Wednesday, February 18, 2009

#10

Before the creation of Islam Arabia's population consisted of many tries of Bedouin nomads. Many of the tribes were rivals of each other which caused many bloody battles. Each of these tribes had different gods that they worshiped. Each tribe put their idols in the Kaaba in Mecca. Mecca was considered neutral turf and violence was banned. When Mohamed started Islam he started to gain followers from assorted tribes, but the rich and powerful did not like what Mohamed was teaching so they banded together a bunch of tribes to destroy Mohamed and his followers. Although outnumbered over 3:1 Mohamed and his followers won the battle of medina. This was a decisive victory for Mohamed other tribes realized that the gods must be on Mohamed's side so they joined him and converted to Islam.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

blog #9

Throughout history Hinduism has played a prominent role in the Indian belief in non-violence. One of the most famous Indians that used the non-violent approach was Mahatma Gandhi. He first used this approach when he fought the original apartheid in South Africa. He successfully ended the segregation of Indians in the British Empire while he lived in Johannesburg. About thirty years later he used non-violence again to gain India’s independents from the British “raj”. Since its start Hinduism has believed in non-violence. There are many stories in the Bhagavad-Gita and other Hindu books, of heroes that refused to fight. Thanks to Hinduism we have saved many lives by using the non-violent approach.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

blog #8

Migrating people can have a positive impact on the people receiving them. They can bring new ideas and ideals, new religion and philosophy and new trade items. One great example of migrating people having a positive impact on the society was the Abbasid Empire of Arabia. The Abbasid's spread throughout northern Africa and Spain. They brought a new religion, Islam. They also brought math and astronomy to the conquered areas. They helped the regions flourish and grow to become the centers of learning and intellect in the middle ages.