Cultural Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cultural Analysis - Essay Example since the horrific images of September 11, 2001, one of the greatest obstacles proponents of a global community overcome is the image of the Muslim people as blood-thirsty, murdering terrorists. There are in fact millions of Muslims around the globe, in virtually every country of the world, who are in fact not terrorists and have little desire to do more than – like most people – provide for their families and live out their lives in a peace. In Arabic, the word â€Å"Muslim† means one who surrenders, and for Muslims the surrender to God, or Allah (Merriam Webster on-line dictionary). Mary Pat Fisher (1999) describes how the Arab people received the Word of God through the Prophet Muhammad (p. 346). Just as those whose faith rests in Judaism and Christianity, Islam can also be traced to the patriarch Abraham (p. 344). Also, just as the expression of Judaism is held within the Old Testament of the Bible, as is the expression of Christianity held in the New Testament of the Bible, the expression of Islam rests within the Qura’an (p. 344). The revelations of the Qur’an unto the Prophet Muhmmad by an â€Å"angel in human-like form, Gabriel†¦,† began about 600 C.E., which began with the words â€Å"Proclaim! (or Recite!) In the name of they lord and Cherisher, who created – created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And they Lord is Most Bountiful – He who t aught (The use of) of the pen, - Taught man that which he knew not (p. 347).† The revelations made unto Muhmmad by the angel Gabriel continued â€Å"intermittently,† says Mary Pat Fisher (p. 347). The central theme of the revelations was that there was but one God, and that one God was calling the people of Islam unto Him (p. 347). The word â€Å"Islam† means â€Å"complete trusting surrender to God (p. 347).† At first Muhammad shared his revelations only with those people he believed he could trust; his wife, Khadijah; his cousin Ali; a friend named Abu Bakr; and a freed slave