It wasn't Mohammed who founded Islam.

[Rayaan]

Rayaan, you are not usually that dishonest. I'm not talking about "pondering" ( and coming up with an imam-approved bullshit answer) and you know it. I'm talking about questioning the basic tenets as the jews and xtians have seen done with their bullshit. They don't like it but they have lost the power to kill people who question. Islam will grow up when it stops thinking that questions are the enemy.

Well I'm sure you know that critical examination is not just about asking questions, but more than that, it requires thoughtful deliberation.

There is also an important difference between asking questions and really asking. Many times we ask questions in order to simply instill doubts in our minds, or to consolidate a certain preconceived idea that we have in mind, which is obviously not the way to do critical examination. For example, earlier when you asked me "Can you show me the part of the koran which allows you to critically examine your faith?" and in the other thread "Where is the evidence that it happened the way the koran claims?," both of these questions seem to carry a preformed answer that you wanted to plant into my head. You were just asking those questions in order to drive home a point, not to make me critically examine my faith. But thankfully I understand well enough to be able to discern such suggestive questions cleverly disguised as a request for a non-biased "critical" examination.

Islam doesn't actually prohibit asking questions. What it discourages is asking unnecessary and suggestive questions, or questions about something which has been made clear to us. The Quran is one of those things because it states about itself that it is a book about which there is no doubt: "This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guidance for the righteous" (Surah 2:02). This means that the divine origin of this book as well as the instructions contained therein should not be questioned or doubted. We can ponder or think about it (silently), but asking questions should be avoided because it is likely to imply that we already have an inkling to find some kind of a justification to simply reject or deny what we have been told to believe. Questions are oftentimes used as a reinforcement of certain presumptions (of what the answer is) and less so as a serious pursuit of the truth.

Research in psychology has proven that there is a lot of suggestibility in the way we frame a question without even being aware of it. We tend to word questions in a way relative to our own beliefs and experiences, as opposed to being objective, which automatically creates a greater likelihood that there will be errors in our answers due to the biased framing of the questions themselves. This has also been demonstrated by how poll questions are phrased and the kinds of responses they elicit.

Thinking/contemplation/pondering, on the other hand, is something more neutral because your thoughts flow more freely and your mind is less restrained, whereas questioning usually limits and influences the answers to be what you expected them to be.

"Questions do more than ask: they solicit and convey information, and focus and suggest answers. By influencing answers, questions alter what is understood by others." - Dr. Kathy Kellermann

"All those references" were 3 and all posthumous... there's a nice hint for you.

But in total there was like 17 references, counting the ones which mention Muhammad as the Messenger of God (and not just a leader), which you intentionally ignored.

If he was as leader as islam likes to claim, then some contemporary, as in while he was alive, writings about him would be likely...
I mean, we're talking about a guy who's the leader of all arabia... and expanding!... how could he accomplish that without writing orders and dealing with local tribal leaders and other stuff.... you know, like what the romans were doing 600 years earlier!!

The answer is that most people during that time were illiterate, along with Muhammad who belonged to an illiterate Bedouin tribe, the Quraish. Writing was very uncommon in that time and place. And even if there were some contemporary writings of Muhammad (or from Muhammad), it's very unlikely that those writings would still be intact, especially if they were written on paper or on scrolls.

And still, Muslim historians have transmitted that Muhammad sent letters to various kings and governors (to invite them to Islam) which were all written by his scribes.

How the hell did one man establish himself as the leader of all those tribes?
Easy answer: al-Malik.

That's funny. You gave an answer with no explanation at all. Well then, using your own question I'm going to ask you now:

How the hell did this one man establish himself as the leader of all those tribes?

How big is the muslim reach by 635CE?
How big was it when he allegedly started?
How long did it take?

Conversion to Islam started to occur very soon after Muhammad began to preach at around the age of 40, when he first received revelation. Then the Muslim ummah (community) started to grow during the rest of his life and in the years following his death. All of this is well-documented in history. We have exact dates and accurate knowledge of the events. And once again they all support that the rise of Islam goes back to only one man: Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread_of_Islam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ummah