Wow, thank you! I used to work with a man from Iraq who would talk to me about Islam. He explained to me what "jihad" really means--and explained it almost exactly like this, too. Since then I have refrained from using it to mean any violence despite the "lesser" meaning, because it's so incredibly overused and misused. I loved listening to Saad talk about the striving for spiritual perfection, the inner jihad. He was a man I greatly admired--and he was also the first Arabic Muslim I ever knew well enough to talk with about religion.
Because of him, my understanding of Islam is that at heart it's about personal purity, and that living one's life according to its precepts will bring one closer to God. Also because of him, I think of it as a religion espousing peace, not war.
He allowed me to mentally separate Islam-the-faith from Middle Eastern culture and cultural history, too. And while I know very well that there are plenty of people who disagree with him about Islam, I think his views aren't terribly unusual.
Every Muslim I've known personally--and it's a short list, sadly--has been a kind, respectful, and deeply spiritual person. I suppose it prejudices me a bit. :)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2006-11-14 07:12 pm (UTC)Because of him, my understanding of Islam is that at heart it's about personal purity, and that living one's life according to its precepts will bring one closer to God. Also because of him, I think of it as a religion espousing peace, not war.
He allowed me to mentally separate Islam-the-faith from Middle Eastern culture and cultural history, too. And while I know very well that there are plenty of people who disagree with him about Islam, I think his views aren't terribly unusual.
Every Muslim I've known personally--and it's a short list, sadly--has been a kind, respectful, and deeply spiritual person. I suppose it prejudices me a bit. :)