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Originally Posted by highthief
There were no Muslims until Muhammed. He (and his people) were polytheistic, worshiping a variety of Gods (including Allah) and who did recognize a holy aspect to Judaism and Christianity. But to say Muhammed was Christian in the way that Jesus was Jewish is completely wrong. Jesus was born a Jew. Mary and Joesph and all his ancestors were Jewish. Muhammed had no Christian ancestors nor was he ever Christian. Having shared beliefs in no way makes Muhammed or any contemporary Muslim a Christian.
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to the contrary, i'd like to make a few adjustments to your views highthief.
it is popular muslim belief that the word 'muslim' does not mean 'a follower of Muhammed'. in fact it refers to those that believed in the "oneness of God", God as a single entity and who was worshipped according to His laws brought down by His prophets. Thus with that classification, it can be said that Moses was a 'muslim', Abraham was a 'muslim' David was a 'muslim', Jesus was a 'muslim' etc in that sense, just as Muhammed was a 'muslim'.
the term 'muslim' has many meanings. it comes from the arabic word 'silm' or 'aslam' (from which the word 'islam' comes from) which basically means 'to submit or to give in to' among a miriad of other meanings.
as for Muhammed being polytheistic, there is no evidence to suggest that Muhammed worshipped idols or the religion of his people. Nor is there any evidence to say that he proclaimed any polytheistic beliefs.
in regards to 'Allah' being worshipped pre-Muhammed, the polytheists at the time of muhammad and prior believed that there was higher being called Allah, although they chose to worship idols. its worthy to note that the arabs also use the term "Elah' for God to mean God or Lord which would be very similar to the jewish term 'Elohim'?