ABC’s of ISLAM: Introduction
The ABCs of ISLAM is a series of short and accessible articles that provide an introduction to the basics of Islam. The intended audience is someone with an educated and curious mind and who is looking for reliable and honest information about Islam.
As you can imagine, writing these articles takes (a lot of) time! So, why am I doing it?
I decided to write these articles after years of long conversations with many good friends I met in the past three decades since I moved from my native Turkey to the United States to do a PhD in Economics. Most of these friends knew little about Turkey and Islam, just as I knew little about Thailand or Argentina and about Buddhism or Catholicism. But they were hearing about Islam in passing — often in the context of a war or immigration or a terror attack by some scary-looking people who claim to represent Muslims. Thankfully, sometimes they were curious for more benign reasons: Why was I not eating anything (and no drinking either?!) during the day in Ramadan? Why was that new female student in class covering her hair? Why did I believe in God at all?
Clearly, these are not easy questions to ask someone. But perhaps because I grew up asking lots of uncomfortable questions myself and always got thoughtful and patient responses, I didn’t feel awkward or defensive about discussing any topic. On the contrary, I completely agreed that these were very crucial questions to discuss, and I enjoyed explaining my thinking and reasons, which made my friends feel comfortable asking questions they were too afraid to ask others for fear of offending them.
Over the years, I saw many of the same questions asked by different friends, which made it clear there must be many others out there wondering the same questions.
Here is a brief list of topics this series plans to cover:
Who is God according to Islam?
What does He want from us? What does He promise in return?
What is the Quran, the Holy Book of Islam?
Who wrote it? What does it contain? How does it differ from the Bible?
Why do some say it’s a miraculous book?
Why do some find it hard to understand?
Who is Muhammad?
What are his main teachings? What legacy did he leave behind?
Where/when did he live? What did he do or not do? Was he a warlord? Who did he marry and why?
What is Islam’s view of women? How do women’s rights in Islam compare to other cultures?
Is Islam compatible with: Modern science? Democracy? Freedom of choice?
What do Muslims think of Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, atheists, and others?
What is Jihad? Why do we always seem to hear about Islam in the context of wars, terrorism, and such?
And many other similar questions…
Please feel free to submit your questions for future articles using the message form below.