Honestly Nick, I am too busy with studies to conjure the many pages worth of Islam-defense I have contributed to this forum. Simply, understand that the Islamic faith, like all faiths, have those who are shining examples of what the faith is all about, and those who use it to do harm on people.
As a muslim who has gone to the mosque countless times, has a great relationship with his Imam, yet is still not extremely pious by some means-- what I gather from my Islamic faith is quite simple:
1) The first word that the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was told to write in the Quran by the angel Gabriel (same angel as found in Testaments-- the canons of the Abrahamic faiths, as well as their characters are all nearly identical) was "READ". What I interpret from this, is, educate yourself. With every passing day, I try and consider myself an imperfect human being, and to strive to learn as much about myself, my family, and this planet as possible. So education rules supreme, as KRS-One would say
2) Be thankful. In my interpretation, this is what ties in with Ramadan, Zakat (charity), and praying 5 times a day (which I do not do, admittedly). Having a strong spiritual connection with God often results in finding a newfound appreciation for how fortunate you are. Coincidentally, I try to make as little excuses for myself as possible, and to appreciate and cherish everything I have been given in my life.
3) Be nice, co-existing, and polite to your siblings, parents, cousins, neighbours, and fellow strangers. I go with a motto of trying to be as nice to each and every sinlge person I meet, as possible. In fact, I go out of my way to try and connect with strangers, especially if they share beliefs or lifestyles different than mine. In my opinion, this sort of approach is one that is endorsed by, and what I have learned from Islam.
Among other smaller things, these are some of the major things that I have learned through the massive amounts of time I have spent educating myself on my faith. I try to read as much on other faiths as possible, and I find that they reinforce my belief in Islam even more. However, that is just my perspective. For someone else, it could be that something like Jainism, or Mormonism works for them better.
And ultimately, thats what it comes down to. I don't care what your affiliation is-- if your faith is influencing you to be a peaceful, respectful, hard-working, and loving individual, then I do not care what that faith is. And to those who say that the Islamic faith cannot turn out people of those descriptions-- then I truly feel sorry for you.
Thats all I have to contribute to this discussion.
Wow.. that's really great bro. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for.
What you said about "READ" is very important. It also lead to someone being able to "think". And if you think about it hard enough, one would realize that whoever created this earth & universe, created it with "Love" in mind. Why? Because that's the only way we can be happy and live without suffering. Love is truth.
Somebody needs to take this message of the Koran, and go out there and preach it to the "extremists" and show them that there is a better way.
If Christians can travel all over the world to Africa, etc, and convert them to Christianity. I do believe that Muslims can also reach out to their own people, the extremists more specifically, and show them a new way of looking at things.
