Religion: Core Beliefs and Practices

Question One

According to the British Library (2014), core beliefs and practices in the religion are both a matter of thinking and emotions and performance that includes rituals, beliefs, customs, traditions, personal and social morality. The core beliefs and practices learned in this week’s reading are connected with the way Muslims perceive the flimsiness of the earthly things. This week’s sacred story is about Prophet Muhammad’s sayings and actions. He was travelling from Mecca to Madinah preaching to the people about Allah’s words. However, many people were angry at him since the sermons stated that one needs to change the way of life; as a result, it caused the persecution of Muhammad. Thus, he fled from the city to save his own life. He was hiding in a cave, and the soldier who arrived at that place found a spider web stretched across the entrance. Thus, he assumed that the cave was empty. The characters of the story are the prophet Muhammad and the spider.

The moral value of the Islamic sacred story is that it emphasizes the flimsiness of the earthly things. It encourages Muslims not to rely on them but to understand the power of Allah or God. One of the main similarities between the Islam and Christianity is that the followers of both religions trust in one God or Allah. They all understand that strength comes from Allah or God and not from the earthly things. As for the differences, Muslims have a particular diet in which they avoid such kind of meat as pork, while Christians use it in the meals. Muslim women cover their heads with scarves, and in some cultures they also cover their bodies, while those who are Christian do not cover their heads with a cloth.

Question Two. Post Muslims Demand Germany to Make Islam Equal to Christianity

According to Kern (2013), Muslims demanded Germany to make them equal to Christians. However, the government of the state refused to acknowledge their concerns because of security threat posed by radical Muslims. Moreover, Germany emphasized the necessity of finding ways to work with together to combat Islamism and extremism. Muslims also requested for introduction of comprehensive Islamic religious studies in public schools.

The author of the article also reported that German security officials are concerned about the threat posed by homegrown terrorists inspired by Islamic extremists who want to spread Islamic sharia law around Germany and across Europe. Religious extremism should be discouraged in the way German government did it because it results is deaths of innocent people and destruction of properties. Every religion should practice its beliefs and customs without colliding with the other ones. Each of them should focus on God’s or Allah’s strengths and leave out lust for power and earthly things because they will not last forever.

Question Three

According to Lewis (2004), beliefs and traditions of Islamic ethics are based on the Qur’an, the hadith, and Shari’a. Muslims have a particular diet in which they avoid such kind of meat as pork and alcohol. They dress modestly, and women must cover their heads with scarves. In some cultures, they also cover the biggest part of their bodies. Marriages should follow the cultural and religious rules with women having a protected position but being secondary to their husbands.

Islamic religion does not promote democracy but only poses threats to it. For example, German security officials are becoming increasingly concerned about the danger posed by homegrown terrorists inspired by Islamic extremists who openly require the outspread of the Islamic sharia law around Germany and in Europe (Kern, 2013). Muslim extremists who cooperated with a fugitive terrorist Osama Bin Laden were responsible for bombing of the World Trade Center and Pentagon in the USA which caused many deaths and loss of property.

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