My paper as I turned it in

There is no commonality between the three major monotheistic religions (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) that I know of that is particularly and solely based on the belief of God’s existence, although all three believe in the same God. The dividing point of these three all are based on how Jesus is perceived - as divine Son and Savior who died in pain for humanity’s sins according to Christian belief, as a great prophet who brought the Word of God to humanity at a level it could understand at that time but who did not die for mankind’s sins because God only condemns those who have failed to commit any good acts in keeping with the Quran, and even as a Jewish heretic. Believers of each of these three religions do not know much regarding the other religions, and this has lead to a great deal of misunderstandings, conflicts and sometimes bloody wars. Akbar S. Ahmed has attempted to clarify many of the, especially Western, misconceptions held concerning Islam and Muslims with his book, “Islam Today - A Short Introduction to the Muslim World”.

Islam has been the center of much controversy, with many books having been written about it, both non-fiction, many in attempts to clear up misconceptions, similar to Ahmed’s book, and fiction books, written for other reasons, some of which are not very flattering of Islam. “Not Without My Daughter” is one that many Westerners are familiar with. Some have been written by Muslims themselves, complaining of actions by other Muslims, such as “Princess”. Being unknowledgeable about a religion and culture that is ‘foreign’ to them, and then being presented with such images portrayed in these books can easily cause most people to have an extremely negative view of Islam. This was not always the case, as Muslims and Christians, as well as Jews, were able, throughout many times in history, to live side by side, and also worship in close proximity, without incident. While times have changed and this is much more difficult to do today, Islam itself has remained stable within itself, unlike Christianity, which has had much squabbling regarding what would be accepted as doctrine and what would be excluded from doctrine. Islam’s Quran has remained largely unchanged for mainstream Muslims, although there are several variations attributed to different groups who are not considered to be in keeping with the Quran. Most of these groups are inclined towards a militaristic agenda, and use their version of Islam to further their own goals, even though the effects are nothing similar to what the Prophet would have wanted for any Muslim to experience.

The main teachings within the Quran include having respect for the elderly, the impoverished, children, and contrary to many Westerners’ belief, women, and even non-human living creatures, as God has made all living things on the Earth, also. Other things taught by the Quran are prayer five times a day, humility, forgiveness for those who have caused harm, mercy towards those who are being judged, as well as generosity and charity towards the less fortunate. There are many other things taught in the Quran - the previous list was not all inclusive.

Some sayings attributed to Mohammed were excluded over a millennium ago as not having truly originated from Mohammad and thus not being true hadith (A 18-19). Hadith are similar to the situations Jesus used to teach, sometimes within his parables. These sayings are not part of the Quran, but are studied alongside it, and the Quran and hadith reinforce each other. Living according to the Quran and the hadith are what every Muslim attempts to do, on a daily basis. This being pious and adhering to Mohammad’s teachings from the Quran and his hadith and still being one’s own self and interacting with other people are called din and dunya, and finding a balance between the two aspects is very important to the typical Muslim (A 27).

Islam has three main streams, two of which are divided on the basis of who should have inherited duties, as it were, from Mohammad upon his death. These two are Sunni and Shia. The other, which was not explained in great detail by Ahmed, is Sufism, which is more meditative than the previous two mentioned, but is accepted by both Sunnis and Sufis as being valid to Islam.

Many Westerners, especially feminist women, find the traditional dress of Muslim women to seem restricting of, demeaning to, and even unsafe for the women who wear the chador, hijab, and pardah. Many Muslim women feel quite the opposite, as wearing these items allows them to maintain a balance between dunya and din while visiting mosques. They are able to maintain their modesty, which is extremely important to Muslim women, and still spend time in places they feel are close to God, which increases their spirituality, and benefits them in many ways. A pilgrimage to Makkah is actually one of the tasks a Muslim must complete, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, if capable of doing so financially and physically, and with all of the many people there, from all over the world, being modest is an extremely important aspect of attending as a devout Muslim. The dress ‘code’, as it has been called, is mainly to protect women, and it is not the women that are not viewed as being untrustworthy around men, but rather the opposite - that men cannot be trusted to refrain from invading a woman’s personal space to actually sexually assaulting a woman, if given the opportunity.

The mosques are beautiful places of worship, most with a side room for women to pray in, instead of requiring them to pray side by side with a man who may be a stranger to them. Mosques are rich with Islamic writings on the walls, done in wonderful calligraphy, rich tones and colors throughout the mosque, and completed with domes on the outside, making them seem, at least to me, like palaces themselves.

Many of these mosques have been destroyed during war, causing more than just the destruction of a building, but eliminating the chances of harmony between two peoples, invader and invaded, occupying the same region in the future. Mosques are more than an elaborate structure to Muslims, and are places where one can feel more connected to God. Preserving a mosque instead of destroying it, or as has happened in the past, converting it into another religion’s place of worship, can also preserve peaceful relations. Muslim leaders have shown that this is what they prefer to do when they themselves are the conquerors instead, as in the case of Umar and his successors when he ruled Jerusalem in the 600's(A 60-61). The Christian Crusaders did quite the opposite, and not only ruined places of worship belonging to both Jewish and Islamic faiths when they invaded Jerusalem just prior to the 12th century, but also went on a slaughtering spree, and spared practically no one in the area. This enormous disparity in how those of a different faith are treated, by Christians and by Muslims, is said to be part of the reason many convert to Islam.

Islam is not confined to one region of the globe, but can be found all over the world. As Ahmed explains in his book, Islam has found footholds everywhere, and its influence waxes and wanes. When a particular area is decreasing in numbers of Muslims, another region is finding that members of the Islamic faith are increasing in number. These decreases and increases are not just because of people dying and being born, but also because of Muslim migration and conversions of people to the Islamic faith. Some areas of Islam have spread because a conquering people not only tolerated Islam, as Umar had, but the ruler and his people converted to the native religion, Islam, and would spread Islam further, to other areas in their conquests for new territory (A 59 and 84).

Not all countries that consider their main religion to be Islam are Arabic. Ahmed pointed out that during the past there have been major Islamic empires - the Ottoman and Mughal Empires - but neither of these two consisted of Arabic people (A 54). I do not consider the Safavid Empire to be non-Arabic, however, as Ahmed does, because I consider the people of that region to be, quite simply, Arabic. That area consists of Iran and Pakistan, and was mainly Shiism.

While Muslims view themselves as being gentle and non-violent, much of the Western world views them quite differently, due to aggressive actions taken on the part of some Muslims. They see all Muslims as being the same as the ones who have attacked non-Islamic nations (A 49). These attacks originate from extremist Shia views, mainly from Shias in Iran, and are not viewed as being Islamic by other Muslims. The reasoning behind the attacks is that the Western world, especially the United Stats, is seen as evil, and Westerners are viewed as being corrupt and immoral. The United States has even been referred to as the “Great Satan” by Iran. This is mainly due to the influence felt by Iranians from the United States, a country that in Iran is considered to be corrupt and sinful, not anywhere near being a country that is in submission to God’s will. The United States has never had the purposeful corruption of Islam on its agenda, but rather has worked towards maintaining the lowest oil prices possible. Iran’s oil has caused it to be a wealthy nation, but has also brought it into the global economic, and therefore political, arenas, because of the din and dunya factor of combining spiritual and worldly duties and activities.

Muslims themselves strongly disagree with the terrorist attacks on non-Muslim countries because these attacks are against the Quran’s message, and this has lead to many being discriminated against. This would be the same as considering a Mennonite to be the same as a Catholic, because both fall under the “Christianity” heading. Most Westerners realize, without giving it much thought, that a Mennonite is not very similar to a Catholic, except both believe in the basic beliefs of Christianity, and that is about where the similarities end between the two. The knowledge that it is not mainstream Islam, but instead a small sect that not only allows attacks on other countries, but actually condones them, might cause more harmony between the Muslim community worldwide and the predominantly Christian Western world if it were more common.

This knowledge of what Islam is really like might not be soon in coming to the Western world because Muslims are not, as a whole, interested in using the technology that might permit them to educate non-Muslims about Islam in an effective format. Most material that is already available to Americans is usually politically based, and therefore too complicated, as many Americans are not interested in their own political relations. Information is available online currently regarding what Islam is about, but finding a site that is actually accurate, not biased, and only factual, is difficult to do on nearly any topic being researched. This need for a more positive portrayal of Islam is not something that mainstream American media is interested in. It would not have the drama thought to be required for success on television or in the theaters, and again, Muslims are not interested in working in this format themselves. Other art forms, such as the calligraphy in the mosques mentioned above, tapestries, paintings, and other forms of artistic expression have come easily to those in the Islamic faith. Many believe that Muslims are backwards and less modern than themselves, but it has been shown anthropologically that cultures which are more advanced and have developed institutions for the purpose of providing for basic needs, art flourishes. This alone shows that Muslim cultures are more modern than what is commonly believed about Muslim society.

Islam does not know any real boundaries, but has found footholds on most of the earth’s seven continents. The typical Muslim is believed to be Arabic, from the Middle East. This is not always the case. Many Americans are Muslim, and many blacks and whites have both converted to Islam. Much of the civil rights movement in the middle part of the 20th century was lead by black leaders who were also Muslim. Many white Americans do not know this. The opposition that was shown to blacks during that time may, with some Muslims, have been misconstrued as being against Muslims, instead of, being based on racial prejudices, against the blacks. I do not know if this aspect has ever been explored before. It is doubtful that if there had been no Muslim leaders for civil rights that there would have been less violence during that time in American history. There most likely would have been a great deal more.

Islam is a very beautiful religion, with a wonderful and extremely diverse background and culture that has supported it for well over a millennium. It would benefit everyone if there was more commonly known about it, and Muslims, their basic beliefs, and their history of peacefulness, as well as why there are sects that promote violence against outside Westerners, as well as their own people for violating what sect leaders consider to be important. Many Americans dislike secrecy, and find fault where there is none. An increase in knowledge regarding Islam would dispel many misconceptions held by the majority of Americans today.