The Islamic Culture: Defying odds and not conforming to society’s needs.
From Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and even all the way over to the Philippines, you can find members of the Muslim community with a massive following of 1.9 billion people and it is also the second largest religion in the world after Christianity.
Islam vs. Muslim
However, there are a lot of misconceptions in this religion and one of them Is the difference between the term Islam and Muslim. When we say Islam, according to history.com, Islam means, the religion itself. While the term Muslim, is used to describe the followers of Islam.
The religion Islam, is a monotheistic religion wherein the follower worships the one all-knowing God, Allah. They aim to live a life in pursuit of Allah. With a similar ideology to other religions, they believe that nothing can happen without Allah’s permission but, humans still have the freedom to live their lives as they please.
Religious Practices of the Islamic Culture
Taking a dive inside the Muslim culture, they pray five times a day. No matter where they are, grocery, mall or at home, no matter how important the task they are doing is, it is obligatory. The five daily prayers are, Fajr which means Dawn, Dhuhr which means Noon, ‘Asr which means late afternoon, Maghrib which means sunset and ‘Isha which means Night. They have a number of sacred texts but it is believed that they have two main texts which are the Quran and the Hadith. Both of these texts teach Islamic beliefs and practices.
The meaning of Islamic Clothing
To top off the religious practices, the Islamic culture also promotes a code about privacy-reserve-sanctity. Their clothing has a special meaning. The code extends the limit beyond body covering. The clothing they wear must never make the shape of the body prominent, it must also cover up certain body parts of both male and female Muslims. For the females, it would be particularly the chest while the male Muslims are required to cover up their body between the navel and the knee as well as the chest. The bare chest will also draw attention in circumstances and it is also frowned upon. The way Muslim people are supposed to dress also depicts modesty and it teaches the women to be proud of their femininity and the men to be proud of their masculinity. Both genders are discouraged to dress like the opposite sex because one of the main teachings of the Muslim culture is to be proud of who you are.
Forbidden Food & Food recommended by Prophet Mohammed
The Islam culture also has a strict policy wherein some food that is a mainstream staple throughout the world is not allowed to be eaten by its people which are swine animal produce such as pork, ham, bacon and pork sausage or any animal that was slaughtered by man not in the name of Allah, beaten to death and savaged by a beast of prey. This culture also prohibits alcohol and blood. However, it promotes the consumption of healthy foods such as dates, figs, grapes, milk, melon, pumpkin and so on and so forth. This culture may have a million more things to explore, learn about and experience, all of them boils down to one thing, it is, don’t be afraid to be different and embrace your self-worth, and respect yourself.
