Misunderstandings

When I began this blog I had the intention to discuss my photography projects and flush out ideas. While I have not been quite so forthcoming with the photography (I am still very protective of my work until it is finalized) I have certainly flush out my thoughts and feelings.
This has been a positive experience in many ways, namely I have gotten in contact and made a stronger connection with family, friends, my friends families, etc.
One thing that I feel I can talk openly about on this blog is my spirituality and religion. Normally, in everyday conversation I am careful to not discuss religion unless I am around other friends who are religious as well. I think this comes from being in a very secularized environment. It also come from some of the backlash I've received when I do talk about it- people tend to think that if you talk about your religion you are out to convert them. I have also had family members who are Christians tell me they believe I will burn in the hell fires because I am not Christian.
There many common misunderstandings about Islam, one of which came up recently, that I feel obliged to clarify. I have heard a number of times that I have chosen the "wrong" god, or that my "choice in gods" does not appeal to/agree with the other persons. Muslims believe that there is only one God. Allah in Arabic translates to "the God". We believe that Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the same God. The one God, Allah, sent prophets to all people on this planet. We believe that there were many prophets, including Jesus, Moses, Abraham, and Jonas to name a few. We believe that the there have been other prophets as well to reach all people in all locations on the planet. Some Muslim scholars even believe that Buddha was a prophet- this is debated and contested and not widely accepted, however it does make sense to me taking texts like the Tao Te Ching into consideration.
Muslims do not believe it is necessary for Jews, Christians or anyone from a monotheistic faith needs to convert to Islam. We believe that anyone following the teachings of Jesus, for example, is following the teachings of God.
In every prayer of everyday we state the Muslim declaration of faith, the shahada, "Ash-hau anla elaha illa-allah wa ash-hadu anna Mohammadan rasul-allah". This translates to "I bear witness that there is no deity (none truly to be worshipped) but God, and I bear witness that Mohammad is the messenger of God".
This brings me to my next point- we believe that the prophet Mohammad, peace and blessings upon him, is the last an final prophet. We believe that while Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary, of immaculate conception, he is not the son of God. We believe that God is singular unto himself- The Qu'ran states "...he begets not, nor is he begotten, and there are none like unto him".
So, the long and short of it- we have a difference in opinion about the prophets, but there is only one God and we all worship the same God.
I've had people ask me why I chose to convert to Islam given the religion itself states this is not necessary. The answer is once I started to study the Qu'ran and the hadith (the words, teachings and actions of the prophet Mohammed)I felt like I had discovered the truth- it made sense to me. When I was a practicing Christian, I always questioned the idea of Christianity being the one and only path to God and salvation. What about all the people on planet Earth who were alive before Jesus was born? What about all the people who, previous to modern day communications, did not access to a bible or a Christian teacher?
The rituals are also important to me. For example, fasting for the month of Ramadan feels like the right and correct thing to do. Stopping five times during the day and offering uninterrupted prayer also feels like the right and correct thing to do. I realize there are many devout Christians out there who have similar forms of worshiping, however I believe that Islam, while maybe not the correct choice for everyone, is the correct choice for me.