Islam
Chapter 12 about Religious Paths to God: Communities of Faith, Traditions of Beliefs, Ways of Life by John T. Mathew discusses the religion of Islam. According to Mathew, the word Islam originates from an Arabic verb which means submission to God’s will hence a Muslim means ‘one who submits’. Mathew notes that there are three Abrahamic religions and Islam is one of them, the other two being Christianity and Judaism. Following the 9/11 attacks in the United States and subsequent attacks of the Western interests there has been a culture of fear that has emerged regarding the religion of Islam. According to the chapter, this fear is present because of so much misinformation about Islam. The article provides that the menacing combatant values as well as political fanaticism of some Muslims have become a threat to the Western civilization for the past 1,500 years. To Mathew, it is because of such combatant ideals and political enthusiasm that pose challenges towards creating a lasting peace in some parts of the Middle East.
Accordingly, Mathew notes that the ideological basis upon which groups such as al Qaida and other combatant groups in the Islamic world was masterminded forty years ago by Abdul-Ala al-Maudoobi. The ideology stems from the belief that when God created the human race, he ensured that all the bodily needs were dependent on inevitable biological rules but the religious, political, and social needs are subject to the will of humans. The ideology goes further to provide that humanity was unable to run their affairs according to the will of God, therefore God sent prophets to try to goad them towards the right path. God sent 128,000 prophets including Jesus and Moses and they all failed. Eventually, God sent Prophet Mohammad, who Muslims believe was the last prophets and the bearer of God’s final message, Islam. According to radical Muslims, the arrival of Islam meant that all past religions were relinquished and the followers of such religions were kuffars (infidels). According to the Mathew, this view obligates all good Muslims to convert humanity to Islam, the religion that regulates every aspect of humanity including every spiritual, social, political, and economic aspect.
In order to have a better understanding of the ideologies of extremities it is important to be aware of the existence of the ideological groupings such as ghazis and Shahid (Martyr) in order to understand the extent of the aspirations of their members. It is important to note that following the terrorist attacks in London, the Muslim leaders in the Middle East as well as in the West condemned the attacks noting that the attacks are contrary to the Muslim Faith. In this regard, Mathew notes that most scholars consider misguided Islam, Judaism, and Christianity to be similar. The article presents some of the examples such as the Nazi-led efforts to kill Judaism during the Second World War and the Western Christian that seeks to convert Muslims since the Crusades. However, the emergence of the Jihads from the Talibans in addition to other Muslim terrorist groupings around the world has had a serious impact on the religious and political consciousness regarding the faith of Islam. According to the chapter, the Gulf War, 9/11 attacks, and the unfortunate search of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq intrigued the whole world with images of violence and fluctuation of the prices of crude oil. Such mesmerizing effects are evidence of the fact that in all religions there is evil practices that is usually advanced by various factions that are often motivated by ambition, self interests, distorted desires, and rigidity of ideologies.
The chapter also focuses on the Quran, the Holy Scripture in Islam. According to Mathew, God manifested the Koran to Prophet Mohammad as a guide. The Quran refers to God as Allah and has the same meaning to “God” in Christianity as well as in Judaism. However, unlike in Christianity, which contains the life and teachings of Jesus and his disciples, and Judaism whose Torah was revealed to Moses, Islam contends that Muhammad was an agent sent by God himself to impart God’s instructions to humanity. The Muslims believe that God revealed the teachings in the Quran to Muhammad during the twenty-seventh night of the month of Ramadan. From the chapter, it is important to note that the Quran is a true revelation only when it is in Arabic. As such, Mathew notes that one cannot fully appreciate the beauty and the meaning of the Quran in any other language other than in its Arabic form.
Further, Mathew discusses the five pillars of Islam namely, the Shahada (declaration of belief), Salat (prayer), Sawm (fasting), Zakat (alms giving), and Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca). Accordingly, the chapter looks at the Sharia law for the fundamentalist Muslims. According to Mathew, the Sharia laws are similar to the Jewish Torah in the sense that both prescribe strict legal and regulatory lifestyles for their followers. This is because they are more concerned with the acceptable behavior of the community and their followers. As such, under the Sharia law, Islam resists any non-Muslim influences on its followers to ensure that they experience life as per the rules and values of Islam. The article further discusses the divisions in Islam by discussing the Sunnis, the Shi’ites, and the Sufis. Eventually, Mathew discusses Islam in the West and notes that churches blame the increase in immigrants to the fast growing Islam religion in western countries such as the United States.
