Sunday, October 10, 2010
Islam and Its Practices
Part of the reason why people stereotype Muslims is because they do not understand the religion they believe in. Islam is a religion with a long rich history. Islam was founded by Muhammad from 610-632. In that time Muhammad received revelations from God and wrote those teachings in the Quran, the Holy Book of Islam. The Quran lays out the laws and practices of Islam; the most prominent is the Five Pillars of Islam.The first pillar says that nothing is above God, or Allah according to Muslims. The second is an oath of prayer to be preformed five times a day facing the direction of their holy city, Mecca. The third is the oath to fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The fourth is a vow of alms giving, and the fifth is a vow of pilgrimage to Mecca and some point in a Muslim’s life. Now in those five pillars I see nothing saying that all Muslims must hijack aircraft, and fly them into American buildings. That is because those views are only held by a small percentage of radical Muslims. Everyday Sunni and Shi’a Muslims that make up over 90 percent of the Muslim do not have those beliefs. So when you say that all Muslims are blood-thirsty terrorists you are making a very broad generalization of the second largest in the world. If the people opposed to the Mosque fully understand Muslim faith and practices then the building of the Mosque and community center in Manhattan would be an easier decision.
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I agree that many people do not understand the religion of Islam. Many Americans have a Christian background and they usually do not try to understand different religions. However, just because they do not understand the religion, it does not give them a reason to be ignorant and prejudice against Muslims. I think should be educated on the religion of Islam. As you stated, nowhere in the Islam faith does it say to kill millions of Americans be hijacking a plane and flying into the Twin Towers. The group that decided to do that was terrorists who happened to be Muslims. All Muslims should not be punished for the acts of such a small group.
ReplyDeletei agree with what both of you are saying, but why not take it even further, and teach the youth about all religions? it is an important part of our culture, if your religious or not. So why not try to educate about all religions? If america is supposed to be a place of understanding and a mixture of cultures, shouldn't we try to get along and know everyone better? Islam is one of the most misunderstood because alot of americans still hae a bad taste in their mouth from 9/11, but it is time to come out of our shells and look onto the world where while things might be tough, we might be able to all get along and better understand one another. i truly believe that our generation is the first global community, and will make the world a better place for everyone.
ReplyDeleteTolerance would be ideal. America was founded on and is sustained by its willingness to stand on principle.
ReplyDeleteI have no objection to the mosque building or as Cooper D suggests to educating young Americans on religious tolerance, but do you not think most Muslims would be more concerned about America getting its troops out of the Muslim majority countries of Iraq and Afghanistan? 99% of the world's Muslims will never attend the mosque in New York. Images of American soldiers standing like conquerors in Muslim countries are flashed around the world daily.
Allowing the mosque to be built would be a tremendous demonstration of what America stands for, but getting our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan would speak much more loudly to the world's Muslims.
Cooper I feel that your idea is one of the best i've heard. The best time to teach tolerence is when our minds are the most maliable. This is when we are kids. When we are kids we are open to almost everything. So if we introduce the idea of tolerance to children they will grow up to be tolerent adults!
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