Islam †a Diverse Religion in a Diverse World Essay

On September 11th 2001 at 8:45 am an American Airlines Jet Flight 11, hit the north tower of the World Trade Center; several minutes later at 9:06 United Airlines flight 175 hit the south tower of the World Trade Center. Most of the citizens of the United States watched their televisions in horror as this terrible tragedy unfolded. This single terrorist attack on U. S. soil brought to the attention of the average American citizen, the capability of the extreme Islamic sect of the Muslim religion, to mastermind and carry out a massive destructive attack. This ill view of the Islamic faith remains years after 9/11. A more comprehensive knowledge of their faith and its good attributes will help in our perceptions and how we treat members of this religious order. There are certain sects of the Islamic faith that are terrorists; this has been proven in more than one instance. For example the recent bombing during the Boston marathon, the suspect Tamerian Tsarnaev according to the FBI state, â€Å"he was a follower of radical Islam†. (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2013) These are the radicals of the faith. There are many more Muslims that are good people who have no intention of hurting anyone. There has been a backlash against Muslims for several years in many countries including the United States. This has made it very difficult for people of the Muslim faith to carry on regular day-to-day interactions and dealings with people that are not of their faith. We will explore the Muslim population in the United States, Great Britain, Pakistan, the Middle East, India and other Asian countries. We will examine the number of Muslims in these countries, how Islam is perceived in these countries and how the Muslim population interacts with people of Jewish and Christian faiths. According to Malloy, Islam whose followers are known as Muslim, is a monotheistic faith. They believe in God/Allah, that Muhammad is their prophet and the Qur’an is the written record of revelation to mankind. The Qur’an uses the term People of the Book to include all monotheists, including Jews, Christians and Muslims. According to Islam, all nations were given a Messenger and guidance from Allah. Islam teaches that Judaism worships one god but the idea that any one people being the chosen people is considered racist. Islam teaches that Christianity also worships one god but rejects the notion of the trinity as polytheistic. There are 4 major sects within the Islamic faith. The first sect is named Shi’a. The Second Sect is named Sunni. The third group is called Sufis. The fourth major sect is the Ahmaddiya. (Malloy, 2010) In the United States the three main practiced religions are Christianity, Judaism and Islam. There have been interfaith initiatives to find harmony among these three faiths. One thing that has been observed is that Muslim Imams have been included in many more public and governmental ceremonies in recent years. The Distribution of the Muslim Population in the World It is thought, by the general population in the United States, that the majority of the Muslim world population is located in the Middle East. The fact is, that of the target areas this paper is exploring, only four countries fall into the top ten populations of Muslims. The nations with the largest percentage of Muslims are Somalia in Africa 99. %, Afghanistan in the Middle East 99. 7%, Tunisia in Africa 99. 5%, Western Sahara in Africa 99. 4%, Mauritania in Africa 99. 1%, Yemen in the Middle East 99. 1%, Morocco in Africa 98. 9%, Iran in the Middle East 98. 6%, Maldives in Asia 98. 4% and Comoros in Africa 98. 3%. (Most Muslim Nations (2005), 2013) As you can see, six of the top ten Muslim nations as a percentage of population are in Asia. These demographics are quite different than what most Americans perceive. Islam is perceived differently in different cultures United States The United States has in its constitution, Amendment I enacted in 1791, which states â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof†. (Congress, 1791) This requires that the government must abstain from interfering with any religious organization. According to Bell (2007), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers of 15 people or more from discrimination against employees or applicants in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment because of their religious beliefs or practices. Employers must provide reasonable accommodations for the practice of one’s religion. The three most practiced religions in the United States are Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Even though the government is not a problem for the Muslim population in the United States, the radicals of the Islamic faith, with their extremely destructive, disruptive actions have made the general population wary of anyone associated with Islam, this has lead to the development of many problems as well as discriminatory, prejudiced attitudes and actions toward people of the Muslim faith. There have been interfaith initiatives to find harmony among the three faiths. Such as Initiatives of Change who are an international group who’s goals are â€Å"committed to the transformation of society through change in human motives and behavior. † (Initiatives of Change, 2013) It has also been observed that Muslim Imams have been included in many more public and governmental ceremonies in recent years. Great Britain Next to Christianity, â€Å"the second largest religion in Great Britain is Islam. There are a number of variants of Islam practiced in the UK, due largely to the number of immigrants stemming from numerous former colonies in South Asia. Estimates also put the number of white converts to Islam at up to 100,000. † (Islamic Culture in Europe, 2013) The Muslim population in Great Britain is 1,640,725 which is 2. 7% of the population and places them as the one hundred third (103) place as a percentage of population to the total population. (Most Muslim Nations (2005), 2013) According to Islamic Culture in Europe (2013) in Great Britain the majority of Muslims practice Sunni Islam. There is also a large presence of Iranian-Shia which are the minority. With this noticeable existence of followers of the Islamic faith many groups have been showing increased concern. â€Å"A startling 75% of the British population believes that Islam has a negative impact on British society and tensions remain following the 7/7 bombings in London. The press has also been largely negative, publishing articles on extremism in schools and mosques. † (Islamic Culture in Europe, 2013) â€Å"Despite these problems and difficulties, religious freedom laws in the UK make it one of the most accepting in Europe. There is no law restricting Islamic dress, acceptance of prayer schedules in most workplaces, and heavily protected freedom of speech laws. † (Islamic Culture in Europe, 2013) India The Muslim population in India is 166,097,980 which is 13. 7% of the general population. (CIA World Factbook, 2013) Though the number of people seems like quite a few, we have to remember that India has a lot of people. They have the second largest population in the world. We also have to remember that Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the original India and broke off from India over religion. They have the seventieth (70) largest population of Muslims in the world. (Most Muslim Nations (2005), 2013) Hinduism is the most practiced religion in India and Islam is the second most practiced religion. Thru the years since Islam was introduced to India, there has been an integration of the Hindu and Muslim cultures. Civil Matters for Muslims such as marriage, inheritance and property are governed since 1937 by the Muslim Personal Law. There is much that the Hindu and Muslim cultures have contributed to each other. Art and architecture are the two most prominent items of melding of styles. The Muslims adopted the cast system into their religion in this region of the world. There are two divisions. There are the Muslims which are of Arabic decent and Muslims who are not of Arabic decent. The Arabic decent Muslims are considered superior to the non-Arab Muslims. Over the years, there has been much bloodshed and suffering because of fighting between the Muslims and the Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. There still to this day is conflict and an even greater conflict between India and Pakistan.