I was anxious and excited for Armstrong to begin speaking of Islam and its influences on the world. I do not know much about Islam. I found it very interesting that Islam was founded on the idea of turning back to "orginal perfection of God..." and "the whole of Islam, therefore, can be seen as a quest for wholeness, a return to paradise that human beings had lost." (P218) I knew that Judaism, Chiristainy, and Islam where all founded on similair foundadtions and build from the Abrahamic traditions, but it seems to me, atleast in its beginings, Islam was more of a rethinking, not a new religion within itself.
Also, in comparsion with previous talk of the sacred, orgianlly Muhammad had no interest in placing importance on a sacred place. It was important to intergrate daily life into their faith, because God created the earth and the people, which is sacred within its own. It was only after Muhammad realised that, "human beings need symbols to focus on..." that three different places where regarded as sacred to Islam.
I also found it quite interesting that the Dome of the Rock is not a mosque, but a shrine. The shrine surrounds the area in which Muslims believe Muhammad had ascended to heaven after his Night Journey. Even though the Dome was more extravagent than most Islamic sites had been in the past, the space represted. "the primal harmoney of paradise."
I agree with you. It was a very interesting perspective that Armstrong gave about Islam. I really had never had it explained to me like that before. And again, Muhammad realized, just like Constantine and other rulers before him, that humans need physical representation of their beliefs.
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