The first time I learned about Islam was when I worked at a university in the Midwest. I had multiple international friends, some of whom were Muslim, and we started discussing differences and similarities in our religions. We had a variety of friends who identified as Jewish, Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Evangelical, Muslim, and agnostic.
Many of the conversations started with sharing confusing or difficult interactions we had with people from our same faith. For instance, whenever I had questions about Christianity, I was told that if I had questions, I was doubting God. There was no room for learning because all they expected was a memorize and regurgitate method of faith. Once we started talking about our religions, we began to understand the beautiful things in each and what logic was motivating that religious practice.
After taking a Bible as Literature course in college, I recognized how little logic and actual understanding was supporting my faith. How could I believe the Bible to be the “living word of God” if it had simple contradictions and depicted a reactionary and human god who was supposedly perfect? How does 3 equal 1 (the Trinity)? I’ve always been bad at math, but that equation was farfetched for even me.
I began researching other religions after that course and researched for 6 years until I found Islam. Ironically, given it’s an Abrahamic religion along with Christianity and Judaism, Islam was the last on my list to explore. But as I read the Qur’an, I began to see what my faith had been missing for so long; sound logic that supported Allah’s mercy as the center of my faith.
Learning Islam 