Exploring Beyond the Horizon

Sidra tul-Muntaha - The Lote Tree of Uttermost End Muhammad was said to have been taken by the Angel Gabriel on a night journey from Mecca to a distance sanctuary (later interpreted to mean Jerusalem) where he met with Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets.  From Jerusalem, together they ascended through the seven heavens .  At the summit of the universe, he encountered the Sidra tul-Muntaha, the Lote Tree of Uttermost End, which "marks the end of the knowledge of every knower" and "all beyond is a hidden mystery, unknown to any." A Divine Light is said to have fallen on the Lote Tree which enshrouded it and all else beside, and "the eye of the Prophet beheld the Light without wavering and without turning aside from it." The Sidra tree is described  as "growing strong and proud in the harshest of environments... a symbol of perseverance and nourishment across the borders of the Arab World. With its roots bound in the soil of this world and its bran...

I've recently been reading a biography of the Prophet Muhammad , written by Muslim scholar Martin Lings.  While I am no closer to converting to Islam, I have learned quite a bit about what Muslims believe about Muhammad's life.   Side note: Muslims will generally refer to Muhammad as "Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him."  I don't know if the "peace be upon him" phrase would be considered disrespectful for a non-Muslim to use or seen as mocking, and I do not share their beliefs around his calling as a prophet, so I will simply use his name without such titles, but mean no disrespect by this.  I am also trying to relay an accurate summary of what I've read, but I'm sure there is diversity in belief among Muslims so the views here may not represent all Muslims. Abraham and Ishmael Coming from a Christian background, I'm familiar with the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar. Sarah was too old to bear children and when Abraham was around 85 years o...

A Facebook friend of mine recently started a TikTok series about reading the Qur'an as an atheist.  I commented on one of his posts that I had made an attempt to read the Qur'an (more properly a translation of the message of the Qur'an, as Muslim's see the only true Qur'an as the Arabic version as revealed to Muhammad), but that my attempt fell short as I had a hard time getting past the "us vs them" "believer vs disbeliever" black and white thinking that was so prevalent in the first few surahs (chapters) of the Qur'an that I read and common to so much religious and political discourse today. A Muslim responded to my comment that I should read a biography of the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam and he recommended " Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources " by Martin Lings. I ordered a copy and have been reading for the last week or so - about 100 pages in so far. Martin Lings and His Earliest Sources Martin Lings (19...