ISLAMIC RELIGION INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES
Overview of Islamic Religion
The religion of Islam is a monotheistic religion articulated by the Holy Book namely, Quran. The word Islam is an Arabic word that means peace, disambiguation, etc. The religion is based on the word of God, Allah. It is based on the teachings of Allah and the normative of a Sunnah by Muhammad, he is considered as the last prophet of God. The people who are adhered to the religion of Islam are known as Muslims. Islam is an Abrahamic religion. The religion laid its roots in among Arabs. The Kaaba is considered to be the center of Islam. It is situated in Mecca, in Saudi Arabia today (Quddus, 2012).
The Muslims are of the belief that there is only one God, and He is incomparable. They also believed that the purpose of existence of mankind is to worship the God and to serve the whole humanity. Muslims believe that the Islam is a complete code of conduct for a perfect life. They believe that Islam is a universal religion, and it was revealed so many times all around the world in times of different prophets and religions such as Adam, Abraham, Noah, Jesus and Moses. They have believed in all of these prophets and considered them as the preacher of their religion as well. They believe that all these prophets had preached about Islam in many of their teachings, but those teachings are misinterpreted. They have believed that all these revelations have been misinterpreted and altered partially with the passage of time. They considered that the only message that is in its pure form is the Holy Quran. It is considered as the purest and final revelation of Allah (Rayyan, 2013). The Islam has various religious practices and beliefs such as five basic pillars of Islam. These pillars include:
- Testimony
- Prayer
- Alms-giving
- Fasting
- Pilgrimage
All these are the obligatory acts of worship for the Muslims. They have believed in various Islamic laws that are enriched with the information of every aspect of human life and society. Similar to all these, Muslims have faith in five things such as:
- There is only one God, Allah
- Muhammad (SAW) was his last prophet
- Belief in angels
- Belief in all revelations, considering Holy Quran as a last revelation
- Belief in the resurrection and the day of judgment
They also have two major beliefs regarding the existence of humanity. These beliefs are such as:
Hakook-ul-Ibad: Rights and duties of one man towards others. The Muslims has believed that Allah has created mankind to serve each other at times of need. The first- and-foremost duty of a person is to serve the people around him. There are set of fixed rights and duties for every relationship such as wife, husband, daughter, son, neighbors, state, etc. They believed that the purpose to serve to humans come before serving the God.
Hakook-Allah: Rights and duties of one man towards Allah. It includes following the basic teachings of Islam given in Holy Quran and through Sunnah. Observing and completing all the religious acts for Almighty Allah (Quddus, 2012).
As discussed above the practices includes the five Pillars of Islam (Burns, 2011). The detail of each of it is given here:
- Testimony: It is the act of taking Shahadah, an oath that there is only one God, and Muhammad (SAW) was his last prophet. It is a testament that is a basic foundation of all the beliefs and practices of Islam.
- Prayer: in Arabic the word used for it is Salat. It is obligatory on every Muslim to perform five salat in a day before his Allah. It is considered as a communication channel between the Allah and His man to express his gratitude for all the blessings showered upon him. The place where Muslims perform this act is known as Masjid or Mosque.
- Alms-giving: In Arabic it is known as Zakat. It is the giving of a fixed portion of the wealth of every Muslim to the needy people.
- Fasting: In Arabic it is known as Sawm. It is the keeping of fast for a whole day in the month of Ramadan for Allah.
- Pilgrimage: It is the practice of Muslim to perform some specific rituals at Mecca, in Kaaba, to show the solidarity and unity of the Muslims of the whole world before Creator.
Beliefs and Practices of Islam inside United States and NYPD
The adherence to the beliefs and practices of Islam differ with the traditions of the people. The traditions interfere with the religion many a time. It is the reason the some practices and beliefs interfere with the culture of United States. The Muslims within the United States have same beliefs and practices as the Muslims of other countries have. They differ in some of their practices. Due to the various campaigns by the government and different NGOs, Muslims of US are not into the sacrifice of animals that much as the Muslims of other countries. They offer their prayers five times a day, they observe their fasts, and they go for pilgrimage but they often prevent from sacrificing the animals during the Holy Eid of Abraham. NYPD is a department of police of New York. They broke various surveillance programs for Muslims in a recent past due to the increased terrorism conditions. They disbanded various Muslim unit communities for different purposes. Now a day a trend is reversing, they are working for saving the rights and practices of Muslims as well in the United States. The major concern of NYPD is to enhance the quality of life of the citizens, and they are busy in accomplishing their mission (Editorial Board, 2014).
References
- Burns, L. (2011). What Are The Main Practices And Rituals Of Islam? Retrieved on 14 August 2014 from: http://www.questionsaboutislam.com/faith-beliefs-practices/main-practices-rituals-of-islam.php
- Rayyan, M. (2013). Islam Beliefs and Practices. Retrieved on 14 August 2014 from: http://www.islamicbulletin.org/newsletters/issue_24/beliefs.aspx
- The Editorial Board (2014). Muslims and the N.Y.P.D.. Retrieved on 14 August 2014 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/opinion/muslims-and-the-nypd.html?_r=0
- Quddus, S. (2012). The challenge of Islamic renaissance. PBS.
- Johonson, A. (2011). Islam: Empire of Faith. PBS.
