Dr. William Kuykendall

Longtime Erskine Professor Traces History, Complexities Of Islam

Dr. William H.F. Kuykendall, Erskine Theological Seminary Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies and part-time Professor of History and Government at Erskine College, delivered a lecture today on "The Truth About Islam." Kuykendall is presently teaching a course on Near Eastern History, and holds a Ph.D. in Egyptology and Ancient Semitic Languages from Johns Hopkins University.

While the word "Islam" is sometimes translated as "peace," "submission" is closer to the true meaning of the word, according to Kuykendall. "A Muslim is one who submits to the will of ’Allah," he said.

Kuykendall sketched a biography of the man who became known as Muhammad, offered a short history of the origins and spread of Islam, noted the areas of intersection between Christianity and Islam, and emphasized the complexity of Islam in its present-day manifestations.

Reduced to poverty at about the age of six, Muhammad found work mucking out camel stables. Developing skill in the handling of camels, he became a camel driver at the age of 10. At 25, he led a financially successful caravan and sealed his fortune by marrying the woman who had hired him, though she was 15 years his senior.

Becoming a man of leisure after his marriage, Muhammad "adopted the practice of staying out in the desert," Kuykendall said, for the purpose of meditation. It was during these desert sojourns that Muhammad, who had at one point become acquainted with a Nestorian Christian monk, reported seeing visions and hearing voices, saying the angel Gabriel told him he was to be "the final prophet" and was to be given "the last and greatest revelation."

The word "Qur’an" means "that which is recited aloud," and Muhammad employed scribes to take down his revelation, which was eventually compiled into four books.

Muhammad’s initial attempts to spread his new religion were unsuccessful. "His influence in Mecca was not great," Kuykendall said, adding that Muhammad left Mecca for Medina and began making inroads among slaves and poor people. He eventually managed to destroy the city’s economy and captured Mecca with bloodshed in 622.

The three main sources feeding Islamic thought are Judaism, Christianity, and the pagan religions of the Arabian peninsula in Muhammad’s time, Kuykendall said, noting that some of the most well known customs of Islam derive from pagan practices, including the observance of Ramadan, the month of fasting.

Kuykendall outlined the six dogmas of Islam and said Christians could possibly accept certain portions of these, including belief in one God who is an all-powerful creator, the existence of angels, and a final judgment and afterlife. Similarly, he examined the Apostles’ Creed of Christians, citing tenets Muslims might accept, including belief in the virgin birth of Christ and the resurrection of the body.

Muhammad’s comments on Christianity are interesting, Kuykendall said. Departing significantly from Christian precepts is Muhammad’s response to Jesus’ injunction to love one’s enemies: Muhammad questioned why ’Allah would have given people enemies if they were to love their enemies, and insisted that people were to hate their enemies.

Because Muhammad was designated "the final prophet," his successor could not be a prophet, so the term "caliph," simply meaning successor, was used. Numerous disputes among Muhammad’s successors and military leaders have led to the muliplication of sects within Islam, beginning with the early division between Sunni and Shiite Islam.

The maze of Muslim sects, whose adherents range from those generally lenient toward outsiders to those openly hostile, is difficult for most Westerners to negotiate. Kuykendall said some generalizations often made about Islamic sects, for example, the idea that Sunnis are peaceful and Shiites are violent, cannot be sustained. "Osama Bin Laden’s background is Sunni," Kuykendall said.

The Saudi rulers, put in place by the British following World War I, have restrained violent tendencies among Islamic extremists, but should they eventually lose all semblance of authority and control, "We may witness an explosion," he said.