Islam is a religion that creates many different thoughts when it is mentioned, especially in America. Unfortunately it is subject to many unfair stereotypes, stemming from the attacks on September 11, 2001. The attacks were committed by Muslims, albeit radical Muslims, so many people associate the Islamic Religion with terrorism. Since it was founded, Islam has been the fasted growing religion in the world, becoming the second most populous Religion in the world (Van Voorst 292). Over the years Islam has faced an uphill battle, in terms of public opinion, because of its association with Terrorism. However recently it has begun to pick up steam as stereotypes begin to diminish. The Islamic religion is similar to my own religion of Christianity, because it is considered an Abrahamic Religion, which means that it traces its roots back to Abraham. It is also a monotheistic Religion. When one would examine the Islamic Religions it is important that they look at these three important aspects: the origin and history of the Islamic Religion, the practices and belief systems that it has, and where it is most popular in our world today.
Islam was founded by Muhammad somewhere in the 7th century. Islam means “surrender” which communicates the major theme of Islam, which is complete surrender to God (Encyclopedia Britannica 1). The Religion is based on his life and teachings. Many historians argue as to whether or not Muhammad drew on other religions in the creation of Islam. Mohammad was born around 570 A.D. in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He was not born into a rich family; in fact he was born into a fairly low class family. Orphaned as a child, Muhammad had a fairly hard childhood. Because his parents died when he was young, Muhamm...
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...all number of people has given the rest a bad reputation. If we want to get over these stereotypes we need to educate others about Islam. In order to do this we should at least give them a little background information of Islam including: their history, a few of their practices and their belief system, and maybe even some of the numbers regarding where they are situated geographically. It is important to note that the number of radicals is very small in comparison to other Muslims. As a whole the Islam religion is one for the betterment of the world, as noted by the fourth pillar of Islam, Almsgiving.
Works Cited
E., Van Voorst Robert. RELG: World. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2013. Print.
"Islam (religion)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
Huda. "World's Muslim Population." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.
Islam is a religion that most Americans don’t understand but still have strong feelings towards. To clear things up, Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion written in the Qur'an, a book considered by its believers to be the exact word of God. They also consider it to be the last prophet of God through the teachings and the example of Muhammad. They refer to their god as Allah. The basis of Islamic life is centered on Allah, whom must be submitted to and served. They believe that the previous messages and revelations have been partially misinterpreted or altered over time with evolving cultures and translating languages, but consider the Arabic Qur'an to be the unaltered and final revelation of Allah. The religion is practiced with the five pillars of Islam, which are basic concepts and required acts of worship. The first is, testifying to God's One-ness: The declaration "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His prophet." The second is, Prayer. Prayer must happen at least five times a day, and must be done by bowing and facing towards the Mecca. Also, everyone must stand in straight lines and if women do come, however not required, must stand behind the men. The third is, giving charity. 2.5% of annual income is generall...
Since the September 11 attacks, numerous Americans have labeled Muslims in the United States as a risk to our country due to the fact that they share their religion with the extremists responsible for worldwide terrorism. Muslim that live in America continue to face isolation and danger because of their faith. Many people are responsible for this labeling, including journalists, politicians, and religious fanatics. Those mainly responsible for giving Muslims in America a modern day scarlet letter are the extremists themselves.
Islam is the world's fastest growing faith. It all began in 610 C.E. when the Prophet Muhammad received revelations of the Quran in Mecca. Islam's reputation of promoting a strict and controlling government, female oppression, civil war, and terrorism is not completely correct. Islam is a rich and complex religion that is often misunderstood in the modern world. There have been many obstacles that have been faced. Islam wouldn't exist today with its leaders, the Crusades, and their empires.
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion alongside Judaism and Christianity. It is currently the second largest religion in the world today. Its beliefs come from the Qur'an which literally means "the recitation" which is believed to be a literal transcription of the word of God. Its main prophet is named Muhammad who began Islam by speaking with the angel Gabriel in a cave during his meditation and then acting as an instrument of God to help write the Qur’an. Muhammad then spread Islam to the scattered tribes of Arabia by becoming the leader of Yathrib and using his wonderful leadership abilities to then grow his influence over virtually all of Arabia. Muhammad is known by Muslims to be the seal of the profits because no profits after Muhammad should be considered legitimate. Muhammad also left behind the Hadith or “tradition” which is a collection of writings compiled of reports of Muhammad’s actions as leader of Yathrib. These reports are used as a more specific code of ethics in day to day life and from these reports the 5 Pillars of Islam are derived (Smith 160). Although Islam shares many similarities to Judaism and Christianity it is often viewed in the US with hate derived from preconceived notions following the attack on September 11th 2001. This paper seeks to provide an overview of Islam’s history as well as its two major sects and 5 main pillars to remove preconceived notions and provide a glance into the minds of the Islamic people.
Islam is portrayed and is commonly accepted as the most violent and largest direct threat to the West. This is a generalization made by most of the West, but it is not particularly the West or the Islamic people’s fault. There is constant turmoil in Islamic countries in the Middle East and these conflicts are what make the news in the West. The only representation in the media that the Islamic nation gets is that of war. Though most Islamic people are not violent, the select few that do participate in terrorist groups give the rest of the Islam nation a bad image.
Islam in America has historically been misunderstood, and this is due to the misconception of culture and religion as well as lack of education and incorrect portrayal in the media, which gives a skewed idea of Islam. Especially in the United States, Islam has been seen as the “terrorist religion” or a religion for the extremists and a religion in which freedom is not an option. Among the countless misconceptions, the basis of stereotypes by Americans is due to the mix up between religion and culture. Furthermore, the media only fuels fire to these misunderstandings and lack of factual information about Islam causing Americans to lash out on American Muslims without reason.
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.
Islam and the worship of Allah (god) began with Muhammad and his revelations that lasted for 23 years of his life from (610 C.E.- 623 C.E.). In the Islamic religion it is believed that he was the last prophet sent by Allah (god) and this made all his teachings into to Law and are looked at as the will of God. These messages were given to him through the archangel Gabriel, in a kind of continuation to the Jewish Torah and Christian Bible, which the Qur’an shares some similarities or past “history” with them such as the belief in Abraham and Jesus as a prophet, but in the eye’s of Mohammad the Jews and Christians had fallen astray from the real teaching of god.
Islam is a religion that is based on the submission oneself to the will of God, who is called Allah. Muslims are the people believe in that, regardless of their culture, background or ethnicity. It is believed that God’s prophets brought a message for the people to worship one God without intermediaries and that prophet Muhammad was the end of G...
Islam is a monotheistic religion which is originated from the Middle East or more specifically in the Arabian Peninsula early in the 7th century. This religion was founded on the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed who named this religion after the Arabic word acceptance. Islam has 2 major sects the Sunni and Shi’a. This split occurred when Mohammed died. The Sunni believed that the new leader of Islam should be determined through election but the Shi’a thought that the new leader should be Imam Ali a cousin and son in law of Mohammed. Another branch of Islam is Druze but only a small minority of Muslims who live in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine are followers of this sect (3 Faiths with One God - Islam, Arab American National Museum).
Islam is a major world religion. Its origin can be traced back to 610 CE in Arabia. The basis of this religion is the revelations to the prophet Mohammad. Dissatisfied with his life, he traveled to deserts, hills, and the wilderness surrounding Mecca, where he lived, to meditate and reflect. He became a new man through his revelations, which many of his followers believe Allah transmitted to him through his angel Gabriel. Islam was originally an Arab religion, but many different beliefs and practices were added to it, making it extremely popular and aiding in its rapid spread. This new religion spread to many different areas surrounding Arabia, both under Mohammad and after his death. The Muslim Empire grew to encompass Spain and the Eastern Roman Empire as well Persia and Africa. Many different practices and methods were used to spread Islam. The religion itself was appealing to, in addition to the inhabitants of Arabia, other people in the surrounding areas because of its distinct religious beliefs and practices, such as the five pillars, as well as the humility and prayerfulness of the Islamic people. They fought cruel, vicious wars with their enemies. Many different things motivated the warriors to expand, but above all, the riches they would gain from the people of the Fertile Crescent encouraged them to expand.
While the events of September 11, 2001, cast the Islam religion in an unfavorable light, this has not dampened the enthusiasm of the Muslim members, nor has it stopped the Islam religion from growing. Obviously, with over one billion members worldwide, Islam is one of the largest religions in the world today.
Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world but it is still one of the most misunderstood religion by many. The Non-Muslims who are unfamiliar with the faith tend to have misunderstandings about its concepts and teachings. These misconceptions misguide Non-Muslims from learning what Islam really is about. Islam simply means submission to God and peace, but many believe that it promotes terrorism, oppression of Muslim women, and that the religion has too many restrictions.
My research has led me to the conclusion that conflict between Muslim groups and the Western societies is purely political, but tinged with misinterpretations of the Quran by Islamic radicals. The false justifications these groups make about the Quran explicitly directing Muslims to attack anyone of a different religion is motivated by a few key instigators political ambitions and want for power. It is because of these few groups of radicals and their own misinterpretation of the Quran that lead Westerners to view Muslims with distrust and suspicion. There is a strong need to practice religious tolerance and identify that the problem lies within a few groups of disgruntled individuals. Islam is a religion that preaches peace among those that follow its guidance and tolerance for peoples of other religions.
Islam is often viewed as a religious tradition which originates from the seventh century. An important part of Islam is based on the prophet Muhammad, and the great revelations in which he received from God, according to the Quran. However, it is most important to realize that Muslims do not view Islam as a new religion. Muslims believe that Allah is the same God who revealed himself to Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Therefore, Jews, Christians, and Muslims are all followers of the same living God. Muslims believe that the Quran is the final and complete revelation of God to all people. It is not easy for some people to accept the fact that God exists when there have been so many throughout history. You cannot also say if someone’s religion is right or wrong or the God they believe in is a “Supreme” god. Why Islam and not Christianity? Why Hinduism and not Judaism? Every one of them different and they vary from one another; they have different rules and are all passionate about their belief. But the fact still remains that there is one who is above all and he is God. God is Omnipresent, omnipotent, and Benevolent.