Islam

i find it very intersting that since the tragic events on September 11, 2001 there has been much discussion on Islam. i have found that many of the discussions that i have regarding religion start on the subject of Islam. i noticed much discussion, studying and confusion about Islam and what the adherents of Islam believe.

As a Bahá'í i understand that i must combat ignorance and defend the truth of religion and the previous dispensations of God. Religion has both a social and spiritual component. Spiritual truth is universal and not changeable. To kill is spiritually wrong. Regardless of what faith one adheres to it is considered wrong to take the life of another. This is but one of the spiritual principles i am refering to. The social differences depend on the time, place and people that the Message was addressed to. Whether to consume alchohol, eat pork, get divorced, marry these are varried.

Regardless of whether or not one will focus on a social or spiritual aspect of a faith the problems we have arise from missrepresentation and ignorance. For example, many in the United States believe that Muslims do not worship the same God as they do. Allah is arabic for God. Persians, who are muslim, use the word Khodah. Germans, the French, Spanish, Greek and other primarily Christian languages have different spellings for the name of God.

To go one step further i had someone come to me and say that Muhammed advocated killing Christians and Jews. i pointed out to him that this is not to be found in the Quran. His answer was to finally state that he should probably get a copy and read it. i fully concured with this course of action. If one looks at the various sections of the Quran we will find many references that state clearly that the same God of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammed is the same God.

The error that seems to play here is when someone decides to believe what another tells them rather than to read it for themselves. This is fundamentaly explained by ignorance.

Another person who is Jewish told me that they saw much in what Muhammed had said but He was a political figure and actually killed many people. My answer to her was to point out that in what Christians refer to as the Old Testament God is responsible for the death of many people. It it was true that Muhammed killed people, then why are we questioning the Messenger for what God Himself has done. Again this opened up her mind to think rather than to parrot. My points here are by no means anything but my understanding and based on the circumstances of the conversations but i mention them to help illustrate the fact that the biggest challenge for all of us to overcome on Islam or any other significant subject is ignorance.

World Troubles

Approaches to problems vary from person to person. When faced with the problems that are surrounding us today we can run at windmills or be constructive and take proactive steps to resolve, solve and build the type of society we wish to be in. As a Bahá'í i have been focusing recently on what i can do to make the most progress towards the goals of peace and harmony that we all seem to be striving towards. By creating a safe environment for the teenagers in my neighborhood i have found that the energy level from the kids and parents to be very positive. A point of positive energies as opposed to the normally negative ones that are surrounding teenagers these days.

We recreate ourselves, our families, our neighborhoods and eventually it will lead to changes on a global scale. Changing the hearts of people and working on focusing on the positive as opposed to the negative.