Shift of perspective on the Islamic community

My perspective on the Islamic Community has changed.

I am the one who would not believe that I am a survivor of racism and stereotypes until I attended Hudda Ibrahim's lecture. Having read the book "From Somalia to Snow; How Central Minnesota Became Home to Somalis," I can affirm that my reasoning has now shifted and that I am now looking at the world from a complex and inclusive viewpoint that is less defined in theory and belief, but one that is actually defined. Since I attended the conference, I have seen my perspective about Muslims change and I now agree with Hudda Ibrahim that they are respectful people whose determination in religion should be an inspiration to us in the goal of achieving the America dream.

The media made me to believe that Muslims are associated with terrorism and they have no respect to life. It would be hard convincing me that the religion values life considering how I see them being presented by the mainstream media and in the movies. It was common to find that in any terrorist activity that was being aired, the Muslims would be blamed and with time, I was convinced that they are not good people (McNamara, 2016). Interestingly though, I never used to interact with any so I culd not justify my statements even though I believed in what I was seeing. However, after reading the book, I realized that a majority of the terrorist activities in the US are executed by non-Muslims. There have been cases where the Christians and People of Jewish decent engage in terrorism but the media only covers the Muslim religion and paints a bad image on them and corrodes the mind of the viewer so that they cannot reason.

I could also deliberate that my thinking has changed for the better because I have a better understanding of how strong Muslims are to abide by the strict religious doctrines that that binds them. I was amazed to learn just how much it is a serious activity when it is time for prayers because I learned that unlike Christians who do not have a strict prayer plan, the Muslims have theirs that everyone knows about. It is just amazing to think how organized a religion can be to train its followers to pray five times aa day everyday without fail and without facing opposition from any of its members. It creates the impression that unruly behavior that are common in the contemporary world especially linked to the other generations such as Christianity. It was even more surprising to learn how string Muslims are when I realized that they are all required to close their shops when it is tie from prayer. It just shows how determined a religion can be and how its followers can prove to the world that order is achievable without necessarily getting into conflict with the authorities. I believe that we can learn from this religion the virtue of self-drive and endurance that can help us as a nation rather than criticize a religion and its followers without thinking critically how much better they are than us.

The last feature that I consider worthy about the Muslims is that they do not let people to define who they are neither are they concerned about what people think of them. It is hard to hold a Muslim debate with ay Christin and fail to spot a moment where they are criticizing the religion for a certain behavior, belief and other biased thinking. I have also been a victim of such misconceptions but my thinking has changed for the better. For instance, I have heard people criticize the Muslim generation for the manner in which it treats is women and the fact that they are not allowed to expose almost any part of their body. I used to think that it was unjust to deny the women to live as they wish because I would think that they felt oppressed. However, I have since learned that aamjoroty of the population are not mindful about what others think about their culture and they do not let people define who they are. It is true in the sense that I even realized that we are trying to impose our controversial western culture on them oblivious to the fact that their priorities and principles are defined by the Koran. I, therefore, find it illogical to criticize people who do not find any flaws in their live and who do not let our opinion deter them in any way.

In summary, I would say that my perspective on the muslins and Islam as a religion has changed for the better. I believe that we should first learn from their determination and sacrifice considering their devotion to God. Furthermore, we should stop the negative mindset that the media has had on how we perceive them as bad and inhuman people. In fact, just by the reality that they are less mindful about what we think of them, we should use it as an indication that we ought not to mind about them especially on the negative front.

References

Ibrahim, H. (2017). From Somalia to Snow: How Central Minnesota Became Home to Somalis.

McNamara, P. F. (2016). 10 Common Misconceptions about Islam. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-f-mcnamara/nine-common-misconception_b_8148946.html