Common Misconceptions of Islam Essay -- Papers

Did you know that there are currently 1.5 billion Muslims living throughout the world? One in every five people in this world is a Muslim. It is proven that Islam is the fastest growing faith in the world and also happens to be the most widely and openly misunderstood faith as well. Americans have misconceptions about Muslims concerning the rights of Muslim women and whether Muslims believe in the existence of Jesus. "When a gunman attacks a mosque in the name of Judaism, a Catholic IRA guerrilla sets off a bomb in an urban area, or Serbian Orthodox militiaman rapes and kills innocent Muslim civilians, these acts are not used to stereotype an entire faith." How many times is it heard that a Christian, Jew, or any other majority robbed a bank or was involved in a mass murder? Very few, which is ironic because once a Muslim does such perils, it is blamed on the faith on whole and not the individual that makes that decision. Islam can literally be translated to mean submission to God and is derived from the root word meaning peace. One should always remember to go to the true source of Islam and separate what the true religion of Islam says from what is portrayed in the media. Many consider Islam an exotic religion or even too extreme for the modern world. But this is because religion does not dominate everyday life in the West, where as, Islam is consider a way of life for many Muslims; who from the teachings of the Quran have learned to balance their material and spiritual life. Like Christianity, Islam only permits fighting in self-defense, in defense of religion (but not the excuse for your own personal or political purposes), or on... ...mething it all gets blamed on the faith? The American government has been at war for almost two years to give rights to the people of Iraq, but how much of a difference can they actually make when their own people don't get proper rights? They say the people have freedom of speech, religion, and etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but in reality they have nothing. If the government wanted unity between the people than they would create a better understand on a situation rather than turning citizens against each other. A recent example of how much the American government 'cares' for the rights of the people is shown through the pictures they found of the prisons are being taken care of in Iraq. Many misconceptions of religion, culture, and just people on a whole would be cleared if the government and media did not exploit them for their own advantage.