Muslims

Muslims

I first became interested in learning about Muslims when I met a young man in a

Speech class of mine. He was dark skinned, dark haired, and extremely handsome, so I

decided to get acquainted with him. I asked him his name and he asked me if I wanted

his real name or his made up name. I was a little confused and I asked him what he

meant by that. He told me he was a Muslim and his "real" Muslim name is Sadat and his

made up name is Danny. I was quite intrigued by, but a little confused by all of this, so I thought I would look further into the subject. Luckily, I was asked to write a paper on a subject of my choice so hopefully I can teach you some of what I learned about Muslims.

The Muslims are people who practice the religion of Islam. They were taught

their beliefs by a man named Muhammad in the A.D. 600's. Muslim is an Arabic word

that means one who submits (to God). There are about one billion Muslims throughout

the world today. They form the majority of the population in the Middle East, North

Africa and the southeast Asian nations such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and

Pakistan. There are three to six million Muslims in the United States.

A Muslim's chief duties are prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage. Muslims

pray five times a daily: at dawn, at noon, in the afternoon, in the evening, and at

nightfall. According to The Economist July 1996, "a crier, or muezzin announces prayer

time from the minaret, a large tower. On Friday, which for the Muslims resembles the

Jewish Sabbath or Christian Sunday, Muslims are expected to attend noon prayers at this

tower." There, a Muslim washes his face, hands, and feet, in a type of ceremony,

immediately before prayer. The lead...

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... been to achieve stable

governments and to feed their people. Some Muslim nations such as Bangladesh, Egypt,

and Pakistan, have too many people living on too little land. Other countries lack the

moisture and fertile soil needed to produce food. Conflicting interests keep the Muslim

people from being united. But they are bound by cultural ties and a determination to

resist colonialism.

As you can see the Muslims and their beliefs are quite different than other groups

such as the Christian beliefs and the Jewish beliefs. It just goes to show what a diverse

world we live in. I am glad I have had the opportunity to explore the special ceremonies, rituals, and beliefs of the Muslims. Now the next time I approach someone to ask them their name and they answer in the same way my friend Danny did, I will be able to understand better his or her way of life.