Listening Exercise Ali-Karamali covers a range of topics in her informative book, The Muslim Next Door. As a Muslim and an American she has compiled myth breaking information to explain what she believes to be the reality of Islam in the world.
She describes the five pillars within the context of everyday life. There are multiple stories from her life particularly when she was an adolescent which illustrates the difficulty that can come from being the minority. It seems important that she show her religion as the lifestyle it is meant to be rather than the mysterious religious beliefs of the other. In order to bridge the divide of Western Christianity and Islam, Ali-Karamali explains how Islam fits into the historic Judeo-Christian tradition.…show more content… Having a poor understanding of Muhammad results in an inaccurate view of Islam. The incorrect beliefs about Muhammad often create negative feelings about Islam. While the Prophet is not meant to be worshipped, his revelations from Allah are what formed the Qur’an. The Qur’an is what modern day Muslims have to rely on to inform their way of life. As a result, many use it incorrectly and Ali-Karamali seeks to alter these misperceptions. Many use singular verses from the Qur’an to try and discredit it and portray violence as important which is not true Islam.
The structure of Islam does not parallel Christianity with regards to clergy and this often creates a gap of understanding. Without the direct comparisons of pastor and imam or pope and ayatollah, there are more differences. Differences are not bad but can often lead to further misunderstanding and negative views. Furthermore, the idea of an Islamic State to those who live where church and state are separate can lead to confusion. This difference between Islamic law and state law is still not entirely clear to me particularly in reference to and Islamic state such as Saudi
