Gabrielle Garcia / Staff Writer
opinion@fiusm.com
How often have you heard a person equate all Muslims with terrorists? Recently, a fourteen-year-old boy from Irving, Texas was arrested, taken to a juvenile detention center and suspended from his high school for bringing a homemade alarm clock to school.
A Time magazine article states that teachers and staff members took action because the alarm clock appeared to be a bomb-like device. This report also informs that the ninth grader, Ahmed Mohamed, could still potentially face charges for bringing a makeshift bomb to school despite the fact that the boy told authorities that the clock was a project that he intended to show his engineering teacher.
It is very apparent that this incident is a case of identifying the boy with terrorist anxiety. During an interview Ahmed’s father stated, “[Ahmed] just wants to invent good things for mankind,” he said. “But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated.”
Given the western world’s recent clashes with extreme factions of Islam, as a result of lazy journalism, one of the dominant perceptions seen in the media is of Islam as a religion replete with violence, revenge and mistreatment of all outside the religion. As a result of these negative perceptions, society is perplexed with biases toward Islam. Because of these biases, one would concur that Islam falls with the negative perceptions listed above when in reality Islam, like most world religions, seeks to protect the vulnerable through justice- and compassion-oriented precepts and practices such as charity, compassion for the sick, and avoidance of materialistic opulence.
To better understand the topic at hand I have turned to “Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time,” written by Islamic scholar Karen Armstrong. In her text, Armstrong attempts to elucidate the very essence of the Prophet Muhammad’s message to the world and clarify its receptions by all members of society.
Through her historical narrative and critical analysis of the Qur’an, Armstrong captures the main message of Islam and its leading prophet Muhammad while simultaneously touching upon the biases Islam faces. Armstrong explains that Islam’s mission is “to create a just and decent society, in which all members were treated with respect.” Her argument follows logically because Islam is an extension of Judaism and Christianity—religions that at their core (irrespective of their members) are concerned with emulating the justice, love, and compassion of their deity to benefit the world.
One of the most interesting and possibly the most important topic that Armstrong covers in her text is when she discusses the nature of all world religions and how “the faithful scrutinize the sacred past, looking for lessons that speak directly to the conditions of their lives.”
Essentially Armstrong explains that people of different religious and cultural backgrounds contribute to such habits that are often, if not solely, responsible for how society shapes their ideologies—and as a result of these interpretational habits, collective misunderstandings can arise. This topic only embellishes the dynamics that exist when it comes to the biases toward the Islamic faith and offers insight on how these biases and ideologies immerse themselves into the complexities of society.
Although Karen Armstrong is one of many scholars present in society, her work offers not only knowledge about Islam but also offers insight as to how society can analyze these dynamics and make a change for the better. As members of society, it is important to work to understand faiths and cultures other than our own. By attempting to understand our neighbors, we can better coexist as a functional society.
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