The Arabic word islam means
"submission", reflecting the religion's central tenet of submitting
to the will of God. Islam is a monotheistic religion based on revelations received by the Prophet
Muhammad in the 7th century, which were later recorded in the Qur'an (Koran),
Islam's sacred text. Today
Islam is the second largest religion in the world and counts over 1,5 billion followers worldwide.
 |
| Muslims praying in front of a Mosque |
moral, spiritual, social, political, economical and intellectual. The single most important belief of Islam, and central theme of the religion aswell, is that there is only one god.
Islamic practices are defined by the Five Pillars
of Islam: faith, prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and alms. The first of the Five Pillars is the Shahada, considered as the Muslim profession of faith, is the expression of the two fundamental beliefs that make one a Muslim:
"There is no God but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God"
The sincere recitation of this confession of faith is the sole requirement for those who wish to join the Muslim community.
The most well-known Muslim practice is ritual-prayer,or salat, which is performed five times a day always facing the direction of the Ka'ba shrine in Mecca.
The Sawm, fasting, commemorates the revelation of the Qur'an to humanity during the ninth month of the Islamic year. During Ramadam all adult Muslims are required to abstain from food, drink and sexual acts during daylight hours.
Each Muslim is expected to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca, the sacred city of Islam, at least once during their lifetime. This holy journey is called the hajj and must take place during the last month of the Islamic year to fullfill the requirements of the hajj.Almsgiving is a central activity in Islam. The Qur'an explicitly requires it and often places it alongside prayer when discussing a Muslim's duties.
The Zakat is an alms tax, required of every adult Muslim. Basically it resembles the modern welfare state,in which the "haves" are taxed to help the "have-nots". For most of Islam's history the tax was enforced by the state but today is left up to the individual.
In the Islamic religion the name of God is Allah and for a Muslim the goal of life is to live in a way that is pleasing Allah in order to reach Paradise. Like Christianity, Islam believes that there will be a day of judgement and the humanity will be divided between Hell and Paradise. In the Islamic religion women have numerous rights in home and in society, terrosism is absolutely forbidden and the killing of innocent people, as violence, is completely unjustified.
Islam in the USA is a minority religion practiced
"There is no God but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God"
The sincere recitation of this confession of faith is the sole requirement for those who wish to join the Muslim community.
The most well-known Muslim practice is ritual-prayer,or salat, which is performed five times a day always facing the direction of the Ka'ba shrine in Mecca.
 | ||||
| The Ka'ba shrine in Mecca |
Each Muslim is expected to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca, the sacred city of Islam, at least once during their lifetime. This holy journey is called the hajj and must take place during the last month of the Islamic year to fullfill the requirements of the hajj.Almsgiving is a central activity in Islam. The Qur'an explicitly requires it and often places it alongside prayer when discussing a Muslim's duties.
The Zakat is an alms tax, required of every adult Muslim. Basically it resembles the modern welfare state,in which the "haves" are taxed to help the "have-nots". For most of Islam's history the tax was enforced by the state but today is left up to the individual.
In the Islamic religion the name of God is Allah and for a Muslim the goal of life is to live in a way that is pleasing Allah in order to reach Paradise. Like Christianity, Islam believes that there will be a day of judgement and the humanity will be divided between Hell and Paradise. In the Islamic religion women have numerous rights in home and in society, terrosism is absolutely forbidden and the killing of innocent people, as violence, is completely unjustified.
by less than 1% of the total population and started growing with the American colonialism. An estimated 10% of the slaves brought from Africa
in the colonial period arrived in America as Muslims and from 1880s to 1914 several thousand Muslims immigrated from the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal Empire.
The Muslims minority in the US increased in the 20th century with the rising of immigration and a comparatively high birth rate. Today an estimated number of 2,600,000 individuals of the total population are Muslims, according to Tom W.Smith, author of the book "Estimating the Muslim Population in the U.S."
Contrary to popular perceptions, the condition of Muslims in the U.S. is very good and the large Pakistani American community stands out with education and income levels that exceeds those of U.S. citizens. For example, more than 15,000 doctors practicing medicine in the USA have Pakistani origin and more than the 59% of the Pakistan community holds at least an undergraduate college degree.
Contrary to popular perceptions, the condition of Muslims in the U.S. is very good and the large Pakistani American community stands out with education and income levels that exceeds those of U.S. citizens. For example, more than 15,000 doctors practicing medicine in the USA have Pakistani origin and more than the 59% of the Pakistan community holds at least an undergraduate college degree.
However, public opinion in the US concerning the Islamic community is very divided. Despite the vast majority of Islamic-Americans being role-model citizens, the very few exceptions have created a bad perception for the hole of the community. Terrorism that involved Muslim perpetrators began, in the US, with the 1993 shootings at CIA headquarter in Virginia, followed by the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in N.Y, the 9/11 attacks and the latest Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013.
 |
| The Twin Towers tragedy. September 11, 2001 |
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, America saw an important increase
in the number of hate crimes committed against people who were perceived
to be Muslim.
In fact, in the post era 9/11 more than 20 acts of discrimination and violence were documented by the U.S. Department of Justice.
A publication in Journal of Applied Social Psychology found evidence that the number of anti-Muslim attacks in America in 2001 increased from 359 to 1,501 following 9/11 and a 2007 survey reported that 53% of American Muslims considered that it was more difficult to be a Muslim in the U.S after the 9/11 attacks.
Furthermore, a 2012 study by the University of North Carolina indicated that the number of cases of alleged plots by Muslim- Americans per year appears to be declining. The total of 20 indictments for terrorism in 2011 is down from 26 in 2010 and 47 in 2009. The same happened with the number of Muslim-Americans indicted for support of terrorism that fell from 27 individuals in 2010 to just 8 in 2011.
The study's authors concluded that the "limited scale of Muslim-American terrorism in 2011 runs counter to the fears that many Americans shared after 9/11 attacks."
The following graph shows the results obtained by a Gallup poll conducted the September 10, 2010.
The research was made to have a percentage on how many Americans citizens thought that terrorism was the U.S top problem and revealed that nine after 9/11 only 1% of Americans mentioned terrorism as the most important problem facing the country, down from the high rate of 46% collect right after the 2001 attacks to the Twin Towers.
- The % of American Citizens naming terrorism as a major problem for the US (2001-2010)
In fact, in the post era 9/11 more than 20 acts of discrimination and violence were documented by the U.S. Department of Justice.
A publication in Journal of Applied Social Psychology found evidence that the number of anti-Muslim attacks in America in 2001 increased from 359 to 1,501 following 9/11 and a 2007 survey reported that 53% of American Muslims considered that it was more difficult to be a Muslim in the U.S after the 9/11 attacks.
Furthermore, a 2012 study by the University of North Carolina indicated that the number of cases of alleged plots by Muslim- Americans per year appears to be declining. The total of 20 indictments for terrorism in 2011 is down from 26 in 2010 and 47 in 2009. The same happened with the number of Muslim-Americans indicted for support of terrorism that fell from 27 individuals in 2010 to just 8 in 2011.
The study's authors concluded that the "limited scale of Muslim-American terrorism in 2011 runs counter to the fears that many Americans shared after 9/11 attacks."
The following graph shows the results obtained by a Gallup poll conducted the September 10, 2010.
The research was made to have a percentage on how many Americans citizens thought that terrorism was the U.S top problem and revealed that nine after 9/11 only 1% of Americans mentioned terrorism as the most important problem facing the country, down from the high rate of 46% collect right after the 2001 attacks to the Twin Towers.
- The % of American Citizens naming terrorism as a major problem for the US (2001-2010)
(From: www.Gallup.com/nine years after 9/11)
In spite of everything,I think that Islam can be considered as a peaceful religion and that the episodes of terrorism against civilians are motivated by a misunderstanding of Islamic doctrine.
Furthermore, I think that the Americans citizens perception towards this community has been widely influenced by those events happened during last twenty years.
In spite of everything,I think that Islam can be considered as a peaceful religion and that the episodes of terrorism against civilians are motivated by a misunderstanding of Islamic doctrine.
Furthermore, I think that the Americans citizens perception towards this community has been widely influenced by those events happened during last twenty years.
No comments:
Post a Comment