I order Islam immediately after Shintoism in the tautological Order of Precedence because, after discovering consciousness in one’s self, and observing consciousness in others, after perceiving Benevolent Intelligence in creation all around us, the natural reflex is to relate to that Benevolent Intelligence.

 

Skeptics will justifiably demand to know why tautologically obligates me to recognize Islam before all but two religious traditions.  My answer is simple.  Islam was not the invention of religion in Arabia, as many religious historians insist.  Islam was the “perfection” of religion in Arabia.

 

The Prophet Mohammed never claimed to have been the author of the Din, just its most recent and its last reformer.  And Arabian history is, if nothing else, the history of religious reforms.  Anyone who suggests that Arabians are religious conservatives knows nothing about the history of the region.  In fact, every major historical threshold in Arabia is defined by attempts made by the Nobility to reform the Din of Arabia.

 

Din, many in the audience may need to know, is the Arabic word for religion.

 

Because Muhammed was a reformer, and Iesus of Nazareth was a reformer, and Moses was a reformer and Abraham was a reformer, we are obligated to ask, and answer, what was being reformed?

 

Muslims of course.

 

I know.  The words Islam and Muslim aren’t found in books until the 6^th century AD, but trust me, both have always been there, at least since the Dreaming and Shintoism were the only religions in existence.

 

Muslim, you see, just means “disciple of God”.

 

Muslim is a definitive absolute bound neither to geography or time.  The first human being who awoke to his own consciousness was destined to observe consciousness in creation all around him.  Inevitably, inextricably, he’d arrive in the recognition of the Benevolent Intelligence we call The Creator and dedicate himself in relationship to God.

 

Or not.  The religions of the world disagree on the whole process from that point forward, but they all agree on one premise: Discipleship is a choice.  I am sure history is full of people who came to the threshold, but never crossed.  Disbelievers, as I call them, experience the epiphany, but just can’t accept it.  They convince themselves they are nuts and get about with their daily grind.

 

I argue it is impossible to become a religious believer of any sort without first dedicating oneself in relationship to the Creator.  Granted, I am not suggesting that the earliest believers were following the Koran.  Not at all, just that the earliest believers all, by definition, came to view themselves in relationship to the Creator.

 

No disciples, no religion.

 

Suggesting religion can work any other way is tantamount to suggesting there could be fish without water.

 

I believe Mohamed will defend my observation when I require a defense, for the Prophet will correctly agree God and His Disciples have been there all along.  The advent of Islam does not inaugurate discipleship in the world, Islam just reformed it.

 

Though the Koran did not exist in written form until Gabriel imparted its wisdom to Mohamed, the wisdom the Koran contains is written on the heart of every human being who has ever lived.

 

That is a concept that science will struggle with.  That is tantamount to claiming that Eistein’s Theory of Relativity exists in the minds of every human being that has ever lived.  And, yes, that is precisely what Islam teaches.  Truth can be found through inward contemplation, through prayerful supplication. It will just be a long wait if we all have to start from scratch.

 

If everything we know today vanished in some catastrophe, as it nearly did in 80,000 BC, then the Disciples of our age would just begin again.  Progress toward recovering what was lost would not necessarily be linear, but the religious canon of the world, in all their implications, would be evoked in Discipleship once again.

 

If the Creator is the Truth, wherever human beings dedicate themselves to a quest for truth, The Creator will be found.

 

It is tautological.  It is all plain and simple to see.

 

For this reason, I insist Muslims, in the strictest definition of the term, were the first believers to formalize faith as religion.  Just don’t expect to see that fact acknowledged in writing.  I believe the Iconographic Record will affirm my conclusions before long, but proper nouns, like “disciple”, are not a feature of Iconographic Writing.

 

I expect that many Muslims in the modern world will take issue with my observation.  I pray they forgive me.  I intend no offense and merely want to establish where, in history, Disciples of God are first in evidence.

 

The Iconographic Record is absolutely clear on that matter.  Disciples of God were both Reigning and Ruling in Arabia long before any religion or any science acknowledges that as fact.

 

Where modern Muslims will order themselves in relationship to their fathers and mothers of 60,000 BC is a matter for modern Muslims to decide.  I just advise they refrain from reaching a conclusion until they have read the Iconographic Record for themselves.  I am convinced Arabia’s fathers and mothers were Disciples of God, not worshipping idols.  I believe, in time, modern Muslims will agree.

 

Arabia’s Nobility long ago retired “graven images” from the intellectual life of Arabia, for reasons we are all about to rediscover.  On Christmas Day of 2023, every Muslim in the world will realize why “graven images” became such a burden to explain in 1800 BC.  It’s nearly impossible to explain today.  But it is, after all, just a writing system.

 

I implore Muslims the world over to refrain from banishing the Iconographic Record from their minds and their discourse, for the world cannot unsee what it is about to see.

 

Muslims who do banish the Iconographic Record from their minds and their discourse will find they are shutting the door on generations of their fathers and mothers, all of whom were Disciples of God.

 

I have every confidence, with the insight we all now have regarding information technologies, we can cope with controversies generations of the past could not.  Maybe I am wrong.  But my discovery has been made and Muslims are obligated to teach the rest of us what we need to know about why graven images were retired.

 

Insha Allah.

 

Enough for now.

 

Respectfully,

 

An Unknown Soldier