Teachings of Islam Culture and How They are Interpreted/Practiced in Different Countries

Teachings of Islam Culture and How They are Interpreted/Practiced in Different Countries

 

Teachings of Islam Culture and How They Are Interpreted/Practiced in Different Countries

Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity. It is partly based upon the teachings of Prophet Mohammed recorded in the Hadith, and for the most part on the Koran, which Muslims believe to be the word of the one true God – Allah, handed down to the prophet (Pipes, 2008). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the teachings of Islam and how they are interpreted and/or practiced in different countries and cultures, including Great Britain, United States, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, and Malaysia. The paper discusses how Islam is understood in each of these countries’s culture and how it is contrasted with Judaism and Christianity. How these understandings impact the ways that non-Muslims and Muslims interact and communicate with one another is also discussed.

There are several claims about who Muslims are, and what they actually believe in, such that it can be confusing sometimes to know what is real and what is not. With regard to the teachings of Islam, Shirazi (2007) stated that Muslims have seven main beliefs and they are as follows: First is a belief in only one, unitary God who is all-knowing, omnipotent and does not have any family or children. Secondly is the belief in angels made of light, and who can take any form, they so wish. Third, a belief in revealed scriptures – written or oral, which are given to the prophets, and they include the Psalms of David, Torah of Moses, the Qur’an of Muhammad and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Fourth is a belief in the prophets who are contacted by God himself and given a mission to lead and/or teach. Fifth, a belief in a final day for the world when everything will end and all souls will be brought back to God for an assessment of their record of actions and beliefs. Sixth; is a belief in the foreknowledge of God about the future, and finally, a belief in the next life where the spirit shall live on after the Day of Judgment and exist either in Hellfire or Paradise. Souls with minor sins will be allowed to leave Hellfire and to enter Paradise after they have served their punishment (Shirazi, 2007). These fundamental teachings of the Islamic faith together with many others are interpreted differently in different countries.

            In the United States – Here, the teachings of Islamic faith and culture are often viewed with suspicion, and to some extent, fear. Issues of Islam are very serious and several leaders in the United States and many citizens at large hold the view that the Islam culture/faith promotes violence. This largely comes about as a result of terrorist activities carried out against the United States and/or its allies mainly by people of the Islam faith, for instance the 9/11 terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Guabli (2010) observed that of all the faiths in America, Islam is the fastest growing, the least understood and the most questioned. Certain aspects of Islam faith such as the conservative Muslim dress code, especially the Muslim women dress raises several questions from the American public. Such questions include; why is it important for them to wear them in today’s time?  A vast majority of Americans find the Muslim dress code as posing barriers to integration in society, and hinders effective interaction and communication with the rest of the population (Guabli, 2010).

The events of the past decade, particularly the 9/11 attacks carried out by radical Islamists have painted a bad image of Muslims in the minds of many American citizens. This has made Americans to generally view people of the Islam faith with suspicion and at times, hatred, and this hinders effective interaction between Muslim and non-Muslim Americans. Furthermore, due to the media coverage of Muslims throughout the world, American Muslims are seen to have lifestyles and views somewhat dissimilar to the widely accepted American values. In turn, this clashes with the American way of life. Commonly, American Muslims face unique challenges unlike the challenges faced by the rest of the society, largely because of their beliefs and practices. In some instances, Muslims in the United States are targeted for no other reason apart from being Muslims; practicing and believing in a religion associated in the minds of many Americans, with terror, confiscation of human rights and people from the Middle East. In the United States, Islam is contrasted with Christianity in the sense that whereas Islam promotes polygamy, Christianity believes in monogamy. Moreover, they are both monotheistic religions and believers of both faiths believe in life after death (Guabli, 2010).

In Great Britain – The number of people converting from Christianity to the Islamic faith has been rising in the recent past in the United Kingdom, and this is fuelled largely by an increase in young white women assuming the Islamic faith (Wright, 2013). Nevertheless, the country has experienced some violent Islamist extremism and terror plots, for instance the July 7 bombings. Suicide bombings also occurred on London Transport and all these are attributed to people of the Islam faith. As a result, most people in Britain tend to fear people of the Islam faith since they associate them with acts of terror. This has made British Muslims to face serious challenges. Studies indicate that British Muslims have the poorest health, highest unemployment rate, the most disability and the least educational qualifications of any faith or religious group in the country (Wright, 2013). In general, people of the Muslim faith are often victimized and they are treated unfairly in the media, politics and even on the streets. Moreover, they are not treated with tolerance and decency. This kind of treatment is largely attributed to the perception of the British public regarding Muslims, whom they associate with terrorism and extremism (Wright, 2013).

In Great Britain, Islam is contrasted with Christianity in the sense that Christianity promotes peace and is tolerant to other religions, while Islam does not really promote peace, and it justifies killing through Jihad – a holy war that is waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty. Moreover, Islam is not tolerant to other religions. In United Kingdom, Islam contrasts with Judaism in the following ways: they are both strict monotheistic religions, both have strict dietary rules, they prohibit against eating blood and some species of animals. In addition, they both believe that God cannot father a child/offspring with a human woman the way Christians believe Jesus was born (Heggy, 2009).

In the Middle East – The Middle East consists of the Muslim-majority countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, among others. In this region, the prevailing interpretations of Islam are the main factors that influence and affect Arab environments and Arab Culture (Pipes, 2008). There are tens of interpretations of Islam in the cultures of countries in the Middle East and there is a huge difference between the word Islam, and the understanding of the interpretation of Islam. These differences in interpretations can be seen for instance in the activities and behaviors of Sunni and Shiite Muslims, the Radical, Moderate, Liberal and Progressive Muslims. Islam in the Middle East has many sects and diverse schools of thinking, but is represented solely and fully by the prevailing Wahhabi, petrodollar and anti humanity Islam. Others think that Islam could be presented in a manner that is well-matched with the all the values of civilized and modern societies. Moreover, there are those Muslims who have open views on diversity, equality, human rights, modernity, pluralism and coexistence (Heggy, 2009). In the Middle East, Islam is contrasted with Judaism and Christianity in the sense that Christian and Judaism adherents are not tolerated particularly by the radical Islamic sects who often target Christians and Christian churches, as well as Jews. This makes the status of being Christians and Jews difficult, and the coexistence and interaction with people of Islam faith more problematic, hence impacting on how non-Muslims and Muslims communicate and interact with one another. Nevertheless, some Muslims in this region consider Christians and Jews as spiritual sisters/brothers, and as such, they try to be nice to them (Pipes, 2008). Both the Islam and Judaism religions teach about the existence of Satan and Angels – although the Muslim views of Satan are very much different than Jewish views.

In Pakistan – Pakistan is an Islamic country and 96% of the total population are Muslims and deeply divided between the Sunni and Shiite Muslim groups. Just like in the Middle East, Muslims in Pakistan belong to different groups/schools referred to as Madhahib. The small non-Muslim groups among others include Christians (1.6%) and Jews (0.5%). Because of their strong Islamic beliefs, Pakistanis often react violently to perceived anti-Muslim events in the world. Some of the violent reactions were as a result of the controversial Danish cartoon of Prophet Mohammed, and the 2012 video by a Coptic Christian Egyptian in the United States, who released the infamous video depicting Prophet Mohammad as fraud (Heggy, 2009). Most adherents of the Islamic faith in Pakistan do not tolerate other religions, particularly Christianity. Christians are perceived as a threat to the spread of Islam faith and as such, are often attacked by Islamic radicals (Shirazi, 2007). Christians and Jews are often murdered when they disagree with Islamic faith. In turn, this negatively impacts on the way Muslims interact and communicate with Christians in Pakistan, as Christians tend to fear Muslims. In comparing the faiths as practiced in Pakistan, dietary laws for Muslims are more strict compared to that of Jews and Christians, for instance with regard to alcohol.

In India – In India, Muslims make up roughly 12% of the entire population. Generally, the Indian Muslims, just like those in the Middle East, Pakistan and other parts of the world are divided into the two main sects of Shi’a and Sunni (Heggy, 2009). In India, Islam is commonly seen as an invaders’ faith/religion, and Hindus are at times reminded about the Somnath temple which was raided by invader Mahmud Ghazanavi. In the Muslim Indian community, there is utter confusion regarding the proper definition of Shariah, and in this democratic nation, there are still some misgivings and misconceptions with regard to the Islam faith. Many Muslim Indians hold the view that the Koran does not in any way entitle an accused person or a violator getting away with interpretations that suit his/her convenience. The anti-Islam and pro-Islam trajectory ripples in the Indian media illustrates how the Islamic faith attracts many interpretations. Some interpret and understand Muslims as people who are anti-national and who show solidarity with Islam only, to the point of supporting the enemies of the country who are right across the border. Judaism and Christianity particularly contrast with Islam in the sense that they do not recognize Muhammad in any way. However, the similarity between the teachings of Islam and those of Christianity and Judaism is that they share the same prophets for instance Moses and Abraham (Shirazi, 2007). Typically, adherents of the Islamic faith in India are not as radical and hard lined as many in the Middle East or Pakistan. They tolerate other religions particularly Hinduism which is the dominant faith. These understandings have significantly helped to enhance communication and interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims in India, and incidences such as attacks on Christians are very rare.

In Malaysia – In this country, Islamic law plays an important role in the legal system. Some different Islamic groups such as the liberal Muslims in Malaysia are very concerned with this trend, while other Islamic groups such as the progressive Muslims are not. This clearly illustrates how the Islam faith is understood and interpreted by different Muslim groups in the country. State laws in Malaysia are strictly Islamic laws, and there are limited religious freedoms given that Islam is the dominant faith. As such, non-Muslims are often subjected to Islamic laws that are typically more exclusive to Islam (Shirazi, 2007). Consequently, this has negatively impacted on the interaction and communication between Muslims and non-Muslims in Malaysia.

            In conclusion, the interpretation and understanding of Islam is different to some extent in different countries around the world, and this difference is much wider especially between Western and Muslim countries. A vast majority of people of the Islam faith feel there is an immense gap between how they perceive themselves and their faith, and the way the rest of the world perceives them. Most of them blame this discrepancy on Western media, accusing it of distorting what is fundamentally a tolerant and peace-loving faith. Nevertheless, the gap in discrepancy has grown considerably since the 2001 9/11 attack in the United States as well as other Islamist radical attacks on Western targets. Palestinian suicide bombings in the name of Islam have served to reinforce the connection between Islam and violence in Western perceptions. Ordinary Muslims are concerned that western media often presents images of adherents of the Islam faith as violent, but most of them believe this to be incorrect. These ordinary, moderate Muslims know they can never kill anyone, and tragedies unfolding in Palestine or the suicide bombings in Pakistan make them equally troubled and angry just like Christians. What these ordinary Muslims want is simply for Allah to allow peace to prevail among all humanity, between non-Muslims and Muslims alike. They have the thought that Muslims can be a force of peace, not violence.

 

Reference

Guabli, B. (2010). Islam and America: After the Tempest, Time to Reflect. Crescent City, CA: Cengage Learning

Heggy, T. (2009). Interpretations of Islam. Gatestone Institute

Pipes, D. (2008). Islam and the Middle East. New York: McGraw-Hill

Shirazi, I.M. (2007). What is Islam? Beliefs, Principles and a Way of Life. London: Fountain Books

Wright, O. (2013). Baroness Warsi: Fewer Than one in Four People Believe Islam is Compatible with British Way of Life. The Independent.

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