Difference in Religious beliefs

Answer

For this discussion, I chose to delve into my relationship with the Islamic Faith. In this presentation, I explore the key beliefs of the Islamic Faith, the main controversies that could arise while associating with a Muslim person, and I end each section by providing a means to getting a common ground to avoid further conflict. I chose Islam as it is a major world religion and it has been subject for a lot of controversy since the 9/11 attacks.  The goal of this presentation is to provide an insight into a possible way to approach an individual possessing Islamic doctrines.

By definition, the word Islam translates to Peace. It is the Arabic name for peace. However, today, Islam is rarely synonymous with peace. Mentioning the name Islam in a class will get students to thing that you are referring to an essay on terrorism. In short, Islam has become heavily associated with the worst kinds of violence, which contradicts the very name of the religion. After 9/11, more of the world got to develop an opinion about Islam, and given the incidences, this opinion was not favorable. Even today, there still remains some fear, fueled by stereotypes, about Islam. Hence, this presentation seeks to provide some understanding into how to peacefully coexist with friends from the second most prevalent world religion.

Islam declares that Allah is God, Muhammad is his prophet, and Gabriel is the angel between Allah and Muhammad. This declaration shows some of the key tenets of the Islamic religion. In total, there are five key principles that guide Islam: The first declares that there is Only one God. Islam is a monotheistic religion just like Christianity and Judaism. These similarities go deeper past that and into the origin of the religion. Islam, Christianity and Judaism, which combined make the largest percent of the world religions, all have Abraham as the foundation. The Islam God is similar to the Christian and Judaism God, Islam also declares that Muhammad is God’s prophet, through whom God communicated with humans. According to Islam, God is also the judge of our character and the Imams are our human religious authority. Like most religions, Islam also teaches of a judgement day in which humankind shall judgement.

The main issues of contention with Islam do not arise from its basic principles but with other practices of most or some Muslims in the name of religion. While most religions have been dynamic with time, many Muslims are still ye to accept the LGBTQ communities within them. In some countries, this even results in members of these communities to be sentenced to death.

Since Islam has no central governing body, specific policies on issues of concern to LGBTQ people can not be mentioned. Islamic individuals and organizations fall across a broad spectrum depending on ethnicity, age, family upbringing, and cultural influences, from accepting and inclusive to a degree of rejection that can be characterized by a variety of acts ranging from social sequestration to physical aggression. There is a growing movement in the United States to build inclusive societies for LGBTQ Muslims and their allies.

The prevalent concept of the position of a woman in Islam is that independence and equality are stripped of women. This is the product of either misunderstanding of Islam or the skewed propaganda of a prejudiced media and anti-Islamic ideology. The reality is just the contrary. It is not out of place here to discuss the role given to women before Islam in some of the so-called glorious civilizations.