Audio journey
Muhammad: an audio journey
In the footsteps of Muhammad, Edward Stourton traces the roots of Islam; the history of the prophet, and the impact this mystic and warrior has on international affairs today.
Mecca
In the year 610 a 40 year old illiterate trader in the deserts of Arabia received a revelation that would change the world.
Islam is now the second most popular religion on the planet with more than a billion followers.
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the third holiest site in Islam: the first Muslims didn't pray towards Mecca, but to Jerusalem.
This episode explores the theory that Islam may have grown out of a cult of Judaism.
It also explores the meaning of jihad and how the life of the prophet and the battles against the pagan Meccans have been used to justify suicide bombings.
Granada
The Alhambra Palace is perhaps the finest surviving Muslim palace in the world and its symbolic of an episode that many Muslims believe has been all but written out of the history books by Europe's Christians: the flowering of Islam culture, philosophy and science, which meant that once the intellectual heart of Europe beat not in Paris, Rome or Athens, but in the great Muslim cities of Granada and Cordoba.
The music in this episode is from a group called Joglaresa. See the related links for their website.
Indonesia
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim nation and since independence in 1949 it has often been plagued by religiously motivated violence.
But Islamic reformers in the country are advocating a radical reinterpretation of the life of Muhammad as a way of leading the country to democracy.
Could this be the start of an Islamic enlightenment that will lead the way for the rest of the Muslim world?