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I am a child of the
'80s. I remember listening to 'hair metal', playing with My Little
Pony and drinking a disgusting concoction called 'New Coke'.
Unfortunately, I also remember hearing a lot of stories on the news
about violence in the Middle East that didn't make much sense.
Thirty-some-odd years later, the violence still doesn't make
sense. Ever since 9/11, the news media has had quite a bit to say
about Islam, the predominant religion in the area and the one
practiced by a good number of terrorists and suicide bombers.
Despite the bad press, however, Islam is actually a very peaceful and
fascinating religion. I've had several Muslim friends and coworkers,
and none of them are even remotely like the angry people we
see on the news. For this reason, I'm going to attempt to dispel some
of the myths that have been going around. Since I can only touch
on them for brevity's sake, I'll include a list of websites for
further reading.
Misconception
#1-'Muslim' equals 'Arab'.
Fact-Only 15% of
Muslims are in the Middle East. The country with the largest Muslim
population is Indonesia, nearly 5,000 miles away. At this writing,
Muslims make up about 1/5 of the world's population, most of whom
live in various parts of Asia and Africa.
Misconception
#2-Muslims hate America and everything about it.
Fact-It might
seem like that because of people like Osama Bin Laden, terrorists and
suicide bombers, but it's not true. Sure, some might, but some cats
hate dogs while others love them. You can't please all of the people
all of the time. We shouldn't mistake the actions of a few as being
representative of the whole, especially since the good and decent
people tend not to make the news.
Misconception
#3-Muslims believe in 'jihad', waging a holy war against all
'infidels' (non-Muslims) in the name of their god Allah.
Fact-This is
only partly true. While the word 'jihad' can refer to such a
struggle, the concept is much more detailed than that. There are
actually several 'types' of jihad, mostly relating to one's personal
conduct-to keep oneself pure from any form of evil and to strive for
justice at all times. There is
a 'physical Jihad' idea that involves violence, but it is referring
to defensive measures only and is nowhere near as important as the
inward struggles mentioned above. This is barely the tip of the
iceberg, so visit the sites I mention below for more information.
Misconception
#4-Islam degrades women.
Fact-Most
of the mistreatment of women we hear about on the news-killing
someone for dishonoring the family, forcing a woman into marriage,
the mutilation of female genitalia, etc-are based on the customs and
cultures of the particular countries and are not endorsed by the
religion. As I said above, most of the stories we in the US hear
about on the news take place in countries that only house 15% of the
world's Muslim population.
As
I said above, Islam is a rather fascinating religion. While there are
doctrines that can be construed as advocating violence, there are
just as many that advocate peace. Like any other religion, there is a
lot more to it than can be described in a single article. If you're
interested in learning more about it, visit:
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