BYU law school being investigated by bar group

[SeattleUte]

Originally Posted by Archaea

It is not a challenge, but a request for reasonable proof. Just because there was fascination with Egyptian materials, which are not inherently Islamic as they pre-date Islam, that seems odd to assert the primitive folk of upstate New York had much of an understanding of the Shia/Sunni dynamics of Islam and its tenets. There wasn't even a decent English translation of the Quran until Yusuf Ali completed his in 1934. The Holy Qur'an: Translation and Commentary (1934) by Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

Mohammed does form perhaps an archetype of the warrior/prophet whose calling commences with a vision of God and his angels. In that sense, what the archetype set up in the charismatic sense is analogous to Joseph Smith, but to state categorically that Joseph Smith knowingly emulated a man he could hardly known much about, given the lack of materials in English with much understanding. Early translations from Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and Farsi into workable English seem hardly likely to make to it to an uneducated farm boy in upstate New York.

It more likely possible that the sociological conditions which allow charismatic figures to create a following recur from time to time, as shown by numerous charismatic "prophets" throughout the ages.

Moreover, Islam won over its minions through martial conquest and the LDS faith is now floundering because it is unable to control the information flow and is unable find a central message for new adherents. The Caliphates and Umayyads were well-established within 150 years, but 750 CE, leading the growth under the Abbasids, Seljuks and Ottomans over the centuries.

In many respects, absent moderation and attachment to a growing economy or world empire, the LDS faith is unlikely to see such growth and domination.

Look, I'm not saying that Islam was or was not a model for LDS founding myth, theology, etc. But you will never convince me that Islam was not well known in nineteenth century United States. During the Romantic Age there was renewed interest in medieval times, religion, etc. In the great drama and pageantry of medieval warfare and associated game of thrones the lines ultimately were drawn between Europe and Islam. There were multiple epic poems demonizing Muslims as the great adversary. Islam occupied Jerusalem and the Holy Land, having survived the onslaught of the Crusades, generating a lot of psychic pain in Christians that had lasted for ages. The Ottoman Empire was still a superpower. Muslims were feared and loathed, though they carried a strong mystique. This hate/admiration if anything heightened Islam's attraction as a model.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=romantic+age+Islam