Myths About Islam

[kristen999]

I have many friends who practice many faiths including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam. Over the last few days I've found the misconceptions about Islam spreading like wildfire and what's scarier, is how many people are lapping it with a spoon. I know it's a political year, and there are many controversies, but I thought I'd post an easy list of the top misconceptions about Islam.



1. Muslims worship a moon-god
Some non-Muslims mistakenly believe that Allah is an "Arab god," a "moon god," or some sort of idol. Allah is the proper name of the One True God, in the Arabic language. The most fundamental belief that a Muslim has is that "There is only One God," the Creator, the Sustainer -- known in the Arabic language and by Muslims as Allah. Arabic-speaking Christians use the same word for the Almighty.

2. Muslims don't believe in Jesus
In the Qur'an, stories about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ (called 'Isa in Arabic) are abundant. The Qur'an recalls his miraculous birth, his teachings, and the miracles he performed by God's permission. There is even a chapter of the Qur'an named after his mother, Mary (Miriam in Arabic). However, Muslims believe that Jesus was a fully human prophet and not in any way divine himself.

3. Most Muslims are Arabs
While Islam is often associated with Arabs, they make up only 15% of the world's Muslim population. The country with the largest population of Muslims is Indonesia. Muslims make up 1/5 of the world's population, with large numbers found in Asia (69%), Africa (27%), Europe (3%) and other parts of the world.

4. Islam oppresses women
Most of the ill-treatment that women receive in the Muslim world is based on local culture and traditions, without any basis in the faith of Islam. In fact, practices such as forced marriage, spousal abuse, and restricted movement directly contradict Islamic law governing family behavior and personal freedom.

5. Muslims are violent, terrorist extremists
Terrorism cannot be justified under any valid interpretation of the Islamic faith. The entire Qur'an, taken as a complete text, gives a message of hope, faith, and peace to a faith community of one billion people. The overwhelming message is that peace is to be found through faith in God, and justice among fellow human beings. Muslim leaders and scholars do speak out against terrorism in all its forms, and offer explanations of misinterpreted or twisted teachings.

6. Islam is intolerant of other faiths
Throughout the Qur'an, Muslims are reminded that they are not the only ones who worship God. Jews and Christians are called "People of the Book," meaning people who have received previous revelations from the One Almighty God that we all worship. The Qur'an also commands Muslims to protect from harm not only mosques, but also monasteries, synagogues, and churches -- because "God is worshipped therein."

7. Islam promotes "jihad" to spread Islam by the sword and kill all unbelievers
The word Jihad stems from an Arabic word which means "to strive." Other related words include "effort," "labor," and "fatigue." Essentially Jihad is an effort to practice religion in the face of oppression and persecution. The effort may come in fighting the evil in your own heart, or in standing up to a dictator. Military effort is included as an option, but as a last resort and not "to spread Islam by the sword."

8. The Quran was written by Muhammad and copied from Christian and Jewish sources
The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a period of two decades, calling people to worship One Almighty God and to live their lives according to this faith. The Qur'an contains stories of Biblical prophets, because these prophets also preached the message of God. Stories are not merely copied, but the oral traditions are referred to in a way that focuses on the examples and teachings that we can learn from them.

9. Islamic prayer is just a ritualized performance with no heartfelt meaning
Prayer is a time to stand before God and express faith, give thanks for blessings, and seek guidance and forgiveness. During Islamic prayer, one is modest, submissive and respectful to God. By bowing and prostrating ourselves to the ground, we express our utmost humility before the Almighty.

10. The crescent moon is a universal symbol of Islam
The early Muslim community did not really have a symbol. During the time of the Prophet Muhammad, Islamic caravans and armies flew simple solid-colored flags (generally black, green, or white) for identification purposes. The crescent moon and star symbol actually pre-dates Islam by several thousand years, and wasn't affiliated with Islam at all until the Ottoman Empire placed it on their flag.

This list was from: http://islam.about.com/od/commonmisconceptions/tp/myths.htm which has several more links with detailed information. There are plenty of other resources out there if people would like some.

Comments

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I took a religious course on the various religions of the world (that are still in existence) and the things they all have in common are teachings of peace, love, hope, forgiveness and faith. Not one of them pushes for hate and violence.

People corrupt religion, always for their own personal ends. Religion doesn't corrupt people.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

People corrupt religion, always for their own personal ends. Religion doesn't corrupt people.

I very much agree.

[gaffsie.livejournal.com]

This is why I'm glad Swedish school children have to learn about all the religions of the world. There's still a lot of fear-mongering about Islam, but at least young people get to learn the basics about what Islam really is about.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I don't think religions of the world are taught here until high school, but I've been out of school for some time. But being exposed to the basics early on would certainly help in terms of acceptance.

[vecturist.livejournal.com]

Very cool of you to post this. At my last job, my boss and a couple of my co-workers were all Muslim. My boss was from Iran and my other co-workers were from Sudan and UAE - we had quite a few discussions and although I knew a bit already, I really learned a lot (I even joined them in fasting for Ramadan as an experience). If the average American knew the basics about Islam, that'd go a long way.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I think the basic tenants of most other religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, --even some denominations of Christianity are misunderstood by many. We're too eager to listen to sound bites and not explore things ourselves.

[ga-unicorn.livejournal.com]

I have no problems at all with people who worship differently than I, who have a different viewpoint of a supreme being (or don't believe in a supreme being at all). What I have a problem with is a small percentage of people trying to force their beliefs on us all. Are all Muslims terrorists? Definitely not. However, the vast majority (and I'm talking over 95%) of the active terrorists today are Muslim. The terrorists, those who encourage and support them, those who provide the money paid to the families of homicide bombers - those people are the ones who give Islam a bad name. And, ultimately, moderate Muslims - the ones content to "live and let live" with other religions and The West - do no one any favors (especially themselves) by not rising up and denouncing the radicals, shouting them down. I firmly believe that if that were to happen, then the countries currently dominated (and downtrodden) by radical imams, Al Qaeda or the Taliban would be able to join the 21st century within a generation.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

This was a post about the misconception about Islam, not terrorism, but I welcome the discussion as well.

Definitely not. However, the vast majority (and I'm talking over 95%) of the active terrorists today are Muslim.

That's a very inaccurate stat. We only 'see' what the media feds us.

Here are real figures posted by the F.B.I

http://www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terrorism2002_2005.htm

6% of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil from 1980 to 2005 were carried out by Islamic extremists. The remaining 94% were from other groups (42% from Latinos, 24% from extreme left wing groups, 7% from extremist Jews, 5% from communists, and 16% from all other groups).

(http://photobucket.com)

99.6% of terrorist attacks in Europe were by non-Muslim groups; a good 84.8% of attacks were from separatist groups completely unrelated to Islam. Leftist groups accounted for over sixteen times as much terrorism as radical Islamic groups. Only a measly 0.4% of terrorist attacks from 2007 to 2009 could be attributed to extremist Muslims.

Here is a E.A report:

http://www.europol.europa.eu/publications/EU_Terrorism_Situation_and_Trend_Report_TE-SAT/TESAT2009.pdf

(http://photobucket.com)

In the E.U it's even lower.

"Islamist terrorism is still perceived as being the biggest threat worldwide, despite the fact that the EU only faced one Islamist terrorist attack in 2008. This bomb attack took place in the UK…Separatist terrorism remains the terrorism area which affects the EU most. This includes Basque separatist terrorism in Spain and France, and Corsican terrorism in France…Past contacts between ETA and the FARC illustrate the fact that also separatist terrorist organizations seek cooperation partners outside the EU on the basis of common interests. In the UK, dissident Irish republican groups, principally the RIRA and the CIRA, and other paramilitary groups may continue to engage in crime and violence."



And, ultimately, moderate Muslims - the ones content to "live and let live" with other religions and The West - do no one any favors (especially themselves) by not rising up and denouncing the radicals, shouting them down.

You're talking about billions of people and unless there was a survey that I wasn't aware of, I'm not sure how you can make blanket statement that 'they stand by and do nothing'.

I mean that's like all Christan who don't go out and protest the KKK are supporting racism in this country.

I firmly believe that if that were to happen, then the countries currently dominated (and downtrodden) by radical imams, Al Qaeda or the Taliban would be able to join the 21st century within a generation.

I really hope the people of Afghanistan and Iran will be able to do this, but when one country is corrupt and the other under basically military control--it's going to be a struggle for normal people. But I have faith one day perhaps.

[ga-unicorn.livejournal.com]

I don't want to argue numbers with you; it is obvious that we get our stats from different sources.

I mean that's like all Christan who don't go out and protest the KKK are supporting racism in this country.

Yes, that is exactly what I mean. So long as people turn their backs, refuse to speak up, to speak out, abuses will continue.

I think this is as relevant today as it was 65 years ago:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
…Pastor Martin Niemöller, 1945

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I mean that's like all Christan who don't go out and protest the KKK are supporting racism in this country.

Yes, that is exactly what I mean. So long as people turn their backs, refuse to speak up, to speak out, abuses will continue

Awesome! I totally agree. I've gone to a few counter protests of hate groups as well...I was just saying that those who don't join me out in the streets so to speak, I don't think actively support racism.

I'm very familiar with your quote very much. That's why I support of our troops no matter what. I support all freedom of religion, expression, and marriage equality.

That's why I love this country, because we all have the ability to support our beliefs.

:D

[rsharpe.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this point of view. I couldn't have said it as well as you did.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

The problem with this is that 95% of all terrorists are NOT Muslim and most moderate Muslims do not support extremists. Sorry that facts tend to mess with sound bytes. Did you know that the largest population of Muslims are in Indonesia and India?

[rsharpe.livejournal.com]

This remark was directed to ga_unicorn. It somehow was posted out of order.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

This remark was directed to ga_unicorn. It somehow was posted out of order.

In which you agreed to her erroneous comments about how all moderate Muslims just sit by and do nothing against extremists and that that 95% of all terrorists are Muslim which is not true, based on stats given not by a left or right blog, but the EU and FBI stats under the Bush administration.

I respect both your opinions.

[rsharpe.livejournal.com]

I am simply tired of the United States straining its resources in order to act as the Police Force and the Hospitals for the entire world.

The following quotes are from Wikipedia regarding Haiti:

"U.S. President Barack Obama announced that former presidents Bill Clinton, who also acts as the UN special envoy to Haiti, and George W. Bush would coordinate efforts to raise funds for Haiti's recovery. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Haiti on 16 January to survey the damage and stated that US$48 million had been raised already in the U.S. to help Haiti recover. Following the meeting with Secretary Clinton, President Préval stated that the highest priorities in Haiti's recovery were establishing a working government, clearing roads, and ensuring the streets were cleared of bodies to improve sanitary conditions."

"U.S. Vice President Joe Biden stated on 16 January that President Obama "does not view this as a humanitarian mission with a life cycle of a month. This will still be on our radar screen long after it's off the crawler at CNN. This is going to be a long slog."

Concerning the flooding in Pakistan:

"The flood will divert Pakistani military forces from fighting the Pakistani Taliban insurgents (TTP) in the Northwest because they will be needed to help in the relief effort. It is feared that this will allow Taliban fighters to regroup. On the other hand, some are suggesting that by helping flood victims, the US has an opportunity to improve its image."

"The Pakistani Taliban have also engaged in relief efforts and are making inroads where the government is absent or seen as corrupt. As the flood may have dislodged many property markers, it is feared that governmental delay and corruption will give an advantage to the Taliban to settle these disputes swiftly. A Taliban spokesperson asked the Pakistani government to reject Western help from "Christians and Jews" and claimed that the Taliban could raise $20 million to replace that aid."

"According to an US official the TTP had issued a threat saying that it will launch attacks against foreigners participating in flood relief operations. In response, the United Nations said it was reviewing security arrangements for its workers. The World Health Organization stated that work in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was already suffering because of the security concerns there. However, an unverified Taliban spokesperson based in Orakzai told The Express Tribune: “We have not issued any such threat; and we don’t have any plans to attack relief workers." Reportedly three American Christians were killed by the Taliban on August 25 in the Swat Valley."

As long as there are people here in the United States who require our help with such basic needs as shelter, food, clean water and assistance with jobs, they should be our first priority.

This is just my opinion, but I believe that others would speak up if they had the courage and their beliefs would not be drowned out by the hysterical response to rush to the aid of other countries.

Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion, no matter how unpopular it may be.

Re: I respect both your opinions.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I went to bed and now I'm at work and will respond later, but I always want people to understand that they can state their beliefs, unpopular or not. I may not agree with them and I might even argue with ya a bit--but than 'politics' are left on the porch and we can all go back to the dinner table.

I'm not going to stop talking to you or Ga_Unicorn, or anyone else just because we don't agree on things. (There are exceptions of course) But, I try to separate such things outside the rest of my interests and life. :D

[berryann.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for this entry!

Our societies are full of stereotypes that are untrue and can be very harming. All the world's religions are genuinely good and spread love only. Nevertheless a bunch of "fundamentalists" or "extremists" living within every faith are able to make it a powerful and deadly tool serving their wicked needs.

I don't think there is much a regular person can do about terrorist acting in the name of some religion. What we can do is build more tolerance towards other regular, and genuinely good people who only happened to have been born in different cultures.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I think there are extremists of every faith that twist doctrine. Every religion's basic teachings are love, acceptance and peace.

[coolbreeze1.livejournal.com]

Very cool. Thanks for taking the time to post this. I sometimes wonder if the consumer-nature of our media isn't to blame (at least in part) for so many of the misconceptions about Muslims and Islam. The news reports on stories that sell and garner public attention, and when it comes to Islam, those are too often stories about Muslim extremists. Somewhere in all of that, we (generally speaking) lose sight of the word "extremist" and focus only on "Muslim." Muslim extremists are so named because they hold extreme views, practices, and beliefs within Islam and a Muslim framework. Understanding what the vast majority of Muslims believe would go a long way in dispelling so many fears of the unknown and of those who are different. I think many moderate Muslim do speak out against this and do try to educate others about what they believe, but those actions and stories are not necessarily ones that make our headline news, unfortunately.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

The news reports on stories that sell and garner public attention, and when it comes to Islam, those are too often stories about Muslim extremists.

This is very true. Sadly, few people try to educate themselves after being force fed the same misconceptions and stereotypes for years. All religions have their fanatics and all religions have dark periods in their time.

[syble4.livejournal.com]

Around last week I found my brother listening to a recording of some guy on the internet giving a speech about the 'evils' of Islam. I asked him why he was listen to it and I was shock to hear he believed this guy because he was on the internet, so it must be true. WTF?!

It's now up to me to re-educate my brother on how not to listen to stupid people.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

People can preach about the 'evils' of any religion. ANY. All doctrine can be twisted around. Only sixty years ago, Hitler convinced many about the evil of Judaism.

It's all about education and awareness.

[purple-cube.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. As a Hindu growing up in a multicultural city in the UK, I'm really surprised at how much I didn't know from what you've written. Your statistics in one of your comments are really interesting too...I wish the mainstream media - both in the US and UK - paid more attention to them, and to debunking these myths.

Would you mind if I linked to this on my LJ?

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I only copied and pasted from about.com, because that's as straight forward and educational base as one can get. I took a religion course in school and it is sad how much is misconceived, and I'm sure growing up Hindu, there are lot of misunderstandings of your religion.

Feel free to share my link, the stats I posted were both from government links. The F.BI. and EU, in fact one if not both are official reports in PDF format. I don't bother with right ring or left wing biased blogs because yes, they can twist any stat to suit their needs, but you'd think that a commission in 2008 would want to paint that most terrorists were Muslims, but in fact, they are not.

Here is a list of terrorist organizations as well.

http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/terrorist-groups.cfm

[tielan]

Takes me back to my Year 12 Physics class. Four girls: one Christian, one Muslim, one Hindu, one Atheist, discussing religion and differing religious beliefs. :)

There are important differences, sure. But there are also important similarities. And extremists of all stripes.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

Now that must have been an intriguing discussion :D

In my early twenties, I attended many different places of worships from various faiths as I struggled with my path with faith and while I concluded that organized religion was not for me, I did come away with mostly positive experiences by very good people.

[tielan]

I know that, for me, as the sheltered-upbringing Christian, it was a really great series of discussions to have through the last couple of years of school. I haven't met too many people I know are Muslim since then - they don't advertise it any more, although I know a decent number of Hindus and more Atheists than I can throw a dozen stones at - but those I personally know tend to be...just like anyone else.

They're not terrorists, anymore than I, as a Christian, am like the American evangelists telling people that homosexuality is why 9/11 happened, or act as Westboro Baptist Church does.

Frankly, it never ceases to amaze me that people can take one group and assume the whole is the same as one subsection.

In Christian terms, that would be like saying all priests and ministers are paedophiles and abusers because the church (of all denominations and at all levels) has had and still has men in leadership positions who sexually abuse children and women. (I know there are a few people who put this view foward.)

To push the point closer to home: in terms of Americans vs. the rest of the world, it would be like saying that Sarah Palin or Jerry Falwell, their views and their bigotries are representative of all Americans, everywhere.

No. Just...no.

As to "they should speak up and renounce the terrorists"...I imagine the people in other parts of the globe dealing with American troops in their backyard, living with bombings and airstrikes and the aftermath of dead friends and family, are wondering "why doesn't the American people do anything about this? Do they hate us so much that they cannot vote their government to stop this?"

...and I've just ranted all over your journal. :/

Sorry. As you can tell, this is something I feel passionately about. I don't believe exactly what they believe, and my way to be reconciled with God is different to theirs, but 99.9% of them are just people trying to survive from day to day - the same way anyone does.

[rsharpe.livejournal.com]

tielan wrote:

As to "they should speak up and renounce the terrorists"...I imagine the people in other parts of the globe dealing with American troops in their backyard, living with bombings and airstrikes and the aftermath of dead friends and family, are wondering "why doesn't the American people do anything about this? Do they hate us so much that they cannot vote their government to stop this?"

Which brings back around the reasoning behind why Americans should always act as the World Police when there are so many Americans who still do not have their basic needs met.

[tielan]

I should point out that America is less World Police and more "America's Interests" Police.

War has never been about the mistreatment of the little people - no wars have ever been fought for 'justice' and 'freedom' - even if that's how they've been sold to the public. Freeing the slaves of the Civil War era wasn't about justice or rights for all people: it was about breaking the financial back of the wealthy South by turning their slave labour into hired labour.

War has always been about finances, possession, and pride. Once upon a time finances and possession was about land and workers, now it's about resources (mineral and labour) and weaponry (the ability to keep what you've already got, or to intimidate others as you take what they have).

I suspect that there's an attitude of "if they were 'real' Americans, they'd pull themselves up by their boostraps and meet their own needs instead of waiting for the welfare state to kick in!" in a lot of dialogue about Americans and basic needs.

[rsharpe.livejournal.com]

You certainly know your history! As we learned in our college level history classes, history was written by the victors. The "winners" always put their spin on the events which led up to any conflict. And the bottom line is power. Whether the power is land, money or simply leadership it's always power that instigates the wars.

I am not against helping those who, for whatever reason, cannot help themselves. However, I still hold to my opinion that the United States (and yes, like all nations the US always has their interests in the highest of regard) should not, in spite of those interests, act at the Police Department or the Hospitals of the entire world. Help, of course. Take on all the troubles of the world, no.

Thank you for your viewpoint.

[rsharpe.livejournal.com]

Yes, I was aware of this. I worked for several years with a lady who had legally immigrated here from India. She and I had several fascinating conversations about religion and her role in India as a woman in her father's household.