Islam Research Paper
Edny Torres
PHIL 1304
Experiencing Islam
It is one of the fastest growing religions in the West, with a 2.6 million Muslim population in American and growing, expected to double by 2030 according to USAToday and with an estimated 1.5 billion following worldwide, Islam is one of the three fastest and powerful growing religions in the west. No doubt about it that Islam is one of the most influential and authentic religions with a very illustrious and straight forward system of beliefs. The word “Islam” means submission or surrender – however, it was derived from the root word “salam” which means “peace” or “safety”. Most Muslims will be familiar with the monotheistic creed “There is no God but God, and Muhammad was his Messenger”, which every practicing Muslim must acknowledge this belief known as Shahadah. With such allegiant credo towards The Almighty/The One, better known as Allah to the Muslim community, it is a very loyal and faith based religion, with utmost respect and indebtedness to Allah. Blogger Abu Ibrahim Ismail, founder of Islamic Learning Materials tries to explain the concept of oneness with God. “In short, this belief requires us to have the correct understanding and belief towards the oneness of Allah. This concept is called Tawheed in Arabic. It’s much more than just believing Allah exists. It means believing that only He deserves to be worshipped, and believing in His Divine Attributes.”(Ismail) Not only is Allah sacred in oral interpretation but in writing, devout Muslims after writing or speaking the name of God, they repeat the phrase "Subhana Wa Tala" in Arabic which means "The Sacred and The Mighty" in English. Allah is not the God of Muslims only; He is the God of all people and all creation. Adherent Muslims believe that Islam incorporates all religions, in which Islam recognizes all prophets as messengers from the God. They believe that God sent prophets to set things straight when He felt society was shifting away from
PHIL 1304
Experiencing Islam
It is one of the fastest growing religions in the West, with a 2.6 million Muslim population in American and growing, expected to double by 2030 according to USAToday and with an estimated 1.5 billion following worldwide, Islam is one of the three fastest and powerful growing religions in the west. No doubt about it that Islam is one of the most influential and authentic religions with a very illustrious and straight forward system of beliefs. The word “Islam” means submission or surrender – however, it was derived from the root word “salam” which means “peace” or “safety”. Most Muslims will be familiar with the monotheistic creed “There is no God but God, and Muhammad was his Messenger”, which every practicing Muslim must acknowledge this belief known as Shahadah. With such allegiant credo towards The Almighty/The One, better known as Allah to the Muslim community, it is a very loyal and faith based religion, with utmost respect and indebtedness to Allah. Blogger Abu Ibrahim Ismail, founder of Islamic Learning Materials tries to explain the concept of oneness with God. “In short, this belief requires us to have the correct understanding and belief towards the oneness of Allah. This concept is called Tawheed in Arabic. It’s much more than just believing Allah exists. It means believing that only He deserves to be worshipped, and believing in His Divine Attributes.”(Ismail) Not only is Allah sacred in oral interpretation but in writing, devout Muslims after writing or speaking the name of God, they repeat the phrase "Subhana Wa Tala" in Arabic which means "The Sacred and The Mighty" in English. Allah is not the God of Muslims only; He is the God of all people and all creation. Adherent Muslims believe that Islam incorporates all religions, in which Islam recognizes all prophets as messengers from the God. They believe that God sent prophets to set things straight when He felt society was shifting away from
Bibliography: Al-Zibdeh, Auruba. Personal Interview. 26 October 2012 Mir, Anjum, Khaled Abou El Fadl and Shams Inati, eds. Introducing Islam; The American Encounter with Islam. Broomal; Mason Crest, 2004. Print. Grossman, Cathy L. “Number of U.S. Muslims to Double.” Usatoday.com, 27 Jan. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012 Ismail, Ibrahim . Islamic Learning Materials. Muttaqi Ismail, 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012 Lutful, Kazi. “Salaat/Namaz or Islamic Prayer”. Islam-muslim.net. 3 May 2012. Web. 10 Nov 2012