Islam Essay

Field Study Research Karen Edmonds-Leach Professor Jonathan Pedrone REL212: World Religions-Summer September 4, 2011 Islam: Field Study Research After interviewing a member of the Islamic faith, I came to the realization that there are very many misconceptions about the religion of Islam and that these misconceptions are very hurtful, disrespectful, and inhumane. In this paper, I will first discuss several misconceptions that I had about the Islamic faith. I will then analyze how my prior understanding about the religion was altered through interviewing a member of the Islamic faith. Next, I will discuss my beliefs on misconceptions about other people’s religion being common or not. Lastly, I will recommend steps that can be taken to minimize misconceptions people have about religions that are not their own. I had many misconceptions about Islam before speaking with a member of the religion. The first was that Islam oppresses women. When I thought about women in Islam, I thought of the image of a woman wearing a veil, and other heavy, dark clothing, where no skin would be visible, even in the hot summer months. I thought about how women were forced to stay home, and were not allowed to drive vehicles. I also believed that the Muslim’s God, Allah, was not the same as the God in Christianity, and was a false god. I believed that Muslims worshipped Muhammad, and that Muhammad and Allah were the same thing. I did not think that Muslims believed in Jesus Christ. I also thought that Muslim men all married multiple wives. I thought that polygamy was something that was widely practiced in Islam, and was somewhat of a requirement. For those men who married one wife, I believed that they were merely â€Å"Americanized†. Another misconception I had was that all Muslims were Arabs. Not only did I think they were all Arabs, but I thought that being a Muslim and an Arab was the same thing. Lastly, just as the cross is something like a symbol of Christianity, I believed that the crescent and the star was the symbol of Islam. I had all of these misconceptions about Islam, as many other people who practice religions outside of Islam do, but speaking with a Muslim quickly changed my mind about these harsh misconceptions. Each one of my misconceptions about Islam count toward my overall understanding of the religion. My prior understanding was completely altered through my encounter with the Muslim woman I interviewed. I believed it would be a great idea to talk to a woman about how women are suppressed in Islam. I interviewed a friend of mine, named Kiran Masood. She was born and raised in the Islam religion, and continues to practice it today. She informed me that this is not necessarily the case. She stated that some Muslim countries do have laws that oppress women, but this practice does not come from Islam itself. Masood stated, â€Å"countries that have laws against women created these laws themselves. They may say that their basis is from the Qu’ran, but the Qu’ran does not suggest any oppression women† (Masood). Though this is true, there are some social constructions in Islam, where women and men are given different roles and equity. This is something that all religions accept, and is not a surprise to me in Islam. In addition, another common misconception is that a woman can be forced to marry against her will, and this is not the case at all. Masood informed me that â€Å"no one can force a Muslim girl to marry someone she does not want to marry; her parents may suggest she marry a suitable man, but by no means is this girl forced to marry someone that she may not want to marry† (Masood). I was also informed that divorce is not common, and it is used as a last resort. Masood also quickly refuted my second misconception, that Allah is a different God. â€Å"Allah is not a different God; Allah is simply the Arabic word for God† (Masood) which is something that I was not aware of. Allah is the same God worshipped by Muslims, Jews, and Christians. The one difference in Islam and Christianity is that Muslims believe the God is the one and only. The religion does not accept Jesus as God’s son, and believes that He has no human-like attributions. In Christianity, Jesus is accepted as God’s son and was basically God in flesh when He was on earth. Also, Muslims do not worship Muhammad, as I was lead to believe. Muhammad was chosen to deliver messages, but is not the founder of Islam, and Muslims do not worship him, though they do honor him and respect him, as they do Jesus, Moses, Adam, and Noah (the other prophets of the Word). My third misconception, that all Muslim men marry multiple women, also came to be false. Masood informed me that polygamy, marrying multiple spouses, is not encouraged in Islam, and is not mandatory. She stated, â€Å"In the religion of Islam, marrying multiple women is permissible, but is not something that the religion requires† (Masood). If a man decides to marry multiple women, these women cannot be forced into it, meaning if they do not want to marry a man with other wives, then she does not have to. My fourth misconception was that Muslims and Arabs are the same thing. Masood simply told me that the two are different, but I decided to do more research on the subject. There are about 1. 2 billion Muslims in the world. Muslims reside in a variety of places, including Nigeria, the Philippines, and of course, the United States. Muslims also represent many races, cultures, and nationalities. About 18% of Muslims live in the Arab world, primarily in Indonesia (Isseroff). This is far from 100% of Muslims. Lastly, I believed that the crescent and star was the symbol of Islam, which is not the case. In the days of the Prophet Mohammed, Muslims did not have a symbol; instead, they used solid-colored flags. The Turks in fact introduced the crescent as a symbol. It was adopted due to the Ottoman Empire’s conquest of Constantinople. In turn, all of my beliefs about Islam turned out to be false. In fact, some of them turned out to be the complete opposite. I believe that misconceptions about other people’s religion are extremely common. No matter what religion someone practices, they always have certain beliefs about other people’s religions. This is not to say that people disrespect other people’s religions, but they simply have their own beliefs towards them. Most times, we do not know anything about other people’s religions. We are so set in our own mindset that the religion we practice is the only correct religion; that we fail to learn anything about other religions in the world. Because we lack knowledge of other religions, we use stereotypes and misconceptions to justify why we do not agree with the other religions’ practices. Even those who do not practice any religion, I believe they use stereotypes and misconceptions about all religions, because those people are so fixed in their own belief that no religion is true, and that they all are false. It is important for people of all religions to have an understanding of others’ religions, because sometimes, people have a lot more in common than they think they do. For example, I thought that my own religion, Christianity, was completely different from Islam, but in reality, the two religions share many similarities. I was surprised at the information I learned from Kiran Masood, and it was a shock that Islam has a lot of parallels to Christianity. Every religion has certain misconceptions. In this paper, I analyzed the misconceptions of Islam, but Christianity and other religions have misconceptions as well. We always are so quick to judge others that are different from us, but instead we should be interested in learning new things about other religions. The purpose of this is not to persuade someone to convert to a different religion, but to just be enlightened and educated about the different religions that exist in our society. One step that could be taken to minimize misconceptions people have about religions not their own is for people to let their guards down and to be more accepting to people’s differences. Not everyone will have the same beliefs, but instead of stereotyping and discriminating against other religions, we can learn from each other. Just having knowledge of new things is prideful, and is an asset that we all should have. If we take the time to learn about other people’s beliefs, these misconceptions would not exist. We should educate ourselves, instead of jumping to conclusions. One way I like to think about this is that I do not like when people of different religions criticize and stereotype against my own religion, Christianity. I wish that people would not be so quick to speak negatively about Christianity, because most times, they do not know what they are truly talking about. They jump to conclusions, and did not take the time to learn the truth behind Christianity. Because I have such strong feelings about this, I should in turn not treat other religions this way, since I know how it feels. I should take the time to educate myself about different religions. Though it will not cause me to convert from Christianity, just having basic knowledge about other religions can help me make a better judgment on certain topics. No one can make judgments or participate in a debate if they have not done research on the subject. Interviewing my friend Kiran Masood gave me a lot of enlightenment. I learned so much about the religion of Islam that I did not previously know. Though we have known each other for a while, I never thought to learn more about the religion she practices. I found it to be a rewarding experience, and learning about different religions is something that I will continue to practice. It is important for us to understand that we all have differences, whether it is race, culture, ethnic background, economic status, or religion. Amongst all these differences are many similarities between us. Instead of always focusing on the differences that separate us, we should look at the similarities that bring us together. Our differences make us special, and our similarities give us things in common. Learning about people’s differences is important because it is what makes that person unique. Though we all have a variety of differences, one thing we have in common is we all are human beings with feelings and beliefs. We should all value our beliefs, and be open to learning about others’ beliefs as well. References Isseroff, A. (n. d. ). A Concise History of Islam and the Arabs. Middle East: MidEastWeb. Retrieved September 1, 2011, from http://www. mideastweb. org/islamhistory. htm. Fisher, M. P. , & Adler, J. A. (2011). Living Religions (8th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, N. J. : Pearson Prentice Hall.

More Money More Problems

Literary Analysis More Money, More Problems The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this story, there are a lot of twists and turns with several characters. Two characters that stand out the most are Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Even though they are alike in some ways, in others they were completely different. The main areas that showed their greatest differences were the way that they obtained their wealth, their relationships with Daisy, and the way they treated Nick. Even though Tom was married to Daisy, Jay Gatsby was not willing to give up on his true love Daisy.First of all, even though they both were wealthy, Tom actually came from wealth as stated â€Å"His family was enormously wealthy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (6). He enjoyed showing off his wealth off in order to make others feel bad and make himself feel important. An example of this would be when Tom told Mr. Wilson â€Å"No, he doesn’t,† said Tom coldly. â€Å"And if you feel that way about it, maybe I’d better sell it somewhere else after all†. Gatsby on the other hand, earned his wealth starting young and working for it. He bought a house across the bay from Daisy just to be close to her.While he also showed off his wealth by having lavish parties, he did it only to be seen and impress his true love, Daisy. This is proven by to Jordan’s statement, â€Å"I think he half expected her to wonder into one of his parties some night† (79). Another way that they were different was the relationship they had with Daisy. Even though Tom was her husband, he cheated on her several times and caused her shame. One occasion he had an affair with Myrtle Wilson, when he said â€Å"I want to see you†¦. Get on the next train† (26).The other occasion was when, †The girl who was with him got into the papers, too, because her arm was broken-she was one of the chambermaids in the Santa Barbara Hotel† (77). This shows that he had absolutely no respec t for her. He also treated her more like property. On the other hand, Gatsby rebuilt his life in hopes to see Daisy and have a life with her. Gatsby told her several times that he loved her and waited five years. He was also very careful about respecting her and her marriage as evidenced when trying to arrange a meeting with Daisy.He did not â€Å"want to do anything out of the way† (79) in order to avoid putting her in an awkward position. Finally, the way that Tom treated Nick was demeaning and almost servant like. Tom put Nick in the middle of his extramarital affair without any warning or thought. When the trio travelled to New York, Nick was about to go about his business but Tom told him, â€Å"No, you don’t†¦Myrtle’ll be hurt if you don’t come up to the apartment† (28). He had absolutely no regard for Nick’s feelings despite him being related to his wife.He had little regard for his feelings and demanded his presence. Gatsby, how ever, took the time to actually befriend Nick and was never disrespectful even when arranging to meet Daisy. He had such an effect on him that Nick remained his friend until the very end. The ways that Tom and Gatsby they obtained their wealth, their relationships with Daisy, and the way they treated Nick were some of the major differences between the two. While they were alike on some levels, they were morally different.

Public Health and the Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Public Health and the Law - Essay Example There are laws associated with motor vehicle safety at both the federal and state level. At the federal level, The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act that was enacted in 1966 in the United States empower the federal government to set and administer safety standards for road traffic safety and motor vehicles (Evans, 2004). This law was set up to curb the increasing number of motor vehicle crashes and the associated injuries and fatalities on the road. At the State (Florida) level, the laws associated with motor vehicle safety are: Florida Lemon Laws; Seat Belt Laws; Double Traffic Fines; Florida DMV Privacy; Clearing up a Traffic Ticket; and School Zone Speed Limits (Evans, 2004). The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles regulates all the motor vehicles and all the laws that apply to them. These types of laws are legislative because they were enacted by the legislature or other governing bodies. As legislations, these laws main purposes include: regulatio n, sanctioning, proscribing, declaring, authorization, or restricting particular acts or events (Keller & Associates, 2010). The federal and state laws described in this paper relate greatly with the public health services. It has emerged that the motor vehicle safety are related to specific public health concerns. These concerns include: high risk populations that include Alcohol-impaired drivers who account for about 39 percent of all traffic deaths, young drivers and passengers, and pedestrians; and occupant- protection systems which are aimed at promoting motor vehicle and public health safety. Since motor vehicle safety is a public health concern, its laws relate to the public health services (Evans, 2004). These laws play fundamental role in health promotion, wellness and prevention. They ensure stricter law enforcement; create awareness on the dangers of drinking and driving. Also, they facilitate

Lehman Brother Collapse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

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Pirates of the Caribbean - Part 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Pirates of the Caribbean - Part 1 - Essay Example On those lines, well-known Hollywood studio Disney made the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl inspired from a popular Disney theme park ride called â€Å"The Curse of the Black Pearl†. The film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was an interesting ride and very much liked by all section of the viewers. As the theme of the movie was based on the exciting and fun-filled journey of pirates, without complex and heavy storyline, it was a successful entertainer. Backed by strong and interesting performance by the lead actors particularly Johnny Depp, stunning visual effects and cinematography, excellent background score and fast paced as well as skilful direction by the ‘Captain’ Gore Verbinski made the film a commercial as well as critical success. Its success even brought back the likeness and demand for pirate genre movies in Hollywood after several decades. At the same time, the film was criticized for being too long, e xtended back stories and supporting cast, boisterous action set pieces with repetitive sword fights, etc. Thus, as part of critique of the movie, â€Å"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl†, this paper will discuss in detail the various cinematic aspects which made the movie into successful blockbuster and trendsetter, and at the same time how the filmmakers could have fine tuned certain aspects which stands out oddly in otherwise flawless film. Speaking of acting performance by the lead characters, the main character of this 134 minutes long movie is Jack Sparrow, played superbly by Johnny Depp. Other characters include, Captain Barbossa acted by Geoffrey Rush, Will Turner played by Orlando Bloom, and the female protagonist Elizabeth Swann was performed by Keira Knightley. The main characters of the film were supposed to be Will and Elizabeth and although they performed well in their roles, the character of Jack Sparrow played by Johnny Depp received the mo st appreciation. Starting from his unusual physical looks and importantly unique mannerisms, Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow was the ‘spark’ that brightly ‘lit’ the film. His unusual look was primarily due to the use of black eyeliner, gold teeth and braided hair with a red bandana to add. His mannerism of a slightly intoxicated swagger, with a garbling speech and also flapping hand gestures, enticed people so much, it was aped by may people particularly children, and made into one of the iconic characters. â€Å"Arguably, Captain Jack Sparrow is the only truly iconic screen character to have yet come out of this new millennium. It's a wholly original and thrillingly eccentric creation, conjured by the famous shape-shifter Depp, as the ducking, weaving, highly superstitious pirate captain of dubious morality and personal hygiene.† (Levy, n. d.). His entrance in the movie is considered as the one of the most memorable movie entrances, as it brings out int o focus his trait of deceitfully attaining his objectives mainly through words instead of fights. Several lines said by him in this movie have become some of the famous quotable lines. He turned out to be the most attractive character of the movie, and so among the five Oscar nominations the film earned, Johnny Depp was nominated for the Best Actor (Boyar, 2007). Speaking of Depp’s acting, well-known movie critic, Roger Ebert writes in his book â€Å"Roger Ebert’s Movie Year Book† (2006) that Depp’s performance was original in every atom and so far no one has played the role of a

Journal - wk 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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