[Disclaimer: I am NOT a Muslim and do not favor one particular any one form of Islam over another. This is a secular view of Islam in general and not meant as a praise nor a criticism of this religion, merely an overview of the history and belief. My true exposure to this religion is very limited to the few Muslims I do know, most of whom are of the NOI variety. Therefore this article is mostly based on research.]
When growing up, I was in a religion that discounted the validity of any religion that was not of our faith, so I mostly ignored all the difference of the religions around me. In my mind the Muslims were no different than the Catholic or Jews or Hindus. It wasn't until I grew up and got out of that religion that I was able to take the blinders off and really appreciate the differences as well as the similarities in all these religions.
Islam was one of those groups I understood the least. After all, the only Muslims in my neighborhood were from the Nation of Islam, a group most considered a fringe cult akin to the racist groups that call themselves Christians. I was kind of conflicted about that viewpoint as I befriended a family who "adopted" me who were from the NOI [This family no longer associates with NOI, but are still believers in Islam]. That was when I was really aware of the religion or its beliefs.
There was a time when I took the media painted picture of a Muslim as the whole truth, for this I apologize to every practicing Muslim. I thought all Arabs were Muslims. All Muslims hated Christians and wanted to force everyone to become a follower. Muslims were all terrorists. I came to realize, much like in the Christian religion, there are many varied Islamic faiths and beliefs and there were also the fair share of people who gave Islam a bad name.
I did want to do research into this topic I really didn't understand. After all, there are approximately 1.2 billion in the world who follow this religion and 7 million of them live in the United States and the rate is growing faster than the Christians. They are not some insignificant group.
Every since the infamous day of September 11, 2001, there have been a lot of talk about the Muslims. Most of the reports were negative and only a handful of people were speaking out against the negative campaign. It took its toll on the Islamic believers, especially in the United States. Many were looked upon as evil and not to be trusted. This is a reminder to the days of WWII when the Japanese Americans were treated this harshly.
It is fear and ignorance which led to the acts of hatred and murder of those who were in fact or suspected of being a Muslim. Until people are really educated as to what's up with this religion, the fear will block people from accepting this group. They are human beings with the same longings, wishes and desires as everyone else. They want to live in peace. They want freedom. They want love and respect.
Don't let the handful of lunatics get the best of you.
I asked my Muslim friends from the NOI and the more traditional, mainstream Islam groups what they believed. Like the Christians, they have a few key beliefs that bind them.
- Allah, the Arabic word for God, is a single being who is omnipotent, just and merciful.
- God's word is supreme and has higher power than the law of man.
- The Qur'an is the words of God revealed to Muhammad by the archangel Jibril (or Gabriel.)
- The Hadith is a collections of the sayings of Muhammad and examples of how to live
- The Torah, the Psalms, the rest of the Bible as they were originally revealed are considered divine scriptures
- The angels watch over the people on earth and report back to Allah.
- The Messengers of God, include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad
- Muhammad's message is considered the final, universal message for all of humanity.
- The Day of Judgment when people will be judged on the basis of their deeds while on earth.
- Hell is where unbelievers and sinners spend eternity.
- Paradise is a place of physical and spiritual pleasure for the sinless believers.
- God did not have a son and Jesus was only a prophet, but the idea of Jesus as deity is a form of polytheism and blasphemous.
- Jesus was not executed on the cross, but escaped and was taken up into Paradise.
- Satan drives people to sin, but people have free will to accept or reject the sin.
- Muslims must sincerely repent and submit to God in order to return to a state of sinlessness.
- All people are considered children of Adam.
- True Islam does not support racism.
- All children are naturally born under Islam and pure until the parents turn them away and lead them out of Islam.
- At puberty children are accountable for all their actions and is recorded.
- Those who are good followers of Allah go to a Paradise.
- Those who are not good followers go to Hell.
- Alcohol, drugs, eating of pork, and gambling are major sins.
- Sex is only to be enjoyed within a marriage.
- Homosexuality is forbidden.
A Muslim also upholds the Five Pillars which are -
- To recite the Shahadah ("There is no God but God and Muhammad is his Prophet")
- To pray 5 times a day
- To donate to charity through zakat.
- To fast during Ramadan (a lunar month on the Islamic calendar)
- To make at least one hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca if physically able.
Most Westerns have a false, pre-conceived notion on a few beliefs of the Islamic faith based on a handful of lunatics who give the rest a bad name. To clear up the main misunderstandings which cause the most fear of these followers, here is the real story.
A Jihad is not some Holy War against those non-Believers and infidels. A Jihad, translated loosely, means a struggle. To most followers a Jihad is a personal, internal struggle with one's self and temptations. It is only the extreme fundamentalist groups which take the word as a battle cry in the struggle of tearing down anyone they feel is an infidel. They are indeed the minority. [Take heart, Christians have their scary people too.]
Suicide is strictly forbidden. They believe all decisions of life and death are left to Allah. They do not even believe in assisted suicide or abortion as this is taking the decision that belongs to God in the hands of mere mortal humans. Therefore, all those suicide bombers are NOT following the true religion of Islam.
Muslims do not have a death wish nor a burning desire to prove themselves a martyr. If you ask them, most want to live a full, happy, stress-free life just like everyone else.
The Christians deep mistrust of the Muslims comes from the misunderstood feeling that Muslims cannot be friends with Christians and Jews. First let me cite the Christian similarity to this same principle.
1 John 2:15, "Do not love this world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
2 Cor. 6:14, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?"
The Qur'an at Verse 5:51 says, "O believers! Take neither Jews nor Christians as your protecting friends: they are only protecting friends of one another. Whoever of you disobeys this commandment will be counted as one of them. Surely Allah does not guide the wrongdoers."
This is mistakenly thought to meant that a Muslim is to show outright hostility towards non-Muslims which is false. One could make the same argument that the Christians are to be hostile to non-Christians based on the above Scriptures, but that would be equally untrue. Simply put, both religions strongly believe in keeping closest to those of the same faith, but to show the same mercy, humility, and hospitality to everyone. The principle of "Love thy neighbor" is valid in almost every religion.
Ali, from Understanding The Islamic Religion, has also pointed this out to me about how Qur'an describes Jews and Christians.
02/62 and 05/69 - "Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve."
These verses explain what are the fundamentals of these faiths:
- Believe in God
- Believe in the Last Day
- Work righteousness
Another fear the Western and Christian world has of Muslims is that they wish to convert everyone to that faith or will kill them. This is simply not true. Much like the Christian groups where some strongly believe in going out to convert while the majority do not, the Islamic followers are the same. Muslims are expected to explain Islam to followers of other faiths, but it is up to Allah to guide the willing.
Not all Arabs are Muslims. The Arabs are members of a Semitic people from the Middle East to northern Africa which was referred to as Arabia. To be an Arab is only the cultural/national background of a person and not the religion. It would be like saying one who is French is thereby Catholic. While it is true many Arabs are in fact Muslims as there are many French who are Catholic, there are Arabs who follow other faiths just as the French do. It may shock most people to realize there are Arab Christians, Arab Jews, Arab Buddhists and so forth.
Muslims come from all walks of life. If someone says they are a Muslim, sight unseen you just might assume the person is of the swarthy complexion of someone from the Middle East. It may shock you to realize Muslims are in every shade from white with blonde hair and blue eyes to dark skinned and black eyes and everything in between the two.
For more information on this religion, please consult these sites:
