American Muslim

Ignorance of Other Religions

One of my experiences so far as a Muslim has been some widespread ignorance of Muslims towards other religions. Now, ignorance towards Islam seems to be a hallmark of most of the non-Muslims on Earth, but with the exception of learned figures like the Pope distorting the religion, most non-Muslims don't have the opportunity or can't learn the truth about Islam since their only source of information is the popular media that insists on only discussing certain Islamic phrases like 'mujhadeem' or 'fatwa,' but does little to explain what these terms actually mean.

However, I digress ... The point of this post was to comment on the sheer lack of understanding that many Muslims, including some good friends of mine, have towards other religions. This is especially troubling because the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) received the word of Allah (SWT) after Allah (SWT) had transmitted other works of revelation to other prophets including Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them). Therefore, it stands to reason that since there were 24 known prophets before the last and best prophet, Muhammed (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and these prophets are themselves revered in the two other religions "of the book," that Muslims should, in my opinion, have at least some understanding for Judaism and Christianity.

Unfortunately, my reasoning on this issue usually falls on deaf ears or ears that don't want to hear what I have to say. I have heard excuses ranging from the equivalent of "why should I study untruths or falsehoods" to "studying other religions is shirk." This is totally false. 'Shirk' is a major sin, the most unforgivable sin in Islam, which is associating other partners with Allah (SWT). I am not asking my Muslim brothers and sisters to believe in other Gods or even suggest there are Gods better than Allah (SWT) - PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I MEAN NO SUCH THING. I am merely suggesting that if you want to really understand the history of Islam and the evolution of teachings in the Qu'ran, than to undertake a study of Judaism, Christianity and early Jewish and Christian history.

About two weeks ago, I gave a small talk at the Fayetteville masjid about my experiences converting to Islam. At the end, a friend of mine and also a teacher there, Sister Huma, asked me what specific things I did to keep my 'iman' or faith strong and what I could recommend to older - meaning older in the faith - Muslims to do. At the time, I replied that the simple act of prayer or making 'dua' after the required cycles of prayer has kept me strong and that when I didn't pray, I started to falter and let my 'nafs' or desires take over.

However, later after we had all prayed 'zuhr' (afternoon prayer), I was thinking about that question more and told Sister Huma that one of the ways I have been able to have a stronger faith is because of my background in studying other religions. I know that most people don't have the ability or time to undertake detailed studies of Judaism, Christianity and other religions, but a simple understanding would go a long way. Unfortunately, a lot of Muslims are so intensely and insanely anti-Semitic, that they don't want to learn about Judaism. But, that's for another time ....