Blown Away by Muslims!

Over the past two months of traveling, there's been one reoccurring theme that's entered into every discussion and every situation. Islam. It comes up whether we ask about it or not. It's so entwined with everything we experience and it seems to dominate the entire foundation of everything cultural that we decided to look a little deeper at the topic that gets a nasty reputation in the states, and is so overwhelmingly popular in other parts of the world.

We met with a wonderful group of volunteers from Resala, an organization that utilizes youth to inspire and help other, less fortunate youth in a plethora of capacities. 15 young people between 18 and 24 gave up one Saturday night to meet with us and discuss Islam.

Our discussion started with an introduction of our project and what we hope to accomplish. Our first question asked how Islam influenced their values in life - including the decision to become a volunteer for this organization.

We received a lot of answers that focused on a particular idea - that Islam instructs its practitioners to help the people around them. It teaches charity as a value, and that charity can come in many forms, including kindness and smiles. Said one participant, "The most beloved work to Allah is to make everybody happy!" Which is consistent with one of the organization's goals: "Let's make their happiness our aim." Outside of religion, some volunteers mentioned that they got involved in order to develop their country, to make it better, and to give chance to disillusioned youth. My personal favorite was one volunteer who said that he started volunteering to serve Islam through science, but discovered that he found great fulfillment in the work he was doing so that serving Islam was no longer his only reward for his efforts.

These kids are getting tremendous fulfillment from helping other kids in their community and their attitudes of help are inspiring. One guy taught English to a blind girl. Other kids spend their time tutoring orphans or collecting and distributing food to the poor.

During our session of how Islam instilled value into their motivations in life, we were asked numerous times, "What do Americans think of Islam?" It's a difficult question to answer because America is so huge, and so diverse that there isn't just one simple opinion of what Americans think of Islam. It was quite clear though, that they expected a specific answer to the question they had asked. And because Tim and I are so amazingly prepared, we already had an answer for them. However, as prepared as we were, it was difficult to deliver the answer diplomatically. We tried, with great effort, to explain that America is home to many, many different types of people - educated, uneducated, open minded, closed minded, etc. We explained that there indeed are Americans who think that Islam = a religion against the U.S., terrorism, fanaticism, and oppression.

Of course not all Americans think this way, and we explained that too, but the stereotype that does exist needs to be rectified. I went into a spiel on how Tim and I were there that day to establish a cultural link between our two societies, which continue to misunderstand each other. I believe that a severe, and dangerous, lack of information plays a huge role on this stereotype existing in America - and I explained that it was fueled greatly by the media's coverage of religious extremists committing unbelievable atrocities in the name of Islam. As soon as I had finished my explanation of the media being the culprit of why people think this way, one participant admitted, "You know, our media shows us the same thing about you guys. It's the same on both sides."

It's a shame that the perspective of the masses so greatly depends on a third person perspective. However, not everyone has the opportunity to see how things truly are for themselves. I guess the only thing we can do, is ask ourselves that we be able to understand that the information we are being told isn't the infallible truth, but someone else's version of how they interpret it.

Our discussion entered America's perception of Muslims and we quickly heard comments like, "You can not judge a book by its cover", which was funny to hear such an idiom so far from home. The participants implored us to tell America that the only way to understand Islam is to read about it for yourself. They also said, you can't truly learn about Islam from other Muslims because all people are different, including Muslims.

About war - our participants told us that Islam specifically preaches that in any war, the only targets are soldiers - never women, children, or old folks. Of course, when we see news about suicide bombers, we rarely make this connection. This fuels the stereotype, but it's a stereotype only deserved among extremists. And hardly every Muslim is an extremist. We also heard that although Muslims have occupied territory through hostile acts of war in the past, they're the only religion that has never destroyed another culture's history in the occupation.

On the oppression of women, one gal had plenty to say! She said that the clothes she wears to cover her body and head protect her from men around her who could easily objectify her. She said that Islam ensures rights to women, not deprives them. And although we see in the news a very male dominated society, it's the woman who is in charge at home. Continuing, she commented on the rule of a man having the opportunity to have up to four wives. This is only allowed by permission of the first wife, and the rule originated from a war-time, in which there weren't enough men to repopulate the community.

As we closed our two-hour, Saturday night discussion, one volunteer said, "We are all descendants of Adam and Eve. We are all brothers and sisters. Why should we want to harm our brothers and sisters?" Once again, they pleaded with us to tell people to get to the source if they want to have an opinion on something. This seems a simple request, which I'll commit myself to, and hopefully inspire others to follow.

Handshakes and thank-yous followed for a few minutes. Some participants had more specific questions for Tim and myself. While I was engaged in a chat I could overhear Tim defending his spiritual beliefs as a couple kids tried to get him to accept Islam. It made me laugh and reminded me how similar Christians and Muslims actually are.