I’m a convert to Islam AMA

[Candyapplesandhearts]

All in the title really.

feel free to ask. I know this has been done before but irl people always seem fascinated but too afraid to ask yet have LOTS of questions

i’ll answer a few in advance: I’m white british
I’ve been Muslim 12 years. Since my early 20s
i didn’t convert for a man (Christians and Jews wouldn’t need to anyway)

hope this can be a place to ask a question you’ve wanted to ask IRL but maybe felt too shy or was worried someone would take it the wrong way

Please don't blame "us"/the West for this. Other colonised nations do not have these practices. It's the responsibility of the nation state.
My family are from Ireland. It was exploited in a very bad way, and you will no doubt have heard of the Famine.
It is now a democratic nation with equality for women, gays and other minority groups.

No I mean a Muslim man can marry a Christian or jew and they retain their own religion if they want to

No trouble with abortion or gay rights in Ireland?

it’s a developed nation, these countries aren’t and they weren’t like it prior to colonialism

@Corinthiana I have been married to a Muslim man for 21 years. Never has he asked me to convert / revert. It happens 😁

Ok. So you're blaming colonialism on the practices of Islamism?
I think this is where I leave the thread. Nations take responsibility. Ireland is entirely responsible for it's legislation on abortion, but to my knowledge has never blamed the British for it's post colonial decisions.
Thank you for answering questions, it's been enlightening, and I wish you peace and God's blessings🙏

Op. Don’t you mean you’ve reverted? I understand that’s how Muslims see it

Don’t correct me on what I mean or how I refer to myself in a vain attempt to undermine me.

i also answered the concert/ revert question already

Let’s look at Afghanistan, we propped up the Taliban and armed them when fighting against the Soviet Union, didn’t give a shit about their ideology then but emboldened them to use against the Soviet Union and then oh look they became powerful, and we look shocked, and then we went in again, and messed it up more and then basically handed the country back to the Taliban

let’s look at Syria, loved Assad until we hated him, and then we armed the rebels main of them were associated with Al Qaida and same with Iraq.

islamism is a political movement that often gains momentum in countries trying to assert their Islamic identity by basically regressing back to something that distinguishes themselves against the other. After colonialism Malaysia went through Islamisation as a way of crafting its own new National Idenity as distinct from the coloniser

Not sure what the need is for the sarcastic airquotes. Maybe they had a rough life and this new way of life brings them peace and stability.

maybe that’s all got something to do with the type of people you associate with?

i don’t know anyone who has been to prison and none of the Muslims I know have been drug addicts. Most are highly educated professionals from fairly mundane backgrounds truth be told

One example given was Saudi Arabia though which is now a developed nation AFAIK. I think the main issue is with Wahhabism - I might be wrong about this but aren't the very strict interpretations of Islam pretty much all from this sect? I do agree historically Islamic countries weren't necessarily any less tolerant than Christian countries and were actually more reasonable in some respects, but looking from the outside it does seem as if the hardliners have quite a lot of sway these days, whereas that isn't the case as much in Christian (or historically Christian) nations. Having said that, the way the US is going with Christian nationalism and women's rights is alarming.

I have another question actually if that's ok. Do you think that Islam will ever go through a reformation like the Protestant one, or is this antithetical to the teachings? I follow a group online called Progressive Islam and they seem to be having these kind of discussions but I don't know if they are considered beyond the pale by the majority, or not.

Lots of people find faith at a difficult time in their lives and find it very helpful. I don't think that's a negative thing (although it does depend on what they believe and how they behave obviously).

Yes this is impression I have too. The sad thing is that Islam already was enlightened, centuries ago. As @Candyapplesandhearts said, there were female scholars, great art etc that was Islamic. It has only been very recently that it seems to have regressed into this hardline sect. When I was a child in South London, I grew up with Muslim families ( I am Asian but not muslim). I never saw the Niqab outside of Kensington. Most women seemed far more free, and wore brightly coloured headscarves, Western clothes etc, and children never had head coverings were never expected to fast or come out of class to pray etc. I wonder what is being taught in Mosques. If women and gay people are equal in Islam, is this what is taught in Mosques and Madrassa's? Are they taught that the hardline behaviour of Islamists is against Islamic teachings, or do they get funding from Saudi Arabia to spread Arab ideology like this?

I’m going to properly reply to this later but it’s an interesting question

So as we know saudi didn’t exist as we know it until the 30s and when Arabia was given back to the Arabs (Brits had a hand to play in that too) several prominent families came to the forefront to become leaders of this land, one of which was Saud family who belonged to a village that had never come under ottoman rule. They sought alliance with a wave of salafism that closely followed the teaching of someone called Muhammad ibd abd Al wahab to gain legitimacy and a means of asserting themselves against the ‘liberal’ ottomans.

the Saudi state has claimed the two holiest sites in Islam, and barred non Muslims from entry and funded countless mosques around the word.

so does Islam need a Protestant reformation. Well we need to keep in mind what the Protestant reformation actually was, it was protesting against the decadence of the Catholic Church, it wasn’t a liberal movement, in fact it was much more conservative (in its early days) it was the intersection with the enlightenment and secularism that really modernised Christianity. Let’s take the puritans for example. But that’s what salafism is, a return to the core of Islam away from innovation. That was the core of the reformation, draw from that what you will

In what way is my lovely gentle son who finds himself attracted to other males sinful please?

Yes, the Puritans are the forefathers of the fundamentalist Christians in the US. They have more or less disappeared in their birthplace of Northern Europe ( apart from possibly NI) but are going strong in the secular democracy that is the US, weirdly. I think fundamentalism in all faiths leads to repression of one sort or another, mainly of women, but Islam, to me, seems more tolerant of it. I don't know of many mainstream Christians who don't mock fundamentalist Christian creationists, for example, and my DH's Liberal Jewish family are contemptuous of the orthodox Jews both here and in Israel. I know I could be wrong on that. It is just my perception.

Waiting to hear about this.

How is it sinful to like the same sex?

Firstly,I don’t owe you a reply on your terms, so don’t get arsey that I’ve not replied there and then.

secondly we all sin

islam (like all other major world religions) is a heteronormative religion and the mainstream views homosexual (actions not desires) as sinful, but so it sex before marriage, swearing, drinking, and many other things

I think that is an unfair characterisation that ‘Islam’ is more accepting of fundamentalism. How do you rationalise the US then? I’m sorry I don’t understand that cognitive dissonance.

you’ve got to remember a lot of Muslim majority nations are third world or developing countries, if a billion dollar regime (Saudi) sponsors mosques and schools in those communities that’s how the ideolgy spreads and people know no different, especially with no other access to education. To a lesser extent that applies here too, as they’ve sponsored scores of mosques in the west too

laughable! I'm not arsey. You started the conversation. So no matter how you dress it up, he's liable to be tied to a chair and thrown off a high building should he venture to certain Islamic states?

Alright arsey , actually I’m very sympathetic to Islam and very interested in it. Didn’t have time to read the thread
you can piss off

lol. Two accusations of being an arse

Funny, the accusation. Anyway never mind. I am not anti Islamic. The irony really. But it bothers me, the gay thing and basically nobody will give me an answer.