Islam and Christianity, Connections and common misconceptions.

As per class discussion and assigned reading from John L. Esposito's book What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, It is clear to me now that Islam has been widely misunderstood in America. On the inner sleeve of Esposito's book, the first sentence used to engage readers the general motivation behind the composition of the text states: "In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, there has been an overwhelming demand for information about Islam". This sentence alone indicates that there is extreme curiosity about Islam and the Muslim people which is mostly generated in a negative way throughout America. This sentence engaged me in the reading. Esposito's sources including the Bush administration and members of congress help gather a series of questions commonly asked about Islam, and through reading the answer to these questions I discovered many elements of Islam and Muslim culture that I, along with many Americans have apparently misconceived.
These misconceptions became obvious to me as I read through the fist group of questions, when I realized the overwhelming similarities Islam has to Christianity. A few if those similarities being:
- Islam is a monotheistic religion
- Muslim's believe in prophets, similar to Christian messengers
- They believe in Angels
- They believe in Heaven and Hell
- Mary and Jesus are important figures in Islam
- Islam's point of origin is in the Middle East, the same as Christianity and Judaism

The list continues throughout the book with endless connections to the Christian faith.

Islam also has many factors contributing to its uniqueness, as does any religion or even any division of Christianity. The basics of Islam faith are the Five Pillars of Islam which are guidelines to practicing Islam. They are basic and include:

1. The Shiahada ( to bear witness to Islam)
2. Salat - Mandatory prayers done five times a day every day in the life if a Muslim in which one must wash first.
3. The Zakat (donations to charity)
4. The Swam- Fasting during the Holy month of Ramadan in which all Muslims can not eat between sunset and sunrise each day.
5. The Hajj- which in my opinion is the most interesting of them all. The Hajj is the pilgrimage that every Muslim who is financially able must do at least once in their life time. During the Hajj they will travel to the Kaaba (the most sacred place in the Muslim world). Muslims participate in this pilgrimage to pray and participate in various rituals.

the other important guidelines for Muslims to follow are known as the six Pillars of Faith:
1. believe in God
2. Believe in Angles
3. believe in the messages of God
4. read and study the Holy books of God
5. Believe in Resurrection or the Day of Judgement
6. Submission and acceptance of God's choices.

When evaluating the simple guidelines of faith in Islam, the similarities to Christianity are striking. These six pillars of the Islamic faith sound almost exactly like what is expected of a Christian.
Before the assigned reading and the class discussion my expectations on what I would be learning on Islam were not very close to the facts and information I saw before me while reading this book or listening in class. The similarities to a religion I am more familiar with engaged me in the material and hopefully will make it easier for me to continue evaluating and understanding as the course progresses.




Works Cited:

Esposito, John. What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.