Sunday 21 Feb 2016 - 12:57 Makkah mean time-12-5-1437
Imam and Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo Talal Eid. Image from the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo website
Toledo City, Ohio (IINA) - There are many misunderstandings about Islam, and the way to combat them is through education, said Imam and Director of Religious Affairs at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo Talal Eid who gave a speech on Thursday at Owens Community College in Findlay, The Courier online news reported.
Eid is an expert in interfaith dialogue and Muslim-Christian-Jewish relations who has worked for both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidential administrations as a commissioner at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. A renowned Muslim scholar, theologian and activist, Eid has spoken throughout the world promoting knowledge of Islam and religious freedom. He has more than 40 years of experience as an imam and marital and family therapist.
Eid opened his talk by discussing misconceptions people may have.
“People are quick to assume Muslim men are terrorists and Muslim women are oppressed, about 70 percent of people do understand that there is a difference between Islam and terrorism, but many don’t, and the way to change this is through education,” he said.
“You have to differentiate between Islam as a religion and Muslims, who are the followers of Islam,” Eid said.
He gave the example of David Koresh, the cult leader killed in Texas in 1993 after a standoff against federal agents. Eid said Koresh was in fact preaching Christianity, but no one believed he represented Christianity as a whole.
He said there are good and bad people in every faith. And, Eid said, there are differences in different regions and cultures, such as between North American Christians and Latin American Christians.
Eid then shared quotes and comments others have made about Islam, such as Republican presidential hopeful candidate Dr. Ben Carson, who has said he would not “advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.”
“Now, I’m not going to say anything about Trump,” Eid said, provoking laughter from the crowd.
Eid said he himself came to the United States in 1982 and all of his children were born in the United States. There are still misconceptions and stereotypes that even American-born citizens feel, he said.
“You can feel it when you speak to young Muslims who are looking for jobs,” he said.
Linguistically the word “Islam” means “submission, purity and peace,” Eid said. He said this can lead to misunderstandings. For example, there is a verse in the Qur’an that says that Abraham was in fact not a Jew or a Christian but a Muslim. People may find this strange since Islam didn’t even exist in his time, but Eid said that since the word “Islam” means “submission,” what this verse actually means is “Abraham was a submitter to God.”
Eid said Islam has six pillars of faith and five pillars of action.
The six pillars of faith are: believing in almighty God, believing in his angels, believing in his scriptures (books), believing in his messengers, believing in the day of resurrection and believing in the predestination.
The five pillars of action for Islam are testimony, prayer, Zakat, fasting the month of Ramadan, and the pilgrimage to Makkah (Hajj).
Muslims are encouraged to make a pilgrimage to Makkah, a city in Saudi Arabia that is considered Islam’s holiest city. Those who are making the pilgrimage all wear white shrouds, which symbolizes that all are equal.
Asked whether the pilgrimage was required, Eid said, “once in a lifetime, for those who are able.” He said those who cannot make the pilgrimage for whatever reason are excused, but that because Muslims are encouraged to do it once in a lifetime people often start setting aside money in their young adulthood.
Eid concluded by saying that there are 10 million Muslims in the United States.
“The majority of American Muslims are hardworking, honest and sincere,” he said.
Eid’s talk was open to anyone on campus as well as the broader community. A University of Findlay social work class came, along with an Owens philosophy class. Several faculty from various departments also attended. The event was sponsored by student activities at Owens.
SM/IINA
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.
No comments:
Post a Comment