"I think that rather than condemning Islam, Islam needs to be studied by those who are sincere."

- The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan

     You have heard about Islam, but you still may not know what the world's fatest growing religion is, or should I say the world's fatest growing way of life. Relying on Western Media to give you an accurate and just knowledge of what Islam truly is would be as foolish as letting a member of the Ku Klux Klan teach an African-American Studies course. Pretty much all of the views are biased, no matter how "fair and balanced" the news outlet claims to be. Most Americans closest relation to Islam is the terroist attacks of September 11, 2001. This have engraved in the minds on many of America's citizens to automatically see Islam as a "Terrioist Religion", whether it be a conscious connection or not. A negative bias towards Islam is easy to detect. Just picture a terroist in your mind. Was a middle eastern man with a turban wrapped around his head one of the first images to come to your mind? If so, then that is a sign of a negative bias towards Islam.

     The man to whom the Holy Qu'ran was revealed to 1400 years ago, Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), said, "One learned man is harder on the devil than a thousand ignorant worshippers." With this in mind, I will provide facts of what Muslims really believe. My intention is to specifically combat all misunderstandings, misinterpretations, propaganda, and falsehood pertaining to Islam, because once you know the truth it is hard to be decieved.

     First, I will break down the word "Islam." There is nothing spooky or magical about this word. It simply means "peace." This is the key concept of Islam. Even when a Muslim greets another Muslim he wishes him peace, or as it is said in Arabic, "As salaam alaikum." Even the title "Muslim" has a denotation which is "one who engages in peace," but it also means "one who completely submits his will to do the will of Allah(God)." This makes the phrase "Muslim terroist" an oxymoron, because these are two contradicting ideas that can not occupy the same space. You can't engage in peace and cause terror at the same time.

     Many judge Islam on propaganda depicting it as a voilent religion. For this very reason, people have protested and opposed the building of Park51, a Islamic community center "near" the site where the World Trade Centers use to stand, because they see it as a defilement to the "hallowed ground." I won't go into depth about the controversry of the "Ground Zero mosque", I will only state the principlalities of it. Islam isn't to blame for what happened on 9/11. Islam codemns the taking of innocent lives. Blaming Islam for what happened on 9/11 is like blaming Jesus for the "Christian" European conquests that raped, stole, pillaged, enslaved and killed the lands, treasures, and people of indegenous nations across the whole world. The principles of Islam are not dependent on any one person. The term "Muslim" is a title. If you do not do what the title specifies, then you are not that title. A man can say that he is an electrician, but if he does not know how to restore power to a building that has lost power, then he is not an electrician.

     Finally, Islam is a beautiful way of life based on the laws that govern the universe. One who is Muslim, should not apologize for being apart of something this beautiful. The Holy Qu'ran teaches that hard trials are necessary to establish truth.This is because, in the world we live in, truth is met with great opposition by those who will be unsettled by the truth. Take for instance the Italian astronomers, Nicolas Copernicus and Galileo Galilei, both of whom where persecuted for their belief in the truth that the Earth revolved around the Sun, and not the other way around.