Bush Bunch Book Club - Book #2 - "No God But God: The Origin, Evolution, and Future of Islam"

On Friday night we attended the Bush Bunch Book Club via Google Hangout (see THIS post for a brief description of our first book club meeting) to discuss, "No God But God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam" by Reza Aslan.  I chose to listen to the book in audio form because I couldn't pronounce any of the Arabic names/words and I loved listening to the poetic voice of the Arab man who read it.

After working out our technical difficulties with the Google Hangout, we thoroughly enjoyed a discussion with my family all over the globe (Singapore, Washington DC, Irvin, Mountain View, Salt Lake, Logan, St. George and Mesquite) about the religion of Islam and many of the startling similarities between Mormonism and Islamic beliefs.  For example - did you know that the Five Pillars of Islam correlate with some of the core practices of Latter Day Saints?  The Five Pillars are the following:

1) Salat (daily praying)

2) Zakat (almsgiving - think fast offerings/tithing for Mormons)

3) Ramadan (fasting)

4) Hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca which could correlate abstractly to a Mormon's spiritual mortal journey or, since the restored gospel, the call to "Come to Zion")

5) Shahada (which is the Islamic creed that declares "There is no god but God" which denotes a monotheistic belief in a single God, just as we believe that Heavenly Father is the one and only true God)

   

Pictures of Mecca

Photo Credit: HERE

I am so glad that we chose to read this book as a family because I learned SO much about the religion of Islam and Middle Eastern culture.  It was so eye opening to hear about their tribal traditions spanning thousands of years, the history of the house of Ishmael, the mystical origins of the Kaba (the black cube pictured above in Mecca and the holiest place for Muslims), and especially the life of the prophet Mohammad and the evolution of the Islamic religion.

I felt so ignorant as I learned that the term "holy war" is not a Muslim term and that nowhere in the Koran does it say anything about the mandatory veiling of women except for a reference to Mohammad's wives who wanted to be covered due to the fact that their home was constantly being utilized as a mosque and gathering place for his followers and they wanted some form of privacy.  Really, that's just scratching the surface.  I was astonished by how much I did not know about a religion practiced by nearly 20% of the world's population and that, since 9/11 has been the focus of so much criticism and fear.  

Another reason I loved reading this book was because of how much love and respect both of my brothers have for the Islamic culture.  My brother Elijah lived in Germany for 3 years finishing his PhD and his entire thesis was about Germans who had converted to Islam.  He conducted dozens of interviews, spent countless hours at mosques and studying the religion of Islam.  Meanwhile, my brother Gabriel has been fascinated with the Middle East since he was in elementary school.  He speaks Arabic, spent a summer in Jordan, has studied the Koran and went to law school with the goal of studying international law and one day moving to the Middle East to become a part of the solution to the political chaos that sometimes prevails.  He is currently doing an internship with The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in Washington DC while he goes to George Washington Law School and he is specifically working on litigation for Islamic religious freedoms both state side and internationally.  

I have always felt so uneducated when I talk to my brothers about their passionate interest in Islam and this book was the perfect introduction to some of the basic history and philosophy of a religion that has evaded my understanding for so long.  For those of you out there who don't feel like you know much about this part of the world/their culture/religion, I would highly recommend reading this book.

My favorite question that my Dad asked us to ponder about the book was the following: "The word Jihad literally means "A struggle, striving or great effort".  The greater jihad is the struggle of the soul, to overcome the sinful obstacles that keep a person from God.  What is YOUR jihad?"  What a wonderful question and I have been pondering on it all day.