Islam in a Few Lines

Islam’s definition, unlike other great religions of the world, lies in its very name. The word Islam basically means peace acquired by total submission to the will of Allah (The God). It’s one of the great monotheistic religions of the world with over a billion followers. Through birth, migration and conversion, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the USA and in the world.

Although many people believe that Islam began in the Arabian Peninsula fourteen hundred years ago, the religion teaches the exact opposite. The Islamic teachings adhere to the concept that all prophets – right from Adam to Muhammad – were Muslims. In other words, Islam started with the creation of mankind. Islam claims that there’ve been minor changes in some rulings and commandments of the Lord in accordance with the people’s conditions and civilizations from time to time, but the basic concept of God has remained the same.

            Islam has five pillars upon which the religion stands. These pillars are practiced by all Muslims globally. The Islamic five pillars are:

1.      Shahada; Declaration of faith – there’s no God worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is his servant and messenger.

2.      Salah; Five daily prayers. Glorifications and thanks of the Lord, supplications and repentance, sending salutations and peace upon the messenger are incorporated in these prayers.

3.      Alms; a system of charity given to the poor to help eradicate poverty from the world.

4.      Fasting Ramadan; Abstaining from food and sex during the daytime for one month. The fasting reminds the rich of the hunger of the poor and increases faith and brotherhood within the believers.

5.      Hajj; Pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah. Over three million Muslims meet at the Hajj every year.

Islam also demands its followers to believe in six pillars of Eman (faith):

1.      Allah (The God).

2.      His Angels.

3.      His books: Torah (given to Moses), Zabur (given to David), Enjeel (given to Jesus), and Furqan/Quran (given to Muhammad). Peace be upon them all.

4.      His Messengers (From Adam to Muhammad)

5.      The Judgment Day.

6.      The Destiny. (E.g. Allah knows whatever will happen why they happen, and which way humans follow, His way or the Satan’s.)

The concept of God in Islam is such that He is uniquely one. He is called as Allah (The God). When Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was asked as to who is Allah, God Himself gave him the answer through revelation that reads, “Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.” (Quran 112:1-4). Islam teaches that God’s attributes cannot belong to any of his creations and he doesn’t take any of his creations’ attributes. He transcends time and space – as he is the creator of both – and He controls what’s happening in the whole universe.

According to Islam’s philosophy of religion evolution, mankind and jinn are the only creations which were granted the free choice to either obey him and granted paradise or disobey him and be punished. Similarly, as mentioned above religion started as pure monotheism. As the offspring of Adam and Eve grew larger, they invented other pagan and polytheistic religions. To guide them back to the right path, Allah sent messengers with scriptures and miracles.

The main sacred text of Islam is Al-Quran (the recitation). It’s God’s words. God’s speech in the first person. The Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad in a period of 23 years. A larger number of the sahaba (the companions of the Prophet) memorized the Quran letter by letter during the prophet’s life. When the prophet passed away and a number of those companions also died, the Quran was, then compiled under the supervision of its memorizers. However some people had notes on animal skins, bones, and leaves etc. which they considered as Quran. But the committee that compiled the Quran gathered those notes and burnt them.

To prove its claim of divine origin, the Quran contains literary challenges. One such challenge reads, “And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true. ” (Quran, 2:23). Although some people tried and failed, the challenge has not been met until today. It’s also worth mentioning that this book remained exactly as it was revealed to Prophet Muhammad fourteen centuries ago. Muslims today read one version of the Quran and there are millions of Muslims – children and adults – who know it by heart. Muslims believe that this phenomenon is happening because of Allah’s promise to protect His last book, “We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption).” (Quran 15:9).

Besides the Quran, the prophet’s quotes were documented carefully. The Quran teaches that Prophet Muhammad was not only given Al-Quran, but also a different revelation. The prophet’s sayings and daily life activities were documented separately from the Quran and named hadith – as believed by Muslims that words of Allah should not be mixed with human words. The Islamic tradition to preserve the authenticity of the hadith was also amazing. Early scholars of hadith use different criteria to judge the hadith’s authenticity. For instance, there’s a branch in the science of hadith known as ilmur-rijal (the biographies of people) to “evaluate the credibility of narrators.” his/her behavior, memory, morals, intelligence etc. are included; in addition, the text – known  as matn – is also evaluated through a long list of criteria (Hamza tzortzis 2012).

            Although Muslims are united and agree on the basic principles of Islam, some political wars have formed the two main branches of Muslim communities, the Sunnis and the Shi’ites. Shi’ites are about “10-20% of the world's normative body of Muslims” (Wikipedia). Both the Sunnis and the Shi’ites have small schools of thoughts with in their bodies.

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Works Cited

Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. "Quran 112:1-4." The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation & Commentary. Elmhurst, NY: Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, 2012. N. pag. Print.

Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. "Quran 2:23." The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation & Commentary. Elmhurst, NY: Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, 2012. N. pag. Print.

Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. "Quran 15:9." The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation & Commentary. Elmhurst, NY: Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, 2012. N. pag. Print.

Tzortzis, Hamza. "A Response to Channel 4's "Islam: The Untold Story" Register Now and Get Started." Hamza Andreas Tzortzis. N.p., Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2013. <http://www.hamzatzortzis.com/essays-articles/politics-current-affairs/a-response-to-channel-4s-islam-the-untold-story/>.

Wikipedia contributors. "Shia Islam." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

Cohabitation and Alternatives vs. Traditional Marriage

Cohabitation, living together without marriage, carries different meanings for cohabiting couples in the United States. As shown in (table 16.2), 10% of the couples (cohabitants) do it as a substitute for marriage, 46% as a step toward marriage, 15% as a trial marriage, and 29% as co-residential dating.

As sexual morals shrunken and premarital sex socially accepted, the practice of living together out of marriage arose. It provides both sexual and emotional satisfaction – with in an ongoing relationship that does not require the long-term commitment of marriage –, protection from divorce and “cheap life arrangement”.

Due to the fact that it is illegal and tentative union, a lot of family settings tend to be distorted. For instance, Linda J. Waite illustrates in her research on the subject, “One quarter of current stepfamilies involve cohabiting couples, and a significant proportion of 'single-parent' families are actually two-parent cohabiting families.”

She also notes the negative impact this practice can have on children saying, “The parenting role of a cohabiting partner toward the child(ren) of the other person is extremely vaguely defined. The non-parent partner – the man in the substantial majority of cases – has no explicit legal, financial, supervisory, or custodial rights or responsibilities regarding the child of his partner. This ambiguity and lack of enforceable claims by either cohabiting partner or child makes investment in the relationship dangerous for both parties and makes "Mom's boyfriend" a weak and shifting base from which to discipline and guide a child”.

In an interview conducted by NPR, on August 16^th 2011, psychologist John Gottman describes some of the psychological problems facing children under cohabiting parents, “Both in externalizing disorders, more aggression… and internalizing disorders, more depression. Children of cohabiting couples are at greater risk than children of married couples.” He says.

In addition, besides the breakup of cohabitants has almost the same bad results as of divorce – conflict etc. – it has greater negative impact on women in their late twenties and thirties as they lose valuable time in which they can get married.

As for the traditional marriage, the legal permanent union of husband and wife, people get into it for several reasons, sexual and emotional satisfaction, legal financial rewards, and reproduction etc. Only in committed marriage can people’s genealogy survive and the human species continue in a healthy way. Marriage protects societies against immoralities and diseases – it’s what differentiates humans from animals. We learn how to bear responsibilities – not escape from them like in cohabitation –, we become psychologically more stable, we receive financial support from the other part, and we have the pleasure and luxury of having children.

Besides all its materialistic benefits, marriage also takes part in our spirituality. For example, in the Islamic tradition we are taught that Almighty God rewards both spouses for their marital duties – sexual intercourse, support for each other, healthy and stable input to society and so on.  We’re also told that one’s religion is half complete when he/she gets married; meaning marriage helps him/her to stay away from uncontrolled sex which happens to play one of the biggest roles in the destruction and degeneration of societies.

 

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Works Cited

Ludden, Jennifer. "Study: Are Cohabiting Parents Bad For Kids?" NPR. NPR, 16 Aug. 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. http://www.npr.org/2011/08/16/139651077/study-are-cohabiting-parents-bad-for-kids.

Waite, Linda J. "The Communitarian Network." The Communitarian Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2013. <http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/rcq/rcq_negativeeffects_waite.html>.



 

 

Public Smoking Should Be Banned

It’s not hidden from anyone the disastrous negative effects of smoking on the health and the wealth of people. “About 440,000 people in the United States die each year from smoking – and tobacco-related illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)” (Pappa. 10). Sadly enough, most smokers overspend on buying their own destruction from their hard earned money. Additionally, over $300 million is spent on “smoking-caused healthcare and Medicaid” on daily basis (Guilfoyle).  It’s interesting that the ban on indoor smoking is increasingly taking effect. It is a good step taken toward protecting the wellbeing of the public, mainly the nonsmokers. However, the visibility of that dangerous habit still remains a living tragic challenge to the health of the present and future generations in the form of public smoking. It’s an unavoidable temptation in the face of the youngsters, a hindrance on the way of those with the intentions to quit smoking, a risk to the health of nonsmokers in general, and a big contributor to the litter of the environment.

Children are the most susceptible individuals in societies. Social norms are their biggest teachers. They easily adopt the behaviors of the adults. When kids see people, they consider to be their role models, smoking every here and there, they won’t hesitate to translate the action as a glorious one which defines what an adult should do and thus start copying it. For instance, studies show that most smokers started smoking at an early age. “According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, more than 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teens, or younger” (Pappa. 10). In one of its daily tolls of tobacco use in the U.S, the campaign also publishes that more than “4,000 kids try their first cigarette each day” and more than “1,000 kids become regular daily smokers each day” (Guilfoyle). That’s a painful reality. If the visibility of smoking is limited by putting a strict ban on smoking in all public spaces, a lot of innocent little children will be saved.

It’s true that there are some smokers who wouldn’t think of quitting, but the reality is that their number is almost negligible compared to the large mass of smokers who wake up every morning with the intention to not light up any more cigarettes. The ban can be an effective factor to help those brave people who want to transform their lives from the regretful lives of cigarette smoking to healthier and smoke-free ones. It’s regretful, because the smoker hears, reads and watches the awareness campaigns against smoking every day – your health is in danger; you’re on the verge of getting cancer; if you don’t stop, there are high chances that smoking will take you to your grave and similar shocking statements pass by him almost every day. Smokers can feel the pain it takes to find yourself in the situation of wanting to quit while the public is not letting you because it’s enjoying a legal smoking habit to contaminate all your surroundings – even when you go to school there’s a big invitation attracting you to smoke. Banning smoking in all outside public spaces will not only save a great number of children from falling into the hazardous environment of smoking, but also help a lot of smokers take the courage to quit.

Generally speaking, the ban will also create a healthier smoke-free environment and reduce the risk of second-hand-smoking (SHS). The SHS is real. It’s not just possible in indoor places, but outdoor places as well. A recent study conducted by prominent scholars from number of Universities and centers of environmental health in the U.S revealed the effects of smoking in outside spaces on the health of nonsmokers. The researchers “assigned 28 participants to outdoor patios of a restaurant and a bar and an open-air site with no smokers on three weekend days… and collected saliva and urine samples immediately before and after the visits (post-exposure) and on the following morning and analyzed samples for cotinine and total NNAL, respectively” (Gideon St. Helen et al. 1010). The research concludes that “Salivary cotinine and urinary NNAL increased significantly in nonsmokers after outdoor SHS exposure… such exposures may increase risks of health effects associated with tobacco carcinogens” (Gideon St. Helen et al. 1010). Since public smoking is a great risk to the health of the public, a ban should be placed on it for the sake of the wellbeing of the public.

Another negative outcome of public smoking is its contribution to the litter of the environment. Cigarette butts are found almost everywhere. They damage the beauty of our country’s public spaces. According to the nonprofit group Keep America Beautiful, “Cigarette butts are the most frequently littered item. Tobacco products comprise 38% of all U.S. roadway litter and 30% at ‘transition points,’ places where smokers must discontinue smoking before proceeding.” While it’s true that cleaning up cigarette butts from public spaces is an effective tool, a ban on public smoking is more effective, as it puts an end to the availability of cigarette butts in our beautiful environment in the first place.

Some smokers almost get upset by the very moment this topic is raised. They argue that it infringes personal freedom. But if this is a point, then it’s like saying smokers’ freedom – to smoke in every outdoor spot – is more important than the health of the public and the beauty of the environment. That’s a selfish and cruel stance on the issue. If adult smokers like to put their own selves in risk, they are free to do so, but they shouldn’t be allowed to put others – especially children – in the same situation. Similarly, they shouldn’t be allowed to hold back those smokers who want to escape from it.

 In conclusion, cigarette smoking is not just bad for smokers, but rather for both the people and the land. When the publicity of smoking continues, the consequences are severely harsh. It’s a big risk to the health of the nonsmokers – both children and adults. It also distorts the image of our beautiful environment. Public smoking has to be banned in order for our society to be healthier and wealthier, and our environment to be more beautiful than ever.

 

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Works Cited

Gideon St. Helen, J et al. "Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Outside of a Bar and a Restaurant and Tobacco Exposure Biomarkers in Nonsmokers." Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 120, No. 7 (JULY 2012), pp. 1010-1016. Brogan & Partners. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.

<http://0-www.jstor.org.skyline.ucdenver.edu/stable/41548784>

Guilfoyle, Jessica. "THE DAILY TOLL OF TOBACCO USE IN THE USA." Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids 122106 (2011): n.pag. Daily Toll. Web. 17 April 2013.

Pappa, Lauren. "Why do teens smoke? Despite the risks, many kids are still lighting up. Why?" Junior Scholastic 28 Nov. 2005: 10+. General OneFile. Web. 10 Apr. 2013.

"Results from the Nation’s Largest Litter Study." Www.kab.org. Keep America Beautiful, Jan. 2010. Web. 16 Apr. 2013. <http://www.kab.org/site/DocServer/LitterFactSheet_CIGARETTE.pdf?docID=5182>.