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Facts about Islam

1. Islam is a world religion which has approximately 1.2 billion followers. That means that one in every five people on the planet is a Muslim. In short, Islam is not a minority phenomenon.

2. The word Islam is best translated into English as ‘commitment’. Followers of Islam, called Muslims, commit their lives to peace, harmony, truthfulness, good works, charity, neighborliness, almsgiving, acceptance of religious pluralism, and diversity.

3. The religion of Islam does not support, preach, or advocate violence, discrimination, or terrorism in any way, shape, or form.

4. Extremist groups who claim to follow Islam are no more representative of Islam than David Koresh is of Christianity.

5. The religion rests on five pillars. These are:

a. Declaration: Since Islam is a monotheistic religion, i.e. Muslims believe in only one God, each Muslim declares that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is his final prophet. Islam recognizes the prophethood of Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah, etc.

b. Prayer: Muslims perform ritual prayer five times per day.

c. Fasting: During the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar, Ramadan, Muslims who are old enough and healthy enough fast for 29 or 30 days from sun-up to sun-down.

d. Giving to the Poor: It is incumbent upon every Muslim to donate a certain portion of his or her earnings to the less fortunate.

e. Pilgrimage: Each Muslim should make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in his or her lifetime if he or she has the means to do so.

6. Contrary to popular belief in the West, jihad is not one of the five pillars of Islam.

7. In the West, the concept of jihad has been improperly translated as ‘holy war.’ Instead, jihad means ’struggle’ and refers, in particular, to the personal struggle that every Muslim engages in to live a peaceful and good life.

8. One of the basic precepts of Islam is the equality of all people regardless of race, ability, or gender.

9. Muslims believe that there is no compulsion in religion and that individuals are free to choose their own religion and beliefs.

10. The Qu’ran (a.k.a. Koran) accepts religious pluralism as a fact of life and sees strength in diversity.

11. Centuries before the women’s movement in the West, Islam granted women the right to own property, to be educated, the right to inherit. In the West, in many instances, women did not receive these rights until centuries later.

I’m convinced that the Internet is the answer to World peace. Educating ourselves about subjects in the news, rather than taking education from our journalists and tv news, puts a who new spin on things. In my travels to Europe and Japan, I have found that people are basicly the same with respect to their wants and needs and understanding what is important to get along in life. Those few radicals (when compared to the World as a whole) ruin it for those who do not choose to be represented by them but, in fact, are because most rarely educate themselves.

Read more here: http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/j/a/jab63/islam.facts.html

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You’re currently reading “Facts about Islam,” a page on CyberCheryl by Cheryl on Sep 19 2006 @ 4:08 pm



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