“INVITE ALL TO THE WAY OF LORD, WITH WISDOM AND BEAUTIFUL PREACHING, AND ARGUE WITH THEM IN WAYS THAT ARE BEST AND MOST GRACIOUS!”

(AL-QURAN 16:125)

Islam is a universal religion. It is meant for all mankind. ALLAH is the Lord of the whole universe. Therefore, Muslims have been allotted with the duty of conveying his message to the entire universe. To develop a better image of Islam among all humans, we should be very sensitive towards our duty. Revealing Islam as the best code of life, we should share its preaching to whom this knowledge is not yet conveyed.

In most of the cases, it is usually not sufficient to mention only positive aspects of Islam. As many non-Muslims are not convinced with this positive nature of Islam because there are few questions at the back of their minds which are remained unanswered. For the time, they may agree with your contentions, but deep in their minds they have few ambiguities; like the possibilty of marrying more than one woman by Muslim men. During preaching, we should give a free hand to non-Muslims to reveal their points of view and criticism.

To prove Islam as the best religion of the world, Muslims need to take some physical and mental steps.

Muslims should read Quran every day. As the Quran is a direct speech of ALLAH. It’s a way of guidance for Muslims. Islam emphasizes on treating people gently. Islam strictly prohibits terrorism. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said :

“Don’t kill women and children and non-combatants and don’t kill old people or religious people ….”

Muslims, therefore, request from the media and the people not to use annoying phrases such as “Muslim terrorists” when mentioning a terrorist attack.

According to Islamic teachings, men and women should be treated and respected equally so that this world comes to know that Muslims are not cruel, instead Muslims are against brutality. Muslims should allow their women equally to seek knowledge and education. Since from the beginning of Islam, there were no restrictions and prohibition for women to seek education and employments.

Muslims must be clean to represent their religion as purity is half of faith. A Muslim should never miss his prayer and try to pray at MASJID as much as possible. Muslims can show Islam as the best religion for all mankind by uniting the Muslims around the world. ALLAH said in the Quran:

“Hold fast altogether by the rope which ALLAH (stretches out for you) and be not divide among yourselves: and remember with gratitude Allah’s favor on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love so that by His grace ye became brethren”. (Verse 013, Al-i-Imran).

Muslims should avoid division by ignoring all kind of local nationalism. Muslims are largely divided due to their sectarian beliefs in the name of Islam. By taking these measures, Muslims can influence the image of Islam and show it as the best religion of the world.

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I love to write creative articles. I have been writing on different social and religious topics for 2 years now. Give me a creative topic and I will write it for you.

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Islam is a religion of peace and was once a very rapidly growing religion. The followers of Islam are known as Muslims who believe in one God, Allah and that the Prophet Muhammad was the last messenger of Allah. They also believe in the day of judgment, the resurrection, life after death, heaven and hell. There are 12 months in the Islamic calendar which are followed by the sightings of the moon. The months include Mohram, Safar, Rabi-UL-Awal, Rabi-UL-Sani, Jamati-UL Awal, Jamati-UL Sani, Rajab, Shaban, Ramadan, Sahwal, Zikat, Zil Hajj. Rabbi-UL-Awal holds immense importance because the Prophet Muhammad was born this day and died on this date as well. Ramadan is a holy month in which a fast is observed throughout the month. Shawal is the month of festivals with the celebration of Eid. Zil Hajj is the month where millions of Muslims come together in Makkah (Saudia Arabia) to perform Haj and people sacrifice animals to honor Hazarat Ibrahim’s sacrifice.

Islam is a very peaceful religion, but in the past decade, its image has been destroyed. This is because of the Islamic extremist terrorist groups and the groups who have spread their terrorism around the globe. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda have been involved in many terrorism acts and are some of the biggest criminals in the world. They have been claiming that what they are doing is right and that they are doing it in the way of Allah. They call their terrorism Jihad. In actuality, all of this is false, and Allah has not ordered his men to fight or spread violence around the world.

These terrorists are just using Islam as an excuse to spread terrorism. People in the west have a very bad perspective regarding the religion of Islam. Especially the Americans and Europeans. To erase these false thoughts about Islam and make its reputation good again among the people, America has contributed a lot in restoring the image of Islam. Their contributions are that they have translated the Quran into the English language so that people can better understand it. Now, English people can also read and understand the message of the Quran with ease.

There are various movies and documentaries showing the correct image of Islam. Various seminars and gatherings are held in which people are teaching others about all of the religious and historical events and the teachings of the Quran. President Obama has hosted Ramadan after parties and Eid parties in the White House and invited different Muslims to a grand dinner and celebrated with them. President Obama is working to remove the confusion and misunderstanding between Americans and Muslims. However, the performance of the USA is very poor regarding Palestine and Kashmir. It is very important that they help to restore the peace in Palestine and Kashmir.

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We still have not forgotten the attack on Pearl Harbor US by Japan on 7th December 1941. The operation was given the name “Hawaii Operation”. The entire operation was kept secret. The target was the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor. 353 Japanese fighters participated in the operation with bombers and torpedo planes. This attack and assault gave the American people a shock and paved their path to enter in the World War 2.

September 11, 2001 attacks, also referred to as 9/11 attacks, by the Islamic Al-Qaeda group on twin towers of world trade center moved the Americans again. It is a wise saying that history repeats itself. These attacks took the people of America in the history…the terrible Hawaii operation. More than 3,000 people died in the 9/11 twin tower attacks. It is said that the world has completely changed after 9/11.The attacks caused serious damage to the economy of the world as a whole. The next day, US print and electronic media was flooded with the headlines like “Day of terror”, “War on terror has begun”, “Acts of War”, “Darkest hour”, “Our nation saw evil”, America’s bloodiest day” and many more like that. This event changed the perception of Islam to the new horizon.

Two years later, reason being given September 11 attacks, US invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003 claiming that Iraq had the weapons of mass destruction. United States alleged these weapons a great threat to the security of people of America. By this, a never ending WAR ON TERROR by United States had started which is still continuing even after the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

After this incident, the perception of Islam and soft image of Muslims damaged badly just because of the few militant Muslims. They put the Muslims of all over the world in an unending problematic, awkward, tough and challenging situation. Muslims were treated like terrorists in the western world especially in America after 9/11. Muslim community there could not even feel sorry and express their grief to the frightened Americans just because they were Muslims. They faced the hardest time of their lives over there.

The circumstances are almost same even today. US Muslims are still striving to get their image back. The psychological and emotional trauma led the Americans to develop the hatred feelings for Muslims. Muslims are still paying for few terrorist acts. The people of Iraq and Afghanistan suffered a lot during this era. Pakistan is also in state of fear and misery after announcing itself a strategic partner of US against terrorists. This war on terror took millions of lives in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Every Muslim in the America was asked as if he/she was associated with Al-Qaeda or had links with Osama Bin Laden. Muslims living there for even years and decades were seen as aliens. The same was the case with the Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor attacks. They were misunderstood, disgraced and treated as strangers. They had to show their identity when asked anywhere anytime. Same happened after twin tower attacks. The people of Muslim communities had to register themselves. Many American-Muslims were taken by FBI after 9/11 for no reason just on the basis of doubt and were kept not for days or months but for years. This is how the perception of Islam distorted negatively.

But not to forget, American Japanese united together and strive a lot to recoup their image and status in America. They condemned against the unfair treatment by the government and people of America at every forum and defended their civil rights. They realized that they need to speak out and become more vigorous to defend themselves. Many Muslim communities, organizations and associations in America have also taken steps to get back their identity. They voice their opinion in the media, politics and social forums to reclaim their positive representation and to participate in the society for a better future of America and to make world believe that they are the peace lovers.

Time will tell that will they succeed to change the perception of Islam as a religion of peace and harmony in the western society or not?

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