- The people vs muhammad psychological analysis muslim reaction full#
- The people vs muhammad psychological analysis muslim reaction series#
As a teacher in Saudi Arabia, mine and my students’ classes, meals, and breaks are all carefully structured around prayer times. In Saudi Arabia, everything shuts down during Salat. If you visit or live in an Islamic country, it’s extremely important to be respectful during the daily prayer times. While this British woman didn’t convert to Islam, she found ways to utilize the regular prayer times to meditate and reflect in her own ways on her spiritual journey. She came to a point where she respected this ancient tradition that built a rhythm into the day, where people didn’t simply go on with their business as usual but stopped regularly to think about the larger purposes of their lives and the world. Once, I heard an interview with a British woman who had moved to the Arab world, and she described how disconcerting it was for her to keep hearing the call to prayer day in and day out, year-round.īut, she said eventually it grew on her. Prayer almost always happens in Arabic, the language of Allah. This includes washing their face, kneeling toward Mecca, or visiting the local mosque. Muslims have heeded the call to prayer for more than a millennium. The call to prayer happens five times a day, 365 days a year in the Arab world, and you cannot miss it. In the Arab cluster, travelers and denizens are continually reminded of prayer. The second pillar of Islam is Salat or Prayer. Learn more about Muhammad-Prophet and Statesman The Second Pillar A basic understanding of Shahadah is helpful for effectively interacting in the Arab cluster. They affirmed that it didn’t matter that I wasn’t a Muslim, but they celebrated that I, too, was a person of faith who wrestles deeply with issues of eternal significance. They wanted to know the ins and outs of my faith and how I worship. This was just a part of the friendly conversation, the kind of thing I would rarely be asked most anywhere else in the world. They asked me some very explicit questions about my own faith-what religion I followed and how it influences my life. One evening, I had dinner with an Arab client and his family. Learn More: Islam Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow What’s hard for many Muslims to accept is a person with no belief in God at all. Despite the exclusivism of Islam, most Muslims believe that every human being is born with an inclination toward God and goodness, and because of that, most of them will celebrate anyone who is a person of faith. Relativism and allowing people to arrive at their own conclusions runs in direct conflict with this core tenet of Islam. It’s all about what Allah says you must do.
The people vs muhammad psychological analysis muslim reaction full#
God and his laws have full regulatory force on your life.
It’s believed that the driving response to Shahadah should be one of submission.
In contrast to Hinduism that believes there are many gods, Islam is built on the idea that there is one God and he alone should be worshiped and obeyed. The only purpose of life is to serve and obey God. This is central to everything else in Islam, and this helps explain the very tight nature of the Arab cultures. This is the idea that there is no god but God, and Mohammed is the messenger of the one and only God. The first, and most important pillar of Islam to understand is the Shahadah.
The people vs muhammad psychological analysis muslim reaction series#
This is a transcript from the video series Customs of the World - Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are. Here’s just a brief introduction to them. Those who have spent time studying Islam will be familiar with the five pillars of faith if you haven’t, they’re well worth exploring. Read part one here: Life in the Arab Cluster-What Does it Mean to Be An Arab? What Are The Five Pillars of Faith?ĭespite Islam’s pervasive influence on the region and the world, many people outside the Arab cluster know little about Islam apart from the news media and entertainment, which typically only emphasize extreme, fundamentalist groups within Islam. Quran, holy book of Islam (Image: Saida Shigapova/Shutterstock) This is the second article in the series on understanding Arab culture. Islam is clearly the dominant religion across this part of the world, and it shapes day-to-day life far more than the religions of most clusters do. There’s no way to discount the pervasive influence of Islam and the five pillars of faith on the Arab culture as a whole. By David Livermore, PhD, Cultural Intelligence Center