There are more than one billion Muslims in the world today,
thousands living in the Bay Area. Yet few of us know much about
their beliefs and practices, and much that we think we know is
wrong.
There are more than one billion Muslims in the world today, thousands living in the Bay Area. Yet few of us know much about their beliefs and practices, and much that we think we know is wrong.
With American soldiers fighting in two Islamic countries, violence blamed on “Islamic extremists” occurring regularly elsewhere and terrorist plots uncovered in the United States, perhaps it is not surprising that many people are fearful of Islam and its adherents. A recent book should help to dispel ignorance of this religion as well as help us become more accepting of its practitioners.
“The Muslim Next Door: The Qur’an, the Media, and that Veil Thing” is written by Sumbul Ali-Karamali, a woman of Indian heritage who grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. She graduated from Stanford University, then earned law degrees from UC Davis and the University of London (in Islamic Law). Her book is a very readable explanation of many beliefs and practices of the Islamic faith.
Early in the book, the author makes clear why she feels that Muslims worship the same God as Christians and Jews. “Allah is simply the Arabic word for God. God is the English word for Allah. God is the English word for Allah. Arabic-speaking Christians call their God ‘Allah’ not because they worship a different being than English-speaking Christians, but because Allah means God. This is no different than from ‘Dieu’ being the French word for God or ‘hola’ being the Spanish word for ‘hello.'” (By the way, Arabic-speaking Christians also address God as “Allah” in their prayers.)
“The Muslim God is the God of Moses and Jesus and Abraham because Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, happened to speak Arabic. It is a difference of language, not ideology.”
Another important point is how Islam fits into the Judeo-Christian tradition. “Muslims view Islam as continuing where Judaism and Christianity left off. Islam accepts much of their traditions, but then adds its own chapter beginning with Muhammad … It recognizes numerous other prophets besides Muhammad: Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Noah and David.”
The sacred book of Islam is the Qur’an, which Muslims believe was dictated by the Angel Gabriel to Muhammad in the seventh century. Ali-Karamali explains why it is so difficult for Westerners to understand the book, and warns about the dangers of quoting verses out of context. Although some people characterize the Qur’an as a book full of violent teachings, she points out that of 6,236 verses, only 47 urge warfare while 114 urge peace. Sometimes writers quote a violence-approving passage while ignoring a nearby passage that qualifies when or where violence would be appropriate.
It is easy to falsely accuse Muslims of hatred toward others. We hear of pronouncements by Osama bin Laden or some Iranian ayatollah and assume they speak for all Muslims. But Islam lacks the hierarchy of the Catholic Church (for example). No one can speak for all Muslims, or even most of them. “The practice of Islam can be personalized and varied because there is no central authority who makes the rules and because the differing rules of the various schools are all acceptable as valid.”
Much of the book deals with weighty issues like sharia, the status of women or the Sunni-Shiite divide, but perhaps the most interesting sections deal with personal experiences of the writer while trying to straddle two cultures. She discusses these problems in chapters like the following:
– Women in Marriage, Divorce, Polygamy and that Veil Thing
– Jihad and Fundamentalism: Not the Same
– Theft and Adultery in Islam: Reflections on Disney’s “Aladdin.”
Ali-Kalamali’s basic good nature is evident throughout the book. She writes that she wants to show how the public’s mistaken perception of Islam is so removed from her Islam. “I have tried to present the Islam which I and millions of Muslims cherish … in the hope that this may be a sort of antidote to the spiraling religious hatred against Islam in my country.”
She concludes: “I live inside my religion because it is sensible, simple and teaches good things like forgiveness, generosity, tolerance and compassion. I live in America because I believe it can be a nation of many faiths. As people of all religions have urged, it is time for genuine understanding and dialogue, not media hysteria and anti-Islamic racism.”
