John Allen Muhammad

There are about 1.6 million Muslims in the world making their religion the second largest one. Most Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region, even though many relate them with the Middle East. Several hundred Muslims actually live in the U.S. They all believe in one God called Allah which makes their religion polytheistic. Allah is the Arabic word for God. They share many common beliefs with Christianity; including Moses, Abraham, and even Jesus Christ. One of their distinctive beliefs from…

another famous Islamic building. It is believed to be the place where Abraham almost sacrificed his son. The Dome of the Rock was first a church until Muslims bought it from them and turned it into the Great Mosque of Damascus. The Church of Saint John was an incredible building that Muslims used on Fridays and Christians used on Sunday's. The building was shared in unity between the two religions. The House of Wisdom in Baghdad was a work place for many scholars and prodigies of the time.…

Boko Haram, a group from Nigeria, invades towns throughout the night, killing thousands of people by shooting or beheading them all. Adam Nossiter, a journalist for the New York Times, points out, “They came in the dead of the night… riding on motorcycles and in pickup trucks, shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’.” (1) Boko Haram captured many young girls and women and imprisoning them until they were old enough to marry, which by then they would be forced into marriage by the group. They had forced 450…

Islam: Empire of Faith The documentary, Islam: Empire of Faith, teaches viewers about the history of Islam. Subtopics in the movie include the life of great leaders of Islam like Muhammad, Saladin, Mehmet, and Sulleyman. It's also discusses topics such as revolutionary innovations, brought to us by Muslims, and important buildings from the i history of Islam. While the film was clearly extremely educational, I found it was hard to keep my attention focused on it. However, Islam: Empire of Faith…

The Great Mosque of Kairouan is the remaining site of one of the oldest standing Minarets in from the Islamic Golden Age. The great Mosque covers nine thousand square free of space, is a quarter mile along its sides, and is the oldest site of Islamic worship in the world. Looking however directly at the Minaret the untrained eye only sees a tall structure but the style of the Minaret is one of function, purpose, and symbolism. The function of the Minaret is to provide a lookout for the watchmen…

Striking to me, was the non-evangelistic view upon which the Muslim faith operates. When leaving the mosque, I was amazed by the fact that no one asked for my name or mailing address to send further information. The people had been welcoming and hospitable without hinting at, or attempting to, persuade or convert me to their faith. Significantly, I discovered through the Imam and the Quran that Islam instructs conversions to be left to Allah, as illustrated in the scripture, “Let there be no…

Podcast Reflection #2: Islam Podcast After listening to the podcast, I began to think about the unique relationship between Sunni and Shia, as well as the complex relations between different Muslim schools of thought. In another course recently, I read a novel by Nafisa Haji, a Muslim author, called The Sweetness of Tears. The novel highlights the complex relationship between Sunni and Shia, and outlines a few Shia practices that can be viewed as controversial. Prior to reading the novel, I had…

The Iranian Constitution, written in 1979, lays out the foundation for which their society was built and the ambitions that the people of Iran should pursue. It outlines their beliefs and values to which their form of government will defend and the ideals that will guide their society, specifically those based in the religion of Islam. However, more importantly, it depicts the relationship of the individual to this society and how each will benefit the other in their journey to development and…

The major distinguisher is the “differing interpretations of who deserved to succeed the prophet Mohammad...after his death in 632,” (Kinzer 22). Another difference is that, “Sunnis do not attribute great importance to the violent deaths of Ali and Hussein,” where the Shiites do deeply (Kinzer 23). Politically speaking, a man named Ismail had used Shiism to, “help him build an empire,” which is now modern-day Iran (Kinzer 25). However, the religion binds people together spiritually as well and…

The media portrays me as a terrorist. After 9/11, being Muslim in America meant that you had to live in fear, conceal your faith, or pay the price of retaliation by someone who reacted out of ignorance. It meant you had to constantly apologize for acts of terrorism committed by criminals that use Islam as a banner to progress their vendettas. However, being Muslim also meant that you could learn self-disciple through the five-daily prayers, patience, and tolerance as I tried to understand the…