If you believe in God...you might be a muslim.

There are a lot of misconceptions in the world.  I’m finding a whole new Islam since I’ve started reading the Qur’an.  Actually, if I’m being honest, it’s very much like reading the Bible.  I’ve come across Adam, Moses, Abraham, Mary…and many other celebrities of the Bible.  They are all extremely important.  So where’s the big difference?  Well, as far as I can tell, there isn’t much.  One HUGE point of contention is the idea of the trinity.  Muslims believe Jesus was from a virgin birth, enlightened to the truths of God, is highly regarded and important in the Islamic faith.  From my perspective, Muslims believe God is unimaginable:

“He is God, the One.  God, to Whom the creatures turn for their needs.  He begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is none like Him.” 

So what do else do Muslims believe that other faiths also believe?

• They believe in God.  The same one who created earth, although they do not believe the earth was created in 7 days.  It is written as the earth being created in 6 days, but the Arabic word used for days, could be eons…so who knows?

• They believe in angels.  The angel Gabriel was responsible for bringing the Qur’an to Muhammad (peace be upon him).

• They believe the Torah was given to Moses, Psalms was given to David, and the Gospels were given to Jesus from God.  So the Islamic scripture includes these three books, as well as the Qur’an.  They believe man has corrupted the previous truths sent from God, and that the Qur’an will not be corrupted.  That is why you must learn Arabic to truly understand the Qur’an.  I personally think it’s pretty cool the text has been unchanged since its origination.

• They believe in judgment day, when all people will be judged according to their belief and deeds.  I think there is a lot of misunderstanding here.  The Islamic view is not that only Muslims go to heaven.  God is one, he doesn’t care if you are Christian (as long as you believe God is the only God), if you are Jewish (as long as you believe God is the only God), if you are agnostic (as long as you believe there is only one God), Hindus…I think you have too many Gods, you might have a problem.  (sorry, not my rules)

• They believe in Al-Qadar, which is basically predestination.  This is a hard one from me to wrap my mind around.  Muslims believe we have free will, can choose right or wrong, and we are responsible for our choices.  But, they ALSO believe that whatever God wills to happen, will happen.  That seems a little contradictory to me…you be the judge.

• Just as Moses had the 10 commandments and the Jewish faith has its 613 mitzvot (commandments),  Islam has its 5 pillars.

1. Shahadah: declaring there is no god except God, and Muhammad is God's Messenger
2. Salat: ritual prayer five times a day
3. Zakat: giving 2.5% of one’s savings to the poor and needy
4. Sawm: fasting and self-control during the holy month of Ramadan
5. Hajj: pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime (but only if one is able)

(Seems simple enough to follow, right?  Well, I have found that 5 prayers a day is a VERY difficult habit to cultivate!)

Just as there are many differences within each religion, there are many differences between each religion.  What I think is often overlooked, is how similar they all are.  It’s like getting upset your neighbor opted for the red mustang instead of the blue one you like…if we weren’t so busy being ignorant to the big picture, maybe we could get along better.  I know I’m a broken record here, but if we could all try to understand other points of view, we might not have such a hard time reevaluating our wrong perceptions. 

This is barely the tip of the iceberg, and I intend on going into more detail, but football is on…

Al-salaamu alaykum friends.

 

 

Don't believe everything you hear on TV

The wise ones say the opposite of what we know as true, is also the truth.  The proof is in the pudding, as they say.  I have been hearing a lot of news about the Islamic faith, and I have no idea where they are getting their information.  I don't mean to point fingers, as I'm pointing to the TV, but some people (politicians, people on the news, some Christian pastors), not going to say who, spew a lot of crazy speculative talk.  It's not for me to say if its sheer ignorance or out right lying, but it seems far from what I have found so far.

I started reading the Qur'an in August.  I was really excited about meeting with some members of the local masjid, but after a few unsuccessful tries, I decided to look into podcasts to get a pulse on the western styling's of Islamic faith.  Initially, the majority of the podcasts I found were in Arabic.  Many had English translations, but were hard to hear.  After some creative searching (and a few weeks), I finally found what I was looking for.  The one teaching I did follow for the whole month was no drinking...so it wasn't a total loss.  Sad to say, however, that this month I will be enjoying the sinful libations.  Mostly because water gets really old at band practice.  Because I blew half the month searching, I decided to give it some more time. So lets call September my actual month to learn about Islam.

Most of us know, not because we looked ourselves, that Islam is misogynistic.  We know how to pick them out in public because they are wearing a turban, and that they pray to a different God than we (read: Christians/Jews) do.

What you may not know is there are Islamic feminists and notable female scholars.  Did you also know that many religions (Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, and Islam) have denominations who wear turbans?  I didn't until a few minutes ago.  And as far as I can tell, Allah is the same God Christians and Jews pray to.

It'll be a quick one tonight kids, if my facts don't look right I hope you check it out for yourself.  And then again, the opposite of what you know is also true.

Khuda Hafiz friends.