April 14, 2010 10:57 PM CST  

Islam about peace, not hatred

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Muslim terrorist, Arab jihadist, Islamic militia. In recent years, these words have almost become synonymous with each other in the daily news. With the onslaught of news coverage of the Middle East, all the news about Islam and Muslims seems to be bad.

All Americans see on their televisions are visions of turban-clad men screaming “Allahu Akbar” and women covered in black veils from head to toe.

But what is this religion and who are these people? Does this religion really condone these awful things we see?

To answer these questions, we must first start with the simplest way of defining things: definitions.

Islam means “to submit to the will of God” in Arabic, with its counterpart Muslim meaning “one who submits to the will of God.” Therefore, Islam is the religion and Muslims are its followers.

Now that we have that cleared up, let’s move on to a definition that is a little more controversial: jihad. The word, as used in the Quran, refers to a struggle or the act of striving toward the will of Allah (God), not exactly the modern “holy war” definition. In this way, jihad includes the fight against one’s self and the fight against Satan.

So here comes the disclaimer.

Islam in no way calls for terrorism, the killing of innocent people or, as I have heard before, the annihilation of infidels. Most of the terrorist groups we see on the news are formed through hardship, ongoing war and ignorance of the religion. Muslims seek only to have peace and harmony through a constant submission to Allah. This includes five key principles or pillars: a monotheistic belief in God which includes a declaration of faith or shahadah; prayer, which is done five times a day at set times; charity; fasting in the holy month of Ramadan; and a hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, if funds and health allow it, once in a Muslim’s lifetime.

Although these principles define a Muslim’s life, most of the questions I am asked about Islam never contain these points. Most of the inquisitors ask about topics anywhere from race to “that scarf thingy.” So in the rest of this article, I will try to answer some of the more common questions posed to me as a Muslim.

First of all, let’s talk about the scarf. Whether it is seen as holy or infamous, these are the facts: The headscarf, or hijab, is worn by Muslim women who are past the age of puberty in the presence of marriageable men.

This is done as a form of modesty to protect a woman’s beauty from unclean thoughts. The most widely accepted form of hijab is the covering of the body from the ankles to wrist, with the scarf used to cover all of the head except for the face. Covering any more of the face is usually viewed as a personal preference. (However, these views change from place to place.)

The scarf should always be worn during prayer and out of respect for entering a mosque but not at home or around other women. So please, stop asking women with scarves on their heads if they have to “wear that in the shower.”

(Although the scarf is a staple in most Muslim women’s closets, some reject it as a relic of the past and many wait to put the scarf on until they have reached a certain time in their life, a decision which takes a lot of thought and prayer.)

Another common question I receive, especially in the Bible belt, is, “So you don’t believe Jesus is the son of God?” The answer is, well, no.

In Islam, Jesus is viewed as a great prophet much like Moses, Abraham, and Mohammed, all of whom are held so highly in Islam that Muslims are advised to say, “Peace be upon them,” after their names. It is Islamic belief that every set of peoples was sent a prophet that relayed God’s message to them.

We believe that Moses was sent the Torah and Jesus the Gospel but unfortunately, over the years, man corrupted these messages, this corruption including the making of Jesus’ divinity. Mohammad, a merchant living in Mecca during the Middle Ages, was revealed God’s message in the form of the Quran. Mohammad was also given the revelation that he would be the last prophet to all of God’s creation and the promise that the Quran would not be corrupted.

I truly hope that the previous has enlightened you view of the Muslim population. For more questions visit the UA Muslim Student Association on Facebook.

Jessica King is a freshman majoring in English. This is the final column in a series of columns about religion.

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  • Steve Savage

    Jessica,
    Everything you say may be true about Islam, but that does not mean that there have not been a lot of terrible things done in the name of that religion. I’m a Christian and there are lots of things that have been done (and are still being done) in the name of my faith that, from my perspective, are completely contradictory to the teachings of Jesus.

    At some level it is the responsibility of people of any particular faith to confront their brothers and sisters who are distorting or violating the precepts of their religion.

    In the case of your faith, it does not help that the developed world is funneling billions of dollars into countries that fund the promotion of the Wahabi (sic?) sect of Islam which is probably about as attractive to you as certain Christian fundamentalist groups are to me.

  • Justin

    Jessica,

    Excellent article. Recall the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, who said, “You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Spread peace, and beware of hatred because it is a razor.” [Bukhari Kitab al-Adab #260]

  • Jessica King

    Steve,
    I completely respect your feelings on this topic and agree that we are in some way responsible for our fellow brothers and sisters. On the contrary the Wahabi sect of Islam is just a sect focused on fundamentals. I have many Wahabi brother who do not support or agree with things that are happening. Muslims all over the world are trying very hard to stop many of these terrible acts by, as I have done in this article, relaying the true message of Islam,a message which many nations of people have misconstrude. Justin’s comment above may help with this message also. (Thank you for that Justin)

    Thank you both for your interest. I encorage both of you to friend UA MSA on facebook!

  • Ranita

    Steve,

    You must understand there is not a religious hierarchy in Islam. We don’t have an Islamic version of the Vatican. We do this so government interference and politics plus religious idols don’t get mixed up in the message of what Islam truly is.

    But since 9/11 right here in the United States over 200,000 conferences, lectures, discussions, workshops, events etc. all over universities and communities have been held to condemn terrorists acts and to show what real Islam means. It has been a wake up call to many living in the west and the east to take back our religion from the terrorists who “hijacked it.”

    The University of Alabama’s Muslim Student’s Association and the Islamic Society of Tuscaloosa has held over 30 events in the past 10 years to express our frustrations with terrorists and to explain our religion to others.

    So yes many the overwhelming majority of Muslims have spoken out…but most people act upon ignorance and political strife then they do real faith…just think about it.

    Justin, I’m glad you mentioned the above narration of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Because it brings up an excellent point. In Islam we do not see Christians and Jews as infidels they are people of the book. Men in Islam are allowed to marry Christians and Jews if Muslim women are not available.

    We do not even see Hindus or Buddhists as infidels because Islam ruled over India for 1,000 years and there were not mass killings because of the verse in the Quran that states when you kill one person it is if you have killed all of humanity and because of teaching of Muhammad where he claimed all lives should be spared because even if one of their decedents becomes a believer of God then it is worth not killing a disbeliever.

    I hope this helps. Jessica you did an amazing job and I admire your courage as fellow Muslim for writing a very informative article. God bless you.

  • http://capro.info Paul

    The writer (Jessica King) has absolutely no clue as to what she is talking about. From the time Muhammad began pilfering the caravans while he was in Medina to the seizure of Mecca by force, Islam has been a religion of the sword ever since.

    Not only does Qur’an prescribe violence against the infidel (9:5, 29; 22:39; 47:4), so do the Hadiths (al-Bukhari 4.271, 4.280).

    The Reliance of the Traveler, which is a volume on sacred Islamic law tell us in reference to Jihad, “The caliph (o25) makes war upon Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians (N: provided he has first invited them to enter Islam in faith and practice, and if they will not, then invited them to enter the social order of Islam by paying the non-Muslim poll tax (jizya, def: o11.4)—which is the significance of their paying it, not the money itself—while remaining in their ancestral religions) (O:and the war continues) until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax (O: in accordance with the word of Allah Most High” (602).

    We know from Muslim scholarship that Muhammad personally participated in the beheadings of up to 900 Jews, and then commanded his followers to do the same (A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (New York: Oxford, 2007, 21st impression), 464.

    Moreover, we know that CAIR, ISNA, the MSA, ITT and ICNA are all front groups here in the United States for the Muslim Brotherhood, who is also responsible for funding Hamas, which is the notorious terrorist group hell-bent destroying the Jews in Israel.

    This writer needs to get her facts straight, and quit drinking at the well of militant Islamic propagandists. For if she doesn’t, then the day is coming when she will find out under Sharia Law just how peaceful and loving Islam truly isn’t, as she is forced to wear her burqa and pray towards Mecca five times a day while be exhorted to kill the infidel wherever you find him, at the risk of losing her own head for disobeying.

  • Suzann

    Wow, Paul. You must think you’re a genius for being able to cite verses in the Qur’an and Hadith which “support” violence. I commend you for your ability to Google search. Unfortunately, your comments come from a shallow understanding of the things which you mention. You can’t simply cite a verse or Hadith and interpret it how you like without a deep, scholarly understanding of it; or refer to a moment in history without knowing the context in which it happened.

    You probably already know the truth of The Battle of the Trench, and are therefore hiding the details of it:

    In the incident of the beheading of 900 Jews (the Banu Qurayza), the order for that punishment came from the law of the Torah. The Banu Qurayza had a treaty with the Muslims, but then began to join their enemies and conspire and fightagainst the Muslims in The Batle of the Trench. After the Banu Qurayza were defeated in The Battle of the Trench, Prophet Muhammad suggested Sa’d ibn Mu’adh (at the request of the Aws tribe, an ally of the Banu Qurayza) as an arbitrator, since he was the leader of Aws, a formerly Jewish tribe. Thus, the Banu Qurayza agreed to Mu’adh being their arbitrator. Mu’adh drew his ruling from the Torah (they’re Jewish, therefore they were treated by their own law, sounds pretty fair to me). The ruling came from Deuteronomy 20:10-14. (Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, by Martin Lings).
    You will continue to believe what you want, so I won’t bother myself by elaborating any further.

    So, in the tradition of Islam, I say: Peace!

  • unPC

    Suzann,

    I don’t know whether Paul has read the whole Koran or simply, as you say, used Google. But his characterization of it is pretty accurate. I’ve read it cover to cover, and it amounts to a declaration of war against all non-Muslims.

    As for Jessica King’s column, she uses one word that makes all the difference. She says “Islam in no way calls for…the killing of innocent people.”

    That statement is true. But what Ms. King doesn’t point out is that no infidel can ever be “innocent.” In the Koran, Mohammed makes it very clear that every infidel (every non-Muslim) deserves to either be killed, or kidnapped and enslaved. The Koran makes explicitly clear that this includes sexual slavery for infidel women.

    Here are a few representative excerpts, for a history website: http://historyhalf.com/obama-jefferson-and-the-holy-koran/

  • unPC

    Suzann,

    I don’t know whether Paul has read the whole Koran or simply, as you say, used Google. But his characterization of it is pretty accurate. I’ve read it cover to cover, and it amounts to a declaration of war against all non-Muslims.

    As for Jessica King’s column, she uses one word that makes all the difference. She says “Islam in no way calls for…the killing of innocent people.”

    That statement is true. But what Ms. King doesn’t point out is that no infidel can ever be “innocent.” In the Koran, Mohammed makes it very clear that every infidel (every non-Muslim) deserves to either be killed, or kidnapped and enslaved. The Koran makes explicitly clear that this includes sexual slavery for infidel women.

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