I am a college student needing to ask a Muslim some questions for an assignment?

Question

How is Islam lived in your life? Is there a local community where you live adn have support? How do you interact with others faith backgrounds? Are you different from other Muslims? What are your rewards of your faith? Are there struggles? Where you live do you feel safe practing your faith?

Answer 1

I thought that schools avoided religion in school. Why should a Muslim respond to those questions differently than a person of any other religion? Isn't that prejudice on the part of the teacher?

Answer 2

I do not second the idea of such an assignment in a college. Religious aspects need be handled carefully and in a temple of education and knowledge such things should not come up. I am sorry but I find such a question is unwarranted on such a forum and besides this, world has become very volatile on religious matters.

Answer 3

This is not the problem Ok he will answer differently from the other community because there religious faith is completely different he will be the completely different person from all the people or the other religion just ask him and learn it will be usefull to U also.

Answer 4

I think if you do some surfing on http://askmuslims.com you will get those answers. I would have helped you with the assignment but if i do that you won't learn. Good luck.

Answer 5

HOW TO BE A MUSLIM

(WHO IS A MUSLIM?)

Mikail Juma Tariq


This is intended to instruct new Muslims on what Muslims are expected to do and not do. It is also intended to help non-Muslims understand the Faith of their Muslim friends.

There are many people who call themselves Muslims but who are not considered Muslims by others. How can one tell if one is truly a Muslim oneself? How can one judge if another is sincere in claiming to be a Muslim?

In Islam, there is only one god, God (Allah). (Terms in parentheses are the Arabic words or names which are commonly used by Muslims). The Word of God has been presented to man by a succession of prophets, the greatest of whom are Abraham (Ibrahim), Moses (Musa), Jesus (Isa) and Mohammed (Muhammed). In the broadest sense, any person who sincerely says the Muslim declaration of faith (Shahada), "There is no god but God, and Muhammed is his prophet" (La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad rasul Allah) is a Muslim.

Islam means submission (to the will of God) and a Muslim is one who submits to the will of God. So in a narrower sense, only those who submit to the will of God by living according to the precepts set forth in the Koran (Qur'an) are true Muslims. The Qur'an is the Word of God as revealed to the prophet Muhammed. Of course, no one is perfect and no one is able to live his entire life without some transgression. But if one is not making a sincere effort to live in accordance with God's instructions, he is clearly not submitting to the will of God, and therefore is not a true Muslim.

Some people who call themselves Muslims are clearly not Muslims, such as members of the Ahmadiyya sect, which recognizes Mirza Gulam Ahmad as the resurrection of Jesus and a prophet after Mohammed, because they do not follow Mohammed as the last prophet and final source of God's word. Others, such as the Nation of Islam (followers of Louis Farrakhan) are not true Muslims because they believe in other gods besides God. They say that Wallace Deen Fard, a.k.a. Fard Muhammed, the man who taught Elijah Muhammed about Islam as well as about astrology and other Eastern superstitions forbidden to Muslims, was god walking on earth. Then there are some religions which began after Islam which recogize Muhammed as a prophet of God, but not the prophet, meaning the final source of God's word for people of today. Baha'is believe that the Bab and Baha'u'llah are prophets after Muhammed and that the revelation to Baha'u'llah supersedes the Qur'an. Sikhs believe that the twelve gurus of the Sikh religion, especially Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, are prophets after Muhammed and that the Granth Sahib, the book in which their teachings are collected, is more important than the Qur'an. These people do not claim to be Muslims and are clearly not Muslims. The Druze are sometimes considered a Muslim sect, but their belief in reincarnation, etc., puts them outside Islam.

In Christianity, that which is forbidden is a sin. A sin is that which offends God. In Islam, that which is forbidden is a sin, but there are other reasons for not doing it as well. A Muslim must conduct himself with dignity and honor, so as not to bring dishonor on the religion of God. Each person must be an example of God's will and glory. For example, a Muslim must be clean. If he is dirty, it not only offends God (is a sin), but since he is known to be a Muslim, it brings disgrace to the Faith of Islam and dishonors God. Understanding this is essential to understanding why Muslims are thought of as puritanical, since they abhor sin on several different levels simultaneously. To slip and make a mistake by doing something which is forbidden once may be forgiven, but to continue to live in a sinful way and make excuses for doing so is not only to do that wrong, but it is despising the religion itself and showing contempt for God.

What are the rules which distinguish the true Muslim from the person who claims to be a Muslim without submitting to God's will? There are many rules, such as the need to pray five times every day, which can be followed without giving up one's sinful habits and tend to be followed by all. In this paper, we are not looking at what is most important so much as that in which many would-be Muslims fail.

Every person is a brother or sister and loved by God. You can not injure, dishonor or use any person without defiling yourself. Sex outside of marriage is forbidden because it is evil in itself but also because it dishonors the other person, yourself, and the institution of marriage. Stealing likewise is forbidden both because it is evil and because it injures others, and brings shame on yourself, your family, and your Faith.

Being clean not only refers to the outside. One who drinks alcoholic beverages or uses drugs such as cocaine or heroin defiles himself on many levels. Pork is forbidden because the pig is an unclean animal which eats filth. This prohibition goes back to Abraham and Moses before Muhammed. It is thought by some to be a special protection against the disease of trichinosis. The trichina worms which cause this painful, crippling disease are passed from pig to pig when pigs eat the raw flesh of dead pigs. Cooking pork thoroughly kills the trichina worms and prevents the disease. Now a Muslim is indeed forbidden to eat pork, but the person who is drinking alcohol and using cocaine and then says he can not eat pork is making a fool of himself and bringing the Islamic Faith into ridicule for hypocrisy. Of course he shouldn't eat pork, but to insist on this while ignoring the prohibition against other things is doubly bad in that it causes others to hold the submission to the will of God in contempt.

A Muslim will always value learning and scholarship. He will study the word of God (the Qur'an) all his life. He will want to learn all types of knowledge and he will respect people of learning and their wisdom. Anyone who plays the fool in class or makes fun of scholars or damages books, etc., is not obeying the precepts of Islam. A Muslim will always encourage his own children and all other young people to learn as much as they can and to do well in school. This great emphasis on learning and scholarship goes far beyond what is normally found in Christianity, but is similar to that of the Jewish tradition. A school is a revered place, a book is venerated as a source of wisdom, and wise men and women are greatly honored, especially teachers.

All people are brothers and sisters. Some may be more worthy than others because they lead a better life or learn more or teach, but other than honoring people for their piety or accomplishments, it is wrong to discriminate between them. To a Muslim, race and ethnic origin are unimportant. The brotherhood of man is taken very seriously and to suggest that white is better than black or black is better than white is anathema. When Elijah Muhammed taught that white people are devils and inherently evil, he put himself well outside that which is acceptable in Islam.

Men and women are equal. Completely. Anyone not treating women with respect and consideration is bringing shame on himself and Islam. The rules of modesty and dress are different for men and women, and the fact that Muslim women dress and act modestly and are expected to do so by other Muslims is misunderstood by many outside the faith as indicating inferior status. Muslim women can be scholars, professionals and leaders (many are or have been) so long as they conduct themselves with modesty, dignity and decorum. The same applies to men. The man who jives down the street with a loud boom-box and wild clothing is not maintaining the dignity demanded of Muslims. There is no need for a Muslim to be dressed in a fancy suit, but he must be clean and presentable, dignified and honorable. To be dirty because one has been doing needed work is no shame, but to be dirty because one is lazy is not acceptable. If this sounds very familiar to the Christian, he would do well to remember that Jesus is a holy prophet of Islam and the Muslim must and does follow the teachings of Jesus.

A Muslim is responsible. He obeys the law unless to do so would be evil. A Muslim will resist evil laws and every Muslim will approve of going to jail for defying racial discrimination. But he will obey other laws which have nothing to do with right and wrong because to break the law brings discredit on the person and on his Faith. A Muslim must work for his living if it is at all possible. If he is sick or disabled or there is no work available, there is no shame in accepting aid from others or from religious institutions or governments. But the demand for honor and dignity means a Muslim must earn his own living if possible. Even in the situation where he could make more from welfare or unemployment benefits than from working, the Muslim must work. A Muslim must support his children and his wife. This obligation is absolute. It is not removed by divorce or other separation. Muslims believe in self reliance. They must take care of themselves and not become a burden upon society if it is at all possible. Malcolm X was right on target as a Muslim when he said Black Americans should solve their own problems and lift themselves up from their oppessed condition, not just appeal to the government to right the wrongs which had been done to them.

Being responsible means both doing what is needed and not doing that which is wrong or harmful. If a Muslim has a problem like alcohol or drug use, he must face the problem and do whatever it takes to conquer it. Muslims support programs to combat these and other evils, there are Muslims in Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. A man who womanizes defiles himself, but think how much worse it is if he takes a venereal disease home to his wife. A person who destroys him or herself by getting AIDs through using drugs or having sex outside of marriage has brought great shame upon him or herself, but how much worse to give the disease to an unborn child. We live in a time of much depravity and temptation. A Muslim must hold himself above these things, he must oppose them actively, and above all, he must not contribute to the suffering or downfall of anyone else. In Islam, every person is his brother and sister's keeper, and every other person is his brother or sister.

Muslims are respectful and considerate of other religions. They hold the "religions of the book" in particular veneration. The religions of the book are the religions which worship the one true God and follow His word as revealed by His prophets. This means the Jewish, Sabaean [Sheban], Christian and Muslim religions. A Muslim should venerate a Jewish synagogue or a Christian church as a holy place devoted to the worship of the one God of all these religions. When Farrakhan called Judaism a "gutter religion", he defamed Islam along with Judaism.

So how does one tell a true Muslim? He (or she) is honorable, dignified, considerate, gracious, law-abiding, honest, modest, and clean. He does not use alcohol, cocaine, heroin or any other addictive drug. He educates himself as well as he possibly can. He respects other people, other religions and all learning. He is responsible for himself and his family.

If this sounds like a good Christian or Jew, it should do so, for Muhammed, Jesus and Moses were all holy prophets of the one true God, teaching the same truth from God.



Appendix: "The Five Pillars"

There are five obligations for all Muslims which frequently are referred to as the five pillars of Islam. These are specific things to do as religious practice, rather than general norms of conduct such as those with which this paper has dealt.

1. Saying the creed (Shahadah). Muslims say the creed several times every day, "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammed is the messenger [prophet] of Allah" (La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad rasul Allah). Shahadah means bearing witness, it is an affirmation of one's faith.

2. Daily prayer (Salah). A Muslim is supposed to say prayers [these are special prayers revealed through Muhammed, the equivalent of the Lord's Prayer in Christianity] at five specified times of each day. These times are at dawn, midday, midafternoon, sunset and nightfall. Muslims must cleanse themselves before saying these prayers and then they face towards Mecca to offer their prayers. They kneel down and touch their heads to the ground at various times during the prayers as a sign of their submission to God. On Friday (Juma) men should go to a mosque to say their prayers with other Muslims.

3. Giving of Alms (Zakah). Muslims are expected to give money as gifts (alms) to the poor of the community.

4. Fasting (Sawm). Muslims observe the month of Ramadan by fasting during daylight hours. This is in remembrance of the gift of God's revelation to Muhammed (the Qur'an).

5. Pilgrimage (Hajj). Each Muslim should go to Mecca at least once in his life if at all possible. The pilgrimage is performed during a special month and there are a number of practices expected during the pilgrimage, in which the pilgrim venerates the sacred shrines of Islam.