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

We shouldn’t question someone’s motivation, as long as they believe then it should be a good thing BUT I do think the mosque she attends has a duty of care to vet the man she will marry as this woman has a lesser support network and a lot of converts find themselves pressured into marriage from the community and married to someone who ‘looks religious’ but is a tyrant:

no I don’t think attitudes are really changing, I think people have a live and let live attitude but I don’t think Muslims are thinking homosexuality is acceptable

But is it not a case perhaps of a very tiny minority of extremists giving Islam a bad name? And of course then you have ISIS, the Taliban etc stirring things up further.

In other words, there has never been terrorist attacks on the west in the name of Sikhism, but there has been attacks in the name of Islam - hence why they might have different reputations?

If Sikhism is getting no negative press coverage and Islam is getting lots of negative press coverage, that would surely explain the difference in perception? And explain why Islamophobia is so much more of a problem that anti-Sikh feeling?

Obviously it goes without saying that it's wildly unfair and ridiculous to judge Muslims on the actions of extremists - in the same way that it would be unfair to judge Irish Catholics on the actions of the IRA terrorists (showing my age now lol).

@Lesschubtolove Hello OP, Dogs..A woman married to a Muslim man said dogs are not allowed in the house, as Angels won't enter a house where dogs dwell.

That was about 20 years ago, and seemed so odd.
I get that some dogs are not particularly well trained, but would be interested to hear if this is true or not.
Thanks. :)

not the answers I was hoping for but thank you for answering so honestly.

Salaam OP, fellow Muslim here, have read the full thread and just came on to say you're doing a sterling job!

Yeah that’s a true (and very well remembered on your part) hadith.

im not sure why, I like dogs too. So you can have one as long as it doesn’t sleep where you do and has a purpose.

Salaam sis! Thank you, it’s tough going sometimes, it’s made me look a few things up actually to see if I’m remembering things correctly lol

Well why don't skins get so much hatred then?

OP says equity is core values of Islam too, then later on yiu hear OP say they are angry mosques treat women badly over divorce. A mosque! The one place that should be distilling the teachings and values of Islam correctly are doing the opposite.

Never seen that in Sikhism, never heard of a gurdwara treating women less equally to men. Never seen anyone commit acts of horror in the name of Sikhism in the uk.

Its not me being an islamophobe. I'm just pointing out that in my experience this is why I think Sikhism doesn't attract that hate.

But you aren’t pointing out why Sikhs don’t receive as much hate are you. Youre telling me you’ve never heard of a Sikh woman killed in an honour Killing? I have. Several. You’ve never heard Sikh women forced into marriages and forced to stay in abusive marriages by community leaders? I have

You’re saying that Islam gets hatred because women are often treated unfairly by misogynistic ‘community’ leaders? Pull the other one. You saying that all the attention Islam gets is in the name of women’s right? Have a day off.

equity is central to Islam, men and women are equal in the eyes of Allah, equal doesn’t mean the same but in theory and textually they are the same in the eyes of Allah for good deeds and character. I can’t deny that there have been decades of misogynistic culture that have led to certain rulings on women. But I don’t believe this is the essence of Islam, it’s culture that has infiltrated and been accepted over time

Op you mentioned Shia and Suni as two divisions of Islam. In practice what does this look like? Are there mosques which are specifically for each? If you were Shia would you go to a Suni mosque?)?I ask because I'm (non practising) roman Catholic. I have been in other Christian churches but only as a guest of someone else / for an occasion etc and I wouldn't pray in one. I'd be completely respectful but it wouldn't feel at all like a "holy place" for me. Would it be similar across Muslim sub groups of believers?

Thanks for starting this thread and sorry for ranting. I feel very strongly about the issue of divorce. I agree it’s abuse of power, however, there are no systems or willingness to keep that in check.

I agrée you’re doing a great job, OP.

I have quite a number of people close to me who are mostly Ahmadiya muslims but I had no idea about the depiction of the prophet not being permissible

Is there a verse in the Quràn on this? Do different sects interprète it differently or is it an individual’s opinion?

I know a muslim recently made Fatima but it was banned from cinemas due to protests? Do you not think opening up her story to non-muslims could be a good thing? ( apologies if i’ve got my wires crossed!)

It’s very very similar, as there are most Sunnis there are more sunni mosques I’d say, but you tend to find people of that group there. So for instance I attend a salafi mosque, there are two in my area and id attend either or for prayer in the area but only one for a talks and knowledge as I find the other too strict. A lot tend to be on ethnic group lines, like a Bangladeshi mosque, so I probably wouldn’t go there because of the language barrier.

Seriously?

It’s the hadith on making exact likenesses not a verse as such.

ive not even heard about this, I must live under a rock, but yes I do think opening up stories to non Muslims is a good thing but I imagine it would be challenging given how sensitive people are to this sort of thing

That was a funny one, but I would like to, they tend to be warm, and I think I’m cold blooded

What i originally said was you dont see the hatred for Sikhs because you don't see Sikhs committing terrorist attacks in the uk in the name of guru nanak or Sikhism. You don't see Sikhs wanting to impose their religion on other people in this country.

The points on equality were addressing a different post about divorce.

I haven't heard of any honour killings or any of the things you say you have heard.

Love this thread, thank you for taking the time.

I wanted to ask a question about matters in the Middle East if that’s not too sensitive a topic because I find it fascinating. For context, I’m a white gentile of Irish decent, but I’m British. Brought up catholic, but not really religious.

Anyway - as a Muslim, what do you think of the discourse surrounding the Israeli-Palestine conflict? And what do you think has been the contribution of the Arab World to the conflict more generally?

To explain further - there’s quite a bit of noise surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, and as such, it’s hard not to get distracted by the loudest voices. To me (someone who really tries to to see both sides of the debate) the loudest voices constantly drown-out the Jewish narrative, not just of their experience of the modern-day conflict, but also their narrative about their history, identity, and what is important to the Jewish people.

To put it in perspective, there are about 15 million Jews in the world today, almost half of whom live in Israel. By contrast, there are some 436 million Arabs and 1.8 billion Muslims in the world today, and then 2.38 billion Christians . While today Palestinian Arabs have their own identity independent of a greater pan-Arab identity, the fact of the matter is that the Arab League’s behavior directly impacted and dictated the state of Israel-Palestine today (e.g. by starting the 1948 war). Additionally, much of the pro-Palestine media coming out of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is Arab media, serving the interests of Arab countries in relation to the conflict (e.g. Al Jazeera and AJ+). Oftentimes, too, non-Palestinian Arab voices are louder than Palestinian voices. I think it’s important to take this into account, because many Arab countries benefit when Israel takes all of the blame.

Because Jews are so outnumbered, their voices are drowned out. Do you think this is ever properly acknowledged?

For what it’s worth I consider the following two things propaganda:

• rushing to immediately blame Israel for everything
• rushing to defend Israel for everything

(If that makes sense - sorry if not!)

Finally, on a completely unrelated note I went to Campaign Against Antisemitism protest at the end of 2021 (outside of the BBC) and one of their guest speakers was a Muslim from a charity called Muslims Against Antisemitism and he was brilliant. So great to see different faith groups supporting each other and wish there was more of it.

Really sorry - I haven't read the full thread yet so you may have already answered this:

Could you tell me what would be an appropriate thing to say to Muslim colleagues at the start/end of Ramadan? (Is there an equivalent of 'Merry Christmas?). I know that Ramadan is that is observed rather than celebrated though. Similarly how can I celebrate Eid with colleagues? / What can I say /gifts to give.. etc.?

theres numerous instances. I know of someone who’s Aunty was murdered and she’s a Sikh

look at unfiltered stories on Facebook many survivors there who happen to be Sikh and Hindu.

you’re telling me you haven’t heard of the Sikh man who murdered his wife so he didn’t have to come out as gay? There was a Hindu man who did the same, mitesh Patel I think ?

Sikhism isn’t a proselytising faith, it doesn’t seek to convert people. What Muslims in the UK want to impose Islam on you? How many times a day are you being forced to pray?

Ramadan mubarak sometimes Ramadan Kareem (but the former is better)

eid mubarak. Eid is all about fun and celebration so food, snacks (halal obviously) eidi (eid money) and gifts, something thoughtful, chocolates, cupcakes that sort of thing, any sort of treats really :)

I don’t know, I feel like a lot of Muslims jump on free Palestine because it’s trendy but don’t really care too much and that leans into anti Jewish sentiment in the Muslim community
. But I’m not sure I agree if the loudest voices are the ones heard rather I’d say the voices with power are often the most heard and mostly the state of Israel has power and they exert it over the Palestinians.
i do think the voice of Jews against Israel often gets overlooked

i don’t think criticism of Israel is intrinsically anti semitism we should all be critical of oppression but that extends to Muslim countries too

As I said I haven't heard thise and I dont use Facebook.

But even you have to admit that terrorist attacks in the name of your religion has contributed towards any hatred.

Thank you, it’s been a very interesting and informative thread.

I was quite surprised that you haven’t heard about the Batley teacher (in hiding after showing drawings of Mohammed in an RE class) and also the Fatima movie being pulled from cinemas after Muslim protests.

Why do you think you’ve missed out on hearing about some of the big stories affecting Muslims in the UK (‘big’ as in shaping how non-Muslims might view them)? Is it that Muslims tend to keep to themselves/don’t mix (as some people say) - so avoid Western news/media etc? Or is it just that you’re a busy mum who doesn’t have time to sit down and watch the news?

Yes it’s contributed to it, but hasn’t caused it and that’s the purpose of terrorism, make Muslims feel more isolated and outcast which in turn leaves them more vulnerable to being radicalised.

muslim lifestyle is different than a western one, alcohol and pre marital sex being big no nos, being different visibly and behaviourally is a huge factor as to why Muslims are always viewed with a raised eyebrow. I think the questions on this thread prove that