Compassion is the key in Islam and Buddhism and Judaism and Christianity. They are profoundly similar.
Karen ArmstrongRead
Far from being the father of jihad, [Prophet] Mohammad was a peacemaker, who risked his life and nearly lost the loyalty of his closest companions because he was determined to effect a reconciliation with Mecca
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that Prophet Mohammad sought peace and reconciliation rather than conflict, challenging the common perception of him as a militant figure.
Karen Armstrong highlights that Prophet Mohammad's actions were rooted in a desire for peace rather than warfare. Despite facing great personal risk and potential loss of support from his followers, he prioritized the reconciliation of conflicting parties, especially with Mecca. This portrayal seeks to recalibrate the historical narrative surrounding jihad and presents Mohammad as a figure dedicated to harmony and understanding.
Themes
PeaceReconciliationJihadProphetUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of peacemaking in conflict resolution.
More from Karen Armstrong
All quotes →Yet a personal God can become a grave liability. He can be a mere idol carved in our own image, a projection of our limited needs, fears and desires. We can assume that he loves what we love and hates what we hate, endorsing our prejudices instead of compelling us to transcend them.
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When violence becomes imbedded in a region, then this affects everything. It affects your dreams, your fantasies and relationships, and your religion becomes violent, too.
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Yes, all fundamentalists feel that in a secular society, God has been relegated to the margin, to the periphery and they are all in different ways seeking to drag him out of that peripheral position, back to center stage.
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Religion is a search for transcendence. But transcendence isn't necessarily sited in an external god, which can be a very unspiritual, unreligious concept.
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Religious ideas and practices take root not because they are promoted by forceful theologians, nor because they can be shown to have a sound historical or rational basis, but because they are found in practice to give the faithful a sense of sacred transcendence.
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