Places

Now we know that as Islam spread around the world

its way of life took on much of the culture that it found

at the same time that it was changing it.

So muslims in different parts of the world

can have quite different ideas about how to live the muslim deen,

as that depends on the local culture,

the climate, the landscape, local history,

and some muslims live in places where nearly everyone is muslim,

and some live where it's almost no-one

Mind you, when we talk about muslims

we mostly mean people who were born into a muslim family,

and whatever the culture there are always going to be

those who are always interested in knowing more about their Islam,

and those who don't really want to think too much about it,

what might be called births marriages and deaths muslms,

as those major life events are the only times

they really can't avoid thinking about what they believe.

There are muslims who live in a kind of islamic cultural comfort blanket

expressed as dress codes and cultural norms,

and external symbols of reverence for what is holy,

like wrapping the qur'an, in silk

and kissing it,

and placing it on a high shelf,

and all too often leaving all their concerns for an Islamic Deen

on the high shelf with it

as they go about their business.

So when considering what we mean by Islam and being muslim,

there's always more than one answer,

depending on the history of the culture in which it is set,

and even more so on the person that you ask.

And all the disagreements

that are the cause of wars between muslim majority countries,

can be seen on a local level

in disagreements between mosques in countries with muslim minorities.

So it is hard to imagine how to bridge those differences,

but tolerance is an essential part of the muslim way of life,

so we have to try,

and to do that means that we need to know two things,

how other people understand their Islam,

and how we understand Islam ourselves.

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