I will not be speaking for anyone else here and my words are not meant to be taken as authoritative. In fact, my position in this group is only one of help, the group needed leadership due to the absence of its leader and in this manner I was brought alongside Aya to do whatever I could, so long as necessary. The moment our leader returns, I will be demoting myself. For additional background, I will say that I was living in Mexico without access to AncientWorlds while this group was conceived, so I have had no part in its creation - and I feel adament that makes me only just a member with good interest, as is everyone else here, I hope.

And as a sidenote, while this may not seem to be the most proper place for a post such as this, I believe that this has been the group's discussion center and so it will remain.

There has been an endless discussion as to whether or not this group was ever, at all, a good idea. I imagine our creator, Salah, was of the intent that it is a dreadful shame that Islam was absent at AW despite the deep impact it has had on world history. This was certainly the thought I had when joining the group. As a Westerner it is difficult for me to get an unadultered view of Islam in this day and age of tireless detractors and advocates promoting their causes to heigher and higher levels to bury the other. As a college student I at least have an environment where the mainstream view is not necessarily the accepted view, and therefore debate and questioning abounds. This is the mindset with which I bring myself to AW.

Islam is important. I don't care if it's an examination of Islamic history, which is what this group is meant to be occupied with, or a socio-economic-political discussion of the present day world. I would expect those interested in this group to come here with a general interest to learn and explore. Do I have an undying fascination with Islam, no not really. I simply find it interesting. I am not Muslim nor will I quite likely ever be a Muslim, but that does not mean I cannot adequately discuss and learn about its history, culture, beliefs, and people.

I am an American, I experienced 9/11. I've seen what it did to people. I've known people affected by the so-called War on Terrorism and now a high school friend of mine is soon to go to Iraq as I read about lethal bombings there almost weekly. Many people are impacted by the events of the world and respond to them in different ways to them. Four years ago I sat seething in a classroom watching two smoking towers and hearing a teacher say over and over "They're gonna pay". I had no doubts then, nor now, over who they was. However since then I have sought to understand what is happening in the world to prompt such acts. I argue constantly with people who suggest that we carpet the Mid-East with bombs (such a novel American mentality/foreign policy - "bomb'em"). They don't seem to get it that the real problem here is the West and the things it has done to oppress and marginalize the people it doesn't care about.

I'm not here to say Islam is perfection. Nothing is perfection. I, personally, do think there should be some consideration of what Islam has within its system of beliefs. I don't care if it contradicts what my Christian upbringing says or if it insults my Western consciousness. I will not scowl if my most fundamental human beliefs are refuted by something I learn while researching Islam. It is what it is, if I make the decision to learn about something I need to recognize their will be things I don't agree with. I'm not a Muslim and therefore I have no place to be an Islamic reformer.

I don't want to fixate on the pitfalls of Islam and I can do that without being mindless or ignorantly thinking there aren't problems within Islam. Maybe I do have the right to state my beliefs and post things which correspond with them. I certainly can find a source on the unedited Internet that agrees with me. But that's not me, and that's not my interest. I'm interested in why Islam is important to the world, and I don't think it got there by being a dreadful set of principles.

The title of this group isn't Islam for Westerners. This is a group for any and everyone to join and discuss Islam in. In this manner, there will be 1) Muslims in the group, and 2) a recognition that Muslims will inherently know more about Islam, and perhaps be more passionate about it than non-Muslims are. But I say, Hey, that's fantastic! What's better than having more diversity to give me a broader understanding and better learning experience? This is good so long as I'm an adult and recognize that there will be differences of opinion. I will have to be considerate of the sensativities that are going to exist here. I won't fixate on the negative nor say that those who contract me aren't interested in different points of view.

But I won't have to worry about that at all because I am researching Islam, posting bits of history and culture about Islam, accepting corrections and further detail from those who know more, and eagering receiving all the information I can from those who practice Islam and have intimately experienced Islam as I haven't. I will be conscious that what I say will have an important on people, and therefore maybe I won't post something that might be controversial. If there's something I really disagree with, I'm going to let it go. If I find that I don't have a good impression of Islam and that it's distracting my intentions here, I'm going to leave the group. I think it's a given that if I don't have good feelings for something, I really truly don't have good interest in it.

I don't see this group as being about me and what I want. I don't bring my preconceived notions here and stick to them. I'm ignorant, it's human to be ignorant, and so long as I recognize that, I should get by okay. Additionally, there are people who will know more than I do, and they will have reasons for knowing more. That's something to be respected too.