( 8 ) " The " Third Rome " and Russia: Russia Inherits the Orthodoxy Legacy. "

By Sodium

Recorded human history tells us that all empires, sooner or later, had fallen, however the reasons might have been. The Eastern Roman Empire, ( or Byzantium for short ), was no exception. Its seat of power, Constantinople, finally fell in 1453 A.D. to the Ottoman Muslim conquest. That was a blow, not only to the great seat of political power, but also to the imperial Orthodox Church whose seat of theological power was also in Constantinople.

In spite of the Byzantium fall, the " great mother " of all Christian churches, world wide, the Orthodox Church has survived till present time in the Middle East, Russia, Balkan, and Greece.

However, the struggle between the Orthodox Church in the East and the Latin Church in the West,( Rome ),continued. " While the psychological blow to Eastern Christianity of defeat and loss of power was huge, it is important to note that Islam did not become the eternal deadly enemy of Christianity in these Eastern reaches of the world; they all lived too close together for that. Whatever the now subject Christians felt about it, there was little choice but intimate coexistence on both sides."

It was the Russian Tsar (Caesar), Ivan III,  who moved quickly after the fall of Constantinople, [ to declare Moscow the " Third Rome " ], as the center of religious power for all Christianity, meaning to the Latin Christianity in Rome and Byzantine Church in the East. Such a title " Third Rome " meant a great deal to Russia: " it represented a messianic vision of a new civilizational and spiritual role, an obligation that had now fallen upon Russia to preserve the true faith of Christianity against the heresies and evil of both Roman Catholicism and Islam."

However, there are historical records which attest to the fact that the Eastern Orthodox Church in Moscow, or the " Third Rome " preferred a coalition with the Muslims of the Middle East than a coalition with Christianity in the West, in Rome. In other words, the division of Christianity into Orthodox Church in the East, ( Russia, the Balkan, the vast majority of the Christians in Middle East plus Greece ), and Latin Christianity in Rome, had reached the point of no return. In other words, the split has become permanent until our present time. Let us read what the Byzantine scholar Vasilios Makrides at the University of  Erfurt argues in this connection:

" It is particularly interesting to observe certain anti Western coalitions [ across ] otherwise incommensurable lines which took place at that time, namely between Orthodox and Muslims in the Eastern Mediterranean area....Orthodox and Ottoman anti-Westernism were far from being identical, but their eventual " cooperation " was not out of the ordinary....An analogous attitude towards Muslims and Western Christians can be observed in thirteenth century Orthodox Russia. Tsar Aleksandr Nevsky gave preference to a coalition with Tatars and Mongols over an anti-Muslim alliance and a union with Rome, which has been proposed to him in 1248 (A.D) by Pope Innocent IV. "

It has become clear that the old Russian Orthodox suspicions of the West has not changed, but might have become greater to the point of another Russian Tsar of several centuries later had repeated what had Tsar, Aleksandr Nevsky, had done in 1248 A.D. If one compares the year of 1248 A.D. in which the Russian Tsar, Alexander Nevsky, made an alliance with the Muslim Tartars and Mongols, with the year 1453 A.D. in which Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire, one would find that even after the passing of 205 year, (that is more than two centuries), the suspicions between the Orthodox Church in Moscow, ( "Third Rome", after the fall of Constantinople ), and the Latin Church in Rome continues unabated, even to the present time of the 21st Century.


In short, what we are witnessing, in this topic, is what Graham Fuller, the author of the book, " A World Without Islam " has made it clear in the following brief paragraph:

" The Russian state is thus revivifying its nationalism, national traditions , and glories in particular through the magnificent cultural vehicle of the Russian Orthodox Church."

All of this attests, once more, to the fact that the state, any state, can use the Church for political expediency and global reaches, if such a state has what is required to do so. Russia has what it takes to do so. And hence, it has inherited the great legacy of the Eastern Orthodox Church, " the great mother " of all Christian Churches known in the realm of Christianity, since day one, when the Eastern Roman Empire adopted it to be its state religion. As one looks around, at that time, one might have found that Russia had parallel powers, if not equivalent powers, to what Byzantium had once, at its peak of geopolitical power. In short, no other power was more qualified to inherit the torch of the Orthodox Church than Russia. And so it was, and so it had come to pass, as we shall see in the next topic. 

END.

Next topic will be topic ( 9 ) Russia and Islam: Byzantium Lives !              

( 7 ) " Shared Echoes: The Protestant Reformation and Islam. "

By Sodium

Although it is good to acquire as much knowledge as possible about the Protestant Reformation, our concern, here, is the " Shared Echoes, "  that might have existed between the Protestant Reformation and Islam. However, there are certain names that carried initially the Reformation movement on their shoulder and all students of history of the Christian Churches must know, since they are the exponents of the Protestant Reformation. They are:

* Martin Luther.
* Ulrich Zwingli
* John Calvin.

The most radical among the three reformers listed above was John Calvin. In fact, he was the brain behind the strict and demanding tenets of the Protestant Reformation. His theological ideology has seemed to me as similar, if not identical, to the Wahhabi Islamic practices, in Saudi Arabia, or perhaps similar to the Hanbali Mathhab, ( School of Thought ), in Islam.

Any reader who is interested in knowing the detailed life of each one of those three reformers can do so by Googling the following words:

Who's Who in the Reformation.

Before touching the " Shared Echoes, " it will be sufficient, here, to know that the Reformation movement started in 1517, in Germany, by a Catholic monk, named Martin Luther. He was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in Rome, after nailing 95 accusations against his own Catholic Church.

According to Graham Fuller, author of the book, " A world Without Islam," Martin Luther had succeeded in his Reformation because he was " directly supported " by certain German princes who were interested in cutting " the power of Church to size."

The Shared Echoes:
=====================
The book contains so many fascinating detailed echoes, or rather similarities between the Protestant Reformation and Islam, one may summarize them in the following important points:

~ Both the Protestant Reformation and Islam have no centralized theological power equivalent to the Catholic Papacy in Rome.
~ Both the Protestant Reformation and Islam adhere firmly to the narrative of their respective theological texts.
~ Because of the absence of a centralized seat of religious power in both the Protestant Reformation and Sunni Islam, they both encountered radical interpretations of the narrative of their respective theological texts, by radical adherents to their respective faith. ( Please notice the two words, "Sunni Islam," because this point does not apply on Shi'i Islam.)

Some Interesting Quotations From The Book Being Reviewed:
=======================================================
" The state is an attractive target for any reformer of society, religious or secular, for its capture provides the means-persuasive or coercive-to impose and implement religious values within society."

" For all of the period's intense focus on theology, it was its political and social forces that drove the Reformation. "

" Above all, the Reformation carried huge and deliberate political implications for the German princes and other northern European rulers. Where you stood on Reformation theology depended on where your economic and political interest lay.
    We have seen this in the turmoil of a changing Mecca, the shift from tribal to more mercantile values, and the loss of more traditional tribal safety nets and  the emergence of Muhammad. Jesus, too, was emerging in a new social environment in which among other things, Galilee was hostile to the economic and religious power of Jerusalem. "

" Those self-trained theologians challenge the state over the proprietorship of Islam. " it is not your Islam, it is my Islam," as one street placard put it. It is the fundamentalists, trained or untrained, who seek to apply Islam and lend it relevance-to use it as an instrument for political and social reform, to change or overthrow the state that they see as serving neither Islam nor the people. "

Some Thoughts/Views of the Christian Reconstructionists:
=====================================================
There is a small segment of the adherents to Protestantism, calling itself Reconstructionists. Although they are  small in number, in comparison to the total number of  Protestants in the world, they have a rather effective influence on the politics of the Christian Right.

I have found the following paragraph in the book, " A World Without Islam, " to be revealing about the Reconstructionists' view points and thoughts:

"  For reconstructionists, TOLERANCE is not neutral concept that acknowledges validity of all religious belief before the law; instead, they speak of a "Christian tolerance" that permits equal treatment but not equal ACCEPTANCE of all doctrine. Reconstructionists would not seek to regulate personal BELIEFS, but would regulate PUBLIC ACTIONS and behavior. This view is remarkably similar to some Islamists who advocate Shari'a law under nearly identical terms. In this view, tolerance within an Islamic state means just that-the state will tolerate other beliefs, but that does not imply acceptance of equal doctrinal validity. "

I must admit that I had almost skipped quoting the above quotation, because the author of the book had/has used, in it, the word " Islamists," which had/has been used by the Islamophobes to imply something evil, to a point that had compelled ( and wisely ) the Associated Press to refrain from using it in its news reporting and forecasting. However, I have overcome my own disagreement concerning the author's usage of the word, " Islamists, " because the paragraph, in the book, was so explicit about the reconstructionists' thoughts/view points; and the probable echoes that might have existed in thoughts/view points with the advocates of Shari'ah Law, among some adherents to the Islamic faith.

END.

Next topic will be topic ( 8 ) The " Third Rome " and Russia: Russia Inherits the Orthodox Legacy.


           

On The Occasion Of EID EL-FITR.

To: The Muslim Readers of this Website and My Muslim Friends.

From: Sodium.

Today is the first day of EID ELFITR. On this occasion, I wish my Muslim friends and the Muslim readers of this website, across the globe, the best of wishes and a Happy Eid.

May the future be kind to all Muslims in the world, especially in the Western World, where abusive and orchestrated campaigns are being waged against them and against Islam. These abusive and orchestrated campaigns have been conducted, for so many years, if not decades, by some Islamophobes, either based on ignorance, at best, or for serving their own political or religious agenda, at worst.

Once again, I wish you the best of wishes and Happy Eid.

Sincerely,
Sodium.

Note: The series of topics on the reviews of the book, " A World Without Islam " by Graham Fuller, will resume some times after the Eid.  

A Beautiful Muslim Prayer For The Fasting Month Of Ramadan

By Sodium

I have come lately across a short, meaningful and above all beautiful prayer for the month of Ramadan. I have felt that it is incumbent upon me to pass it to my Muslim friends, just in case they were unaware of its existence:

In English Alphabets but Arabic Words:
===================================
" Allahuma, Eni Laka Sumto, Wa Beka AAmunto, Wa Alyka Tawakulto, Wa Ala Rezqika Aftarto. "

Translation to English:
====================
" O' God. for YOU I have fasted, and in YOU I have believed, and upon YOU I have faithfully depended, and upon/from YOUR bounty I broke my fasting. "

Very Beautiful, indeed, when one remembers that the solid rock foundation of Islam is " Al-Towheed," which means " The Oneness of God," that was rejected by the vast majority of Meccans who worshiped then three goddesses made of stones; and were kept in Ka'ba. The names of the three goddesses were:

*  Al-Lat.
*  Al-Uzza.
*  Manat.

I wish I had come across the prayer quoted above at the beginning of Ramadan, not at about the middle of it, since only 14 days left for the month of Ramadan to be over, for this year. But, as the wise people say: it is better late than never.

Ramadan Kareem for all Muslims everywhere.....
 

( 6 ) " The Great Crusades (1095-1272) "

By Sodium

From the very beginning of the chapter of this topic, Graham Fuller, author of the book entitled, " A World Without Islam," attracts the curiosity of the reader by asking the following two questions:

Question One:
================
" Could there even have been crusades in the absence of Islam in the Holy Land? "

Question Two:
================
" In a way, what historical event could be more about religion than the Crusades?

Answering the Two Questions:
==========================
The answer to the first question can " apparently " be found in the speech through which Pope Urban II called on all Christians in Western Europe to wage wars against the Muslims in the Holy Land to make sure the Holy City of Jerusalem would not remain in Muslim hands but Western Christian hands. Please notice that the world, " apparently " has been used as part of the answer given. In other words, the real reasons for such a call for crusades against the Muslims in the Holy Land extend further than what the " apparent " answer that was given. In fact some of the reasons can be deduced from the speech itself given by Pope Urban II himself. No need is necessary to quote the entire speech to comprehend some of the reasons, but the following two quotations from Urban's speech will suffice:

Quotation One:
================
    "O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race ( the Pope meant Arabs and Turks by the word, "race" ) which worship demons, should conquer a people which has the faiths of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name of Christ."

Quotation Two:
================
" Let those who for a long time have been robbers, now become Knights. Let those who have been fighting against their brothers and sisters now fight in a proper way against the barbarians."

Based on those two quotations, one can deduce the following points:

~  Pope Urban II had clearly called for violence, violating one of the most important tenets of Christianity, which Jesus Christ had taught and preached.

~  Quotation One, as quoted above, clearly shows the depth of hatred Pope Urban II had held towards the Muslims and their religion, ( calling their religion, demons ), in spite of the recorded fact that Jesus preached: " Love your enemy."
 
~  Quotation Two, as quoted above, has clearly revealed that Pope Urban II had other non-Islamic and non-religious reasons to call for wars against the " Barbarians," by changing suddenly and immediately the status of robbers into Knights so that they could join in the Crusades and fight as Knights, not as robbers. The Pope sounded as having very serious and difficult social problems within the realm of Christianity in Western Europe and found calling for Crusades might help him overcome his serious social and probably economic problems. Why did robbers exist, in the first place, in his realm of Christianity, if there were no serious economic problems beside the social ones?

The two quotations quoted above, plus the discussion that followed them, have answered the first question that has been raised by Graham fuller, author of, " A World Without Islam."

The answer to the second  question, as raised by Graham Fuller, and I repeat it, here, as a reminder:  " In a way, what historical event could be more about religion than the Crusades ? " is as follows: The answer to this question is obviously and most likely there is none. Almost 200 years of Crusades, in the name of Christianity against Islam and Muslims were waged; and yet at the end the Crusaders were expelled out, not only from the Holy Land, but also from the entire Middle East region in which they established their own City-States, across the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, even deeper than the Mediterranean coast line, like their ruined huge castle in the town of Karak, in southern Jordan.

The author has given detailed accounts, or rather detailed descriptions of what the Crusaders had done after Pope Urban II made his speech, calling for Crusades against Muslims and Islam. Anyone who is interested in reading the atrocities and criminalities of the Crusaders, during the entire period of Crusades, from 1095-1272 A.D, can find them in history books or in the Internet. I personally prefer reading the history books, since what has been published on the Internet is subject to deletions. The books remain as they were published, as long as they existed. However, the following recorded criminal acts are worth mentioning, here, to show that the hidden and unannounced agenda for the Crusades was fundamentally geopolitical whose big prize was hegemony of the West over the East which at the end had failed:

*  The first act of criminality committed by the former robbers whose status was changed by Pope Urban II from Robbers to Knights was killing of Jews who were living in the Rhineland of Germany. The Crusaders' threat to the Jews was: " Christianize or Death. "  As a results, many Jews had committed suicide. The hatred of Jews in Western Christianity stems from some people's mind-set that the Jews were the ones who killed Jesus Christ. In my opinion, what is in the mind-set of those Christians who hate Jews is a myth. I may tackle that issue in a future essay which may, indeed, show it was ( and still is ) a myth.

*  In their way to the Holy Land in Palestine, Crusaders stopped by Constantinople killed their fellow Christians and destroyed the city in the process.

*  In another Crusades, the Crusaders stopped by Greece and killed their fellow Christians who followed the Greek Orthodox Church, not the Papacy in Rome.

* Still in another Crusades, the Crusaders stopped by the Balkans and killed their fellow Christians who followed the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia, not the Papacy in Rome.

The above examples related to the murderous nature of the Crusaders against the Jews, and their own fellows Christians in Constantinople, Greece and the Balkans, clearly shows that geopolitics for hegemony was deeply amalgamated with the Western Christianity which wanted to save the Holy City of Jerusalem from the hands of the Muslims " infidels."

And I would leave the rest of the atrocities and criminalities committed by the Crusaders at that, for this topic.

What Two Knowledgeable Experts Say About The Crusades:
==================================================
At this point of the topic, it is worth quoting one important quote the author of the book has quoted.  The following quote is by Carol Hillenbrand, a specialist in the History of the Crusades:

" Contact with the Muslim world gave the Europeans a taste for all kinds of commodities, including ivory, inlaid, metalwork and other luxury goods that came from the Arab World. Of these the most important were textiles: damask, fustian, muslin, organdie, satin and taffeta."

" Crusaders returning home from the Holy Land speak of the exotic countries they had left behind. The phenomenon of Orientalism from the 18th century onward and its manifestations in Western art and literature, so powerfully described in recent times by (the late) Edward Said fed on the heritage of the Crusades. The Muslim world was the place of deserts, walled cities, veiled women, harems, eunuchs, bathhouses, intrigues, outlandish animals, clothing, languages, luxuries and an alien religion; in short, a land of romantic mystery and danger "

And finally, Graham Fuller, author of the book, " A World Without Islam, " has expressed some of his own views,  as follows;  and I quote him below:

" Islam today is a convenient shorthand to characterize the immense geopolitical complexities that made the saga of the Crusades. The Crusades are now part of the pantheon of the East-West tensions. Yet, we noted some of the early foundation of this struggle well before the appearance of Islam in the regional rebellions inside the Byzantium Empire against Constantinople; these movements embraced various religious banners (heresies) as vehicles and symbols for what was basically a contest for territory and power. These tensions preexisted Islam, ran parallel to Islam and still exist within the Middle East today. Could have been Crusades without Islam?  Perhaps not in quite same form, but a restless and ambitious Europe would probably found its way quickly enough to the East, in any case. It had already launched war against other border areas of Europe. If the distracting factor of Islam had never existed, the tensions between Rome and Constantinople would likely have been far more direct and confrontational than they were even at the time."

Final words From The Writer Of This Review:
============================================
If I refrain from pointing out that I have one single disagreement, however small, in this topic, I will be less than an honest man. My disagreement has to do with semantics, not with the substance of the chapter of this topic:

Calling the Crusades as " The Great Crusades " is totally unacceptable to me.. On the contrary, I would call them " The Murderous Crusades, " or " The Horrible Crusades, " or some other similar descriptions as these two descriptions I have just mentioned, but never " The Great Crusades."

I repeat that my disagreement is in semantics, not in the substance of the chapter of this topic.

END.

Next topic will be topic ( 7 ) Shared Ecoes: The Protestant Reformation and Islam.
      .   

( 5 ) " Islam Meets Eastern Christianity. "

By Sodium

This is the third time I write a review to this topic. And in each of the three times, I have found myself compelled to change the narrative of the review, for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons has to do with the length of the review. Another reason has to do with what is important to include in, and what is un-important to exclude out of this current review. However, the main reason was the deletion or disappearance of most of the first two posts I personally posted on the Internet. The other reasons mentioned in the foregoing were by-products of the deletion or disappearance that had occurred initially. What has caused the deletion or disappearance, I simply do not know. I can only assume and my assumption could be totally wrong.

In short, the readers who are interested in the struggles within the realm of Christianity and within the two competing Roman Empires, in Rome and Constantinople respectively, before the appearance of Islam, can read or consult (3) Power, Heresy, and Evolution of Christianity; and topic (4) Byzantium versus Rome: Warring Christian Polarity. Both topics have already been covered, as integral parts of the whole review, from beginning till end. Therefore, there is no need, of me, to go all over again discussing or even listing the factors that had made the whole Greater Syria ready to embrace the new spirit the conquering Muslim Arabs brought with them from Arabia. That brings us to the essence of this topic." Islam Meets Eastern Christianity. "  In other words, what had the conquering Muslim Arabs had done to the Christians of Greater Syria which they ruled ?  The first allegation surfaced in Christendom was that the conquerors had spread their Islam, in the territories they conquered and ruled, was by the power of their swords. Let us put this allegation under scrutiny and then decide upon  its validity. How can we do that ?  Well, one avenue available is to read what some of the professional historians have written about such an allegation and I quote below what they have written, precisely as they are quoted in the book entitled, " A World Without Islam " by Graham Fuller:

Historian Arnold Toynbee:
=========================
" In the first place we can discount the tendency -which has been popular in Christendom- to overestimate the extent of the use of force in the propagation of Islam. The show of adherence to the religion exacted by the Prophet successors was limited to the performance of a small number of not very onerous external observances....In the conquered provinces of the Roman and Sassanian Empires the alternatives offered were not "Islam or death" but "Islam or a super-tax"- a policy traditionally praised for its enlightenment when pursued long afterwards in England by Laodicean [religiously disinterested] Queen Elizabeth."

Historian of Islam, Ira Lapidus:
==========================
" The Arab conquerors did not require the conversion as much as the subordination of non-Muslim peoples. At the outset [the Arab conquerors] were hostile to conversions because new Muslims diluted the economic and status advantages of the Arabs."

" At the time of the conquest, Islam was meant to be a religion of the Arabs a mark of caste unity and superiority. The Arabs had little missionary zeal. When conversions did occur, they were an embarrassment because they created status problems and led to claim for financial privileges."

" And this privileged position for Arabs within Islam, of course, directly contrary to the final address of the Prophet himself:

[    O' people ! Verily your Lord is one and your father is one. All of you belong to one ancestry of Adam and Adam was created out of clay. There is no superiority for an Arab over a non-Arab and for a non-Arab over an Arab; nor for white over the black nor for the black over the white except in piety. Verily the noblest among you is he who is the most pious.]

" The Arabs were changed from a clan or tribal people into an "urban" peple, mingled with non-Arab peoples, abandoned military affairs, took on civilian occupations and lost their monopoly on Islam. Correspondingly, non-Arab peoples entered the military and government services, converted to Islam, adopted the Arabic language, and claimed a place in the government of the empire in which they were initially subjects."

Professor of Medieval Islam, Merlin Swartz:
=========================================
" Most of the Jewish population was discontented with their persecuted status within the Byzantium Empire and welcomed the Muslim armies, whose rule would turn out to facilitate a new flowering of Jewish culture."

The author has quoted more quotes, but the above quotations should suffice to refute the allegation that Islam was spread by the sword as Muslim Arabs conquered and ruled Greater Syria and other Christian provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Jerusalem and Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab:
==========================================
The following story is not in the  book, but from me, based on what I have already read about how the city of Jerusalem when it fell, without blood shed, into the hands of the conquering Muslim Arabs. In my views, It is a fascinating story that must repeatedly be told over again and again to prove one point: one of the fundamental abstract characteristics of Islam is, indeed, tolerance. Here below is the story:

As the conquering Muslim Arabs surrounded the walled city of Jerusalem, they demanded from the city's leaders, who were mostly Christian religious leaders, to surrender peaceably to avoid blood shed. The city leaders responded that they would surrender the city key only to Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab to ensure safety for the city's population. The Commander of the sieging Arab army sent a message to Omar, informing him of the response received from the city's religious leaders. In order to avoid blood shed, he ( Omar ) accompanied his servant and traveled, on a camel, from Mecca to Jerusalem-a very long ride. Omar instructed his servant that he ( Omar ) and his servant should take turns in riding the camel in order both of them could arrive to Jerusalem in acceptable physical shape.. So it was: The Caliph Omar rode the camel for a few miles and then his servant rode it for a few miles while the Caliph Omar walked on foot and led the camel and they kept taking turns until they reached Jerusalem.

When they arrived to Jerusalem gate, it happened that it was the turn of the servant riding the camel and the Caliph Omar on foot leading it. As the camel parked near the gate, the religious leaders of Jerusalem ran towards the person who was riding the camel to welcome him to the great city of Jerusalem, wrongly assuming the servant was the Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab. As the servant explained to them how they traveled on one camel from Mecca until they reached Jerusalem, the leaders of Jerusalem were so impressed by the fairness and humility of Omar, they immediately and gladly offered him the key of the city of Jerusalem. As they showed the Caliph of all Muslims every where, the major monuments in the city, it was Islamic prayer time as they were in the Christian Church that was built on the spot where Christians believed that Jesus Christ was buried. It is called the" Church of the Holy Sepulchre "  While in that Church, Omar expressed his wish to be excused for a few minutes to pray outside the premises of the Church. The Christian leaders offered him to conduct his Islamic prayer inside the Church where he and they were. Omar politely declined accepting their offer, saying to them that if he accepted their offer to pray inside their Church, the Muslims may insist on building a mosque on the spot where he prayed. So, Omar stepped outside the Church and on his small little carpet conducted his prayer, in Mecca's direction. Indeed, what Omar had predicted then what the Muslims would do had happened: They built a mosque on the spot where Omar prayed outside the greatest and holiest Christian Church in Christendom, the "Church of the Holy Sepulchre," in the city of Jerusalem.

Such a disciplined conduct of Omar has to do with the very old Arab culture of " Murrowah " whose meaning was covered, on this website, in an essay entitled," ( 1 ) Arabia Before Appearance of Islam. Some Arabs pronounce " Murrowah " as " Muro'ah. "  Either way, the meaning of either word remains the same.

Because of the fact that the religious leaders of Jerusalem could not agree among themselves who should keep the key of the city of Jerusalem, they had chosen a Muslim or a Muslim family to keep the key of the city of Jerusalem. And the key has been in the safe hands of a Muslim, ever since and through the ages. As Israel illegally annexed occupied Jerusalem, one may wonder if the key is still in the safe hand of a Muslim, or has been confiscated by the government of Israel, as it has brutaly confiscated Palestinian lands and homes, on daily basis, in the West Bank of Palestine. One must wonder !

This story of Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab in Jerusalem is profoundly telling, as to how Islam had once met Christianity within the walls of the city of Jerusalem and at the greatest and holiest Christian Church in Christendom, in the absence of blood shed. This story stands in a striking contrast to what the pages of the recorded human history tell us: Conquerors showed no empathy, let alone mercy, towards their victims, the conquered people, How the Muslim Arabs had handled their conquest of Jerusalem was ( and will remain ) truly one of the many peaceful and positive characteristics of Islam.

Yes, indeed, Islam had met Eastern Christianity in the Church of Holy Sepulchre, in the city of Jerusalem, in the 7th century of the Christian Calendar, in a humane and splendid way.

END.

Next topic will be topic number ( 6 ) The Great Crusades.
 

I Am Encountering Difficulties: Keeping a New Post Published

Dear Readers,

In the last 24 hours I wrote a new review entitled, (5) Islam Meets Eastern Christianity, twice and most of it was deleted or disappeared. Yesterday it was published okay, but an our later most of it was deleted or disappeared. I cannot continue wasting my time in my attempts to help the readers of this site as much as I possibly can and at the end nothing accomplished. I certainly can use my time productively doing some other options available to me.

I have started having suspicion that some one at Google is doing it on purpose.

If you do not see another review, essay, or note from me, DO NOT think I have abandoned you. I will never do such a thing. Blame Google and the people who run Google. Period.

Sincerely,
Sodium