I admit that the attraction of Islam is beyond my understanding. Everyday people are flocking to this religion, dismissing modern civilization, and joining the brutality and hardships of the past. What are they looking for? What does Islam provide for them?
Friends tell me that the people joining Islam are the destitute, homeless, poverty stricken and illiterate that live under despotic governments, and that they look to Islam as a community of other people who want to share their misery.
I don't buy that. My experience indicates that intelligent and wealthy people also (are joining or already) have accepted Islam as their religion. It is, perhaps surprisingly, a fact that Islam has an equal attraction for rich and poor. The question is; what is it?
This video is at once impressive and frightening. It contains excellent pictures of Islamic pilgrims carrying out their duty.
In the western world we tend to accentuate the elements of Islam that go against modern beliefs. It is true that Islam is intolerant, inflates the power of men, reduces the power and person of women, allows illiterate Imams to direct their life styles, and usually functions within the medieval brutality of Sharia Law. Not one of these elements is considered acceptable in the modern world.
So what attracts?
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