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Mohammad in the Dispensation for Restoration
(compiled John Doroski, 1976, Kuwait) |
God chose to bless the Ishmaelites directly and set up a 2nd providence to complement and counterbalance Christianity if needed by sending the prophet Mohammed. Historically, Islam is the only major prophetic religion to appear since Jesus gave birth to Christianity. This makes Mohammed the last of the Abrahamic prophets. |
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| Viewing
the difficulty of Christianity to spread out across
the world and establish a foundation to receive the
Coming of Christ in the Last Days, Mohammed was called
to purify the lineage of Ishmael, to separate it from
idolatry and to provide it with a clear understanding
of God's truth so it could fulfill a providential role
in preparing for the true parents. |
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| Note: Prophet Mohammed came to Ishmael's descendants who were burying babies in the desert if they were girls and worshiping idols. Unlike Jesus who came upon the foundation of Moses, "the learnt wisdom and established culture of the Old Testament", Mohammed had to raise the culture from pre-Formation Level to the top of the Growth Level. Thus within Islam there is a natural focus on the Old Testament Rule of Law, but Islam also contains the essence of Jesus' message of love and forgiveness. However it is easy for Muslims to get stuck in the Old Testament Era thinking because of the quantity of daily life details. |
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| Following the
restoration time periods, establishing the Foundation of Faith
and then the Foundation of Substance, Mohammed laid a foundation
for true parents with Ishmael's descendants, bringing them
directly into the orbit of the central providence of restoration.Just
as Jacob, Moses, and Jesus - Mohammad had 3 Courses to his
Providential Foundation |
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Mohammad's
1st Course (Tribal
Level) |
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Foundation
of Faith
Prophet Mohammad was born in 570 A.D., the son of an illustrious
family. Because his father died before he was born and his
mother when he was only six, Mohammad was cared for by his
grandfather and raised by his uncle. At age twelve, he met
a Syrian monk who predicted that some day he would become
a great prophet of God. As a young man, he worked as a sheperd,
as did Prophet Moses and King David. |
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Throughout his youth Mohammad
was distinguished by his refined manners, extreme rightousness
and absolute chastity, so much so, that his companions nicknamed
him "al-Amin" (the true and reliable). At age
25 he married his employer, the rich and much older Khadijah
(40) who restored the historic mother position. His wife
had been a prosperous merchant and Mohammad was so capable
as a trader that the couple lived in very comfortable circumstances.
His love for Khadijah was deep and lasting. Until her death
a quarter century after their marriage, he took no other
wife. Because of her being 15 years older than Mohammad,
Khadijah was able to help Mohammad restore three kinds of
lost love: brother/sister love before their marriage, mother/son
love through her guiding and supporting Mohammad, and husband/wife
love through believing Mohammad's relationship with God
and his mission was more important than their personal relationship.
This was typlified by Khadijah insisting to Mohammad to
believe in and accept his mission, although it meant great
difficulity and sacrifice for her.
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| By
temperament, Mohammad was restrained and talked little.
Where his own personal rights and prerogatives were concerned,
the Prophet was always yielding and indulgent. Even when
he had subsequently won high position and great power, his
life remained simple and frugal. Pomp and luxury were avoided
at all times by the Prophet and his family. It was in this
way that Mohammad established a -foundation of faith- to
become the central figure.
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| Even though he lived surrounded
by wealth and the possiblity of living aneasy life, Mohammad
never let this change his readiness to endure hardship and
suffering to discover deeper truths and serve God. Consequently,
when God called Mohammad to Prophethood at age 40, he without
hesitation sacrificed the pleasures of a worldly life (physical
wealth) to accept his mission. |
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Foundation
of Substance (Family/Tribal Level)
After establishing a foundation of faith, Mohammad had to
next establish a foundation of substance to remove fallen
natures. This was to be accomplished by his first gaining
3, then 12 people to recognise and support his Prophethood
(willing to risk their lives supporting him) and progressively
gaining 70 disciple to complete the tribal level.
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| "Read in the name
of the Lord who created. He created man from a clot.
Read, and thy Lord is most honorable, Who taught (to
write) with the pen, taught man what he knew not".
al-Alaq |
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When Mohammad
discovered that his dreams turned out to be accurate predictions
of the future, he became interested in spending as much time
as possible in mediation.While fasting and praying in solitude
at Mt. Hira, north of Mecca, he saw a vision of the archangel
Gabriel. The angel then told Mohammad to read. |
Naturally, Mohammad was
completely overcome, even a little fearful of his sanity.
When he told his wife what had occurred, she reassured him.
So did her coujsin (Warqa-bin-Naufal) who predicted that
he would be the prophet announced by Jesus 600 years earlier.
As Mohammad received further revelations he began to gather
his family of disciples (3 then 12) - Khadijah, Abu Bakr,
Ali - then Saad, Zohair, Talha, Othman, Abdur Rahman son
of Auf, Abu Obeida, Othman son of Mazun, Abu Salma, Obeida
son of Al-Harith. After 3 years his following numbered 40,
which brought to a close his secret preaching and saw him
make his first public announcement of his Prophethood.
During the next 4 years
Mohammad proceeded to restore a tribe of believers by teaching
and strengthening at least 70 believers, and he also procceded
to restore a clan of believers by insisting to the Quraish
tribes publicly that there is only one God and that they
must leave their worship of idols. Through this demanding
the people to leve their evil ways and because of the power
he was gaining by an increase of supporters, Mohammad aroused
intense opposition. Men called him a fool, a bigot, a mad
poet, and a man possessed by demons. |
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