For most Americans, Islam was a religion that lived on the periphery of their lives, a culture they caught glimpses of in movies and television shows. Then came the tragic events of 9/11, and suddenly the Western world was desperately grasping to understand a religion they knew precious little about. With all the questions swirling around the true nature of Islam, none has been asked more than this: Does Islam promote violence?
The foundation of Islam is derived from both Judaism and Christianity making it one of the three largest monotheistic religions in the world. There are currently more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide and it was recently announced by the Vatican that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world.
The tenets of Islam are indeed similar to Judaism and Christianity, and the Holy Koran (which is the Holy book for Islam) contains stories and information which are in both the Holy Torah and the Holy Bible. Muslims, followers of Islam, respect the same prophets as Jews and the Christians but believe Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is the last messenger from God. Muslims also believe in the same God as the other monotheistic religions, with “Allah” merely being the Arabic word for God. It is important to remember that not all Muslims are Arabs and not all Arabs are Muslims; so, when Christian or Jewish Arabs pray to God, they use the word Allah.
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