Growing up as a Christian, I never got to learn about the culture and religions in other countries and this course made me aware about the origins of another popular and mass-followed religion Islam. Learning about Islam opened my eyes to a new world and made me aware of the teachings which Islam is based on is totally different from what is displayed in Media in The United States. Learning that Religion of Islam is monotheistic, developed in the 7th century C.E. in Middle East. Islam means “submission” or “surrender” and was founded on the basis of Prophet Muhammad’s teachings, an expression to surrender willfully to Allah, the sustainer and creator of this world (“Ways of the World”).
As we are taught and made believe by media about negatives of Islam in present I came across another misconception over the conversion to Islam in history. The transition process for conversion to Islam was made easy by incorporating most of the values of pre-Islam religion. Idols were replaced by Muhammad himself as people has to “submit to him” as their God (“Islamic History as Global history”). Early Islam was similar in some ways to Christianity as both these religions were missionary religions but they added new recruits and in some cases whole tribes and regions after conquests (“Ways of the World”).
Values taken for Granted in Past
One aspect of Islam religion I misunderstood was Jihad. As media in The United States makes you believe it is the cry for war from the Islamic terror organizations, it is actually not a violent concept. As we are made to believe Jihad is actually not a declaration of war from Islam for other religions of the world. Another aspect which is worth mentioning is that Quran considers Christians and Jews as the “people of the book” and it is necessary for followers of Islam to protect and respect them. Islam believes all three faiths actually believe in the same God. Allah is another name of God and is used by Arab Christians apart from Muslims. Conducting Warfare in God’s name is not Islam’s unique feature as other religions too wage wars for justification of their religion (“islamicsupremecouncil”).
Importance of History for Understanding Present
History teaches us about different societies and people and tends to repeat itself overtime. It is not possible to change the current events as they happen, but with knowledge of historical events it is possible to encounter them. Religion History reaches teaches us the source of our origin like the evolution of Christianity and Concept of Christ’s Body point to life’s central aspect – belief of appearance of human body three days after death and continuation of its life in church’s central sacrament, the Eucharist where ritual involving gestures and words leads to a wheaten small disk forming the body within context of liturgy’s ritual (“The Medieval Cult of Saints”). Our ancestors crated alphabets, numerical system, government systems and Religion which most of us follow. Merchants and Teachers were the main agents for Islamization of Africa not the scholars from the prominent nations of West Africa (“Muslim Societies in African History”).
History also helps in understanding changes in society and helps us understand how people viewed events which transpired in past and how they are viewed in today’s society (“historians”). History serves as the information source for studying different societies and cultures. We get to know how and why people around the world behave in particular ways and the cause of their beliefs. History is a contributor to moral understanding and teaches most for us to imitate the people who left positive legacy and avoid those who affected this world in negative sense. People who face difficulties in their life and overcome them to achieve incomparable successes become inspiration for many in future. People started to follow Jesus Christ when he returned undead after three days of his death making people believe in his teachings and accepting him as their god.
We can study heroes, the great men and women of history who successfully navigated through hardships by making good choices and also ordinary people who provide lessons in courage, diligence, or made a difference in the world.
Conclusion
History plays important role in daily life of people as we use historical data to make our decisions on daily basis. This is course has helped me develop understanding of the “other” world which we never get to know as we follow our religion and daily lives. With better understanding of other societies and culture the philosophy or beliefs which are instilled in us since childhood through our own society get affected in many ways or at least we develop better and informed view.
Works Cited
Strayer R. W, Chapter 9, "The Worlds of Islam (Afro-Eurasian Connections): 600-1500". Ways of the World: A Brief Global History pp. 411-461. Print. 2013
Eaton R.M. Islamic History as Global history pp 1-51, 1990. Print. 2013
Robinson D, Chapter 3, “Muslim Societies in African History”. Muslim Societies in African History pp. 27-41. 2004. Web. 2013
Eaton R.M. Chapter 5, “Mass Conversion to Islam: Theories and Protagonists”. The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760. 1993. Print. 2013
Mcneill. W. H. "Why Study History?". http://www.historians.org/pubs/free/whystudyhistory.htm. historians.org. Web. 2013
Kabbani, S.M.H. "Jihad: A Misunderstood Concept from Islam - What Jihad is, and is not". http://islamicsupremecouncil.org/understanding-islam/legal-rulings/5-jihad-a-misunderstood-concept-from-islam.html?start=9. islamicsupremecouncil.org. Web. 2013
Muehlhauser, L. "Intro to Religion: Why Study Religion?". http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=5251. Commonsenseatheism. 2 Jan. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2013
"Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount". http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205&version=NIV. biblegateway.com. Web. 2013
Aristotle. “Politics”. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.1.one.html. classics.mit.edu. Web. 2013
Brown, P. Chapter 1, "The Holy and the Grave". The Medieval Cult of Saints: Its Rise and Function in Western Christianity pp. 1-22. 1982. Print. 2013
