Islam part ثلاثة

The current events in Egypt have, for me at least, drawn attention to the muslim world. However, for a revolt in the middle east, religion is playing a surprisingly small role. The majority of the focus seems to be on pure social change - after three decades of oppression and rigged elections, the Egyptian people finally had enough, and ejected Mubarak.

Not just egyptians, but Muslims all over the world were overjoyed by Mubarak's ejection from Egypt - namely, Muslims from Paterson, New Jersey. Our class visited a mosque, by pure chance on the day that Mubarak resigned. The half-hour sermon condemned Mubarak, saying that god put him in the position of power as a test, and he failed. This introduced a new facet of Islam, for me - I was already aware of Allah's omnipotence, but the idea that he sees humans as a project or an experiment was certainly new to me.

Islam Continued

As of yet, I'm still shaky on the concept of Islam, but it's becoming clearer. The main thing I'm seeing in Islam writing is its similarity to Christian texts - many passages, when translated, not only are similar to passages in the bible but are (almost word for word) in fact the same as biblical passages. For me, this transition is a littler easier to understand, given that Islam arose not long after christianity, and derived the basis of Islam from christianity, much like christianity derived their basics from judaism. They believe that, instead of being the son of God, that Jesus was simply a prophet. A very important prophet, given, but a prophet nonetheless. Here is where Islam is a little confusing and apparently counter-productive; they believe Jesus was never crucified, because they don't believe God would let that happen. However, they must acknowledge all the strife that has happened and is still happening in the modern world - their words seem misinformed in this sense.

But I'd like to talk a little more about the Qu'ran. In the 2006 film, V For Vendetta, the characters live in a world where Islam is all but banned. Any and all Qu'rans (Koran) have been burned, and owners will be arrested. A supporting character shows the main character his copy, and when she asks him why he has it, given that he isn't muslim, he simply states, "I don't have to be a Muslim to find its imagery and poetry beautiful." I have yet to fully read the Koran, but personally, I've enjoyed some of the passages I've read so far, as an appreciation for a body of literature as opposed to religious text. In the same way, I think it's a good idea for the sophomore english classes to read the bible - many religious texts have more to offer than merely preaching.

UNnderstanding Islam

As we move into our second semester and onto Islam, I find myself in an odd position. Although Islam is one of the most popular religions in the world, and especially prominent considering the current situation in Egypt, I'm not entirely sure what I know of Islam. Most of what I know is garnered from class time or passing facts from my mother - which is that Islam is an extension of Christianity like Christianity is an extension of Judaism, and passages from the Qu'ran are almost indifferentiable from passages from the Bible.

I suppose the best way I can reflect on my knowledge of Islam relates to the September 11th attacks. Growing up in England, I moved to America in August of 2001, almost exactly a month before the Trade Center attacks. I remember there being a lot of fuss and confusion around the time, not being sure exactly what was going on. I heard words on news channels condemning muslims and spouting "facts" about Islam and how it teaches Muslims to hate America, and whatever other ridiculous things you could imagine. I didn't know much about Islam, but almost instinctively I knew that the whole country needed to sit down and have a collective lesson about Islam, so everyone would better understand the group of people being targeted as a supposed enemy.

As far as better understanding Islam, hopefully a few more classes and a couple more pages of Novak will do the trick