Interview with a Muslim

The two largest religions in the world, Christianity and Islam, were implemented by two of religions most powerful leaders, Jesus and Muhammad. Without question, both Jesus and Muhammad have affected humanity powerfully. As religious leaders both men laid down the principles upon which Christianity and Islam are founded yet today. However, while Jesus performed miracles and arose from the dead, thus proving to his followers he was God, Muhammad performed no such feats, and made no such claims. In fact, Muhammad’s only claim was that he was the last prophet sent from God. While the events of September 11, 2001, cast the Islam religion in an unfavorable light, this has not dampened the enthusiasm of the Muslim members, nor has it stopped the Islam religion from growing. Obviously, with over one billion members worldwide, Islam is one of the largest religions in the world today. What is Islam, who is Muhammad, and how does Islam compare to Christianity? If Islam was founded by a mere man, what motivates people to not only join Islam, but remain faithful members? If one were to research the answer to these questions based upon media interpretation, the answers provided by the media would make Islam appear to be a religion of hatred and violence. On the contrary, as stated by Robinson (2007) the Islam religion is divided into many subgroups. Of those subgroups, “a very small, radical, hate-filled, extremist, Fundamentalist, terrorist wing does exist. So too does a much larger peaceful, moderate wing” (Islam: Is It a Religion of Violence or of Peace?, ¶3).

The lack of knowledge about Muslims by non-Muslims has caused a dangerous and growing unease between the two groups. Therefore, it is important to research carefully the Islam religion to discover what Islam has to offer (Miller, 2005). I conducted my research on the Islam religion by using the Internet as well as the library. In addition, I visited a local mosque to experience firsthand a