Muhammad As The First Global Revolutionary

The first surprise is archival. Muhammad is as important as Jesus, but the source record is thinner. Source trail 0:00 Okay, good morning. So we are doing Muhammad and the rise of Islam today. Muhammad, as you know, is one of the most important and influential figures in human history. He is as important as Jesus. But, ironically, we ac... The Quran does not tell the life in the way a modern reader might expect, and one of the earliest descriptions Jiang uses comes from a Christian witness only decades after Muhammad's death. Source trail 0:001:24 Okay, good morning. So we are doing Muhammad and the rise of Islam today. Muhammad, as you know, is one of the most important and influential figures in human history. He is as important as Jesus. But, ironically, we ac...So we know he existed, so we know that he was a real person, and he was a founder of the Islamic tradition. And this is what Sibyl says about Muhammad. At that time, a certain man from along those same sons of Ishmael,... That scarcity is not a minor footnote. It is the condition for the whole reconstruction.

The early description lets Jiang hear a Moses story. Muhammad is a merchant-preacher from the sons of Ishmael. Source trail 1:24 So we know he existed, so we know that he was a real person, and he was a founder of the Islamic tradition. And this is what Sibyl says about Muhammad. At that time, a certain man from along those same sons of Ishmael,... He tells Arabs they belong to Abraham's family, that the promised land was given to them too, and that God is with them if they seize it back. The conventional biography then turns that message into restoration: Gabriel tells Muhammad that Ishmael's descendants once knew Yahweh, fell into polytheism, and must return to monotheism. Source trail 7:33 in a cave okay that's a very common thing to go to a cave and to meditate as a form of religious worship and while he was at the cave the angel gabriel appeared before muhammad and he said he was going to go to a cave a... Medina matters because the rejection in Mecca becomes migration, arbitration, and a new political-religious beginning.

Medina gives Muhammad a polity. Source trail 10:06 goes to medina because the tribes there have invited him to be a judge the tribes there uh one of the tribes is actually jewish they're fighting amongst themselves and they need someone to arbitrate to arbitrate their d... He arbitrates, promises freedom of religious expression, attracts followers, builds an army, and then the mystery opens. How could people imagined as poor, primitive desert nomads defeat Byzantium and Sassanian Persia and conquer from Spain to India in less than a century? Jiang calls it one of the greatest mysteries in world history Source trail 11:18 the here's the roman empire as well as the sassanian persian empire and they both attack him sorry they both attack the muslims but again through the miracle of god the muslims are able to defeat both empires and and in... because the ordinary imperial map gives the wrong answer.

The answer begins with later revolutions. Taiping peasants, Canudos rebels, and French revolutionaries each show the same engine. A new sacred story tells people that God or history is with them, while social revolt tells them they are making a new world. Soldiers with both religious devotion and revolutionary zeal Source trail 15:19 of 10 years he's able to build a following that eventually conquers most of china and he's almost able to overthrow the empire but there are some other factors at work for example the western powers mainly the british e... are not afraid to die. That is the pattern Jiang carries back to Arabia. Islam becomes legible as the first revolution to go global. Source trail 19:15 you can say it was a religious movement but they were both revolutions there they were trying to overthrow the established social order okay so let's look at one more example of this which is the French Revolution now w...

The map looks obvious until it is turned. Byzantium and Persia are huge. Arabia is desert. But Jiang says the hotbed of innovation is precisely the place the imperial eye dismisses. Source trail 22:02 how was it possible for the Arabs to defeat both the Byzantine Empire and the Sassanian Persian Empire? And the answer is this. What people don't understand, what is not recognized is, in 600 CE, the hotbed of innovatio... Trade makes Arabia the center. Traders move goods, but also technology, stories, intelligence, and habits of openness. Source trail 23:18 Because there's a crisscross of empire. So if India wanted to access Egypt, because again, Egypt for the longest time was the wealthiest civilization, then they had to first send their goods to Arabia. And then the noma... They know what is happening in the empires because they have to cross between them.

War and religion intensify the same pattern. Tribal Arabia trains fighters, and imperial mercenary work teaches them Byzantine and Sassanian warcraft. Source trail 24:32 Okay? So that's the first unique characteristic about the Arabian Peninsula at this time. These are open -minded, cosmopolitan people who are constantly absorbing new information, new knowledge to better their society.... At the same time, Augustine's world of orthodoxy pushes dissenters east. Christians who disagree about Christology, Jews escaping persecution, and Zoroastrians seeking personal faith all find room in Arabia. The most heretical become the most innovative Source trail 28:24 They either go to the Sassanid Empire or they go to the Arabian Desert. Many Jews go to the Arabian Desert. Why? Because in the Arabian Desert, there's no sense of authority. You are free to practice the faith as you ch... because they ask questions that authority forbids. Source trail 28:24 They either go to the Sassanid Empire or they go to the Arabian Desert. Many Jews go to the Arabian Desert. Why? Because in the Arabian Desert, there's no sense of authority. You are free to practice the faith as you ch...

Arabia is gaining wealth, innovation, and diversity while the imperial societies are producing grievance. Landlessness, debt, and religious persecution Source trail 30:3132:01 So the Arabian Desert, it is a hotbed of religious diversity and religious tolerance. You are allowed to practice any faith, and people respect that. Okay? And again, they have some of the smartest Jews and Christians a...These are problems that have existed throughout human history. Why are there so many revolutions in Chinese history? Because of these two problems, right? Because there are few people who control all the land and becaus... make ordinary people unhappy. War, plague, and succession struggles weaken the state. The visual map says Byzantium and Persia are strong. The social map says they are brittle. Source trail 33:08 Okay? Second is, whenever you have large cities, you have the problem of plagues, right? Disease. Plagues. So there are these plagues called the Justinian Plague that wiped out about 10 to 20 % of the population at this...

The Arabs are the inverse. They are strong, brave, cosmopolitan, and militarily trained, but divided into tribes. The problem is unity. Source trail 33:0835:32 Okay? Second is, whenever you have large cities, you have the problem of plagues, right? Disease. Plagues. So there are these plagues called the Justinian Plague that wiped out about 10 to 20 % of the population at this...The third is the person is so disciplined, he becomes selfless. Right? And so there are many individuals we've met in this class that follow this formula. So for example, Philip of Macedon, as well as Julius Caesar. Phi... Muhammad becomes the answer because he fits the leader pattern Jiang has used elsewhere: so strategic he becomes visionary, so innovative he becomes revolutionary, so disciplined he becomes selfless. Source trail 34:17 Now, what's important for us to understand is there are lots of different prophets who think they are the Messiah at this point. Okay? Because both the Zoroastrian religion and the Christian religion and the Jewish reli...

The first message is family: Arabs, Jews, and Christians are all children of Abraham, so religious difference should not become persecution. Source trail 36:53 Well, you have, if you have three different messages, you can unite everyone. Okay? The first message is this. We are all God's children. Okay? Arabs, Jews, Christians, we are all descendants of Abraham. Therefore, we a... The second is meritocracy: class, caste, and tribal loyalty violate God's will because all are equal before God. In Jiang's blunt formula, meritocracy is basically revolution. Source trail 37:45 Second thing that you can say is that we are, we, okay, so you're basically creating a meritocracy. The idea of meritocracy is basically revolution. Right? The idea of class, the idea of caste, the idea of tribal loyalt...

The third message turns theology into land politics. God gave Abraham's descendants the land from the Nile to the Tigris. Romans, Persians, landlords, and the wealthy stole it. Jihad becomes the fight to take it back Source trail 37:4539:07 Second thing that you can say is that we are, we, okay, so you're basically creating a meritocracy. The idea of meritocracy is basically revolution. Right? The idea of class, the idea of caste, the idea of tribal loyalt...Because that is God's will. When we take it back, when we take it back, we will establish a kingdom of heaven on earth. We will follow God's law. God's law demands equality. It demands mercy and tolerance. It demands op... and establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. Source trail 39:07 Because that is God's will. When we take it back, when we take it back, we will establish a kingdom of heaven on earth. We will follow God's law. God's law demands equality. It demands mercy and tolerance. It demands op... The source description now reads differently: Muhammad is not only a preacher. He is God's messenger telling dispossessed people to seize the land, overthrow tyrants, overthrow landlords Source trail 41:23 Okay? I have come to you as God's messenger, as God's prophet, to tell you that this land is yours and you must take it back. Love sincerely only the God of Abraham and go and seize the land which God gave to your fathe... , and trust that God is with them.

The conquest works because the message answers real pain. Wherever the Muslims go, Jiang says, they free people from religious persecution, debt, and landlessness. Source trail 41:2344:05 Okay? I have come to you as God's messenger, as God's prophet, to tell you that this land is yours and you must take it back. Love sincerely only the God of Abraham and go and seize the land which God gave to your fathe...The history is that Muhammad was disgusted by the inequality and corruption he saw in the world around him. And he promised the people freedom from religious persecution, from debt, and from landlessness. And that's wha... That is not a small doctrinal advantage. It is an offer of life under God's law instead of life under landlords, creditors, and compulsory orthodoxy. Source trail 39:0741:2342:41 Because that is God's will. When we take it back, when we take it back, we will establish a kingdom of heaven on earth. We will follow God's law. God's law demands equality. It demands mercy and tolerance. It demands op...Okay? I have come to you as God's messenger, as God's prophet, to tell you that this land is yours and you must take it back. Love sincerely only the God of Abraham and go and seize the land which God gave to your fathe...

Then comes the final reversal. The revolution works, so it becomes an empire. Lens point borderland-engine The borderland engine carries its own reversal: once the margin wins, it can become the center, protect its new equilibrium, and erase the revolutionary or adaptive grammar that made it powerful. Source trail 42:41 You are now allowed to practice any faith you want. You have that freedom now. That's important to people. You now have some land where you can grow crops. And we will wipe away your debt. Okay? So in less than 100 year... Once it is an empire, it cannot celebrate the grammar of revolt that created it. Lens point borderland-engine The borderland engine carries its own reversal: once the margin wins, it can become the center, protect its new equilibrium, and erase the revolutionary or adaptive grammar that made it powerful. Source trail 42:4144:05 You are now allowed to practice any faith you want. You have that freedom now. That's important to people. You now have some land where you can grow crops. And we will wipe away your debt. Okay? So in less than 100 year...The history is that Muhammad was disgusted by the inequality and corruption he saw in the world around him. And he promised the people freedom from religious persecution, from debt, and from landlessness. And that's wha... A later ruler does not want another Muhammad appearing inside his own order. So the history changes. The conflict becomes monotheism versus polytheism, while the revolutionary hatred of corruption and inequality fades from view. That is why, in Jiang's reading, so little is written about Muhammad: success produced the silence. Source trail 45:28 And that's why there's so little written about Muhammad. And that's why the Koran doesn't really tell us that much about Muhammad. Okay? Because his revolution won. Okay. Is this clear to you? Do you have any questions?...