After praying I was able to have a conversation with the Imam. I explained to him how I was a student studying different religions in college, and he was very eager to give me an introduction to his faith. I am very grateful for him sharing his views on various subjects.
Me: Could you tell me what the basic beliefs of Islam are?
Imam: The root of the word Islam means peace (salam), as well as submission. So a Muslim is somebody who submits to Allah, to God. In Arabic “Allah” simply means the God. Some people think that because he has a different name, he is a different God than the one of the Jews and the Christians, but this is not true. We all believe in the same God. In the time before the Prophet Muhammad was born, and during the early years of his life, the Bedouin tribes, all the many different peoples of Arabia, worshipped many gods and spirits and jinn. They were what some call animists. But one night, as Muhammad was seeking solitude atop Mount Hira, he was visited by an angel. It is important to know that this angel was Jibraeel (Gabriel), the same angel that come to Mary to tell her that she would have a son. The angel said “recite” three times and finally Muhammad did so. The verses that he recited was the Qur’an. The Qur’an literally means “the recitation.” The first time this happened Muhammad thought he was going mad, just like you and I would think. He told his wife Khadija, but because Khadija had a cousin who was Christian, she realized that Muhammad had indeed been visited by an angel from Allah. So in a way Khadija was the first believer of Muhammad, the first Muslim. This is an important fact because many people today think that women are not respected or important in Islam. Actually there have been many women who have written very good papers about Islam and its history and its faith, there is a woman in Egypt today who has had many papers published. So it means a lot that Muhammad first told his wife about his experience, and that she supported him fully. Another thing to note is that in this time men would weep from anger if their wives gave birth to a baby girl, because in those times girls were worth nothing. But Muhammad, peace be upon him, would often be seen carrying one of his daughters around on his shoulders. He loved his daughters very much and he knew that we are all equal before God – men, women, poor, rich, American, Russian, Persian, it doesn’t matter. That is why we all pray together. You may be praying next to a taxi driver or a cook or a window washer or a billionaire, it doesn’t matter. Also, your skin color and your ethnicity doesn’t matter. We all are descended from the same parents, Adam and Eve. Even people who do think of themselves as Muslims, they too were born from Adam and Eve. And one difference between Christianity and Islam is that Muslims do not believe that we have any original sin. Also, it was Adam that took the fruit from the tree that Allah said not to pick from. But because Allah is most merciful, he forgave them.
Me: So you believe in a similar story to Genesis?
Imam: Yes, very similar. And in Islam there is also a Day of Judgment. When this happens we will all stand before God, he will be able to see all our deeds. Most importantly he will be able to see how we have treated other people. You may come into a mosque everyday and pray, but when you go back outside and you treat people cruelly, then really you are not a true Muslim. We are all brothers and sisters, and Allah knows if we do not treat each other like siblings. So if you believe in God, or you do not, that is between you and Him, but if you have been mean to your fellow humans then this is when you will not be allowed into paradise. Some people have tried to describe paradise, but the truth is that paradise is unlike anything we have ever known, it is beyond our imaginations. Another thing that some people do, women especially, is that they say bad and untrue things about other people behind their backs. This is so sad because in some high schools people have hanged themselves over what other people have said about them, it can mess up their lives. This is a very bad thing, and if you do this you will surely burn in hell. This talking is very bad.
Me: Gossip?
Imam: Yes, it is gossip that will surely stain your record and make you go to hell.
Me: are there any divisions within Islam? Like for example, how are the Sunni and the Shiites different?
Imam: Today many people think that there is a big difference between Sunni and Shiite, the newspapers are always going on and on about this. The only little difference is how we pray, how we hold our hands during prayer, and who we think should lead the Umma, the Muslim community. Shiites think it should be only a descendant of Muhammad, Sunnis think it doesn’t really matter – they just elect someone. This is really only a small difference, and anybody who fights over this difference is not a true Muslim. If someone were to come here and say something about how we should either pray like Sunni or like Shiites then I would ask them to leave, because here we are all brothers and sisters, and little things like that do not matter.
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