What is Islam? There is little in the mass media to enlighten Westerners about the nature of this largest of the world’s religions. Unfortunately, when states decide to unleash their armed forces against others, they often rely on stereotypes to rally their citizens against the perceived enemy. The extent and intensity of this hysteria was underscored recently by the cold-blooded execution of a Brazilian man by police authorities in the London subway. Apparently to the London police, any darker complexion=Arab, which =Muslim, which= terrorist, and terrorists deserve death without trial. To onlookers in the London subway, there must have been some serious question as to who the terrorists in that situation really were. If the victim had been Muslim, however, the result would have been no less justified. Answering the question “what is Islam?” may help reduce the ability of state authorities to hide their own brutality and aggression behind a smokescreen of hysteria and ignorance.

Islam is one of the three major monotheistic religions that arose in what we call the Middle East today. It is rigidly monotheistic, perhaps more monotheistic than Christianity, since Christians believe in a God with “3 persons in one being,” and some variations of Christianity encourage devotion to the mother of Jesus and to a large number of “saints.” The Koran, the sacred text of Islam, parallels the Old Testament in many ways, and also has an emphasis, like Christianity, on life after death, describing Heaven as a place of eternal reward and Hell as a place of eternal punishment. Personal morality and obedience to the will of God is necessary for admission into heaven.

Islamic teaching is relatively free of emphasis on miracles. Services in a mosque
place emphasis on collective prayer. There is no miraculous transformation of wine and bread into God’s flesh and blood, as some forms of traditional Christianity teach. One will find no statues of saints or altars to Muhammed, who is considered to have been a prophet of God. This is a religion that is relatively non-superstitious, and the beliefs and practices are free of complicated and arcane rituals or practices. It is a religion that Protestant Reformers might have arrived at had they taken their “Reformation” a little further.

There is a concept of “jihad,” or “holy war” in Islam, but this is open to differing interpretation, and surely the history of both Judaism and Christianity has been replete with countless exhortations by religious and religiously supported state leaders to bloody conquest of lands peopled by those of different religions. It was Christians, not Muslims who invented the “Crusades” a bloody attempt to establish European ownership of the Middle East in the 12th and 13th centuries. In the 1940’s and 1950’s many Christian leaders subscribed to an anti-communist crusade in the name of God and religion, causing invasions, assassinations, and wars, and accompanied by torture and imprisonment for many. We have recently witnessed Christian evangelist Pat Robertson calling for the United States government to murder the President of Venezuela.

Political regimes in the Islamic World have been just as subject to human rights abuses as non-Muslim states elsewhere in the world. That is exactly the point, however. Islam is a religion in the same way that Christianity and Judaism are. It can be abused and misused by individuals or groups in the same way as other religions, or it can provide guidelines for ethical behavior and improve lives.

American citizens and other Westerners must resist voices that equate all Muslims with extremism or terrorism, and should take a more careful look at the actions of their own religious and political leaders.