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