After reading the articles for this week, I could not help but wonder how similar the faith of Islam was to that of Buddhism. According to the Qur'an, the Prophet Muhammad is the seal of the prophets. Thus, Muslims believe that the divine message that was brought by him is intended for all humankind. This belief inevitably led to missionary activities. Under Umar ibn al-Khattab (586-644 CE), the Islamic Empire expanded at an unprecedented rate ruling the whole Sassanid Persian Empire and more than two thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire. Later, Islam spread to Africa, India, and even China. Just like Buddhism, Islam had to accomodate itself to local cultures in order to survive and attract followers. In the process of spreading, Islam, like Buddhism, influenced various cultures and religions and it aslo was influenced by the religions and customs of its host countries. Islam, like Buddhism, is not a unitary entity: it is interwoven with multiple strands of culture and history. Thus, when we talk about Muslims today, we are talking about a bewildering diversity of languages, ethnic groups, and differing ideological and sectarian positions. To illustrate this diversity, I am posting a link to the Niujie Mosque in Beijing, China, which is a beautiful example of a fusion of Islamic and Chinese cultures.
http://www.essential-architecture.com/CHINA/PEKING/PE-041.htm.

So what led to the equation of Muslims with Arab-terrorists? In his book, Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World, Carl W. Ernst, not only describes the spiritual aspects of Islam, but also describes the challenges that Muslims and scholars of Islam face in the contemporary, post-9/11 era. In his non-fundamentalist approach to understanding Islam, Ernst tries to remove Islam and Muslims from the impassioned political debates and international terrorism. He does not deny the fact that the spiritual Islam that he is introducing often has socio-political agendas. However, he explains that politicized Islam (e.g., the use of Islamic religious language against the West) is not a totality of Islam, nor does it represent the most important aspects of Islam as a religion. Being a Muslim means to submit one's life completely to Allah. Thus, the most important issue for Muslims is to live according to the spiritual values taught in the Qur'an and by the Prophet Muhammad. Ernst contends that such violent, politicized reactions of Muslims should be understood as responses to the historical legacies of colonialism. He reminds the reader that it was not long ago that the religious language was used in the same way by the Christian West in its attempt to justify colonialism and domination. I liked Ernst's attempt to remove Islam from the negative post-9/11 stereotypes. However, how can one separate and try to explain Islam, or any religion, apart from the social, political, and economical situations in which the exist. Well, I guess this is not possible and Ernst himself couldn't avoid getting into politics.