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 next-highest 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.