Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim brothers and sisters! I sincerely hope that you were able to not only eat a nice meal today with your family but you shared your good fortune with someone in need.
Below is a paper I wrote on how the Prophet Muhammad could not have existed at any other time in humanity. I look forward to engaging with all of you in the comments about this matter.
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First Written on Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Textualism vs Reason/Rationality of Sharia Law
After deep contemplation over this assignment, I have realized that it is impossible to answer this question as it has been asked. This is because textualism and reason/rationality are like two sides of a coin. One cannot exist without the other. The texts we have read state that Mohammed was a Prophet because he brought forth the word of God. How do we know that? Well there’s the strictly textual approach which focuses on the form and content of the Qur’an. The words Mohammed said were extremely beautiful and unheard of by anyone at the time. In fact, no one at that time could even recreate his words when challenged to do so. The Qur’an mentions several people and places that Mohammed had never heard of or been to. Mohammed was also illiterate. There was no way of him knowing all of that information without having some divine power.
Then on the flip side of the coin, there’s the rationale behind why God exists. God exists because human beings can reason him to exist. Not every human being can be Mohammed, but every human being has the ability to believe in him or argue against his existence or power. The degree to which someone will argue for Mohammed will depend naturally on the degree to which they were associated with Mohammed or felt his presence. As the season finale of Game of Thrones taught us, the most powerful thing in this world are stories. Stories are what bind people together. The story of Mohammed, of who he was, of what he said, of what he understood about the world, traveled far and wide, but along the way people all came to understand him differently. This is because stories change when they are told.
Let me explain why this happened. Plain and simple: the Qur’an was short, there were not enough supplementary texts, Mohammed revealed his Prophethood at the age of 40, and he died at the age of around 61/62. There was not enough time for enough people to get to know Mohammed, his words, his life, and his teachings. He tried to preach as far and wide as he could, but his entire life was limited to a small stretch of land in the Middle East. How could people get to know God’s will if God gave so few people so little information?