Islam=Monotheistic religion founded byMuhammadAdjective = Islamic
Muslim=Person who practices Islam
Arab=Person of an ethnicity native to theArabian Peninsula and SouthwestAsiaMost Arabs are Muslim, but there are manyArab Jews, Christians, and polytheists aswell.
Arabic=The language spokenby most people in themiddle east.
Are all Muslims Arabs? Do allMuslims speak Arabic?
No and no!
There are Muslims all over the world, and of all ethnicities. In fact, the largestMuslim population in the world is in Indonesia, where the people areSoutheast Asian/Pacific Islanders.
While Islam was developed by Arabs and the Qu’ran was written in Arabic,people of many languages practice Islam. The most powerful Muslim nationin the world is Iran, where most people are of Persian ethnicity and speak thePersian language.
Isn’t Islam violent? Don’t Muslimswant to hurt America?
NO NO NO NO!!!
As it was created, Islam promoted TOLERANCE and DIVERSITY. When theMuslim Armies conquered much of the world, they allowed people to keeptheir own religions and didn’t try to force their beliefs on anyone.
Today, many countries in the Middle East are facing economic problems andbad governments, while the U.S. and other nations have a long history ofcausing problems in the countries there. That has made many people inthese countries angry at the U.S. They have corrupted the Islamic religion toinfluence people to become violent as a way to become powerful.
Most people in the Muslim world disagree with these violent people. It iswrong to think that all Muslims agree with these small, violent groups.
I’ve seen that Muslim women haveto cover their faces. Isn’t that unfair?
There is A LOT of diversity in Islam. Some groups have some practices, whileother groups follow others.
Some Muslim communities believe that women should be modest and covertheir bodies and faces. The majority do not. While this seems crazy if youdidn’t grow up in the culture, others see our culture as unfair too.
This is like in Christian cultures in the U.S., there are many different ways topractice, some of which seem strange or “wrong.”
What god do Muslims worship?
According to the teachings of Muhammad, Muslims should submit to andworship “Allah,” which means “The God.”
These teachings were based on the same beliefs of Jews and Christians inthe Middle East. When a Jewish person prays to “Yahweh,” or when aChristian prays to “God the Father,” she is worshipping the exact same godthat a Muslim does when she prays to “Allah.” Muslims just believe thatpeople should worship that god in a different way.
Muhammad believed many of the same things as Christians and Jews do,and he saw figures like Abraham, Moses, and Jesus as important parts ofIslam. It is only because our cultures are so different today that the religionseems so far away from what Christians and Jews in the U.S. and Europepractice.