Читать книгу Bible of the Time. …from the Big Bang to the present day… - Rem Word - Страница 15

Mohammed. The beginnings of Islam. End of Antiquity. Mohammed is born on April 20, 571, in Mecca (Saudi Arabia), in the influential tribe of the Courshaites. At twenty-five, he marries a forty-year-old Khadija, is engaged in trade, escorting caravans and building (repairing the Kaaba). From the age of forty, almost every evening, Mohammed ascends a mountain near Mecca, where he prays in a cave that has survived to this day.

At the top of this mountain near the city of Medina there is a cave in which the Prophet Mohammed received a revelation from the Archangel Gabriel

His insights will later be translated into lines of the Qur’an. Islam («submission to God») is accepted by a wife and several relatives. The new faith is woven from the writings of the Tanakh, the Gospel, Arabic legends, in the arrangement of Mohammed. The first sermon at the sacred Kaaba causes only ridicule among the crowd. Then Mohammed finds the right words and the situation is straightened out. Over the next three years, about a hundred people are recruited into the community. After the death of his uncle, the influential Abu Talib, the Islamists are ousted from Mecca. The community moves to the city of Medina, where it endures many difficulties (seven to eight dates per person per day of work). At the same time, raids on trade caravans and the struggle to spread the faith begin. Muslims lose the first battles. However, their perseverance bears fruit, and the army of Mohammed enters Mecca without a fight. A series of wars to unite the Arab tribes followed, raids on Byzantium were made. During the capture of one of the cities, in order to avoid the use of wine by the warriors, a sura is accepted, prohibiting alcohol.

Mohammed dies in Medina. His body finds rest in the Central Mosque.

Any worthy Muslim who knows the Koran well, regardless of his social status, can be the Imam (the leader of the common prayer). Imams are often teachers (mentors), business intercessors, and drafters.

For Shiites, only the blood heirs of the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law can have an imam (supreme imam) who has the right to interpret the Qur’an and guide believers. «Small imams», that is, in the Sunni tradition, fakikhs (people who have a special theological education for serving in a mosque) are appointed imams. Succession law and appointment instead of elections is practiced primarily in Iraq and Iran.

The division of Muslims into Shiites and Sunnis occurs when the exclusive right to power of the Prophet’s son-in-law (married to Mohammed’s daughter Fatima), Ali Talib, is challenged by another imam. The battle ends with a truce, but after Ali, the first man to convert to Islam, is still killed. Muslims who believe that power in the Caliphate can belong only to the descendants of Ali Talib (Alidam) – Shiites, those who recognize any chosen Muslim as worthy of it are Sunnis. Shiites believe that among their midst is Imam Muhammad, who once disappeared under unexplained circumstances. He watches over people and prepares to become the new messiah.

The aggravation of the struggle between the two branches of Islam occurs during the rise of the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan needs a good reason to attack one of the Muslim countries. Until then, the differences between Shiites and Sunnis were considered insignificant.

According to the well-established tradition, this mountain in Egypt is identified with Mount Sinai. Here the prophet Moses received from Gd himself the Ten Commandments that changed the world

The idea of Islam is one God (Allah). The difference from Christianity is not the acceptance of the principle of the Trinity of God, in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In addition, Muslims assume that Issa (Jesus) did not die on the Cross to atone for the sins of mankind, but… then follows a complex story of how He escaped this. Meanwhile, the idea of Christianity is precisely earthly life, as a result of which God the Father exchanges with people a sufficiently understandable revelation.

The Qur’an depicts a paradise full of carnal pleasures for men. Women are from among the former spouses, as well as virginal houris who appear in the morning every time. The buildings are built of golden bricks. Paradise has several levels. The upper level is the Firdaus garden. Above is only the Throne of Allah.

Some Muslim theologians believe that all of these descriptions reflect the concept of paradise at the level of modern concepts.

All this is not in the Christian Eden. «The Revelation of John the Evangelist» represents the City of God, New Jerusalem, Cube, with a side of 2400 kilometers. However, the Apocalypse is considered by some theologians to be an apocryphal – a work on a biblical theme, not recognized by the Church.

The third world religion is Judaism. The Old Testament is the forerunner of the Gospel. This religious principle does not imply any intelligible afterlife. The Old Testament eschews the ideas of the journey of a weightless soul and proclaims the extension of a person’s life in his fleshly children.

Second Temple in Jerusalem (516 BC – 70 AD), artistic reconstruction. According to Christian tradition, the Third Temple will be erected shortly before the Second Coming of Christ, during the reign of the Antichrist.

Protestant churches (temples), despite their influence (USA, England, the total number of parishioners is 800 million), as a rule, do not differ in rich decoration. There is no veneration of icons. A church building can be any public building. In the altar there is a table stretched across the hall, with the books of the Old and New Testaments and lamps. Here the priest preaches, conducts liturgy, communion and baptism. The ordinances presented are the only ones recognized by this denomination. Much attention is paid to solving the secular problems of parishioners, unraveling family conflicts, etc. (faith without works is dead). Protestants are not in some kind of confrontation with Judaism, like the Orthodox and Catholics. Moreover, they view the state of Israel as an important field of God’s activity until the second coming of Christ.

The priest is chosen from among the respected parishioners and can be easily removed. There is no apostolic succession (ordination through ordination, i.e. ordination).

Confucianism in the Chinese language is called Pinyin, «School of educated people», and does not contain the nickname of the founder, philosopher and politician Kun-Fu-tzu. The real name of the «Teacher from the Kun clan» is Chzhun-ni. Confucius was born in the 6th century BC. e. The texts of the mentor of the nation, rewritten several times, contain descriptions of the rites of worship of ancestors, temples created in their honor, moralizing, the history of a fictional ideal country. The sky is seen as a source of moral meanings, a resonator that responds to the behavior of people and sends them the necessary signs. In a sense, Confucianism coincides with the Chinese folk religion, also Pinyin, with 500 million followers. In this belief, in addition to Heaven, the world energy Qi is important, as well as the souls of ancestors, with whom, if certain conditions are met, a connection can be established.

Hinduism is popular in many European countries and the United States as an unusual course of psychotherapy, but it is still localized in its native India. The complex of philosophical ideas, ethical norms, traditions is called Sanatana-Dharma («Eternal Law»). Sacred texts – Vedas, Upanishads, epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, like a set of books of the Old Testament in many ways, although much less realistic, reflect the history of the formation of India. The Supreme God of Hinduism can define the concept of Brahman (originally – «Prayer»), the soul of the world, the fundamental principle of things. He can be worshiped in any conceivable form. Supporters of Vaishnavism serve the Absolute in the avatar of Vishnu, the Guardian of the Universe, as well as more human-like reflections – Krishna and Rama. Shivaites worship Shiva, the static male principle of the Universe, the creator of rebirth, sometimes very destructive. The general meaning of service is merging with the Absolute, while preserving the individual principle, improving the personal position, including the material one, at each rebirth. Brahma (Brahma) is the god of creation, the first among equals, together with Shiva and Vishnu constitutes Trimurti (triad), the spiritual principle of Everything – Brahman.

Buddhism claims to be a world religion, a controversial, but all the more exciting continuation of Hinduism. The founder of the teaching is Buddha Shakyamuni, in Sanskrit «Awakened Sage» (623 – 543 BC). There are several Buddhas before Shakyamuni, but he is the most famous. The coming awakened Teacher, under whose guidance people will lead a holy life – Maitreya («Benevolent»). The main idea is non-resistance to evil by violence, passive resistance to adversity, acceptance of the world as it is. As a result of this behavior, a higher rational being (that is, a Buddhist monk) must get out of the captivity of consciousness, which created such a mosaic image of him. Buddhism does not imply any gods, One Mind, Paradise, Hell as a natural area of attraction for a religious ascetic. The only goal is the «fading out of the candle» of self-awareness.

Shamanism, although not a world religion, was once widespread throughout the Earth. Now this belief system is localized in some tribes of South and North America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Siberia and the Far East. The shaman enters himself into a trance by striking a tambourine, dancing, singing, and lies for a long time, not responding to external influences. In a disturbing dream, traveling along the branches or roots of the archetypal World Tree, he visits the middle, higher, or lower worlds. The higher worlds are inhabited by enlightened beings, the lower ones – by aggressive creatures. The schemes of otherworldly worlds are individual, therefore they cannot be reduced to a picture acceptable for the creation of classical religion.

One of the varieties of shamanism is voodoo. The main provisions of the belief – the world is inhabited by many spirits, loa (from the French loi – «law»). You can contact them and get some kind of help. Sacrifices are laid out on the altar, which has a somewhat unkempt appearance. These are sweets, alcohol, and slaughtered animals.