Islam

Islam is a monotheistic faith that means “submission to the will of God”. The person who practices this faith is known as a Muslim. As someone who has grown up in India, which has more than 100 million more Muslims on its subcontinent alone as compared to all the Arab countries combined, I have had several interactions with Muslims, both positive and negative. However, I now realize that those interactions were limited and that there is a lot more that I did not know about Muslims from different countries, who are scattered all around the world.

I am fascinated by the fact that there are around 6 million Muslims in the United States. As Muslim immigrants comprised a steadily growing group in the United States before the attacks of September 11, it was estimated that the increasing rate of their population going to make Islam the nation’s second largest religion by the year 2010. Hence, mental health professionals in this country are paying a lot of attention to the needs of Muslim clients based on their religious doctrines. There are five basic articles or “pillars” of faith in Islam. These are “Ash’shahadatan” (testifying that there is no God save Allah and that Mohammad is the messenger of Allah), “As’salah” (a form of worship rites that involve specific movements and sayings, which need to be performed five times a day), “Az’zakah” (to pay 2.5% of the wealth annually for the benefit of the needy in Muslim community), “As’sawm” (To abstain from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse during daytime throughout the 9th Lunar month), and “Al Hajj” (The pilgrimage to Mecca once in life for those who are physically and financially able). Research has found that Muslim societies are collectivistic (group plays a larger role in society than the individual) in terms of family life, economic situations, the truth as determined in terms of agreement with the Koran, their religious book, and religious, and aesthetic values.

Moreover, according to a fundamental doctrine in the Islamic faith, Muslims believe in fate and perceive illness as a way of atoning their sins rather than a form of punishment.. I have also discovered that I had certain preconceived notions about Muslims based on my experiences as a person from India, where Muslims are minorities just as they are in the United States. However, the majority group in India, to which I used to belong to, had hostile feelings towards Muslims.