21st Century Islam - Essay Example

21st Century Islam Islam is a global religion that has over forty percent of world population as its followers. Islam is a religion that has gained fast popularity in the world based on the beliefs and religious practices they perform. Islam strictly observes religious matters, and they are supposed to think, judge and act according to rules in the Holy Book of Quran. About the origin of Islamic religion, the Islam believes that the religion began in Arabia and spread to the core parts of the world. Modern statistical figures indicate that the Islam have spread to various continents in the world, with the highest majority in the Arab continents. One of the primary knowledge that a child is introduced to at early stages of life is the study of Islamic religion. The system of studying religious education by young children is called the ‘madrasa’ and is a compulsory process for any Islamic born child. The Islam believes that their religion was introduced to humanity by Prophet Muhammad. Prophet Muhammad is therefore considered to be the spiritual leader of the Islam, with His teachings guiding the primary actions and principles of every one of His followers. The Islam maintains a strict observation of religion, with the beliefs and practices remaining a religiously sacred activity. The people who follow Islam as a religion are called Muslims. Recent research articles have shown that Islam encompasses both religion and lifestyle. The lifestyle of the Muslims is majorly subjected to their religion, and no one is allowed to live any lifestyle outside the religious dictations. Muslims believe in the existence of One God, who is the Supreme Being. Muslims refer to God as Allah and live according to His instructions stipulated in the Quran through Prophet Muhammad. The Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad is the voice of Allah guiding them in their daily life activities. The Islam, therefore, is not only one of the most sacred but also one of the most influential religions in the world in terms of population (Franco 34). The discussion of Islam in the current society is one of the emerging factors in the world of information, as the transition in Islamic beliefs from the traditional to the modern world is a worrying factor. Islam as a religion is one that is firmly based on the pillars of traditional beliefs and practices, with the sacredness of the activities being majored on the uncontaminated religion. It is, therefore, clear that the transition from traditional to modern Islam has come along with its side effects. Religious experts have no option but to agree that the interpretation of Islamic beliefs has changed with the increasing rate of modernization. Modernization has had an impact on almost every sector of human existence, with religion not being left behind. The transition from traditional beliefs in the Islamic religion has made the conviction undergo a good deal of reformation in the last century. It is very clear that several transformations have happened in the Islamic culture over the past hundred years. The Muslim population is a society that has recently emerged with a very rich religious diversity. Of all religions in the world, the Islam is the only religion that has exhibited religious diversity in almost all countries that the followers are spread in. The topic of the discussion, therefore, is the change in the transition to the Islam religion from the traditional beliefs to the inclusion of modern culture. There also needs to be clarity on all reformations that have happened in the Islam religion in the past century, so as to identify how and where the followers are deviating from the norm. A discussion on Islam as a religion is very relevant in the modern society, for the modern Islamic followers. The Muslims need to identify their origin and the primary religion that defines them. Transitions in religion are important to make them realize how far they have deviated from the norm, and what steps need to be taken to correct the situation. The Muslims need to refocus on their strong beliefs in religion, and once more develop their trust in the guiding and teachings from the Holy Book of Quran. There has been a great deal of changes in the interpretation of Islam from the traditional to the modern sources. Modern systems like the education and technological factors have had direct impacts on the Islamic religion (Christoffersen 36). Firstly, a change in the Islamic ways and systems has been caused by modern science. Traditional practices in the Islamic law dictated that every action be done according to the Muslim laws. Everyone was basing their actions according to the teachings of the Quran. Every person was held responsible for their actions, and appropriate action was taken against those who defied the law. The emergence of modernism brought the reasoning that anything right or wrong is determined by human reason. Human reason, therefore, has the power to dictate what one should do and what one should not do. The strict traditional Islamic laws have since been swallowed by what the modern people call the power of reasoning. There were various religious actions that were taken against offenders in the traditional Islamic rules. The modern society has since then dismissed the governments, claiming that some are outdated, and others are inhuman. The acceptance of modern science and technology among the Muslim faithful is one of the factors causing a change in the original sources of Islam. Even though a good population of the Muslims seem to denounce modernism openly, they accept it on the other end by the embrace of modern science and technology (Islam 46). Some Muslims have gone ahead to look for explanations for the dominance of man in the modern society from the Quran. The Muslims argue that Allah instructed man to dominate the earth, and therefore it is justifiable for a man to follow the current evolvements in technology. Such thoughts as these have led to a decline in the strength and sacredness of the traditional Muslim culture. A good population of the Muslim faithful has ended up embracing modernization and ignoring the traditional Islamic beliefs. Islam has undergone a lot of reformations in the last century. Such statement cannot be refuted as false. Basing the argument on Islam as a religion, it is very true that Islam had a variety of transformations in the past century. As argued earlier, traditional Islamic beliefs and practices have been diluted by the emergence of the modern world. The ‘modern world’ has primarily grown and spread over the last century. Therefore, it is clear that Islam as a religion has been diluted within the past hundred years (McCloud 27). Dilution in this context means that the people are not more bound to the religious rules and practices like they were before. The strength with which the Muslims followed the Quran has changed a great deal. Islam as a religion has also developed a great deal within the past century. There has been an observed escalation in the population of Muslims worldwide. Mosques have been built, and religious practices put in place. The Quran has been published and supplied to different world nations over the past century. More Imams have been trained and put in place to ensure increased religious awareness among the Islam. Islam, therefore, has been able to increase its strength worldwide over the past years. There has been an increased religious conflict globally in the past century. The rivalry between Christianity and Islam uprooted, with various terror attacks being attributed to religious affiliations. The attacks launched have led to the death of many Muslims and has therefore reduced the global Muslim population in the past century. Religious scholars attest to the fact that Islam is one of the groups with the richest religious diversity in the world. The Muslims have received particular world attention due to their classified beliefs and lifestyle. Muslims do not only enjoy Islam as a religion, but also as a lifestyle and culture (Esposito, pg. 74). Starting from clothing and food to the women beauty aspects like manicure and pedicure, the Muslims do it in a classified way. Islamic religion gives a general guideline of dressing, which dictates that for women, no part of the body should remain exposed. Men are also supposed to dress in a stipulated attire while going to worship places. Apart from the clothing, Muslim diversity spreads to the kitchen and the food they cook. Muslims are believed to make some of the best dishes in the world, with Arabian hotels and restaurants ranking among the world’s best. The above are various instances of the rich diversity of Islamic religion. In a nutshell, the Islam is one of the world’s best religions, based on their beliefs, practices, culture and even lifestyle. The religion is however facing corrupted ideas due to emerging cases of modernization. The people should be sensitized to remain strong in their beliefs, read the Quran and pray to Allah so that the strength of the Islam religion remains unshakable. Works Cited Christoffersen, Lisbet. Religion in the 21st Century: Challenges and Transformations. Farnham: Ashgate, 2010. Print. Esposito, John L, and İbrahim Kalın. Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2011. Print. Franco, Gregory H, and Scott L. Cervantes. Islam in the 21st Century. Hauppauge: Nova Science Publishers, 2010. Print. Islam, Nazmul. Theoretical and Computational Research in the 21st Century. Toronto: Apple Academic Press, 2015. Print. McCloud, Aminah B, Scott W. Hibbard, and Laith Al-Saud. An Introduction to Islam in the 21st Century. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. Print Read More