Understanding Islam

3 Pages 690 Words

This paper is about the book Understanding Islam written by Thomas W. Lippman. The book explains the basics beliefs and practices, Muhammad, the Koran, Law and Government, and Islam today. I chose to discuss three main themes, Zakat, the alms-tax, law and government, and the role of women in Islam.
The first theme is Zakat, one of the five pillars of faith, stands for the alms-tax. The alms-tax is a mandatory donation to charity every Muslim must make. In the Islamic religion they strongly believe that the rich should give to the less fortunate. This is stated in the Koran; however the Koran does not specify how much should be given. The most common donation expected of a Muslim is 2.5 percent of the amount of cash and individual holds in savings or investments for a year. I think the Zakat is a good concept to have in one’s religion. It’s good because the money is actually going to the poor not the government or your church. Also 2.5 percent is not an unreasonable amount to ask for. A lot of people don’t give to charity and I think that more people should. If more people gave to charity then maybe the poor would have enough money or clothes to keep warm for the winter.
The second theme is the law and government of Islam. One big difference between the United States and Islamic countries is the separation of church and state. This separation does not exist in Islamic countries because they believe their religion is also a way of life and should be the law of the land. Many of the laws come from prophets, such as Muhammad. An example of a law coming from Muhammad is, “Every Muslim has six obligations toward his fellow Muslim: he greets him whenever they meet; answers his call; wishes him well when he sneezes; visits him when he is ill; follows in his funeral when he dies; and wishes for him what he wishes for himself. These are some of the kinds of laws they have. Also they have rules for theft, murder and adu...