{Jerusalem [and Islam]}[12th April 1991]

[Redbook9:81][19910412:0905f]{Jerusalem [and Islam]}[12th April 1991]

19910412:0905

[continued]

‘By the time of the emigration [in 622CE]* a new label had begun to appear in Muhammad’s recitations to describe his followers; in addition to being described in terms of their faithfulness (īmān) to God and his messenger, they were also described in terms of their individual attention, that is, as muslims, individuals who assumed the right relationship to God by surrendering (islām) to his will. Although the label muslim, derived from islām, eventually became a proper name for a significant historical community, at this point it apears to have expressed commonalty with other monotheists: like the others, ** muslims faced Jerusalem to pray; Muhammad was believed to have been transported from Jerusalem to the heavens to talk with God; and Abraham, Noah, Moses, David and Jesus, as well as Muhammad, were all considered to be prophets (nabīs) and messengers of the same God. In Yathrib [Medina],* however, conflicts between other monotheists and the Muslims sharpened their distinctiveness.’

***

*[Square brackets per ms]

**NB

***– ibid. [Encyclopaedia Britannica 22: 106]

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