0.14 Religious perspectives on personality  (Page 9/14)

Discussion Question: The Five Pillars of Islam seem to be much more directly related to demonstrating one’s faith in God than we saw with Judaism or Christianity. Do Muslims seem more religious than other religions? Is your answer just an impression, or is it based on real experience? In your opinion, how do the Five Pillars of Islam compare to the Ten Commandments or Jesus’ two commandments?

Connections Across Cultures: Islamic Faith,

Jihad, Ascesis, and Democracy

When considering the Five Pillars of Islam, it is hard to imagine why there is such a negative view of the Islamic religion in the Western world, particularly in the United States. The answer is actually quite simple, but it is based on a terrible misunderstanding: radical Islamic fundamentalism, and its common element of terrorism, is viewed in the West as being synonymous with Islam itself. As noted in the main text, Maulana Muhammad Ali was the first Muslim to translate the Holy Qur’an into English (originally in 1917; see Ali, 2002). In addition, Ali published another lengthy book entitled The Religion of Islam (originally in 1936; see Ali, 1990).

Many Americans believe that Muslims have a religious duty to wage jihad , a holy war, on all people who do not follow Islam and put their faith in Allah. This belief is mistaken. First, the word jihad is not synonymous with war, but rather it means to exert oneself, or to have the ability to resist one’s enemies. The enemies that must be resisted include the devil and one’s self (our weaknesses and our ignorance, which keep us from the path toward truth). This striving for the truth is reflected, of course, in the verses of the Holy Qur’an :

And those who strive hard for Us, We shall certainly guide them in

Our ways. And Allah is surely with the doers of good.

Chpt. 29:69; Holy Qur’an (Ali, 2002)

What might come as a surprise to many Christians is that this internal battle between oneself and evil is by no means unique to Muslims. In Christianity the same need to strive for God exists, and the word used to describe this striving is ascesis , a word with essentially the same meaning as jihad (Clement, 1993). In St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he tells them to put on the armor of God and do battle with the devil. As for whom this striving is valuable, even Jesus makes it clear that one does not have to be Jewish or Christian. In a passage quite similar to the quote above from the Qur’an:

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him because he was not following us.”

But Jesus said, Do not forbid him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us. For truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.”

Mark 6:38-41; Holy Bible

There are times, nonetheless, when one must fight in order to defend oneself. When this occurs, the Qur’an makes it clear that Muslims should prepare to accept peace when it is possible to do so: