Understanding Islam

Today, per reader request, I write some about a religion other than Mormonism. With today being the 9-year anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States, and with recent related controversies in the United States, including the proposed Islamic Center planned to be built near the site of the World Trade Center and the Florida pastor who had proclaimed “burn a Quran day,” I look forward to sharing thoughts on one of the most fascinating religious belief systems in the world – Islam.

A particular memory from my mission still stands out vividly in my mind. As some of you may know, I was a missionary in Russia from 2002-2004. What some of you may not know is that Islam is the second largest religion in that country, with an estimated 16 million plus Muslims living in Russia, making up about 12% of the population. Islam is considered one of Russia’s four traditional religions, along with Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism.

On one particular summer’s day, which happened to be our missionary preparation day, another missionary asked if I would be interested in accompanying him to an Uzbek market on the outskirts of town. It was fascinating to visit this cultural enclave of Russia, where an unfamiliar language was being spoken, and where agricultural and other products imported from Central Asia were being sold. At one end of the market stood a modest wooden Mosque. Our curiosity piqued, we ventured over to the mosque to have a look.

The mosque’s imam, a middle-aged Uzbek man in traditional Muslim dress, was very cordial, and invited us to come and sit with him on the mosque’s veranda. After taking off our shoes, we sat on the padded floor, and commenced having an enlightening discussion with the religious leader. Four or five other men, some former imams themselves, joined us, and answered our questions about their religion, including sharing experiences such as the Hajj, or Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. They also asked us questions about our religion as well, including how we viewed Isa (Arabic name for Jesus), and the role of prophets.

Some time into our discussion, the call for prayer came. It was my first experience with a Muslim prayer call, and I remember being fascinated as one of the older men recited the prayer in Arabic in an almost song-like tone over the loudspeakers so that every corner of the market could hear.

Since that experience, I have been fortunate to have had many other which have exposed me further to Islam. I have visited Muslim countries (I haven’t yet had the opportunity to live in one yet – but I have my eye on Egypt, Jordan, and Kazakhstan), visited and admired a number of beautiful mosques, and made dozens of Muslim friends from all over the world.

What saddens me, however, is seeing the ongoing prejudice Muslims face in the United States. While I certainly share no sympathy with religious extremists of any sort, including terrorists who manipulate religion to serve their own dastardly and cowardly purposes, I can’t help but regret all the anti-Islam sentiment that I see burning bright in my home country.

This anti-Islamic fear and prejudice, like most prejudices, comes from a clear lack of understanding and exposure. It is a classic example of the “fear of the unknown.”

There are many who still believe that a majority of Muslims are anti-American, and in their hearts they support the acts of terrorism carried out against the USA and other countries by Muslim extremists. There is no notion that could be more dead wrong – period.

Often, when I see this point made by others, I hear a common response. “Have you actually read the Quran? Do you realize that it supports acts of violence against non-Muslims?”

As a matter of fact, I have read it. I read it as a missionary, wanting to gain a better understanding of the Muslims with whom I interacted on a nearly daily basis. While it is true that some passages of this book could be interpreted as such, my answer to critics is, “Could not passages of the Bible be interpreted in a similar way?”

The fact is, extremism, whether religious, anti-religious, or of any other kind, is the true evil in the world. People have tapped into extremism of all sorts in order to justify terrible actions throughout every chapter in history.

Nevertheless, we are more likely to notice extremism coming from those who do not believe like us. Would there have ever been a controversy in the building of a Christian church near the site of the Oklahoma City bombing? Why not? Did not the terrorists in that attack act based on notions of Christian extremism?

In contrast to Islam, we as Americans have all been exposed to Christianity in its true sense. The majority of us claim to be Christian, and so it is easy for us to recognize that some fringe group doing terrible things in the name of Jesus does not represent all of Christianity.

Is it not conceivable that the same principle applies to Islam? The vast majority (and when I say majority, I don’t mean like 55%, I’m talking like 99.999999999999% here) of Muslims are opposed to terrorism, and are insulted by those who take Allah’s name in vain through such acts. Yet because Muslims are still a largely hidden minority in the United States, and because most of our exposure to “Islam” through the media is either related to terrorism or turmoil in the Middle East, we have created a very false picture of what Islam is in our minds.

Rather than entertaining such a false and harmful paradigm, I encourage you all to seek a deeper understanding of what Islam actually is. You don’t have to become a Muslim or believe in everything they believe to appreciate them. But I encourage you to seek out your local Islamic community center or other means of learning. I promise you that Muslims you meet will be very happy to share their identity with you. For one, hospitality plays a very prominent role in Islamic culture. Secondly, they are the direct recipients of the negative consequences of ignorance and bigotry, so they tend to be quite eager to clear up misconceptions about who they are (does this sound like any other religious group you know of?).

I promise you, that if we as Mormons and as Americans will take a proactive role in understanding and appreciating Islam, the world will be a vastly better place. We won’t need to worry about relatively meaningless arguments such as whether an Islamic Center should be built in a certain place, or whether some pastor is acting within his first amendment rights to burn the Quran. Rather, we will recognize that all are God’s children, and that our imposing upon them a false identity based on the actions of others is wrong.