9781422281161

I SLAM AND THE W EST

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The people who ask these questions often know very little about Islam, the history of the relationships between Muslim and Western coun- tries, or the current relationships between the United States and the Muslim world. They may not realize that Islam is the fastest-growing reli- gion in the world. There are nearly 2 billion Muslims—about 24 percent of the global population—making Islam the world’s second-largest reli- gion. And Muslims are not strange people living in faraway lands—there are thriving Muslim communities throughout North America. Today, it is estimated that between three million and eight million Muslims live in the United States, making Islam the third-largest religion in the country. Another million Muslims live in Canada. For more than 1,400 years, the Muslim and Western worlds have interacted. Some of today’s areas of conflict are rooted in events that took place hundreds of years ago. An understanding of the past will help peo- ple of all faiths and nationalities to better understand current events, and make it possible for people to live and work together, to respect and appreciate each other, and to thrive together as members of a multicul- tural global society.

Text-Dependent Questions 1. What mosque did Barack Obama visit in February 2016? 2. About how many Muslims live in the United States? How many live in Canada?

Research Project There are many different definitions of what terrorism is. Each person in your class should research recent news items to find examples of terrorist acts. Discuss these examples. Keeping in mind the contexts of the attacks, as well as the ideologies of the groups that committed them, what are the common elements, and how is each one different? Ask members of the group to try to define terrorism, and discuss the pros and cons of each definition. Consider the following questions: What differentiates terrorists from warriors, freedom fighters, or patriots? Is any attack on civilians a terrorist act? When governments bomb cities, is it terrorism?