Muslim

Someone who follows the religion of Islam. Due to the actions of Islamic extremists in the past few years they are often stereotyped as terrorists. Most Muslims are peaceful people. Many forms of Islam are strict which is why Muslims dress in certain ways and do not eat things. They believe that their holy book the Qumran is the absolute teachings of God, who they call Allah. They believe that this message was received by the prophet Muhammad. Much like the bible, the Qumran encourages strict punishments to sinners and those who do not worship in the way they consider to be correct. Most Muslims do not act on these beliefs. A very small minority believe in the process of Jihad, which involves forcefully converting non-Muslims to Islam. Groups such as Al-Qaeda believe in this and have come to be seen as the stereotypical terrorists. A popular phrase is that most or all terrorists are Muslim, which is quite untrue. Many terrorists are Christians and other religions. Muslims believe in the rule of God over the rule of man, so many Islamic countries are led by royal families or religious leaders, and dictators. Another belief of Muslims is that the prophet Muhammad should never be depicted. Incidents in which this has happened have resulted in an uproar in the Muslim community, just as anti-Christian acts have caused protests in religiously conservative areas. People who believe that Muslims are all terrorists have probably never met a Muslim.