Understanding Cultural Diversity: Islam as a Way of Life - Research Paper Example

Understanding Cultural Diversity: Islam as a Way of Life Even though, Islam, Christianity and Judaism are referred as Abrahamic religions (Abraham is the father for all these three religions), Islam differs in its beliefs and customs drastically from the other two religions. Islam is facing stiff criticism from some parts of the world at present because of its reluctance in changing or modifying some of its adamant beliefs, customs and traditions. There are many people who argue that Islamic fundamentalism is the major reason behind most of the terrorist’s activities and political and civil unrest in the world. Such people point out 9/11 Trade Centre attack and 26/11 Mumbai attack as the examples to substantiate their arguments. Freedom of expression right is limited in Islamic countries. Moreover, Women in Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Afghanistan etc, are facing severe isolation and discrimination in public life. Amidst all the criticisms labeled against Islam, most of the people are ready to accept the fact that Islam is the only religion which is still preserving the traditions and customs while all the other religions diluted their beliefs and customs to make it suitable to the needs of the current civilized world. Islam is not ready to sacrifice its fundamental beliefs for the temporary benefits in this world. Life after death is the most important thing for Islamic believers whereas most of the people in other religions give more importance to life in this world. Because of the above differences in beliefs and customs with other religions, clashes between Islam and other religions are taking place across the world. This paper analyses Islam as a way of life and compares its belief structure with the beliefs and traditions of other religion. Islam as a Way of Life One of the major differences between Islam and other religions is with respect to the role of women in social life. “Islam believes that women are to be admired, not used for cigarette advertisements". At the same time “Koran says girls must stay home and that it is right to beat women if they disobey their husbands” (Chu, 2002). Objectification or use of women for commercial purpose is strictly prohibited in Islam. Islam likes to visualize people as humans rather than objects. At the same time, Islam never likes to treat both males and females in the same manner. Male domination is accepted everywhere in Islamic social life. According to the teachings of Koran, women deserve punishment if they disobey their husbands. Recently, the story of a teenage girl called Bibi Ayesha, aged only 18 came out from Afghanistan. “At the age of 18, Aisha had her nose and ears hacked off by her husband as a punishment for trying to flee the arranged marriage, before being dragged to a mountainside to die” (Brave Bibi the Time cover girl whose nose was cut off by the Taliban takes the New York subway, 2011). Ayesha got her nose back after some complex plastic surgery works in America because of the generosity of the Americans. The above incident helped the external world to know more about the depth of problems suffered by the female community in fundamental Islamic communities. On the other hand, such incidents are extremely rare either in Christian or Jew societies. Christian and Jew women are enjoying equality with males in almost the entire areas of their social life. Christian and Jew women can get education as much as they want, work in any professions they like, do any social activity they like, wear any clothes they like and drive vehicles. At the same time such things are restricted for the women in fundamental Islamic societies. Muslim males can keep more than one wife whereas Muslim women are not allowed to do so. In short, the treatments received by Muslim women in fundamental Islamic societies are pathetic compared to the treatment received by Christian or Jewish women in their societies. It is a fact that the objectification and commodification of women is condemned by Islam; however, integration of Muslim women to the main streams of social life is necessary for a civilized society like ours. Freedom of expression is another area in which Islam has fundamental differences with Christian communities. In countries where Islamic administration prevails, freedom of expression is a distant dream. It should be noted that in Christian dominated or Hindu dominated countries like America or India, freedom of expression is a well-respected topic whereas in Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bangladesh etc, people cannot speak anything publicly against the administration or religion. It should be noted that an Indian-British novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie has recently faced threats from Islamic fundamentalists for his controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammad in his book satanic verses. Salman Rushdie is a British author who was born in India. In 1988, he wrote the highly acclaimed book, The Satanic Verses. Shortly after that, India banned the book. In the U.S., the publisher received bomb threats. The book was then banned in South Africa. Soon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Somalia, Bangladesh, Sudan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Qatar banned the book. There were book burnings in England. In Pakistan, six people died and 100 were injured in demonstrations against the book. Then on Feb. 12, 1989, the Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of Iran, declared that the book was blasphemous, and called for the death of Rushdie. Rushdie went into hiding, with protection by the British government. An Iranian charity offered a million dollars reward (later raised to 2.5 million) for Rushdie's murder (Loy, 2002) Same way a Bangladeshi doctor turned writer, Taslima Nasrin also faced life threats for some of his criticisms against Islam. Both Salman and Taslima are living in exile at present. The above two incidents clearly show the intolerance of Islam towards freedom of expression rights. At the same time it should be noted that there are many criticisms labeled against Jesus Christ; both by the Christians and the non-Christians. However, no Christian leaders ever issued any instructions to kill such people who oppose Christian beliefs. In other words, Christians are flexible in their beliefs whereas Muslims are adamant in their beliefs. Christians are ready to accept criticism and make changes in their beliefs and traditions whereas Muslims are not so flexible to accommodate criticisms against their religion. Western world often criticizes Islam as a patriarchal community for its failure to adapt with the huge advancements in human life. Christians generally favor democratic administrations in their countries. It should be note that many of the former communist countries escaped from communism and embraced democracy recently as a result of Michael Gorbachov’s revolutionary policies like perestroika and glasnost. However, it should be noted that in most of the Islamic countries, still Islamic administration is prevailing. The general belief among Islamic scholars is that "all men are not created equal, and democracy eventually lets the fortunate over-run the less fortunate. The idea of a caliphate is only now beginning to take hold in the Arab world. Europe won't come around until our example is there to follow (Chu, 2002). Democracy is unacceptable to Islam because of their concerns about the intentions of western world in spreading democracy. Islamic world believe that westerners are trying to spread democracy in Arab world in order to destroy Islamic culture and traditions and to baptize them. The recent agitations happened or happening in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Oman, etc are witnessed with lot of concerns by the Islamic scholars. In a democratic setup people will get social justice irrespective of their gender, race, religion, belief or cast. Islam does not like such changes in their societies because of their fear of losing identity. The main goal of God's message to humankind is the attainment of justice in all of its fairness. This justice, the foundation of Islam, cannot be achieved unless human rights are secured for every individual and group in a Muslim state. The member of such a state must be free to choose just rulers, to observe these rules as they practice their authority, and to stand firm against any injustice from them. Primary among human rights are the rights to believe, to express one's beliefs and to assemble to defend one's group's beliefs (Dr.Osman, n. d. p.1). It should be noted that many of the Islamic youths are currently studying or working in western countries. They have realized the depth of suppression and oppression, facing in their mother country, only after witnessing the living styles of people in western countries. Such people are the major motivating factor behind the agitations in Islamic countries at present even though the administrations are not ready to accept it. While most of the Christian countries and others are trying to ensure social justice through democratic means, Islamic countries are trying to do so using Islamic beliefs and customs. “Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world. Both inherited from Judaism a belief in one God who created the world and cares about the behavior and beliefs of human beings” (Comparison Chart: Christianity and Islam, 2010). Muslims, Christians and Jews believe in single God theory even though they name the God in different manner. If Jesus Christ is the savior for Christians, Prophet Mohammad is the savior for Muslims. Both Christians and Muslims believe in the super power of Father or Allah. On the other hand, Jews give more respect to Moses and Jehovah. For them Moses was the most important prophet sent to this world by Jehovah. Muslims consider Quran as their sacred book whereas Christians consider holy Bible as their sacred book while Jews have Torah as their sacred book. Christians worship on Sundays whereas Muslims consider Fridays as the sacred day. Conclusions Islam is facing lot of criticisms at present from other religions because of its reluctance in changing or modifying its beliefs as per the requirements of modern world. Islam has many similarities with Christianity and Judaism; however, they are not ready to dilute any of their beliefs and customs. References 1. Brave Bibi the Time cover girl whose nose was cut off by the Taliban takes the New York subway, (2011). Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1357654/Bibi-Aisha-Time-cover-girl-takes-New-York-subway.html 2. Chu J. (2002). Many Faces of Islam. Time CNN Sunday, Dec. 08, 2002. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,397459,00.html 3. “Comparison Chart: Christianity and Islam”. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/charts/christianity_islam.htm 4. Dr. Osman F. (n. d). Freedom Of Expression”. Retrieved from http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/private/cmje/issues/Freedom_Of_Expression.pdf 5. Loy J. (2002). Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. Retrieved from http://www.jimloy.com/issues/rushdie.htm Read More