If ISLAM NEVER EXISTED, would middle-eastern people be SMARTEST IN THE WORLD instead of the opposite?

Question

The earliest civilizations arose around the Tigris and Euphrates in todays middle east. Egypt soon cropped-up to become the most advanced civilization in the world.

What happened?

Today, according to the UN Report written by arab scholars, middle eastern countries are the most illiterate and backward in all the world.

Islam is the only explaination.

The religion of Islam spread throughout the middle east sometime around the end of the first millenium. While Islamic warfare was succesful in spreading Islam, there was almost no invovation during the time of the Islamic empires. Pre-Islamic civilizations by comparison invented and discovered exponentially more, almost as if Islam turned brilliant people into apes.

Now middle-eastern people are hoplessly behind the rest of the entire world, and without oil revenues would be incomprehensibly lost and destitute. Even with oil revenues Islamic countries still have the greastest poverty. Is Islam a horrible plague?

Answer 1

We are instructed by the Noble Qura'an to answer back with the word "Peace" when addressed by ignorants, so again: Peace.

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Muhammed A – Z
May Allah Exalt his Mention
By Yusuf Estes, Former Christian Preacher

Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul Muttalib
Born 570 C.E. (Christian Era); died 633 C.E.

The following is based on books, manuscripts, texts and actual eyewitness accounts, too numerous to mention herein, preserved in original form throughout the centuries by both Muslims and non-Muslims.

Many people today are discussing Prophet Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention. Who was he exactly? What did he teach? Why was he loved so much by some and hated so much by others? Did he live up to his claims? Was he a holy man? Was he a prophet of God? What is the truth about this man?You be the judge.
Here are the facts as narrated by thousands of people, many of whom knew him personally.
*He was born to a noble tribe to the lineage of the leaders of Makkah.
*His name comes from the Arabic root "hamd" and literally means "praised one." People at his time and until this very moment, praise him many times per day, may Allah exalt his mention.
*He never fell into the common practice of his tribesmen to worship statues, idols or man-made "gods."
*He believed that God was truly One God, and as such, He was to be worshipped alone, without any other "gods" beside Him.
*He held the Name of God in the highest of reverence and never took God's Name in vain or for any vain glorious purpose.
*He despised false worship and all of the complexities and degradation to which it leads.
*He adhered to the Commandments of Almighty God, just as prophets of old had done in the past.
*He never committed adultery, and he forbade others from doing it.
*He forbade usury and interest on money lending, as Jesus, may Allah exalt his mention, had done centuries before him.
*He never gambled and did not allow it.
*He never drank alcohol or strong drink; even though it was a very normal thing for people of his time and place.
*He did not engage in gossip and used to turn away from hearing anything related to it.
*He fasted for days at a time to be closer to Almighty God and away from the narrowness of worldly attractions.
*He taught that Jesus, may Allah exalt his mention, was the immaculate conception and miracle birth of Mary, and that she was among the best creation of Almighty God.
*He insisted even to the Jews of Medina, that Jesus, may Allah exalt his mention, was the Messiah, the Christ, the one predicted to come in their Torah (Old Testament).
*He said Jesus, may Allah exalt his mention, did many miracles by the permission of Almighty God, curing the lepers, restoring sight to the blind and even bringing a dead man back to life.
*He stated clearly that Jesus, may Allah exalt his mention, was not dead, rather Almighty God had raised him up.
*He foretold that Jesus, may Allah exalt his mention, is going to return again in the Last Days to lead the true believers in a victory over the evil and unrighteous people, and he will destroy the Anti-Christ.
*He commanded the payment of charity to the poor and he was the defender and protector of widows, orphans and the wayfarers.
*He ordered people to unite with their families and honor the ties of kinship and he restored relationships between family members.
*He required his followers to engage only in lawful marriage relationships with women, and forbade sex outside of Almighty God's Ordinance.
*He insisted on giving women their proper rights, dowries, inheritance and property.
*His patience and humble attitude were exemplary and all who knew him had to admit to these virtues.
A. He never lied, never broke a trust never bore false witness, and he was famous with all the tribes in Makkah and was known as: "The Truthful" (Al-Ameen).
B. He never once engaged in sex outside of marriage, nor did he ever approve of it, even though it was very common at the time.
C. His only relationships with women were in legitimate, contractual marriages with proper witnesses according to law.
D. His relationship to Ayesha was only that of marriage. Their relationship is described in every detail by Ayesha herself in the most loving and respectful manner as a match truly made in heaven. Ayesha is considered as one of the highest scholars of Islam and lived out her entire life only having been married to Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention. She never desired any other man, nor did she ever utter a single negative statement against Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention.
E. He forbade any killing until the orders came from Allah. Even then the limits were clearly spelled out and only those engaged in active combat against the Muslims or Islam were to be fought in combat. And even then, only according to very strict rules from Allah.
F. Killing any innocent life was forbidden.
G. There was no genocide of Jews. He offered mutual protection and forgiveness to the Jews even after they broke their covenants with him many times. They were not attacked until it was clearly proven they were traitors during time of war and tried to bring down the prophet, may Allah exalt his mention, and the Muslims at any cost. Retaliation was only to those Jews who had turned traitor and not others.
H. Slaves were common in those days for all nations and tribes. It was Islam that encouraged freeing of the slaves and the great reward from Allah for those who did so. Prophet, may Allah exalt his mention, gave the example of this by freeing slaves and encouraging all of his followers to do the same. Examples include his own servant (who was actually considered like a son to him) Zaid ibn Al Haritha and Bilal the slave who was bought by Abu Bakr only for the purpose of freeing him.
I. While there were many attempts of assassination made on Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, (most famous was the night that Ali took his place in bed while he and Abu Bakr escaped to Madinah), he did not allow his companions to slaughter any of those who had been involved in these attempts. Proof for this is when they entered Makkah triumphantly and his first words were to command his followers not to harm such and such tribes and so and so families. This was one of the most famous of his acts of forgiveness and humbleness.
J. Military combat was forbidden for the first thirteen years of prophethood. The desert Arabs did not need anyone to tell them how to fight or do combat. They were experts in this area and held feuds amongst tribes that lasted for decades. It was not until the proper method of warfare was instituted by Allah in the Quran, with proper rights and limitations according His Commandments, that any retaliation or combat was sanctioned. Orders from Allah made it clear who was to be attacked, how and when and to what extent fighting could take place.
K. Destruction of infrastructures is absolutely forbidden except when it is ordained by Allah in certain instances and then only according to His Commands.
L. Cursing and invoking evil actually came to the prophet, may Allah exalt his mention, from his enemies, while he would be praying for their guidance. Classic example is that of his journey to At-Taif where the leaders would not even hear him out nor offer so much as the normal courtesy called for and instead they set the children of the street against him, throwing rocks and stones at him until his body was bleeding so much, blood filled his sandals. He was offered revenge by the angel Gabriel, if he would give the command, Allah would cause the surrounding mountains to fall down upon them destroying them all. Instead of cursing them or asking for their destruction, he prayed for them to be guided to worship their Lord alone, without any partners.
M. Prophet Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, claimed every person who is born is born in a state of ISLAM (submission to God), as a Muslim (MU-Islam means; "one who does ISLAM" i.e.; submits to God's Will and obeys His Commandments). Then as they grow older they begin to distort their faith according to the influence of the prevailing society and their own prejudices.
N. Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, taught his followers to believe in the God of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus, peace be upon them all, and to believe in them as true prophets, messengers and slaves of Almighty Allah. He insisted on ranking all the prophets up at the highest level without any distinction between them.
O. He also taught the Torah (Old Testament), Zaboor (Psalms) and Injeel (Gospel or New Testament) were originally from the very same source as the Quran, from Allah.
P. He prophesied and foretold of events to come and they happened as he had said. He even predicted something from the past that would come true in the future, and it has.
The Quran states pharaoh was drowned in the Red Sea while chasing after Moses and Allah said He would preserve Pharaoh as a sign for the future. Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his book, "Bible, Quran and Science" makes it clear this has happened and the very person of Pharaoh has been discovered in Egypt and is now on display for all to see.
This event took place thousands of years before Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, and it came true in the last few decades, many centuries after his death.
There has been more written about the prophet Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, than any other person on earth. He has been praised very high even by famous non-Muslims for centuries. One of the first examples we quote from is from the Encyclopedia Britannica, as it confirms (regarding Muhammad)”
". . . a mass of detail in the early sources shows that he was an honest and upright man who had gained the respect and loyalty of others who were likewise honest and upright men." (Vol. 12)
Another impressive tribute to Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention is in the very well written work of Michael H. Hart, "The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History." He states that the most influential person in all history was Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, with Jesus second. Examine his actual words:

"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level."
Michael H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY, New York: Hart Publishing Company, Inc., 1978, page. 33.
While we are reviewing statements from famous non-Muslims about Prophet Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, consider this:
"Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?"
Lamartine, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp. 276-277.
George Bernard Shaw, a famous writer and non-Muslim says:
"He must be called the Savior of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it much needed peace and happiness."
(The Genuine Islam, Singapore, Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936)
K.S. Ramakrishna Rao, an Indian (Hindu) professor of Philosophy, in his booklet "Muhammad the Prophet of Islam" calls him the "perfect model for human life." Professor Ramakrishna Rao explains his point by saying:
"The personality of Muhammad, it is most difficult to get into the whole truth of it. Only a glimpse of it I can catch. What a dramatic succession of picturesque scenes. There is Muhammad the Prophet. There is Muhammad the Warrior; Muhammad the Businessman; Muhammad the Statesman; Muhammad the Orator; Muhammad the Reformer; Muhammad the Refuge of Orphans; Muhammad the Protector of Slaves; Muhammad the Emancipator of Women; Muhammad the Judge; Muhammad the Saint. All in all these magnificent roles, in all these departments of human activities, he is alike a hero."
Mahatma Gandhi, speaking on the character of Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, says in 'YOUNG INDIA':
"I wanted to know the best of one who holds today undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind... I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the 2nd volume (of the Prophet's biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of the great life."
Thomas Carlyle in his 'Heroes and Hero Worship', was simply amazed as to:
"How one man single handedly, could weld warring tribes and wandering Bedouins into a most powerful and civilized nation in less than two decades."
Diwan Chand Sharma wrote in "The Prophets of the East":
"Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never forgotten by those around him"
(D.C. Sharma, The Prophets of the East, Calcutta, 1935, pp. 12)
Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, was nothing more or less than a human being, but he was a man with a noble mission, which was to unite humanity on the worship of ONE and ONLY ONE GOD and to teach them the way to honest and upright living based on the commands of God. He always described himself as, 'A Slave and Messenger of God' and so indeed every action of his proclaimed to be.
Speaking on the aspect of equality before God in Islam, the famous poetess of India, Sarojini Naidu says:
"It was the first religion that preached and practiced democracy; for, in the mosque, when the call for prayer is sounded and worshippers are gathered together, the democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when the peasant and king kneel side by side and proclaim: 'God Alone is Great'... I have been struck over and over again by this indivisible unity of Islam that makes man instinctively a brother."
(S. Naidu, Ideals of Islam, vide Speeches & Writings, Madras, 1918, p. 169)
In the words of Professor Hurgronje:
"The league of nations founded by the prophet of Islam put the principle of international unity and human brotherhood on such universal foundations as to show candle to other nations." He continues, "the fact is that no nation of the world can show a parallel to what Islam has done towards the realization of the idea of the League of Nations."
Edward Gibbon and Simon Ockley, on the profession of ISLAM, writes in "History of the Saracen Empires":
"I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, AND MAHOMET, AN APOSTLE OF GOD' is the simple and invariable profession of Islam. The intellectual image of the Deity has never been degraded by any visible idol; the honor of the Prophet have never transgressed the measure of human virtues; and his living precepts have restrained the gratitude of his disciples within the bounds of reason and religion."
(History of the Saracen Empires, London, 1870, p. 54)
Wolfgang Goethe, perhaps the greatest European poet ever, wrote about Prophet Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention. He said:
"He is a prophet and not a poet and therefore his Koran is to be seen as Divine Law and not as a book of a human being, made for education or entertainment."
(Noten und Abhandlungen zum Weststlichen Dvan, WA I, 7, 32)
People do not hesitate to raise to divinity and even make 'gods' out of other individuals whose lives and missions have been lost in legend. Historically speaking, none of these legends achieved even a fraction of what Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, accomplished. And all his striving was for the sole purpose of uniting mankind for the worship of One God on the codes of moral excellence. Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, or his followers never at any time claimed that he was a son of God or the God-incarnate or a man with divinity – but he always was and is even today considered as only a Messenger chosen by God.
Today after a lapse of fourteen centuries, the life and teachings of Muhammad, may Allah exalt his mention, have survived without the slightest loss, alteration or interpolation. They offer the same undying hope for treating mankind's many ills, which they did when he was alive. This is not a claim of Muhammad’s, may Allah exalt his mention, followers, but the inescapable conclusion forced upon by a critical and unbiased history.

Answer 2

Seems you like opinions more than fact. Jews are not any smarter than anyone else. In fact they never even had Israel before 1948 and have been in war ever since. It was Islam that destroyed Christendom in Europe and paved the way for the modern world to develop. Were it not for that, you would still be burning Jews and getting tortured by The Inquisition. You get Jewish Muslims too and one of the wives of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) was Jewish in ethnicity. Muslims neither pray to the moon and it's a Christian myth about 72 virgins. There are far less Muslim women in domestic abuse shelters than Christian or Jewish women. According to the FBI a women is killed every day in the US and a rape occurs almost every hour. So it's not Muslims who have women issue -but the opposite numbers. Anyway, maybe if you sober up and put down the moonshine you will have the money to buy the book "The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization" By Jonathan Lyons You'll understand how for centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was a benighted backwater, a world of subsistence farming, minimal literacy, and violent conflict. Arab culture on the other hand was thriving, dazzling those Europeans fortunate enough to visit cities like Baghdad or Antioch. There, philosophers, mathematicians, and astronomers were steadily advancing the frontiers of knowledge, as well as keeping alive the works of Plato and Aristotle. When the best libraries in Europe held several dozen books, Baghdad's great library, The House of Wisdom, housed four hundred thousand. This alone shows just how much "Western" ideas owe to the Golden Age of Arab civilization and Islam.

Answer 3

First off, that image is from a Dane, not a fellow American. As an additional caveat, I am also an agnostic that has happened to read the Q'uaran (which apparently is very difficult to write in English given the numerous spellings I've seen used).

Second, Islam apparently posed no threat to education considering that muslims founded the oldest university in the world, which still stands today. They preserved the mathematics and sciences while Europe was in the depths of the dark ages. Indeed, at that time one might accuse Christianity for being the scurge of all intellectual activities back then... (assuming the same might not be said today!). So in the middle ages, Muslims WERE the smartest people in the world! That's hardly evidence that Islam is the bane of academic and fiscal existence. They conquered as far as Spain because they were successful.

Two things happened to change events for the Christians:

1. The march of Islam into Europe acted as a wake-up call for those pandering ignorance.

2. The Reformation struck the forces of ignorance and corruption squarely in the head and forced the Catholic church to reassess itself.

At that point, despite still fighting one another, Christians managed to build enough support to push back the Muslims - but only a little bit.

So what happened since then?

Islam has, as your first respondent demonstrates, become dogmatic like dark ages Christianity. The "religious right" have been granted far too much power and, given that power, will feed upon and promote ignorance through religious indoctrination. It is not Islam that is unable to grow and improve, but that the Imams are happy with their position and will do whatever it takes to maintain it. You also have a corrupt elite that endorses slavery and a number of other vile behaviors - making them easier blackmail targets for the Imams, lest the populace become informed and enraged.

It is, of course, not just a problem of religion. Look at South America: What's going on there? Afghanistan was in the illegal drug trade and others (Sudan, Kuwait) engage in slavery. There has to be a substantial oppression of your populace to keep these activities going if most of the people have some basic ethics (they do).

So what we are looking at is the impact of corruption, not religion. Just like the Bible, I am sure that there have been edits to the Koran (we'll see how many different spellings I can use) to gratify the purposes of the Islamic elites.

Here is MY story about Muhammad:

Muhammad was born to a family where illiteracy would have been unlikely. They lived in a trading town, which meant that Muhammad could have met many different people passing by. Because Christianity was rejected by Mekkans, something new had to be created to get them to move to monotheism. Islam was created and a culture grew around it. Even without there being any "divine miracle" of Muhammad's instant literacy, the Q'eran was an impressive feat of imagination, blending local ideas (jinn) with Christian and Jewish stories in just the right mix to please his fellows. Since literacy was rare in those days, revisions could be made out of the attention of the general populace, especially if the "original text" could be safely hidden in a holy site. Generally speaking, new religions crop up for two reasons:

1. A need to update and modernize - people are losing faith in tired old ideas that are no longer "confirmed" by reality (scientific knowledge). Which is why Muslims suddenly aspired to be "state of the art" not long after the Islamic revolution occurred.

2. Someone wants to ursurp the role of religious elites or at least get a share of their turf.

At some point, the revision process became toxic through greater influcence of the second faction I mentioned above. Perhaps too much idolatry of Muhammad was included. Sure, there are no images of the Prophet, but the concept has replaced the graven image. If riots and murder breaks out just because someone made an insulting image, surely some form of idolatry has occurred. To not idolize, one must make room for ridicule. Clearly the image you pose as your picture demonstrated this as a serious failing of modern Islam. Many will deny that they have idolized Muhammad, but the fact is that if they become that angry over a stupid cartoon, then they have most certainly committed that sin.

At any rate, now the Muslims are as bound up in overregulation from their Imams as Christians were in the dark ages with their "indulgences" and the burden that sort of stranglehold on their culture creates is obvious. Even if the religion is a myth, it is not as much of a burden as the corruption.

Answer 4

During the Middle Ages, when most Europeans were busy getting poor and stupid under the feudal system, the Muslim world was arguably the most learned society on Earth. Indeed, if it weren't for the preservation efforts of Muslim scholars during the Middle Ages, the scholarship of past civilizations, including much of the writings of famous Greeks like Aristotle, would have been lost forever.

Moreover, your statistics are woefully inadequate. There are any number of nations of the world today that are more impoverished than most Muslim nations. Twelve of the twenty poorest nations in the world (measured by per-capita GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity) are NOT Muslim nations. In contrast, 18 of the poorest nations are in Africa (including 6 of the 8 Muslim countries). It seems that being African is a stronger indication of poverty than being Muslim.

Answer 5

The West is dependent on Islamic scholars for preserving our history during the Middle Ages.
When we forgot who the heck Aristotle was, even though his ideas were formative to us, the Muslims preserved his texts, for which we are extremely dependent.
There was a great deal of scholasticism among Islamic scholars.

To argue that their society has suffered from a religion still does not answer the question of "Is the religion TRUE or not?"

It's just bein' a freakin' pain in the neck.
Further, only a couple of the worlds poorest nations are islamic. It's much more accurate to say "The worlds poorest nations are african" than to say they are Islamic, although in a couple instances there is overlap.

-Stephen

Answer 6

Islam is a bondage that hinder middle-eastern people from getting God's blessing. God loves them so much that He sent Jesus, His only begotten Son, to show them the Way. Jesus died on the cross for their sins. Some chose Jesus and were born again and inherited all Spiritual blessing. Since Mohammad came against Christ teaching in the Koran, many believed Him instead. So therefor Islam, who's Allah is an Antichrist spirit, a Suicide spirit, etc., keeps people in a bondage of fear.

Answer 7

Islam is a religion you can't blame it for all the stuff that goes on in the Middle East that's like Hitler blaming the Jews for everything that was wrong with Germany at the time. This is why people hate the U.S. because stupid people like you think that because somebody who was a terrorist and believed in Islam then every one who is a Muslim is terrorist that would be like me saying Bush is and idiot and he is Christian so therefore all Christians are idiots you can't make generalizations like these to me that's honestly being a racist.

Answer 8

hey mr!!!!
let me tell u ,,,who was IBN-UL-HAITHAM?
who was AL-KHARIZMI? who was AL-BERUNI?they were all muslims..
It is altogether wrong 2 say tht eastern countries r not advanced bcoz of muslims...
in muslim countries,,non-muslims do liveif eastern countries r not established,,itz not bcoz of ISLAM.........

Answer 9

if they were literate, there wouldn't be Islam.