Beauty Of Islam - Non Muslim Perspective
By Vern Barnet : Original Article
Vern Barnet does interfaith work in Kansas City. Reach him at vern@cres.org
Several readers of last week’s column asked why I called Islam “incredibly beautiful.” Based on decades of study, world travel and long friendships with Muslims, I answer with three hints.
•Our indebtedness to Muslim culture is extraordinary. Try doing your finances using Roman instead of Arabic numerals, and you’ll get the idea.
Have you had your coffee? The attempt 400 years ago to prohibit Christians from drinking coffee because it was a Muslim drink obviously has failed.
Thomas Aquinas, for centuries the pre-eminent Christian theologian, was influenced by Muslim philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Renaissance art, music and poetry, out of which today’s world developed, were stimulated by encounters with Muslim thinkers.
Who can see the Alhambra or the Taj Mahal or the great mosques throughout the world without awe? One image often used to identify Kansas City is Giralda Tower on the Country Club Plaza, a smaller version of what was once the minaret of a mosque in Seville.
•The five “pillars” of Islam present a spiritual path rousing admiration, if not imitation.
The first pillar is the profession of faith, that there is but one God, and Muhammad is his messenger. This simple statement serves to center and unify every aspect of how one lives one’s life.
Second, prayer five times daily is a renewal of one’s commitment to submit to God’s will.
Third, giving to the needy is a religious obligation.
Fourth, in the words of Bill Graves, then Kansas governor, Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan “to remind themselves that others hunger and to relieve the hunger of others, to practice discipline through self-denial, to nurture family relationships and to strengthen commitment to God” and to recall the first revelations of the Qur’an.
I have repeatedly observed these four pillars, and from them I have taken inspiration.
The fifth pillar is the pilgrimage to Mecca. While this is not possible for me since I am not a Muslim, I have witnessed how this ritual has deepened the faith of Muslim friends.
•Speaking of Kansas City Muslim friends — they may be business people, doctors, professors, chaplains, public officials, scientists or soldiers. They may fight fires, teach martial arts, report the news or manage a library.
They are honest and generous, working to make America and the world better. They never seek to convert me. Their faith is beautiful.
9 comments - Click link below to add yours:
i love islam for those reasons and many more i hope god guides you to the right path
Wow. thank you for your kind words toward islam. and you are right, there is no compulsion in religion. if you choose to convert that is totally your choice and no one will force you. but people need to see the true islam and not what they see on the media. because honestly they are blinded by hate. peace.
Mashallah, I have read this before or something similar not sure, keep up the good work. As articles like this increase Muslims Imaan more stronger and make them believe more towards there religion than the media.
Look around you. What do you see? We live in a predominantly 'Godless Society' that is dominated by godless and materialistic individuals. Individuals that will try anything and everything to appease their hunger for extravagance & acquire more material comfort. Money is supposedly the new diety, its aquisition; our ritualistic practice & worship and our growing spending power; our paradise. We live in a world where sexual perversion is widespread, where communities are questioning their origins from 'Adam and Eve' and look to embrace new ideologies like 'Adam and Steve', We live in a world where pradators lurk to swindle your hard earned faith. We live in a world where there is a tomorrow based on todays expectations but no perceived hereafter. We live in a world that has been shrouded by a deceptive veil of luxury & content. I think that in this day & age it is admirable (Alhamdullillah) that a group of concerned individuals have pulled their resources and their ideas together on this website, and have attempted (and continue to) to combat this evil doctrine that has progressively been programmed into our minds and is eating away at our souls. For those of us that are 'living the dream' I pray that this site and its co-sites provide enough ammunition & reasoning to lift this deceptive veil from infront of your eyes. Only then will you come to terms with the purpose of existence, the purpose of this world and the the beauty of this religion called Islam that we have neglected for so long. Only after the lifting of this veil will we come to realize the Majesty of Allah the Almighty, and the supreme being will envelope you (Insha'Allah) in his eternal mercy. Then and only then will you see the manifestation of real peace and real tranquility and Allah knows best.
Well done to Lukman & his team for working on this site and for preserving the true message & beauty of Islam, conveying it through this user friendly site and also reminding the existing Muslim audience about their duties to ponder over the vastness of the next life and the insignificance of this one.
May Allah keep you all happy and in good health - Abu-Maryam (tal)
im overwelmed to hear from a vast range of people willingly showing a common interest for once. Islam is very simple to follow, tranquil and very soothing to the heart only if one has the know how.
Well it strikes me that theres only a few people in this world that ponder and strive to find the right path and why the world was created, if God wanted to he could have created a perfect world but logically speaking there wouldnt be a reason for this, this alone proves the fact that god created his creatures to test them in hardship and to see how his beings would react to such circumstances.
Well in todays society its the people who have money who are the victors, powerful in the eyes of others, they get to dictate and impose their laws to society constantly corrupting and imposing their evil over humanity. they are the eventual loosers in the eyes of God, fearless of Allah's power.
Well i have to thank you for your kind and honest views, and just hope the world open their eyes and see the truth. May God guide us all to the strieght path and bestow Jannah (Heaven) upon us all, ameen.
BASH
Nice article, there is no compulsion for man to accept the TRUTH. But it is certainly a shame upon the human intellect when man is not even interested in finding out as to what is the truth. Thanks Lukman for sharing this lovely read with us.
We often hear our fellow muslims conversing about the 'beauty of Islam', we talk about the way mosques have been designed around the world, we stand in awe appreciating the overall build quality and architecture, we rejoice and retell stories of the Muslim conquests of the world, we over glorify the fact that the worlds most precious resources originate from Muslim countries, we boast that the techniques adopted by the modern world today with regards to geometry, algebra, triginometry and symmetry were all stolen from the ideas and works of previous Muslim generations, we hail the arabic language as a beautiful language to learn and to recite, We attribute all this and many more facts and figures to the beauty of islam, but we fail to see that all this serves as a false equivocation of what the 'beauty of islam' truly is.
The real beauty of islam stems from the sweetness of Emaan (faith), the logical reality, awareness and realisation that Allah is one, and that he alone is worthy of all praise and worship. In today's day and age of technological advancement where science and logic is the new god, the beauty of islam lies in intellectually understanding and accepting the dominion of the creator, his reason for placing us on this earth and his final judgement in the next world. The beauty of islam does not mistakenly lie in tall structures above the clouds, nor is it made up of the opulence of the Muslim empire. The true beauty of islam lies in conduct and character, it lies in following the sunnah of our beloved prophet, it lies in respecting our parents, fulfilling the rights of our spouse, children, brothers, sisters and our extended families. The beauty of islam lies in our care and concern for one another, our striving towards a unified cause, our cleanliness, our simpleness, The beauty of islam lies in OUR ISLAM.
Ask yourselves, if the you were viewing today's world through the Prophet's eyes, would you see the same beauty? would you even see a handful of true muslims infront of you? (including yourselves).
SubhanAllah!!!
Im glad i bumped to your post. Hope more out there will be enlightened.
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