Imam Uthman Yang Xing Ben hopes that his book Understanding Islam will let the public gain an objective and more comprehensive view of the religion.
"Many people form the misunderstanding that adherents of Islam advocate violence. But that was only the conduct of individual radicals who acted in violation of Islamic teachings," he said.
"Islam has become the world's most misunderstood religion," he notes in his book, and "conflicts and disputes among ethnic groups are rooted in the failure to understand religious cultures."
Yang gave me a crash course on Islam, explaining that the word represents "peace, tranquility and safeness" with the additional meanings of "submission" and "obedience" added to the Arabic word salam or "peace."
Islam is the religion, and Muslims are its followers, who submit to the Creator, he explained to me.
"The prophet Muhammad did not found Islam but restored it. Born over 500 years after Jesus, at a time when Judaism and Christianity were already flourishing in the Arabian Peninsula, Muhammad restored Islam, and made Jerusalem a sacred place for the three major religions," he said.
The work of the prophet in restoring Islam is detailed in his book.
I queried why there appeared to be gender inequality in practice while Islam advocates "equality."
Yang told me: "If you go to a masjid, you can see all the worshippers leaving their shoes outside the door before going to the front. All who come to worship are treated the same, regardless of identity and status.
"Many Islamic countries are highly respectful of women," he continued.
"Women are given priority in queues or don't even have to be in a queue. On the bus, they can sit in the front.
"Sometimes, they sit on the side in religious gatherings at the mosque only because of separate seating for men and women," he explained, adding that the Islamic culture avoids mixing men and women in a gathering.
He told me Islamic doctrines are concise and easy to understand and to follow.
"The Islamic culture is broad and deep, and does not reject other cultures," he said.
In the book, he makes a reference to an anecdote of how Muhammad was asked two times who in the world should be treated most kindly, and he replied "Your mother" both times.
"That testifies to the greatness of mothers, who give the most in taking care of their children," Yang said.
Terence Chang Cheuk-cheung is the retired headmaster of Diocesan Boys School
