Read Part One here
I'd like to clarify that I hold no
prejudice against other religions and nor am I attempting to convert anyone. I
do not know the depths of faith nor do I claim to fully understand it. But
knowledge and understanding are the forces that open up a narrow mind. And so
this series is simply meant to spread understanding and provide a
new perspective to anyone willing to take it. I'm not an expert,
but my intention is to enlighten people about a world they know, but haven't
seen in a different light. With learning comes realization, but so it does with
teaching as well. And it's my hope that after this series, both you and I will
develop a new appreciation or tolerance for an ancient religion and its' modern
people.
To fulfill the requirements of
my undergrad degree, I have to take a course in the social sciences and
humanities. It's definitely something I have been looking forward to because in
my program, I generally don't get to take courses that have more to do with
opinion than hard evidence. The course I'm taking is "Introduction to
World Religions" - which frankly I took because I assumed it would be a
piece of cake. Not that it's difficult or anything, but it does require a lot
of work (sucks for me :P). So, as part of our section on Islam, our class was
treated to lectures by a guest speaker. It was the guest speaker who initially
motivated this series for me (along with a build-up of emotions towards
how Muslims are portrayed in the world today). His name is Timothy Gianotti and
- no joke - he is BY FAR the most passionate, funny, and inspiring lecturer on
Islam I've ever met. When I first saw Prof. Gianotti, I didn't think he'd be
able to teach me anything I didn't already know. I mean...I felt like I had a
fairly good understanding of the faith I've followed all my life. What else
could be new?
I was so wrong. As the lecture
progressed, I realized that Prof. Gianotti was talking about stuff I was
familiar with, yet somehow he spoke with such clarity and conviction that it
made me feel as if I was learning it all for the first time. I didn't know that
you could learn the same concept many times in different ways. I'm going to try
and convey some of the ideas on Islam that I learned from Prof. Gianotti's
lectures and by no means will anything I say justify every question or
prejudice people may have. But, at least (I hope) the following will give you a
better understanding of the foundations and basic principles of Islam.
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| Masjid-al-Haram, Mecca, Saudi Arabia |
A large part of any religion is
how it is interpreted and thus, how that interpretation leads to practice in
daily life. Every follower approaches their faith with a different
understanding of how significant their actions are. Every religion is
also criticized for certain things and honestly...that's something that'll
never go away. There is no perfect religion other than one's own - everybody is
a victim to that perspective. Just like every other religion, Islam has faced
its share of criticism (although more so in recent years). This is because
Islam faces three major challenges: media, orientalism, and modernity.
Because of our exposure to media we have learned to
associate Islam with violence. C'mon...you know it's true. And it's not your
fault! A lot of stuff has happened: Iraq, Afghanistan, Muslim terrorists openly
accepting the blame for horrendous acts, and etc. The term "Muslim
terrorists" defines terrorists that happen to be Muslims. But due to its
constant usage in media, the term "terrorists" has come to mean the
same thing as "Muslim". Now, you may not agree to that so just take
the example of the recent massacre in Norway where a man shot and murdered
dozens of students. Unclear of information, media outlets were quick to
categorize this terrible occasion as something "jihadic" and
something "Muslim terrorists" had done. Turns out Anders
Behring Brevik claimed to be a devout Christian and had committed murder on the
premises that he was cleansing Norway of non-Christians. Embarrassed by their
quick and stereotypical conclusion that Muslims were responsible in the first
place, people in media such as Bill O'Reilly of Fox News claimed, "Breivik
is not a Christian. That's impossible. No one believing in Jesus commits mass
murder."
Okay. That makes total sense.
No, I'm not being sarcastic...it really does. I mean, isn't murdering against
Christianity? So obviously, Anders Behring Brevik cannot be labelled as a
Christian. But then Osama Bin Laden and the countless others that follow his
"path" are not Muslims either. No person who believes in Islam and
commits mass murder of innocents could possibly be a Muslim.
If you are Christian, you may
look at the Norway massacre and think, "Hey. I'm Christian. I know what
the Bible preaches. There is nothing in Christianity that encourages
murder." So, religious scripture and teachings cannot be the problem. But
when one considers Islamic teachings, or that of any other religion than one's
own, it is easy to jump to the conclusion that maybe this is the kind of stuff
that's in their texts. Maybe this is exactly what they are taught. But, it's
not. The fanatical few who claim to be acting out what their religious texts
have taught them are simply those who misinterpret the teachings. Again...it
comes down to interpretation.
The term "terrorism"
is so closely associated with Muslims that stereotypes and prejudice are a
given. What needs to be done is re-examination of the term terrorism; what
exactly it means and who it applies to. After seeing it being supplied to
Muslims for so long, people obviously would not know how to react when it's a
non-Muslim being labelled instead.
Next, Islam faces the challenge
of orientalism. Orientalism is pretty self-explanatory. It's a kind of racism
against people of Arab origins.
And lastly, modernity. This is perhaps
the most deeply rooted challenge for Islam and wherein most of the issues lie.
Although it is younger than Judaism and Christianity, Islam still faces the
dilemma of being relevant and applicable to modern times. Aspects of the
religion need to be interpreted and applied in a way that
is comprehensible for people in the world today. For this, not
everything that is in religious texts and traditions can be done literally
anymore. Things have to be seen more metaphorically and a bigger
picture can be derived from teachings as well.
Now that we've looked
at the three major challenges that Islam faces, we'll take a look at the call
to prayer, the idea of prophets and fate, and major practices in Part Three of
this series. Thanks for reading :)
You can access a biography of Professor Timothy Gianotti here
