Is Islam a religion or is it a cultural and political movement?

Fred Bauder: Is Islam a religion or is it a cultural and political movement?
I have been reading “Islam for Dummies”, and on page 15 it says, “Islam isn’t just a religion of individuals bound together for spiritual pursuits and guidance. Instead, Islam attempts to organize all aspects of human society.” The United States constitution guarantees freedom of religion but forbids the establishment of religion. Islam, it seems, can only be fully realized if it is the established religion. Can Muslims live happily and successfully in a state which denies full expression of their religion?

Answers and Views:

Answer by poly001
o_O

Answer by Nicholas
Islam is a religion but, yes, it does require adhering to a certain lifestyle. However, it does not need to be an established religion of a nation in order for adherents to fully realize this.

Answer by Hypn 0_0 ticX
Islam is not merely a religion. Its a deen. The arabic word deen is used in holy Quran. And Allâh said its the only deen accepted to Him. So this deen means A Way of life. If a robber robs then it is his deen. It is his way of life. So Islam is the only deen accepted to Allâh. The only way of life accepted to Allâh. And islam is a complete,simple and middle way of life for achieving success and satisfaction.

Answer by Anwar
Islam posits the existence of absolute truths. Where these truths are denied,we are called on to seek lawful and legitimate means to work towards the establishment of these truths. In that way its a political movement perhaps. Example of these axiomatic truths are: God is one; all of mankind are equal; etc.

The battle for the hearts and minds of society (da’wa) is very much part of a Muslim’s religious devotion.

Answer by banana00cream
Islam is a way of life, Simple as.

Answer by Fatima
Great question Fred.

If would be illegal if the US grant Sharia law status to Muslims who live in the US because it would be pushing two different laws.
Very few Muslim majority countries are run by Sharia laws; so does Islam and Saria Law come in a complete package?? No!
First of all, many of the elements of Sharia laws are not supported by the Holy Quran. Of course there are good laws about hygiene, modesty, food, etc …etc which could be practiced by Muslims that would no affect on the US constitution; but many civic laws can cause confusion.

The fundamental message of the Holy Quran is to submit to God and spread peace and love throughout the world. Sharia Law is mostly old eastern traditions which may have no relevance to modern society.
The true expression of islam is definitely not in Sharia civic laws that says to stone women to death and cut off hands of thieves.

Answer by Scruffy Scirocco
Islam is a totalitarian political system wrapped in the guise of a religion. The head of State is/was Muhammad. Like North Korea, soviet Russia, communist China, and Cuba, all citizens must bear total loyalty to the dictator – to the point of being cult-like. Indeed, if you look at the defining characteristics of a cult, many religions have some of them, cults usually have most of them, but only Islam has all of them.

As a totalitarian political system, it of course cannot co-exist with a political system based on freedom and liberty. The advantages of freedom and Liberty seduce the average population away from the totalitarian state, thus undermining the absolute control of the totalitarian state. Totalitarian regimes in contact with free people must either moderate – as China has done; isolate -as north Korea has done; or collapse – as the Soviet Union did.

Islam cannot moderate without undermining the very foundation of Islam. Either Allah was right, or it’s all a crock. They cannot isolate, because they are too large and diverse and too dependent on international trade. They’re therefore in a struggle for survival with the ideology of the West. They must either defeat the forces of liberty and freedom, or collapse. Defeating the west is a long-shot strategy, especially if it’s attempted through force of arms and terrorism. Islam flourished as long as it was militarily superior to it’s enemies. That is by no means the case today, and it simply cannot compete ideologically, all the false claims of being the fastest growing religion notwithstanding.

Since the full expression of Islam is only realized through complete superiority – i.e. Muslims must always be in control of non-muslims, no devout muslim can be happy in the west. Indeed, if you read Wafa Sultan’s book, “A God Who Hates”, the friendly exterior exhibited by many muslims in the US to Non-Muslims is a facade, and among themselves they express derision and dissatisfaction with America and Americans. Which causes me to wonder “Why are you here then? No one invited you, but when you came we welcomed you. If you don’t like it, go back to wherever it is you hailed from. There are plenty of people who love America who want to come here and take your place.”

Answer by sakota
Hmm, good question. You will often hear from Muslims that Islam is not just a religion but a ‘whole way of life.’ I think this is due to the fact that the traditions, sayings and basically every aspect of Muhammad’s (pbuh) life was recorded and we are required to emulate these as he was the perfect character, according to the Quran. It is a whole way of life i guess, as we are given guidance on what to do in the bedroom to what to do in the bathroom. But it’s not like these smaller things are obligatory. Muhammad (pbuh) said that religion is very easy, so don’t overburden yourself.
And yes, i do not think Islam can be dominated. But we are able to live under secular and even Christian governments as plenty of Muslims living in the West are happy with their situation. It’s not like we are forced to engage in illicit sexual activities, eat pork or drink alcohol in these countries. These may be shoved in our faces on a daily basis in the media and in the popular culture here but we aren’t forced into partaking in any activities that are forbidden in our religion. There would however be an uproar if we weren’t allowed to pray or fast for example. But this is not the case in these countries.
Lastly, Islam is flexible and can be interpretated in a myriad of ways by different people, as is the case with any major religion. That’s why you’ll find Muslims in various political movements all over the world.

Answer by net lord
islam is a DEEN and teach us TOHEED

Answer by Darkjewel the Shadowwarrior
The book is kind of right.
Islam really is ‘a complete way of life.’
The definition of Islam means submission to the will of Allah(by the way, Allah is really just the Arabic word for the one true God. Just that in Arabic, the word ”Allah” has no plural or gender, so that’s why we use it. In Islam, polytheism or attributing partners to Allah is the WORST sin, it’s Unforgivable, unless if you’ve just converted to Islam[which would erase all your previous sins])
—>back to the question…
Yeah, so in Islam, there is like a way to do practically anything. From putting on your shoes, to praying at the right times, and even cutting your nails…
But you also need to know that us Muslims are commanded to follow a middle path. Like, not asceticism, but also not too engrossed in this world and life. So we know that we aren’t expected to do EVERY SINGLE thing in the religion. We just do what we can, to the best of our ability.

For example, I live in the West, in a non-Islamic country, but I still wear hijab and pray. My religion doesn’t block me from many things.

However, if I lived in an Islamic country, there would be no banks that deal with interest(which is forbidden for us), or I wouldn’t have to deal with finding out if what I want to eat is haram or halal. Living in an Islamic state would make things easier, but it’s not impossible to live in a non-Islamic state and still follow your religion.

We do what we can, the best we can.

I hope I helped you.
And thank you for actually taking the time to learn about our religion in a time when the only thing people hear is “Muslims are bad!” or “Terrorists!” or any of the other misconceptions about our religion.
Once again, I hope I helped you.
Have a good day/night!

Answer by Lightning
search youtube for “Islam for the dummies” videos, they’re soooooooooo cool and convincing

Islam is not only a religion, nor is it a cult, it’s a way of life!

Peace

Answer by Peace
>>Is Islam a religion or is it a cultural and political movement?<>Can Muslims live happily and successfully in a state which denies full expression of their religion?<<

Yes, why not? But only Minority of Muslims live abroad. Islam already.

Islam = submission to God in peace

Muslim = the one who submits to God in peace.

Answer by Josh
I say it is a religion. if it WAS a political government. they should create laws for themselves. they would think that they are all powerful and not believe in Allah.

Answer by zena e. The best is yet to be
Islam addresses itself as a RELGION

https://www.islamreligion.com/

ISLAM IS A RELIGION
Islam (Arabic: الإسلام‎ al-’islām, pronounced [ʔislæːm] ( listen)[note 1]) is the religion articulated by the Qur’an, a religious book considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of the single incomparable God (Arabic: الله‎, Allāh), and by the Prophet of Islam Muhammad’s demonstrations and real-life examples (called the Sunnah, collected through narration of his companions in collections of Hadith). Islam literally means submission to God (see Islam (term)).[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam

Answer by Jesus is not a Muslim
It’s all of the above and more. Muslims call it their deen, which means “the path”. It’s Allah’s way about every aspect of life.

The culture of a people is their dress, traditions, food, ceremonies, language, etc. and Islam covers every single one of those things and more, down to whether to color your hair or not, pluck body hair, what language to pray in (Arabic only), who to be friends with (not Christians or Jews). When Muslims complain that people aren’t following Islam, but culture when atrocities are committed, they usually forget to mention that the culture is an Islamic one to begin with.

If you look at the Quran, you will see chapters (surahs) such as Surah 88.AL-ANFAL (SPOILS OF WAR, BOOTY). I guess distribution of property after wars is covered, Surah 48 48.AL-FATH (VICTORY, CONQUEST), 65 65.AT-TALAQ (DIVORCE), 66 66.AT-TAHRIM (BANNING, PROHIBITION). A few examples.

Religion is only a part of Islam. There is no separation of mosque and state. That’s the scary part.