Religious Fundamentalism: The Muslims of Different Sects

Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.

what they do and to whom. Pape is trying to convey that "suicide terrorism is rising around the

There is often conflict between religions of the different interpretations of scripture, this occurs when there is disagreement of which is the correct interpretation. This conflict also occured in Pi’s life when his parents and the different leaders of faith strongly disagreed over which church was correct and whether they thought Pi could be a part of multiple religions, when all Pi wanted to do was love God. Almost all faiths hold very moderate views, but there are many religious extremists that cause a great deal of conflict across the world, and believe they need to bring their personal interpretation to everyone using violence as their outlet. A very prominent religious extremist group is ISIS that has attacked Christians, Jews, and Hindus all over the world, the group rejecting any religion that does not parallel with their own extremist views. Thousands of Yazidis, Christians, and Mandaeans across Syria and Iraq have been killed, kidnapped, raped, tortured, and displaced by ISIS over the past few years. Many of these extremists groups including ISIS take such radical measures in seeing themselves as divinely directed and fulfilling God’s wishes, also considering violence to be a ‘duty’ to God, finding it necessary to eliminate these ‘obstacles’. Another conflict is the relationship between government and religion, in China for example, the government views religion as a

Throughout history, Islam has had a huge impact throughout the world and marking itself as a powerful religion to this day. The beginning of Islam, which rose by the prophet Muhammad, has affected and defined the cultures of many societies over time and throughout the world. However, Islam has encountered some changes and the view of the religion has changed drastically. For example, its relation with political power as well as the location of its practice has changed dramatically. Even so, Islam continues to have the same traditions, beliefs, and practices and has become a powerful religion as of today.

The contemporary world of Islam faces an uphill battle defending itself from modern day misconceptions and the forced involvement with geopolitics. Islam struggles with the western world’s perception of the religion and cultural understanding. Modern day Muslims will have to overcome insurmountable hurdles in an attempt to rebuild the diversity and complexity within the Islam faith. Islam is in a constant battle with Western Civilization and its forced power and ideology on the Middle East. The current religious struggle between the Middle East and the West derives from thousands of years of bloodshed and conflict between the worlds three major religions; Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Blood that was shed during a period of holy wars and the ever expanding ruling powers such as Greece and Rome. The candle of hatred burns in modern times with the presences of radical extremist groups like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda that continue to ignite hatred towards the West by manipulating the Qur’an and preaching concepts that conflict with the laws of Islam.

Islam is the second largest and fastest-growing religion in the world. Pew Research estimated that Muslims in 2050 are expected to make up more than 50% of the population, in over 51 countries. Islam, becoming the majority religion in many countries, has a political impact on the world. Muslims distinguish themselves between two subgroups: Sunni and Shia, between the two major denominations of the religion, there have been wars, rivalries, and revolutions due to the cultural difference in beliefs.

Ever since the year 632, the conflict between the Sunni Muslims and the Shi'as failed to resolve which is why religious rivalry from the past hugely

The discrepancies with the main ideas cause the split in Islam as we see it today.

1. Osama bin Laden is perhaps one of the most well known extreme Islamic fundamentalists in modern history because of his acts of terrorism against the United States. Even after his death al-Qaeda continues to function and other extremist groups, such as ISIS, continue to sow death and destruction in the Middle East. I will try to discuss why fundamental religious movements have continued to grow over the last several decades. First I would like to comment on the incredible diversity of Islamic opinion and as well as the variety of Islamic fundamentalist groups. There are many different groups or individuals claiming to be the official religious authority of Islam but there is no true unanimous leader since the caliphs ended. The views

Most of the traditional vices that occur in the today’s societies are pegged on religion. From early marriages to domestic violence among others. They have all gotten their roots from the traditional beliefs. Most of these vices are perpetrated under the umbrella of the fact that the religion they embrace permits them to do so. This is how oppression begins with religion. For instance, a person practicing domestic violence would do so with the mentality that the Bible permits such practices since all the women are advised by it to be submissive to the men and that the men are the heads of the families.

Disagreement between Shias and Sunni have been the most important splits in Islamic religion, which are ongoing problems since the 7th century to present-day, conflict in Islamic history has initiated blood spills from generations to generations and is still taking life’s while differences in social and equal opportunities that have taken deep roots in the minds of future leaders.

Many religions have impacted the thoughts and beliefs of millions around the world. Two of these religions are Islam and Christianity, both of which are similar, yet, incredibly different. Christianity, which had come long before Islam, is known to be the root of Islam which makes sense since the two religions share much in common. They are both Abrahamic and monotheistic religions which means they share the belief in only one true existing God and are rooted to have many similarities. Their differences, however, are what make them two distinctive religions, which is why they are recognized and classified for being so. Similarities and differences arise in many topics and situations, but differences take over and divide them into

Lewis does a great job of explaining this particular crisis in Islam; the view that some so-called Islamic leaders are considered apostates in the eyes of many hard liners. The influx of Western culture into the Middle East brings with it this dilemma that many Muslims wrestle with today. The fact that the globalization of economies merging traditional cultures like those in the Middle East with those of infidels divides Muslims who accept it and those who reject

Religion and violence often go hand and hand with one another. Focus here is on the more specific question of does violence stem from Islam. American news networks have had coverage on violence happening in the Middle East routinely each day for the past decade and a half or more. The question that maybe some Westerners may ask is the religion Islam causing the violence in the Middle East or is it something else? Fighting in the Middle East is not a new concept as two sects of Islam have been fighting for approximately 14,000 years. Violence and Islam seem like their bond is quite close stitched with one another. Realizing that violence does in fact stem from Islam and the teaching of the religion will make understanding the fighting much easier to fathom.

The objective of this work is to examine Islam, a highly controversial sensitive issue in today's world and specifically to examine the misconceptions, beliefs, and values of those of the Islamic faith. Most people think that the majority of Muslims live in the Middle East, while in reality there are more people of the Islamic faith living in Indonesia. Islam, just as Judaism and Christianity, is practiced in various cultures, serves to shape, and is shaped by those cultures. This study examines the perceptions of those of the three faiths in various countries and how they view one another and seek to answer how a level of threat is felt by those belonging to these three religious groups in various countries. Countries examined in this study include those of the United States, Great Britain, India, Pakistan, and the Middle East. The depth of understanding or the teachings of Islam among the various religious groups in these various countries will also be examined in terms of how these understandings impact the ways that Muslims and non-Muslims interact and communicate with one another.