Romi Necq S.

Abuel
BS Applied Physics
Islam is one of the established religion in the world that has estimated 2.6 billion people
and is the second largest religion in the world, following Christianity. Islam is monotheistic,
signifying that there is only one god they call Allah. While 80% of Muslims are not Arabs, the
center of most religious events were found in Mecca. Islam was founded by Muhammad, an
Arabian trade merchant. Muslims believed that to show their faith and commitment to Allah and
their religion, they must follow the Five Pillars of Islam, namely: Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Hajj and
Sawm.
Some Muslims deal with discomfort from doing their daily tasks because of their
religion. Islam contains rules that some non-Muslims might find too strict and tiring to follow,
like praying five times a day, wearing the hijab for women most of the time and fasting during
Ramadan. Their traditions and rituals were meticulously followed so that Allah will bring
prosperity and blessings to them.
At first, I thought that Islam is a very different religion from others, but I was mistaken.
According to the documentary I watched, Islam is also the same as Judaism and Christianity,
with its monotheism, the atonement in the final days on Earth and their belief that there is only
one God of all people and all creation, and that is Allah which is the Arabic word for God.
Quran is not that different from the Bible as well. There are some verses in Quran that are
similar with the Bible, when it comes to God, the Creator, the Last Judgment, eternal life and
eternal death. Characters from the Old Testament like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and
Jonah appear also in the Quran. Even Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are mentioned in the holy
book of the Muslims.
I realized that my negative perception about Muslims, that they are mostly terrorists and
they initiate wars, they treat women and children roughly and they practice polygyny are just the
minorities of them, since Islam these acts and they are not encouraged. Just because there are
Muslim terrorists engaging wars in Iraq and Mindanao, or there are cases of Filipinos being
abused in the Middle East, doesnt mean that all Muslims do that. Just like in other religions,
faith varies from person to person.