Islam - A religion or an ancient desert mafia guised in the name of a religion?

That Islam spread from a bunch of desert tribes and Mohammed to become the 1.4 billion strong religion it is today says legions. One blogger asked a good question recently. Is it them or us? What made the desert origin of Islam as taught by Mohammed spread over much of the world? That it did spread implies acceptance by those who converted. How did this happen? The implication is that this is good because people accepted it. The swath of Islam from Spain to the Philippines says much.

My answer to my homework assignment is like a multiple choice question on a test. The answers are:
1) Military conquer of weak tribes
2) Astute rule of some of the conquered tribes
3) Assimilation into the local tribe/culture primarily through marriage
4) Criminals wrapping themselves in revolutionary clothes
5) All of the above

The history of Islam as I study it shows it to be people-oriented. That says it all! Some people are better or worse than others.

The worlds history is full of megalomaniacs. This applies to Islam as well. The spread of Islam was an “all of the above”. So there are both good and bad impacts.

Take all this to today’s times. Many bandits often guise themselves in the name of revolutionaries or guerillas. This principle has applied throughout history.

When Muhammad died in 632, he left a raft of religious problems which we still suffer from today. While I doubt he might recognize much of what is happening in the name of Islam today, I think he did leave a political and military organization adrift, to include succession and even the vision of his revelations.

Fast forward.

Many of us in the world are under attack by mullahs and politicians from a small portion of the Islam religion. By attack I mean some of us will die. Over time, I expect the vast Muslim population will kill this minority. In the meantime, this very minority group, this desert mafia, this band of criminals guised as mullahs and revolutionaries, will continue to implement “answer one” above.