The Islamic Muslim Scholars From Around The World?

1461 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Religion and violence

What is your reaction to this open letter directed towards the leader of ISIS from a collection of Sunni Muslim scholars from around the world? What is it attempting to argue generally? Why do you think they’ve written it? What are they hoping to accomplish? Do you find their interpretations of the Quran/Sharia convincing, or do you believe that the ISIS implementation of the Quran/Sharia are more accurate?
I was surprised by reading this letter to learn of all the violent acts that ISIS has participated in. I only knew of some of the things they do that end up on the news, but in reality they do so much more. From the way the media portrays ISIS, I assumed all Muslims were this violent. From reading this article, I was relieved to learn that out of the more than one billion Muslims on the planet only a couple thousand Muslims that are involved in extremist groups. ISIS and other extremist groups do not truthfully represent the Islamic religion. I found it interesting how ISIS have misinterpreted the Quran and the Hadith to justify their actions. That their actions and practices actually contradict what is taught in the Quran and the Hadith.
This letter was written to the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, and it lists specific examples of what ISIS has done and speeches from ISIS’ leaders and shown how it directly violates the Quran and the Hadith. It explains why their actions and behaviors go against Islamic beliefs and backs it up with textual evidence from the Quran. This article argues that ISIS completely violates what is taught in the Quran and that ISIS has misinterpreted Islam into a harsh and brutal religion. The letter from the Sunni Muslim scholars is attempting to convince the leader of ISIS to “reconsider all ...

... middle of paper ...

...I am glad now that I know more about the religion to understand that there are good Muslims out there.
It is the actions of a few Muslims that can spoil the majority 's perception of the Islamic religion. And unfortunately, that is what the current media portrays. After reading the open letter to the ISIS leader, I saw how vastly different the extremist views are from the mainstream Islamic views.
Having grown up Christian and in a Christian school, we always believed that our faith is the true faith and that Islam had many differing views than what I believed. From what little I did know about the Islamic religion, I assumed all Muslims would kill innocent people. I never understood how anyone would want to be a Muslim. Now I know the followers of this religion actually believe in peace and mercy, it is only the extremist groups that give Islam a bad reputation.

Show More
Related

  • Comparing The Islamic State And The Puritans

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    Followers of Islam claim with certainty that it is a religion of love, but the Islamic State’s interpretation is a religion of blood-lust. The comparison here is that though the religion itself is not to blame in either case, by perverting the message extremists have taken it upon themselves to be the god-ordained arbiters of who deserves to live or die. We can see the same mentality in Puritanism, where God “will repay fury to his adversaries” (Edwards 437). In the case of the Islamic State, they are being manipulated by the secular Baath party servicemen of Saddam's regime who don't even care about the religion in the first place (Cassis).

    Read More

  • The Threat Al-Shabaab Poses to United States Interest in the Horn of Africa

    1524 Words  | 4 Pages

    Menkhaus, K. (2011, November 5). A thousand fatwas for Somalia's al-Shabaab - The Globe and

    Read More

  • The Armenian Genocide and the American Response

    2117 Words  | 5 Pages

    ... and Jihad According to Islam." HWeb. HWeb, 13 June 2006. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. .

    Read More

  • The Media Portrayal of Islam

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Islam in America

    2522 Words  | 6 Pages

    Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.

    Read More

  • The Impact of Stigma for Muslim Americans Post 9/11

    2518 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Crucible: The 9/11 Attacks

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    The media has been known to portray or show many “Muslims” as terrorists, and several times they fail to show the peaceful Muslims. Furthermore, the media affects the perception of many Americans, and when they portray Muslims as scary and dangerous people, this causes many stereotypes to form. This in turn, makes it common for people to accept and believe in the various stereotypes of Muslims. Also, countless Muslims are ethnically profiled based on their religious appearance. To be more specific, numerous Muslims are stereotyped due to their long beards and cultural robes. Stereotypes, such as these, are affected by the descriptions of other notorious terrorists, such as Osama Bin Laden, who was well known for his long beard. Additionally, a number of people have become irrational and unreasonable when it comes to preventing Muslims to affect America, such as many protests “to ban Sharia law in any American court” (Azlan). Sharia is basically the law of an Islamic government, and the protest is illogical, since Sharia law has never been practiced in any American court and there is no indication, that there will be (Azlan). Many of these labels are unfair, and the media unjustly portrays and connects innocent American Muslims to terrorists which is

    Read More

  • Thomas W. Lippman's Understanding Islam

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    Understanding Islam gives a broad outline which could help to erase American misconceptions about this religion, and could be helpful in easing global racial tensions. The book is not top of the line scholarship about Islam; it is for the uninformed or otherwise unaware beginner. After reading this book the reader has a basic understanding of Islam, devoid of many American or western misconceptions. However, Lippman explains that the holy book is not spelled "Koran," but rather "Qur-an," though he uses the first spelling throughout the book (56). The real version is written in arabic, but I would have rather him used the more authentic spelling. In this way I see that this book was beneficial, but not the final word. It is a good book because it lays a positive foundation for Americans, and hopes to inspire them to continue their study of a fascinating religion.

    Read More

  • Interview With A Muslim

    2097 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Unveiling Islam: What Muslims Believe, by Zainab Ali

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the essay, the writer acknowledges the misunderstandings that come from media images by explaining the contrasts between these images and the teachings of the faith to support her claim that fear is the reason for this misconception. The conception that many people have of Muslims is that they are terrorists, anti-Semites, and fanatics. This conception exsists because television news and newspapers support that stereotype. The broadcast of such stereotypes encourages fear and accusations of the Islamic relegion's teachings. The writer explains that Islam teaches peace, tolerance, and equality. She further states that Muslims shown in the media have violated these teachings ...

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Islam

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Islamophobia: Muslims and Terrorism

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Muslim Life in Islamic Culture

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the board on Monday morning, there were numbers one through five and they each had a religion written next to them. 1 was Hinduism, 2 was Christianity, 3 was Judaism, 4 was Buddhism, and I was lucky enough to get 5: Islam. Oh, I know so much about Islam culture and their religion, are you kidding? I don’t even know where Islam is. I’m just kidding, it’s not a country. There are many differences between Islam and the United states like our religion, clothes, and food, and becoming a Christian or a Muslim, but Islam is the second largest religion in the world, so it’s important to a lot of people. The followers of Islam are called Muslims. Becoming a Muslim is not an easy process. You must do a long list of tasks. After you become a Muslim you must do everything in your power to try to have a good Muslim lifestyle.

    Read More

  • The Similarities And Differences Of Islam And Christianity

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    Islam faith on the other hand, I had no knowledge of, I always thought of it as a stricter catholic faith and that was all. The history of both religions where new to me and changed some of the thoughts that I had about the past of Christianity. I did not know about some the major events that changed the religion majorly, they seemed to have left those parts out at Sunday school. The views of a Christian were about the same as the ones that I was taught along with the small amount of the culture that I had learned about as well. With the Islam faith I had learned about their values and about their culture and I did notice several similarities between the two. The ones that I have pointed out so far along with that both religions include fasting, prayer several times a day, and giving yourself to your god and putting your life in their

    Read More

  • World Religion Reflection Paper

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    I think form many this religion is difficult to grasp because of the events done by some people who are/claim to be a part of this religion. Similar to Judaism and Christianity, Islam believes it is the one true religion of god. However, the prophet for this religion is not Jesus, similar to Judaism. The prophet is instead Muhammad who taught from the revelations given to him by Archangel Gabriel. Muhammad even had his own book called the Hadith that explained his life and his choices. This book is not a divine scripture but it looked at for answers if the Qur’an does not provide what a person seeks. Once Muhammad’s new successor came about the people of Islam split into two groups Sunni and Shi’a. Today, this religion is seen as a very violent religion because of terrorist attacks around the world but there are followers out there that live their lives without a single drop of blood on their hands. I think people forget that we should not judge an entire religion based on who claims to be a part of that religion. Even in Christianity people fought and they killed over land for their God. It is not fair to the sincere followers of this religion to be judged. It is unacceptable when a person of this religion comes to the United States, and is treated less than dirt. I myself am not a very religious person but even I have proper moral to respect another person’s

    Read More

More about The Islamic Muslim Scholars From Around The World?

Open Document