Islam is a religion based on prophet hood. Islam is the second largest and greatest growing religion in the world. It began in the 16th Century in Arabia and rapidly grew to other regions in the world. It’s time the west makes the decision if they have irreconcilable differences between the west and Islam mostly because of the characters of the immigrants in the west and the terrorist groups and threats in the west. The debate between the terrorists and the interpretation the west gives to radical Muslims is a very controversial debate in the sense that the Qur’an has quoted Muhammad stating that mortal conflict is inevitable. Therefore, some of the behaviors portrayed by Islam are actually religious acts and thus living the Muslims at loss in choosing between the societal expectation and religious expectation (Denny, 2010).
The western world is the heart liberalism. Religious liberalists, social and political liberalists are a lot in the western world. Human rights is a topic that is given a lot of attention in the west and hence, introducing some controversy. Issues like dress code, lifestyle and the jury system are a bit controversial. Islam believes in covering the whole body whereas the west is so liberal in dressing this has introduced other evils like rape. In the jury system there is a problem in determining which law supersedes the other.
It’s essential to note that though western Muslims are considered a bit liberal they are more staunch and loyal to their religion relative to other religions. Some radical Muslims also have radical believes that are actually considered social evils and have caused tremendous impact on the general view of Islam (Daniel, 2009).
Terrorism
Islam has a practice commonly known as honor killings which have been practiced since time in memorial. A big number of people are killed per year and honor killings are the most common form of Islamic violence in the west. Currently, in the world the leading terrorism groups are muslins and they have recorded massive destructions leading to loss in a lot of lives and property worth millions. The holy war commonly known as Jihad which is triggered by believe in honor killings whereby Muslims believe in eradicating people who oppose the faith. It is just the other day that America withdrew their soldiers from ..This was triggered by the Al Qaeda attacks carried out in 1998 (Lewis, 1993).
Killings undertaken by Islam in the wholly month of Ramadan can appear in any of the following ways: Attacks which mainly targets the civilian infrastructures such as Embassies, transportation, hotel, bars etcetera. Terrorism is now considered a global crisis because almost continents suffer this social evil. For instance the bombing carried out in Kenya was owing to the belief that the country is an ally to America. This has also been reported in other countries. It’s important to note that the radical Muslims who carry out this bomb attacks are driven by one factor which is the belief in death and resurrection and the fact that this act is recognized by Allah and once a person undertakes it they go to heaven (AJISS, 2007).
The social impact of this belief is the effect it has on security, and also the relationship between Muslims and other religions. According to Max Weber, “political stability is absent in all Islamic societies because of the staunch feudalism and the domination of patrimonial bureaucracy”. Weber tried to associate lack of established political structures, stability and law with Islam but he was criticized by Gellner who argued that political instability is not fundamentally a characteristic of Muslims.
Sharia Law
Islam has grown in the west as a result of immigration mostly by people who try to run away from the strictness of sharia law and are in search of religious and civil freedoms. However, some of the migrants want to carry with them their culture and religion thus, surveys have shown an import of the law to the west. It is essential to note that sharia law contradicts to other civil laws of the western world. For instance most countries in the west have a law on human freedom either of speech, religion or the media, which sharia has demonstrated not to honor in number of cases. For instance, In Austria madam Elisabeth Wolff was fined for allegedly abusing Prophet Mohammad and in essence she was expressing her opinion on the religion (GWALTNEY, 2009).
In other countries abuse of human rights has been reported where sharia law is exercised for instance if you are accused of blasphemy the penalty is death which contradicts to the civil law. Sharia law also differs in issues like marriage whereby most civil laws recognize monogamous marriages whereas sharia law recognizes polygamous marriages. The Qur’an states that one can marry as many as four wives and temporary wives are not counted amongst the four. The trickling social effects of this belief cannot be underrated since it has cumulative effects in the economy, socialization of children, and the fight against HIV and AIDS pandemic. A United Kingdom survey states that women married to Muslims are eight times more likely to be killed by their husbands relative to women married to men in other religions (Thompson, 2003).
Sharia law also ascribes to wife battering which contradicts to most civil law whereby this is considered illegal. The Qur’an explains that after trying other form of punishment like admonishing the wife and refusing to share the bed the husband is allowed to hit a woman in a way that will not leave a mark on their face. This in essence encourages violence in marriage because it doesn’t quantify at what stage a woman is considered worth to receive a beating. There is a moving motion of the debate of banning sharia law and already in states like Oklahoma have banned the courts from considering sharia law when making decisions. This has brought controversy on which law supersedes the other and Muslims have always been lobbying for the sharia law to be incorporated in the civil law.
Gender disparity has been a topical issue which the west has addressed from time in memorial. The aspect of women being marginalized is a fight the west has already won. However, sharia law doesn’t treat men and women equally. For instance Muslim men are allowed to practice polygamy whereas polyandrous marriages are prohibited. Also men are allowed to marry women of different faith and assist them convert whereas women are prohibited from marrying men of different faith. The social implication of this is escalated disparities in regards to gender, for instance men are more economically and socially endowed than women and women more often than not face penalties and charges as hard as honor killings. The boy child is more glorified living the girl child marginalized.
In the contemporary world every minute a woman is raped and according to Islam she has herself to blame for displaying her beauty. This stringent belief justifies rapists; in the west rapes by the Muslim immigrants have always been reported. The rapist of “: indecently” dressed women are not found guilty if judged using the sharia law. Sharia law is very strict on issues of fornication and where it is implemented there is a higher degree of morality as regards to sex before marriage. In addition the paternal lines in most cases are established and cases of unwanted pregnancies are avoided (Marlowe-Noren, 2002).
Islam has a stringent belief in Alms giving and this is more evident during Ramadan whereby they fast and assist the poor. This is contributes to the well being of the poor and also addresses the class issue since they share what they have. Muslims believe in communism which people have argued makes most of Islamic societies backward but on the other hand the disparity gap is not as wide as for capitalists’ societies. Muslims portray more solidarity than other religions and this is evident in the fact that there are not many established Islamic sects known of. Whether in the west or East their place of worship is the same and they are guided by the same guidelines. During Ramadan Muslims worldwide fast and participate in alms giving.
In conclusion, Islam and the west will be a defining feature for the contemporary world. If ever we shall have an Islam reform movement it will start from the west since most Muslims in the west are a bit liberal and have embraced respect and tolerance for other religions. In the same instance they still want to keep the structures and oracles of their religion. Islam which is a religion which affects most structures in the society like politics, social structures and the economy just like any other religion should be given a lot of attention mostly when it is based in the west. It’s time the western world policy makers try to engage Muslims in the policy making and also in fighting the global issue of terrorism.
The media also should take part in educating the masses on Islam and the western culture just to ensure a peaceful synergy between the two. This can go a long way in preventing issues like rape on dressing basis and also reducing the negative image of Islam. Education has a way of making people have tolerance and understanding towards one another despite the differences. The controversial issue on which law supersedes the other should also be addressed through formal mass education (Saikal, 2003).
References
AJISS, 2007. The American journal of Islamic social sciences. The American journal of Islamic social sciences, Volume 24, Issues 1-4, 24(1-4), p. 169.
Daniel, N., 2009. Islam and the West: The making of an Image. 1st ed. London: Oneworld,.
Denny, F. M., 2010. An Introduction to Islam. 4th ed. New Jersey: PRENTICE HALL.
GWALTNEY, D. L., 2009. System for online debate with entertainment and complex problem-solving purpose. USA, Patent No. US 2009/0318209 A1.
Lewis, B., 1993. Islam and the West. 8th ed. London: Oxford University Press.
Marlowe-Noren, J., 2002. Investment grade Shari'ah (Islamic) compliant financial product. USA, Patent No. US 2003/0229555 A1.
Saikal, B. A., 2003. Islamic and the West: Conflict or cooperation. 4th ed. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
Thompson, M., 2003. Islam and the West: critical perspectives on modernity. Islam and the West: critical perspectives on modernity, 2(2), p. 188.
