Islam is regarded as the fastest growing religion of the world. There is a vast majority of Muslims living in different parts of the globe. Most live in countries which have adopted Islam as a state religion while many also live in non-Muslim countries either as converts or immigrants.

Just like other parts of the globe a good number of Muslims also reside in United States of America in its different parts. Michigan is the state which contains the largest number of Muslims it is followed by New Jersey and at the third spot comes Massachusetts.  The cities of United States which present prominent numbers of Muslims residing in them are New York (it has the largest number of Muslims living inside it), Dearborn and Los Angeles. The surveys and estimations carried out show that there were a total of 2106 mosques present in United States in the year 2011.

The above mentioned demographics clearly show that a good number of Muslims are living their lives in America. This also points towards the fact that they are involved in various departments of the states are contributing as well. But the main question is that why being in such large numbers the American Muslims are still struggling for their rights and freedom of expression. To take this point in consideration you can have a look at the recent events which took place in response to the release of the trailer of “Innocence of Muslims”.

Muslims were offended very much by this YouTube video and all around the world we witnessed huge protests some of which even took the lives of many. But the surprising thing is that American Muslims were silent over the matter and we saw no bright retaliation from them.

This shows that how much scared American Muslims are that they fail to sum up enough courage to protest against a video which was a direct attack on the personality and concepts of their Holy Prophet PBUH and was a negative portrayal of their religion. This is not my personal assumption in fact it is something that has also been estimated by the experts.

Jonathan Brown who is the assistant professor at the Georgetown University also thinks the same. In his opinion the dreadful incident which took place on 9/11 and the incidents which took place with Muslims after that are responsible for all this. American Muslims always are under the pressure that if they will show solidarity with Muslims living in other parts of the world then they will appear suspicious to the government and will have to face drastic consequences.

It is the need of the hour that proper consideration should be given to the dying voice of American Muslims and measures should be taken to bring back their long lost confidence.

Muslims practicing Islam as their religion are disturbed owing to the intolerance and misunderstandings of American Christians in America. In fact, there are American Muslims over two million and they are equally horrified by unwanted attacks.

Islam is a great religion like all others that can also peacefully coexist with all other religions. Many Muslims hold great positions in the community as lawyers, doctors, school teachers, university professors, judges, local authorities, etc and they can show progressive paths to all. These progressive individuals must pass the message for a peaceful world.

The new world has transformed into a new economic period with the earlier styles out. The new style integrates economics and emphasizes the financial responsibility to be established. Homes and communities must promote individual entrepreneurship as jobs are not secured incomes any more. Hence school and training center needs to be encouraged to bring awareness about Islam and the world history.

Islam is a name derived from Salaam an Arabic word translating as Peace. The correct translation is they relate to the doctrine of faith. The key of Islam peace is when Muslims are offended as Islamic terrorists by media and this is understood as a contradiction.

Muslims Allah is their God and in Arab it means One True God. They believe in Prophet Muhammad and the Quran is the holiest Islam book that has Gods words in original Arabic language.

Regrettably, the Quran is interpreted and misused. However, the widely accepted interpretations include Muslims to engage in five pillars of Islam and they are:

• Making declaration of faith as believing nothing is worthy than God and Muhammad, the Gods messenger.
• Performing prayers –the Salah, five times a day. They have no priests and Muslims make these prayers at workplaces, homes and also at a mosque.
• Giving charity is done to 2.5% of an individual’s wealth. This is because the possessions of an individual are regarded to be Gods belongings and the stewards are we, the human beings.
• Practicing fasting or sawm, during Ramadan month is very important for Muslims, but there are exceptions for pregnant, nursing or menstruating women, sick and elderly. Apart from them all are expected to fast from drink, food until sundown from sunup. Fasting is viewed as purification and self-discipline means and young adults until reaching the puberty stage need not fast.
• Visiting Mecca, hajj once a lifetime.

Similarly, jihad is a term misunderstood by all, Muslims and non-Muslims. This word Jihad is fighting to remove imperfections from one’s soul and is an internal fight to lead a peaceful life, not to bring disharmony.

Marriage is defined as the harmony, synchronization and bonding between two persons of opposite gender as husband or wife, in a consensual and contractual association recognized by law, nature and religion. Every relationship has its good and bad days, but only that relationship survives that has the strength to bear the trials and tribulations of time, while others result in to a state of strong disagreement known as divorce.  Divorce can be defined as the action or an instance of legally and spiritually dissolving a marriage so that the couple no longer remains bonded and the people are now two separate entities. The rate of divorce in the west is greater and only a few marriages last till the end, the same trend is now being opted by the Muslim countries.

In Islam there are particular rules for divorce for men and women in the stipulations of Islamic commandment known as sharia. When a man has commenced a divorce the practice is called ṭalāq. When a woman has instigated an annulment it is called khula.

Muslims existing in New York are in a twin circumstances when it comes to the functioning of family unit commandment. They are presided over by the spiritual law of Islam, entitled as Islamic sharia, and by the material family law of the state of New York. To Muslims, the family commandment of Islam commands that matrimony and annulment amongst Muslims should be completed in agreement with the Islamic law known as sharia, despite of whether they survive in an Islamic or secular and materialist fatherland Civil divorce diktat attained by worldly courts are not documented by Islamic sharia. Under Islamic ruling, a Muslim man may get hitched to a non-Muslim woman, whereas a Muslim female is forbidden from marrying a non-Muslim gentleman under these rules, a non-Muslim woman marrying a Muslim man in observance with Islamic sharia is subjected to the regulations of Islam in the areas of dissociation, adolescent guardianship and heritage. In other prose, a non-Muslim woman who marries a Muslim man in harmony with Islamic regulation, deprives herself of the supervision of her offsprings in state of divorce, or if the husband expires. Subsequently, a non-Muslim woman in harmony to a Muslim man in Islam is inclined, under the conventions of Islamic sharia, to capitulate charge and protection of her son when he by passes the age of seven, and her daughter at the epoch of nine. She is also proscribed from legacy and heritage. These regulations are functional right the way through Muslim nations with an organization and scheme of Islamic-law pedestal family unit regulation in place.

Islam the second largest religion, and with the aggravated figure of Muslims immigrating to the United State, American courts are further recurrently seeking into Islamic annulment litigations between Muslim pairs.

American society has gone through a lot of radical social changes ever since the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11. One of such changes is the nation’s increased interest in religion on the whole. The horrific act of violence on 9/11 turned the whole world upside down.

Socio- political framework of the world has undergone a series of drastic changes. As an immediate reaction the whole world went against Islam but with the appearance of later proof about the responsibility of the attacks, the attitude has slowly reversed. American public’s shift towards religion is inevitably connected to the attacks and the people who caused them.

The horror that followed the attacks, the suffering that people witnessed, was enough to shake them hard. The questions about the importance of human life were raised at every forum. Terrorists were condemned globally. The turning point in all the mayhem was when America attacked Afghanistan and later Iraq.

World media and humanitarian organizations showed footages exposing that America was inflicting the same terror as did the terrorists. Human life meant nothing in any case. Serious reconsideration of politics and national interests is underway now. Questioning the society and life led people to religion, not only in America but all over the world. Hence we see millions of converts in the post 9/11 world.

The emergence of industry in the eighteenth century shifted the balance of society to commercialism from agriculture. The basic values of love and care got exchanged with economic and financial well being. Tribal identity vanished and even identity meant well being and status based on economy. The First World War and also the World War Two brought a regime of human rights around and the political ways of the governments were challenged but religion still remained in the background. 9/11 has put religion back on the agenda.

An overwhelming number of Americans, converting to Islam and other religions (in lesser numbers) from atheism shows humans quest for finding the meaning for life. In the process of giving life a meaning, American population is evidently moving towards a better understanding of religion. Every other day scientists are discovering new facts about universes, new theories are born and old ones are rejected. With every new discovery people are becoming more aware of their Creator.

Now the scientists have found that everything is written and mentioned in Quran, the book of God. The people are witnessing lot of miracles happening and proving the worth of becoming a true believer. Islam basically is the only religion that has code of life, and is a total manual for humans to follow and be successful. Islam is the chosen religion of Allah Subhan wa Tallah and the time is not far away when there will be the rule of Islam.

At the pulpit of an inner-city Chicago mosque, the tall blond imam begins preaching in his customary fashion, touching on the Los Angeles Lakers victory the night before, his own gang involvement as a teenager, a TV soap opera and then the Day of Judgment.

“Yesterday we watched the best of seven…. Unfortunately we forget the big final; it’s like that show ‘One Life to Live,’ ” Imam Suhaib Webb says as sleepy boys and young men come to attention in the back rows. “There’s no overtime, bro.”The sermon is typical of Webb, a charismatic Oklahoma-born convert to Islam with a growing following among American Muslims, especially the young. He sprinkles his public addresses with as many pop culture references as Koranic verses and sayings from the prophet. He says it helps him connect with his mainly U.S.-born flock.

“Are we going to reach them with an Arab message or with a Pakistani message? Or are we going to reach them with an American message?” asks Webb, 38, of Santa Clara. He is a resident scholar and educator with the Bay Area chapter of the nonprofit Muslim American Society, but reaches others in lectures and through his popular website, which he calls a “virtual mosque.”

Webb is at the forefront of a movement to create an American-style Islam, one that is true to the Koran and Islamic law but that reflects this country’s customs and culture. Known for his laid-back style, he has helped promote the idea that Islam is open to a modern American interpretation. At times, his approach seems almost sacrilegious.

Although the call to prayer at a mosque is always issued by a man, Webb once joked about it being made by one of his favorite female R&B artists: “If Mary J. Blige made the call to prayer, I’d go to the mosque; I’d be in the front row.”

At a Muslim conference in Long Beach last year, he suggested that mosques adopt a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward gays. Afterward, he was accosted by a local imam who accused him of poisoning Muslim youth. “I told him, ‘Quite frankly, you’re going to be irrelevant in 10 years,’ ” Webb says.

He is fluent in Arabic, the language of the Koran, and studied for six years at one of the world’s leading Islamic institutes, Egypt’s Al-Azhar University. His time in the Middle East convinced him that not all religious practices there make sense for Muslims here.

As recently as a decade ago, U.S. congregations readily accepted immigrant imams who had arrived straight from Islamic universities, often with a traditional approach to preaching. Many spoke little English and were unable to communicate with non-Arab congregants or connect easily with youth.

But increasingly, U.S. Muslims expect their religious leaders to play a broader, more pastoral role, says Hossam Aljabri, executive director of the Muslim American Society, a national religious and education group. “Communities want imams who can come in and go beyond leading the prayer and reading Koran. They want them to fill the social role of counseling and dealing with neighbors.”

Religious scholars say the faith’s basic tenets would not change but much of the law that governs Islam may be interpreted differently in various communities.

Webb believes, for example, that barriers between men and women in U.S. mosques are not necessary, although they continue to be used in many traditional congregations. Unlike some imams, he does not object to music and believes Muslims here should be free to celebrate such secular holidays as Mother’s Day and Thanksgiving.

But given the ethnic diversity of U.S. Muslims, finding a consensus for a single American Islam could be difficult. Some favor major reforms that would alter the faith’s core beliefs. Others oppose any change.

In 2007, Webb stopped teaching at SunniPath, an online academy of traditional Islamic education, tussling verbally in the process with a few of its scholars, who are critical of what they term “modernist Islam.”

“Modernists are doing a disservice to Islam…. They validate things that are slack in Islamic practice,” Sheikh Nuh Keller, a teacher at the academy, said at the time. “We say to the modernists, nothing needs to be modernized.”

Although Webb has spent much of his time in Egypt in recent years, his U.S. following has grown. His website, where he posts writings on such topics as relationships, personal development and Islamic studies, gets more than 10,000 visitors a day, and sparks extended conversations.

In November, one reader asked if it was OK for Muslims to celebrate Thanksgiving. Webb’s response that the holiday was allowed upset some who thought that could lead to more questionable practices.

“Soon it will be [permissible] for me to take that ‘Santa Claus’ gig at the mall…….or it is already????” asked one commenter, Ahmed.

Others appeared to appreciate Webb’s effort to balance Muslim teachings with life in the West.

“We prefer to dismiss all culture as the antithesis to Islam,” wrote Tricia. “We lack … indigenous scholars who can give us a refined view of culture that distinguishes blameworthy from admirable cultural practices.”

Imams need to be culturally relevant, Webb says. When young men ask his advice on becoming religious leaders themselves, he tells them, “Go watch ‘Nick at Nite’ for a year.”

“He’s the most approachable imam in the U.S.,” says Nour Mattar, founder of the country’s first Muslim radio station. “And he’s not boring to listen to, that’s huge.”

Christened William by his parents, Webb grew up in the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond. His father, David, is a professor of American history at a local college, and his mother, Mary Lynn, worked as a human resources director.

Webb attended a local Church of Christ twice a week throughout childhood. “In my family, on your birthday you got a Bible with your name on it,” he says. But even at a young age, he questioned some Christian beliefs, including the Trinity.

When he was a teenager, he and several friends became immersed in a burgeoning hip-hop scene. After the others joined a local street gang, Webb, then 17, did too.

But his participation in the Bloods Pomona 456 was relatively minor, he says. He didn’t sell drugs and mostly hung out with other members looking for fights; at 19, he spent a week in jail for stealing hubcaps. In one serious incident, Webb says, he was the driver in a drive-by shooting, although no one was hurt or charged with a crime.

His teenage time in the gang and as a DJ at house parties figure prominently in his speeches and public persona, as a way to gain traction with young Muslims. That appears to work, at least with some. After his sermon in Chicago, a boy of about 12 turned to his mother, asking, “Did you hear his speech? He said he’s from the ‘hood.”

Webb was introduced to Islam at 19. He was selling music tapes at a swap meet when he met a Muslim man selling incense and handing out Korans. Webb took one home and read it in secret for several months.

He converted during his freshman year at the University of Central Oklahoma and broke the news to his parents at Thanksgiving dinner that year — when his mother had cooked a turkey and a ham, the latter forbidden by Islam.

Mary Lynn Webb says she was not happy at the time about her son’s conversion, but is pleased today when she sees him preaching to eager audiences. “I’m proud of him. It’s amazing, really, when you think that he doesn’t have that background” in Islam, she says. “I think it may have saved him from something had he stayed in the rap world.”

In college, Webb met Asma Ayoub, a Muslim Malaysian immigrant who was studying anthropology. They married in 2000 and have two children. Webb calls his wife his “greatest teacher.”

As he worked toward his bachelor’s degree in education, he also studied intensively with a local Muslim scholar. He later became imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City before moving to Santa Clara in 2002 at the behest of the Muslim American Society there.

The group sponsored Webb’s formal Islamic education at Cairo’s Al-Azhar. He returned to the Bay Area full time last summer.

Since then, he has worked on an educational curriculum that will focus on the experiences of young Muslims in the West. He is contemplating turning it into his own institute.

Webb hosted a town hall on his website last year where Muslim leaders debated the issue of youth radicalization. He reposted it during recent congressional hearings by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) on militancy among U.S. Muslims.

But only rarely is Webb approached, he says — in person or by email — by anyone tempted by calls to violence from extremists. Young Muslims more often ask him about Darwinism or student loans.

When he does get such questions, he directs the youth to what he says their true jihad should be, including assimilating into American society and supporting their families.

“You see people who come to listen to him that wouldn’t listen to anyone else … people they were never able to reach out to,” says Imam Khalid Latif, Muslim chaplain at New York University.

On a hot day last year, Webb walked into Chicago’s Marquette Park, where dozens of artists were gathered for a Muslim music festival. He had been invited to speak and felt it was a good way to ease back into U.S. culture after his time away.

“I don’t think you’ll have a lot of clerics showing up here,” he said. “I know I’m going to see some things I’m not going to like.”

The festival was a departure from another conference he had just attended, where most women wore the hijab and the audience was divided into sections — for women, men and families. At this one, called “Takin’ It to the Streets,” women in shorts, tank tops and tattoos mingled with men in traditional robes. During the headlining performance by Grammy-nominated rapper Mos Def, Webb watched as couples danced and people near him smoked pot.

As he walked among the stages and booths, he was stopped often by admirers — at 6-feet-4, the blue-eyed imam stands out at Muslim events. Some asked for on-the-spot advice, as if he were a walking confessional: What should I do about this guy I broke up with? Where should I study Arabic? Is what I’m doing as a Muslim rapper OK?

Rami Nashashibi, executive director of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, the event’s organizer, said not many scholars would accept the group’s invitation.

“It means a lot when people who represent scholarship and … authenticity within the Muslim community are present,” he said. “Even though they are not necessarily saying, ‘I condone wholesale what’s going on.’”

After Mos Def’s performance, Webb hugged him, saying, “Don’t let the community make you feel guilty about what you do.”

“Man, thanks,” said the rapper, a convert to Islam.

But for some, even this imam, despite his talk of gang life and near-encyclopedic knowledge of rappers, is too conservative. His invitation to the festival stemmed from a heated discussion on his website about the negative influences of Muslim hip-hop. Some artists initially had mixed feelings about his attendance.

And that is the challenge Webb faces, Nashashibi says. “He is trying to speak to multiple audiences in what is perhaps the most diverse subsection of the Muslim community across the world.”

After the panel, a man handed Webb a flier for a party after the festival.

“I can’t go to that; smoking weed, dancing with girls and wet T-shirt contests,” the imam said of the event, which promised none of that. He added with a grin, “I gotta draw the line somewhere.”

raja.abdulrahim@latimes.com

Source: http://www.latimes.com

In such a situation, it becomes nearly impossible to make people know Islam by making them sit in the teaching sessions, or making them read the Holy Quran. What do you think will be the cause of spread of Islam in the world then? How the people will be attracted towards the true religion?

The answer is simple; it is your character and behavior that will depict the true essence of Islam. Muslims all around the world need to practice Islam the way it is meant to be, specially the American Muslims.

You people are the ambassadors of Islam; you have to portray the true image of Islam in front of other religion communities. You need to be more tolerant, more peaceful, truer, more religious, and more Islamic-if I say in a single word. In this way you can make the Muslims get out of the misery and strict behavior they face all around the world, specially the American Muslims.