Intoruction to Islam - Essay Example

The Two Most Significant Challenges Facing my Developing an Understanding of Islam It was Ernst that made me aware of two challenges that would make developing an understanding of Islam difficult. Firstly the idea that because of globalization Americans have difficulty in understanding any culture that is not their own (2); Secondly that Muslims are the predominant population in not one, but more than 50 different nations around the world. But despite this there is no one separate Muslim geographical region that defines them (3).

The West is a reasonably well defined culture recognized by most around the world – it covers the United States, Commonwealth countries and most of Europe. The predominant language is English (even if it wasn’t always so historically) and the politics of the region are strongly democratic. People in the West won’t specify a religion because that is a personal choice and that choice for the most part is respected in law and in culture. This is where the second challenge comes in. If all Muslims for example lived in one country – like Australia for example, then they might be perceived as a strangely unique culture that lives “over there”.

The problem is that one of the central tenets of Islam is that they should be respectful of other religious beliefs. This has meant that over the centuries there are Muslims in virtually every corner of the world – historically they are traders; they seek to educate and to learn from others, and now as Ernst explains they are the predominant population in more than 50 nations. That means a huge diversity of cultures and this makes it harder for us here in the West to understand the Muslims as a religion when they live “over there” and “next door”.

Works CitedErnst, Carl W. Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World. Chapel Hill, UNC Press, 2003.