Having watched Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think, I learned many things about Islamic culture and values in different countries. For example, I have learned that, contrary to the common perceptions of the Sharia law, this concept is seen by the majority of Muslims as the rule of law based on the Islamic values. It was also interesting for me to learn about one of the major reasons why Muslim world is often associated with fear, horror, and terrorism. This is in large part caused by the fact that Muslims are over-represented as militants by the U.S. news media. While 57% of the people portraying Islam are presented as militants, there is only 1% of them in the global Muslim community (Unity Productions Foundation). Finally, I have learned that the small percentage of Muslims who do demonstrate radical attitudes towards the western world and other nationalities are politically motivated. This also opposes commonly accepted views about the religious causes driving extreme Muslim radicals to act violently.
Political, religious, and social causes are at the root of many tensions the film identifies between the Western world and Muslims. Most of these tensions, however, are the result of stereotypes and misconceptions about Muslim people and Islam in general. For example, many people in the US lack knowledge about the Islamic culture and values, and their opinions are based solely on the acts of violence carried out by some Muslim radicals. Tensions therefore arise from the fact that the people and the government associate the entire Muslim population with these horrifying acts, while the vast majority of Muslims actually condemns violence against civilians. Another aspect causing tensions is the fact that the Muslim world is often seen by the West as the culture that does not share democratic values, such as free speech, gender justice, and representative government. The poll has shown, however, that the majority of Muslims around the world strive to protect these values.
Work Cited
Unity Productions Foundation. “Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think.” 2018, Web.