10. Karen Armstrongsages too, because all rightly guided religion that submitted
wholly to God, refused to worship man-made deities and
preached that justice and equality came from the same divine
source. Hence Muhammad never asked Jews or Christians to
accept Islam, unless they particularly wished to do so, be-
cause they had received perfectly valid revelations of their
own. The Quran insists strongly that "there shall be no coer-
cion in matters of faith,"6 and commands Muslims to respect
the beliefs of Jews and Christians, whom the Quran calls ahl
al-kitab, a phrase usually translated "People of the Book" but
which is more accurately rendered "people of an earlier rev-
elation:"
Do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation otherwise
than in a most kindly manner-unless it be such of them as are
bent on evil-doing-and say: "We believe in that which has been
bestowed from on high upon us, as well as that which has been
bestowed upon you; for our God and your God is one and the
same, and it is unto Him that we [all] surrender ourselves."^7It is only our more modern culture that can afford to prize
originality and jettison tradition wholesale. In pre-modern
society, continuity was crucial. Muhammad did not envisage
a violent rupture with the past or with other faith communi-
ties. He wanted to root the new scripture in the spiritual land-
scape of Arabia.
Hence Muslims continued to perform the customary ritu-
als at the Kabah, the cube-shaped shrine in the heart of
Mecca, the most important centre of worship in Arabia. It was
extremely ancient even in Muhammad's time, and the origi-
nal meaning of the cult associated with it had been forgotten,
but it was still loved by the Arabs, who assembled each year
for the hajj' pilgrimage from all over the peninsula. They
would circle the shrine seven times, following the direction of
the sun around the earth; kiss the Black Stone embedded in