let's back up a bit. When Muhammad and his followers were in
Mecca years earlier, they prayed facing Jerusalem. The pagans
prayed facing the Kaaba. Muslims prayed facing Jerusalem like
the Jews. You can line up the Kaaba and Jerusalem if you wanted
so that you were facing both, but the direction of prayer was Jerusalem.
When Muhammad was in Mecca he really thought
that the Jews were going to accept him as a prophet.
The Muslim Community eventually moved to Medina, and the Jews
could tell immediately that Muhammad was a false prophet, because
they knew the Torah, and Muhammad only knew some stories that
he had heard. He was all ears, remember.
But Muhammad could not even get those stories right, so the Jews
rejected him, and Allah said to Muhammad in Sura 2:144
Now shall we turn thee to a Quibla that shall please thee. Turn
then thy face in the directions of the sacred mosque. (2:144)
So Allah's goal goal in telling Muslims to face the Kaaba, was
to please Muhammad. It's amazing how much of Islam is
dedicated to pleasing the man who was receiving the revelations.
Why would facing the Kaaba please Muhammad? Two reasons:
One~ he was sending the Jews a message: this is what you get for
rejecting me. Two~ Muhammad had grown up among pagans who
prayed facing the Kaaba and all its idols. So praying to the Kaaba
was normal for them; it felt right. But how could Muhammad justify
praying towards a pagan shrine? Well, just a few versus earlier, (2:127)
Allah declared that the Kaaba was built by Abraham and Ishmael.
Now that's interesting. If it was built by Abraham and Ishmael, why
did Muslims spend more than a decade praying towards Jerusalem?
Why does it seem like Mohammed is inventing this as he goes along?
One of life's great mysteries! (haha I know, right?)
But what evidence do we have that the Kaaba was built by Abraham and
Ishmael? Absolutely none apart from the fact that Muhammad said it.
That's good enough for Muslims, but it shouldn't be. Muhammad had
absolutely no clue what he was talking about, and I can prove it.
3366 narrated Abu Dhar
I said, oh Allah's messenger! Which mosque was first built on the
surface of the Earth? He said, at Makkah. I said, which was built
next? He replied, at Jerusalem. I said, what was the period of
construction between the two? He said, 40 years.
According to Muhammad, there was a 40-year gap between the
construction of the Kaaba and the temple in Jerusalem.
Why is this important? Well, we know when the Jerusalem Temple
was built; Solomon built it in the 10th century BC.
That's more than 1,000 years after Abraham. If Abraham built the
Kaaba, he built it more than a thousand years before Solomon built
the Jerusalem Temple. But Muhammad said they were built 40 years apart.
So we need to ask our Muslim friends, where did Abraham and Ishmael
get their time machine? Because if they didn't have a time machine,
Muhammad was wrong, and we can't trust what he says about the
construction of the Kaaba, and without Muhammad making up
stories about Abraham and Ishmael and the Kaaba, the only
evidence we have tells us that Muslims are bowing down to a
pagan temple and taking a pilgrimage to a pagan temple and
walking circles around a pagan temple.
By the way, why do Muslims walk circles around the Kaaba?
The pagans walked circles around the Kaaba, too.
Why did they do that? This is about half the video transcribed.