About Three Questions
1.) What is Islam?
Islam is an Arabic word which means submission and peace. It is a world religion which teaches that one can only have peace in his or her life when they submit to the Almighty God in deed, soul and heart. Islam also has a universal muslim greeting “Salaam alaykum”, meaning “Peace be with you”. According to the Islam religion, the proper name for the Almighty God is Allah which describes His characteristics such as the Merciful One, the Creator, the Compassionate and the Sustainer. A person who consciously believes and follows the Islam religion is called a Muslim. Muslims believe that Allah being the only Creator, He alone deserves to be worshiped and loved (BBC, 1).
Although Islam religion is mostly associated with the Arabs, it is practiced world wide by different nations and races. Islam has over 1billion followers all over the world, which represents a fifth of the world population. It is considered a monotheistic faith along with Christianity. For those who practice it, Islam is both a complete way of life and a religion. Islam has five articles of faith including God, angels, prophets, scripture and last days (BBC, 1).
2.) The strengths and weaknesses about “The Clash of Civilization” by Samuel Huntington.
According to Samuel Huntington, people tend to fight against or with each other based on several cultural factors which build one’s civilization heritage. He argues that the world will be reset to a default setting such that it focuses on religion, ethnicity and culture in the world history. Muslim community faced criticism as a result of the civilization.. His historical perspective was based on political Islam which represented myopic perceptions of civilization, (Huntington, 14).
The strengths of the book reveal that Islam and Christianity are not only rivals but have had beneficial exchanges in the past. This means that Islam almost gained control of Christianity when the religion sprang up which contributed to the schism in Catholicism. The weaknesses of the book is in the arguments of content. He talks about historical violence caused by religious beliefs. It does not clearly define history at civilization level, and so encourages distortion and over generalization of content. While it defines the problem that could arise, the book does not provide a solution to end conflicts; instead it shows people and countries on how to define their enemies and allies based on cultural beliefs (Huntington, 22).
3.) Ways the media presents Islam and Muslims, and the viewpoints represented
The media are social agents that have the potential to influence society perceptions. They can seriously impact people and subject them to extreme pressure by implying that they hold inhuman characteristics. According to BBC News article, muslims are perceived to worship idols due to the many terrorist attacks that have taken place in Western countries. In most of these countries, muslim religion is prohibited because they do not consider muslim attitudes and traditions acceptable. Muslims feel stigmatised because they are accused of crimes committed by those who are not true believers of Islam. This has caused muslims living in foreign countries to isolate themselves from the majority who practice other religions (BBC, 1).
In other countries, muslims are considered disciplined and conservative. This can be seen in their women’s dressing and through their traditions and cultural beliefs. For this reason, many countries that allow Islam religion to be practiced have converted to their way of living such as dressing in women, prayers hours and celebration of holidays, but still practice other religions. BBC argues that, the media report is as a result of ignorance about Islam and recommends that people should be educated about the Islam religion. This way, the public will not be misinformed on the practices and beliefs of the Islam religion (BBC, 1).
Works Cited
BBC News, (2012). Viewpoints: Anti-Muslim prejudice in Europe. Retrieved From:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12240433
Samuel Huntington, (1996). The Clash Of Civilization. New York: Simon and Schuster Publishing
