Islam- Brief overview

Essay by ruffpaloHigh School, 12th gradeA, July 2004

download word file, 5 pages 5.0

Downloaded 74 times

Islam is for many a lifestyle, which promotes many ideas considered as good for the believers. There are several elements that build the whole Islamic perception and interpretation of the world, which can be found in the second chapter of the Quran, such as: social justice, tolerance, submission to the divine and the meaning of existence. This is how Islam pictures the world's structure.

When Islam first appeared 2 other religions were dominating the world, Judaism and Christianity. There was no strict message about social justice amongst people. There is a great guilt about being a woman amongst Christians since according to the bible it is Eve that tempted Adam to bite the apple that ultimately resulted in the banishment of the Garden of Eden. Furthermore, the woman has an inferior status to man, the New Testament states that Eve was made by from Adam's rib. The message preached by Jesus was about love and forgiveness.

This ideology makes the abidance of oppression higher than usual, since according to Jesus everything was forgivable, he asked God to forgive the ones who crucified him. Judaism was in no way explicit about human rights either, nor consideration for the poor. Moreover, Jews and Christians hated each other because it is said that the Jews were responsible for the death of the Christ. When the choice was submitted to save the said "son of God", the Jews turned him down. In addition, the tribes dominating Arabia at that time lived without consideration of consequences, which lead to terrible things such as vendettas and rape. Women were once again considered as objects. It is in such environment that Islam emerged; bringing a reform of what life on earth should be. This religion promoted and still promotes a sense of communal responsibility. One of the...