UNDERSTANDING ISLAM VII
When Damascus opened its gates to the Muslim army of Abu ‘Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrdh in 635 AD, three years after the death of Muhammad, its citizens little dreamt what a force they would eventually unleash upon themselves and their city – and indirectly upon the world that we have inherited from them.
FILLING IN THE BACKGROUND
By Paul Stenhouse MSC
This is the seventh in a series of eight articles by Fr Paul Stenhouse MSC PhD
THE TRAGIC random murder on October 2 2015, of an innocent employee of the NSW Police based in Parramatta New South Wales, at the hands of a 15-year-old Muslim boy has shocked Australia. The Iranian-born boy of Iraqi Kurdish origin, who had seemingly been influenced by as yet unidentified Islamic extremists, died in an exchange of gunfire with police. He was evidently seeking death under the delusion that this would make him a martyr, and redound to the glory of Islam.
Mr Curtis Cheng, the innocent victim of this tragic murder, was one of countless millions who over the centuries have died at the hands of fanatics who have modelled themselves, or been modelled by others, on the life and example of Muhammad as described in Islam’s sacred books and traditions. Read on: Understand Islam VII
Already posted:
Islam I – Christians in pre-Islamic Arabia: islam-1
Islam II – Setting the stage for Muhammad and Islam: islam-2
Islam III -Islam, the sword or the tax: islam-3
Islam IV – Political Islam: The beginnings: Understand Islam IV
Islam V – The Apostasy Wars: Understand Islam V
Islam VI – Islam, Conquest and Expansion: Understand Islam VI
Annals Australasia
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