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• 1 2023-06-19T11:39:47-07:00 Islam 3 Understanding what exactly is Islam. plain 2023-07-06T06:30:10-07:00

  INTRODUCTION

  Islam is one of the most well-known and commonly practiced religions globally. The name “Islam” roughly translates to “peace” or “submission,” referring to one’s submission to Allah (God). Around a quarter of the world’s population practice the Muslim faith and continues to grow yearly. Several countries around the world base their laws and society on Islam, especially countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Egypt. Islam also has made major impacts across the globe historically, especially in fields like science, math, astronomy, and chemistry.

  However, it begs the question of what exactly is Islam. While many see it as solely a religion, some scholars argue it is much more than that. According to Shahab Ahmed’s What is Islam? The Importance of Being Islamic, there is an argument to be made that we can’t exactly pinpoint a sole classification of Islam. That is because Ahmed believes that the conceptualizations of Islam are diverse in practice and belief on almost all levels of society. If that is the case, what exactly do we make of this development? With this in mind, let’s take a look at the activity below.

  ACTIVITY

  Below are a series of quotes that discuss differing opinions about Islam

  Islam as a Religion: “Islam, one of the world’s three major monotheistic religions, teaches the oneness of God (known in Arabic as Allah), who has revealed his message through a succession of prophets…” - Anonymous; AsiaSociety.org

  Islam as a Culture: "The social norms (in Jordan) that derive from Islam are reflected in the everyday lives of the people” - Shaiesa Moore; UC Georgetown

  Islam as an Identity: “Islam has broad parameters of rules and regulations and within these parameters, an African can remain as much a Muslim as a Pakistani or a Bangladeshi or an English-man or Scots-man or an American or Chinese or any individual from any country anywhere in the world.” - Maqbul Hussein Rahim; Al-Islam.org

  Next, let’s take a look at this video on how Islam was able to spread in Southeast Asia

  Now that we have gone through this activity, let’s answer the following questions in the comment section:

  1) From the information you gathered, what exactly is Islam? 

  2) Do you think Islam is meant to be a singular idea or a complex variety of concepts?

  3) How do you think this new view on Islam shaped how it spread across the globe?