Ask a Muslim anything

[Lesschubtolove]

Another thread on a Quran being kicked about has brought up some pretty ugly stereotypes on Muslims and a perception that we all want blasphemy laws and death threats are part of our religion and that a Quran only matters in Arabic. None are true but it dawned on me actually that there are a lot of mistruths and Misconceptions about what Muslims believe, think or do.

Well ask away… the questions you maybe wanted to know but thought you might get in trouble for or would be frowned upon

What aspects of religion? Most things they could change their minds on later so I think I’d speak to them about what bits they were struggling with and why to see if I could help, but I can’t force someone to believe something.

i don’t think clothes maketh the man, I wouldn’t really be bothered if she didn’t wear it.
I wouldn’t be happy if my child chose another religion as I believe in this one but I would try and get to the bottom of what the attractions was and what the problem was in our religion and see if I could help with that first

Truthfully in life no one makes me answer for isis, it does annoy me how there has to be a Muslim go on tv and say ‘this is awful etc and we don’t support this’

nothings offended me, one poster has annoyed me insistent that no other religion has any problems and islamaphobia is perfectly justified

I can understand why you’d think that but I think in extreme heat, you’re hot no matter what lol, what you wear doesn’t make any difference. Men should be covered from their navel to knee in modest and non tight clothing. The black abayas are quite light actually and a lot of the time, women just wear shorts and a vest underneath. I’ve worn that in 45 degree heat and both myself and my husband were boiling lol

Islam is about the preservation of life so transfusions are fine.

Eating blood as such I don’t think so, but it would have to be blood as blood like a cup of blood, vampiric style, but you can have a rare steak and the like

So yes she was definitely groomed as most radicals are

i feel like she should’ve been allowed back when she’d just given birth, I can’t think of a better way to further radicalise someone than to basically sentence their child to death. She’s lost 3 children and she’s barely 20.

I think she should be allowed to come home as others have, but I think she should face consequences in the way of jail time.

her problem is that she wasn’t a particularly ‘good victim’ she still looked Muslim (and we wouldn’t want that) and was quite Gobby and not begging for forgiveness. You can see now her image has been more skilfully crafted to be appealing to the British public, western clothes, no headscarf and highlights.

What other misconceptions do people have?

one I’ve seen on the kicking the Quran about thread is that Islam acts like it’s 500 years behind Christianity.

we need to be very clear and state western European Christianity. African and Russian Christianity are very very different and not particularly tolerant at times. You can’t separate a religion from its milieu and just make a comparison like that it’s apples and origins. Western Europe are developed 1st world secular countries, where a lot of Muslim majority countries are either developing or third world countries and third world counties aren’t exactly renowned for their human rights. Islam because a lot more conservative with the foundation of Saudi Arabia and the promulgation of the views of wahab. Under the Ottoman’s Islam was pretty open, homosexuality was decriminalised for instance, anyone could visit Mecca and medina, it was much more pluralistic. But it’s so reductive to say Islam is 500 years behind, because it’s just tosh

Thank you for this thread @Lesschubtolove it's been very interesting.

It’s really difficult, are the people from back home? Or just suitors from here? I imagine she’s just saying no and getting a headache from the constant asking.

im not Pakistani but my husband is and it’s definitely a very toxic aspect of the community. Is she at university? Is there any chance she can move away? Just stop the headache. I’ve known family feuds happen over this sort of stuff. My observation is that the pressure starts being applied after 25 and then if you’ve been married for 2 years and no kids then it starts with kids

Hello there, I have a question if I may, do you personally listen to music? You mentioned it was a hotley debated topic. I personally can't imagine life without music but that's just me lol

Yes I do, I have the radio on in the car, I do stop at ramadan time though and try to have the Islamic radio stations on, unfortunately at lot are in Urdu which I don’t understand

@Lesschubtolove

Were you born into Islam or did you convert?

If the former, have you ever wanted to leave?

If the second, how did that come about?

Do you read Arabic?

Born and no I’ve not wanted to leave, ive had highs and lows of my faith of course, that’s to be expected

I’ve slacked a bit in my tilawa and tajweed since having kids, not have the time to go to classes but I can to an extent yes

OK makes sense. I respect you for actively following your faith and wish I could say the same!

My other question would be why do you think Islamophobia is so high in the West? It seems to me to have really kicked up a gear since 9/11 and is fueled by the media. Although of course Christianity has always had a difficult relationship with Islam ie Holy Roman Empire vs Ottomans etc. Do you encounter it in every day life?

@Lesschubtolove

Reading Arabic would be cool, do you ever read non-religious stuff in that language? I know there's loads of secular poetry, science, philosophy and history.

I think Europe seems to have always had a problem with the ‘enemy from within’ and for a long time European Jews were that enemy and we know how that ended. Since ww2 more and more Muslims from the Indian subcontinent have come to the UK and Muslims are very visibly different, especially women in how they dress which is why it’s mainly women who get harassed. I think 9/11 really fuelled this ´enemy’ of the west narrative and made people look twice at their once ‘friendly’ (ie they were on good terms) Muslim neighbors. The media has really honed in one this with countless articles on ‘what British Muslims really think’ etc. In some ways the community doesn’t do themselves any favours but at least from my experience here there isn’t really a UK Muslim community as such, it is very much on ethnic communities. It’s quite rare for
example to see an Arab at a Pakistani mosque. I think a lot of the anti Muslim sentiment is largely directed towards Muslims from the Indian subcontinent, particularly Pakistanis simply because there are more of them here than any other demographic. Some of the communities that from Pakistan that have come here aren’t from particularly well off backgrounds and as a result are quite conservative, education (back home) is fairly low, so integration is harder and this then fuels the ‘Muslim takeover’ theories and in turn makes the community more and more insular.

have I experienced Islamaphobia? Yes. I think as I am very fair people assume I a mm a convert so I get a lot of tuts and head shakes from white British people or generally a lot of stares which i hate so much

so I can’t read and understand everyday arabic, I can (sort of) read the Quran and there’s a difference. I don’t necessarily understand either. My reading is particularly good so I basically have to memorise chunks in order to be able to read it. I need to go back to classes basically. I was getting good but then kids and covid hit and it went pear shaped

I dont work at a Muslim school, but if it was a state school I can’t imagine they could be forced to do that no, how absurd.

a non Muslim child wouldn’t know how to pray so I don’t know how they could join in, a lot of Muslim girls don’t wear a headscarf and I’m not sure how anyone would police a lunchbox, seems like a bit of a straw man if you ask me

Can you tell us a bit more about the Islamic version of doomsday? I am interested to find out what the Koran says and if there's similarities with other beliefs on what will happen before and after? Also, I am interested in Islamic science and astrology (not sure if the astrology part is permitted) but after watching a docu series which mentions it and it got me thinking what muslims believe in doomsday, how islam understands the meaning of the universe, any belief beyond our world and interpretation in celestial events etc. We mainly see Islam as a faith with rules but never the deeper understanding and spiritual side to it and those who convert we don't understand them as we think why would anyone want to do that especially the way the western media has portrayed it.

So it’s similar, but in Islam it’s not that you die and you to heaven or hell straight away, you have a grave life, in between where you basically see what awaits you and you are asked by the angels who is you lord, what do you believe etc?

so there’s the day of resurrection and the day of judgement and in essence it’s when you’re brought before your lord to account for your deeds, the tradition goes that you will be handed a book of your life and commanded to read, the good, bad an everything in between, you’ll want to stop but you won’t be able to. It was last a really long time. I think it’s so powerful the notion of reading from the book of your life, reminds me to live a life I’m proud of. There are certain other things that we know will happen, certain intercessions, so the child who passed away (in utero or alive) will intercede for his/ her mother and basically ask Allah to admit her to heaven with him, and Allah will. Same with the person who has taken care of orphans and raised daughters well and not preferred their sons. There are certain signs of the end of times too, too many to go into here. There are minor and major, major being like the messiah (Jesus) and the anti christ (dajjal)

astrology isn’t from Islam it’s completely prohibited

Yes I agree that 'the enemy within' is a very powerful trope. Not just European also - think Maoist China.

I often think if I were a Muslim I would be frustrated at how the media only ever seems to highlight more extreme sects / facets of belief. I imagine how I an Orthodox Christian would feel if the media took Westboro Baptist Church as emblematic of my faith and culture.

So here's a very wide-ranging one which I suppose I could solve by reading the Koran but since you are kindly here I'll ask you instead: what would you say are the main doctrinal / philosophical differences between Islam and Christianity? I don't mean in terms of the figures involved but more in terms of the values. If I had to summarise Christianity to an alien I guess I say it's broadly about repentance, redemption, humility, faith, hope and love. It's about the hope of life after death but also the hope of a redeemed life of joy and faith in this world. How would you compare and summarise Islam?

The essence of Islam is peace through submission to god. So obviously we don’t believe Jesus died for our sins so that redemption in life paradigm isn’t so much at play in Islam. It’s more that, this world is a test, and Allah gives the heaviest burdens to his strongest servants. Patience is a huge thing, turning to Allah In good times and bad and that this world is only temporary. Constant is the reminder that Allah is the most merciful and the most forgiving- that would be the core points I think.

Thank you for answering my question about Shamima Begum. I am not sure how I feel. On balance I do have some sympathies but if she is judged to be the slightest risk to the UK, then her returning is a no from me.

Thank you. I'm pretty sure that someone has already asked you about Islam's position on the afterlife so I'll flick through to look again for that. But further questions if you want to answer / have time:

1. I have seen Islam characterised as a 'warrior' religion in the same way that Sikhism's origins can be characterised that way. Would you agree with that characterisation?
2. My understanding is that Islam incorporates the figure of Satan/Shaytan as evil-doer/adversary, is that true?

Well if I were Home Secretary she’d be back, her child would’ve been taken into state Custody and placed for adoption and she’d undergo a de radicalisation program and she’d be in jail

Woah hang on so is Jesus a sign of the end times in Islam? You mean the second coming?