I'm writing a fantasy novel loosely based on the fall of the Roman Empire. The new religion that's sprung up, instead of christianity, is an organized solar religion, at least in this draft, but I'm thinking of changing its tone and spirit. And something I'm seriously considering as an example is Islam.
But I have a few questions. Not so much about the religion itself, I suppose? But about how people look at it or think of its doctrines. The most important one is... how important to Islam, as in, how central to it, is the doctrine that Muhammad (pbuh) (is that right?) is the last of the prophets? Would a hereditary position of 'prophet' be acceptable, or should I stick to a holy book collecting one single teacher's writings that then form the core of the religion? Wow, that question got confused.
How heirarchical was the medieval Muslim religion? Christianity became highly heirarchical very quickly as it spread throughout the Roman Empire, and the Catholic Church organization (and the Eastern Orthodox Church) grew to duplicate the structures of the late roman empire in a lot of ways. Dioceses,etc. Was there anything similar or attempts to institute something similar, or was Islam under the Mohammad and the first caliphs a very flat organizational chart, religiously?
But I have a few questions. Not so much about the religion itself, I suppose? But about how people look at it or think of its doctrines. The most important one is... how important to Islam, as in, how central to it, is the doctrine that Muhammad (pbuh) (is that right?) is the last of the prophets? Would a hereditary position of 'prophet' be acceptable, or should I stick to a holy book collecting one single teacher's writings that then form the core of the religion? Wow, that question got confused.
How heirarchical was the medieval Muslim religion? Christianity became highly heirarchical very quickly as it spread throughout the Roman Empire, and the Catholic Church organization (and the Eastern Orthodox Church) grew to duplicate the structures of the late roman empire in a lot of ways. Dioceses,etc. Was there anything similar or attempts to institute something similar, or was Islam under the Mohammad and the first caliphs a very flat organizational chart, religiously?
