A Broadening Understanding of Islam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Broadening Understanding of Islam - Essay ExampleIn the bestselling The increase Runner by Khaled Hosseini, there is a gut-wrenching scene about a woman being lapidate to death because she had not conducted herself according to Islamic law. Another bestseller entitled Reading Lolita in Tehran chronicles a womens book club that must meet clandestinely to read Western books that have been outlawed by the Islamic fundamentalists in power at the time.Texts such as these lead us to believe that Islam is an antiquated and oppressive religion that is forced upon people by their governments. If people do willingly participate in Islamic rituals, media sources often jump to the conclusion that they have been brainwashed to do so. Yet Tysons term tells an entirely different story about Muslims in Turkmenistan who risked persecution at the hands of the Soviet government to worship at sacred shrines. Thus the article very much helps to balance out the often unilateral depiction of theocra tic states that force fundamentalist Islam onto its powerless subjects.Not only did the article expand my locating as to the different contexts in which Muslims have practiced their faith, David Tyson also broadened my idea of how Muslims worship. While mosques, prayer rugs and spectral observances such as Ramadan are very much part of the image depicted by the media, I was not aware that pilgrimages had so much religious significance. Tyson details the many holy sites that are profound to Turkmens and shows how they played such an important role in preserving Islam in the face of the Soviet Union that sought-after(a) to eradicate it from their empire.