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

Warrior religion? Erm no. It’s not a religion of war, but it’s not a pacifist religion either. You the right to defend yourself using violence, if necessary and under strict strict rules. Islam has very very strict rules on warfare. No women or children can be killed, heard the same for elderly, no places of worship can be targeted, you shouldn’t fight on their holy days and if the surrender or repent then that is it, you must forgive them and seek no further violence. Animals shouldn’t be hurt either.

Iblis is the equivalent of lucifer in Islam but rather than being an Angel, he was a jinn that refused to bow down to man. Angels in Islam have no agency they cannot go against Allah, they are faithful servants.

That's really interesting, thank you, so the next natural question I have, and please I am not trying to be offensive here, but how would an extremist justify an act of terrorism against those strict rules on warfare? Because, you know, many terrorist acts will obviously kill women and children, etc. Is it seen as a form of self defence i.e. your Governments attacked our people so we'll attack you?

Also, what is the Islamic meaning of jihad? Is it like any war or is it specifically a holy war, a revenge war, an inner moral struggle?

Hey OP hoping you can come back to my questions 🤞🏼

You’re asking me to provide a rational on someone who is basically a mass murderer, I can’t. Just like I couldn’t ask you to explain how any other mass murderer sleeps at night.
but most of the time the people who do these things aren’t actually very religious or very well educated religiously speaking. By very religious I mean, they’ve not been ‘practicing’ for a long time and have previously lived a life of ‘sin’ and this is their redemption, how they see it, thus the pursuit of martyrdom. I’ve heard terrorists and isis in particular referred to as neo Khawarijites, so those who basically declare other Muslims as non Muslims and spreading anarchy so must be killed. It’s an ends justifies the means mentality which goes against Islam anyway. Your government kills our brothers and sister so we’ll do the same, is certainly what gets said, but I don’t for a second believe that this is what the leadership believe, it’s what they tell the cannon fodder. Big terrorists groups, don’t care really about Islam, good or evil, right or wrong it’s about power. Who has it and how to get more.

but those criteria on earth is why you have even the most conservative religious groups denouncing those attacks and how even the taliban denounced isis. These terrorists groups all have very different motivations

jihad means struggle, it certainly can mean war, it’s not a holy war that’s a very Christian terminology, but jihad just means struggle. I have mine and you yours.

Sorry missed this.

i do work, im ‘working’ now, well taking a little break.

girls should dress modestly when they become more mature in appearance so puberty basically.

i do have a little girl and we both don’t really mind either way, we’d encourage modesty because but neither would mind either way if she didn’t cover her hair.

By living in a non muslim/ western country you have a bigger chance of your offspring marrying people of other or no faith, meaning that your grandchildren or their children might not be or want to be muslim. How do you feel about that?

A colleague of mine won't let her children date outside of islam, but over the generations that's impossible to maintain imo. It makes her sometimes wonder if she should have stayed in the west. Is this something you come across as well?

OK thank you, yes I have read somewhere that many terrorists have actually been recent converts who turned out not to know much about Islam or even to have read the Koran in some cases.

Anyway I've taken up too much of your time but it has been very interesting and thank you so much for taking the time to do this, I wish you and your family all the best

I wouldn’t say many converts most Islamic terrorists are born Muslims but of a similar ilk perhaps that we’re out drinking, not practicing and then have basically been reborn but are equally clueless

Do you think the West is decadent?

Truth is, I do, in the sense that we are in a state of cultural decline. Is it in this sense that we are occasionally accused of being decadent, or is it in a different sense - not sure I can really define the difference, perhaps one is a statement of fact and one is simply of judgement from a perspective which is different (and which we tend to regard as prohibitive, backward, wrong etc.)? Not explaining well.

Also completely agree with you on this

"I wouldn’t say many converts most Islamic terrorists are born Muslims but of a similar ilk perhaps that we’re out drinking, not practicing and then have basically been reborn but are equally clueless"

The reborn of Christian faiths are also zealots and dangerous.

Thank you for a fascinating and informative thread. These sort of threads are the best of MN, and brought me here in the first place, more than 20 years ago.

I wish you and your family the best of everything!

insistent that no other religion has any problems and islamaphobia is perfectly justified

When did I say Islamaphobia is perfectly justified, please show me the posts that I have apparently being insistently saying this?

Where have I explicitly said that no other religion has any problems? I never said that, I've made comments that another religion doesn't receive as much hate because of x y z imo. That is completely different to what you are saying here.

And when you cannot show me a single post where I said Islamaphobia is justified or where I have said no other religion has any problems I look forward to your apology.

Erm, you were very insistent that no other religion, especially Sikhism has instances of extremism or violence and claim to not have heard any and then made several pointed comments about how it’s ‘odd’ that only Muslims receive such fervent attacks and not Sikhs, and you wonder why that is… wide eyed with false innocence

Decadent in the 20s moral decadence sort of way?

not really. I guess the biggest issue I have with western criticism of Islam (and I know that’s not the question you asked but hopefully leads to it) is on women’s rights, how it’s used as a vehicle to criticise Muslims (not don’t get me wrong there needs to be some real progress here) but it’s often by rampant misogynists. I think there’s a perception that women are more empowered in western countries but in many ways it’s exactly the same. The dating scene and how women are treated on nights out, dressing up to attract men (which obviously does happen) bullied for being a virgin at school and then called a slut. This sort of hypocrisy gets to me. I think girls and women are being let down left right and centre

I was responding to other people including yourself asking me if I had heard about x y z, and I responded to those questions. That is not me insistently making a point.

And I never said no other religion, I only referred to Sikhism in my response to another poster asking the question on hatred. There are more religions than that so its wrong to say I was very insistent that 'no other religion' since my comments have never said that.

I used Sikhism in the example posted by someone else and asked you when have you heard of a terrorist attack in the UK in the name of that religion. There hasn't been is the answer.

Don't twist my words.

But the point you’re making is that there has been terrorism carried about by Muslims in thr uk yeah? And there has by catholics too? And white extremists? So what is your point then?

Well Muslims shouldn’t date as such at all.

muslim men can marry Jewish and Christian women but the children have to be Muslim

I was responding to another poster who asked the question about hatred towards Muslims and why is there more hatred than to other religions like sikhism. I wasn't even responding to you but you decided to get involved in my comment.

My point being that when acts like that take place in the name of a religion it will naturally cause more hatred

Thank you OP - have found this very interesting indeed. You shouldn't be asked to justify all Islam, behaviours and history any more than I could answer for all Christianity including the Branch Davidians and other Christian zealots, though I could explain the birth of Protestantism and explain (but not justify) the Crusades and other religious wars . It's also exposed our general lack of understanding of all religious history. Eg Christian women not just nuns were directed by the church to cover their hair (if they could afford to) which was a mediaeval imposition, Christians were supposed to tithe and some still do on top of paying taxes, Christian theology rejected usury but found ways round it (usually by employing Jewish money lenders). Few of us know all the ins and outs of our own faiths let alone others especially in secular Europe.

muslim men can marry Jewish and Christian women but the children have to be Muslim

I didn't know this, that's interesting.

From the way you've phrased it am I right in thinking Muslim women can't marry Jewish and Christian men?

That’s correct, Muslim women can only Marty Muslim men, convert or born, doesn’t matter, neither does race but they must be Muslim for the marriage to be valid.

but if a non Muslim woman became Muslim and was married to a non Muslim it’s my understanding that they could stay together

Thanks for the AMA!
Why is this?

Islam is passed to the child via the father. So, men can marry women of the Book. In Judaism, it is via the mother.

Sort of but I thought it was more men are the head of the household rather than a lineage thing

This example seems to indicate then that Islam is not about equality. Earlier you comment on Islam being criticised on women's rights..but isn't this a perfect example of that 🤔