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

A Broadening Understanding of Islam - Essay Example In the bestselling The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, there is a gut-wrenching scene about a woman being stoned to death because she had not conducted herself according to Islamic law. Another bestseller entitled Reading Lolita in Tehran chronicles a women’s 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 Tyson’s article 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 one-sided depiction of theocratic states that force fundamentalist Islam onto its powerless subjects. Not only did the article expand my perspective 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 religious 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 significant to Turkmens and shows how they played such an important role in preserving Islam in the face of the Soviet Union that sought to eradicate it from their empire.