Islamic Religion

Islamic Religion

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Islamic Religion

A religion is an organized collection of belief and rituals. These beliefs are normally meant to answer the questions that humans haven’t found answers to. Rituals in a religion are normally done to invoke the power of the Supreme Being that the participants believe in. Religions normally have their own places of worship. Some are shrines, mosques and churches among the many common places. The places are normally considered holy by the people practicing the religion. It is protected and therefore held dear by those specific people. All these religions present are organized in a specific way such that everyone knows what to do next when in the worship place. They do this because they believe that God is one organized Supreme Being. The religions present today belief that God is the one who created everything according to (Kassam & Bailey, 2006). Various religions have various accounts of creation but some like Christianity and Islam share the same creation story. This mainly because at some point in the past they were one then they divided sometime in the past.

Islamic religion is a religion that believes in God just like the other religions. They believe in the in the creation theory that God created everything through commands. It can be noted that in the Quran that God said “there be” and there was. This by itself shows the supremeness and the powerfulness that God is associated with. Muslims believe that God also created angels. These are God’s messengers. God uses them to deliver the message to specific people that are chosen to deliver this information. They are normally primarily angels. Angels that are mentions in the Quran include angel Gabriel and others. Muslims also believe that there is life after death. They believe in judgment just like Christians. As it can be noted in the Quran, it is said that, people will be judged based on their good deeds or bad deeds. Those with good deeds are rewarded accordingly and with bad deeds are punished accordingly. Very close if not similar to Christianity (Kassam & Bailey, 2006). Muslims have their own place of worship, the mosque. The mosque is one holy place that Muslims go to pray, worship and seek favor from God. Imams lead them in carrying their daily prayers and religious undertakings. They are also the ones that believers go to tell their problems so that they can communicate to their God. In the recent past, many people have confused the Islamic religion with terrorism and hard stand on several issues unlike other religions. It is paramount to distinguish terrorists and people hiding in the name Muslims tainting the holy nature of Muslims. Muslims respect and wish to stay together in benefit of humanity just like everyone wishes to in every place and religion they opt to.

To carefully examine and understand the nature of Muslims, I visited Muslims association of Hawaii mosque. This mosque from the outside and construction, you will notice that it is very different with the other buildings that are located close to it. It is built in a way that will make you know that there is something going on in there unusual. It is a religious place for Muslims to worship God and do other religious activities and undertakings. In there, there are people learning and mastering Quran written in Arabic. I was told that is the only word from God that Muslims must memories and other translations are just a complimentary and not recommended if anyone wishes to be a true Muslim. In other rooms are young children in their Madrasa. This is a place where young children are taught about holiness and what they are expected by God to do and everyone that knows them as Muslims. As I was observing what was going on, I was greeted by one Muslim leader, Imam by the name Mohammed Aboud who guided me because he knew of my visit as I had earlier communicated my intentions to him. He told me about the way of Muslims. What they belief in and what they don’t. He gave me a deeper understanding to the way of being a Muslim. As he said “Islam is a religion that respects all other religions. Some terrorists have hidden under the umbrella of protecting Islam and its faith by going to the levels that not accepted to everyone by any standard” He ensured that he told me this as among the introduction to do away with that bad perception that Muslims have been associated with. This is also asserted by (Klausen, 2005)

As he kept on explaining it to me, one thing became evident. He loved his religion and had complete trust in it. When I asked about it, he said, “as an Imam, god assigned me this task to be true and faithful to him all the time. It is him who appoints leaders and once chosen by God, it means you will receive blessing in the kingdom of God. I will forever trust and respect God and do his work as assigned to me”. He also added that it was his responsibility to take care of the people and guide them to eternity. The way God expects them to be. He explained to me that God was the creator and deserved holiness and respect. Allah is holy and therefore we should also be holy because we are made in his image and likeness, he also expects everyone to be. One other strikingly important point he told me was that Islam is a way of life. It is not like other religions where you go out at the end of the week and ask for forgiveness from God after sinning the whole week. He said that in everything that we do, it should reflect the will and the power of Allah. It is also a religion based on free will as he said. From the outside look, it may feel like one very strict religion but those who really know it, it is a religion that is based upon the teachings of the Quran and people are free to do anything they wish. He went ahead and showed me a translated English version of the Quran which said “…your Lord said to the angels: ‘Verily, I am going to place (humankind) generations after generations on earth.’  They said: ‘Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?’  God said, ‘Indeed, I know that which you do not know.’”. He explained all these to me and what it meant being a true Muslim.

Islamic religion is very similar to other religions as indicated and well explained by (Armstrong, 1993). I got to learn this from the fact that I visited the location where they conduct they service. Not that one to one similarity that you might expect to look alike but a similarity in their way of belief and all other religious undertakings. For this case, I chose to compare Islam with Christianity, a religion that I am well versed with. Just like Christianity, they believe in one God. It is a monotheistic religion. They both believe that God is the creator of everything. They worship him and only him. They also both share the same creation theory. They believe that God created everything on earth and in heaven. God created it in a command way as indicated in both the Quran and the Bible. God created everything in order of precedence perfectly so that they could fit in. In the creation story, they belief that humans was created as the last creature that God created in his likeness. They also both have a specific place of worship and religious teachings. Muslims have their mosques and Christians have their Churches. Believers from respective religions go to these places of worship weekly to gather and share with their fellow believers. The writers who wrote the bible and the Quran are believed to be inspired by God. They therefore take them as the word from God. They also go here to share their views and moral support with their leaders among other things. They also have both have believes that there is life after death. They believe that that they will one day see God the almighty and be judged based on their deed when they were alive on earth. Other than all these, basing on the fact that they were once a one religion, they share several other things in common. These include; prophets of God, angels and several other things.

Also by the fact that were once one and now different, there issues that sets them apart. These are the issues that made them different religions when considered by far. The one believe that sets them apart is the one about Jesus and Mohammed. Christians believe that Jesus was the last prophet messenger from God while Muslims belief that Mohammed was the last one. Muslims consider Jesus as just like another prophet just like Elijah, Moses and Abraham. This belief is the one that most people believe is the one that set them apart and made them different religions in the early day of their development. The other minor difference is their belief on the Quran and the bible respectively. Muslims only believe that the Quran written in Arabic is the only copy that should be believed and trusted with each and every believer’s faith. This is well asserted by (Rehman, 2007). Other copies are considered supplementary and shouldn’t be trusted that much. On the other hand, Christians believe in the bible written in any other language provided it carries the original meaning. A translated copy of the bible to any language is used to worship by the Christians. Their original copy is written in Jewish language.

In conclusion, different beliefs have their own way of worship and different beliefs but they end up practicing one thing, religion. Though some might be similar in different respects, they have their own specific way of doing it as it has evolved and changed over the years. Muslim or Islamic religion is not an exception to this. As it can be noted earlier, they have all that qualifies it to be called a religion though different leaders in the Islamic culture might want us to belief that it is a way of life unlike other religions who remember God only once a week. Muslims tend to practice their religion in a more strict way of life. As it can be seen in life, they have a specific way of dressing for women though they say that it is based upon the free will of the people. It is upon them to make their own judgments and decisions based on what they belief in. Among the index of religious growth, Muslim religions considered the one religion that is experiencing growth. Many people are being converted day in day out to this religion. It is a good aspect for any religion when considered by all metrics. With all this respect, they have a specific way in which they worship God according to their own understanding (Kassam & Bailey, 2006). At the end of it all according to what i belief in, a religions should foster unity and harmony among all people irrespective of their belief. It is not about who is right or wrong. It is about answering the questions that nature has bestowed upon us. Whether you are a Christian, Buddhist or have no religion at all, you have a responsibility of respecting other people’s religion. If you have chosen not to belief in anything, leave those who do because they have their own reason why they did so just like you who has their own reasons of not believing in anything. Personally, I have learnt a lot from keenly looking at this religion. I have come to stop being judgmental about religion and first try and understand why people are doing the way they are doing.

References

Armstrong, K. (1993). A history of God: the 4000-year quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. New York: A.A. Knopf :.

Kassam, Z. R., & Bailey, L. W. (2006). Isalm. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood.

Klausen, J. (2005). The Islamic challenge politics and religion in Western Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Rehman, J. (2007). Religion, human rights and international law a critical examination of Islamic state practices. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

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