Elizabeth Hill
Period ⅘
Shamiyan Eisa Shamiyan Eisa, a muslim woman, came to talk to our class to educate us on Islam. Her presentation was called “Islam 101” and it laid out the basics of Islam like the definitions, principles, practices, and differences vs. similarities to christianity. Shamiyan also debunked commonly accepted views of Muslims from the outside world. At the beginning at the presentation Shamiyan went over the 5 pillars of Islam: Oath, Prayer, Alms giving, Fasting, and Pilgrimage. These 5 pillars are mandatory and are considered the foundation to a muslim lifestyle. Shamiyan breighly explained each, the two that caught my attention were prayer and almsgiving. Prayer interested me because as a Muslim you must pray
…show more content…
Shamiyan addressed these misconceptions by presenting facts and statistics. The topic i found most interesting that Shamiyan talked about was terrorism, and how the United states has historically always found an “other”. Shamiyan began by addressing the manipulation and exploitation of Islam by media. Shamiyan explained how people, who link themselves to radical Islamic groups are labeled “terrorist” and how media then misleads the public to believe these terrorists are Muslim, in turn painting all Muslims in a bad light. Shamiyan mentioned that all acts of terrorism are a violation of the sharia law. One verse in the Qur’an says “……… take not life, which Allah hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law…..” (6:151) (Quran reading 1), this is just one of many examples that I came across which shows that the Qur’an, like most religion, is against acts of violence and inflicting harm onto others. I think that just like most other well developed, and widely accepted religions, Islam preach to their followers that nonviolence is the answer; and to have faith that your creator is going to keep you, and your loved ones protected. I beleive media has demonized Islam, and its followers, and just like they have before, found an “other” to push the blame on for the unfortunate events that are currently weighing on America's