With over 1.

2 billion believers, Islam is currently the second

largest faith and also the fastest growing religion in the world. Mr.
Kelimu Mamuti is a faithful Muslim. He is 56 years old. He lives in
Urumqi, Xinjiang, China. He is the owner of a Uygur restaurant chain
called the Miraj. Kelimu is a friend of my family. He was born in an
Islamic family, and although he grew with some doubts towards Islam
in his twenties, he still chose to devote himself to Islam in his thirties.
According to Mr. Kelimu, Islam is a religion of love and wisdom.
Islam is responsible for the whole world and every ones life (Kelimu).
Muslims also believe in an afterlife, The afterlives of Islam are heaven
and hell. A person may die, but his soul will never die, a persons soul
will undertake the good and evil things he did in life (Kelimu). Mr.
Kelimu believes that All Muslim should respect the elderly, love others,
follow Allahs rules, and respect their parents. We Muslims advocate
equality between all humans, to be kind to all created things, and
respect women. Muhammad in 7th century Saudi Arabia founded
Muslim. Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based upon the
Qur'an, a religious text considered by its adherents to be the word of
God (Allh), and, for the vast majority of adherents, by the teachings
and normative example of Muhammad, considered by most of them to
be the last prophet of God.
Although Mr. Kelimu was born in a Muslim family, he had a few
doubts in his twenties about Islam. He confessed, I was born in an

Islamic family, but I left home and the Islamic communities at the age
of 15, and stayed in Shanghai and Guangzhou until the age of 30.
During these 15 years, I have some doubts towards Islam, and I also
wanted to learn more about other religions, and so I did. But after
comparing these religions, I unswervingly chose Islam as my only
faith (Kelimu). He then explained why he chose Islam, According to
my shallow learning, Buddhism is a meaningful philosophy, and
Christianity is a religion, but Islam is not just a religion, it is a way of
living, and this is why I chose Islam (Kelimu). Through Mr. Kelimus
comparative study of the different religions, I can see that Islam does
have many interesting ways to make people believe in its doctrines
inspire of initial doubt and contemplation.
When asked about Islams views on violence, Mr. Kelimu replied,
From the past to the end of the world, Islam always opposes violence,
unless the dignity of Muslims is harmed or when our territories are
under attack (Kelimu).It is a tragedy that Muslims are synonymously
associated with violence. Due to the terrible acts committed by ISIS,
many people consider Muslims as terrorists. But the truth is, Muslims
oppose ISIS as much as adherents of any other religion. Right now the
soldiers fighting ISIS on the ground are from Islamic countries, so its
not fair to say that Islamic people are terrorists. My interviewee
believes that the proper understanding of the Quran will lead to a
peaceful world and no conflicts or any kind of misunderstandings

towards Islam. Misinterpretations of the scriptures is used as a tool by

extremists to incite violence against people. A proper understanding
and respect for the tradition would ensure world peace.

Today, Islam is the fastest growing religions in the world. The

population of Muslims is expected to increase by 73%, from 1.6 billion
in 2010 to 2.8 billion in 2050. By 2050, Muslims will be nearly as
numerous as Christians, who are projected to remain the worlds
largest religious group at 31.4% of the global population.
(Pewresearch.org) The main reason for Islams growth is that Muslims
have more children than the other major religious groups. Each Muslim
woman has an average of 3.1 children, significantly above the nexthighest group, Christians at 2.7, and the average of all non-Muslims,
2.3. (Pewresearch.org) .
The interviewee gave new insights into the religion of Islam and
the way of life. Although I agree with the principles of love, equality
and respect for the individual but these principles overall would not
persuade me to follow all the beliefs of Islam. I feel that Islam is a way
of living is not convincing enough because it is portrayed as a word of
god which is a religious belief. In my opinion, way of life is identified by
the culture of the country where people live in like American way of
living, African way of living and not by the religion which people follow.
The religious teachings or the concept of an afterlife do sound

wonderful in theory but are not conclusive enough to be adopted as a

basis of day-to-day life. I believe that the results of my actions in this
life will have a bearing in this life itself .

I do not believe in the religious teachings of Islam or any other religion

in general. The vast majority of Muslims are good people like Mr.
Kelimu. It is sad that they are considered same as religious fanatics
who are incited to violence by negative elements in the society.
Majority of muslims are just like people of any other religion,
moderately religious and lead a moral and peaceful life following
religious principles.