Pinnow, Derek
Period 1
Islam

Islam, is it a religion of war or peace? Muhammad the founder of Islam was born in 570 C.E. in Mecca, and in 610 C.E. at the age of 40 Muhammad got visited by
Gabriel in a cave during one of his retreats and recited the beginnings of the modern day Koran. Soon after Islam is created they spread all along the middle east, parts of
Europe, and Northern Africa.1 Now today Islam has over 1.6 billion followers making it the second largest religion in the world.2 A religion that was supposed to be peaceful is looked at by some today as one of the craziest religions in the world. But, Islam is a religion of peace. Islam is a religion of peace because mostly everything Muslims do is for peaceful purposes, Muslim women get rights, respect and protection they need and so called suicide bombers misinterpret Islam.
Islamic people also have a different way of going about everything they do. Have you ever seen a Muslim pray? Muslims pray five times a day and a standard prayer they have certain times and take it seriously.3 Every time a prayer is started first they clean themselves to get rid of the filth and then they go to their knees and start praying and finally they bring their face to the ground and repeat until done.4 They get involved put emotion into and put a meaning on it. That is a big deal for Muslims is to pray everyday

1

“Timeline of Islam” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/muslims/timeline.html 2

Drew Desilver, “World’s Muslim Population More Widespread Than You Might Think” http://www.pewresearch.org/fact­tank/2013/06/07/worlds­muslim­population­more­widespread­than­you­mig ht­think/ 3 “The Basics of the Muslim’s Prayer.”, http://www.sunna.info/prayer/TheBasicsoftheMuslimsPrayer.php 4 “The Basics of the Muslim’s Prayer.”, http://www.sunna.info/prayer/TheBasicsoftheMuslimsPrayer.php which is more than most people today. According to Islamic culture they even treat the animals well. The way Americans treat animals it by over feeding them and let them die of obesity. Muslims show they are peaceful because sacrifice animals to kill them, and they do not eat it until they can sacrifice it.5 Crime of course still exists in Middle Eastern countries but not nearly as much. Woman are treated equal which gained a lot of peace throughout the Middle East and with each individual family. Everything that Muslims do has a peaceful twist to it. They treat everything as it is holy like everything from their prayer to their daily food.
Women throughout history were treated poorly people compare woman men’s other half is said to be treated nothing more than a poorly treated animal. Women for a long time have been treated so poorly, they have been treated like dirt, sold unwillingly to men.6 Islam actually gave woman pretty fair rights. Muslim women can do anything that a man wants to do. She actually had privileges and rights just like men7
. Even in the Koran they cannot find any true evidence to show men were superior at all over women.8 Later on in the Koran it also says to honor your mother which also shows the respect women were given.9 Muhammad the founder of Islam said in his final
Sermon, “O People, it is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women, but they also have right over you. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right

5

“The Concept of Animal Sacrifice in Islam.”, http://www.islamawareness.net/Hajj/sacrafice.html Is Islam a religion of war or peace pgs 90­93
7
Afsar Bano, “Muslim Women Have More Rights, Respect, and Protection than Western Women” in Is Islam a Religion of War or Peace?, ed. Jann Einfeld (Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2005) 92.
8
Afsar Bano, “Muslim Women Have More Rights, Respect, and Protection than Western Women” in Is Islam a Religion of War or Peace?, ed. Jann Einfeld (Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2005) 93.
9
Afsar Bano,