People label Muslims as terrorists. They think that Islam is the devil’s practice and it is a sin to convert to Islam. This occurs in contemporary Western society. Islam is a peaceful religion.
One of the most misunderstood concepts in Islam leading to this belief is Jihad. Some people think it is a holy war. Other people think that Jihad is striving and effort. Holy war does not exist in Islam. This terminology was generated in Europe during the Crusades and their War against Muslims. In some cases this is correct, “but in reality every single Muslim person carries out Jihad in their lives until the day they die.” (Ahmed). “Muslim terrorist” is an oxymoron; one who truly practices Islam cannot be a terrorist. If anything is mentioned in the
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First, there is the struggle to purify oneself, called Inner Jihad. A Muslim strives to struggle and become a better Muslim. Also, inner jihad is when Muslim increases knowledge of Islam committing to work hard and to reach goals. Second, there is the struggle to purify immediate surroundings, called Social Jihad. This can be simple as saving a dying plant or as big as helping a neighbor. Third there is the struggle to purify one’s community, called Physical Jihad, the most important Jihad. Muslims are to protect the religion of Islam and stop those who prevent you to practice Islam, without force. A Muslim must “fight in the cause of Allah,” but one should not throw the first punch, “for Allah does not like aggressors” (Quran …show more content…
Soon Jihad started to mean something else. Jihad has been corrupted and misinterpreted by brainwashed so-called Muslims. Media has become a huge factor of changing the meaning of Jihad. People “have implanted a seed in everyone’s head” to make people think, “that Islam and the people who practice it are ‘terrorists,’” the publicity has created fear with America (Ahmed). What Jihad means now is the same as it meant at first. The meaning of Jihad never changes just the interpretations of people’s understanding of Jihad. Muslims are now reclaiming its real
The term, “Muslim Extremist” was interpreted wrongfully by Americans. A large amount of people believe every Muslim is an extremist, and that at any moment any Muslim could attack. That is not true, just because your Muslim does not mean you are a terrorist. History does repeat itself, but not in every situation, when it comes down to accusing people it has. People find it easy to blame the problems that arise, on other people.
When we think of terrorist, we might think of radical Islamic individuals or groups who would take pride in killing anyone who is not Muslim. Even more, there are antagonistically people who want nothing more but to destroy the lives of innocence people because of their belief system. Take an individual like Theodore Kaczynski for instance; he was a former University of California at Berkeley math professor. Otherwise known as the “Unabomber,” he was indeed a terrorist because he used explosives that killed three people and wounded eighteen others in a span of almost two decades. Even more, his brother David Kaczynski was responsible for his capture.
“Jihad was but one of the reactions that Muslims had toward the Franks. But given its prevalence in the medieval Islamic sources—understanding this concept and its history in the years leading up to the era of the Crusades is important.” states Cobb (Cobb, page
... and Jihad According to Islam." HWeb. HWeb, 13 June 2006. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. .
Everyone is a terrorist but everyone can also be labeled as a freedom fighter. It is said that “The ends justify the means” and in order to achieve an important aim, it is acceptable to do something bad. In America we have done both good and bad. Although people for instance President Barak Obama elaborates that one person’s terrorist is also another person’s freedom fighter. A “terrorist” is a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of a political aim. A “freedom fighter” on the other hand is a person who takes part of a violent struggle to achieve a political goal, especially in order to overthrow their government. In making this comment, the synonyms of the word terrorist urges to
The concept of Jihad was not widely known in the western world before the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Since then, the word has been woven into what our media and government feed us along with notions of Terrorism, Suicide Bombings, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and now, Jihad. Our society hears exhortations resounding from the Middle East calling the people to rise up in Jihad and beat back the imperialist Americans. Yet, if we try to peel back all of these complex layers of information we can we attempt to find out what Jihad really means. Webster’s Dictionary defines Jihad as “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty or a crusade for a principle or belief” (1). Often, media depicts Jihad in the same manner—as a vicious clash between two very different peoples, each of whom believes that righteousness, and in many cases God, is on their side. From this interpretation and our daily media intake, one may reasonably assume that Jihad refers to nothing more than violent acts, or “holy wars.”
Through the years the idea that Islam is an aggressive religion has been developed. This is mainly due to the fact that the word "jihad" -- a very important concept in Islamic faith -- is often misunderstood or its initial meaning is intentionally misrepresented. From the very beginning of Islamic invasion in Europe a sense of devotion to the religion was instilled in the Muslim soldiers and believers. Religion was a really important part of their lives. The soldiers were taught to die for Allah in their holy war against unbelievers -- this was the so-called jihad. However, if one examines thoroughly the Quran, the saint book for Muslims, he/she will find that jihad carries a completely different meaning -- this is an internal struggle with oneself for achievements in a certain filed or, simply, for self-improvement. Even though most Islamic believers know what jihad really is, there are zealots that still look for excuse for their appalling and inhumane deeds in the abovementioned word. Nowadays, this is still a major problem, especially concerning the...
... There are those individuals that have a strong hatred for Islam, than we have people that feel sorry for Muslims in America and make them feel like they actually belong to society. However, it would be fantastic if people can start to actually separate terrorists from the Muslim community. Their religion was hijacked by the attack. Like I previously mentioned, we many not seem to stop and realize that our own religion might be part of terrorism. Religion should not matter when we look at a person because there are two kinds of people in the world, the good and bad. If we all had to look at the flaws in everyone’s beliefs and religious we would probably come to the conclusion that we aren’t all terrorists but some people with the same beliefs as us, might be. We tend to find the bad in something and associate it with everything else that is somehow connected to it.
Muslims have been facing propaganda by media of the western world since many decades. Western media spreads any negative incident in which Muslims are involved very quickly. Many people have developed such an understanding due to this stigmatization that they normally think of terrorism, violence and other extreme things when they hear about Islam and Muslims. One major incident behind such stigmatization is the 9/11 attacks on America.
...writer starts the essay by stating the basic fudamentals of Muslim's beleif and action. Then she connects this idea with beleifs and actions shown and inplied through the media. After that, the media images are connected with the fact that the images cause fear and stereotypes; the teachings that correct the stereotypes are also linked. Next the teachings are connected with the Quran and the leaders and groups who misunderstand and violate the teachings. After that, the five pillars of Islam are explained, described and defined. Finally, it is explained how the pillars affect Muslims by defining their character and lives. All of these ideas are organized so that they are logically linked with the writer's strategy. The writer's strategy includes explainations, the use of examples, and comparison and contrast, to support each idea claimed and to define a "true" Muslim.
A lot of people believe that Muslims, Islam, and/or the Holy Quran encourages killing, fighting, and terrorism. Events such as the 9/11 attack in the United States, the Boston Marathon Bombing, and conflicts in the Middle East causes the media to label Muslims as terrorists. When a specific group of people cause violence to another group it is categorized as ‘hate crime’, but if a Muslim does the same act, the media immediately labels it as ‘terrorism’ (Frater, 2009). As a matter of fact, regarding to the attacks of the mosques in Israel, the media did not use the acts to victimize or stereotype Judaism. Moreover, some extremist groups use Islam as a tactic to gain followers even though a lot of their practices go against the teachings of the Quran. A person would not be considered a Muslim if they spread fear or terrorize others. The Quran clearly states, “You shall not take life, which God has made sacred, except by way of justice and law.” (Quran, 6:151). Islam is against any force or violence towards another person. Often the word ‘Jihad’ is taken out of context by violent militants; it means to strive or struggle for the sake of ones’ self improvement with respect to their spirituality. Religious and political groups use Jihad to justify ...
After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being depicted through the media is the direct result of Muslims. They automatically generate this idea that the act was performed by a Muslim terrorist even when they were not involved whatsoever. Regardless of whether it was true or not, Islamic religion and its Muslim adherents are at the top of societies’ agenda just waiting for the evidence to be generated so that they can then safely blame them for such world affairs. Again, this has led to the attack on the Islamic religion itself wherein people have come to postulate Islam as an act of oppression, violence and hatred towards non-Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiments and campaigns have resulted from such misinformation the media has been generating and feeding its viewers.
The types of Jihad maybe the key to actually understanding what Jihad is, there are four types of Jihads. The first type of Jihad is to struggle against one’s self and desire, the second is to struggle against the temptations of Shaitan (Satan), the third is to struggle against the disbelievers and the fourth is to struggle against the hypocrites. Struggling against one's self desires means forcing yourself to follow the orders of God (Allah) and to stay away from what God (Allah) has ordered to stay away from. This includes performing the obligatory and the voluntary, and to abandon all acts that are Haram (unlawful) or Makrooh (disliked). This type of jihad also includes forcing oneself to behave with the best manners, the best morals, and to stay away from bad behavior at a time when our desires tell us the opposite. Struggling against Satan means to defend you from his evil whisperings, his doubtful matters, his temptations, and his lustfulness. This type of jihad is an obligation for all individuals and no one can do it on another ones behalf. Understand that Satan's whisperings will never go away, and therefore, struggling throughout life. The struggle against the disbelievers and the hypocrites has four levels, which are: In the heart, the tongue, wealth and soul. When struggling with the disbelievers, more than likely, there will be use of hands or physical strength. On the other hand, when struggling against the hypocrites, Jihad will be used through speech to preach to them. These two types of Jihad are called Fard Kifayah, which basically means if some Muslims successfully perform these two types of jihad, then it will no longer be obligatory for other Muslims to perform it. Otherwise, it remains obligatory upon all Muslims until the goal of Jihad is achieved. Another form of Jihad is Dawah or spreading the word this type of jihad is getting the message of Islam out to the non-believers this is not an obligatory act since Islam does not preach forcing your religion on others.
While widely accepted, this idea continues to remain un-true. Humanitarian and ISNA (Islamic Society of North America) council member Omar Alnatour discusses this in a Huffington Post article titled “Muslims Are Not Terrorists: A Factual Look at Terrorism and Islam”. Alnatour gives five examples of how Muslims are not terrorists. “1. Non-Muslims make up the majority of terrorists in the United States:” from 1980 to 2005, only six percent of all terror attacks committed in the United States have been by Muslims. This shows that it is nine times more likely that a terror attack would be committed by a non-Muslim. “2. Non-Muslims make up the majority of terrorists in Europe:” of the 1000+ terror attacks that have happened in Europe since 2011, only 2% were done by Muslims. “3. Even if all terrorist attacks were carried out by Muslims, you still could not associate terrorism with Islam:” going back from 1970 to present day, there have been around 140,000 terrorists worldwide. Since there are 1.6 billion Muslims, that number would only represent 0.00009 percent of them. “4. If all Muslims are terrorists, then all Muslims are peacemakers:” Out of the past 12 Nobel Peace Prize winners 5 have been Muslim (42 percent). Because some can claim all Muslims are terrorists due to a small percentage of attackers happening to be, one can also make the argument that all Muslims
Religion is an important factor in many lives in today’s society. A particular western religion that is taken very seriously by many is known as Islam. Essentially, Islam means “submission”, or in other words a person is to abide by God and peace will follow. In order to comprehend the Islamic religion, it is consequential to view the major themes associated with this religion. By going through the central themes of Islam it could help others comprehend what is involved with this specific religion.