BY DARREL ROCHE B.A.
This presentation will examine how the embryo of the Islamic faith was established by an illiterate camel driver from the city of Mecca, in today’s Saudi Arabia. We will trace the first 53 years from Muhammad’s birth to his creation of a large Muslim community in the city of Medina. We will learn of his encounter with the angel Gabriel in the cave of Hira, his journey to heaven on a flying horse named Buraq, and his three attempts at suicide.
Together we will witness his 9-year history as an Arabian warlord and conqueror, and we will be there for his attacks against desert-oasis Arab tribes, Jewish-Arabian fortresses, and the army of his fellow tribesmen, the Quraysh. The Battle of Uhud, the Battle of the Trench, The Battle of Khaybar, the Battle of Mecca, the Battle of Hunayn, the Siege of Taif, and the beheading of 900 Jewish Arabians will be scrutinized.
His relationship with his 13 wives, including those aged just 6 and 13, his miracle of splitting the moon in half, his agonising death, the Sunni and Shia split after his death, the expansion of the Islamic empire through the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates will all be reviewed.
The lecture will comprise a 2-hour presentation illustrated by copious PowerPoint slides.