I'm a Muslim, like nearly all Pakistanis. Everyone seems to think Muslims are fanatics. This really bugs me. There are people in every religion who think they are right and take things to extremes, it's just not fair to think that it's only Muslims.
Our 'churches' are called Mosques, and you can come with me sometime to visit our local one if you like. We call our religion Islam, and it covers a big part of the world Most British Muslims have got roots in Pakistan and Bangladesh , but a lot come from India as well.
To me being a Muslim means that I believe in God, and that Mohammed was his messenger or prophet. There are five really important rules we follow, mostly from our holy book the Qu'ran (Koran). We call them the five pillars of Islam, and they are supposed to affect the way we live our lives:
- We believe that Allah is the one true God and that Mohammed was his messenger;
- We have to pray to Allah five times every day (salah);
- For a month every year, during what we call 'Ramadan', we fast during daylight hours. This is to remind us that food is a gift from God and to make us remember that not everyone has enough to eat (saum);
- We should give help to the poor (zakat);
- We should make at least one pilgrimage in our lives to Mecca, the holy city of Muslims (hajj).
There are some other things that affect us as well. We cannot eat some foods, like ham or pork, because the pig is considered an unclean animal. We are not allowed to drink alcohol or take drugs. There are strict rules about sex so anything outside marriage is considered really sinful. Some people believe that the wrong sort of music and dancing can stir up bad thoughts, so they're sort of disapproved of by strict Muslims.
We believe that since it is impossible to imagine what God can be like, it is bad to try to draw him, so Muslims never do. Some Muslims take this further and say people shouldn't draw people either, since it's trying to copy the work of God.
