Answer from Jesus: I have already commented on this elsewhere <../../../goldenage/currentevents/middleeast/jihad.html>. The short answer is that Muhammad was a true prophet who received his teachings from Archangel Gabriel. However, from the beginning, the spiritual teachings of Islam were influenced by a warring culture. This turned Islam into a warring religion, and that was never the intent of the Ascended Host. Let me briefly comment on the expression a "true prophet." Many people have a certain sense of idolatry when they look upon spiritual leaders, myself included. They assume that if you are a genuine spiritual leader, you are somehow in a category of your own. You are so different from other people that they could not possibly do what you have done. In my view, the definition of a true prophet is a person who is able to raise his or her consciousness above the level of the lower consciousness, the carnal mind. By making contact with the Christ self, the person can serve as an instrument for bringing forth a spiritual teaching directly from the Ascended Host. As I have explained elsewhere <../channelingrevel/Channeling.html>, we of the Ascended Host do not take over people's minds. Therefore, when we speak through the consciousness of a person in embodiment, it is inevitable that the message we give will be influenced by the person's consciousness. This is not necessarily wrong, but it will affect the message. At the very least, the message will be expressed in words, concepts and images that are familiar to the prophet. This can clearly be seen among the Old Testament prophets. It is also easy to see that I spoke in words and images that were familiar to people in a particular culture and a particular time. My essential point here is that even when a person is a true prophet, one should never reason that the message given through that prophet is the only truth about God or the only possible way that a spiritual teaching could be expressed. Throughout the ages, members of the Ascended Host have worked with many people in embodiment to bring forth spiritual teachings. These teachings have always been adapted to the consciousness of the recipients. The important point being that we of the Ascended Host have never attempted to bring forth the "one true religion." The concept of the one true religion is something that is imposed by the human consciousness, the lower mind. It did not originate in Heaven; it originated with man and the nonmaterial beings who are working against God's will. Therefore, whenever a religion claims to be the only true religion, that claim did not originate with the Ascended Host. I know that millions of people, from a variety of different religions, will object to this statement. Yet no amount of human argumentation can change the reality of God. God is not mocked and he is no respecter of persons. Let me comment on your expression that Mohammad was sent by the "most high." Because of people's idolatry, they tend to assume that a true prophet is speaking the direct word of God and that his entire life was predestined by some higher force. In reality, Mohammad was a man, and as any other prophet (myself included), he had to raise his consciousness so that he was able to serve as a prophet. To raise his consciousness, he had to go through a process of spiritual growth. I am not saying that every human being could have done what Muhammad did. Nevertheless, there was never a guarantee that Mohammed would go through the process of becoming a prophet. He had to make decisions to raise his consciousness, and as part of this process he had to be willing to leave behind some of his former beliefs. This was a process that was entirely subject to his free will. While Muhammad did raise his consciousness, he did not fully let go of certain cultural elements, and this did affect the teachings that were delivered through him. This influence is partly responsible for the fact that Islam became a warring religion. However, much was added later that was not the responsibility of Muhammad. Likewise, much has been added to Christianity for which I neither claim nor want responsibility.