The prophet's dictionary guide to the supernatural

Immediately converted by his divine encounter, Muhammad set out to teach his new doctrine and convert his idolatrous countrymen who rejected him and drove him out of Mecca. He ended up in what he renamed Medina, the prophet’s city, and discipling numerous followers, marshaled an army strong enough to force Islam on his world. This he did after returning to his homeland to wage holy war, a jihad. He successfully stamped out polytheism and made his world an Islamic state where only one god, Allah, was worshipped. To resolutely sever ties with its pagan roots, Muhammad changed the region’s calendar to a lunar one, establishing Islam as a martial and lunar religion. He marked his success as the beginning of the Muslim calendar used today. This new religion would promote good will and force people to be generous to one another, especially to the poor. After his death, Muhammed’s new religion underwent several splits where new branches were formed by followers choosing their leaders from his cofounders. The new branches are called the Sunnis, the Shiites, and the Sufis. The last one is the most expressive and mystic of them all. Believing in angels, Satan, demons, and Muhammed’s near transformation into a deity, Islam takes its legitimacy from Abraham’s firstborn, Ishmael. In addition, they venerate Adam, who they believe Abraham built a temple to, and Ishmael’s mother, the Egyptian Hagar. The Islamic way of life is based on what it calls its five pillars, symbolized by a woman’s hand, that of Muhammed’s daughter Khadijah. It is called “the hand of Fatima,” her other name. The pillars are regulations imposed on all Muslims that they must do to observe their faith and obey Allah. They must acknowledge that there is no god but Allah, and declare that Muhammad is his only prophet. Muslims must pray five times per day, facing Mecca, fast once per year at Ramadan, give alms to the poor, and make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca in a lifetime. In addition to its sacred book, Islam has a sacred symbol that is, ironically, that of a lunar goddess. The same symbol has been adopted by idolatrous Christians as the symbol of the virgin Mary. See Solar/Lunar Gods and Goddesses, Star and Crescent, and Mother Goddess. Islam’s only inference in the Bible is found in the Lord’s prophecy to Abraham’s first son, Ishmael, by a slave woman. Genesis 25:12–16 establishes Ishmael’s place in Abraham’s line. However, Genesis 17:20–22 introduces it. Ishmael will be blessed because he is the seed of Abraham, but the perpetual global blessings assigned to Abraham’s seed go to Isaac, the object of God’s promises made to his father. Ishmael is Abraham’s heir, but Isaac inherits the