ISLAM IN TODAY'S WORLD Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

ISLAM IN TODAY'S WORLD - Research Paper Example Despite this view, there is plenty of sociological, anthropological, and political evidence to support the theory that there are very large differences between populations of Muslims in places like India, Indonesia, Iran, and Europe (Croucher, Turner, Anarbaeva, Oommen, & Borton, 2008). In each location, the practices of the Islamic faith are different in very significant ways, which could create some potential for conversation between Muslims and non-Muslims in these countries. A potentially fruitful aspect to look at specifically in the study of Islam in today’s world is examining how Islam is contrasted in its properties from Christianity and Judaism, and whether communication between these two sets of people is possible. It seems very likely that a healthy dialogue is very much possible, especially given the flattening of the world’s power structure and the coalescence around the global economy, as contrasted to economies centered on the religions of nations. Branch ing out from this topic, the hypothesis is offered stating that the development of the global economy will make communication a much more likely prospect and that is Muslims decide to reach out in terms of communication, the economic and political underdevelopment seen in primarily Muslim countries may be corrected. Thus, this is not only an exercise in cultural understanding and the factors that make this possible, but also a prescription for correcting some of the social ills in countries that reject communication with other faiths. The Effect of the Global Economy on Communication and Perceptions between Muslims and non-Muslims in the 21st Century Countries in the modern world may be underdeveloped for any number of reasons. These could include a lack of resources, natural disasters, or a manmade disaster such as a devastating war. Most of the time, however, countries are underdeveloped because of the philosophical stance they take toward other countries. In many cases, this phil osophical stance is the result of a religious exceptionalism measured above its neighbors. This religious view informs the political, and thus drives the country toward isolation. Iran, like many other countries in the Middle East, treats itself as superior because of its high level of integration of politics and religion. North Korea, even though it lacks an official religion, regardless treats the state itself as worthy of worship; thus, the country seeks isolation from the other nations of the world. This kind of isolation inevitably results in underdevelopment that creates an environment for both a lack of understanding of cultural differences and economic underdevelopment. The United States, which is relatively open to other cultures, has a high rate of economic development because the culture values the process of doing business more than the identities of those doing business. It seems that communication between different religions, particularly between Muslims and non-Muslim s, is a crucial aspect of the cultural understanding that is necessary for the Middle East and other predominantly Muslim countries to escape from under the weight of their underdevelopment. This requires a better cultural understanding of Muslims from the perspective of the non-Muslim, and an understanding of non-Muslims from the p