Romi Necq S. Abuel

BS Applied Physics

Islam is one of the established religion in the world that has estimated 2.6 billion people

and is the second largest religion in the world, following Christianity. Islam is monotheistic,

signifying that there is only one god they call Allah. While 80% of Muslims are not Arabs, the

center of most religious events were found in Mecca. Islam was founded by Muhammad, an

Arabian trade merchant. Muslims believed that to show their faith and commitment to Allah and

their religion, they must follow the Five Pillars of Islam, namely: Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Hajj and

Sawm.

Some Muslims deal with discomfort from doing their daily tasks because of their

religion. Islam contains rules that some non-Muslims might find too strict and tiring to follow,

like praying five times a day, wearing the hijab for women most of the time and fasting during

Ramadan. Their traditions and rituals were meticulously followed so that Allah will bring

prosperity and blessings to them.

At first, I thought that Islam is a very different religion from others, but I was mistaken.

According to the documentary I watched, Islam is also the same as Judaism and Christianity,

with its monotheism, the atonement in the final days on Earth and their belief that there is only

one God of all people and all creation, and that is Allah which is the Arabic word for God.

Qur’an is not that different from the Bible as well. There are some verses in Qur’an that are

similar with the Bible, when it comes to God, the Creator, the Last Judgment, eternal life and

eternal death. Characters from the Old Testament like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and

Jonah appear also in the Qur’an. Even Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are mentioned in the holy

book of the Muslims.

I realized that my negative perception about Muslims, that they are mostly terrorists and

they initiate wars, they treat women and children roughly and they practice polygyny are just the

minorities of them, since Islam these acts and they are not encouraged. Just because there are

Muslim terrorists engaging wars in Iraq and Mindanao, or there are cases of Filipinos being

abused in the Middle East, doesn’t mean that all Muslims do that. Just like in other religions,

faith varies from person to person.