Overall the Koran teaches its believers to be good people and it has very good core values I found inspiring. I found extremely interesting on how the Koran was written. It seemed that three powerful figures were involved in the Koran; Allah, The angel Gabriel and the Prophet Mohammed. That in itself is a topic I would like to read more about. What we see in the world today is how Allah is an important factor in the Islam religion.
The revelations that Muhammad received are now considered to pivotal text included within the Islamic Qur’an (Islamic bible). It is important to note when trying to understand Islam, that around 631 A.D. Muhammad was able to enter into the city of Mecca and convert all the Arabic tribes to Islam. Islam and Christianity are similar in many ways, however the main difference in the religions lies in their beliefs that God is singular, Jesus was just a prophet, Jesus was not crucified, heaven can be obtained by the works of man (doing good deeds, or bad deeds), and the concept of Trinity is unconceivable. Muslims believe that Allah will judge everyone in the afterlife based on whether or not they had a good belief system, and whether they fulfilled their obligations to Islam. Muslims are obligated to do the
Leila Ahmed’s The Discourse of the Veil explores the real source of women’s struggles in Islam versus the purely symbolic ones that the West concentrates its critique on. Since before the 17th century, the West has been forming opinion of the Middle East, depicting what makes it so different. Most of the ideas were focused on women, because they were the most visibly different to “western eyes.” Travelers and crusaders made uninformed assumptions about how women were dressed and how that reflected upon Muslim society. “The thesis of the new colonial discourse of Islam centered on women was that Islam was innately and immutably oppressive to women, that the veil and segregation epitomized that oppression, and that these customs were the fundamental reasons for the general and comprehensive backwardness of Islamic societies” (Ahmed 152). The idea that the veil is holding Islam back as a civilization was greatly encouraged by writer Amin, and
Women are treated fairly in most countries and religions, but in Islam, they are not. For centuries, the Muslim society have treated women as second class citizens. Women are treated this way for many reasons, but it is all leads back to the Qur’an. Women are considered inferior to men, are treated unfairly in marriage, and are even oppressed legally, but seem to be approved of in the Qur’an. This book describes in detail the way a woman should be treated and the way she should treat her husband.
Western culture has been influenced by Christianity because Christianity has set the morals and norms for Western society. An example of Western society being affected by Christianity can be American. Even though America is the land of equal opprtunity with many different ethnicities and cultures making up our society, America was founded by evangelist Christians. Not only was our country founded by Christians trying to purify their religion, Christianity has played a big part of shaping our nation. I am not trying to exclude other cultures that helped shape our nation as well but I am explain the majority of Americans and how our nation was originally formed.
World peace is obviously on a larger, global scale. Umma, people of the Islamic community, see themselves as one community no matter where in the world. They believe that there can be no world peace (or the Lesser Jihad) without the Greater Jihad. Inner peace is very important and there is always a great need for it. Inner peace is what makes people strong and without it they lose courage to face difficulties.
Growing up many Australians have been witnesses to the great things religion can bring to a society. Religious devotions and practices like Baptism, Eid, Bar Mitzvahs help us develop our understanding of other cultures and brings us closer as a wider community. They also reflect what it means to be a good person. For example the five pillars of Islam, more precisely the third pillar Zakat (almsgiving) teaches us that Religion not only considers the needs of its own community, but the needs of the people around the world, and have put organisations in place to help these people. Organisations like Caritas and St Vincent De Paul have realised that to be a good Christian, Muslim, or Jewish person you must also help others and not expect anything in return.
Many of the new colonies were settled people who faced religious persecution for their beliefs in England. And I think as our country grew, many immigrants were drawn to our country because of its religious freedoms and diversity. Our democracy guarantees that no one can be treated differently because of their religion. Right now, we have a Mormon Mitt Romney running for president and we have people of different faiths in government. Sometimes there is still prejudice but overall all that we have freedom of religion that really is a great tool to help our country be
They believe religious and secular life is inseparable and also physical, emotional and spiritual health. All of the three components are crucial to make a person completely healthy. Physical injuries cause pain, and the person is emotionally affected and their minds are distracted. Islam teaches their followers to look after their body as it is a gift from God. They are taught to give prime priority to spiritual health and physical and emotional health is secondary.
These lines are especially influential to me because I recognize it as modern parallel to my favorite bible passage, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phillipians 4:13). Whenever I am discouraged and am anticipating failure, my dad tells me, “Those who think they can, and those who think they can’t are both right.” During tough times throughout my life, I first think to myself that I will never be able to move past them. I never overcome obstacles until I begin to think differently. Recently, as a result of quotes like this, and especially the passage from Phillipians, I have had a much more positive outlook on life. This is because whenever something rough is thrown at me in life, I think to myself that I can overcome it, and I eventually am able to do this.