Let’s do a quick word association. What do you think of when you hear the world “Islam?”
Take a second to think about it…
What did you come up with? Was it a religion that stresses peace, unity of mankind and equality? The sad thing is that those concepts most likely did not come to mind. We often associate Islam with terrorist organizations hell-bent on destroying the American way. My question is why do Americans think that way?
What it comes down to is that American and Islamic cultures are two entirely different ways of life. We cannot comprehend the Muslim way of life, and the things that we cannot understand, we fear.
A quick background on Islam:
The religion was founded by the prophet Muhammad around the seventh century. C.E. Muhammad was said to receive messages from God that were written down in the book known as the Qur’an. In later centuries, Islam spread throughout the middle-eastern world even expanding as far as the borders of France. Today about 1.57 billion people on earth consider themselves Muslims.
The tensions between Americans and Muslims have a long history but it really came to the forefront after the September 11th attacks orchestrated by Muslim extremist that killed more than 2000 American citizens. Since then, the American view of Muslims has been tarnished.
What interests me is that because Muslim terrorists caused these attacks, it is assumed that all Muslims share the same beliefs. This is simply not true. The fanatical Muslim terrorist groups only represent a very small population — somewhere around less than half of a percent. I love using this example, so I will use it again: it would be the same as associating all Christians with the Ku Klux Klan.
Mainstream Muslims preach peace among all people. They do not desire to kill anyone who is not of their faith. The word Jihad, which often is associated with the destruction of infidels, refers to an inward struggle to better oneself. The writings of the Qur’an contain passages on peace including treating others as you would yourself. Sound familiar?
Their culture is different without a doubt. Women are rarely held in high positions in Muslim countries, but they do not disrespect women. In fundamentalist Islamic such as Saudi Arabia their government is their religion and their faith believes that women are not to hold high social power. It may be hard for a progressive country such as America to understand, but it is simply a cultural thing.
I believe that we need to understand the essence of Islam as opposed to just making assumptions. The actions of a fanatical few should not be the only way we look at the religion. Study Islam and you will find a peaceful religion.
